Author's Note: The story continues...enjoy Chapter 3 and the drama of human interaction.
I want to thank everyone whose followed/favorited/reviewed this story...you let me know that my efforts are of fruit after all. A special thank you to Lady the Warrior for your enormous support!
There's not much to say about this chapter, except that there's a TINY spoiler from The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring. An unimportant detail, but I don't want you to spoil yourselves and hate me for it. It occurs right after Shikadai leaves Chouchou's house...
Make the reviews section your home after this reading...and let me know if this chapter bores the hell out of you.
Chapter 3—Cocoon
Warm rays of soft golden sunlight filtered through the still-closed eyelids of Shikadai Nara.
Ah, he relished, not moving from his comfortable position on the bed. To wake up in the morning of his own free will...he'd almost forgotten how blissful such mornings were. Today, there was no troublesome woman screaming in his ear to get him out of bed. No headaches induced by wailing alarm clocks or head bruises from a certain kunoichi's heavy metal fan. No need to get ready for troublesome training or a mission. Nothing troublesome. Nope, today there were just the velvety covers of the bed underneath him, the gentle sunlight warming his skin, the birds chirping outside the window, the clouds floating in the sky, and—
"Good morning."
Shikadai cracked his eyelids open for the first time that morning, and opened his eyes to the sight of crimson.
"Good morning," he said, blinking the daze out of his eyes, "Uncle Gaara..."
Shikadai noted his uncle's position on the chair by the window. As far as he could tell, Uncle Gaara hadn't budged an inch since last night, since Shikadai fell asleep with his uncle's watchful gaze set upon him.
Uncle and nephew spent the first few moments of their day enjoying this chance they had to look into the others' eyes and confirm each other's presence and existence.
Inwardly, Shikadai thought it was nice to have someone like Uncle Gaara watch over you, keeping you safe, for the entire night. He hadn't had anything to fear in the first place, but somehow, Uncle Gaara being there just made the bedroom feel just a little more secure inside.
Unbeknownst to Shikadai, Gaara was thinking that watching over his nephew replaced the emptiness and loneliness that usually filled his long, lonely insomniac nights.
Shikadai's slightly unfocused eyes suddenly snapped to attention. "What time is it?" he asked with an edge of worry and panic in his voice.
Gaara reveled at the way the light in his nephew's eyes could change and reflect upon his inner feelings, rather unlike his own unreadable ones. The connection between Gaara's own emotions and his facial expressions was a weak one.
"It's half past eight."
Shikadai's shoulders visibly relaxed, and the alarm in his teal eyes receded to be replaced by its usual coolness. This is the first morning in a long time since I've worried about the time I got up. It's more than enough to have Mom all over me about it.
Half past eight, huh? That's awfully early, considering that I woke up of my own free will. For a moment there, I thought maybe I slept into the afternoon! And Shikadai was quite surprised with himself that his eyes weren't laced with sleep this morning; instead, he felt wakefully refreshed. Usually, he could have slept for 24 hours straight and still woken up burdened with fatigue.
Random thoughts of a newly-hatched butterfly crawling out of its cocoon and unfurling its delicate wings popped into Shikadai's head as he removed the warm blankets wrapped around his body and eased himself out of bed. Uncle Gaara's presence also seemed to give Shikadai the side effect of unusual, unorthodox introspection.
Excusing himself, Shikadai shuffled across the hotel suite and closed himself in the bathroom to get ready for the day. After responding to the calls of nature, he situated himself in front of the sink, shoved a toothbrush into his mouth, and stared at the person brushing his teeth in the mirror across from him. He didn't look anything like Uncle Gaara.
Troublesome. Since when have I cared about my looks? Despite himself, Shikadai found himself scrutinizing his own features. Appearance? Most obviously belonging to Konohagakure's Nara. No one needed to look twice to confirm his clan heritage. Hair? Black—a normal, boring color. But normal and boring is good, right—doesn't stand out, not too troublesome...He spat out the toothpaste and watched it splatter in the sink. Skin? Slightly tan, like his father—he had little of the Sand Siblings' shining, flawless paleness. He rinsed out his foaming mouth and grabbed his hair tie. He gathered his straight black locks. Hair style? A single spiky ponytail on the top of his head. Dorky, Shikadai thought, or as his mother would describe it, Like a pineapple. Sunagakure's Temari sported a grand total of four ponytails, but somehow the hairstyle lent her a generous amount of sassiness, unlike her husband and child—and this was a point the kunoichi did not falter to point out often. Mom does wonders for my self-esteem. Shikadai quickly stripped himself of his pajamas to change. Clothes? Normal beige jacket with the Nara clan symbol imprinted on the backside. Nothing special. Easy to blend in with a crowd.
With a huff, Shikadai straightened himself out and observed the mirror once more. This time, he set his sights on his eyes.
Temari wasn't home, and consequently, Shikamaru was sprawled out lazily on the couch, the cigarette in his mouth enshrouding him in a cloud of smoke.
"Hey Dad," his son piped randomly, "what's your favorite color?"
Shikamaru flicked his black eyes over to Shikadai in mild surprise. "What brings this up?"
"Call it curiosity. Besides, I should know. You're my dad."
Shikamaru exhaled loudly. He holstered himself up into a sitting position. "Troublesome," he sighed, scratching the back of his head.
Shikadai raised a brow at man's laziness. "Seriously? That's stretching it even for me. I asked for your favorite color."
Shikamaru held up his hands in defeat. "I know, I know...all right. It's blue-green."
He took the stub away from his lips and turned to look at his son more sharply. "But only a certain kind."
"What, like a certain shade?"
"No, no, it's not that. In fact it's cool in a various number of shades. It's just...goshhhhh, how do I say this? Something from your mom's side of the family."
