Red Is A Pretty Colour

Hiko's pov

Two weeks had passed since I moved to the sand village and things were going pretty well. Gaara's council had voted against allowing me to be a shinobi for the village but I was still more than welcome to use the training grounds to occupy my time. Temari had spent the whole first week with me sparing, playing shogi and cooking together, it was just like when I lived here years ago when I was 13. Gaara and I spent nights watching the sunset and talking on the roof of the Kazekage building and Konkuro had convinced me to try creating puppets with him. All in all it still didn't feel real, it was like another vacation.

This particular day Gaara had taken time away from the office simply to go on a walk with me. From the day I moved in Gaara had made every effort to spend time with me. We were walking hand in hand down a quiet street near the training grounds, just enjoying eachother's company.

"How are you enjoying the village?" Gaara asked.

"It feels weird being a citizen here now, especially not being able to work as a shinobi anymore. I love this village though, its so beautiful and peaceful. Its funny how quiet things feel when Naruto isn't around." I replied making Gaara chuckle.

"He is rather loud." Gaara agreed. "Sometimes I wonder if you're actually his sister, you're just so different."

"Well Temari and Konkuro are your siblings right? The three of you are night and day. Konkuro is annoying, Temari is amazing and you're adorable." I said, poking his nose and causing him to blush. "Despite being siblings the three of you all have different experiences of growing up which affects the type of person you are. It's the same for Naruto and I."

"Have you spoken to Naruto recently?" Gaara asked.

"I just got a letter from him yesterday. He really needs to go back to the academy, the moron can't spell to save his life." I said with a slight laugh.

The two of us were about to turn down into another street when we heard someone shouting. The two of us turned around to see Matsuri running towards us.

"Lord Gaara!" Matsuri called as she stopped infront of us, panting for breath. "I'm glad I ran into you."

"Matsuri, is something wrong?" Gaara asked in concern for the younger girl.

"No, I just wanted to ta- Hiko?" Matsuri said in confusion as she finally noticed me.

"Hi, it's been a while since I've seen you. You've really grown up." I said.

"Yeah, I'm chunin now too! I'm sorry I didn't recognise you right away, you look different. It's a good different, I mean wow, look at you." Matsuri said making me giggle.

"Yes, she is rather beautiful." Gaara said with a smile.

Matsuri didn't seem too happy with that comment but she ignored it to continue talking to me.

"How long are you here for?" Matsuri asked.

"I'm here permanently, I moved here two weeks ago." I replied.

"But what about Naruto?" Matsuri asked.

"Naruto's grown up now, he doesn't need a nagging little sister around." I replied. "Besides, I have my own life to live and I want to spend my time with the people I love."

Gaara smiled at me and placed a kiss on my forehead.

"Oh- Oh! You two are- congratulations!" Matsuri said as she looked back and forth between the two of us, her eyes seeming colder now.

The two of us chuckled at her reaction.

"Thank you Matsuri." Gaara said. "Now you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Just forget about that, I've already forgotten what it was." Matsuri said, seeming crestfallen.

"If you remember I'll be in my office tomorrow, you're welcome to stop by." Gaara said.

"Will do, I'll see you around." Matsuri said before hurrying off.

"Well she's certainly lively." I said to Gaara as we began walking again, turning into a busier street.

"She's sort of like Naruto." Gaara said.

"Oh no, my dreams of peace are shattered." I said jokingly and Gaara chuckled.

As we walked the street together I noticed people were watching us. The people of the village had cleared a path for us to walk straight through and were whispering to one another behind their hands. It was all eyes on us.

"I'm sorry Hiko, our walk isn't as private as I had hoped it'd be." Gaara said as he too noticed how many eyes were on us.

"That's just because you're a hermit, you practically live in that office of yours. This is probably the first time they've seen you." I said jokingly.

Gaara just shook his head and smiled.

"Who's that girl?"

"Is lord Kazekage smiling at her?"

"I had heard he had a lover but I didn't believe it."

"She's pretty."

"Isn't that Lady Temari's friend?"

Whispers of that nature filled the air, they weren't very good at whispering. I was going to pull Gaara away to find us somewhere quieter when I realised he had let go of my hand.

Suddenly a hand made out of sand appeared infront of me holding out a single desert rose. I glanced behind the hand and saw Gaara stood beside a flower stand, smiling at me.

"Thank you love, its beautiful." I said as I took the flower from the sand.

As soon as I had the flower the sand broke its shape and began swirling around me. The sand gently nudged me forwards until I was in Gaara's arms.

"A flower for my flower." Gaara said, his face becoming as red as our hair and making me laugh.

"That's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard." I said. "You really shouldn't take lessons from Konkuro."

"You don't like it?" Gaara asked nervously.

"I love it." I said before glancing around at everyone still watching us. "Now why don't we escape our little audience."

In response to my suggestion sand began swirling around us and Gaara then shunshined us away. When the sand stopped swirling I saw that we were in a beautiful greenhouse filled with flowers.