A Desert Rose

Makina loved living in Suna. She'd heard people talk of other villages full of forests and lakes, villages built by the sea, and villages on mountains or near waterfalls. They always seemed to be in awe of these places but she could never understand why. 

She quietly slipped her shoes off her feet and stood on the warm sand, wiggling her toes in it with a soft smile. 

She loved the feeling of sand between her toes and the warmth from the sun while she danced around playfully. 

A gentle wind rushed by, her shoulder-length hair dancing around her as it did. She never wanted to go anywhere else. Suna was perfect.

It was early afternoon and Kina was waiting for Gaara to show up for the usual meeting. She'd told her aunt that she would be going to visit Nanami-chan again, but ran to hers and Gaara's usual meeting place instead. She'd wanted to show him her new doll, Kimara-chan. She'd been very excited when she'd bought her new doll from a local doll shop. She cost half a month's allowance, but Kina didn't care about the cost. She had wanted the little wolf-girl doll so badly from the moment she had spotted her in the shop window.

She was about the size of a baby, with a pale cream dress and red hair that made her think of Gaara. That was what Kina loved most about her new doll...and what had caught her interest in the first place.

"Kina-chan?"

At the sound of the voice, Kina stopped dancing and looked around, her gaze finally settling on the red-head running towards her. A wide smile spread across her face as she ran to meet him, holding her doll out so he could see.

"Look what I got Gaara!"

Gaara looked at the doll and then down at his bear, which he currently had held to his chest.

"Did you name her like we named Kuma?" he asked.

Kina nodded and sat down on the sand.

"Yup! Her name is Kimara-chan."

Gaara knelt down on the sand in front of her, setting Kuma on his lap.

"Her hair is like mine." Gaara noted.

She nodded and hugged her doll. 

"I know...that's why she's so pretty."

Gaara wondered a little at the comment but kept quiet. It was silent for a while and Kina played with the sand, stacking it into a little mountain.She also poked little holes in it and said they were windows.

"I made a house!" She happily declared, pointing at her pile of sand.

Gaara laughed and held out his hands, the sand swirling around beside him, eventually settling into the form of a miniature palace.

Kina's eyes opened wide and she clapped her hands together.

"Amazing!!" she cheered and Gaara smiled. "I wish mine was that cool."

"We can share this one." Gaara said sweetly and her smile spread wide.

She jumped to her feet and cheered.

"A castle! Just like a prince and princess would have! Ooh I know! Let's play prince and princess, Gaara! You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess!"

"That's silly Kina-chan." Gaara giggled and stood up as well.

"No No!! It'll be fun! Kimara-chan can be our daughter and Kuma can be the brave ninja that keeps her safe." Kina nodded and hugged her doll. "It will be lots of fun! I promise!"

After a moment of convincing, Gaara finally agreed and the pair of you set to playing around the sand palace.

Little did Kina know that, at that very moment, Kana-chan...the very girl her aunt thought she was with right then... was on her way to the house to ask her aunt if both Amaya and Kina could come out to play.