Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto. I told my brother something I planned on doing in one of my other fics, and that led to us bouncing ideas off of each other, as well as me coming up with something that will tie into what I'm writing for that one fic. This also kind of ties into "Rain of Imperfection".

Burnt Beyond Recognition

The atmosphere in the kitchen remained silent as Temari bustled around attempting to prepare dinner, and the young female shinobi's eyes drifted over to see her youngest brother sitting in a chair watching her. Prior to the chunin exams in Konoha this event would have proved unsettling, as one never knew what went on in her younger brother's mind. The look of anger, and also pain if Temari really though about it, no longer appeared in those beautiful sea foam green eyes of his, to be replaced with a look of fascination, and curiosity.

Thus Temari didn't think anything of the fact Gaara watched her preparing the meals in the household, particularly since her baby brother now seemed more inclined to eat foods outside of the small handful he'd eaten before, something that had driven Kankuro crazy due to the fact every meal seemed to be exactly the same. She turned her head slightly to look at him, and asked a question. "So, what did you do today."

"A D rank mission."

Temari's eyebrows shot up, and a rather amused look appeared on her face. Gaara never did D rank missions before, not because he per say thought the missions below him, but because those assigning missions thought limiting the young sociopath's social interactions with people was for the best. Gaara now went out of his way to ask for D rank missions, which at first was met with quite the panic, but then Baki, Kankuro and herself promised they would keep an eye on him. Now he simply did them on his own, though not many people trusted him, and some outright refused to let him be the one to do their D rank mission request.

"Good for you." She set a bowl of food down in front of Gaara, and watched him eat, deciding to sit next to him instead of across from him like she used to. Kankuro came into the house and glared at the food, knowing it was one of Temari's favorites, and a vegitarian dish.

It was the next night that she understood what Gaara had been doing that entire time, when she arrived home from a C rank mission she'd been sent on without her brother, meaning she was to tired to cook. She could however smell something from the kitchen, and it made her stomach grumble even more. The young ninja let her mouth twist up, wondering who could be cooking, as they'd quickly learned that Kankuro was a terrible cook. She wondered if Baki had chosen to pay them a visit, as their sensei and now legal guardian had a habit of checking in on them every so often.

The man fully understood that Temari was the only one cooking, and every so often would attempt to relieve the burden she'd taken on by herself.

Instead she found Gaara standing by the stove, and a lurching fear hit the put of her stomach, worried that he would get hurt, despite the fact the blond ninja should have known that his sand barrier would protect him from almost everything. Temari hurried over, but stopped when she realized that Gaara was doing fine, and had managed to replicate what she'd cooked the night before, and quite a few other nights since their father passed away.

"Gaara..." Temari watched as her younger brother turned to her, his delicate features revealing no emotion.

"This was supposed to be a surprise."

"It is a surprise. Can I see how you're doing, and taste it?" The auburn haired preteen stepped aside, allowing her to step in and taste the dish her brother made. Temari's eyebrows shot up, letting the soup sit on her tongue so she could savor it. She finally removed the spoon, and set it down. "Oh my."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, that's actually a pretty good job. How did you do it?" Temari turned her head, thinking Gaara had picked up a recipe somewhere, particularly since he'd never cooked before, and the dish was certainly better then her own.

"I don't know..."

"Obviously not a recipe, but then how?" Temari shook her head, and started to head over to the cupboards. "I'll go ahead and set the table tonight, since that's what you usually do."

A tug at her sleeve told her that Gaara wanted to say something, and she stopped in her tracks to look into a pair of sea foam eyes. As per usual course, her younger brother avoided eye contact, something he'd struggled with a good deal of his life it seemed. "No. You're tired. I'll do it. Please."

A weak smile appeared on Temari's face, the urge to let Gaara know how proud she was of him still there. She turned about, pulling her younger brother into a hug, something she knew, as he tensed up, that the auburn haired preteen would never have let her done prior to the chunin exams. His body relaxed though upon realizing he was safe. "Thank you."

She went and sat down, letting Gaara set the plates. Out of the corner of her indigo eyes she could see that a blush had spread across Gaara's face, indicating he was feeling a particular emotion he didn't know what to do with, and as such couldn't block from external view. He set the table carefully like he usually did, and then dished her up a plate of food in the same manner she did for him most of the time. He then joined her at the table. "It really did taste alright?"

"Alright? It tasted better then mine."

"Are you trying to patronize me?"

"No. That was really good."

"There's also dessert."

Temari paused with the spoon almost into her mouth. "Dessert?"

"That stuff you like, but I don't. I don't exactly like the texture."

"I see. Why did you do this Gaara?" The blond almost worried Gaara would take her question the wrong way.

"It's the right thing to do?" The answer came out almost in a robotic manner, meaning Gaara was repeating what he thought needed to be heard. Temari almost let out a sigh, but then her auburn haired brother said something telling her he was thinking of things. "You do a lot for me. Kankuro to. I know you like these foods."

