He was nervous. It's been nearly a year since he last saw him. Will he remember? Of course he will! He's a genius. But a part of him, the insecure part of him whispers that he was already forgotten. A distant memory.
Kankuro is of course excited. He was able to visit their nephew a few times because he played as a messenger to Konoha but being the Kazekage does not offer the same luxury. With one last sigh, he held his little gift for his nephew and followed Kankuro inside the compound.
He was greeted by his brother in law, who he affectionately calls elder brother amidst being the same age. He flash him a lazy smile and ushered him inside. There he was, apparently, able to sit on his own, laughing and cooing at Kankuro's attempt at baby talk. He was frozen in place. He can never be the uncle he deserves.
This beautiful human being, with his soft smiles and giggles will never see him as human, after all, he was born a monster. He accepted his fate, perhaps he can still watch him grow and protect him from afar. The next few seconds stretched as his nephew finally notice him; like a deer caught in headlights he thought. He hang his little head to the side and carefully observe him; he felt exposed. "Hello Shikadai, it's nice to see you". Shikamaru snorted and patted him on the back. "Go down on your knees and see what happens, call him".
So he did, with his arm stretched, he called for Shikadai. A few seconds passed and he felt his heart grow multiple times. His nephew started crawling towards him, cooing along the way, his eyes bright as the sun and for the very first time, Gaara felt unconditional love.
He enveloped Shikadai in a hug and started talking to him. He felt everyone's eyes so and the next thing he did was hid them with his sand. Shikadai looked perplexed but nonetheless excited to be surrounded by sand. His little fingers started tracing his face as if memorizing him, as if tracing him into his memory, as if he was waiting for this day to see him again.
He cried onto his little shoulders and told him three little words he thought he will never be able to say to anyone.
"Gaara! Share him with me! Remove this sand now, I have his little puppets!"
"O-o.. oji chan".
He sobbed and thickened his sand dome.