"Because You're Different"
Prologue
Ever since the war had ended, they'd been pressuring him to choose someone. And while he understood the need for one of his status to not dawdle along with decisions such as these, he also knew that such decisions took time. The Kazekage couldn't have just anyone for a bride, after all. He needed someone…different.
The council had had their hearts set on the Haruno girl for a while now, he knew; they'd mentioned her to him a few times, though they'd probably wanted to put much more emphasis on it than that. A fine choice, they'd deemed her, as she had strength, beauty, and not to mention she'd helped the village a great deal in the past. Technically, Gaara couldn't deny that they were right – Sakura was indeed a good candidate, logically speaking. But emotionally, he'd never really felt one way or another towards her. And even despite that, it didn't take a genius to notice the feelings her blonde-haired comrade held for her; what kind of a friend would he be to steal that away? No. The council would just have to get over that silly suggestion.
But Sakura or no Sakura, they wanted him with a Leaf girl. The two villages had always held a shaky relationship in the past, and they truly felt that their Kazekage choosing a kunoichi from Konoha would help. Which it could, he supposed. It seemed to make sense. But only time would tell. And as Gaara had no particular interest in anyone from his own village, he surely didn't mind.
There were few girls from the Leaf he really knew. He'd gone over them in his mind in the past, one by one, wondering if any of them at all would accept such an invitation as marriage to the Kazekage. Never would he force this on anyone, of course; if none of them wanted him, none of them wanted him. It was simple as that, and he'd just have to go beyond the ones he knew. He'd rather not deal with too big of a hassle, though; and luckily for him, a lot of the girls from his own village seemed to find him attractive. Perhaps things like that worked similarly in other nations as well.
Nevertheless…he didn't really want someone who found him attractive, as much as he wanted someone who would simply accept him, forget the horrible past he held, and love the person he'd successfully become. That was his biggest worry, really: that none of them would be capable of doing such a thing. He'd learned over the years that it was much easier for people to forget something good, than something bad. And even today, whenever he visited Konoha, he often received more fearful glances than forgiving smiles.
But then, there was always one girl who'd never really looked at him one way or another. At first he'd always thought the look in her eyes was something close to pain, as if she was always wondering how he could've done such things he'd done in the past. But over time the look had changed, or perhaps…it was just his perception that'd changed. He didn't really know. But it didn't matter. Because whichever it was, he could tell more than anything, that one of them, either her or him, had realized they'd been wrong. And that was the real change.
He supposed he knew her, in a sense. They weren't close, but perhaps close to being closer. He'd actually grown pretty close to everyone in her specific team, all except her. Which could be looked at in a slightly humorous sort of light; but he didn't see it that way. He'd gone over each of the girls he knew, but for a reason he didn't understand, his mind would wander back to her, sometimes a second and third time. Most of the times, he'd brush it off, thinking it was simply because she was the only one in the team who didn't willingly start a conversation with him. But lately, he'd been taking it into a bit more consideration, or more specifically, taking her into a bit more consideration. He didn't know much about her, but he knew she could handle herself fairly well. She was modest, and as far as he could tell, never worried about her looks as much as the other females he knew. Some might say she was the least exciting to look at in terms of beauty, but Gaara knew better. Often things held their own special beauty, even when some weren't able to see them; he'd lived in the vast, virtually greenless desert all his life, and there was still no other place he'd rather call home. That was the way he'd been viewing this girl's beauty for a while now.
She wasn't ugly by any means. No. Her beauty was just…different. Simple. Plain. Natural. She never flaunted herself, like the others, or tried to mask the imperfections she might have. She just was. A pure shinobi – the type of girl who'd rather be known for skill than beauty, acts than looks. And he liked that about her. In order to find her, one had to search.
"I've decided."
He finally told the council in the end. He'd waited and waited, and the thoughts had never changed. He was drawn to her. He didn't know why. But…maybe, just maybe, she could also be drawn to him, if given a chance to be. It was time for another trip to Konoha.
Oh how I love prologues. And crack pairings. :D