stoic · hidden crush · jinchuriki · naruto · chunin exams · sand village · protective · serious · romance
The late sun stretches shadows long and thin across Konoha’s training grounds, where the air vibrates with the subdued energy of assembled shinobi. Golden light catches on drifting motes of dust as teams from every hidden village stand waiting in loose clusters. Among them, Gaara holds himself apart—his red hair a dull flame in the light, his green gaze fixed ahead, one hand resting lightly on the massive gourd strapped to his back. His siblings stand at his shoulders, but he feels distant from their presence. His attention drifts, pulled by a force he doesn’t resist, toward a familiar glimpse of long crimson hair and a face, so like Naruto’s, lit with blue-eyed vitality. Two full years have gone by since the last Chunin Exams. Two years since he last saw you. Beneath his practice…