The Flower Shop [A Gaara Love Story]

7: Special Delivery

      He heard him before he even entered the room- Kankuro always had surprisingly heavy footsteps for a trained ninja.

"Special delivery!" He exclaimed as he all but burst through the office door.

Gaara didn't look up at him at first, instead skimming over the rest of the document that was placed before him on the desk. It was just another mission report, but he had already set it aside for the sake of finishing the more important papers that crowded his desk. He had just gotten to it a few moments before Kankuro came through the door. What finally made him look up, though, was the vase that now sat at the top of his desk.

It was an arrangement of yellow and white flowers, none of which he had seen before in the village. The vase they sat in had been tied up in a yellow ribbon; the whole arrangement was the brightest thing in his office."What is this?" He asked, setting his pen aside.

"What do you think?" Kankuro asked, making himself comfortable in one of the chairs that faced the desk, "They're flowers."

Gaara moved his gaze from the blooms to the man, staring blankly at him until he caved with a chuckle.

"Fine, fine," He laughed, setting his elbows on his knees, "They're from Momoko."

"Momoko?" He repeated, reaching out to grab the little white card tucked into the bouquet.

"You know, Momoko Akiyama?" He said, "The flower girl?"

Gaara read over the card not once, but twice. He stared just a little longer at the wispy lines of her script before he looked again to the flowers in front of him. He hadn't thought about her much since their run in on the street a few nights ago, truthfully he didn't think he would ever interact with her again outside of it. He had no reason to.

"So when's the wedding?" Kankuro asked, pulling Gaara from his thoughts.

"What wedding?"

"You know!" He teased, leaning in a little closer, "You and Akiyama! I'm gonna be your best man, right?"

If Gaara was in any less control of himself, he may have blushed. Of course he found her attractive, but Kankuro didn't know that and he sure as hell wasn't going to admit it to him any time soon. Instead of replying, he picked up his pen with a roll of his eyes and focused back onto the paper in front of him.

"Oh come on Gaara, you've gotta admit she's pretty cute." Kankuro teased again, "That long hair, those eyes, that body-"

"Kankuro." He interrupted, looking back up at the other.

Kankuro just snickered and leaned back in his chair. Had the flowers not been on his desk, Gaara assumed he would have kicked up his feet with how comfortable he looked.

"I'm just saying! You noticed it too, right? Why else did you wanna talk to her the other night?"

"I was asking about the shop." He said simply, followed by a sigh as he set his pen down again. Kankuro was comfortable, it was unlikely he would leave anytime soon. Until then, Gaara would have to set the work aside and entertain him.

"Riiggght, the shop," He said, a grin on his lips, "The flower shop. How do you think that's gonna go, anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, you've gotta see it too, right?" He insisted, "A flower shop? Here?"

He would admit, it was an odd request. It had surprised him when she had first come in to sign the business papers but the surprise had faded almost as quickly as it had come.