#gear mizugameza

[lacnunga]

sort of but also sort of not for junebug month. Includes some OCs so im not going to tag it as junebug2k17 but it was inspired by it. kintsugi and half of gear belong to @iron-loaf

How would you describe Shino? Maybe you would start with his appearance, not that there was very much of him to see, layered under his thick coat and sunglasses. But his skin is pale and wan, almost translucent as though always recovering from an illness. Meanwhile his hair is thick and stands up around his head like an earthen corona. Nobody had ever seen his eyes, and there are persistent rumours that he doesn’t have them at all. Still, despite being so wrapped and tucked and buttoned up, his very lack of threatening features could send chills down your spine. He was like a lioness crouching in the grass; you might not see her teeth glistening, but you know she’s there, and she could pounce on you at any mome-

“You’re staring.” Shino pointed out, a pointy eyebrow twitching above his glasses.

Day 1 – Shino

 How would you describe Shino? Maybe you would start with his appearance, not that there was very much of him to see, layered under his thick coat and sunglasses. But his skin is pale and wan, almost translucent as though always recovering from an illness. Meanwhile his hair is thick and stands up around his head like an earthen corona. Nobody had ever seen his eyes, and there are persistent rumours that he doesn’t have them at all. Still, despite being so wrapped and tucked and buttoned up, his very lack of threatening features could send chills down your spine. He was like a lioness crouching in the grass; you might not see her teeth glistening, but you know she’s there, and she could pounce on you at any mome-

“You’re staring.” Shino pointed out, a pointy eyebrow twitching above his glasses.

“Huh?” Gear blinked, shaking their head quickly.

“I was just…aren’t you hot? I’m boiling, dude.” They said. Despite being a Suna shinobi, Gear’s tolerance to heat was low and if there was ever an area that they excelled in, it was complaining.

“No. Why? Because the kikai I host are naturally adapted to hot climates. In order to keep themselves at level temperatures, they sap the heat from an Aburame’s body, leaving us feeling colder than our peers.” He explained, his deep voice smooth and rhythmic. It was something Gear liked about the guy – he had a true lecturer’s voice, soothing and steady. He didn’t stutter or stop or rewind and try to re-explain himself. He methodically took apart a problem and laid it out so even the thickest student could understand it.

“Right. You sure? Sparring gets everyone hot and bothered. Wouldn’t want to see you fainting like a damsel in this heat.” Gear teased. They heard Shino give a disdainful sniff.

“I have never fainted in my life.”

“Liar!” Gear called out cheerfully, pulling themselves up from the log they had been lounging on, and starting on some easy stretches. Shino also stood up, brushing dry grass from his trouser bottoms. His one concession to the heat was the rolling up of his long sleeves. From the wrist up his skin looked pock-marked, bumpy like braille code. Gear had been fascinated when he’d seen them the first time but Shino had stiffened and pulled his wrist back like he’d been burned when they looked at him for longer than a few seconds. It had taken a while to convince him that Gear wasn’t about to make fun of him or to turn their nose up in disgust. Besides, by this point Gear had revealed some pretty disgusting information about themselves (‘once I trapped in a cave in and every few days I’d turn my underwear inside out and pretended it was clean. Thankfully you couldn’t smell it over the decomposing bodies I had to room with. Did you know corpses fart?’) so they were just about even at this point.

Still, being called a liar made Shino narrow his eyes at Gear, the effect of which being somewhat spoiled by the fact he was wearing sunglasses. Thankfully, this is where killing intend came in very useful.

“Whaaat? C’mon, we’ve all fainted some time or another. I walked in on kitty, uh, polishing the brass if you know what I mean, and I swear my higher functions fried in self-defence.”

“You have higher functions?”

“Oi!”

“Are we going to fight or will you try to talk my head of-“ He suddenly dropped to the ground as a flurry of shuriken sailed over his head with a high whistling sound. He glared at Gear who had the nerve to look innocent, as though it truly was the willow tree behind him that had so dishonourably attacked him a moment ago. Gear shrugged.

“You know what they say, honour to a shinobi is just a list of what you’re doing wrong.”

“Hmm. That does seem appropriate to you.”

