Hisoka was sitting on Suzume's lap with the girl's arms wrapped around the cat. The cat and its owner's eyes went from side to side, arching a bit as it followed the ball as it was tossed to and fro above the tall net set up in the middle of the room.

They were sitting on the bamboo floor of the sparring room. The sound of skin striking leather echoed around the large, empty area and feet launching off the surface of the bamboo drummed into the beat. Suzume was observing the three shinobi toning themselves on the sport of Mintonette in which the goal was to make a sphere made of hard fabric make contact with the opposing team's territory over the net.

The Sand village was the most sport oriented Hidden Village amongst the Five Great Nations. In the past, shinobi would duel in hand to hand combat or even with weapons as a way to resolve differences. But this caused way too any internal casualties and the second Kazekage experimented with a way to decrease the deaths. He, along with a couple of his advisors, created multiple games that can make use of shinobi's abilities that had less risk of blood being spilled. The sports provided a way to compete with others without resorting to violence and soon were incorporated into the very heart of the village system. Sports were essentially founded and advocated in the Sand and was the reason why these games even became as popular as they were in the present. The people of Suna are very obstinate in recognizing their acknowledgement on that subject. Although, the sport of Aqua Aerobics was created in the Mist Village much to the displeasure of the Suna shinobi.

It was that time of the year where the Institute of Shinobi began its annual sports festival. Each class was assigned a sport and they were to train to essentially win in that field. The winner gets bragging rights and prize money. Likewise, the teachers and the teacher interns will also be competing for their class and since the Kazekage children were teacher interns at the Institute they were expected to participate. This year, they had been given the sport of Mintonette.

Suzume was enjoying watching her three siblings passionately practicing. It looked like they were having a lot of fun. Temari had her hair up in a single ponytail instead of her usual four tailed style and was wearing a tight tank top that showed off her hourglass figure. Sometimes when the training got heated, she would take off the tank top to reveal a sports bra and a bit of a 6 pack. Since all of her shinobi regimen was focused on her arms in order to swing her heavy metal fan, she'd put less emphasis on her abs which led to them fading a bit. She also had on very short shorts and was barefoot like the others.

Kankuro had on a very skintight jersey that, unlike his usual baggier outfits, accentuated his muscular body. His hair had grown out enough for him to be able to pull it back into a tiny bunny tail. That's what Temari called it as it reminded her of the brown desert rabbit's tails. Kankuro had been the one to say that they shouldn't be wearing shoes while practicing in order to achieve a bit more power in their leaping skills. Their knee guards and tennis shoes were neatly placed to the side of the room.

Gaara had on the same outfit as his brother, shirt and basketball shorts, but Suzume saw that he had less muscle mass compared to the others. Actually, it appeared like he just began to condition his physique. Gaara had told her that he'd relied mostly on his sand to fight in battles, never doubting its Absolute Defense, as everyone termed it. But Temari and Kankuro had advised him to build up his other specs ever since the raid on Konoha failed. Even if they wouldn't admit it, those two were worried that he wouldn't be able to defend himself should his sand be bypassed once more.

"Gaara!" Temari's mouth was spread into a horrifying smile as she readied to hit the bump pass from Kankuro. "Prepare yourself!"

The redhead seemed to steel himself as he locked his arms in the proper position. He made a fist with his right hand and put his left hand around it, making sure his thumbs are out and pointed forward. Gaara did it almost on instinct, showing how much he had trained.

Temari leapt into the air gracefully but with intense power. Her expression as she was about to strike the ball at Gaara made Kankuro wonder if their sister remembered that the person she was aiming at was their brother, not a student who, for the past month, has been hitting all hundred billion nerves in her body. The blonde's hand came down onto the ball and Suzume couldn't even follow the path it took as it shot forward like a torpedo.

Gaara winced when it ricocheted off of his forearms and it flew to the side. It bounced slightly before rolling then coming to a standstill. He stared at the ball for a second before looking down and speculating the cracks in his sand armor. The young brunette spectator looked on in anxiety.

