Chapter 29

-Matsuri's POV-

The morning after my no good, terrible day, I woke up incredibly comfortable and warm. My entire being felt more cloudy with drowsiness than usual in the morning because I'd had so much trouble falling asleep last night.

A soft sigh rose from my chest and I snuggled closer to Gaara, who's arms tightened around my hips in response. The familiar warm feeling that rose to my chest when I thought of him appeared and I moved my fingers in his hair as he rested his head against my chest. He must not have moved much the entire night.

The groggy feeling in my mind slowly began to fade and I realized in horror that the redhead couldn't simultaneously rest against my chest and hug me as low as my hips. His arms would have to be terrifyingly long to reach. Which could only mean…

My eyes shot open and my fears were realized. Kankuro was cuddling my side with his arms around my hips and his legs around mine, while Gaara lay sort of sideways with a hand on my waist as his ear pressed against the center of my chest.

Neither boy was awake and I came to another realization that made me want to cry with disbelief. All of my limbs were asleep except for my left arm, which was loosely hugging the younger brother. I couldn't reach around him to shake Kankuro off without waking him up and I couldn't move my legs because of the older brother's tight hold on them.

My eyes narrowed into a glare as I looked down at Kankuro's peaceful face. That pervert likely cuddled me on purpose because I wasn't awake to smack him for it. When the blood returns to my limbs later, I'll have to give him a belated one.

Gaara's steady breathing changed slightly and I realized he was probably waking up. I was right and he had stirred, but he didn't rise to see my uncomfortable predicament and instead moved slightly off of me so he could lift a hand up to gently rest it against the side of my neck before relaxing once more and seeming to go back to sleep. I wanted to scream in disbelief, but couldn't before Kankuro groaned and I felt him straighten his legs as he stretched a bit A.K.A. letting the blood flow back into my lower body.

He made a slightly confused sound and I glared down to see a look of realization come over him before he tightened his arms around me and pressed his face against my waist. My eyes widened as Gaara stirred again and finally rolled over so he wasn't slightly angled atop me and when he saw my bright red face, he looked down at my body before donning an annoyed expression and pushing his brother's face off of my side with his foot.

The elder Subaku opened his eyes and finally noticed both of us glaring at him before releasing his hold on me with a sheepish grin, "Heh, good morning guys. Sleep well?"

My blood boiled and I threatened him in a low voice, "I'd start running now because once the blood returns to my legs, I'm going to cut your arms off." Gaara removed his arm from across my body and sat up to rub his eyes with a big yawn, looking devastatingly adorable.

"What's the big deal, Matsu? We all cuddled together when we slept outside."

I returned my gaze to Kankuro with a frown, "The only reason we all did that was so we wouldn't freeze to death. You'll be just fine if you keep your filthy hands off me here. This house is heated!"

Kankuro got off the bed and rolled his eyes as he grumbled, "It's not like I tried to kiss you or something, geez," he gestured toward the sleepy redhead sitting on the edge of the opposite side of the bed from where he was standing, "How come you never yell at Gaara for touching you? It's not fair!"

I wiggled my toes and winced when the sharp sensation of blood still returning shot up my legs. In a few minutes, I'll be able to enact my revenge. "Because he doesn't have ulterior motives!"

"He's a guy cuddling a half naked girl. Even Gaara's going to be affected!"

My eyes darted down to see that my shirt was up just above my navel and I frantically adjusted it down with my one usable hand and a bright red face, "Still, I trust him to control himself more than you."

Kankuro, who usually brushes it off when any of us girls yells at him, which was often because he's such a flirt, seemed to be in a bad mood and argued with an annoyed expression, "Why don't we quit assuming and ask him, huh? Gaara," the redheaded boy opened his sleep-heavy eyes to look over at his brother, "Do you have dirty thoughts about Matsuri?"

My mouth fell open in shock and I shook my head, "You don't have to answer that, Gaara. The way he worded it was-"

"Yes."

Kankuro and I both looked over at him with wide eyes. The redhead yawned again before blinking a few times and then getting up to leave the room as though he didn't just admit to being perverted, at least internally. We watched him in silence and once he was gone we met eyes.

"What have you done to him?"

I flexed my toes again and realized the tingling was almost completely gone. "Why would you ask him such a weird question! He might've misunderstood it!"

Kankuro leaned forward to place both of his hands on the bed and smiled knowingly at me, "You two have been hooking up, haven't you? I thought Tenten and Ino were joking, but they hit the nail right on the head."