While Shino talked, a thing, steady stream of kikaichu streamed from his body and our of his sleeves, dropping surreptitiously to the ground, fanning out amongst the grass. The dismissal of smack-talking was a great oversight of the Academy curriculum in Shino’s opinion; not only could it incense or confuse the opponent, it also distracted them from the small traps he could lay out. Like-

Gear barely managed to dodge the pincer swipe the kikaichu executed, sweeping up from the grass like sharks from the sea, snapping giant swathes of oil-black bugs through the air where the tan flak vest was but a second ago. From then, it was a blur- the kikaichu painted shapes in the air as they ceaselessly tracked the Suna nin as they dodges, ducked, jumped and at one point flung themselves into a twist mid-air to escape an exploding tag that seemed to appear out of nowhere, before landing in a handstand and collapsing ungracefully into the dirt. The dust had barely settles when the kikaichu descended. Under his collar, Shino smirked.

He was about to declare his victory when the kikaichu buzzed in distress just as the swarm was enveloped in a cloud of white smoke. A faint rustle alerted him and he fell to one knee, swiping at knee-height, trying to knock the real Gear off their feet. Instead, his scything hand banged against a shin-pad hidden under black cloth.

Shino squinted up against the blazing sun into a face he’d so far had the pleasure of avoiding. His expression seemed mirrored on Kankuro’s purple-painted visage. One lined lip twitched downwardly as Shino collected himself.

“Gear!” He called.

At Shino’s feet, the ground crackled, crumbled and then split like a gaping chasm. Gear’s head popped up from the hole, putting the viewer in mind of a demented daisy, or perhaps a mole on a particularly good crack.

“Kitty! Is this an emergency?”

Kankuro snorted, hooking his thumbs in his pockets.

“Nope.” He seemed determined to ignore Shino. The Aburame bristled.

“C’mon, man. I was gonna win!”

“No, you weren’t.” Shino chimed in, hands deep in pockets. His bugs had returned to him, but picked up his feelings of discomfort. They certainly weren’t the ones who had fought Kankuro in the chuunin exams; kaiki only had a lifespan of a few hours, their adaptations growing with every new generation. However, they remembered, and Shino’s hive remembered Kankuro as ‘ENEMYDANGERATTACKFLEEATTACK’ and he was having a…difficult job keeping their effects on his emotional state minimal.

“Admit it. I had you beat, my guy!” Gear whined.

Not to be beat, Shino opened his mouth to argue-

“I hate to break up your date, ladies, but we need to head back. Temari wants to have one last talk through the agreement before we present it to the council tomorrow.” Kankuro said, although his voice suggested he’d like to be basically anywhere but with Temari and her flow charts, including but not limited to, cleaning the visitors’ loos.

Even Gear wrinkled their nose.

“Why do I have to be there? We know you only brought me along to have someone to complain to. I don’t know anything.”

“That’s obvious.” Kankuro sighed, “Bottom line; if I have to suffer through this lecture, so do you. A problem shared is a problem-“

“Doubled. Urgh, fine. You’re a big baby, but sure I’ll hold your hand through the lecture. Y’know, sometimes I swear you’re just jealous that roly-poly and I spend so much time together. You time these things, don’t you?” Gear muttered. Kankuro immediately turned a deep red.

“I- pfft, that’s ridiculous. I don’t care if you, uh, if you spend all your time with G- Gaara. I don’t care. Date Akasuna no Sasori, for all I care. See? I don’t care. Go away!” He spluttered.

Shino watched Gear descend on this show of weakness with the glee of a crow on a battlefield. Jealous? As far as he knew nobody had ever been jealous of him. Not even the usual envy of clan heads, or children of noble clans. No, the Aburame clan had never been seen in an appealing enough light for someone to want to take the place of any member. Perhaps…well, Shino could say that Torune had been jealous of him in a fashion. His brother had always been the social one, the one who understood social cues and the bonds of friendship and longed for them beyond the reach of his poisoned skin. Thankfully, he wasn’t the type to deprive another out of spite; no, instead he encouraged Shino to reach out to others, even when his youthful arrogant demeanour isolated him from his peers. He could count his friends on one hand, but what friends they were! Kiba, Hinata. He’d like to count Naruto, but the boy was infectious and he had yet to define where the line of ‘friend’ and ‘passive acquaintance’ was drawn. He put Naruto in a category of his own. Sai, he counted as a friend. Kankuro certainly not – while his dislike for Kankuro was more memory and instinct (and a healthy dislike of poisons), the puppeteer’s in turn was of shame, that Shino had, ahem, quite thoroughly trounced him, not to brag or anything. It was a fact Gear never stopped bringing up when Kankuro started getting too self-satisfied. The very mention of ‘kikaichuu’ popped his balloon promptly.

