Disclaimer: And here the Gaara-centric story, strutting down that red carpet, and is that an original Gucci design? I think we might be looking at the Academy Award winner for Best Gaara-ness!
Just kidding. I'm not that self obsessed.
Gaara jumped across the slipping sand dunes, and unfolded his umbrella. At the border of Wind and Fire, there was almost a paradox climate, massive piles of sand, a desert stretching for miles, with constant rain. It defied everything.
He blinked hesitantly, and took a nervous step forwards. He had never really done anything like this before, and it had originally been Kankurou's idea, one tiny part of his late night drunken ramblings. He decided to take the loose idea and run with it, run all the way to the Konoha border.
He didn't think that Kankurou would remember the idea, or follow him. The sopping wet hills seemed quiet and isolated, the only sound his quiet breathing and the constant pattering of the rain. He remembered a quote from one of his favorite books that he read when he was still adjusting to being able to sleep.
"The world is quiet here."
He wasn't too sure what those words had meant at the time, and Kankurou had no idea in hell. Asking his sister would be too…weak. Or at least Kankurou said only pussies ask girls. He wanted to ask what exactly a pussy was, but thought better of it.
He sat awkwardly on the damp ground, no gourd digging into his back, and he scoops the sand up into his hands like a four year old, letting it trickling down back to the earth. The tiny particles are still rough on his skin, and for a brief moment, he wonders what it would feel like to be strangled in sand.
Would it hurt? A lot? For how long?
It doesn't bother him much. It's not like anyone can ever tell him what it feels like to be strangled.
But thinking about impossible questions isn't the reason he came here, even though the rain makes a nice noise as is slaps down on his soaked red hair. The lump in his throat dissolves.
"Hey." His first words are forced and timid. "How've you been? Not great, I guess, but I guess you're happy now. I would have…I would have brought Kankurou with me, but he doesn't do anything now. I don't think you'd want to see him like this. He's different. I think you should really come home soon. I miss you."
Now he's rambling, but it's alright, and the words seem to fit better.
"It's so strange, isn't it? I remember when I wouldn't have missed anyone… Do you remember? You were nice to me a few times, I think. I just wish you could have been here longer. You were always the smart one, but now I've got no one to talk to. I guess I'm just lonely."
"I saw Shikamaru the other day. He was on a mission, but I didn't really talk to him much. He stole you, and it's not fair. I asked him about the kids, and I thought he was going to beat me up. It's not fair. If I can't talk to you, I want to see my family. You promised they would love me! You promised!"
He smiles grimly to himself, for acting so stupid, for throwing a tantrum like a toddler. People promise lots of things.
"So you've missed out on a lot in Suna. I'm getting married in August, but I guess you won't be there. And the elders are a lot better, at least, I don't think they've hired any assassins recently. Remember that one from the Land of Waves, and Naruto was buying him ramen, and then I walked by, and he jumped up and got miso all over his head! It was funny, wasn't it?" He laughed, all alone in the middle of a rainy desert.
"And that time we had a picnic out here? And Kankurou tried to drink the rain and a bird pooped in his mouth? That was so funny, but I worried that birds hated us, or at least Kankurou. Lots of things hated us…Like that village in Stone country, with that little girl that started crying. I hope she doesn't remember us."
He stood up, and dusted the sand off his pants. "I'll come back tomorrow, I promise. I think I might ask Kankurou to come too, but if he doesn't, just remember that he really wants to, okay? Have a good day." He chewed on his lip. "I love you."
And then he sprang away, floating away on a sand carpet.
Several hours later, after a shower and a cup of instant ramen, Gaara walked downstairs to see Kankurou sitting on the couch, eating chips and watching trashy TV. He switched it off.
Glare. "I was watching that, you little punk!" He grabbed the front of Gaara's shirt in a drunken fury. "What the hell, say something!" Gaara looked calm and collected, staring up at his brother's bleary red eyes.
