When Waves Meet the Sand

When Kumiko knocked on the hotel room door, Gaara had the sudden urge to run as far away as he could.

The last thing he wanted to do was meet new people.

The only thing keeping the Jinchuriki from making a break for it was the happy smile Kumiko sent his way, soothing the boy’s nerves.

All four children rushed in once the door opened, three chattering excitedly about something or other, as an older girl stood in the doorway.

She blinked once in surprise, most likely not have expected him, before sharp gold eyes turned to Kumiko in question.

“Konichiwa, Meg-chan.” Kumiko greeted her teammate, smiling. “This is Gaara-kun, a new friend.”

The sturdiness of her shoulders slowly melted, and the elder redhead raised an eyebrow coolly.

“Really, now? That was fast.”

Turning to address him, the kunoichi nodded in greeting.

“It’s nice to meet you, Gaara-san.”

That was it.

No questions, no disgust, no hint of suspicion.

Gaara was caught off-guard.

Still smiling, Kumiko pulled him inside, where Fubuki was sprawled on the floor with Tomo and a small brunette on the couch was being smothered by excited children.

“A’right, munchkins, ‘at’s enough. Go play wit’ the dog or somethin’.”

Fubuki sat up, tail wagging excitedly, and rolled easily onto her back when Rei and Tomoko tackled her in a hug.

Gaara was fairly sure Tomo rolled his eyes at the Polar Bear Dog’s antics.

“Yo.” The blindfolded kunoichi greeted lazily, standing. “Name’s Kana. Yer the one that kept sweet’eart company last night, right?”

Tensing, the Jinchuriki wondered if it was too late to run.

“How did you…?”

“Bein’ blind’s gotta ‘ave some perks.” Kana replied casually, shrugging.

Of all the reasons Gaara had thought of for the girl’s covered eyes, that had not been one of them.

“I should probably get dinner out of the fridge...” Kumiko noted, already moving towards the kitchenette. “Make yourself at home. I’ll just be a sec.”

Once she was out of earshot, Gaara looked towards her teammates, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Though he had resolved to protect Kumiko’s precious people, he had no idea what to do.

Would they tolerate him?

Would they convince Kumiko not to be his friend?

“Jeez, relax.” Kana muttered. “We ain’t gonna bite. Sit down. I wanna talk wit’ ya.”

Hesitant at first, he walked over to the couch and took a seat, noticing how Benjiro was herding the other kids down the hall and Fubuki had slunk into the kitchen with Kumiko.

‘That can’t be a good sign.’ Shukaku noted, half-amused.

Kana sat on the other end of the couch, relaxed as can be, while Megumi perched on the armchair, calm and collected.

“Ya need ta know that sweet’eart ‘as had it rough. She deserves ta be ‘appy.”

“Whether you intend to harm her or not, know that if it happens, we won’t have a choice but to kill you.”

For a moment, Gaara thought they were kidding.

Looking into each of the girls’ faces, he realized they weren’t.

“You would die.” He stated matter-of-factly, knowing it was true.

“So?” Kana replied dismissively.

That one word shocked Gaara almost as much as Kumiko’s smile had the day before.

“If we die, we die. Ain’t gonna cry o’er it. But we’d take someone down wit’ us, I can tell ya that much.”

Gaara had never met someone who did not fear death; anyone who had ever been trapped in his Sand Coffin had begged for life, to not cross the threshold into the afterlife.

Some had stopped begging, stopped struggling, but they had not let go of their terror.

Even without seeing her eyes, he knew that Kana had no fear of dying as surely as he knew that Kumiko would defend her precious people with her life.

He did not understand the why’s or how’s, but the end result was the same.

“It’s not that we don’t trust Kumiko’s judgment.” Megumi stated, lowering the tension. “But she is our friend as well as our teammate. We worry.”

Slowly relaxing, the Jinchuriki nodded.

This strange affection, this ‘friendship’, was clearly a two-way street; Megumi and Kana would just as quickly jump to Kumiko’s defense as his angel would do theirs.

Perhaps it would not be so bad, knowing she was being protected even if he himself was not around.

“Are you two threatening him?” Kumiko accused, still hidden in the kitchen.

“Define ‘threaten’.” Kana replied, smirking.

“Saying you’re going to crush, burn, maim, or kill someone.”

“Ah, ya got me!” The little brunette admitted cheekily. “What can I say? I’m incorrigible.”

“I’m surprised you even known the word.” Megumi voiced, a smile tugging at her mouth.

“Oh, shut yer yap, hothead.”

Gaara looked between the two kunoichi, confused.

Why were they making fun of each other?

Weren’t they friends?

“That‘s enough, you two.” Kumiko ordered, arms crossed and hip cocked, framed by the kitchen‘s empty doorway. “Isn’t it enough that you’ve traumatized all my other friends? Leave Gaara-kun alone!”

His heart warmed at the thought that she was defending him from her friends.

“A’right, a’right.” Kana conceded, settling more firmly in her seat. “No need ta shout.”

“We were only informing Gaara of the boundaries.” Megumi added reasonably.

Tomo jumped onto the white-haired girl’s shoulder, hissing softly at the two kunoichi as if sensing his new owner’s upset, and rubbed against her cheek with a purr.

The tension of her shoulders eased, and she reached up to scratch behind the tabby’s ears.

“If you two are done harassing him, I’d like Gaara-kun to join me in the kitchen while I work on dinner.”

Even Shukaku urged him to go, so Gaara stood up, seeing a smirk cross Kana’s face out of his peripheral.

“Don’t do anythin’ I wouldn’t do, sweet’eart.”

Kumiko’s cheeks flushed red, and Gaara found her embarrassed indignation endearing.

“Kana!”

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Genma sighed, rolling his shoulders to stretch out the tension.

After a lengthy discussion with the Kazekage, the Jonin was left with a headache and another squad of shinobi to lead back to Konohagakure.

How he kept getting stuck with babysitting duty, he would never know…

Ready for a hot meal and a long nap, Genma opened the hotel room door and froze.

Kumiko was in the kitchenette, finishing up dinner (a stew of some kind, with buttery bread and what seemed like stir-fry), while Megumi sat on the couch, calmly reading her book for what must have been the fourth time that day.

Kana was lounging next to her, napping soundly.

There was a commotion from the far bedroom down the hall, signaling where the children were most likely holed up with Fubuki.

None of this was strange, nor what surprised Genma.

Sitting at the kitchen table was an unfamiliar red-haired boy.

He seemed to be having a staring contest with Tomo, who was lying down and flicking his tail as if highly amused, and the boy frowned at the cheeky feline.

Genma was fairly certain his headache had gone off and brought back a migraine.

“Genma-sensei!” Kumiko voiced, turning to him with a smile. “Are you hungry? Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”

“I’m a little more curious about your new friend.” Genma admitted, ignoring his disagreeing belly.

“Oh, right! This is Gaara-kun. We ran into each other at the park today, and I invited him to eat with us.”

Eyebrow rising, the Jonin looked towards Megumi.

As the more logical and wary of the group, he was surprised she had not objected.

“I trust Kumiko’s judgment.” The Firebender stated, not even looking up to know her cue. “He has not shown any ill intentions, and the animals seem to like him. There’s no reason not to trust him at this point in time.”

“Right…” Genma muttered, rolling the senbon between his teeth thoughtfully. “I’ll just go take a nap.”

Heading for his designated bedroom, the Jonin sighed tiredly.

‘Kids…’