Gear too could be counted as a friend. Perhaps honourary family member would be more astute, considering how his mother cooed over them, not to mention how they’d picked up his mother’s embarrassing nickname for him. Roly-poly indeed…

Three friends. Perhaps Ino might make the fourth, but their friendship had always been an almost-affair. As children they had shared books and talks and jokes, but as they had grown their interests and personalities had diverged to the point that she had barely recognised him on the last day of the Academy. Yet, once someone became Shino’s friend, he didn’t like letting them go.

Three and a half, perhaps.

Three and a half friends doesn’t sound like a lot, but it was enough. Quality over quantity was something his father had always said, and his father said nothing if it wasn’t true or necessary (his father had assured him that every compliment paid to Shino’s mother was both true and necessary, giving a quiet rumbling chuckle at Shino’s stoic nod, like a soldier receiving important instructions).

“Oi, bug-man. Creep-o. Brokebug mountain, you in there?” A black-clothes hand waved in his face. Shino slapped it away with irritation as Kankuro let out a ‘tsk’ noise. Gear was hopping on one foot as they pulled their sandal off, emptying small pebbles out of the heel. Kankuro was still a little red around the cheeks.

“We’re gonna go now, so…”

“Oh, hey, Shino.” Gear perked up, slipping their shoe back on, leaning on the disgruntled Kankuro, “Tell you mum I’ll be around before we head out again, yeah? And, um,” They gave a sidelong glance at Kankuro before leaning in to Shino as though imparting a huge secret, “can she make the, um, pecan one? We don’t have pecans in Suna”. They stared at Shino with big, pleading eyes. Kankuro rolled his at Gear’s antics.

Shino forced down a small twitch of a smile.

“I doubt she would allow you to leave without more food at any rate. Why? Because she considers you ‘skinny as a bamboo stalk’”. The inverted commas practically dripped from his tongue.

“Fantastic” Gear grinned, before reaching into their equipment pouch. They rummaged around for a moment, pulled something out, shook their head and rummaged around again. Finally, they made a small noise of triumph before pulling out a white square with strings attached. They snapped the face-mask on and turned around with an expectant expression – drawn on the mask was the shape of a munching mouth, with stuffed hamster-like cheeks on either side and crumbs painted on the edges. They whistled under the fabric.

“C’mon then, kitty. The faster we get this over with, the faster we- sorry, I get some of Kintsugi-san’s pecan pie.” They urged, already darting towards the edge of the training field (but not before taking the opportunity to deliver a sharp jab to Shino’s ribs in passing). Kankuro rolled his eye again, and Shino had the thought that one day they would surely pop out and make their escape from his exasperated skull.

“Yeah well. Hang loose or whatever.” He said, ambling after Gear, who had turned to give Shino a last wave. He watched them disappear down the packed-dirt path until they were gone, leaving behind only the lit up forest shimmering in the afternoon heat.

In the quiet of the forest, a deep-voiced chuckle rang out.

#shino aburame #kankuro #gear mizugameza #also pls note this was written in like half an hour with no beta so *shrug emoji* #iron-loaf

[lacnunga]

due to the recent attention quincey and my strange love child has gotten, i’ve decided to do a post of my ‘character building’ aka ‘me just aimlessly rambling at Q in tumblr chat and getting overly invested in our hopeless little loser’. enjoy (or dont idk idc)

Naruto oc Gear

·         platonic bff w/ kankuro

·         i feel like they deserve a mullet. they're completely oblivious to why other people Hate it. they think it's cool.

·         "it feels swishy kank. kank. feels like Wind Country style. kank why are you laughing?"

·         nobody understands why someone 'cool' like kankuro hangs around with this dork

·         its like kakashi and gai. kankuro just shrugs - "dude is a good listener. and they write valentines cards to karasu. they're a weirdo and i love them so back tf off'

·         gear:: nyah

·         kank: what?