"Oi, Temari," Kankuro chided. "It might not be able to hurt Gaara, but can't you at least try to pull your punches? The ball won't last at this rate."

Even as Kankuro said it, Suzume, who had ran to fetch the ball, picked it up only for it to completely deflate.

"That was the second," Gaara commented. "One more and you can be a Mintonette ball serial killer, Temari."

"Sorry," Temari's eyes hooded and her eye twitched. She was smiling in derangement. "Imagining that kid's face on the ball might not have been a good idea. I can't seem to contain my rage."

"I'll go get a replacement," Suzume told them when she came up to where they were standing. She held up some towels for them to use. "You guys should rest for a few."

"Thanks a ton, Suzume," Kankuro said after wiping the sweat off his forehead with the towel.

Temari grinned down at her. "You've been a real help, kid."

Suzume's eyes lit up, indicating that she was pleased with the gratification. She turned and ran to the rice paper door. "Let's go, Hisoka!"

The cat strutted after the girl and the pair disappeared out of the room.

It was difficult for Suzume to explain how another ball had been damaged to the point of being unusable to the people in charge of the gym equipment. But in the end, they couldn't exactly say no to the Kazekage's children. Ball secured under her arm and an umbrella over her head in another, Suzume ran back to the mansion from the Institute, her blue cat at her heels.

She was just rounding the corner of the building to head to the back when a group of kids appeared from down the street and one of them spotted her.

"Was that the animal freak just now?" one of them blinked. "I saw a girl with a cat run to the back of the Kazekage's place."

"As if," his friend scoffed. "Must've been your imagination."

"Right? Like she'd be allowed to loiter around the mansion," another laughed.

"But I saw something."

"You don't think that rumor about Gaara-sama adopting a girl means her, do you?"

"Why would they want to adopt a rat like her?" the second guffawed. "Something like that wouldn't happen in a million years!"

"Come on, we should hurry if we want to watch our sensei practicing."

The boys went on their way.

_

Suzume walked in apprehension and amazement at the amount of people that were around them. The usually quiet, passive aggressive populace was gathered in the Institute chattering and talking animatedly amongst each other. There were bets being made and food stalls were racking in the bills selling their cold ice cream and popsicles. Even with the air condition on, the sheer mass of body heat was enough to heat the place back up again.

"Now, where are the locker rooms again?" Temari muttered as she and the boys plunged into the throng.

"Aren't they near the gym?" Kankuro mused as the crowd slowly parted and the noise died down at their presence.

"And where's the gym?"

"Near the west wing," Gaara answered, ignoring the whispers of his name and concentrating entirely on his family.

Suzume noticed the fear and hatred filled gazes locking onto her brother and felt the need to speak up. Don't look at him like that! Why are you glaring at him!? You people don't even know him.

She was about to say all of those things as she opened her mouth but something interrupted her.

"Hey! Isn't that the freak?!"

"It can't be. She looked like she was at death's door last time we saw her. That girl is too healthy looking."

"But there's no mistake! That's definitely her!"

"What the hell is she doing here?"

The comments from the children all drew attention onto her instead of Gaara. The adults seemed to be fighting between which person they didn't want their kids to be near the most. The freak or the monster.

There was a sudden pain in Suzume's temple and she made a squeak of surprise when the can of soda hit her head.

"Go and rot, animal freak!" one of the little boys on the sidelines spat at her. "We don't want you here!"

"Yeah!" another shouted. "You'll ruin everything!"

The young brunette lifted a hand to the bruise forming on her face, her eyes downcast. That's right... who was she to defend anyone. It's not like these people would listen. Somebody chucked another can and it was aimed right at the back of Suzume's head.

In a flash, somebody caught the tin can one handedly. The girl whipped around just in time to see Temari crush the can like it was made of parchment paper. The soda exploded out once its encasement had compacted and the carbonated drink dripped down to the floor.

