Desert Flowers Still Have Thorns *Completed*

"I'm really, really sorry!" Akane was speechless. In front of him, was a grown man on their hands and knees with the forehead to the ground,  just outside of the apartment door. Having finally managed to sneak out of the hospital and back to his own ramshackle of a house, the young prince had thought it best to just simply forget everything and move on with life as if nothing had happened that day. The past few weeks, actually. It was figured that once Kankuro got his thrills, he would move onto the next victim. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

Here he was, making another scene in front of the door, to be embarrassed in front of all the neighbors. "...Would you get up already?" If only not to be the laughing stock of the area, Akane had no choice but to get the large, obnoxious man away from the front door and at least inside of the apartment. "No!"

"No?" Staring, Akane blinked down at the bowing figure.

"No, I won't come in until you forgive me. I did something really mean when I..." Kankuro's apology ended quickly as he got a hard kick to the head. Blushing while doing so, Akane kept the foot kicking Kankuro over and over again. "SHUT UP! Don't say that kind of thing right here! FINE! I forgive you, just shut up and come inside!" Looking up, Kankuro blocked the painful kicks with a forearm.

"You mean that?"

"YES! Whatever! Just get off your ass and get inside, before someone else sees you!" Grinning, the puppeteer stood. After dusting knees off, he gave a smile while coming towards the door. Stopping in front of Akane, he looked into those pretty green eyes. "Can I kiss you now?"

"NO! Stop saying weird shit!" Pushing the face away, Akane pushed the man inside until he was able to close the door. Once the door was shut and locked, the prince felt the releasing sigh of relief while leaning against the door. "What are you doing here anyway? You got what you wanted right? Don't you have some bar girls to harass now that you had your first man?" Moving to sit on the bed, Kankuro only looked. "What are you talking about? I told you that I like you. Why would I be trying to be another girlfriend?"

"What do you mean another?" Laughing bitterly, Akane moved to stand in front of him. The Vanguard looked tired, eyes still red and watery from crying so much earlier. The sun-kissed skin looked paler than usual, causing the florescent, red, silky strands of hair to stand out even more in its layered, messy cut. "You can't possible think that I'm your girlfriend. I'm not even a girl..."

"Boyfriend then. I know you're a man." Reaching out, Kankuro took carefully the hands of his unwilling lover.

"I won't do that sort of thing to you anymore unless you want me too. I don't care if I have to wait forever, but I don't want you to go back to some place I never heard of and I'll never see you again." Narrowing the eyes, Akane pulled away as he turned his back towards the intruder. "Why would you not want me to be able to go back to my own home? That's pretty fucking selfish of you."

Standing, Kankuro wanted to reach out and hold him. As arms extended, the fists tightened as the arms were forced to return to their sides. "Because you're home is here and with me. " That was about all Akane could take. Losing the last bit of remaining patience, he turned. If the prince had fangs, they would be bared. "That's it! I've fucking had it with you! You just like me because of how I look! That's all you talked about! My hair, my eyes, my height, my weight! You don't like me for anything else!"



"That's not true."

"That is true!"

Taking a step forward, Kankuro looked him square in the eyes. "I like how you look, but I like the rest of you too. Sasuke was right about you, you're damn fearless. You're brilliant too. You really like green tea and plants. You don't even like the smell of meat, all of your ramen is vegetable flavored. You live here because you like warm people, and when I asked to kiss you at the hospital, you nodded. You wanted to kiss me too."

Taking a step back, Akane looked away. "That...That's right. I did want too. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I did it and now I know so.."

"Akane."

The green eyes looked up after heard the name being called. "What?"

"Do you like me too?"

"That...but you left right after you...So I thought..."

"I'll never leave you again, okay?" Frowning more, the prince had run out of arguments. His body slumped while standing, staring at the broad chest of Kankuro's muscled upper body. Sighing, a hand came to brush the messy red bangs from the paling forehead. "...Alright." Smiling, the older man opened his arms up. "Come over here then. Stop running away from me. I won't hurt you again, I swear on my life." Instinctively, Akane took a step forwards before freezing.

