This story was written a long time before it was ever uploaded. ^^;

Summary: 10 year old Kankuro goes downstairs for a midnight snack and ends up learning more about his little brother.

This a Naruto fanfiction story... and I don't own any characters or anything so this story was written purely for my entertainment. But hopefully some other people will get some entertainment out of it too. :)

Ten year old Kankuro stared up at his ceiling which was illuminated by the moonlight coming in from his window. He tried to shut his eyes and force himself to fall asleep, but he couldn't. And every time he tried, he found himself opening his eyes and staring at the ceiling again and again. There was no way he could fall asleep tonight. He had a problem. He had been in the village all day playing with friends, and he hadn't returned home until after sundown right before his father went to bed. He had missed dinner. And he was starving!

Kankuro kicked his covers off and bolted into the upright position. "I have to eat something…"

He swung his feet off of the bed so that he was sitting on the edge. He tried to remember if he had any snacks stashed anywhere that he could eat quickly. And then he remembered it. It was a bag of BBQ chips that he had begged his father to buy for him at the store a few days ago. They were downstairs in the kitchen. His mouth began to water as he thought about them, and he could feel his stomach growl. But this brought forth a new problem. The chips were downstairs. So he might as well forget about them. Because after everyone goes to bed, downstairs becomes Gaara's territory. Kankuro's eight year old brother Gaara never slept. He couldn't. Because if he did, the demon that had been sealed inside of him would eat away at his mind. Kankuro didn't really know what Gaara did at night. Sometimes he could hear his little brother wondering around downstairs through the many hallways of their large house. And sometimes Gaara would leave the house at night and not return until morning. Kankuro didn't know where Gaara would go or what he did. But he didn't really want to know. He didn't like to admit it, but Kankuro was afraid of his little brother. Gaara was very violent and had an disturbing obsession with blood. He was far from a normal eight year old.

Kankuro set his feet on the floor, stood up from his bed and began to walk towards his bedroom door. He opened the door and left his room. As he walked down the hallway to the staircase, he hoped against hope that on this particular night Gaara had decided to leave the house. Please let him be outside somewhere… please don't let him be downstairs. He silently prayed as he approached the staircase. He had decided to take a chance and hope for the best. He had decided to go downstairs despite his fear of the demon child that might await him. His hunger proved to be more powerful than his fear.

He stood at the top of the staircase and stared down into the darkness. He couldn't see anything. There were no windows in the hallway that was located at the bottom of the stairs. There was no light. It was completely dark. Pitch black. He held his breath and put his right foot on the first step. Then his left foot. He stood on the top step and listened.

Silence.

He didn't hear anyone moving around downstairs. He descended a few more steps and then stopped to listen again.

Nothing.

He exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and continued to walk down the steps. He took them a few at a time and stopped and listened about every three steps. But he still hadn't heard anything.

"He's not here." Kankuro whispered to himself but was startled by how loud his own voice, in the silence, sounded. He stood still on the steps for a few seconds and then continued walking. As he walked down the stairs it got darker and darker. He felt as if the darkness was wrapping around him like a big terrifying blanket. He was careful to step lightly and breath quietly, as if he thought someone would jump out of the shadows and attack him if he made a sound. He made it to the bottom step. He could almost taste the chips. He began walking down the hallway, sliding his hand on the wall as he did. He turned a corner and could see moonlight shining in from one of the big windows in their living room. Now he just had to cross the living room and go into the kitchen. He took a few steps towards the living room and then froze. He heard something. It sounded like someone was crumpling up a paper bag… or like a bag of chips. He looked into the living room and his heart dropped into his stomach. Gaara was sitting on the sofa, eating Kankuro's BBQ chips. Fear overwhelmed him, and he realized that he was breathing hard. He normally wouldn't be so terrified of his little brother. But now at this moment there was no one to help him if Gaara decided to attack. Gaara had attacked Kankuro before, and their father had to intervene. But at this moment his father was asleep. He quickly placed his hand over his mouth to stifle his own breathing. Had Gaara heard him? Had Gaara seen him? He had to get back to his room. Now! He quickly turned around and tiptoed towards the steps.

"Want some?"

Kankuro could feel the color drain from his face as he heard his little brother speak. He turned around and saw Gaara standing behind him with the bag of chips, and an evil smirk on his face. Kankuro shook his head. "N- no thanks."

