Affection Blooming From A Desert (Gaara x OC)

Chapter 14: Meeting the Family

Akina and Gaara walked down the streets of the village chatting quietly to themselves about their vacation. After that marvelous first night together, they proceeded to have many more of those during their week-long vacation. She still blushed thinking back to those passionate nights they shared.

As they walked down the streets, Akina noticed something pleasant. It seemed the interview had done its job because several villagers approached them, mostly to apologize to her for their passive aggressive treatment of her and for believing those lies. By the time the 20th villager approached her, Gaara was ready to whisk her away not caring how rude it was. Instead of doing that, Gaara opted for something less dramatic. Anytime he noticed a villager wanting to approach them, he sent them a chilling look that deterred them. Eventually, he managed to finally walk Akina back to her apartment.

"I will stop by tonight if my meetings end early."

She smiled up at him. "Okay. Don't worry if you can't." She pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before he left.

She unlocked the door to her apartment and dashed up the stairs to her room. She tossed her bag of clothes and souvenirs on her bed before changing into a simpler outfit. Once she was satisfied she grabbed a notebook and pen before rushing out of her apartment again. She soon found herself seated at a booth in the tea shop she used to work at waiting for a particular individual.

Her old co-workers stopped by to chat with her a little before continuing with their duties. Akina took a sip of the tea she ordered and took a bite out of a pastry. She was in the midst of chewing the sweet dessert when a figure slipped into the seat across from her.

"Thanks for coming." He said.

"No problem! What's up?" She asked. It had been a surprise to her when Kankuro stopped her the day before she left for vacation asking if she could meet with him privately after she returned. She agreed but was slightly apprehensive about what it was about because he didn't explain to her why.

"Has Gaara ever told you when his birthday was?" He asked, graciously accepting the cup of tea she pushed towards him.

Akina thought for a minute and realized he never had. That's odd, I don't think I've ever told him my birthday either.

"No, he hasn't. When is it?"

"January 17th."

"Really? That's in a week. Why are you asking?" She asked curiously.

Kankuro leaned back into the booth. "Gaara has a friend in Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki." Kankuro shook his head and chuckled to himself. "He's very hyper, quite the character. He is coming to Suna to visit that day and Temari, our sister, is coming with him among others. Oh, and the Hokage too. Anyways, Naruto requested that I help him throw a birthday party for Gaara but I suck at that kind of stuff. So, I was wondering if you could help?"

To say Akina was surprised was an understatement. Gaara rarely spoke of his friends but she did remember one time he mentioned Naruto. She remembered he only had good things to say about him. She was pretty honored that Kankuro would ask her for help though. This was something she was excited to do so she happily agreed to help.

Kankuro smiled at her, he knew he liked her for a reason along with the fact that she treated his brother well. "If you need anything like supplies or you need me to help you distract Gaara, don't hesitate to ask."

They chatted for a while longer before they went their separate ways. She went back to her apartment to start planning. A week to plan a party for some of Gaara's most important people was going to be a challenge, she had to impress them and make sure that Gaara had one of the best birthdays ever. Akina sat at her dining table scribbling down ideas in her notebook. The more she wrote the more excited she got.