What a Good Night of Sleep Could Bring Us - Our favourite Kazekage finally has the chance to sleep, but when he finds himself unable to do so who could help him trough his time of need?
Written in 31 – 12 – 2007
The red-haired boy sighed for the hundredth time that night. He had been through hell and back, he was dead tired and yet he could not rest. His mind kept replaying the past days' events over and over again. He didn't remember much: the fight, the pain, the loneliness… death… It wasn't something he wanted to remember and yet he could not bring himself to forget.
Quietly sitting on his bed, Sunagakure no Sato's Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara was thinking of how much he almost missed the demon Shukaku… ALMOST. He could not deny that he felt empty, lonelier than he had ever felt in his entire life. Shukaku had been a constant in his life. His voice was always present, for the better and for the worse. Now he was an empty shell. He did not know what to do. He was lonely… and weak. Yes, he was still a fine shinobi, but the majority of his skills, his powers were provided by the sand demon. Without it, Gaara was as good as the next shinobi.
He was weak…
Granted the council told him he would keep his position as Kazekage, but now the ones who hated him and wanted him gone had the opportunity to do so. There was no demon to protect him. He was vulnerable.
And vulnerable was something Sabaku no Gaara certainly didn't want to be.
Maybe it was all those preoccupations plaguing his mind or maybe it was just the lack of practice, but the truth was: the jade-eyed ex-jinchuuriki could not sleep.
With an almost child-like curiosity, the red-haired got up and decided to walk around the mansion so he could see how the others were like when they were asleep.
Gaara could hear snoring coming from Naruto's room and someone talking about youth in the room Gai and Lee shared (there was nothing going on between them, mind you). The Kazekage strolled a bit more passing by his siblings' rooms. He already knew what they were like when they slept.
Further down the corridor, he noticed how the brown-haired kunoichi Tenten was sneaking into the Hyuuga genius' room. She didn't seem to notice his presence at all. Shaking his head the red-haired continued his journey passing by the room that belonged to Naruto's sensei, the copy ninja. He could hear some moaning and grunting coming from inside. He definitely did NOT want to know what Hatake Kakashi was doing there.
A slightly shocked Kazekage found himself at the door of the last member of Konohagakure's shinobi group, a pink-haired kunoichi he remembered from the chuunin exams. He had tried to kill her then. Fortunately, he had met her a couple of times after that, she WAS the Godaime's apprentice, and she seemed to hold no grudge against him. On the contrary, she seemed quite fond of him. At the beginning that surprised him but then he remembered that she had easily accepted Naruto for who he was, Kyuubi included. He was thankful for that, it was always good to talk to someone who did not fear him and even seemed to slightly like him.
Of course, he knew his siblings liked him, and he was beginning to like them too, but that particular emerald-eyed kunoichi seemed to have a different effect on him. Only he had not yet discovered what that effect was.
To his surprise, he found that said kunoichi's room door was slightly open. Not much but enough for him to see her slender figure sitting on the windowsill of an open window. The moonlight was the only source of light but he could clearly see the shining tears running down from her eyes.
Why could she be crying?
Because she killed that Akatsuki member?
Because Chiyo had died?
…because she had a new lead on the Uchiha's whereabouts?
Gaara's heart clenched at the last thought. Why did that particular option seem to affect him so?
Clearing his head of those thoughts he stepped away from the door and let Sakura have her privacy. He shouldn't be spying on her but the truth was, he had nothing better to do.
A few minutes of boredom latter Gaara decided to go talk to Sakura. Sighing softly to himself he stealthily entered the room noiselessly closing the door behind him. The kunoichi seemed to take no notice of his presence for she continued with her silent weeping.
Gaara paused behind her, within arm's length, and thought about what he should do. He wasn't used to comforting anyone, much less a fragile girl as the one currently in his presence.
'She is not weak anymore', he berated himself. He remembered a certain time when he had seen her spar with another medic-nin, Shizune, and he had to say he was REALLY impressed. She had grown stronger than he could ever imagine. After all, it's not every day you witness someone completely destroying a training area with only a few kicks and punches.
Yes, she was strong and yet she was still very delicate. It was almost as she could shatter at any moment…
A sob escaped the emerald-eyed girl. She seemed to be trying her hardest to be quiet about her grief.
Gaara hesitated for a moment before he finally lifted his hand and gently squeezed her shoulder.
Sakura turned around hastily, clearly surprised. Not only had she been caught unguarded but also showing her emotions… her weakness… Her widened eyes soon softened as she recognized the young Kazekage who, meanwhile, had already recollected his limb.
"Gaara-san!" There was a pregnant pause, none of them knowing what to say. Sakura whipped her tears before giving the red-haired her undivided attention. "Ano… couldn't sleep?" Said man stiffened. Inner Sakura mentally slapped herself. That was definitely NOT a subject to be brought up in his presence.
