Chapter Fifteen
Pint-sized Picasso
When Gaara found out that Hinata had begun the motions for putting his winnings in a trust fund for him he nearly hit the roof. Thus far, she was unmoved, trying to explain that she was trying to think about his future. He was stubbornly sticking to his guns, though.
"Hinata! We have to do the remodeling and the repairs! That money is more than enough to do the job! Think of how nice this place will look!"
"I don't care, Gaara. That money is yours not mine; and it will be put-"
"Exactly! It's mine, and I want-"
"A trust fund is best, for now. In several years or so you can access it and do whatever you want with it, but I will be damned if I let you waste it!"
"Waste it? Waste it? I'm not buying toys with it; I'm making an investment in our future. It's not wasteful!"
"You're a child, so-"
"NO I'M NOT!" Hinata was taken aback by his bellow. He was positively vibrating in fury.
"I am supposed to be just a little older than you! A justu did this to me, not nature! I may not remember much of anything, but I do remember bits and pieces of the jutsu. I may not have the memories of my past experiences or maturity, but I am not a child. Not a real one anyway." A customer dinged the bell, and he moved to the door of the kitchen to go help her. He looked back at Hinata.
"This isn't over, you know." As he trudged out she let out a breath.
"He's right you know." She jumped and looked over to see Itachi standing in the doorway leading to the back of the kitchen. He walked over to her.
"I understand where you both are coming from, but in this instance you need to give a bit more. A trust fund isn't the best thing for him. That jutsu could theoretically fade at any time, which means that he could return to normal at any time. If you put it in a trust fund he wouldn't be able to access it for years after the fact. But he's wrong in some aspects too; the whole place doesn't really need that much renovation. The floors are in good shape, as are most of the plumbing and electrical lines. Just the faucets are faulty, and we can replace those easily. The most obvious thing that needs to be done is the painting. But even so, the purse that he won in that contest was a big one. We don't need the whole thing for this project, especially if we do it ourselves."
"Then what should I do?"
"Offer up a logical compromise. See what happens then. Ah, here he is now." A surly Gaara was striding as fast as his little legs could carry him and still look dignified. He scowled up at her, clearly ready for round two. She put her hands on her hips.
"First off, young man, you will not pay for everything, this is my place and you will respect that! Secondly, instead of a trust fund, I will set up a savings account instead. Third, you will not sass me again or you will go to time out and not get any dessert tonight, am I clear." His eyes bugged out at the thought of losing his precious cookies. He carefully chose his next words.
"I can pay for the paint stuff? Savings account sounds fair…" She nodded stiffly.
"I will pay for the rest. No arguing! You can help paint." He looked up at her and gave her sad eyes.
"I still get my cookies?"
"So long as you behave." He let out a sigh of relief. The three stood in silence for a few minutes.
"Can I get a funny painter's hat and one of those paint-board things that they use when they paint? A blue or black one?" Hinata started to giggle at the thought of Gaara wearing one of those hats. Too cute for words!
"Alright, you can get a hat if we can find one, but a paint tray and a roller will be much easier to use for the walls."
Sure enough, later that day customers could see Gaara in his oversized navy-blue hat painting the walls a cheerful creamy-yellow. His hat was tilted ever so slightly on his head; just like the painters he saw in the park sometimes. Hinata had already made stencils for different cookies, breads, cakes, pies, and muffins for each section of the interior shop. Kisame and Shikamaru were trying to fix the electricity while Itachi was working on the plumbing. Tenten and Chouji were minding the store while Hinata carefully traced the stencils on the walls for Gaara to fill in with paint. Hinata couldn't help but to smile. He was so cute when he was painting.