The Kazekage is not lonely. Every time he sees him, he sees her.
Her soft supple skin, her warm heart, her bright green eyes and her silky pink hair
Everything about her is so perfect, he said to himself.
Her calloused hands, her nagging, her persistency and her loud inner self.
Her imperfections are so perfect.
Even though she's not here
She will always be in him.
Sunagakure
"Father, I want to go to Konoha and see the colorful bridge!" a little girl came running to him. Her pink hair was messy and wet and her lips forming into a small pout.
"Hana-chan, I'm very busy at the moment. Maybe we could go on Saturday?" he said forming a small still smile. Hana gave another pout, this time turning into a very familiar frown. The Kazekage tried putting on a stern look but could not manage from hiding his smile. "You are very much like your mother."
"You... always… say that! Yet we never go. Ever since Mother …"
"Sabaku no Hana!" The Kazekage said firmly not letting or even wanting her to finish the sentence.
The 6 years old silenced immediately.
Forming a few seals the Kazekage said, "The sand will take you to your auntie Temari and you are to stay there and train until I pick you up". Hana was suddenly standing on a mass of hardened sand and she was being fled out of the office through the window.
She's only a child. She does no understand. Why must I blame her when she mentions her own mother? Why can't I stay calm while getting through this? Why must this happen? Sakura I miss you.
The Kazekage picked up his empty vase and threw it against the wall. It shattered on to the floor. Just like his heart.
He looked at his old head protector and let his memories flashes before his eyes.
Konohagakure
10 years earlier
The 20 year old medic-nin was making all the funny faces she could possibly do.
"Why can't you stop frowning?" she asked him. "I'm not. I'm being normal" Gaara said, annoyed. He has been saying the same thing more than 50 times now ever since they were walking away from the city centre.
"Look, I'm a rabbit!" said Sakura, sticking two of her front teeth. "I'm a pig!" she exclaimed, flaring her nostrils. "I'm Gamabunta! Blowfish, Ero-sennin, and Kankurou!" she said making multiple weird faces.
"You know, one of these days one you might get muscle spasm and your face might stay like that forever," Gaara said, frowning. "I'm Sabaku no Gaara" she said looking awfully board, stiff and arrogant at the same time. Gaara put his arm around her shoulder and cover her face with his hands. "This is what you get for mocking me"
"You know…mmffhh I can always lick your mmfh… hands and bite it!" she threatened him playfully. "And you do know that I like it" he said challenging her.
"Let me go, you don't know where we are going! It's my surprise for you after all". He let go of her face and hold her hand instead.
They were walking in a comfortable silence. This was he can hear her gentle breathing and her off tune humming. The sky was getting a tad cloudy. Where could she be taking him, it looks like its not going to stay sunny for long, he thought.
They reached a clear big lake and Sakura decided to stop. "I've been here." Gaara said."I know dear, I did not bring you here to see this. You'll find out."
Gaara's prediction was right. He could feel droplets of water against his face and he could see them on Sakura's serious face. She is cute when serious, he said to himself. Soon, the droplets turned into a shower and Gaara covered the two of them with his sand. Inside, Sakura started to take off all her clothing.
"You do realize that I do not have enough chakra to do tiring stuffs" he said, alarmed at what she was doing.
Sakura gave him a smug look and took his Sunagakure head protector from the cloth he uses to tie his gourd around. "I need this, actually."
Gaara decided to look away while Sakura resumes her stripping off her clothes. He can never resist her and he knows that he always have to be alert and preserve some chakra for unpredictable dangerous things.
"The rain stopped" he said quietly releasing them from his Sand.
Sakura immediately ran towards the lake. He could see her wearing only her underwear and what appears to be his head protector, barely covering the swell of her breast. Not pleased with the idea that the perverted Jiraiya or Kakashi might be somewhere watching his half covered fiancée, Gaara told her to get in the water so no one would see.
"What is it that you wanted to show me?" he asked restlessly throwing cautious look around the place for pervert on lookers. "Come swim with me and you will see in a bit" she smiled widely.
"No"
"You are such a…Oh look its here! Its here!" Sakura instantaneously came out of the lake and walk towards Gaara. He hugged her from behind trying to cover her as much as possible.
"There…"she said pointing to the sky.
Gaara tried to focus his eyes and he finally saw it. He saw something that never happens in Sunagakure.
"Its pretty isn't it?"
"Hmmm" He said hugging her tightly and for once felt so grateful for being himself. He may have suffered a terrible childhood, but what he was getting now was tenfold than the compensation he expected to get. A woman who still have the time to discover and consider all the silly little unimportant things that he refused to share
Sometimes he thought whether or not he deserved her, but now he knows that she is definitely for him.
After all, there's always a rainbow after every rain, he thought.