·         gear, staring at him through their souless glasses: you know, nyah *makes kitty motions*

·         *gear proceeds to be drop kicked all the way to fire country border*

·         also, nobody know whether gear is male or female or...other?? except their doctor, who enjoys keeping it a secret from a frustrated kankuro.

·         gear has promised him a years worth of buying hi hamburger steaks if he manages to find it out, so kank has some incentive

·         its been nearly ten years...no luck

·         temari doesnt understand the friendship, but its not the weirdest thing her fam is involved in so

·         gear is v scared of gaara though, especially when gaara, in a bid to 'understand his family better' tries to get to know him. gear tries to avoid gaara, but he's. always. there.

·         kank in the end tells gear to Just Talk to Gaara, there's like a 50% chance he won't kill them (if only for kank's sake)

·         wind forwards to a v awkward interrogation session where gear tries to explain the appeal of fireworks and the concept of second hand embarassment

·         no wait

·         i just had a brilliant idea

·         gear is the pioneer of light up ninja sandals

·         are they practical? no way

·         are they weirdly satisfying? hell yeah

·         (when too many shinobi got caught in the field bc their sandals lit up, by decree of the kazekage they can only be worn in the village

·         and preferably never, according to Temari)

·         also gear is a big fan of shino. why? (because I love shino) but Actually because kankuro is still bitter about losing to him

·         so when gear meets shino they make it their mission to become Great Friends, aka the Hoopiest of Froods

·         Rub In That Salt. Can You Taste It Kank? All That Salt.

·         their name is now Gear, or in the japanese version, Giya ギヤ (aka just Gear in katakana - hell, if it works for Lee.) fter visiting konoha kank is sulking bc gear went on and on about how shino was a Cool Guy and had Flair and a certain je ne sais quois ( doesnt know what that means, but it sounds adoring and he Hates it. Gear is his friend, not Shinos)

·         Especially when he remembers that Shino kicked his asssss

·         eventually gear gets ticked off and commisions a cake with big writing on it 'STOP SULKING, KITTY'. kank is weirdly frustrated that gear has remembered his favourite flavour cake

·         gear makes him sarcastic friendship bracelets

·         though gear and shino bond over the fact that nobody knows what their faces/eyes look like. its sort of like an Achievement Unlocked.

·         Gear is then integrated into the Aburame family as a honors member

·         Gets home made pies when ever they visit

·         Kankuro is jelly as usual but does not argue over the pie

·         when shino demonstrates his kikaichuu technique, gear waves their arms around making obnoxious buzzing noises. shino sniggers.

·         hell most things can be forgiven for pie

·         gear actually becomes very good at mimicking the kikaichuu noises so when they go back to suna gear makes the noises when kankuro is least expecting it. the suprised punches to the nose are so worth it.

·         I can just see kankuro just spazzing out before just decking this nerd in the face!

·         Ok but Kin adopts them and loves them but just...just hates their fashion sense more then anything in the world

·         she just eyes their mullet with a twitching brow. gear is holding onto their visor with all their might and watching out for any kunai that might come close to his fabulous mane.

·         lets face it, if shino and gear had a bit of a 'snip snip' training accident, kin wouldn't be disappointed

·         and of course if gear becomes friends with shino, they gotta get along w/ team eight as well. kiba is eyeing their hair with a strange mixture of envy and incredulity. hinata draws gear up some new face-masks. they love them, even the pink floral ones.

·         hinata, handing over the masks: d-do you like them?

·         gear, choked up and holding back sobs: they're fine

·         Gear has a habit of coming to Kank in the middle of the night with the weirdest shit. They knock on his door at three in the morning looking like they're about to cry.

·         G: Kank I've done something awful I'm a murderer

·         Kank is basically ready to help bury a body

·         K:okay okay don't panic what did you do?

·         G: *whispering* I eat eight spiders a year kank. EIGHT SPIDERS. HOW MANY SPIDER ORPHANS HAVE I LEFT TO GRIEVING SPIDER WIDOWS KANK. I'm a MONSTER.

·         K:...go home.

·         K: Spends the night googling 'is it true you swallow eight spiders a year?')