"Mom's family? What do they have anything to do with this?"
"Everything. Sort of. It's their eyes—" now that Shikadai thought of it, two of the Sand Siblings did indeed have blue-green eyes of some sort. "Blue and green are supposed to cool colors that remind people of the sea, but when you look into their eyes...you can't help but think of the blazing sun over the desert...and all that sentimental crap." Suddenly, Shikamaru smirked. "You know, Shikadai...you should have figured this out earlier yourself. Don't you have those same eyes?"
Shikadai blinked, suddenly self-conscious. "Tch," he said, because he really couldn't think of anything else to say.
He stared at his reflection now and saw the two slanted, almond-shaped, sparkling sharp teal eyes. He'd often heard people say that the eyes were the "windows to the soul". He'd scoffed at it before.
Now he wondered what it meant since his eyes belonged to the family of Sunagakure's Sand Siblings.
Shikadai shook himself of his thoughts. Teal eyes blinked back at him in annoyance. Was he seriously soul-searching in the bathroom in a mirror?
Talk about troublesome introspection.
Now dressed and ready to begin the day, the boy exited the bathroom and reentered the hotel suite again. It seemed his uncle was very fond of looking out of windows, seeing as that was the activity he was currently engaged in, and not for the first time, either. The sand-nin made no indication that he had noticed the Konoha genin's presence, but knowing the Kazekage's sharp observational skills, there was no doubt in Shikadai's mind that Uncle Gaara knew he was there.
Knowing that waiting for the silent redhead to initiate a conversation would probably be a lost cause, Shikadai casually asked, "D'you know what Uncle Kankuro's doing?" He wondered if he would be spending the day with both his uncles, or whether either uncle would want to spend the day with him at all.
"Yes. It's not often we have so much time on our hands during visits, so your uncle took advantage of it to pay a visit to Konoha's Hot Springs. They're a rare luxury Sunagakure cannot afford." Shikadai wondered what his mother's desert homeland was like. "Your mother and father joined him."
Shikadai wondered how early his father had to get up in the morning in order to make this excursion. From his son's point-of-view, Shikamaru made truly too many sacrifices for his troublesome wife. "You aren't joining them?"
"No. I'm not too fond of...public baths. I may meet with my siblings and your father again later this evening."
Shikadai felt his heart flutter in mild excitement, but ignored it. "So what's the plan for today, then?"
There was a pause. Gaara removed himself from his statuesque posture and turned to face his nephew, though his arms were still tightly crossed over his chest. "I merely plan to experience Konoha as a local. As Kazekage, it is easy to forget what it is like to be one of the crowd." Gaara didn't mention that he actually had nothing to forget, he'd never had the chance to be part of the crowd—since childhood, Gaara had been set apart from everyone else. "I wish to walk the streets as a commoner—an impossible endeavor for me to achieve in Sunagakure." A slight furrow appeared on Gaara's smooth face, although as quickly as it had come it had gone. "Those, of course, are my plans for today. What are yours is a question only you can answer."
Shikadai blinked. "Don't you want me to come with you?" he blurted. Dammit, I'm such an idiot! I've totally overestimated my importance in Uncle Gaara's life!
The crease between Gaara's eyes didn't fade this time. "You have no obligation to do so."
Shikadai nearly gaped. Obligation?...Wait...so he thinks it's ME who doesn't want to join HIM?
"But I want to."
"You have lived in Konoha for your entire life. You have no need to engage in the activities that I wish to do, you've walked Konoha's streets many times—"
"So I can show you around. I grew up here, right? I'm sure there are places I could show you that you don't know about."
"Surely there are other activities you wish to do to better occupy your time than to—"
"Nah, doing anything else would be too troublesome anyway. I'd rather spend the day walking around the village doing nothing with you."
"...Why?"
"...Huh?"
Gaara turned his head to face the window again. This time, however, his eyes did not seem to be focusing on what was happening outside of it.
"...Why...? Why would you want to spend your day in my presence?"
"But Uncle Gaara...we've spent plenty of time together before..."
"Voluntarily?"
His uncle's voice had dropped by several volumes, and Shikadai felt a small stab to his heart. With his quick observational and processing skills, Shikadai realized that the surprise and confusion in Uncle Gaara's voice could only mean that very rarely did anyone want to spend time doing things with him. He may not have shown it on his stony features, but inside, it was already a miracle to him that Shikadai had obliged to stay with him overnight. That must mean that...Uncle Gaara is only used to having people be in his presence when they're obligated to, and not because they WANT to...
Has he thought—all this time—that I never liked spending time with him? That when I did it was out of obligation?
Why?
Not letting his inner feelings show, Shikadai shrugged and smirked at his uncle lazily. He didn't want to show Gaara an overreaction. "Of course it was voluntarily! Look," Shikadai said patiently, having an incredible epiphany that here he was, almost lecturing the Kazekage as if he were a child. Fortunately, he drew upon his Nara talent to school his features to nonchalance even in the face of serious situations—he thanked his dad for his genes now. "We're family, and family spend time together. I know you're Kazekage and all that but if you want to spend your day like a commoner, well this is what commoners do. Besides, normally I think family responsibilities are just troublesome—" Shikadai thought sourly of some of his Nara Clan duties—"but I like you, Uncle Gaara. Spending the day with you wouldn't be half bad." Shikadai made his expression a little more meaningful. "You live so far away...we don't see each other enough as it is. So honestly, it wouldn't be troublesome if you let me tag along with you this time."
Gaara looked away from his nephew for a moment, an influx of emotion deluging his mind. Mint eyes glinted with gratitude when they met the teal ones once more.
"Okay," the uncle whispered softly. The nephew beamed.
