An Unexpected Friend (Book 1 of the Unexpected Series)

Summary: Kokoro has to play nice with Kankuro until she doesn't. Shukaku is actually a softie.

"So, how was it playing with the Kazekage's children?" Kakashi asked his daughter after they were settled in their room. He was sitting with his back against the headboard and his arms crossed behind his head. Kokoro sat next to him with her arms wound around his body and her head leaning against his side. It was normal for them to be snuggled up to each other.

"I only played with Gaara," Kokoro informed him.

"Oh?" he said in a way that asked her to explain.

"Temari and Kankuro ran off before Gaara and I could catch up."

"You didn't try to find them?"

Kokoro frowned and said plainly, "No. They're mean."

Kakashi laughed at her disdain towards two of the three sand children.

"Okay," he said after his laughter died down, "How was it playing with Gaara?"

Kokoro's face lit up as she told him all about the fun they had. She told him how the swung together on the swings and had a competition as to who could go the highest - Kokoro won due to Gaara's hesitancy towards swinging parallel to the top of the swingset - and how Kokoro outran Gaara so much in tag that she volunteered to be 'it' for the remainder of the game. Kakashi watched as Kokoro prattled on, giving correct facial expressions and little comments here and there. When he noticed her trail off and look down at her fiddling hands, he stared at her and waited for her to gather herself.

"Daddy," she said in a little voice. He pulled her into his arms and held her against his broad chest.

"What's wrong, Koko?" he asked.

"You know how Naruto has the nine tails inside of him," she started. Kakashi tensed for a split second before he calmed himself. He didn't want to alert Kokoro to his discomfort with the subject. Truthfully, Kokoro wasn't supposed to know about the nine tails locked away in Naruto's body. It was a village secret that wasn't supposed to be talked about. However, a lot of villagers remembered the nine tails attack as it was still recent and fresh in their memories. It had only been four years since the attack and everyone was still on edge. It was Kakashi's fault that Kokoro knew about it. Most villagers hinted at the monster inside of Naruto; they never fully outright said what it was. One night, Kakashi in all of his drunken stupor had told Kokoro about the nine tails after seeing her near the kid. He had spent the next day explaining everything to her, and he spent the day after that facing consequences for spilling the secret to his daughter.

"I think Gaara has it in him, too."

Kakashi instantly knew what she was talking about. Konoha didn't know what the other nations did with their tailed beasts, and it wasn't any of their business, either. Based on what Kokoro was saying, Suna sealed the one-tailed beast, the Ichibi, in the Kazekage's son, much like Konoha did with Naruto Uzumaki. He feared something would upset Gaara and cause him to lash out, and in turn, hurt Kokoro, and was tempted to tell her to stay away from him. He knew it was futile, though. He tried the same thing with Naruto, but Kokoro insisted on staying his friend. Really, he wasn't scared of the boys themselves, just the monsters within them.

"Gaara doesn't have the nine tails in him. Only one person can have it in them at a time," he explained. "But that doesn't mean Gaara doesn't have something within him."

"There are more of them?" Kokoro asked.

"There are nine in total."

"Which one does Gaara have?"

"The one-tails. It isn't as powerful as the nine tails, but it's strong all the same."

"I think the villagers treat him like the villagers back home treat Naruto."