·         i have the idea that gear was a really plain child. you know the kind that never really got noticed and people just realised they were there when they tripped over them.

·         and they finally got sick of it when they graduated the academy like

·         'well now im just going to be so Extra you wont have a choice but to notice me fuck you'

·         now thats not to say they realise the mullet is a bad idea, however it does have the extra incentive of people going 'oh hi- DEAR LORD WHAT'S THAT ON YOUR HEAD'

·         plot twist, they look so completely ordinary under the glasses and mask that even the people who saw their face don't remember it the second they look away

·         surprisingly gear makes an excellent undercover operative

·         Just take off the mask and goggles and visor, fashion their hair a lil, and put on a plain kimmon and BAM Gear is an under cover cop

·         exactly. kankuro is really weirded out by the idea that any of the sort of twenty yo people he passes on the street could be gear

·         Kankuro was terrified of gaara but boy o boy does Gear just raise the steaks a lil

·         They could be anywhere

·         Behind that bush, near the bush, IS THE BUSH

·         one time gear was on a mission with their team and they got separated. in the fight, gear lost his mask, broke his glasses and his visor got tossed. when they returned to their team they had to spend the whole journey back convincing them that 'YES this is me i swear see? im wearing the same underwear!' 'how would we know what underwear you started out wearing?' 'I THOUGHT WE HAD A BOND'

·         they meet kankuro on the way into town and gear is just like 'here, kank is my buddy, he'll tell you im me'

·         'well kankuro-sama, is this Gear?'

·         K:...im gonna be honest i cant fucking tell

·         K:but are they wearing blue boxers with ducks on them?

·         Squad captain: WHY DO YOU-???

·         Kankuro: THINGS HAPPENED OK THEYRE WEIRD AND JUST- DO THEY OR DONT THEY?

·         Gear: *shit eating grin*

·         Temari actually thought those two were together for a long time and they both just missed her euphemistic references to their ahem 'friendship' until Gaara mentions they couldn't put romantic partners on a team together and Kank just

·         ucking falls off his chair like

·         K: Wait what? Since when have we been romantic partners?? News to me??

·         When he talks to Gear about it they seem unfazed just straightfaced tell Kankiro that 'you make my kokoro go doki doki'. Kank doesn't speak to them for a week

·         Aka Gear is once again relegated to the sofa

·         Gear seems to say 'so worth it' a lot

·         Most of the time it really isnt

·         Gears surprisingly good a dancing, specifically the fancy pants type dancing.

·         So bc Kank is the kazekage's brother he's invited to a fancy do somewhere and he brings along Gear as his +1 bc hes a loser w/o a bf/gf. before the do he's just pointedly asking Gear like 'look do i need to teach you how to dance? because there will be dancing. fancy dancing. it will be Expected of You. do you want a dance tutor. are you sure? Are You SURE?'

·         Gear is just waving him off 'Relax kitty, its cool' Kank is just mentally preparing apology speeches for Very Important Peoples' crushed toes

·         the night comes along and Kank is making awkward small talk with some girl who roped him in when suddenly he's yanked away from the convo by Gear

·         before he knows it they're on the dancefloor and SURPRISE gear is waaaay better at dancing than kank's stiff penguin shuffle

·         gear takes great pleasure in dipping him really low at the end

·         and they never let kank forget about it

·         so i dont know if kankuro went to the ninja academy but lets assume he does

·         *did

·         so he and gear are in the same class

·         but gear is of course always forgotten

·         until one day kankuro notices them because IDK he runs into them and knocks them over or something

·         so somehow they hang out that day and kank realises 'yeah this kid is a good one i could hang out with this dude like forever. mine now.'