"...It didn't hurt that bad. I heal pretty fast, you know..." Laughing, Kankuro motioned with his hands again.

"Stop teasing me. I'm tryin' to be nice here." Snickering as well, Akane took another step forward, but didn't fall into a loving embrace. He stood there, only spaces between Kankuro, looking up into a soft pair of brown eyes. 

"You're really strange, Kankuro. How did you fall for someone who never said a word to you?" Laughing, the man with outstretched arms took a step over to close the gap. Placing the hands on the tanned cheeks of the prince, they gently caressed the soft skin. "I think it was after you yelled at me for the first time. Everything before that was just practice. I'm serious, I'm always serious. I never go into anything just playin' around."

"Yeah, I know that. I know you're serious...but...I just..."

"You're more than worth it to be serious about, Akane. Er...Your Highness...What the hell should I call you?" Chuckling, Akane shrugged.

"No one calls me that, but my court and your brother. Vice-Captain is what the guards call me. You...can call me Akane.  No one really uses anything but titles."

"Akane, look up at me." Slowly, the water-lily eyes looked up. Leaning in, Kankuro was slow with kiss. It was a soft, sweet thing that Akane leaned into. Once again, that sweet swell tickled his nose. It wasn't something he smelled before just now since coming back. Opening the eyelids, he noticed that Akane's eyes were closed. The long eyelashes of the prince looked like butterfly wings, slightly glittered over with the moisture of tears. It would be a long time before Kankuro would figure out why Gaara was so eager to push the prince to his brother.

Shiro, however, wasn't as dense. Sitting in the tub with Gaara as he had his hair washed, the Kazekage and his concubine spoke amongst themselves. "Were you able to gather the pollen sample from the Prince, Shiro?" Shiro gave a nod.

"Yes. The spores matured as expected. We should be able to use it as planned, but let's hope Kankuro keeps him happy. "

"Course he will, my brother is easy like that. Besides, it's a good match. My brother has been looking the world for someone, and here is his chance. Kind of like how you fell in my lap." Shiro had to smile at that, leaning back against Gaara's body. "I fell here, and here I stay."  Moving the long white hair to the side, Gaara moved to drape strong arms around Shiro's thin frame.  The giant python slithered a bit at the touch, wiggling around happy.

"It also doesn't hurt that now that Akane is blossoming like the flower he is, we have access to the most potent neurotoxins this side of the world. We're going to need have to counter Kabuto and Sakura's own chemicals with our own. "  Gaara whispered this information in Shiro's already knowing ear. Giving a nod, Shiro turned to look into the Kazekage's eyes.

"Kankuro is safe with my antidote and Akane's affection. The only reason he got the bad side effects was because Akane was being defensive. Willingly, Kankuro is immune to the sweet smell of death. It's more of a lure of honey instead of a black widow."

Gaara started to busy himself with sliding his wet hands up and down Shiro's cool skin, tracing the living white snake tattoo. "Indeed." Kissing the side of Shiro's neck, the Kazekage no longer wanted to think about his brother's sex life, no matter how deadly it was. "Get out of the tub and go lay on the bed. I'll be out in a few minutes. " Standing, Shiro left dripping wet. Pointing to the towel, Gaara shook his head. Shrugging, Shiro continued to walk with puffs of soapy bubbles attached to the white skin and hair.

Gaara took his time relaxing a bit more, washing himself up before standing and moving to dry his own body. Coming out to the bedroom wearing nothing but a white towel that was on top of his wet red hair, he looked over at the lounging beauty. On top of the layers of specially ordered white fur blankets, Shiro was laying upon his stomach.

The long, pale legs were bent at the knee, swinging back and forth as water and tuffs of white bubble remained stuck to the body, matching the long wet, pure white hair that covered just the top part of his ass. Gaara tossed the towel to the floor before sitting on the bed. Laying his head down, Shiro watched as the giant snake moved around his form. Moving the swinging legs, Shiro tucked the knees under his torso, arching the long back. The hair moved slightly as the positioned shifted to the man having his head down upon a pair of crossed arms and the backside up, the legs slightly spread.  There was a little smile on the man's face as Gaara moved to the bed to position himself behind the concubine.