"So...growing cacti, huh?"
Gaara and Shikadai, the seemingly unlikely pair, had just taken leave from a small café at which they had eaten breakfast. Shikadai was never a big eater—Chouchou was the binge-eater, while Shikadai was the binge-sleeper. He didn't starve himself, but the adults he knew would either remind him to eat more so he could have adequate strength and energy as a ninja, or tease him about being scrawny and poke him in the ribs. Not that Shikadai cared about appearing fat or skinny, but indeed: the shinobi he knew all ate no less than adequately and had fine muscle tone and lithe bodies.
However, at breakfast that morning, Shikadai noticed that Uncle Gaara ate even less than Shikadai himself did, and consumed in bites so small it was almost painful to watch. Shikadai had subtly swept his eyes over his uncle's form: the man was short—that much was obvious—but he didn't have anything to make up for it, either. His clothes looked small enough as they were and yet were loose fitting—did the man even have any muscle mass? His long, loose, billowing robes only seemed to emphasize his small stature. The shinobi Shikadai knew often trained long and hard for hours to get their bodies and stamina up to par—they were active all the time—but Gaara never seemed to move more than a few inches at a time. Without his reputation and aura, he might seem as delicate as a doll wrapped in layers of flowing red cloth.
It seemed that Gaara always broke the rules.
"Yes."
To break the silence, Shikadai had asked his uncle what his hobbies were. He had resolved, after all, to get to know the man better. At first, he'd blanched at himself for asking the lamest question possible, but now it seemed like it'd been the perfect question. Uncle Gaara...tending cacti? For some reason, it was hard to come up with an image of Uncle Gaara proudly admiring potted plants in Shikadai's mind, and he considered it a personal victory for having come across this rather interesting tidbit of information.
Suddenly Shikadai had an idea. "Do you like other kinds of plants?"
Gaara contemplated this. "To me, cacti are fascinating because of their ability to...survive and bloom even in the desert's harsh conditions. However yes, the flora of various countries does intrigue me. Konoha in particular has an impressive quantity of it."
So this strict, serious, seemingly unaffected man had a soft spot for nature. "I know a good place we can visit."
Gaara looked at Shikadai.
"My teammate's family owns a flower shop. They've got a whole variety of beautiful plants in there from all over the Fire Country, some of which I've never even heard of."
"The...Yamanakas?" Gaara inquired.
"Yeah, that's them. So, wanna go? You can also meet Inojin if he's there today. He's one of my best friends and my teammate."
"I would...enjoy that very much," Gaara replied, secretly pleased that his nephew was going so far for him.
The pair settled once more into a comfortable silence. The streets and shops around them bustled with life. Shikadai noticed quite a few people who sent looks their way that lasted for longer than a glance. The Kazekage was a famous individual, and even in Konoha, there were bound to be some who recognized the leader of their allied nation and the Fourth Shinobi War's commander. Despite that, no one made a move to approach Gaara.
Shikadai knew Konoha people to be quite enthusiastic, so this bothered him slightly. The Hokage was always met with much fanfare in the streets. Shikadai knew for a fact that his observant uncle was not oblivious to their surroundings either, but Gaara appeared unperturbed. However, when did he not?
Shikadai turned at the next corner, Gaara following him silently. He continued walking until he was standing right in front of the colorful shop, looking up at the bright sign that proudly displayed the word "花". He stood there, looking at the Yamanaka Flower Shop's facade. Gaara stood next to him; Shikadai seemed to be waiting for something, so Gaara merely waited silently along with him, not prodding.
Shikadai recalled that his uncle wanted peace and quiet on this day and did not want to draw attention. Genius, Shikadai thought of himself, the first place you thought of bringing him was Aunt Ino's? Shikadai finally let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "I just thought of something. Inojin's mom—Aunt Ino...I don't know if she's here today, but if she is, she can be...well..." Extremely loud and annoying? Gossipy? Pushy? Attention-drawing? "Troublesome. Come to think of it, this might not be a good idea."
Gaara closed his eyes and let out a short breath of air escape from his nostrils in what Shikadai realized was supposed to be a soft chuckle. "I'm not unacquainted with Yamanaka or with Sai." All right, but are you acquainted with her then? Shikadai countered in his head. "I consider them friends."
You've been warned. Shikadai shrugged and led the way inside the store.
A pleasing floral aroma filled the Yamanaka Flower Shop, inside of which were not too many people. The area behind the counter was currently empty, and despite Uncle Gaara's reassurance that he was "not unacquainted" with the female Yamanaka Clan head, Shikadai found himself letting out a sigh of relief.
The flowers painted the interior of the shop in vivid greens, blues, reds, yellows, and oranges, and softer pinks, purples, and whites. Gaara found the assembly of colors and shapes inside the shop intoxicatingly mesmerizing. Many people—especially shinobi—lacked interest in what Gaara saw as nature's gift of life and love to man, but Gaara saw such things as so precious that he couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't cherish the flowers and plants that sprouted from the earth. He let out a breath of appreciation and awe that went unnoticed by everybody except for the boy standing by his side. Shikadai inclined his head at Uncle Gaara's apparent interest in their surroundings and grinned sheepishly.
Uncle Gaara likes plants, huh? He wasn't kidding, Shikadai observed. They would probably be in here for a while. There were hundreds of various species in the shop, and with no small amount of determination, the redheaded man was scrutinizing and inspecting every one. He would simply stand there, arms crossed and unmoving, and stare down at some flower with intensity strong enough to wilt the poor plant. After a considerable amount of time that could convince someone that the immobile Gaara was simply deep in thought and not actually observing the flower before him at all, he would turn and reposition himself before a new plant before repeating his concentrated procedure of scrutinizing.
