Gaara's Vulpix (Naruto/Pokemon crossover)

June 2016 - Meadow (Fanfic)

"Can I keep it?"

A breeze blew through the meadow the three siblings from Suna rested in on their journey to the hidden village Konaha. The youngest of the siblings held up a fox-like creature with fur the same color as Gaara's hair. Kankuro leaned up against the tree near where he sat, his mouth twisted down into a frown, leaving the issue up to Temari. The sandy-haired female frowned, noting the curling six tails, but also the tuff of fur which curled in the same manner.

"Gaara..."

"Can I keep it Temari?"

"Why?" Kankuro piped up, his frown suddenly twisting into a smile, his tone of voice filled with laughter. "Why do you want to keep it Gaara?"

Temari gave the older of her two brothers a nasty glare, while Gaara turned the creature around so the big brown eyes looked into his sea-foam green eyes. The young shinobi pondered the question for a few seconds, then spoke up. "It reminds me of someone."

"Let me guess? That idiot Uzumaki?" Kankuro leaned forward, enjoying the moment completely.

Gaara stared for a bit, letting Temari fold her arms across her chest. The eldest of the siblings pondered whether Gaara becoming mentally stable was actually a good thing. The auburn-haired preteen's actions went from being aloof around his siblings, to a strange curiosity regarding everything around him. The creature simply remained hanging from the auburn-haired preteens hands. "Gaara, how did you come to pick up that thing?"

"This thing?" Gaara pondered her question for a few seconds, tilting his head slightly. "I found it."

"Kind of like how you found Uzumaki?" Kankuro let out a sound of annoyance.

"Alright, where did that come from Kankuro?" Temari glared at the young puppet ninja, wondering where his thought process came from.

"Gaara's been infatuated with that Uzumaki kid ever since they had that fight."

Gaara sat down, lowering the red fox-like creature to his lap. "He's my first friend."

Temari let one sandy-colored eyebrow raise up. "Shouldn't he be pleased with this? We should be pleased he finally made a friend."

"I know, it's just..." Kankuro let out a sigh, not speaking his mind at how childish his little brother seemed to be acting. He watched one of Gaara's arms wrap gently around the fox, in a rather unsure manner, and then the other hand begin to pet the fox.

"She's soft."

"So, are you going to name that fox thing Uzukami, or Naruto?" Kankuro let the smile return to his face. "That's who she reminds you of."

Gaara's face twisted into a frown. "Giving a female creature a male name seems cruel. Plus, wouldn't that mean I'd have to name her Rasa?"

The color quickly drained from the older sibling's faces, and Temari stammered. "Wait, that thing reminds you of..." The word father refused to come out of her mouth. "It reminds you of the fourth Kazekage."

"I miss him." The auburn-haired preteen didn't notice his teenaged siblings look at each other. "I know I shouldn't, with everything he did, but he's still family. I want that to be important to me now."

Temari pressed her fingers into her arm, making the knuckles go white. "So, how are you going to get that creature back to Suna, Gaara?" She watched a frown appear on her younger brother's face. "Where are we going to keep it, while we're in Konoha?"

"Oh," Gaara continued to pet the fox until the time came to head on their way. The auburn-haired preteen lifted up the fox-like creature, and set it down into the meadow, patting it on the head. "Sorry, but you've got to stay here."

His siblings watched him get up, and Kankuro turned to Temari. "He didn't say how he found that thing."

The small fox-like creature watched Gaara move, then hurried after the young shinobi. Temari's mouth opened. "I think the thing found Gaara, not the other way around."

"Come on. Gaara is Gaara. Kids run away from him."

"He's changed, though." Temari stood up, placing her large fan back onto her back. "Maybe this is a good thing." She watched Gaara look back at the creature and the creature stop. Her brother proceeded to continue to walk through the meadow, the small fox-like creature keeping up. "I mean, this thing's fallen in love with him."

"Yeah, just wait until he accidently loses it. He doesn't need another thing rejecting him."

"The things following him, so how pray tell do you get rid of this thing? It's also kind of cute."

"Cute! He said the thing reminds him of the old man!" The grass of the meadow brushed by Kankuro's legs.

"The old man wasn't cute, though. He was a monster. This thing, it's cute and sweet. It's a very different situation."

"Except that thing is..." Kankuro let out a shudder.

"Cute?" Temari couldn't help but find amusement in the older of her two brother's reaction. "Gaara's happy, so does it really matter?"

"Why couldn't he have found something that wasn't cute?" Kankuro frowned, watching as Gaara finally gave in, and scooped up the fox-like creature.

"Because I wouldn't have let him keep something that wasn't cute."