Finally, my chance arose and I shot up to climb onto his back and get him into a complicated hold. He let himself fall onto the bed as he laughed rather than complained like I wanted him to. "Aw, Matsu, you're finally hugging me! I never thought I'd see the day."

I tightened my hold on him and he made a sound of pain before it morphed into laughter. It was obvious it hurt, but somehow he was working through it, "I can feel your boobs on my back. Squeeze tighter!"

My entire body heated up in mortification and I released him before kicking him roughly off the bed, "You're such an ass, Kankuro! Get out of here before I get your sister!"

Finally, the Subaku man left, but he was still laughing loudly as he did. I shut the door maybe a little too hard behind him before huffing and angrily searching through my bag for some clothes.

After breakfast, we all went outside to confirm that it was, indeed, too icy to do supply runs so we went forward with our plan of sparring today. Everyone's name was written on tongue depressors and placed into a cup. One by one, names were drawn until everyone had a partner.

Satisfaction washed over me when I read Kankuro's name. I wasn't going to hold back. He'd pissed me off and first thing in the morning, at that. I glanced over to see Sasuke and Gaara a ways away preparing themselves, only to be pulled back into focus by my sparring partner approaching with a grin.

"I think it's fate."

Wordlessly, I got into the proper stance and held a glare on his smug face.

"I'm not gonna hold back, Matsu. Don't come at me recklessly or you'll regret it," he warned in a sing-song voice.

I was angry, but I wasn't dumb enough to charge a man twice my size. Even if I'm more skilled than him, his weight and size would offer quite the edge. We sparred uneventfully for a few minutes, him trying to get a hold on me and me dodging while trying to retaliate and failing to land a single hit. I was beginning to breathe a bit heavier, a sign that I really had lost a bit of my edge in the few months without intensive training.

"I thought this was gonna be interesting because you were so mad this morning. Come at me!"

My lips tugged into a frown as I dodged another swipe he made, "You're not gonna get to me, Kankuro, so just shut up." It was very much in his character to try and rile up his opponent with taunts, a fact I was aware of before The Program even ended. I just needed to let his words go in one ear and out the other so I could remain focused.

"No? I think I can. What if I make fun of your height? You're not gonna get angry, smallfry?" I shook my head and moved swiftly to the side before throwing a punch at him, which he dodged, before dashing away to put more space between us.

"Not your height, then. How about…your chest? You're an A-cup, right?"

My face warmed slightly, but I shook my head, "Nope!"

Finally, I was able to catch him off guard and pounced onto his back, getting my arms around his neck and pinning his arms firmly with my legs. If I could hold on for twenty seconds, I'd have him beat. He struggled to try and shake me off for a moment before giving up on that and somehow managing to choke out, "What if I told you Gaara's not a virgin?"

My eyes widened in disbelief, "Huh?!"

Suddenly, I was grabbed under my arms and thrown over his shoulder to be slammed roughly onto my back, knocking the air from my body. Then Kankuro was on top of me and held my wrists against the ground above my head as he grinned smugly, "I knew that'd work."

My lungs burnt as I struggled to pull in a breath with being slammed onto my back and then his weight coming down on top of me. My mouth opened slightly as I tried to tell him he was crushing me, but I couldn't speak so I hit his back with my knees with all my might.

"Don't look so surprised! It was just a joke, Matsu!"

His amused expression started to fall as my vision darkened, "Matsuri? Are you-"

I lost consciousness and couldn't hear him finish his question, only to reawaken soon after in a fit of coughs as my lungs finally received some oxygen. Kankuro was right above me and a heavy look of relief came to his features. I panted for breath once the coughs finished, tears in my eyes.

"I thought I killed you, Matsu!"

My eyes narrowed before I angrily sat up and punched him in the stomach before having to reach out and catch myself from falling when I suddenly felt light-headed. The Subaku man doubled over slightly with an arm around his torso. His voice was strangled, "Yep. I deserved that."

Temari bursted out in laughter and I looked up to see her approach to offer me a hand, "I knew I liked you!"

I accepted it, taking one final deep breath once upright. Sakura touched my arm and I turned to face her, "He had to give you CPR. You should probably take it easy for the rest of the day."

My face fell and I felt the blood leave it, "He what?"

Suddenly fully recovered, the man in question chimed in as he got to his feet nearby, "CPR certified, Baby! I'm your hero!"