Shikadai plopped down on a bench and watched his uncle have staring contests with the many pots of flowers in the Yamanaka Flower Shop. He folded his arms behind his head and leaned back, sighing contentedly. His eyes began to flutter shut—he may have been more energized than usual because of Uncle Gaara's presence, but he was still Shikadai Nara, after all. He wasn't about to let up an opportunity to sleep. His vision blurred the image of his flower-observing uncle into a fuzzy crimson among the various miscellaneous blobs of color that were flowers.
Until purple completely invaded his field of vision all of a sudden. Shikadai's eyes snapped open. There, in all her troublesome glory, was blonde, ponytailed Ino Yamanaka, hands on her hips and teasing scowl on her face.
"Shikadai Nara! What are you doing sleeping in my shop?"
Shikadai groaned. "Aunt Ino..."
Sai stood next to his wife, albeit in a much quieter fashion. "Hello, Lazy Junior."
"Uncle Sai," Shikadai acknowledged with a nod, internally grimacing at the man's awkward nicknaming habit which Inojin had not failed to pick up on from time to time.
Sai stood there with a smile plastered to his face, while Ino ranted, "Of all places for you to sleep, you had to come to my shop, huh? What will the other customers say? I swear you are just as bad as Shikamaru, Shikadai! Always sleeping and grumbling and complaining about how everything is troublesome..."
Shikadai tuned out Aunt Ino's incessant babbling, knowing that she was intentionally doing it just to annoy him, and not to actually chastise him. He also knew that if the other customers in the shop were to be bothered, it would be because of the Yamanaka matriarch's noisiness, and not because of a Nara sleeping in the corner. The amused eyes of shop's current customers watching them was proof of that.
Shikadai watched his uncle—who had up to that point succeeded in keeping a low profile—relieve a potted forget-me-not from his careful attention and make his way over to the screeching blonde woman, her wife, and the ponytailed boy watching the entire affair with lazy eyes.
"And look at me when I talk to you, Shikadai, or I—"
"Is there a problem?"
Ino stiffened at the sound of the deep, raspy voice that was so low in volume—as opposed to her own—and yet possessed such command. Then she whipped around, hands flying to her hips once more in her characteristic manner, threatening to yell whoever had dared interrupt her to death, regardless of who it might be. "Who—"she began.
Her eyes met sea-foam green.
"Lord Kazekage!" she cried in a surprised, yet soft, humbled voice. She immediately took a deep bow, and her husband followed her gesture. "It's an honor to have you in the Yamanaka Flower Shop!"
She straightened herself out again. Sai had been watching her out of the corner of his eye and once more copied her actions. The man was truly hopeless sometimes.
Ino took a deep breath. "Please, don't worry, Lord Kazekage! There's nothing wrong here! Please, feel free to look around! "
"I hope the shop fits your needs," Sai continued.
Behind her, Shikadai got up, narrowing his eyes. Both Aunt Ino and Uncle Sai were acting strange. They were not being themselves: Aunt Ino was a bossy, overdramatic woman who always wanted everything her way—and now what was she doing? Humbling herself, bowing—to a guy who had supposedly interrupted her mid-speech? Acting all soft and polite? And Uncle Sai—he was normally direct and straightforward; more often than not one wished he didn't open his mouth to speak of his own accord. However, all he had said to Gaara as of yet was respectful and businesslike, and he was simply copying his wife's polite movements like a robot.
Charades. So, incredibly fake. The Yamanaka couple had automatically erected a wall between themselves and the redheaded man before them. Shikadai gnashed his teeth, his heart squirming within the confines of his rib cage as his suspicions were confirmed.
No one considered Uncle Gaara a friend.
"I consider them friends."
Even the ones that Uncle Gaara himself called his friends.
Shikadai was not mad at Aunt Ino and Uncle Sai themselves. By now he'd been able to infer that they were not unfairly discriminating against Uncle Gaara, as all of Konoha seemed to act this way. He was, however, disappointed at the unfair circumstances, sad for his uncle, and most of all, confused.
Why?
Again, Uncle Gaara appeared unperturbed. Instead, he responded to Ino's and Sai's gestures with a small bow of his own. Like all of Gaara's motions, it was a subtle one, but surprise registered on the Yamanaka couple's faces. "I believe I've already taken the liberty of doing so, Mrs. Yamanaka." He was talking about "looking around" the shop, which he certainly had indulged in a profuse amount of. "I'm privileged to have friends who have dedicated themselves to honoring plant life in such a way. I've taken a great liking to your sanctuary." Gaara stood straight once more. "It is also good to see the two of you again. I do not have the opportunity to encounter my friends often."
Neither Yamanaka seemed to be able to say anything for a moment. How often does the infamously cold and dangerous Sabaku no Gaara spontaneously appear in your flower shop, shower you with compliments, and call you his friend?
Shikadai could clearly see that Ino was still uncomfortable under Gaara's gaze, and his wife's discomfort was affecting Sai, too. The pale man managed to muster, after a few seconds, "It's good to see you again too, Lord Kazekage. How is Commander Kankuro?"
Commander Kankuro? wondered Shikadai.
"Please, just Gaara is fine. Kankuro is doing well."
"Ahh—what brings you here today, Lord—Gaara? I really hope our shop suits your needs—are you looking for something?" Aunt Ino stuttered slightly, plastic grin on her face.
"I am simply admiring your collection of flowers. And it is a question of who brought me here, not what. It was my nephew." Gaara's eyes landed on Shikadai.
Ino and Sai turned around to look at the Nara boy, incredulity in the former's eyes.
