A/N: This was originally written for the GaaSaku fanfests event over on Tumblr in December of 2018. I've been meaning to post it for a while, but I kept forgetting to do it until Thursday, and I didn't want it to coincide with Vermilion posts.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy, and thank you to TipsyRaconteur for being the best beta in the world.
Sakura hid in the shadows of the dark alleyway, her hands gently holding back the men on either side of her as she scouted the street in front of them. She watched the people walk by, talking and laughing while holding various trinkets and skewers of food. The fact that it was already so late into the night obviously hadn't deterred anyone from coming and enjoying the festival.
Just then, Sakura caught a flash of a familiar green leotard. She pushed the two men further into the alley and quickly backed up.
"You made me hit the wall!" Naruto whined from behind her.
"Be quiet," Sakura hissed, watching as Lee passed by the alley.
She waited a few moments until she was sure he was out of sight and then moved forward, peering out into the busy street to see if it was safe to venture out yet. Once the coast was clear, Sakura reached back and grabbed both men by the arm, pulling them into the busy street before turning to face them with a smile on her lips.
It really was crazy how much someone could achieve with a henge and makeup. Naruto was almost completely unrecognizable, with simple brown hair and understated black clothing that would have normally looked completely out of place on him. His eyes were still the usual shade of vibrant blue, but they'd covered up the whisker marks on his cheeks with makeup at Sakura's house before leaving.
Sakura turned her attention to her other companion, her smile softening as she looked him over. Gaara had used a henge so that he had eyebrows and changed his hair to a darker shade of red. His clothing was also understated and they'd covered up the 'love' mark on his forehead, but his eyes were still the same beautiful shade of turquoise she'd come to...
"Are you ready to experience your first festival ever?" Sakura asked, keeping her eyes on Gaara while forcing her thoughts away from the path they'd tried to travel down.
Gaara glanced toward Naruto, and they seemed to communicate silently. Naruto grinned at him cheekily before Gaara finally turned his eyes back to her and nodded. It looked like there was a slight blush on his cheeks, but Sakura figured she was probably imagining it. It was pretty warm outside despite being well past sundown after all, and the street was pretty crowded.
They began to walk through the streets of Konoha together, their transformations making it so that they disappeared into the crowd, seeming to be ordinary citizens. No one tried to stop either of the two Kage to talk to them, and Sakura was grateful that she was able to blend in for once. The darkness around them was softly illuminated by the lanterns hanging above the streets, and everywhere they went seemed to glow.
Sakura hadn't been back in Konoha for over a year, and as much as she'd come to love Suna, the smell of the trees and earth in Konoha was something nostalgic that brought a smile to her lips. She'd been staying in Suna to cover for Temari while she was in the process of moving to Konoha until they finally found someone to replace her permanently.
Over that time, Sakura had become close friends with Kankuro and Gaara, but at the same time, she knew that her feelings for Gaara ran deeper than that. He'd been kind to her while she'd adjusted to life in Suna, and before she realized it, her feelings of gratitude had developed into something romantic. She'd been debating whether or not to tell him when she'd remembered the annual festival in Konoha that was meant to celebrate the day the war ended.
When Sakura had mentioned going back for the festival he'd seemed almost disappointed, so in a spur-of-the-moment decision, she'd invited him to come with her. She'd explained that she always walked around the festival in disguise with Naruto, and mentioned that he'd probably love it if Gaara joined them. Gaara had replied by saying he'd never been to a festival, to which she'd basically forced him to come with her.
From her time living in Suna, she'd learned that Gaara had grown up being separated from most people, either by his father's rules or their fear of him and the one-tail inside of him. He'd only been accepted in Suna after he'd become the Kazekage, but that meant that he couldn't exactly walk around festivals and enjoy it like a normal person.
Sakura was determined to give Gaara this experience, as a thanks for all of the kindness he'd shown her in the past year. At least, that was what she kept telling herself. If she was being honest, she just hadn't wanted to go back to Konoha without him. He'd become such a huge part of her daily life, and she didn't want to be apart from him.
"Wait for me here, I want food," Naruto said suddenly, snapping Sakura's attention back to the present. She watched as Naruto ran into a food stall and groaned when she saw the picture of ramen that was advertised on the side. They were going to be here for a while.
Sakura turned to apologize to Gaara, her head tilting to the side as she realized that he was staring absently at the goldfish scooping booth. "Do you want to play?" she asked.
"I'm okay," Gaara replied, but Sakura easily recognized his tone of voice as the one he used when he was trying to keep his thoughts to himself. Most of the time it was hard to guess what he was really thinking, but his eyes still hadn't left the small pool of goldfish.