"Yes, well, this is more then I'd expect Kankuro to ever do."

"Kankuro can't cook."

"That's not what I actually meant." Temari shook her head, savoring the soup, and looking forward to the dessert in the fridge.

It was then that Kankuro came in, and headed over to the soup, his nose wrinkling up. "Temari..."

"What is it?"

"Are you mad at me or something, because I swear we had this last night."

Temari bit back her amusement, only to find herself needing to place a hand over her mouth when Gaara proceeded to choke on his own food. The auburn haired preteen looked up at his sister, the look on his face asking her what he'd done wrong. She shook her head trying to tell Gaara he'd done nothing wrong, but then the youngest of the siblings turned towards his brother. "I'm sorry."

Kankuro paled under that makeup of his, his head turning to look Gaara in the eye, one of the few times Gaara didn't balk at looking Kankuro in the eye, indicating the younger boy was trying to read his brother, but failing miserably. "No. If you wanted it again, then that's fine. Temari can cook it again."

The eldest sibling cleared her throat, making Kankuro jump. "I didn't make tonight dinner. Gaara did."

Seeing Kankuro pale even more made Temari finally crack up, and Gaara looked at her in confusion. He then looked back at Kankuro, this time unable to make eye contact. "I'm sorry."

"For what this time."

"Not letting Temari cook dinner."

Temari sighed. "Gaara, there is nothing wrong with you cooking dinner tonight." Her head turned, allowing her indigo eyes to pierce into Kankuro's soul. "Is there?"

"No, uh, no." Kankuro got himself a bowl, and sat down, taking a big spoonful. "Mmm... this is good."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "You're pretending to like it."

"Well, yeah..." The middle siblings blinked a couple of times, speaking through a spoonful of food. Kankuro's eyes suddenly went cross eyed. "Hold on..." The teen's brown eyes snapped shut. "This actually tastes good. Temari, are you sure you didn't cook this, and you two aren't trying to pull a fast one on me."

A clinking sound was heard as Gaara let his utensils drop to the plate, and the auburn haired preteen left the room. Temari turned to look at her other brother. "Really Kankuro?"

"What did I do?"

"Let's start off with the fact you assumed that Gaara's food would taste bad before even tasting it, and now you're thinking it wasn't him who cooked dinner." A knock came at the kitchen door, and Temari got up to find their sensei their with some food.

"You actually cooked tonight after today's mission Temari?" The man's mouth twisted up in worry, and his eyes drifted down to the food in his fingers. "I guess I'll put this in the fridge so you guys can have it later."

"I'll take it now, as this is what Temari cooked last night." The words blurted out of Kankuro's mouth, making Temari want to seriously hurt him.

"Kankuro!"

"What!"

"You know what!"

Baki held the door to the fridge open, the food he brought dangling from the fingers in his other hand, as Kankuro went back to eating his soup. "Temari, what is with all of this marron glace, and why is it in the fridge?"

The blond pushed herself away from the table, her face paling, her mind wondering what Gaara had done. The color left Temari's face even more when she saw the large amount of marron glace sitting in the fridge. "Oh dear."

"I should hope so. There is no way you can eat all of this between you and Kankuro, and Gaara won't touch this stuff."

Temari swallowed. "Except I think Gaara likely thinks that I'll be able to eat all of this myself."

From behind she could hear the sound of Kankuro choking on his food again, and then the roar of laughter followed by the brown haired teen falling over backwards with a loud clatter. Baki looked over at Kakuro. The man set the food into the refrigerator, and then closed the door, proceeding to lean up against the counter. "Alright you two. Explain."

Kankuro remained on the floor laughing, and Temari looked at the ground. "Gaara's the one who made dinner and the desert."

"What?" Baki's eyes blinked a couple of times, and the man's mouth twisted into a frown as said eyes drifted over to the pot of soup on the stove. The man walked over, worry written all over his face as he took out a spoon, dipping it into the pot to try the food. The frown continued to play across the man's face, and then he turned to look at Temari. "When did Gaara learn how to cook?"

Temari sat back down, her body still tired from her mission. "I honestly don't know. When I asked, well, his words indicated he didn't use a recipe, so I think he learned by watching what I did when I've cooked food."

"Why?"

"I don't think he understands why, or at least not in a manner that he can easily put into words. I think it's his attempt at a form of appreciation, as when I asked him, he noted that I do a lot for him and Kankuro, and the fact he knows I like these things."

"I think he's just bored, 'cause nobodies letting him do those D ranked missions he wants to, and he's actually attempting to interact with people. You should see him try approaching others his age, and how they run away." A chuckle escaped the brown haired teen's mouth, but was replaced by a yelp when an apple thrown by his sister hit his head.

"Seriously, you need to be more carefully how you word things, particularly around Gaara."

"Why? Gaara's smart, so I don't need to be worried about such a thing."

She didn't know that Kankuro's lack of carefulness regarding Gaara would come back to bite them.

