“First Snow” Secret Santa
Hey, hey! @badwigbrando I was your secret santa! And I apologize for the belated gift but I wrote you a little drabble! Hope you like it! Happy Belated Holidays!
The wind whips through the village with a strange unmatched vengeance. It takes the small ball of snow and throws them around without a care. Kankuro sits by the window glaring at it all, as if his stare would be enough to stop it.
It was their one down-time day during their trip to the Leaf Village, and of course it had to be one of the rare times where the weather dipped to chilled weather and snowy precipitation.
Gaara had gone hours ago. The green-clad ninja had come looking for him and they both disappeared into the day without so much of an invite. Though, he knows better than to think his brother wouldn’t invite him to a friendly occasion, and the way their eyes met with one another Kankuro decided he shouldn’t intrude and invite himself. So he finds himself just staring out the window glaring at the collective swirl of snow.
The village is quiet for the most part, he hardly sees anyone wandering around, running errands, rushing home...
That is until he catches the sight of a lone shinobi trudging through the thick blanket that’s already on the ground. Kankuro blinks, watching as the boy in the leather jacket makes the trek from the street and up the steps to where he sits. Kankuro perks up, blinking as he watches him knock on the door. Lazily, he finds the will power to rise and answer the door. Something about the messy-haired man makes him have an extra spring in his step.
“Figured you might be holed up in here still.” Kiba grins at him with that lopsided smile of his.
“I ain’t going out in that mess,” Kankuro agrees instantaneously with his own smile peaking through.
“Well, you can either starve here, or get food with me.”
“Both sound awful,” Kankuro teases. He earns a laugh from the other.
“So, you’re coming along?”
The two shuffle from the room onto the elongated porch. Kankuro’s feet force him to drag them along as soon as they feel the chill on his face. But he forces them forward and soon they’re standing on the balcony, overlooking the snow-covered world.
“Where’s the pup?” He asks, quirking a brow as he didn’t see him on his heels.
Kiba points knowingly to the courtyard, where Akamaru is dashing through the show, rolling playfully and barking at particularly nothing.
“It’s his day off too,” Kiba reminds him pointedly, leaning on the railing to watch the dog chase circles into the fluff.
“And, here, I thought you were asking me on a date.”
“Oh, I am,” Kiba responds with a laugh, “We just have a chaperone. We’re a two person package.”
“So, I can’t just hang out with Akamaru? Bummer.” Kankuro laments dramatically.
The two share a laugh before they kick away from the railing and begin down the steps. The moment their feet touch the chill awaiting on the floor, Kankuro almost regrets agreeing to the adventure. His groan of displeasure is masked by Kiba’s whistle to his companion, who bounds over excitedly. He circles the two as if they’re obstacles in a race track. When he stops his mini circuit, he bounds over and jumps to greet the Suna native.
“Hey, buddy.” He offers a small greeting an a pat on the head before he eases the dog’s paws back to the ground.
The wind howls through the yard. Kankuro shivers.
“C’mon,” Kiba nudges him forward and the two are off into what Kankuro deems a dreary day.
He tries to quell his obvious shivers and does his best not to complain. The second seems to be harder, because he deems himself an expert at commentary. But his teeth are chattering, making it hard to mold words, even when Kiba is talking to him with idle chit-chat. He tries focusing on that and not his discomfort.
Even as they chatter, Kankuro suspects that Kiba is some type of mind reader (because it’s not because he’s showing the weakness to the cold, no way). As they’re joking about nothing in particular, his movements are slight. But after a few moments, Kankuro feels a warm feeling on his shoulders. He blinks down to find Kiba’s heavy leather jacket draped over his shoulders.
He opens his mouth to protest but Kiba speaks before him. “Sometimes I forget that stuff from our villages are so different.” He admits to him as they continue along.
“Yeah, it’s not such a shock now, so I forget too.”
Kiba offers him a smile, showing off enlarged canines. “I haven’t been to Suna in ages, so, I forget you don’t get weather like this.”
“Oh, well, you guys don’t get it too often, either, right?”
“Eh, depends.” Kiba glances over to him, keeping that breathtaking smile on his features. “But I’m more used to it than you. You good now?”
Kankuro mulls it over a moment before he sighs, “Yeah, but my hand’s still cold.”
Kiba laughs before he shyly reaches for the other’s hand. Their fingers intertwine like long distant lovers in an embrace. Their beaming grins fall to small smiles that is just shared between the two of them, alone through the snow.
Their bodies inch closer, so they’re sharing heat between shoulder blades and intertwined fingers. There’s some type of potential energy that emits to kinetic, transferring in the most equal balance the world has ever known.
“You should visit more,” Kiba tells him seriously as their pace slows. The sign to the establishment is in their sights, but they’re too busy talking to think about eating.
“Things have been crazy since I became a protector and all that stuff. Not like Gaara needs protecting, but it’s better for him to have someone in his corner.”
“So… When he has things to do here…”
“I have an official reason to go on dates with you,” Kankuro interjects, nudging him playfully.
Kiba laughs, beaming at him with bright eyes. “Good. Good…” He trails off before he allows their hands to drop. “You know, come to think of it, I’m a little cold now.”
“All you had to do was ask.” Kankuro closes the space between them before he wraps his arms around his waist, feeling the other embrace him that instant.
There’s a world whipping the wind around them, and snowflakes are falling in Kiba’s hair, tickling Kankuro’s nose. But that’s worlds away and the frigid temperatures are bounced off as though their position creates a shield. There’s something about him that makes everything feel warm. He’s a fire, like a burning personality that refuses to dim. It’s warming, not even just physically, but warms the heart with every smile, each laugh. His warmth is reflected in the physicality of how he’s radiating like some type of heater. The Sand ninja grins against his shoulder.
And he decides he’s glad he went out today.