Sakura reached into her pouch and grabbed a few coins before moving to the goldfish scooping stand. She crouched low to the ground and handed the coins to the person running the stand, then turned and beckoned for Gaara to follow her. Once he was crouched beside her, she picked up a scoop.
"Do you know how to play this?" Sakura asked, to which Gaara replied by shaking his head. "Basically, you just have to try and catch a goldfish and place it into the bowl without the paper in the center tearing."
Sakura handed a scoop to Gaara and then placed hers in the small pool of goldfish, moving through the water quickly to try and catch one of the fish. It broke through the paper and Sakura sighed, realizing that the hole was too large to be able to catch anything now. She turned to watch Gaara as he studied the movements of the fish, his hand moving quickly to try and catch one, but his paper tore as well.
They played the game a few more times until they ran out of scoops. Gaara managed to catch one goldfish by the end, but he returned it to the pool after saying that it'd be impossible to take it back to Suna with him.
"It's not like you could trust Naruto to take care of it for you, either," Sakura said quietly, making sure to keep Naruto's name low enough to almost be a whisper. The last thing she needed was for a random passerby to hear her talking about the Hokage in such a familiar manner and draw attention to herself. "Speaking of... where is he?"
Sakura peeked into the food stall she'd last seen Naruto disappearing into, frowning when she realized that he was nowhere to be found. Her eyes scanned the street around them, turning to ask Gaara if he had any idea of where Naruto could be, when someone came barreling down the street and bumped into Sakura's shoulder.
Sakura began to fall forward, not wanting to use chakra to keep her footing and draw attention to herself. Before she could fall to her knees however, Gaara grabbed her by the hand and helped her regain her balance.
"Thank you," Sakura murmured, whipping her head around to yell at the person who'd bumped into her, her words faltering when she realized that they had already reached the end of the street. There was something about the black clothing that she thought she recognized, but she couldn't quite figure it out.
"Should we keep looking for Naruto?" Gaara asked, using the same tone of voice that meant he was trying to hide his thoughts. Sakura's frown deepened as she wondered what he was thinking about, realizing belatedly that he'd never let go of her hand. A deep blush colored her cheeks as she tried to pretend she didn't notice it.
Sakura mulled over his question for a moment before shrugging her shoulders as nonchalantly as she could manage. This could be the perfect opportunity to spend some time together without Naruto hanging around them.
"We can just catch up with him later," she replied, smiling softly.
They moved through the festival together, stopping at a few stalls that Gaara seemed to find interesting. He eventually purchased a tanuki mask before they moved on, and the entire time, Gaara never let go of her hand. She wasn't sure if it was intentional or accidental on his part, but she decided not to question it.
As the night wore on and the darkness grew thicker, Sakura heard a few preliminary fireworks being set off. She looked up just in time to see them illuminate the night sky.
"Should we go somewhere to watch the fireworks?" Sakura asked, smiling when Gaara nodded his head. "There's a place Naruto and I watch them every year. We can go there and see if he shows up."
Secretly, Sakura was hoping that Naruto wouldn't interrupt them, but that was something she was going to keep to herself. She moved through the streets with Gaara, walking hand-in-hand until they began to move away from the festival. The sounds of the busy streets began to fall away as they climbed a hill near the outskirts of the village.
When they reached the top of the hill, Sakura was only a little bit surprised to find it empty. Normally the only people who watched the fireworks from here were her and Naruto, but she'd half expected Naruto to try and meet up with them. It was strange that he'd been giving them so much time alone-it was as if he'd planned to disappear.
Sakura moved toward the lone tree on the hill and sat beneath it, releasing her henge as she did so. The tree provided more than enough shadow for them to hide in, and when she shifted her eyes to Gaara, she realized that he'd released his henge as well. His eyebrows had disappeared once more, and the 'love' mark was back on his forehead.
The fireworks show started, drawing Sakura's attention to the sky in front of them. The view from this hill was perfect, and the longer she sat there quietly watching the fireworks with her hand still clasped in Gaara's, the more she felt her heart swell. The darkness surrounding them made everything seem so intimate.
Sakura glanced toward Gaara out of the corner of her eye, chewing on her lower lip as she slowly drank him in. She wasn't sure why she'd never noticed how attractive he really was before she'd moved to Suna, even though it wasn't just his looks that had drawn her to him. It was his personality, the kindness he showed everyone around him, and the passion that lay underneath his calm exterior that he only let loose when it came to things he really cared about. It was only once she'd realized these things that she'd come to like him as much as she did.