"I went to the border today. And I'm going back tomorrow, and you're coming with me." Kankurou dropped his grip and took a shocked step backwards.
"No, no, no, no, NO, you can't make me go, you can't make me!" He rocked back and forth on the floor, hands clapped tightly over his ears.
Gaara raised his nonexistent eyebrows.
The new morning, the Kazekage could be seen dragging a thrashing Kankurou, bound and gagged by sand, towards the village gates. They floated away on a sand carpet, fifty feet off the ground, and Gaara reluctantly undid the gag.
That was a mistake. Kankurou hollered that this was abduction and kidnapping, until Gaara dropped him, and grabbed him from the air at the last possible second, dangling him for the rest of the ride by the ankle.
There was a profound silence that last for two hours.
As they reached the border, Gaara slowly lowered the carpet and basically dropped Kankurou on his face in the sand. It wasn't raining anymore, but there was a clear line between Suna and Konoha. The trees were only a hundred yards away.
Together they combed the landscape, searching for the two mounds of sand that were unusual in a desert. After much searching, Gaara found it, and hauled Kankurou towards it.
"Say hello." Kankurou looked uncomfortable, and squirmed, like a child watching a fish being cleaned.
"Hi. Can we go now?" Gaara glowered at him pointedly Kankurou sighed dramatically.
"Don't worry about anything, Gaara here's become Mr. Mom, and I'm eating all my vegetables. Um…and Gaara isn't staying up to late, or watching porn, or reading those books that Naruto likes. I don't get what's your problem with those things! I swear, they're hilarious. And educational!"
The two brothers sat on the ground, and Gaara hugged his knees and looked up at the sky. "I miss her a lot." Kankurou nodded and ruffled his hair in an older brotherly way.
"You think Nara's gonna come to the wedding?" Gaara shrugged.
"I haven't got any real hopes."
Two months later, Gaara kissed his one time apprentice under the shade of the veranda of the Kazekage office, and the crowd cheered, Kankurou clapping enthusiastically behind them. He slipped an arm around Matsuri and she threw the bouquet, only for it to be caught by a little girl with black hair tied up in pigtails. All cheering stopped, and the crowd parted respectfully, to show a tall man carrying a little boy, and holding the hand of another.
Shikamaru nodded respectfully to Gaara, and nudged the two older children towards him. The boy shied away, but the little girl marched up to him, and stuck out her tiny hand forcefully. Gaara shook it with great dignity, and tried not to smile.
"It's an honor to meet you, ma'am. And you are…?" The little girl stuck her chin out royally and fixed Gaara with a piercing teal gaze.
"Nara Shika, and that's Shikaji and Shikato. I think they're afraid of you." The crowd laughed, and Shikamaru coughed discreetly. Shika's eyes brightened.
"And that's Daddy!" She smiled, and Gaara rubbed the top of her hair, flattening the hair between her pigtails.
"And who am I?" She rolled her babyish eyes, and tweaked his nose fondly. "You. Are very silly. You're Uncle Gaara, remember?" Gaara smiled and hoisted her up, planting her onto his hip.
"You better believe it, sweetie."
After the reception, Gaara sat on a metal folding chair, and watched Matsuri dance with Shikaji and Shika together, twirling both children in fast spins that left them all dizzy and laughing. There was a thud next to him as another person sat down and shifted his weight.
"You're a lucky man." Gaara nodded and tapped his foot to the beat of the music. Shikamaru ventured on, breaking the former boundaries.
"I'm sorry I kept the kids away from you and Kankurou. Temari wouldn't have wanted that, and I'm sure she told Shika about you guys, because she never shuts up about going to live in Suna one day. It's so troublesome!" Gaara laughed.
"Did you visit her yet?" Shikamaru nodded, and grabbed two cans of beer to a nearby cooler. He passed one to Gaara, and they cracked them open together, and clinked them in a toast.
"To Temari." Gaara paused and nodded, taking a sip.
"To Temari."