·         and the next day kank tries to find Gear except

·         the fucker is so Unnoticable

·         kank is just standing in the middle of the room scratching his head trying to figure out who the fuck he was talking to yesterday. gear of course doesnt have their sparkling personality yet and so is too shy/embaressed to go up to kank and remind him that 'hey this is what my face looks like'

·         eventually they do hang out again though

·         and the same thing happens

·         kank gets fed up and brings in his face makeup and like draws reminders on gears face

·         gear is fine with it, just wandering around all day with purple paint on their face

·         except ppl keep making fun of them so kank wears the paint as well as like a solidarity thing

·         of course gear finds his own look at the end of their academy days but kank carries on wearing the paint from then on(also gear used to be the kind of person who cried really easily and the paint showed it ALL up. they weren't too keen on walking around with tear tracks and smudges on their face, so mullet it is lol)

·         sad idea

·         gear is kankuro's first and best friend

·         sure, kankuro has other friends, but no real Friends outside of his fam later on, bc when he was smaller every interaction with other kids was coloured by him being related to the Sand Demon

·         kids didn't want to be friends with him bc they were scared for their lives (and kank threw himself into his puppet making for something to do bc puppets werent to emotionally fickle as kids)

·         so he latched onto gear and they became integral parts of their lives without even realising it

·         one day, gear leaves on a mission. they dont come back. they're declared MIA

·         it varies between villages but generally its one-two months before a MIA ninja is declared KIA

·         kank isnt worried about gear. gear is a tough dude, they'll come back.

·         a week passes and kank isnt worried

·         two weeks passes, and he's getting twitchy, spending more and more time hunched up in his studio, tinkering with his puppets

·         three weeks passes without a sign from gear, and he's wrecked seven puppet prototypes in senseless death battles and he doesnt want to think about why he's become so snappy and easily frustrated

·         (temari pops in on him every so often, forcing sandwiches and energy drinks on him even as he ignores her, whittling down a wooden ball joint with singular concentration)

·         the fourth week draws to a close and kank is visiting the mission room every day, lingering inside the doorway, scaring returning genin teams with his impatient aura. he's making trips around the hospitals in case they had an unidentified body turned in (he knows gear by their scars even if their face just wont stick)

·         saturday rolls around and kankuro is dragging himself down to the morgues, the crematoriums, clamping down on the threatening waves of despair - he asks by name, by description, by the rate of decay on any bodies returned by scavenging teams sent out across the sandy oceans

·         there is no sign of gear, not a peep as the fourth week draws to a close, the deadline for Suna mia operatives

·         he goes to the records office to bear witness as they change the status on gear's paperwork, and he feels hollow, like karasu as the red ink is drawn through the status box

·         he returns to his house, silent. temari is there, waiting, with a worried furrow between her brows (he thinks he even saw gaara, who was so changed since the chuunin exams, peer at him through his bedroom doorway opened just a crack, that emerald stare assessing, before retreating again)

·         he closes the door to his workshop with a calm firmness, blocking out temari's questions

·         kankuro stares at his puppets, propped up on various stands and in the corners, half assembled carapaces that seemed to mock him with their glassy stares

·         he snaps

·         kankuro thinks this is what gaara must have felt like, pulled under by the whirlwind of emotions as he rampages, trashing models and ripping up drawings and smashing incomplete headless, armless bodies. it feels like there isn't enough destruction to match the hole gear's death has left in his own chest and he only stops when his fist pulls its punch instinctively, barely an inch to karasu's face, those lovingly sanded planes and features carved with years of practice and patience

·         now karasu is left, his friend before, during, after Gear, and he never thought there would be an 'after Gear' - gear was only a chuunin, they didn't leave the village on any dangerous missions, not like the sand siblings

·         kankuro doesnt leave his workshop for three days

·         on the third he comes out, with karasu and gathers his supplies. he leaves for the funeral, to send off his friend

·         when they had visited konoha, he's seen their Memorial to the dead - a great stone slab, with their names carved into it, the oldest names almost worn away with time and touch. suna doesnt have a memorial - the souls of their shinobi are memorialised at the Oasis

·         the spirit oasis lies a few hours run outside of the city of suna, towards the east - once, or so the tales go, the oasis was part of a giant aquaduct that fed the blooming gardens of a wealthy empress, a long time before the establishment of the hidden villages. now, the oasis is a forest of crumbled stone and faceless statues, a giant pair of stone legs, broken at the knee marking the entrance. past there runs a river, mysterious in its crystal clarity - many suna scientists have tried to find the rivers origins and where it disappears to, but it remains one of the sand's greatest mysteries

·         it became known as the spirit oasis by the first kazekage, who saw the electric blue lights bob and weave above the rushing waters at night - he took it as a sign, and saw, from the top of the tallest ruin, the great crater that he would build his village in.

