Vee

The warm scent of miso and garlic filled the air, rising with the steam from their bowls. Naruto slurped his ramen already halfway through Gaara sat beside him at the counter, holding his chopsticks with quiet precision, his bowl barely touched.

“You’re not eating,” Naruto said, nudging him with his elbow. “Is the broth not good today?”

Gaara shook his head. “No. It’s fine.”

Naruto tilted his head. “You sure? You’ve been weirdly quiet. And not in the usual Gaara way.”

Gaara rested his chopsticks on the rim of the bowl. “I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

He paused. “My hair.”

Naruto blinked. “…Your hair?”

“I never really liked it It always made me stand out. Kids always made fun of me for it”

Naruto looked at him for a moment, eyebrows drawn, then said without thinking, “What are you talking about? It’s so pretty.”

The chopsticks in Gaara’s hand froze mid-reach. Naruto blinked.

“…Wait.” His eyes widened. “That came out wrong—I didn’t mean it like that.”

Gaara turned his head slowly to look at him. “Pretty?”

Naruto looked away fast, ears burning. “I–I mean like—it’s, you know—cool? Like, um. Different In a good way. Not ‘pretty’—not that there’s anything wrong with that, but—uh…”

He trailed off, absolutely dumbfounded, heat crawling up his neck as he tried to mentally rewind time and slap himself.

Gaara kept staring at him. Naruto shifted in his seat, ears bright red, then turned his gaze toward the ramen bowl eyes unfocused “…My mom had red hair,” he said after a moment his His voice was quieter now, “so yeah I think it looks good on you.” He said Awkwardly

There was a flicker of something unreadable in Gaara’s expression, something just a little less guarded. “Thank you.”

They both went quiet for a few seconds, the hum of the ramen shop the only sound between them. Teuchi passed by to refill water glasses and gave Naruto a knowing little smirk before walking off.

Naruto finally cleared his throat. “You’re gonna finish that?” he asked, nodding to Gaara’s bowl.

Gaara pushed it toward him without looking up. “I’ve lost my appetite.”

Naruto grinned and grabbed the bowl. “Good. I’ll take it as a thank you for making me say weird things out loud.”

Gaara glanced at him, eyes steady. “You say weird things all the time.”

Naruto paused mid-slurp. “Wow. Okay. That’s fair.” Gaara let out a soft laugh