A/N: My NaruGaa Valentine's Day one-shot. Also, I know in Japanese culture they don't really say Happy Valentine's Day, but I'm going to have them say it anyways just because I want to.
Prompt: Rained out picnic
Summary: Naruto plans a picnic for him and Gaara but then it starts to rain and plans seem to be ruined, until Gaara makes it all better.
Rainy Day
It's Valentine's Day and Naruto wants to make this day extra special for Gaara. The Kazekage is making a special journey to Konohagakure just for this and Naruto can't wait until he gets here.
He takes the rice that has been cooking on the stove and divvies it up into two containers in order for easy access and so they won't have to at the site. Naruto has planned to bring Gaara out on a picnic. He then places the left over rice into a bigger container that way they can get seconds if they want. All of this, including the sauce for the rice, napkins, chopsticks, and other necessities are placed into a wide basket that Naruto bought the other day at a deal of a price.
He smiles and rubs his hands together, satisfied with the results of the picnic basket and the food that he made, especially since Naruto knows he's not the greatest cook. Now all that's left is to get dressed. Naruto is about to go into his bedroom when there is a knock at the door. Naruto goes over and answers it only to be surprised by who it is. "G-Gaara!" His face reddens. "Y-you're early, Gaara." Naruto scratches the back of his head and laughs nervously, fully aware that all he has on is boxers.
The corners of Gaara's lips rise the slightest little bit. "Hello Naruto."
Naruto forces another laugh out. "Where are Temari and Kankuro?" He steps aside to let Gaara in.
As Gaara walks in he says, "I sent them off. I want to have this day to just the two of us."
"Good." Naruto smiles and then leans in to kiss Gaara on the cheek. "Let me go get dressed and then we can leave."
"Where are we going?" Gaara asks.
"On a picnic," Naruto yells back as he goes into his bedroom. He hears Gaara following him.
"Naruto," Gaara starts, "there's clouds out today; it looks like it might rain."
"What?" Naruto rushes to the window and looks out at the sky. "Awe, Gaara, you over exaggerate, it'll be fine."
Gaara steps up beside him. "You sure?"
"Of course," Naruto exclaims brightly. "Who lives in a desert and who lives here all the time?" Gaara rolls his eyes instead of answering. "Exactly, I know what I'm talking about."
Gaara glances out the window again. "I hope so."
"Don't worry so much." Naruto pulls on a casual t-shirt and then looks Gaara up and down. "Would you like to change into something more… comfortable instead of your battle uniform?"
Gaara nods. "If you don't mind."
Naruto beams. "Of course not." He rummages through his clothes and pulls out a pair of pants and a t-shirt that should fit the Kazekage. Naruto waits while Gaara changes into the offered clothes and as soon as that's finished he grabs the basket in one hand and then Gaara's hand in the other. "This is going to be fun."
They're halfway to the destination Naruto picked out when a few drops of rain hit them in the head. "Naruto."
Naruto looks up into the sky and notices the clouds have gotten significantly darker since they left the apartment. He gives an awkward chuckle as he scratches the back of his head. "I guess you were right, Gaara."
"Naruto," Gaara says again, except this time it's got an annoyed edge to it, but Naruto can also see that Gaara is smiling while saying it. He's not really annoyed and more amused than anything else.
Naruto smiles sheepishly. "I guess we better go back to my place." Gaara only rolls his eyes and grabs Naruto's hand to pull him along. By the time they get back to Naruto's apartment, the rain has already started into a downpour, soaking the two shinobi. They end up running the rest of the way back. As soon as they're inside, Naruto is laughing and Gaara is giving little chuckles. They never knew they could have so much fun with trying to get out of the rain. Once they've calmed, Naruto sighs and leans his head face down onto Gaara's shoulder in shame. "I'm sorry Gaara, I guess our picnic got ruined." Naruto gives another small laugh.
Gaara chuckles as well, lifting Naruto's head in order to look him in the eyes. "It hasn't been ruined yet." Naruto looks on in question. "We can have it right here."
Gaara lifts his hand and does a motion with it. Sand starts to come out of his gourd that Gaara placed in the corner before they left earlier, and begins to spread all across the living room floor. When Naruto gets what Gaara is doing, he smiles wide. "Gaara, you're a genius." He latches onto Gaara, pulling him into a hug, and places kisses all over the side of his face.
Gaara's lips turn upward in a small smile. "Go get us some dry clothes and then lay out the blanket and let's have our picnic."
"Alrighty Captain." Naruto salutes and sets to work on getting them new clothes and laying everything out. Once done, both of them sit on the blanket and eat the rice while listening to the rain on the windows. "It's actually nice in here."
Gaara nods. "It is."
"I'm glad we were still able to do this even though the weather is bad," Naruto says. "We don't get to see each other let alone spend time together very often."
Gaara looks at Naruto as if studying him. "Naruto?"
"Yeah Gaara?" Naruto prompts.
"I got you something." He says.
Naruto looks on in surprise as Gaara goes to his clothes that he was wearing when he arrived at Naruto's and begins to dig through his pockets. Normally it's only females that give the gifts on Valentine's Day and then the males do it on White Day. This is unexpected to Naruto. When Gaara finds what he was looking for, he goes back to the indoor picnic and sits next to Naruto. "What is it?"
"You'll have to open it," Gaara says. Naruto takes the gift and begins to open it. When he takes it out of its box, he's shocked by what it is. "Happy Valentine's Day."
It's a small vile filled with sand attached to a string. "Gaara, it's… is this your sand?" Naruto looks on in amazement.
Gaara nods. "From my gourd, yes. I thought it could remind you of me. The vile shouldn't break if you go into battle with it since it's made out of a strong material."
"I love it." Naruto hangs it around his neck. Ever since the First's necklace was destroyed, it felt weird for Naruto to not have anything around his neck. Now, it feels like that void has been filled. "Ah, but Gaara I don't have anything for you."
"It's fine." Gaara smiles at him. "Naruto?"
Naruto looks up from staring at the vile of sand. "Yes?"
"I-" Gaara stops speaking as if he's scared to go on.
Naruto softens his look and smile, leaning forward and kissing Gaara on the lips. When he pulls away, he looks at him straight in the eyes. "I love you too, Gaara."
A/N: And there you go. Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading. :)