[Croup]

What god did I piss off to deserve this? Kankuro wondered bitterly, counting to ten for at least the seventh time that afternoon. Uzumaki Naruto wandered blithely next to him, chattering inanely about this and that, and generally making a giant nuisance of himself.

Yeah yeah, help to restore village relations. Go on a mission with a leaf-nin. Well, no one told me it'd be this guy. He might've saved Gaara back then, but he's still the number one loudest, most annoying shinobi I've ever come across.

He wiped a bead of sweat off his brow, before grunting as he shouldered his puppets again. The sun was damn hot, especially in the heavy clothes he was wearing. And there was Uzumaki, stomping blissfully along, not a care in the world. And the stuff he was babbling about, Sakura-chan this and Yamato-taichou that. Kankuro half-wanted to stab his own ears out.

"Do you always talk so much?" he asked bluntly. "Or do I need to gag you to get any peace and quiet around here?"