Lets skip forward a few months ne?
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Ino sighed, Christmas was a month away now and she had earnt a nice amount of money from her extra job plus selling a few valuable bonsai. The shop bell ringing brought her attention to the tall man who entered.
"I am looking for the owner of this shop," he stated
"That's me"
"Good afternoon Ino-san" he bowed and Ino noticed he wore the symbol of a ninja of the sand "I have brought a package for you"
"Um…thank you…. who is it from?"
"I have no idea" the ninja grinned "I'm just taking as many Missions as possible…. Christmas you know, though why this was a class I don't know"
Ino passed him a glass of water, which he gulped down, Ino refilled it. "A class for a package?"
"Yes no one would take it fearing it had something dangerous in it!" he waved as he moved to leave
"Wait!" Ino called struck with an idea
"Hai?" he bowed politely
"W, would you be willing to take something back to the sand village with you?"
He paused "I…I…" he scratched his ear
Ino smiled "I would of course pay you for the extra effort,"
"Well…. it is on the way" he said with a grin
Reaching for a small package she handed him it, then a beautiful Bonsai tree (think miniature maple) its leaves a rusty red colour. "Please take extra care with it" Ino begged handing him some money.
"Yes Ma'am" He looked at it with awe "Who is it for?"
"Your Kazekage" she said frowning when he turned slightly white "What's wrong?"
"Gaara-sama has been a bit temperamental lately…I hope he likes this present"
Ino smiled at the messenger "Trust me he'll be okay" with that she waved the young ninja away then turned to the strange shaped parcel
"Well what are you?" she questioned gently unwrapping it. "Wow"
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A large flat dish sported a miniature garden. However this was a desert garden, full of stones and cacti. Some were in flower and Ino spent time smelling each one identifying their scents. Leaning back something hit the floor. It was a card.
"I miss you
X"
Ino felt a tear slide down her cheek as she read the note. It could only be from Gaara. Turning the card over she found in a different hand instructions on how to care for cacti. (They had been obtained through a lot of trouble from Gaara's head plants man who at first refused to give them for a 'stuck up foreigner' that was until he walked into his garden and found it covered in a layer of sand 12 foot deep)
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"Kazekage-sama?" a small voice came from the door of his office with instructions not to be disturbed written on it.
"I should kill you for interrupting me…" a groggy voice spoke from the dark, hyacinth scented office Gaara swiftly knocked the pillow off his desk so it was hidden underneath and wiped drool from his face.
"H,hai I came with a package sir…" The ninja gulped hoping the blond leaf woman had been right
The blinds slammed open lighting the office with brilliant sunlight. The sand ninja cringed at the sudden light and with fear as Gaara stalked over to him eyes harsh.
"I asked not to be disturbed!" he snarled sand swirling
The ninja fell to his knees "She said you wouldn't mind!" he sobbed "Please Kazekage sama! I don't want to die today!" he froze at the silence that greeted his remarks and cracked open an eyelid. The Kazekage was staring at him.
"She?"
"T,the leaf ninja I delivered a package to…s,s,she had one she wanted delivered to you but wasn't sure how to send it"
Gaara raised an eyebrow "Bring it in" he said his calm voice not betraying how elated and hopeful he felt.
"H,hai" the ninja bowed to the floor and crawled out, when he re-entered Gaara's eyes widened at the sight of a bonsai tree. He even smiled.
He managed to catch the tree as the ninja holding it collapsed at the sight of Gaara smiling
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Temari entered a few hours later and was surprised to see that Gaara's purple hyacinth had been moved behind his desk where there was a windowsill for it. However the object that took its place took her breath away.
"Kama-sama!" her voice broke Gaara's concentration from where he had been sat reading the instructions on care.
"Is there ANY point putting a 'do not disturb' sign on that damn door?" he asked not looking up
Temari came close admiring the miniature Japanese maple "You should just lock it, where did this beauty come from?"
To her surprise he smiled though he had been smiling a lot more lately…"This appears to be my Christmas present"
"From her?" Temari asked. Gaara had flatly refused to tell her the woman's name but she accepted that he wanted privacy.
That brought up another issue "Um…Oni-chan…" she began
That got his attention, his eyes snapped up and narrowed, she only used that when she wanted something.
Bravely Temari swallowed and carried on "Do you remember Shikamaru…from the leaf…" If he had been a dog she would have sworn his ears would have just perked up
"The one who gave up during your fight?" he questioned non-commitedly
"Yeh…well about him he's asked me to go to the Kahona winter festival…can I have permission to go? Please?" She stood erect but her voice betrayed her desire to go
"Winter festival?" Gaara frowned
"Yes it's a big festival where they celebrate the achievements of the year and the villages history" Temari said looking at her brother hopefully usually he would have said no by now.
Gaara however hadn't wanted to know more about the festival but was instead wondering if Ino had a date.
"You may go," he finally said before shortly being enveloped in a hug
"OH thank you Gaara-san this is going to be great, I can wear that kimono you bought me and Shikamaru said I could stay at his house and it'll be fantastic!"
"It's a brilliant idea"
"What?" Temari stopped her hugging in puzzlement
Gaara pushed her away "In fact it's such a great opportunity to learn more of Kahona's ways that I think I should attend too…"
"WHAT?"
"…. And that you will stay, as I will at the lodgings we have at the Hokage tower."
"Ugh!" was the only argument he got as she stormed out of the room. Gaara ignored it, he had begun to draft out a letter