As Sakura kept her eyes on Gaara, she thought about how she'd wanted to tell him how she felt before they'd left Suna. There was something about the feeling in the air, aided by the cover of shadows and the bright fireworks, that made her gather her courage. She squeezed Gaara's hand gently and shifted her fingers to entwine them with his, her heart leaping into her chest when he turned to look at her curiously.
"Gaara, I..." Sakura trailed off, swallowing the nerves that had risen in her throat. She opened her mouth to try speaking again, but all of the courage she'd gathered faltered as she looked into his eyes. If she said this, and if he didn't reciprocate, she wasn't sure if she could be around him without hurting. Was it really worth it to risk losing him as a friend?
"I know," Gaara murmured, his voice quiet against the sound of the fireworks.
Sakura frowned, wondering if he really knew what she was going to say, or if he was just bluffing. His face remained carefully blank, but Sakura could tell that his eyes were searching for something in hers by the way they moved. It took a few seconds, but then he seemed to find his answer because his fingers squeezed her hand, much in the same way she had squeezed his just moments ago.
"Do you really?" Sakura asked.
Gaara nodded, running his thumb along the back of her hand. His neutral expression faltered, letting Sakura see just how nervous he really was before he smiled gently.
"I feel the same."
The words ran through Sakura's head several times before she began to really understand them. Gaara... liked her back? She licked her lips nervously and watched as his eyes darted down to follow the movement, his cheeks reddening ever so slightly.
Sakura gathered up her lost courage from before and leaned closer to him, waiting to see if he would move away. To her surprise, he didn't move away or stay still, and instead matched her and shifted closer to her as well. Sakura's eyes fell to his lips as she squeezed his hand again.
When her eyes lifted back to Gaara's, she felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw the intensity in them. His nerves were definitely still present, but they'd been overtaken by affection. Affection for her.
Sakura smiled, and closed most of the distance until their lips were so close that she could feel his breath fanning against her face. She didn't want to push him further than he was ready, so she closed her eyes and waited, wanting him to decide whether or not he was ready for this. A few seconds passed where Sakura thought he would back away, but then he whispered her name once before he closed the distance and kissed her.
It was awkward at first, but when Gaara pressed his lips more fully against hers, Sakura melted. His lips were so soft and gentle that it sent a shiver down her spine. She gripped her fingers tighter around his, and she felt him respond by smiling into the kiss before tilting his head to deepen it.
A small sound escaped her throat as he lifted his free hand, tenderly cupping her face. Sakura wasn't sure how long they were there, but at some point the fireworks had stopped and all she could hear was the sound of her heart beating frantically in her chest.
When they finally pulled away, Sakura opened her eyes slowly, a grin spreading across her lips. She watched as Gaara opened his mouth to say something, but before he got the chance, one of Naruto's frog summons suddenly appeared and jumped up onto his head. Sakura blinked, staring at the frog whose name she couldn't remember, until it finally started speaking.
"Naruto's waiting for you guys on the Hokage monument above the Third's head," the frog said, looking at them and chuckling before disappearing in a poof of smoke.
Sakura and Gaara stared at each other in confusion for a moment, but it didn't take long for Sakura to start laughing at the way Gaara had looked with a frog seated upon his head. Gaara smiled at her as she laughed, and they both stood to make their way to the Hokage monument, their fingers still linked together.
When they finally found Naruto he was no longer wearing his henge either, and Sakura frowned when she recognized the clothing he was wearing, but she wasn't sure why. She had the feeling she'd seen those clothes after Naruto had broken away from them, but they were pretty standard, so she could have been mixing him up with someone else.
Naruto turned around when Sakura cleared her throat to announce their presence. His eyes immediately darted to where their hands were still linked together, and a grin spread across his lips so wide she could see his molars. "Good for you, Gaara! I'm glad the plan worked!"
"Huh?" Sakura blinked, looking between Naruto and Gaara with confusion. What plan?
"Don't worry Sakura-chan, he only asked me to leave you guys alone. Bumping into you in the street was all my plan, but I'm glad it worked!"
Sakura frowned as she finally realized where she recognized Naruto's clothes from-he'd been the one who'd almost knocked her over outside of the goldfish scooping stand. It finally made sense why she hadn't seen Naruto at all since he'd disappeared, and why he hadn't gone up to the hill to watch the fireworks. Gaara had asked him to leave them alone. Sakura smiled at the thought.
"Naruto..." Gaara growled from beside her. His fingers tightened around hers before letting her hand go, and she glanced toward him to see him glaring at Naruto with the fury of one thousand suns.
"I'm sorry!" Naruto screamed. Sakura looked back just in time to see Naruto dart away, running at full speed.
"I'll be right back," Gaara said, and then he was off, running after Naruto and disappearing into the night.