We Are One [Gaara III]

Epilogue

The excited, running footsteps grew closer to the door at the sound of three knocks that echoed through the home. A small hand reached on tiptoes for the knob before tightly clutching it in their grasp and opened the door to reveal two smiling faces. The child shrieked in delight before the woman scooped him into her arms and placed multiple kisses on a cheek. The boy giggled, attempting to squirm free, yet loving every second of it.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Two heads poked into the living room form the hall, grinning at their visitors. "How's my favorite godson?" the woman laughed.

"I'm your only godson, Aunt Az."

The ex-Soldier gave him an eye-closing smile and laughed before setting the boy down and allowing him to run back inside.

"I swear he was a baby the last time we saw him, Hinata."

She grinned before taking their coats and hanging them on the coat rack. "Yes, it is hard to believe he's already four."

"How was your trip?" Naruto asked, shaking Gaara's hand in greeting.

"Just fine," the Kazekage answered. "We would have been here earlier, but the Council insisted on a meeting before I left."

"Stuffy old people."

Everyone grinned at the comment moving into the house. Azmaria followed Hinata into the kitchen, their eyes landing on the Uzumaki son, Kenta, who was attempting to mix batter in a bowl. However, he was only making a mess all over the floor in the process. The ex-Soldier plopped down beside him to help keep the bowl in place. His brows furrowed in concentration, a crease forming between them just like his father when in deep thought. He was the spitting image of the Hokage, his hair color and cut the same from when he was a boy himself, which made him even more adorable. But he was still a troublemaker, just like the knucklehead himself.

"Naruto was called into a meeting early this morning," Hinata spoke up. "He only got in ten minutes before you arrived."

"Poor Naruto and Gaara, having to put up with elders stuck in their ways," she teased and the two shared a laugh.

"I must admit I'm glad I only have to speak with them during our annual gatherings."

"Here, here." Something wet hit Azmaria's cheek, glancing over to see a guilty looking child, yet he was struggling not to grin. "Did you just throw batter at me?"

"No," he drawled out.

Finger dipping into the blow the ex-Soldier flicked some batter in the child's direction and his nose scrunched up as it hit his face.

The women laughed before Azmaria glanced at Hinata's stomach. "So, how's my next godchild coming along?"

As the two conversed, Gaara watched them from the other room. "She's great with kids," Naruto commented. He handed the man a glass to drink and the Kazekage was pulled away from the sight in the kitchen.

"Yes, she is."

"Tamahome and Sakura are coming around a little later. A word of caution, Sakura is a terrifying pregnant woman."

Gaara chuckled. "Noted."

As Azmaria and Gaara walked hand in hand through the streets of Konoha a few people they recognized waved in greeting. They smiled back before the ex-Soldier paused to look in a shop window.

"Thinking of ideas on what to get Kenta?" Gaara asked.

His birthday was only in a few days, which was one of the reasons why the two had traveled from Suna to visit. The Kages also wished to hold a meeting and exchange information regarding different matters that could strengthen their alliance with other smaller countries.