Shikadai resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Gaara was his uncle, so was it so hard to make the connection between the two of them? They also must have believed that Uncle Gaara was a real loner—did they really think that Shikadai and Gaara's appearance in the same time and at the same place was a coincidence?
"Shikadai!" Ino hissed in a undertone, "Why didn't you tell me?"
Shikadai ignored Aunt Ino's and Uncle Sai's awkward antics. "You know Uncle Kankuro too, Uncle Sai?"
Sai blinked for a moment, and his normal expression returned to his face as he spoke to Shikadai. "Yes, Lazy Junior, I was on his platoon in the War."
That explains the name Commander. Shikadai suddenly felt a childish satisfaction that all his relatives had been so high-ranking in the war. He swallowed the feeling.
"You have a shinobi son," Gaara spoke again.
"Ah—yes!" Ino answered.
"He is Shikadai's teammate."
"Yes! They're both part of this generation's Ino-Shika-Chou!"
"I'm curious."
Shikadai snickered at his uncle's straightforwardness and the surprised look on Aunt Ino's face.
"Huh? Oh!" Ino glanced around furtively, before turning and yelling to one of the shop's back rooms, "INOJIN! WE HAVE COMPANY, COME OUT HERE!"
Shikadai heard scrambling and snickered again. Temari of the Sand and Ino Yamanaka were two very different women, but when it came down to fundamentals, they were both troublesome mothers. However, while Shikadai responded to his mother with nonchalance and an air of defiance, Inojin acted like a scampering servant who'd been ordered around by a queen. Chouchou and Shikadai enjoyed teasing Inojin by bringing up his unquestionable obedience to his mother and questioning his manliness.
A pale head popped out from behind the door. "Yes, Mom?" The blonde boy stumbled out into the shop. He noticed Shikadai and gave him a side glance—he knew that his teammate couldn't be the "company" his mother had referred to, since Shikadai was a regular whose presence needn't be announced. "Who—" his eyes widened and his stance grew stiff and rigid as his eyes landed upon Shikadai's uncle.
Said teammate gave another inaudible groan. Great. First Aunt Ino and Uncle Sai, and now Inojin, too.
Inojin's pale eyes darted quickly between Shikadai—his best friend and teammate—and the gourd-wielding shinobi—who was even less than a stranger to him. Stiffly, robotically, Inojin bowed, and with a nearly pre-programmed voice, intoned, "Hello, Lord Kazekage."
Shikadai sent his teammate a disapproving look that said, Dude, what is wrong with you today?
It certainly wasn't the meeting Shikadai had imagined between his uncle and teammate.
Ino giggled to attempt to disarm the situation. "Inojin, go make some tea for Shikadai and his—his uncle."
"There's no need for that," Gaara protested.
"No, there is a need for it," Sai said, fake cheerful smile securely in place. "You're a guest here. I've also read that sharing tea with acquaintances is a good way to dissipate awk—"
Ino forcefully pinched her husband's arm to stop him from magnifying the awkwardness levels in the room. "R-r-right, what Sai said! Besides, it's not every day that handsome important men visit the Yamanaka Flower Shop!" Ino winked at Gaara, trying to relieve some tension. Shikadai noticed that Aunt Ino, despite everything, was still acting cautiously and on-guard: her flattery and bravado were nowhere near her regular supply.
"Is that so?" Wow, Uncle Gaara is as socially clueless as Uncle Sai. However, he's not as annoying.
"But Gorgeous, I am at the Yamanaka Flower Shop every day." Sai wasn't even trying to joke with his wife; he was dead serious. That's just...sad, Shikadai thought.
"I wasn't talking about you!"
"But you call me handsome and important every day—"
"Ugh, just shut up!" said an embarrassed Ino, giving her husband a shove, vein popping in her temple. With his disarming smile still in place, Sai began to lead the way through the flower shop to the door that would lead to the back room where tea would soon be served.
The Yamanaka Flower Shop was not where the Yamanaka family lived; however, since they spent most of their time there anyway, it had several rooms that they'd furnished like a home. Ino and Sai led Shikadai and Gaara into a modest room with several couches around a rectangular table. Inojin was setting down a kettle of tea and several teacups; Shikadai snorted, thinking that his friend looked somewhat like a maid, and filed the thought away so he could tease Inojin about it later. As if reading his teammate's thoughts, Inojin sent a glare Shikadai's way, retreating into a corner and leaning against the wall.
Shikadai sat himself down next to his uncle, while Aunt Ino and Uncle Sai sat across from them. Aunt Ino's hands were folded tightly in her lap, her normally bubbly demeanor restrained. Shikadai noticed that Inojin still refrained from sitting down, even though there was enough space for him beside his mother and father. He was simply backed up against the wall, as if distancing himself from the ordeal, albeit watching it with calculating eyes, figure rigid and scowl in place.
What's with him?
Shikadai regarded Inojin a bit suspiciously, but shrugged it off. Sai poured everyone's tea and Shikadai reached out for his own cup, blowing away the smoke and taking a sip.
It was a predicament. Aunt Ino, the usual talker, seemed to have zipped lips at the moment and considering her standards, was practically mute. Uncle Gaara was practically mute in the first place, except for when it mattered. Uncle Sai was the silent observer who would only make himself known at the most inappropriate of moments in the most inappropriate ways. Inojin was not being any help, seeing as to how he was sulking.
The atmosphere was so stifling that Shikadai began calculating the probability of suffocating. Troublesome.
"Uncle Gaara likes to cultivate cacti at home," Shikadai informed the room's occupants, breaking the silence. "He really likes plants, so that's why I thought he'd like which the Yamanaka Flower Shop."
"Cacti!" Ino exclaimed. "Well, we don't have too many of those, unfortunately: most of our customers think they're—they don't know how to appreciate desert plants! They prefer the beautiful, flowery type! Of course, I'm a plant expert, so I do know a thing or two about cacti as well!"
