"Gaara-kun! Gaara-kun…where are you?" Kiku called out, right hand cupped beside her mouth in and attempt to amplify the sound.
It had been nearly 4 months since she'd first met him, and she'd made a point to go see him whenever she could. It didn't even take her as much effort to sneak around her family anymore. She'd simply tell herr mother that she was going out to play with one of her pre-approved friends, then just go see Gaara instead. Her mother never bothered to check if it was true or not, as she never cared to check up on her youngest daughter. Kiku learned it was the best way to sneak out without really having to sneak out. Today she was supposedly playing with some girl named Momo…she wasn't really Kiku's friend, as she'd only spoken to her twice, but her mother didn't know that.
Gaara was usually at the playground or somewhere nearby, so Kiku never had any trouble finding him. Today,however, she'd looked all over and he was still nowhere in sight. Kiku sighed and held her little bag to her chest. She'd wanted to surprise him.
She walked through the streets of Suna, peering around every corner and looking around. She didn't want to give up until you found him, not after all the work she'd put into his surprise.
"Kiku…chan?"
A quiet voice behind her caused the small girl to turn around, and a wide smile slowly spread across her face.
"Hi Gaara-kun!" she said with a sigh. "I was looking all over for you."
"You…were? Really?" He seemed a little surprised.
"Of course, silly! We always play around this time…but you weren't at the playground or anywhere…" Kiku jutted out her lower lip and folded her arms across her chest, showing her displeasure at him not showing up.
"Oh Gaara…is this your friend?"
Kiku's gaze wandered up from the redhead to see the man beside him. He was blonde with what she thought was a girl's haircut. It really wasn't , but Kiku couldn't help but be forced to suppress a giggle. He knelt down to be at eye level with the two children and smiled.
"I'm Gaara's uncle, Yashamaru. It's very nice to meet you."
Kiku smiled back.
So this was the uncle Gaara had told her about... the one that took care of him. Kiku thought he seemed like a nice person, and she was glad Gaara had someone nice like that as a close family member. She politely said hello to the man.
"I was gonna ask Gaara-kun if he wanted to have a picnic," Kiku said, quietly. "My mom just taught me and my sister how to cook some things and I made extra to share."
Gaara looked to the bag in her hands then looked to Yashamaru.
Gaara's uncle sighed and stood back up, looking down the street with a momentary far away gaze in his eyes.
"I was just bringing Gaara home now. His father is going to stop by later to…see him." Yashamaru looked down at the girl, obviously disappointed and looking like she was about to cry. He leaned down to pat her head. "Our house is just down the road, though. Maybe you two can have a quick picnic in the house before he gets there."
Kiku and Gaara both broke into large smiles and Yashamaru led them both towards the house.
Kiku was excited to see where Gaara lived. She'd wondered on a few occasions, but never asked…her new friend got upset fairly easily and she always tried her hardest to avoid saying anything at all that would upset him.
As they approached his house Kiku were surprised to see that it was fairly large, especially for only two people. She figured Gaara's family must have a lot of money, then wondered that, if that was true, why her mother never invited them to her parties.
Gaara grabbed Kiku's hand gently and led her inside. It was much cooler indoors and she was silently grateful. Running around searching for Gaara in the afternoon heat had begun to make her feel overheated.
The two of them made their way to nearly empty room. It had just a couch and a table with a single picture on top. Gaara sat on the floor and Kiku sat down too, gaze flickering to the picture. It was a woman who looked a lot like Yashamaru. She wondered if that was Gaara's mother, but didn't ask. His mother was a topic she knew for a fact that she shouldn't bring up.
Kiku opened her bag and removed a large bento box. She took the compartments apart and lay them out in front of them. They were relatively simple dishes, but she took pride in them.
Kiku had just discovered that so far cooking was the only thing she could to better than Kimi. Even their mother had been impressed. It had made Kiku very happy to hear her mother's compliments…and she was happier still when her mother yelled at Kimi for burning an omelet. It had been Kiku's turn to smirk at her sister's mistake.
Kiku twirled a strand of hair around her finger and pointed at the riceball she'd made out of brown rice for him. It was shaped like a bear head, and she'd used cut pieces of nori to make it's smiling face.
"That one is just for you. I tried to make it look like Kuma. You should try it and tell me how everything is."
Gaara nodded and reached out, taking one of the bear ears and popping it in his mouth. Kiku weren't sure what he thought at first, but she smiled when he took the whole riceball and kept eating it. He liked it, and when he finished he thanked her.
"That was yummy."
He looked over the other contents of the bento and grabbed one of her favorites. He bit into it and promptly spit it back out.
"...that one wasn't yummy..." he mumbled, reaching for a flower shaped carrot piece to wash away the taste.
Kiku grabbed one to try it as well and she looked at him. There was nothing wrong with it. It tasted like normal and she thought it was really yummy. She always loved mizu yokan.
"Well if you don't like that, what kinds of stuff do you normally like? I can try and make it for another time." Kiku wanted him to like the food she made, and figured she could always make another bento full of things he liked.
"I like gizzards...and salted tongue."
He said it with a cheerful expression but her eyes opened wide in mild disgust. She couldn't understand how any of that could taste good...and she didn't think she'd ever want to stay for dinner if that's what Yashamaru cooked.
"I...ummm...don't think I've ever had that before," she said with a soft chuckle.
Gaara saw her expression and promised her that it really was good. He made Kiku promise to try it one day and she eventually agreed. She got to see his smile again, which to her made it worth it.
Other than the mizu yokan, Gaara seemed to enjoy the bento and the two of them finished up the lunch together.
When they were done, Kiku packed the box back up and put it in her bag. She knew he still had his dad coming over and she didn't want to intrude.
Both children said goodbye and Yashamaru and Gaara saw Kiku out.
She took to an immediate run back home and a few houses down from Gaara's she crashed into something hard and fell backwards. Kiku needed to learn to pay closer attention to her surroundings...something she frequently forgot when she was excited.
She rubbed her sore head and felt someone pick her up and set her on her feet.
She looked up to see the Kazekage and her breath caught in her throat. Kiku had never seen him up close before.
"Watch where you're going next time. We can't have people crashing into eachother and getting hurt over something foolish, right?"
She nodded. He was an intimidating man, and even though she knew he was the man in charge of keeping the village safe...someone her father had worked with and respected... he scared her.
She let out a sigh of relief when he simply continued on his way past her, and she slowly walked the rest of the way home. She didn't look back to see him greet Yashamaru before following him inside the house she had just left.