Friends and Further
by Lemon Drops/thatreevesgirl (both me)
Drabble 4: Ice Cream
Sitting in an arcade, one intended for people much younger than the two shinobi currently playing a pinball machine, were two very overly-zealous, competitive men trying to beat the high score. In reality, Gaara and Naruto were far from stellar at the game, Gaara being the worse of the two since he had never played such a thing in his life. Naruto would laugh when Gaara watched in wonderment as the tiny ball would go shooting into a hole or be sent hurtling from one end of the pinball plane to the other. It was almost as entertaining to watch Gaara as it was to actually play it himself.
There were a few other games they tried, having a lot of fun before they finally decided that they were gamed out for the day. Naruto had made the suggestion, and Gaara had never been to an arcade, so on his last day of his vacation from his Kazekage duties Gaara decided he wanted to try all the things Naruto said he'd enjoyed as a child (since Gaara never had the chance). Naruto knew all the things someone could do in solitude, like the arcade, swimming in the giant toad pond in the forest just outside Konoha, and even scaring the daylights out of the women in the local onsen (which they elected not to do, seeing as it wasn't quite appropriate for men in their twenties). Like Gaara, Naruto never had a lot of friends to play ball with, so most of the time had to make his own fun.
Walking back to Naruto's apartment, the blond man leaned over and nudged Gaara's arm with his elbow, "Hey, wanna get ice cream?"
"Sure," Gaara replied coolly, though in all actuality he was rather excited, because he was rather fond of the frozen treat. The shops sprinkled around Suna were always out of stock on hot days.
Gaara was still lost in thought about how much he liked ice cream when Naruto turned to him and started speaking excitedly, "Gaara! Hey, what if there was a ramen flavored ice cream? Wouldn't that be great?"
Gaara only squinched one eye and murmured, "No, it would be disgusting."
"Hmph, like you have a better flavor," Naruto pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Cinnamon."
Naruto looked over at his friend, and lifted an eyebrow at the Kazekage, "You like cinnamon ice-cream? Ewwww."
Gaara pondered if their recent attempts relive their childhood had gone to Naruto's head, because he was acting rather childish. "Your ramen idea isn't any better," he retorted as they entered the store Naruto had led them to.
The woman working the counter looked as though she'd personally eaten half of the ice cream reserves in Konoha, and as she glared at the two young men, waiting for a few seconds before she brashly asked, "Flavors?"
Naruto looked at the list sitting on the counter (probably pondering which of them would taste most like Ramen) as Gaara told the woman he wanted cinnamon. Naruto chimed in a few seconds later with green tea, which elicited a disgusted look from Gaara. "Don't knock it till you've tried it, sandy-pants," Naruto told his friend as he grabbed the cone from the evil, plump woman, and licked a bit which was already dripping down the side onto his hand.
"This is good," Gaara said as they walked out, licking the cinnamon treat and then sticking it out for Naruto. "Try it," he told the blond, who was shocked by this.
"Gaara, I'm not eating off of something you ate off of," he said, returning to his own cone.
"Let me try yours," the Kazekage insisted, trying to tug Naruto's cone to his mouth so he could see if Green Tea ice cream was as disgusting as it sounded.
Naruto swatted Gaara's hand away before growling lowly, "You have your own to eat, this is mine."
Gaara didn't understand at all why it was strange for friends not to share food. He and Naruto shared so much else, why not ice cream? Naruto surely didn't think he was diseased, did he? Gaara gave Naruto a questioning look before asking, "Why can't I try it."
"Guys don't share ice cream," Naruto glared back, "Maybe if I had a girlfriend I'd share with her, but not with you."
The puzzle pieces seemed to come together in Gaara's mind, finally realizing why Naruto didn't want to give Gaara a taste. Sometimes the world was unfair, because all Gaara wanted to do was give the damned treat a try. He huffed and continued to eat his own. After walking a minute or so in silence Gaara was greeted by an ice cream cone being shoved in his face, a rather peeved Naruto offering it to him. Taking a lick and deciding that green tea wasn't quite as awful as it sounded (close, but not quite), Gaara then offered his to Naruto who licked the cone fast and shoved it away, looking around to make sure no one had seen their odd little ice cream exchange. Gaara smirked as they kept walking.
The next time Gaara visited Konoha they went to the same ice cream shop, but this time both Naruto and Gaara got cinnamon ice cream.