"That so?" Gaara replied.
"Cacti?" Sai tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Aren't they those ugly plants that look like green stumps with spines all over them?"
Shikadai could see Aunt Ino's face reddening, her mouth opening and closing while she thought of a way to remedy her husband's mistake. Shikadai glanced a little nervously at the man beside him. He had never actually seen the way Uncle Gaara reacted to provocation, unintended as it was. Shikadai himself was victim to Uncle Sai's inadverdent abrasiveness, which could be infuriating, to say the least. How would the notoriously powerful Kazekage react...?
To the surprise of everyone in the room (except Sai, who never seemed surprised about anything), Gaara nodded. "Yes, that's quite an accurate description..."
A low hissing sound permeated the room, and heads snapped in alarm to the source. Sand was pouring out of Gaara's gourd and onto the wooden floor. Shikadai stared, not daring to blink his eyes, his heart pounding within the confines of his chest. Aunt Ino visibly recoiled in fear, and Inojin's eyes widened so far so as to bug out of their sockets.
Uncle Gaara still sat unmoving, arms crossed and eyes level—one oblivious to his powers would not have thought the writhing sand had anything to do with statue-like man. The sand rose into the air, four pairs of eyes following it...
And materialized into the shape of a cactus plant.
"The cactus's bloom is rare...but when it does, it blooms with incomparable beauty and radiance, which makes it that much more precious..."
"Wow, Uncle Gaara!" Shikadai exclaimed, getting to his feet to observe the sand-plant, which Gaara had turned into a realistic green with his chakra. A large, radiantly pink flower sat atop the cactus, it's long and numerous petals fanning out like fingers, though its size was much larger than Shikadai's hand.
He subtly ignored the room's other occupants cautiously return to their previous states, having realized that were no threat.
Shikadai brought out a hand and tentatively touched the edge of a petal, further awed by the fact that the sand-cactus not only looked real...but felt real, as well.
The strain in the room lessened as Aunt Ino got up to make observations of the plant, which was so detailed that she was able to recognize the species. Uncle Sai got out his notebook and began sketching it.
Shikadai sat back on the couch, contentedly watching the scene before him, which was not completely relaxed yet but was certainly less awkward than before. Trust Uncle Gaara to diffuse the situation so easily—
Shikadai was shaken out of his reverie when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked behind him to see Inojin staring at him with hard eyes.
"Shikadai...can we talk?"
Shrugging, Shikadai got up, excusing himself from the conversation. Aunt Ino continued rambling about the cactus, while Uncle Gaara's eyes flicked in his direction for a short second as a sign of acknowledgement.
Inojin led Shikadai out through the front of the shop again and received a few greetings from customers who recognized the youngest Yamanaka. Inojin did not stop until they had gotten outside, after which he turned fully on the Nara.
"What the hell is with you?" Shikadai asked right away, peeved by his friend's behavior and not bothering to beat around the bush.
"What the hell is with me? I should be the one asking you that!" Inojin ground out through gritted teeth.
Shikadai stared at fuming gray-blue eyes. "Tch, what the hell did you eat this morning to make you lose it like this? Troublesome."
"Don't pretend you don't know!" But Shikadai really didn't want what Inojin was fussing over. "Bringing a Sand ninja...to our shop...and not just any ninja either, Shikadai! The Kazekage? Really?"
"Okay, you've really lost it, haven't you?"
"You're the one who's lost it, Shikadai! The Kazekage is the leader of another village...when he comes to Konoha, it's purely for official business. You can't trust him to go romping around the shop owned by one of Konoha's most powerful clans!"
"One, Uncle Gaara is here on vacation right now, not that that matters, and I was the one brought him to your shop, not that that matters either. Two, he considers your parents his friends, and three, the Sand and Leaf are allies anyway so what is the big deal?"
"I thought you were smart, Shikadai!" Inojin buried his face in his hands for a few seconds. "We're inside Konoha's walls right now. The Sand and Leaf may be allies, but they are not. Friends. Shikadai."
"What the hell is the difference? Allies, friends, whatever! And Uncle Gaara is friends with people of Konoha, not to mention the least of, the Hokage!"
"The Kazekage and Hokage are allies, Shikadai, and the difference is that friends help each other, period. Allies help each other, because they have something to gain from each other."
Shikadai stared at his friend in disbelief.
"So what could that possibly mean if the Kazekage shows up in the Yamanaka Flower Shop?"
Shikadai balled his hands into fists and shouted, "Like he could have anything to gain from a lowlife like you!"
Inojin snarled.
"Just cut the crap, Inojin, just stop. Gaara, ally or friend or not, is my uncle."
"Your dad knowingly sacrificed your right to have a normal uncle-nephew relationship with your uncles the minute he decided to marry the Kazekage's sister."
"Don't drag Mom and Dad into this!" Shikadai exploded, pacing around. "And don't you dare talk about my uncles that way! Uncle Kankuro and Uncle Gaara are the best I could ever have asked for!"
"Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea who your uncles are? Sabaku no Gaara...you have no idea what Mom's told me about him—"
"Yeah? Well what did Aunt Ino tell you about him behind our backs?"
"And have you ever taken a look at the guy? I've never seen anyone more cold in my life!"
Shikadai stopped short. He took several deep breaths, and in a suddenly eerily calm voice, said, "So you're judging people based on appearances now?"
Inojin recoiled for a second from the change in Shikadai's tone. "So what if I am?" he said carefully. "You look like a lazy, good-for-nothing slacker who doesn't give a shit about his friends or his village, yet calls himself a shinobi. And that's exactly what you are!"