Gaara's evil smile grew wider. He opened the bag and spit into it. Then he held the bag out to his big brother. "Here you go."

Kankuro shook his head again. "No I'm- I mean- that's ok I don't want any."

Gaara's smirk disappeared and his eyes grew darker. "I said… eat them!!!"

Kankuro dashed through the hall, up the stairs, and through the closest door. The door to his eleven year old sister Tamari's room.

"Hmm… Kankuro?" Tamari sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. She looked at her brother. "What are you doing?!"

"G-Gaara! He- he's going to get me!"

Tamari shook her head. "Your pathetic."

"No really Tamari! He's out in the hall right now! Trying to break into your room!"

Tamari looked towards the door and listened. "I don't hear anything."

Kankuro stopped and listened. He didn't hear anything either. Then he realized that he hadn't even noticed if Gaara had chased him. "Oh…"

"Your pathetic." Tamari repeated. "Now get out of my room and go back to sleep."

"No! I- don't make me leave! I don't want to go back out there! Let me stay in here! Just for tonight! I promise I won't bother you! I'll sleep on the floor! Please Tamari? Please!"

"Alright alright… Just be quiet and go to sleep!"

"Okay." Kankuro said as he lay down on the floor by Tamari's bed.

"Get off of the floor dummy."

"Okay." Kankuro did what he was told and climbed into Tamari's bed. He pulled the covers up over his head. "I'm still hungry." he mumbled.

"What?" Tamari asked.

"I'm hungry. That's why I went downstairs in the first place. I was going to eat my chips… but Gaara was down there. And he was eating them… and now they're gone… and I have nothing else to eat."

Tamari looked at the lump under the covers that lay beside her. "What about our popsicles?"

Kankuro thought about it for a second and then remembered the popsicles they had made yesterday. They had left them in the freezer to solidify overnight. "Oh yeah… I forgot about those," Kankuro said and pulled his head out from under the covers. "But there's no way I'm going down there again."

"Ok whatever…"

A few minutes passed and Kankuro almost fell asleep. But both of the siblings sat up in bed when they heard the sound of a door slamming.

"What was that?" Kankuro whispered.

Tamari climbed out of bed and walked over to her window. She looked down and could see a small figure walking away from the house. "I think its Gaara. He just left."

Kankuro jumped out of bed and proceeded towards Tamari's door. "Great!"

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go get a popsicle." he said.

Tamari looked at her younger brother in disbelief. "A few minutes ago you were too scared to leave my room, and now your going downstairs again?"

"Why not? Gaara's gone isn't he? I'll go get a popsicle and then come back upstairs to eat it. Gaara probably wont be back any time soon anyway. He usually doesn't come back until morning when he goes on his creepy night time trips."

"Your right… I think I'll go have a popsicle too."

Both siblings left the bedroom and walked downstairs and into the kitchen. This time it wasn't as scary though. The house didn't seem as dark as it had to Kankuro the first time. He wondered if it was because Gaara wasn't in the house. No evil demon's presence, no dark scary feeling. Although he hated to think that way about his little brother. Maybe the dark didn't seem so scary this time because Tamari was with him. He didn't really know. And he wasn't about to bring it up. Who ever heard of a ninja that was afraid of the dark?

They opened the freezer, and Tamari grabbed the popsicle mold, set it on the counter next to the freezer, and pulled one out. The popsicles were a brilliant blue color. It was a new flavor that the siblings had never tried before. They usually bought more common flavors like orange, or cherry, but this time Tamari had decided to try something different. Kankuro had been apprehensive when Tamari had shown him the blue popsicle mix. "What if its gross and I don't like it? What flavor is it supposed to be anyway? Blueberry?" He had asked.

"No… the package says its mystery berry. And if you don't like it then don't eat it."

Tamari studied the popsicle she was holding. "It looks pretty good."

"Its… different. And I still don't like the fact that we don't know what flavor it is… but I guess it doesn't look that bad." Kankuro's mouth began to water again. Tamari handed the popsicle to her brother. Kankuro quickly shoved it in his mouth. He made a slurping sound as he sucked the juice out of it.

"The flavor is supposed to be a surprise. That's what makes it fun. And since when are you picky about what you eat anyway?"

Kankuro ignored his sister and focused on the popsicle.

"So… is it good?" Tamari asked.

Kankuro nodded his head without removing the popsicle. It was good. It didn't taste anything like he had expected it too. But it was still good.