Temari grabbed my arm when I tried to attack him again, so I had to settle for yelling at him, "You're the one who crushed my lungs! Jerk!" My throat hurt, but it didn't stop me.

"Gaara, can you take her inside? Make sure she relaxes." My attention was averted as Sakura spoke. The boy in question appeared at my side and I accepted his arm when he offered it for me to lean on, my face burning with humiliation. I squeezed my eyes shut, mortified, when someone whistled at us once we were about to go inside.

After removing all our winter gear, we went upstairs and I fell onto the bed in defeat, groaning loudly.

My fingers hesitantly rose to touch my lips as my face burnt. Before today, no boy's lips have ever touched mine. Kankuro stole my first kiss, even if it wasn't technically a kiss, and I could kill him because of it. My fingers trembled slightly before I let my arm drop to the bed and clenched my hands into fists. At least I got that one good hit in. If we get a chance to spar again, I'll pummel him.

There was movement to my left and I looked over to see Gaara climbing into bed beside me. He noticed me looking after a moment and turned onto his side to face me with an unspoken question on his face. I sighed, turning to face him as well, "Are you going to be mad at me if I actually kill your brother?"

He didn't answer, but I got the sense he wanted to know what had me so upset. With a red face, I dropped my eyes from his and looked at his shirt as I confessed in an ashamed voice, "I feel like he just stole my first kiss. He's probably out there bragging right now."

It was silent for a moment before he responded in a flat voice, "He gave you CPR. It's not the same thing."

I met his eye again and let out another sigh of defeat as I pouted, "I know, but it still feels like it."

His eyes searched mine for a few moments and neither of us said or did anything, but then he hesitantly looked down at my mouth. My heartbeat sped up slightly in my chest and I watched as he slowly brought a hand to cup the underside of my cheek so his thumb could brush gently against the corner of my lips. I blushed and clamped my mouth closed nervously.

Teal eyes met mine once more, "Nervous?"

I nodded, "Not scared, just nervous. I-I'll tell you if I want you to stop."

Gaara didn't say anything or nod to acknowledge that he understood, but somehow I knew he appreciated me clearly communicating with him. The tension in the air slowly built as nothing happened, before he was suddenly on his hands and knees on top of me and I was staring up at him with wide eyes.

I could feel my body trembling nervously, but couldn't do or say anything as he stared down at me with an unreadable expression. One of his hands remained against the bed to hold him up, but the other slightly caressed my jaw to make me more properly look up at him before his finger lightly brushed against my neck.

"Don't move."

His eyes danced between my wide ones and my lips as he slowly leaned in closer. It felt like my heart was about to burst from my chest and once he was within an inch of our noses touching, I squeezed my eyes closed in an attempt to keep from panicking further.

After a moment, I realized he still hadn't done anything, but he spoke before I could say anything, "You're really not afraid?" I opened my eyes to see he hadn't moved a muscle from the moment they'd closed. He looked incredibly hesitant as though he was about to abort his mission.

A soft sigh left my lips and my brow furrowed, "I like you, Gaara. I want you to kiss me. I've just never done this before so I don't know how to act or what to do."

"You want me to?"

A small laugh of disbelief left my lips as my blush heightened, "I have for a week now."

"Why didn't you ask? I didn't know."

Warmth spread through my chest and I lifted my face slightly to brush my nose softly against his before relaxing back against the pillow, "I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with so I was waiting for you to make the first move."

The fingers against my neck twitched at the sudden motion and I felt his breath hitch. I thought he was going to say something, but instead he leaned in the rest of the way and softly pressed his lips against mine. My eyes widened in surprise at how quickly he'd switched from hesitant to determined, but quickly closed as I kissed him back and relished in the electric excitement coursing through my veins.

After a few seconds, he pulled away and my heart fluttered at the soft pink color that lightly dusted his cheeks, "From now on, tell me exactly what you want me to do." My heart soared at the breathless way his voice sounded.

"Did you want to kiss me before today, too?" I asked curiously.

His eyes danced down to my lips like before, "Yes."

I couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at my lips, "Then from now on, if you want to do something, tell me immediately, okay?"

He spoke without hesitation, "I want to kiss you again."

With a burning face, I nodded, "That's one thing you don't have to ask for, okay? You can kiss me anytime you want." My eyes slid closed as he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine again, his fingers curling around the collar of my shirt.