Beside You In Time
Prologue - He Who Mends the Broken
Kankuro Sabaku lived a fairly simple life by most accounts. The twenty five year old Pennsylvanian, ran his own carpentry-repair business in Castile Hill from a workshop located on the ground floor of the same building as his modest two bedroom apartment. A two bedroom which had become lonely as hell ever since Gaara traded the gritty neighborhood where it was nestled for ritzier pastures, specifically their dad's place in Redwood. The township of Redwood was a lavish spread just a few counties over, where the population lived behind key-coded gates, touted landscaping worthy of the Botanical-fucking-Gardens and drove Bentleys as a matter of course. Despite its proximity Redwood was a world apart from the blue collar makings of Castile Hill; one which Kankuro had voluntarily abandoned at seventeen, after swearing he wouldn't take a dime from the bastard whose negligence cost his mother her life and consequently his little brother most of his sanity. Through eight years of estrangement, the Sabaku had never once regret his decision to cut ties with his father nor had he looked back to the glitz of Redwood, aside from checking up on his siblings periodically.
Kankuro survived well enough on the path he'd chosen. The young artisan - known as 'Saba' around the Hill - made a healthy profit through his work; enjoyed five nights a week at his boxing gym, kept a tight circle of good if eccentric friends, and maintained an active social life. Since Kankuro had a habit of fleeing from commitment like a bat out of hell, the latter tended to consist of a small rotation of casual hook-ups. All of whom swore that if they stuck around they'd eventually claim the ruggedly handsome man as their own. Unfortunately for them, the tried and true bachelor had done several relationships in his time and long since decided that shacking up was for the birds. His straight friends often assumed dating as a gay man was some sort of nag-free sexual heaven. To which Kankuro clarified that whether your partner was a man or a woman, as soon as people crossed out of the sex-friends zone "nag-free sexual heaven" eventually became the "calling constantly, checking through your phone behind your back, needy, jealous, withholding sex while demanding a key to your apartment" hell of monogamy. And rather than endure that kind of torture, the Sabaku chose to occupy himself with other more pleasurable and far less harrowing pastimes ... All this of course, only when he wasn't busy over at the JDP Center.
The Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Center, held a court mandated program to help local offenders clean up their acts ... Kankuro had found his way there after his sister plied him with free booze and a fancy dinner, then suggested (read: demanded) that he "take a few weeks and lend a hand to some brats less fortunate than their own demonic little brother" since she herself didn't have the time. Considering Temari recently made partner at their dad's firm ... Kankuro maintained a healthy suspicion that he was simply being used in her never ending pursuit of good PR for the company. On one hand, Kankuro absolutely hated the thought of helping to improve his dad's image even indirectly. But on the other, Temari - a demon in her own right - was perhaps the only person on the planet with the ability to intimidate him. Plus the blond never asked for favors, and so the troublesome idea lingered in his sister's wake. Along with the business card of the JDP's Administrator whom the eldest Sabaku had already taken liberty of telling to 'expect his call' on her behalf.
Kankuro spent two weeks swaying between considering calling and forgetting the whole thing entirely. Temporary or not, committing to that sort of volunteer shit was just, well ... a huge fucking time-consuming commitment! And aside from the way Kankuro felt about that particular word, the brash Sabaku could hardly be mistaken for Mother Teresa. Sure, he'd personally walked a borderline psychotic back from self-destruction countless times before Gaara managed to stabilize; but just keeping his younger brother out of a casket had been one of the most incredibly annoying and draining ordeals of Kankuro's young life, even if it had proved worthwhile in the end. So sacrificing his well deserved chill time yet again to mentor a bunch of delinquents who weren't related to him ... didn't exactly strike the Sabaku as the most appealing of options. Somehow though (after several nights of a recurring nightmare depicting his gruesome murder by Temari's hand) the brunette found himself making the call anyway, then crossing town to tour the Center one idle summer day ... Completely unaware as he did so, that the arbitrary decision would alter the course of his entire future.
That August day proved to be the very same on which Kankuro first met Kiba Inuzuka: a rough mannered, sixteen year old dropout … with a curious set of fang markings on either cheek, who was serving the last half of his probation. Their exchange had been superficial at best. Nothing more than a meeting of gazes then a mention about Kankuro's shirt, which bore the logo of SUNA the gym where he boxed. But even in passing, the handsome Inuzuka's wild yet desolate brown eyes had inexplicably burned themselves into Kankuro's mind, then followed him home, crowded his thoughts, haunted his dreams ...
