[Author's Note: I thought I'd try something new, so don't hate me if you die of boredom. Inspiration comes from that week when I literally had nothing but easy mac for dinner because I'm a broke student who's also too lazy to go buy groceries when I already have a box of easy mac packets I bought in bulk.]

*Disclaimer* Characters belong to their respective creator. I'm gaining nothing but experience, critiques, and wasted time.

Gaara entered the kitchen after an unfamiliar smell filled the entire house. "What are you attempting this time?" he asked his older sister as she stood at the stove, stirring something.

"Something I haven't had since I was a kid," Temari smiled as she shut off the stove. She reached up into a cabinet and grabbed three bowls. "Go get your brother."

Gaara left the kitchen and found Kankuro in his room. "Temari says – what are you doing?"

Kankuro stopped midstroke as he looked over at his brother, who was looking at him like a red panda was growing out of his head. "I thought I'd try something new," he explained simply as he twisted the easel to show Gaara the picture he painted. Gaara narrowed his eyes.

"What is it?"

"You can't tell?" Kankuro looked crestfallen. "It's supposed to be the Mona Lisa, only I thought I'd take a leaf out of Picasso's book and-"

"It looks like the spawn of a spider monkey and a robot."

"Hmm, so it does," Kankuro tilted his head and nodded after looking at his work more closely. "Let's go with that instead."

"Whatever. Anyway, Temari made dinner. It's too late for me; she already saw me. Get out while you still can." He turned to leave so Kankuro could make a quick getaway, and he returned to the kitchen to distract Temari. "He's not in his room."

"Really? I thought I heard him humming 'Billie Jean' when I walked by earlier. Oh well, more for us." She placed a bowl in front of Gaara, and he squinted at it suspiciously.

"What is this?"

"It's mac and cheese," Temari said matter-of-factly.

"It's what and cheese?"

"Mac. Like macaroni."

"Why's it so yellow?"

"Cuz of the cheese…" Temari raised an eyebrow. "Come on, Gaara; quit stalling and eat it." She pushed a fork towards him.

He looked at the utensil warily before taking it gingerly in his hand and speared a few pieces of the weird tube-looking things. He brought it up to his face, and considered sniffing it to make sure it was edible, but Temari was sitting in front of him watching his every move; the last thing he wanted was to have her dump this yellow, goopy stuff on him. Finally he gathered every nerve in his being and took a bite.

He froze.

For some inexplicable reason, he felt as though he were…melting. He could feel his eyes start to sting and he shut them as he tried to hold back the tears that were welling in his eyes, and behind his eyelids he could see swirls of colors doing cartwheels. Was that a chorus he was hearing in his mind, singing hallelujah? Fireworks were going off in his head, and every muscle fiber within him relaxed as his taste buds rejoiced in the presence of this absolutely magnificent dish. This must be love, he thought to himself as he chewed. If he looked up "love" in the dictionary, a picture of a bowl of mac and cheese would be next to the definition. No, it would be the definition. Even Shukaku inside was crying out, "Where have you been all my life?" Images of him and a gigantic bowl of mac and cheese played out in his head; they were sitting on a park bench, having ice cream, then they were walking along hand in hand down the street, then they were in front of an altar exchanging vows, then -

"Well?" Temari asked, causing her brother's eyes to snap open.

Gaara swallowed his bite of heaven and set his fork down. "Not bad."

Meanwhile Kankuro was sitting alone in a diner, having his own dinner. "Man, good thing I got out of there," he said happily. "I haven't had mac and cheese in forever!"