…

Watching, and waiting, taking in everything he could became Gaara's new thing, as the young shinobi hadn't realized life was so much filled with wonderful things, and life experiences. Cooking wasn't the only thing he watched Temari do, but also the cleaning of the household. His preteen mind noted which tools and sprays she used for each task, and one day when she was away on a mission again he decided to surprise her by getting the weekend cleaning done before she got back, particularly since she had missed out the week before.

Cleaning though wasn't done solely on what he remembered her doing, but also tasks his big sister had asked him to do, and Temari's instructions as she watched him do or not do things correctly. She remained patient with him, but quickly got fed up at their brother, as Kankuro seemed to show a major dislike of cleaning. The young shinobi washed the floors with a hand towel, going back and forth, his auburn locks falling down in front of his eyes along with drops of sweat. The footsteps of his brother made him stop, and look up at the brown haired male, Kankuro's hood for once being pulled back.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Cleaning." Gaara sat back in traditional style, his sea foam eyes noticing that the pain on the brown haired shinobi's face had changed yet again. His head tilted slightly, wondering if he should as Kankuro to help despite the fact he knew the older shinobi would refuse.

"I got that. Why though?"

"Less work for Temari."

"She's also a girl."

"That doesn't make sense." Gaara's mouth twisted up into a frown. "Kankuro, what is the difference between boys and girls." The young auburn haired shinobi watched his older brother's face fall, wondering why the brown haired teen's face suddenly drained of color.

"Look, I think that's a conversation we should have another time Gaara."

Gaara shrugged his shoulders before going back to work. The young pre-teen headed to the kitchen, and pulled out a roast and vegetables, carefully cutting everything apart in the same manner he'd seen Temari do, following each step until it came to the oven. The dish slid in, and the auburn haired shinobi folded his arms across his chest, his head tilting as he waited for the food to cook. His thin fingers reached out to open the oven a few times, only to find the food to be still raw.

The auburn preteen stood back on his the heels of his feet, Gaara's mouth twisting down, his fingers tapping at the elbows of his folded arms. Kankuro tapped him on the shoulder, and the younger sibling turned to look at his brother. Kankuro's fingers reached out, turning the oven to clean. "Here. I believe this is what you wanted to do, right?"

The young shiniboi leaned forward, looking at the manner in which Kankuro turned the knob. "Oh, so that's how you do it."

Gaara headed over to the table, his sea foam green eyes traveling over to the clock, his chin resting in the palm of his hands. Something however made his nose wrinkle up, and his head turned to look at the oven, his auburn head of hair tilting slightly, his sea foam green eyes trying to figure out what he'd done wrong.

Temari's voice shattered the silence. "Gaara, what's burning?"

"Dinner." A thin finger pointed towards the oven, and the young shinobi watched as the sandy haired shinobi hurried over, opening up the oven front, only to slam the door shut as smoke came billowing out. She quickly turned the oven off, and then pulled out the mess to place on the stove, the smoke continuing to come off the food.

Kankuro walked in, "what..." One of the brown haired teen's eyebrows rose up. "Temari, how come you burned dinner. Never mind. I'll go out to eat."

Temari shook her head, her indigo eyes wide. She turned to look at Gaara. "What did you do wrong?"

"I don't know." The red haired teen stood up, simply went to the refrigerator and started prepping the food in the same manner, before sticking into the oven. "Kankuro showed me how to use this."

The sandy haired female pushed her lips together as Gaara turned the knob on the oven to clean again. "Gaara, what were you doing today besides cooking?"

"Cleaning."

"So, Kankuro didn't know you were cooking."

"I guess not."

"Gaara, Kankuro put the oven on the clean setting."

"What is that?"

"What... the clean setting allows the oven to clean itself."

"How can the oven clean itself?"

"How should I know? I really don't know how it works."

"Then it can't clean itself."

"Gaara..." The smell of burnt food wafted through the air, just as a knock came at the kitchen door. Baki again brought with him food.

The man's eyes drifted over to the oven, and he dropped the items onto the table, taking his own turn at pulling out the waste of food from the oven "What is going on?"

"Gaara tried cooking again."

"How the hell did you figure out how to use the oven, Lord Gaara."

"Kankuro showed me."

Temari shook her head. "He thinks Kankuro showed him, but what Kankuro showed him is wrong."

The auburn haired preteen stopped opening the food Baki brought, his head tilting to look at his sister. "Kankuro wouldn't lie to me."

"Yes, but..."

"It was my fault then. I'll try again later."

"No! I don't want you using the oven again, Lord Gaara, you may burn the house down." Baki shook his head, and Temari leaned over to whisper so the man could hear him, but not her youngest sibling.

"Kankuro thought Gaara was trying to clean the oven."

"You have got to be kidding me. Hopefully he never uses the oven again. At least the buildings in Suna are made with material that doesn't burn, else we might be at risk of him burning your home down." Baki let out a sigh. "Well, I guess he can't be good at everything."