Chapter Text
The sky is always clear in the desert, the sunlight flows in between the buildings of Sunagakure.
Shinki, a five-year-old boy quietly follows the Kazekage Gaara, heading towards the north part of the village. His tiny palm was clutched in the Kazekage's grip. To him, holding hands with someone isn't a familiar activity even though he’s a child. He gets refused nine times out of ten usually, and this time is an omission. The man's grip felt strong, perhaps a little bit dusty because of the dry air. The man has pale skin, and the sleeves of his robes are scented like a combination of paper and coffee.
Gaara took a glance at the child. Shinki is mentally calmed down at the moment, but his nature of anxiety reflected him in his childhood memories.
Earlier this morning, he was alerted by Baki, his ex-teacher and council assistant about an orphan named Shinki. His awakening of the magnet release had captured the eyes of the Suna Council. They believed highly in the possibility of Shinki as a descendent of the Third Kazekage. In Suna, the Kazekage position must be passed down through royal blood. Besides, the council thinks that a young child who is not capable of restraining his power, being left out of the superior's jurisdiction is unacceptable. Exposing a dangerous kid to the citizens could cause panic.
Hence, the council came up with the idea of killing two birds at one stone. They suggested their Kazekage take Shinki as his adoptive son and raise him like his actual offspring. Ultimately, and become his inheritor.
Ever since Gaara turned twenty-one, he became the main target of the council. They had been always arranging marriages for him.
By selecting a potential candidate as the Kazehime, the Suna Council first filtered out Gaara’s personal romantic preferences. A healthy living female citizen from Sunagakure is a basic requirement. Anyhow, a citizen isn’t profitable enough. They prefer someone more influential. Thus, they started picking from honorable families of ninjas that contributed during the fourth war. They also asked for someone who has special abilities originally from Suna, like the puppet Jutsu.
Well, not surprisingly, there wasn’t anyone who meets their expectations.
End of the flashback, Gaara rolled his eyes at their suggestion. The council is all-time eager to find him a successor, undoubtedly he didn’t like them driving him to the edge. It’s not like he has someone he’s seeing; he’s just basically enjoying his single life.
Yet, when he sees Shinki's defensive form at the first sight, he feels a connection with the child, in an instant, he could understand the kid's emotions. Shinki reminds him of himself from the past, this is why he decided to teach him to get control of his power and to make use of them in the right way.
He made his decision mixed with feelings. Deep in his heart, he doesn't want the child to experience the same pain of growing up as he does.
After a while, they arrive at the Kazekage mansion. Gaara lives here with his siblings, Kankuro and Temari. Temari used to stay here before she married Shikamaru and moved to Konoha. The mansion is large and spacious, luxurious as well, but it’s way too unnecessary just to fit two people. So, he changed one of the floors into guest rooms, these guest rooms are freely opened to his friends from Konoha. Whenever any of them visit Suna, Gaara would voluntarily take full hospitality of them.
Gaara led Shinki to the living room and seated him on the couch. Then, he heard Shinki's stomach let out a loud growl. The growl makes the boy flushes embarrassingly.
Learning that the boy is hungry, he says, "Ah, I'll get you something to eat."
He entered the kitchen and realized he barely had any groceries in his fridge, he could hardly even make something to warm Shinki up. The Kazekage frowned and grumbles he should have gone grocery shopping.
But there's an important problem now. He doesn't know how to cook. He often settles his own meal by eating out or leave the cooking to his siblings, as long as he won't starve himself. When eating in is unavoidable, he could satisfy himself with light foods. But, making meals, you have to be kidding. He clearly has no idea, not even what ingredients to prepare a dish.
He scratches the back of his head, arranging pieces in his mind.
A lightbulb happens to pop up.
Soon, he brings Shinki to the all-day market near the Kazekage tower. He shows him his favorite food store that serves fresh, sizzling fried chicken gizzards. Everyone in Suna knows their Kazekage of Suna is obsessed with gizzards, he had tried gizzards all over the town, and this store has the best menu yet. The man and the child both took a bite on their delicious fried gizzards and produced a pleasant expression in unison. Gaara took a peep at the child, as he returns him with an unbelievably look, he could see stars glittering in his eyes. His heart has leaped with joy. Finally, he finds someone who appreciates gizzards.
Despite Shinki had spent a great time exploring street snacks with the Kazekage, his digestive systems seemed to disagree with his happiness.
As they were strolling down the market, Shinki starts holding his stomach tearfully and his face was fading green. Gaara’s at the same time was covered in confusion. He blanked out for a few seconds, picking up the child in his hands, and he rushed furiously towards the direction of the hospital.
He needs a doctor. Urgently. His instincts led him to the doctor he had in mind, Sakura.
Sakura had been in Suna for the past days, she is on a mission to consult Suna’s medical department, which is a long-time mission requested by Gaara to the Sixth Hokage, Kakashi.
As Sakura lodges at the Kazekage mansion during her visits, he and Sakura had eventually become close friends. He trusts and respects her fully upon work, they also had meals together when they bump into each other, normally after they both end their late-night duty. Sakura is now married to Sasuke with a daughter. She sometimes shares her life as a parent with Gaara. As a friend, he feels happy for her.
“Sakura! I need your help!”, he exclaims, bursting into Sakura’s office.
As much as Sakura is surprised to see him, but as her gaze fell on Shinki, she kept her rationality. Without a word, she took ahold of the child and carried him onto a bed.
Before long, Sakura treated the child's upset tummy. Laying him to rest, she meets Gaara in the hallway. The Kazekage stood there, chewing on his knuckle.
“He’s fine now”, she comforted him.
“What happened?”, he asks, his tanuki eyes darkened at the point.
“Food poisoned. It's a common issue among children his age. By the way, do you know his name? Where did you find him?”, she pulls out a pen from her pocket, ready to record.
Realizing the street snacks could be the most possible culprits, Gaara was steeped in guilt. He bitterly regrets taking the child to the market.
Rubbing his fingers, he admits, “He’s under my care from now on, I guess.”
“Your care?”, she reconfirms, her tone was puzzled.
Why on earth would the Kazekage randomly bring home a child? Obviously not because he’s a child lover, for as long she knows him.
He let out a nervous laugh and tells her,
“I’m going to adopt him.”