"And, in conclusion, I'd recommend that he be suspended from any future missions until he has grown up and learned the true meaning of being a shinobi," Baki drawled, glancing down at his clipboard from behind the white cloth that covered half his face.
"Is that really necessary?" Gaara sighed, sitting stiffly behind the desk. His arms were folded on the hard wooden surface and his eyes fixed, not on the other man, but on a row of young baby cacti just sprouting in three tiny pots lined up on his desk.
Baki raised an eyebrow, scrutinising the young Kazekage. "I certainly think so," he replied calmly, tapping the clipboard decisively as he straightened still further, "It may all seem like youthful high spirits now, but once out in action that kind of frivolity and lack of discipline could get him and his teammates killed. Best to nip it in the bud, before it gets out of hand."
"Alright," Gaara muttered, closing his eyes, "Have it your way. D-Rank for the entire team until he shows some maturity." He disentangled a hand and ran it through his mess of crimson hair, leaning back in the chair with the other arm sliding back so it landed squarely on the armrest. "And don't argue. That's my final decision."
Baki nodded, dropping the clipboard to his side. "Fair en…" he began and then paused, listening, "What's that sound?" Confused, he glanced around the room.
The dark rings around Gaara's eyes widened and he sat up. "What sound?" he inquired, listening intently.
"That…" Baki turned around and froze, momentarily arrested. He remembered a low cabinet in the corner of the Kazekage's office, near a large potted palm. He didn't remember the mess of multi-coloured interlocking tubes attached to a large metal frame sat squarely on top of it. What was it anyway? The base structure dominated the entire surface area of the cabinet, easily a metre in length by about half that in width, but the interlocking plastic tubing carried on relentlessly, coiling through the metal frame and around the plant, even half-way up the wall. "What is that?" he demanded, turning to the Kazekage.
Gaara glanced across at the object of his former sensei's attention in surprise. "Oh that?" he pushed his chair backwards and stood up. His long Kage robes plummeted and swept against the floor as he moved around the desk. "My birthday present from my siblings," he explained, shrugging.
"Your… I … I see," Baki stepped closer to offending structure, peering inside it. It appeared to be lined with some kind of flaky grey substrate, resembling a sort of dried-out paper pulp. The substance was scattered liberally all over the interior, but had been pushed up in tiny mounds against the edges of the large dark-coloured plastic base. It appeared to be the displaced remains of what had been around a number of little tunnels, pots, bowls of sand and see-saws neatly arranged around both the base and two plastic upper levels, attached to the bars and accessible via a series of little wooden walkways. It was all strangely extravagant and something had clearly been enjoying re-decorating the place to its liking.
Said something exploded down from the roof of a large wooden house on the base level, barrelling a small cardboard tube in front of it. Baki took a step back in surprise, as a little furry apricot-coloured ball unwrapped itself and leaped upon the innocent cardboard, seizing the thin wall of one end in its tiny mouth. Furiously it shook the entire roll from side to side and then threw it violently back on the ground. The cardboard was nearly as big as the animal's own body, but it tossed it around with incredible ease, manipulating it with a practised grace as it viciously attacked one end of the tube again and then started feverishly scrambling at some tightly wedged paper that appeared to blocking the inside.
"Oh, don't mind him," Gaara explained, making Baki jump. He hadn't noticed the Kazekage as he moved up behind him. "I hid some dried chicken in there for him."
Baki stared at his superior and then back at the cage. "It can eat chicken?"
"Of course," Gaara shrugged, matter-of-factly, "They're omnivores. Eat pretty much the same as we do, providing you avoid strongly acidic or spicy additives."
Baki found himself nodding automatically. The muscles in his face didn't really seem to be responding to him either. "Really?" he muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "What is it… again?"
Gaara turned, eying him with a highly nonplussed expression. "A hamster," he asserted with such an air of amazement that Baki actually felt a momentary pang of embarrassment about having asked the question.
"A hamster…" he repeated, rubbing his neck, "And it needs… all this… here?" He removed the hand and waved it vaguely over the length of the cage.
Gaara shrugged. "It helps," he explained, moving closer to the cabinet and kneeling slightly so he could watch as the hamster successfully disembowelled the cardboard roll and scattered some of the contents out onto its bedding, "They are very active animals. In the wild they can cover up to eight miles in a single night, in between resting during the coldest parts and sleeping during the day. They're desert animals, Syrian hamsters, like us. Although not the most brilliant adapted ones I've ever seen, they'll quickly overheat above thirty Celsius and can perish trying to hibernate in extreme cold…" He frowned, and the hamster glanced up at him, whiskers twitching and both cheek pouches so comically full that his little head resembled a deformed ace of spades.
"Yes, but…" Baki waved a hand over the cage again, "All these… tubes and things…"
Gaara nodded, straightening up. "He certainly seem to appreciate them," he half-smiled, tapping one of the multi-coloured tubes. Inside the main part of the cage the hamster jumped, startled. It dove headlong towards its nearest shelter, only to fall backwards in alarm when its head wouldn't fit through the entrance. "I had trouble sourcing parts of the right size and ventilation for it," the Kazekage continued, folding his arms and watching as his rodent scurried around the cage checking out every available opening, occasionally twice, until it found something large enough to fit though. It re-emerged from the inside of a plastic cactus, pouches empty and happily grooming its whiskers. "Many of those commercially sold for small pets are stuffy and hard to clean regularly, so they quickly start to smell. Not to mention the fact that the attached cages are almost always too small for a Syrian and larger hamsters have been known to get stuck in the tubing… These have a nice large diameter and regular little ventilation holes along the length of them. Much better."
Baki smiled weakly, scratching the back of his head. "Yes, but…" he began, and then paused, closing his eyes as he hurried through the rest of the question, "Is this really appropriate for the Kazekage's office?"
Gaara turned, staring at the man. The kanji marking on his forehead wrinkled as he considered the idea. "I don't see why not," he exclaimed, shrugging as he turned back to his desk, "He keeps me company… and besides, this is only his spare cage."
Baki watched, unobserving as the boy settled himself in his chair. "Spare… cage?" he repeated, mouthing the words as he tried to fit his tongue around them.
"Yes," Gaara glanced up, in the middle of reaching for a fresh stack of paperwork, "He has another similar one in my bedroom at home. This way I can take him with me and keep an eye on him. I enjoy the company."
"I… see…" Baki pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply.