Selfish

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, the Sand Sibs would be in Konoha ALL THE TIME.

Temari yawned as she made her way downstairs. It was early morning and she was still half asleep when she entered the little kitchen of the house that she shared with her brothers.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the prone figure in the middle of the kitchen. Kankurou's head was on the kitchen counter and he was still dressed in his usual puppeteer garb, face paint intact, hood covering his face. He must have returned from his mission early that morning. There was a bowl of dry cereal in front of him.

Temari closed one eye and squinted at her brother in the dim early morning light. She opened it again, rolling her eyes as she approached him.

"Kankurou! Kankurou, get up! This is no place to take a nap," she said, shaking him roughly to rouse him.

A gloved hand snaked up and pulled his hood down so that his face was visible. He opened his eyes slowly and peered up at his sister, "Temari," he started, his voice low and gravelly from sleep, "there's no milk."

Temari cocked an eyebrow at his strange greeting, "Okaaaay. And…"

"I can't eat my cereal without milk," he responded, rising slowly and turning to face her, his eyes still somewhat glazed over.

"Okay. So go get some milk. The store's right down the street." Temari said, her voice matter-of-fact.

"Temari, come on. Can't you get it for me? I'm so tired – I can't make it to the store," Kankurou pleaded, the hint of a whine coming in from time to time.

Temari studied him for a few minutes before turning around and heading toward the fridge, "No."

"What?! Why not?" his voice was incredulous – how could she turn him down in his time of need?

She shrugged as she opened the door of the refrigerator, "I don't feel like it. I'm tired too, you know, Kankurou."

Kankurou stared at her in disbelief for a few minutes before scoffing and resting his head back on the counter top, grumbling, "Some sister you are. I can't believe you're being so selfish…."

Temari had been quite intent on ignoring him – until she heard that word. 'Selfish'. She turned back to her brother, her eyes narrowing into a glare, voice coming out like a hiss, "What did you say?"

Kankurou froze – 'Crap! Not that voice.' That voice promised him pain, pain…and more pain. He shrugged and tried to brush it off, "I forgot."

Temari's frown had become a scowl, "You're lying."

The Kankurou mound chose not to respond. Temari stood in front of the open fridge, glaring daggers at him. If she just kept it up long enough, eventually he'd have to do something. After a few seconds however, she shook her head, 'Forget it. I don't feel like getting into something with Kankurou so early in the morning anyway.'

So she stopped glaring, turned back to the fridge and started making her breakfast. But that word kept following her – as she made her breakfast, ate it, took a shower and got dressed. 'Selfish, selfish, selfish…'

It was driving her crazy. She didn't even know why she was letting it bother her. She knew she wasn't selfish. She practically did everything for Kankurou and what did he do for her? Nothing! He was selfish. And yet she still couldn't shake off the guilty feeling that was growing within her.

The whole thing was putting her in a really bad mood and she scowled as she entered the kitchen and saw that Kankurou was still there, fast asleep, his head on the counter top just like before. She noted also that the bowl full of cereal was still in front of him.

She sighed – was he really planning to eat that after it had been left out in the open like that? She moved to go and cover it and then stopped when she realized what she was doing. She scoffed, 'Let him eat it! I hope it makes him sick.' She nodded decisively, pleased until another thought hit her – if he got sick, who would have to take care of him?

'And he calls me selfish,' she thought as she picked up the bowl of cereal and threw it in the garbage. "Stupid little brother," she said as she passed him, nudging him slightly to make up for the fact that he couldn't hear what she said…but not enough to wake him, of course.

An hour later when Kankurou finally awoke, he opened his eyes to see a carton of milk in front of him as well as a bowl of cereal, covered now with a plastic cover. On the carton of milk, there was a note that read, "Don't you ever call me selfish again, idiot."

A/N: Reviews make the world go round. BTW, this is set before Gaara becomes Kazekage.