"Not only did you insult both my ototo and my imoto..." everyone strained to hear Temari's whispered words, holding their breaths. A hellishly intimidating aura discharged from the blonde's form as her eyes rested on a sniveling Genin. "You... you just threw this intending to seriously hurt Suzume, huh? Surely you know what type of injury would result if this had hit the back of her head with that much strength."

The shinobi gulped as Temari's frightening figure loomed over him, his knees knocking against each other. Temari's eyes slid over to land on the rest of the crowd, who froze up at her icy stare.

"I can assure you, Gaara's not the only murderer in this family," Temari daunted. "And if anybody dares to hurt or affront my siblings again, I'll use that person to demonstrate exactly that."

Temari dropped the dented can onto the ground carelessly and, wrapping an arm around Suzume's shoulders, dragged her to where the boys were standing. They left the people to collectively relax once they were gone.

. . .

"Temari-sama!" Suzume said in worry as the three changed into their uniforms in their assigned locker room. "If anything, that was going overboard!"

"That? Overboard?" the puppeteer snorted. "You haven't seen overboard yet, Suzume. That was mild, jan."

"But couldn't you get disqualified for misconduct?!" the girl was out of her mind with concern. "And after all the practice you went through!"

"You're saying that I shouldn't have done anything?" Temari asked seriously. "Even when they treat Gaara like that I'd like to sock them one on the face. I only keep quiet because he told me not to do anything. But if anybody dares to hurt him or any of you, even my promise to Gaara is negated."

"But-"

"No buts," the blonde ended the discussion. "If we get disqualified, we get disqualified. Not like anything's on the line."

"Except for our dignity," Kankuro refuted.

Temari smirked. "Yeah, but who needs that?"

The young girl was about to resume her qualms when somebody knocked on the door.

"Please head out to the court. It's almost time for the match," a man's voice informed them.

"We'll be right out," the male brunette replied, finishing tying on his guards with finality. "Looks like we weren't disqualified after all."

"See?" Temari grinned in victory, "They don't give a shit, Suzume."

Suzume gave up on her argument and went about making sure the shinobi had put on their equipment correctly. As they went out the locker room, she grabbed her bag and rushed after her siblings. She had a flush on her face as they paused in the middle of the passageway the competitors' enter the gym through. The sound of cheering from thousands of spectators came from the blinding light ahead of them, the audience roared as their opponents made their appearance at the opposite end of the gym.

"Take good care of us, manager," Kankuro smiled as he ruffled up his little sister's hair.

Suzume nodded, nervous and eager tremors going down her spine. "L-losing isn't an option."

Temari barked with laughter. "It's not a possibility either."

"Gaara-sama," Suzume's onyx met Gaara's sea green. The young girl made a fist, her eyes blazing with confidence in him. "Please show them who's boss."

The oldest pair of siblings' laughter reverberated throughout the tunnel, bouncing off the walls and just growing in gusto. Suzume's face grew as red as Gaara's hair.

"Those slangs don't work when coming out of your mouth, Suzume!" Kankuro guffawed as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Suzume looked down at her feet and pouted. She was caught by surprise as Kankuro pushed her forward by his arm still around her shoulders. Temari was on her other side, determination apparent in the way she took her strides. Then the young girl's eyes were drawn forward and they widened. Gaara was leading them, the light wrapping around his figure like a heavenly embrace as they stepped out into the stadium.

Suzume heard the words right before the sound of the audience stunned her eardrums for a moment. Her awe of Gaara continued as her brother said:

"I will."

_

In the end, they got second place. Gaara got a bit too excited and he instinctively used his sand to intercept a ball that would have given the opposing team the leading point. Their opponents won by default.

"Gaara..." Kankuro was slightly disconcerted about how to approach this situation. "It's really okay."

The redhead was out of it. Ever since his blunder, he hadn't uttered a single word and his absolute astonishment had transitioned into numb depression. Even as his siblings watched Gaara put on his sandals on the wrong feet and sat staring at them for more than necessary to discern what was out of place.

