What the Water Gave Us

Fragile

Weeks went by quickly. Gaara was so busy with work he had little time for much else, and when not working he tried to make his family a priority. His sand armor helped hide the visible features of his fatigue.

While flipping through documents, determining his priorities for the rest of the afternoon, he noticed his mail stacked at the end of the desk. There was a medium-sized parcel marked "priority - fragile" that caught his eye. It looked like a regular parcel for any commoner and was not contained in the typical scrolls or markings meant for official Kage business. He set the papers down neatly and walked to the edge of his desk. He picked it up and examined it. There was no return address. Assuming it had already been screened for safety, he torn into the box. His eyes widened at a single small plant cutting packaged very carefully in a vial filled with water. There was a note attached in a plastic bag to keep it dry.

Gaara was slowly becoming functional with the use of water again. Showering was always the worst, but he at least didn't have to worry about anyone seeing him struggle when he did. He rubbed the moisture that was on the bag between his fingertips in an attempt to dry them off and opened the bag to reach the note. It was handwritten in slightly messy penmanship.

K,

This is a cutting of a rare chocolate cosmos that can only be propagated from the roots as the seeds are sterile. I thought you might like to add this to your collection. You'll understand why I chose it for you when it blooms. The flowers remind me of you.

Your secret admirer,
M

Gaara smiled warmly and grabbed the vial, inspecting the plant carefully. It would need to be potted right away. It rested in a tube stand and he set it on his desk. He gave the box another glance. There was a water cinnamon sweet at the bottom in a plastic wrapper, which were a well known treat from Kirigakure.

There was no mistaking who sent the package. And it had been done in plain sight, but vaguely enough to remain fairly anonymous. Gaara was overall impressed and quite pleased. He unwrapped the candy and popped it into his mouth before sitting down at his desk, ready to dive back in to work, though he was feeling quite distracted. There was a knock at his door, startling him from his wandering mind.

"Come in."

Kankuro opened the door. "Hey Gaara, are we still on tonight for, oh hey! Is that?!" Kankuro moved quickly and suddenly had the candy wrapper in his hand. "You still have some of these?! I didn't get a chance to try any while we were there! You owe me!"

Gaara shook his head and his eyes flitted towards the letter on the desk. He quickly looked away in hopes Kankuro would not notice.

"Hey, what's this?"

Gaara tried changing the subject. "What were you going to ask me?"

Kankuro didn't answer and his eyes gravitated to the note.

Gaara laid his hand down over it. As soon as he did he regretted it. His older brother often won out in their sibling spats.

"Give it here! Is that a love letter?!" He tried forcing Gaara's hand out of the way.

"It's none of your business!" Gaara could feel the tension pulling at the paper and he feared Kankuro doing something stupid, like pushing so hard into the desk and knocking everything including the cutting over. He gave in and lifted his hand.