"And you look like a coward," Shikadai said, not skipping a beat. He turn smartly on his heel, not bothering to look back as he said, "Forget the Sand and Leaf, Inojin. I thought we were friends."
He retreated back into the shop, slamming the door behind him.
Shikadai couldn't believe he was doing this.
He was holding a bouquet of yellow flowers, on his way to give them to a girl.
To magnify the situation, his uncle was walking right alongside him. He didn't know if it was more or less awkward that the whole ordeal was his uncle's idea in the first place.
They had left the Yamanaka Flower Shop with Shikadai feeling as though smoke was still fuming from his ears. He had given a rather rude goodbye to Aunt Ino and Uncle Sai, and only after they had left the shop did he notice the oddity in his uncle's hands.
"What're those?" he asked.
Gaara looked down at his own hands, which were clutching a bouquet of yellow roses.
"They're roses," he replied.
"Yeah, but what for?"
"Our next destination."
Oh? Shikadai didn't know his uncle already had in mind a place to go next. "Where's that?"
"The Akimichis."
Uncle Gaara's answer caught Shikadai off guard. To Chouchou's house? What the...
"Why?"
"I've already met one of your teammates, and it seemed fitting to meet the other. Besides, the previous encounter showed me how satisfying it can be to seek out one's friends."
They didn't think of you as friends, Uncle Gaara. "Oh, okay...and the flowers?"
"You have an ordeal to apologize for. Ino taught me that these are a symbol of friendship."
"Apologize—" Shikadai suddenly remembered training yesterday, and how he had used Chouchou's body to his advantage to win the match and quite possibly hurt her.
"Ah—it's just Chouchou though...we're good friends and she knows me really well...so...it's really not necessary—" Shikadai really just didn't want to show up at the Akimichi house with flowers in his hand. That spelled troublesome ten times over.
"A debt owed, however small, stands in the way of a friendship," came Gaara's words of wisdom. "Bonds of friendship are meant to be strengthened, not weakened. There is nothing worth losing a friendship over."
Gaara looked at Shikadai meaningfully as he said this, and the burning intensity in those sea-foam eyes told Shikadai that his uncle had some idea of the ordeal he had had with Inojin earlier.
Shikadai swallowed, having no argument besides, "Troublesome," but not really wanting to say it now. However, he didn't think that presenting roses to Chouchou was any less embarrassing than before, so on their way, he stopped at Yahiniku Q and ordered a take-out of several boxes of barbeque.
"This is also a symbol of friendship," he'd muttered as an explanation to Uncle Gaara's questioning eyes.
Upon arriving at Chouchou's house, he knocked tentatively on the door several times, holding the flowers out of the way so as not to attract attention. Uncle Gaara stood behind him.
Soon, Chouji Akimichi stepped to the door and opened it. "Hey, Shikadai!"
The Head of the Akimichi clan was nervous when he saw the Kazekage and he didn't deny it to himself. However, Shikamaru was his best friend, and while Chouji had never spoken directly to Gaara himself, he knew from Shikamaru that the silent redhead was a good man. He observed how seemingly close his best friend's son was to Gaara, and Chouji decided that this was reason enough to welcome the Kazekage with open arms. "Hello, Gaara," he said.
Surprise, although it was a pleased one, flashed across Gaara's eyes at being acknowledged with his own name. "Chouji," Gaara returned.
Chouji's wife, the Cloud shinobi Karui, soon joined him at the door. "Well, look who's here, Shikadai," she smirked. "And if it isn't a personal visit from the Kazekage? Well, come on in!"
Karui, like Temari, was a foreign wife living in Konoha, and also like Temari, had worked closely with the Kage of her village before. Through the previous Raikage, A, she was somewhat familiar with the Kazekage, and she also knew about his Jinchuuriki status, like Killer B.
Shikadai noted with silent elation that Karui held none of Konoha's awkwardness towards Sunagakure's leader.
Karui led the guests into the living room, with her husband yelling, "Allow me to get some snacks!"
Shikadai and Gaara arrived in the living room to find Chouchou sitting there, rubbing a bandaged head (Shikadai realized guiltily that he'd been the one to cause that) and eating a bag of chips.
"Oh hey Shikadai!" the plump girl greeted, getting up as she noticed her teammate. "Hi there, you're Shikadai's uncle, aren't you?"
Gaara nodded once before removing the sand gourd from his back and placing it by his feet and sitting down. Chouchou scuttled over to Shikadai, and whispered in his ear, "He's hot!"
Shikadai turned red. "S-shut up!"
"And you still owe me for yesterday."
Before Shikadai had a chance to reply, Chouchou said, rather loudly, "So who's the unlucky chick?"
Shikadai was further mortified as he was reminded of the yellow roses in his hand. "As if...girls are too troublesome."
"Oh, so it's not for a girl?"
Dammit.
"These are a symbol of friendship. It's a way to say sorry for hurting you yesterday." Shikadai tried to sound as formal and robotic as possible, and even gave a tiny bow as he handed the flowers to Chouchou, knowing that Uncle Gaara was watching the entire altercation.
Chouchou snorted. "Flowers?"
Not my idea, Shikadai mouthed, but Chouchou only snickered as she took them for Shikadai's hands.
"To further express my sincere regret and apology...I also got you this." He held out the barbeque.
Silence prevailed for several moments. "Is...that..." Chouchou began in disbelief.
Shikadai gave a lazy nod.
Chouchou all but dropped the flowers, forgotten onto the ground, as she squealed and wrenched the barbeque from her teammates hands. "BARBEQUE!" She seized Shikadai into a bone-crushing hug. "Omigosh I love you so much right now Shikadai everything is forgiven!"
"Get...off..." Shikadai struggled.