Kankuro was formally inducted into staff training three days later.
Though Kiba had secretly been his selling point, Kankuro kept his motives chaste once he began working. Maybe not his fantasies ... but his motives at least. Kiba was admittedly the first in a long while to capture the Sabaku's complete attention at a glance; however, the attractive brunette was far from hard up for willing partners. Not to mention no matter how ridiculously good-looking the kid was, Kankuro had no intention of getting involved with a goddamn runaway who was nine years his junior ... OR bringing anything unrelated into his work at JDP. Bearing this firmly in mind the carpenter shook off his testosterone related distractions and stepped into his volunteer duties at the Center, intending to finish the four weeks he'd agreed to as fast as possible.
Since Kankuro was close enough in age to ride the line between peer and authority, he bonded almost instantly with most of the program but - contrary to his better judgement - especially with Kiba Inuzuka. Through their increasing interactions Kankuro discovered that Kiba was unshakably loyal to the people he respected, had a big heart, an even bigger mouth and an almost ridiculously short temper. Furthermore he'd been kicked out of his house after his hundredth arrival home in a cop car, and just couldn't seem to stay free of trouble ever since. A fault which according to the Center's administrator, had the Inuzuka teetering one violation away from being sent back to Juvie.
After learning the whole of Kiba's situation and glimpsing the warmth hidden behind the young brunette's street hardened veneers, Kankuro couldn't help but take extra interest in him. The Sabaku found himself discreetly extending his time limit for working at the Center day by day, until Temari's proposed 'few weeks' of standing-in had become a full six months ... all because of one damn kid. It was ridiculous, Kankuro knew that well enough. He had a business to run! He knew he was playing favourites, not to mention taking on way more responsibility than was required. Yet like moth to flame he was unable to brush aside his powerful instinct to protect the fiery stray, who reminded him so much of himself and his little brother at the same time.
Surprisingly Kiba, who usually couldn't stand anyone telling him what to do, happened to take to Kankuro as well. His sharp sense of perception quickly sniffed out the fact that the Sabaku was genuine and as down to earth as they came. It sure didn't hurt that the carpenter was sexy as hell either ... as most of the female staff loved gossiping about in coy whispers that were so ineffective they seemed almost designed to be overheard. Though the gossip got on his last nerve, Kiba couldn't help but agree with them. Almost everything about Kankuro was sexually appealing. His husky voice, those dark green eyes, his cocky smile and jesus christ that body ... The first time Kiba laid eyes on the fit Sabaku, he had within two seconds mentally stripped Kankuro naked, imagined all the ways their present situation could turn into a scene from a hardcore porno, then subsequently had to cover up his lecherous stare by pretending he gave a shit about what was written on the guy's t-shirt ... However after Kankuro officially began working at JDP, Kiba filed his illicit attraction under lost causes then resigned himself to appreciating the older brunette from the safety of his fantasies. The world wizened teen knew how life worked all too well. Odds were Kankuro wasn't likely to be gay in the first place or interested in someone younger; and even in the unlikely possibility that he was either, the Sabaku just didn't strike Kiba as the type to mix his business with pleasure. Considering the carpenter had recently been assigned to Kiba's case, the Inuzuka had no doubt into which category he currently fell.
Thus, with an unspoken mutual restraint the two drifted into their duty bound acquaintance which gradually evolved into a mentorship that was productive ... Aside from the hefty amount of time the equally stubborn alpha-males spent on the verge of killing each other. Kankuro by nature was generally not a fan of 'tact' or 'compromise' and so he tended to be overbearing in his methods. But as much as Kiba initially hated to admit it, the elder male was seldom wrong in his cautions or advice ... In fact, he'd never once steered the Inuzuka astray. Under the Sabaku's vigilant support, one year later (and four months after his seventeenth birthday) Kiba was firmly set on the right track. The rebellious teen had yet to patch things up with his mother who'd heard the phrase 'I've really changed!' about a billion times too many to take it at face value. But he had a steady job part-timing at a convenience store, a rented room of his own and was only one week shy of starting the course to obtain his high school equivalency. For the first time in life and due largely to Kankuro, Kiba's future was bright rather than bleak --
Or at least ... it had been.
Until the bitch that was karma, had come knocking in repayment for past sins.