"It's probably that, y'know," Temari whispered to Kankuro.

"That?" the puppeteer inquired.

"Shock. He's never made a mistake like that before," Temari leaned ever closer to the brunette. "And remember how he promised Suzume that he would show them who's boss."

At those words, Gaara tensed up dramatically in his gloomy corner of the locker room. Temari and Kankuro sweatdropped at his reaction.

"Should we do some damage control before Suzume comes back with the water bottles?" Kankuro suggested.

But before Temari could answer, the door opened and that same Suzume entered. Everyone in the room was apprehensive, wondering what would happen next. Gaara's pride hung on Suzume's reaction.

The young brunette inhaled a deep breath after lowering the plastic bag full of cold water bottles onto the floor. She lifted up the same fist she had lifted up at the start of the competition and met them with eyes filled with passion.

"W-we'll get them next time!" she announced in an attempt at being a serious manager. Stars were forming around her head before crumbling and fading away.

"Oooh!" Kankuro gave her a thumbs up at her effort. "Nice, Suzume!"

Suzume dropped the act and went around passing the water around, a childish gleam in her eyes. "I'll cook up a feast tonight! I already have all the ingredients at home so we can go straight to the mansion."

She ran over to the redhead and held up the water. He accepted it but averted eye contact.

"Gaara-sama, is everything okay?" Suzume's eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Are you hurt somewhere?"

"Gaara thinks you're disappointed in him," the blond kunoichi sneered as Gaara threw her a glare. "For not winning the competition."

"He's REALLY depressed, jan," Kankuro went on, trying to stifle his laughter. "We're worried he might start crying."

The pair shrunk under Gaara's "I'm going to kill you later" glare. Suzume twirled around and looked up at him with a fiery air and the redhead had to focus his attention onto her.

"I'm not disappointed at all, Gaara-sama!" she declared. "I thought you were super cool!"

In the future, Temari and Kankuro will never, never, let what happened next go. A blush rose from his neck all the way to his hairline, the pigment as red as his hair. He looked like he would die from overexposure to heat.

"I wouldn't even have the right to be disappointed," Suzume continued, completely oblivious to Gaara's heat emitting embarrassment. "When I was watching from the bench, I was amazed at how you can calculate and execute things that quickly and efficiently. You could tell how smart you were and how hard you worked. You're just that incredible, Gaara-sama!"

"And I'm sure that feeling reached others too!" Suzume said firmly. "I don't know why they're treating you like that when you're so nice, but I believe they'll be able to come around! Because you're not a bad person!"

"So!" the young brunette clenched her fists. "Please don't be sad, Gaara-sama!"

There was a small silence where the people in the locker room were gathering their thoughts.

"Thank you, Suzume," Gaara said finally.

Suzume nodded.

"However, I will still honor my promise." Gaara slid on his gym bag onto his shoulder and tossed a jacket on top of Suzume's head. Once she was able to peek out from under her brother's hoodie, she saw the trio of shinobi waiting for her at the door. Gaara's sea green eyes shown in purpose, "But, perhaps on a larger scale than Mintonette."

"Say it~" Kankuro and Temari taunted, their eyes cut in half mockingly.

The redhead's mouth twitched but then he closed his eyes for a moment before looking to the side. "I'll... show them who's boss..."

"That's for sure," Kankuro chortled as he opened the door for them to leave. "Make sure to wear that jacket, Suzume. It's already night and it's pretty cold, jan."

"Hai~" Suzume yawned.

Temari blinked. "Tired?"

"Kind of..."

"Isn't almost time for your sleeping cycle to begin?" Gaara asked.

"Yes," the young girl pouted. "But I don't want to sleep yet. I wanted to cook tonight."

Kankuro crouched down in front of his sister, Temari relieving him of his duffel bag. "Here, get on. We'll wake you up when we get home."

"What if you can't wake me up, Kankuro-sama?"

Kankuro thought it over carefully, then smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, jan. Big brother's got you."