"See, I told you it was a good idea to try this new flavor."

Kankuro nodded in agreement, again not removing the popsicle from his mouth.

Tamari pulled out a popsicle and began to suck on it thoughtfully.

The sound of a slamming door made both of the siblings gasp. Kankuro accidentally inhaled some popsicle juice and started coughing.

Tamari and Kankuro, afraid to move, both stared at the red headed child that entered the kitchen. Gaara's eyes grew wide for a second as if he was surprised to see them, but the impassive, emotionless look quickly returned to his face and he stared back at them. No. He wasn't staring at them, Kankuro realized. He was staring at the frozen treats in the siblings hands. Kankuro moved abruptly and pulled another popsicle out of the mold and held it out to his little brother.

Gaara looked at the popsicle, reached out to grab it, hesitated and looked up at Kankuro for a moment, and then took it in his hand. He studied it for a second, then shoved it in his mouth just as Kankuro had. As Gaara began to eat his popsicle the tension in the room faded. Tamari and Kankuro relaxed. Kankuro noticed out of the corner of his eye that Tamari had resumed eating her popsicle, so he did too.

All three siblings stood there in the darkness for several moments, their faces slightly illuminated from the moonlight pouring in from a nearby window. There were no words among them. The house was silent, except for the slurping sounds coming from all three siblings. Tamari and Kankuro concentrated on their popsicles, not daring to look up and make eye contact with their little brother. They had never been alone with their little brother without him either attacking them, or threatening them. But eventually Kankuro found himself looking up from his popsicle every few seconds and stealing glances at his little brother. He wondered if Gaara had ever had a popsicle before. He noticed as Gaara concentrated on his popsicle, that he looked less like a demon and more like a child… like a little brother. The siblings continued to eat their popsicles in silence and Kankuro began to wonder what would happen when Gaara finished eating his popsicle. Maybe he and Tamari should try and leave before he finished. But no. He didn't want to leave. This was strange. Casually enjoying a popsicle with both of his siblings in the middle of the night. This was a very strange feeling indeed. And he wanted it to last. Their father discouraged the two older siblings from hanging around the youngest one for obvious reasons. But now, their father was asleep, and no one could tell him what to do. He was awake in the middle of the night, eating a popsicle with his brother and sister and no one could do anything about it. He felt a childish since of invincibility. The three siblings were almost finished with their popsicles when Tamari suddenly broke the silence.

"Hey, you know what?"

Both of her brothers looked at her.

"Gaara, these popsicles match your eyes. Their like exactly the same color. Weird huh?"

Kankuro stared at his sister, shocked senseless at how she could say something so random and out of the blue to their youngest sibling. How could she even tell what color his eyes were in this dark room? Or was she just stating that fact from memory? But apparently it was the right thing to say, because Gaara just nodded in a agreement and continued to eat his popsicle. Tamari finally finished her popsicle and opened the freezer to put the mold back so the other popsicles wouldn't melt. When the light from the freezer lit the room Kankuro looked at his little brothers face. Tamari was right. Gaara's eyes did match the popsicle exactly. The were the same spectacular color of blue. Kankuro began to think about it. He and Tamari both had green eyes that matched their parents. Kankuro had brown hair like their dad. And Tamari had blond hair like their mom. But Gaara had somehow escaped these traits, and instead had blue eyes and red hair that didn't match anyone in their family. He's different. But he's still part of their family.

Kankuro took the popsicle out of his mouth and stared at it. Maybe things would get better now. This was a good start. He could be in the same room with his brother without being attacked. As long as Gaara had something else to occupy his mind.

Kankuro would be graduating from academy soon. And then he could start going on missions with Tamari. And maybe Gaara could assist them as well. And maybe this would bring even more cooperation between the three siblings.

Kankuro looked up at his brother who was eating the last bite of his popsicle. This was the longest he had ever been in a room alone with Gaara without being threatened. Maybe Gaara wasn't as terrifying as he seemed to be.

All three siblings finished their popsicles. After finishing his popsicle, Gaara quickly exited the kitchen without saying anything and went back outside. Tamari and Kankuro both went back up to their rooms without another word.

Kankuro laid down in his bed and stared at the ceiling again. His final thoughts before going to sleep were, maybe he would get to be a big brother after all. Maybe it would just take a few more blue popsicles.