1. The letter.
Nearly a year after the Fourth Shinobi World War ended Gaara stood in the desert just outside Suna, returning home after a six month trip traveling through the other villages to help rebuild.
His hair had grown longer and the blood colored locks now reached past his jaw line; he had grown taller and his shoulders broader, and while his looks added slightly to his already powerful demeanor, he was greeted with grins and congratulations as he entered the village. An odd attitude which nearly shocked him.
"Gaara!" Haku called, running up to him. Gaara turned and waited as Haku bent over panting. He ad grown considerably since Gaara firs laid eyes on him. He had grown tall and strong, not surprising considering he trained with ANBU guards every day; his long dark hair was pulled back and Gaara could see an eye patch over his left eye as he stood up, his other eye, however, was as bright a blue as ever. Haku grinned.
"Congratulations!"
"hn" Gaara was seriously getting confused now. Why congratulations?
"I can only imagine how you feel, but you must be excited right?"
What? What on earth was Haku talking about?
"…"
Haku just walked beside him beaming as others called congrats to Gaara.
"it's good to have our Kazekage back, and you as Gaara of course, do you have any idea how Aani behaves while your gone? She even managed to scare Mika off, and that girls as crazy as any-"
"Haku, what are you talking about?" Gaara interrupted.
"huh? What do you mean?" Gaara ground his teeth in frustration at Haku's attitude.
"what am I being congratulated for?" he growled. Haku paled, opened his mouth as if to speak, then paled again.
"you…didn't?….get the letter?" he practically squeaked.
"what letter?" Gaara asked. Haku paled again, he was almost grey at this point. He glanced around nervously.
Gaara raised a questioning eyebrow.
"eh….eh…" Haku stammered. Then he turned heels and ran.
Gaara half-raised his hands in frustration and utter confusion. Sighing, he dropped his arms and continued on his way home.
It wasn't long before a shadow started walking beside him.
"new trick?" he asked. The shadow waved at him before Mika melted out of it.
"one of many." she snickered.
"hn."
They walked in silence for awhile before Gaara grew irritated at her beaming face and posture that spoke volumes of mischief. This was either a trap, a plot, or something equally hazardous to his mind and time.
" do I even want to ask?"
His reply was a fit of giggles and several wayward looks before she calmed down enough to speak.
" I heard you never got the letter….." she wheezed.
"…what letter?"
" oh…just the letter Aani sent you… nearly two months ago….and then she freaked out because you didn't reply and then the spies she sent after you were unable to locate you and she had a fit that threw the entire village into chaos and everyone started hiding from her and then she broke down and started crying nonstop because you were gone and everyone was avoiding her until finally Temari and Kankuro sucked it up and made her a truckload of cookies so she would stop crying long enough for them assure her you were coming home and everything was going to be okay."
Gaara paused t try and comprehend what Mika had just told him and then steeled himself.
"what was in the letter?"
"I am not even going to touch on that. You have to ask her directly so maybe she'll believe you didn't run out on her after hearing the news."
Mika almost sounded sincere, if it wasn't for the immensely large grin on her face and the look of amusement in her eyes.
" oh, and a bit of advice," she continued. " Aani may try to kill you first. Bye!" and once more Mika melted into shadows. Leaving Gaara alone to walk up the front steps of his house, open the door, and face his fiancée.
/
"she improved leaps and bounds during the war." Kankuro reminded Gaara as they cowered behind a barricade of sand that was protecting them from the pink-mist causing Kichi power that belonged to Gaara's dearest beloved Fiancée.
"a fact duly noted." Gaara growled.
"you really should have written her."
" I never received the letter! How was I suppose to know! Better yet, what was I suppose to know?" Gaara shouted.
"you mean you don't know?"
" I will kill you Kankuro…."
"she's pregnant!" Kankuro gasped before a band of sand nearly strangled him.
"what?" in a sudden, rather dangerous moment, every particle of sand under Gaara's command fell to dust as he turned to face Aani.
Meanwhile she was still pissed. Gale force winds hit him hard enough to send him flying into a nearby wall. Tears streamed down her face as she shouted at him.
" - Two months ago! No reply, no messages, no word of were you were! I was scared you jerk! How could you-"
"Aani, I love you and I'm sorry!" He shouted. The wind died and drifted away, and she slumped to the floor, crying, and hiccupping. Gaara walked over and knelt next to her, pulling her into his arms.
" I never got the letter…." he mumbled into her ear. She hiccupped again and he looked at her stomach, which was now well-rounded with what would grow into their child.
"but…but…I sent Mika with the letter and then she wouldn't look me in the eye and….and….I thought you had taken it badly….."
"I would never leave you. I'm so happy that we're going to have a child, I just didn't know. I'm sorry." he whispered. She hiccupped and grabbed his hand, pulling it over her stomach.
"the doctor said it'll be twins." she smiled. Gaara paled a little and stared at her protruding stomach with something a mix of panic, joy, dread, and love.
"AWW, isn't that sweet?" Mika crowed from the corner of their living room. All eyes turned her direction and she pulled a small white envelope from her vest.
"Gaara, here's your letter." she snickered. "I suppose my little bit of fun is over now huh?"
"Mika…." He smiled, shaking his head.
"yes?" she beamed brightly.
His bright green eyes lifted to her face, absolutely sparkling.
"I'm going to kill you."