Chouchou obeyed, plopping back down onto the couch and tearing open the boxes of food before stuffing it into her mouth at an inhuman speed.
The rest of the visit was a pleasant one, during which Chouji had brought out a table full of food for the guests but had ended up finishing himself. The mood was relaxed, and the Akimichi family seemed to have no discomfort for being in such close proximity to the Kazekage. Gaara looked no different than he had when he'd been speaking with the Yamanakas, but Shikadai was sure that inside, Gaara could feel the friendly difference. Shikadai was happily impressed with his teammate and her family, and felt very different from the way he had upon leaving the Yamanaka Flower Shop.
They stayed at the Akimichis for much longer than they had at the Yamanakas, but eventually, Gaara got up to leave, slinging his gourd over his back. "Please come again, Gaara," Karui told the man.
"We really hope you have more time to visit Konoha like this in the future!" Chouji added. "Don't forget to drop by and say hi over the next few days either!"
"Bye-bye, Shikadai's uncle!" Chouchou exclaimed cordially.
Gaara gave them each a nod, before turning away and walking towards the door.
Shikadai felt his heart swell at Chouchou's affability—so unlike Inojin—and for good measure, gave her a hug, one-armed and sluggish as it was.
Chouchou hummed in a bit of surprise but patted her teammate on the shoulder. "I wouldn't mind if you had more things to apologize about, Shikadai!"
"Whatever..."
Shikadai joined his uncle at the door, but looked up at him when he suddenly stopped.
"Chouchou...Akimichi," he said.
He turned his head around and looked at the girl's golden eyes seriously. "Thank you for being Shikadai's friend."
With that, the Kazekage left the Akimichi household, his nephew following close behind.
After Chouji and Karui had closed the door, they turned around to see what their daughter was doing—she was bein uncharacteristically silent, after all.
They found her, standing with her palms pressed together and bulging hearts in her eyes.
"Was I born in Sunagakure, by any chance?" she asked.
"Um, no..." Karui answered tentatively.
"'Cause I bet the Kazekage is my real dad!"
Both of Chouchou's parents facepalmed. "Not again..."
That evening, Shikadai found himself having dinner with no less than two Kages of the Five Great Shinobi Nations...at Ichiraku Ramen.
Naruto Uzumaki had invited his long-time friend Gaara for supper, and Shikadai had been allowed to tag along...he liked ramen, but the Hokage's obsession is rather troublesome, he thought, as the blonde man slurped bowl after bowl after bowl of the noodles.
After the depressing ordeal at the Yamanakas earlier that day, in which Shikadai had discovered the less-than-positive opinions that existed for his uncle he wasn't able to understand at all, he was happy to meet with someone he knew that, without a doubt, considered Uncle Gaara a friend. The merit of the friendship was questioned, however, when Shikadai noticed that the Hokage was simply blabbing nonsense away over his ramen, while the Kazekage sat silently with little no response.
Uncle Naruto treats everyone this way...does he really consider Uncle Gaara a friend?
He picked at his noodles, pondering the troubling question in his head.
"Hey Gaara..."
Shikadai snapped to attention at the suddenly serious tone in Uncle Naruto's voice. Uncle Naruto was many things, but serious was not one of them.
This could be interesting.
"After everything that happened in the past...isn't it great where we are now? I mean, you're the Kazekage, and I've become the most awesome Hokage Konoha's ever seen...! ...heheh, ya know..."
"No, it's true."
"You're pretty amazing too, Gaara...I mean, you became Kazekage way before I did! And your sand powers are way cool!"
"It was merely a matter of circumstance."
"You had to work real hard to get there, ya know! Don't try to deny it! You're the only Kage who fought in the Fourth Shinobi War, ya know? You really did help save the world..."
"What is the purpose of all this praise?"
"Aw, nothing, Gaara. It just amazes me how far we've made it together, with the pain we share...Even till now you're the only one who completely understands... And there's no way we could've saved the world without you during the war! And Sakura told me...you personally saved my life too. So I...guess we're even now, aren't we?"
"No."
"Come on, Gaara, you saved my life! I'd be dead if it weren't for you!"
"That may be so, but you saved my soul."
Shikadai gawked at the conversation that he was clearly not a part of. Uncle Naruto had spoken so seriously, for once—or at least, had spoken of serious matters...and what could his own uncle Gaara possibly mean...?
You saved my soul...?
Shikadai had never been at a stalemate with a shougi opponent for so long before. He needed some answers soon about Uncle Gaara, lest he go crazy.
The Hokage's voice turned loud again, snapping Shikadai out of his thoughts.
"Shikadai! I almost forgot to tell ya!"
Shikadai suddenly had a bad feeling about this...
"I was watching you train yesterday and I was so impressed..."
Uh-oh.
"You're clearly Chunin level already, so I thought I'd give your team a perfect mission! It's a C-rank and you'll be on an escort mission outside the village! Isn't that exciting!"
No.
Shikadai had never been outside the village before. However, C was a higher rank of a mission than his usual D-rank, and an escort mission sounded outside the village sounded like a lot of work, so that only summed up to troublesome in his mind.
"Tr—" he began.
And for the first time in his life, Shikadai found himself unable to finish saying his trademark expression.
It wasn't that the mission wasn't troublesome. No...it was a C-rank escort mission out of the village; it truly was the epitome of the word...
But as Shikadai tried to say it, a foreign chill suddenly crept up his spine, settling at the back of his neck and making his hair stand on end. He was frozen to the spot, paralyzed, and he felt as if someone dangerous was breathing down his neck and yet he had no idea who.
A heavy weight seemed to crush his bones and a feeling of fear and dread clutched at his heart, dragging it painfully and threatening to strangle him from the inside.