·         it is to the oasis that the suna shinobi go to remember their dead, and to let them go. it is where kankuro went. it is where he ended up kneeling beside the gently gurgling river, amongst the offerings of food and sake left behind from the visits of other shinobi. bells tinkle melodious in the soft winds, accompanied by the flutter of the shimenawa papers. he looked into the water, so clear he could see the mosaic tiles on the bottom of the aqua duct, and tried to imagine the corpse of his friend, buried somewhere under the grains of sand, lost, decaying until only his bones are left, to be collected one day many generations down, or simply to be forgotten until the gods reclaimed their peoples. kankuro imagines gear's spirit, their soul, instead, bobbing along in this river, laughing and dancing in the night, blue, bright, electric

·         "I- Geez, I can't believe you're making me say this, you idiot. I guess, I miss you. It hardly feels like you're gone. It's been, huh, i don't know how long. For me, weeks, since you've died, but I guess it only really hit me some days ago. You- urgh, you really always need to have the last word, don't you, G-"

·         Kankuro froze as the wind moaned. It was the wind, right? He knew the reports from the shinobi who had visited this place - odd sounds like groans and moans of the deceased spirits, and the embittered jounin who simply waved the tales off as the sounds the wind makes as it howls through the archways and pillars of the ruins.

·         he strains his ear for any other sounds and- there, again. It doesn't sound like the wind, he decides. it sounds like a person, a flesh and blood person. he rises to his feet, slowly pulling a kunai silently out of his pouch. he's ready for an attack as he makes his way through the labyrinth of ruins, following the sounds of grunts and pants of pain. he turns a corner and finds his quarry.

·         a fellow suna shinobi, judging by the tattered dull flak vest. brown hair matted to the head with crusted blood, the shinobi is slumped over a large piece of the ceiling that had fallen down centuries ago. as kankuro approaches, the shinobi gestured weakly with their own kunai, dripping blood onto the weeded tiles.

·         "who..." the shinobi rasps out

·         kankuro doesnt have to hear any more than that word - he recognises the voice, knows it because it's been cycling around his head with endless quips and puns and sarcastic riddles over the past few days. it was a voice he didnt think he'd ever hear again, and now that he has-

·         he dropped his kunai with a metallic clutter and swiftly crouched in front of the shinobi, casually brushing away the brandished knife that couldn't have speared a paralysed mouse. slowly, his hands grasped the drooped chin and he straightened the slumped head, so he could look the shinobi in the eyes.

·         they were brown and bruised around the edges. they stared back at kankuro for a moment, almost dead, before a spark of recognition lit up in them, and they crinkled up. the blood-tinted mouth stretched up too, showing a set of battered teeth. one hand come up to tug at kankuro's hair.

·         "...hey kitty. was the service...good?"

·         kankuro laughs and leans forwards, so his forhead touches the other.

·         "you're- you're a fucking idiot. you asshole-"

·         Gear just grins.

·         ………..

·         also i had an idea about gear's family

·         since they're hoity toity ima imagine they're an Old Clan

·         they were maybe friends of the first kazekage, and howsabout they built the water delivery system for the village

·         sooo even though they're not really relevant anymore (especially with the rise of more modern technology etc) they're still trying to regain that 'friendship'/allience whatever they had with the first kazekage

·         they consider themselves one of the village founders bc of their water systems but they're Not Really. basically the family is pretty stuck up and gear's parents are pretty peeved that Gear doesnt care more about his family history/doesnt conduct themselves with dignity

·         Gears parents are snooty plumbers

·         family name = 水瓶座/mizugameza

·         aka Aquarius/water bearer

·         not their original name but they rebranded themselves all fancy like after doing the village plumbing lol

·         gear is actually kind of embarassed about their family's attitude which is well known (and sometimes mocked) around the village

·         they prefer to just be known as Gear minus family name hence Kankuro didn't actually know which family Gear was a part of until quite a bit into their friendship

·         Gear ur a beautiful child I'm glad u were made

·         gear deserves all the happiness

·         the only reason im glad they're not canon is so they're spared the boruto ending

·          

#theres like a little angsty ficlet in the middle but mostly its gear being a Total Adorable Loser #naruto oc #gear mizugameza