"No."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Her speech was interrupted by a small shake of the head from her male companion.
"There's… a lot in my mind."
Sakura couldn't help but smile warmly at him. That was a very light way of putting things.
"You should get some sleep Gaara-san, you need it."
The red-haired tilted his head slightly to the side. Inner Sakura squealed and mentioned how incredibly cute that was and how handsome the young shinobi had become. Sakura couldn't suppress her blush.
"So do you. You leave tomorrow."
The medic-nin nodded and turned once again to watch the village beneath her. A few moments later she felt rather than saw Gaara sitting next to her as they shared a few minutes of peaceful silence.
It was amazing how they felt comfortable with each other when they had only been together a few times and mostly on official business.
Minute after minute Gaara noticed how his eyelids became heavier and heavier. All those years without sleep seemed to finally be catching up to him. His body was screaming for rest as he became aware that it was a lot more difficult to stay awake without the influence of the sand demon.
Gently he rubbed his eyelids with his fingertips trying to relief some of the tension that was accumulating around that particular area.
His condition did not go unnoticed by his female companion whose medical skills seemed to be urging her to do something.
Sighing she got up and sat on the bed, her back against the wall. The red-haired followed her every move with his beautiful jade orbs and was shocked when he saw her patting the place next to her on the bed. Worthlessly the Kazekage obeyed the silent request and sat by her side.
Sakura gently brought her hands to his broad shoulders and made him lay his head on her lap. He offered no resistance for he was curious about her intentions. She then preceded to sooth his pained muscles with her chakra, tenderly using her fingertips to rub his temples, his forehead, his eyes…
Slowly Gaara relaxed into her touch and let himself be lulled to sleep by her warmth.
'Is this… love?' There came no reply as he finally succumbed to a deep slumber.
Blood, screams, pained faces…
Gaara awoke abruptly and his eyes scanned the place he was in from his unmoving position. With relief, he came to the conclusion he was still in the same room he remembered falling asleep in.
So it had been only a dream…
… a nightmare.
He had dreamt of all the brutal things he had done since he was born, of all the blood he had spilled. It made his heart clench in a very unpleasant way.
The Kazekage brought a shaky hand to his damp hair. He was all sweaty. He tried to run his fingers through his hair but in the place where his crimson locks should be, his hand touched flesh, human flesh. Soft human flesh.
Looking up he saw that the kunoichi had fallen asleep in her sitting position against the wall with her hands still caressing his hair.
His eyes softened before he realized that she must be very uncomfortable sleeping like that. He tried his best not to wake her as he laid her on the bed and covered her slender body with the silky sheets. The nights in the desert were always cold, she would need them.
After he had successfully accomplished his little 'mission' he found himself with a hard decision at hand. Should he go back to his own room? Or should he lie down next to her? With one look at Sakura's peaceful face, his choice was made. He found his way underneath the sheets, right next to her. Before falling asleep he felt her snuggling closer to him for warmth as she sighed in content. Later she placed her head on his strong chest as his arms unconsciously wrapped themselves tightly around her small waist.
Sakura finally woke up. Weird, she did not remember lying down… Sighing she buried her face deeper into her warm, cinnamon scented pillow. Wait, cinnamon?! The kunoichi quickly tried to jump away but was stopped by the strong pair of arms securing her in place. Her gaze followed the arms to find their owner and found herself staring at the sleeping face of Sabaku no Gaara.
Or so she thought…
"Morning." Sakura almost screamed in surprise. Had he been awake the entire time?! How utterly humiliating!
"Good morning Gaara-san." Was all the blushing kunoichi could say. "Er… slept well?"
Gaara nodded but did not let go.
"Could you let me go?" She asked with a small smile.
"No." Her face fell.
"Why not?"
"It's too early, go back to sleep." With that, he used the arms still circling her waist and brought Sakura flush against his chest as he buried his nose on her pink locks.
In truth, it was well past the waking hour, but the Kazekage wanted to feel her warmth for a little while longer. She helped ease his pain and took away his loneliness. He didn't want to let her go… ever.
The (blushing) girl did nothing else to rid herself of the awkward situation. It was very weird to see the former psycho killer acting as he was. It was almost like a kid refusing to get up for school as he slept embracing his favorite toy. The thought made her blush harder. Strange as it may be, to be resting in Gaara's arms, Sakura could not say it was an unpleasant kind of strange. On the contrary, she felt quite content and even… safe. Still, it was... unusual and unheard of. Giving up on trying to get up, the petal-haired angel closed her eyes and snuggled closer to a happy Kazekage as she put even more of her body on top of his.
Their peaceful moment didn't last long though for the door of the bedroom was open abruptly.
"Raise and… WOAH!" Temari had never looked so shocked in her entire life.
"This is not what it looks like!" Panicking Sakura tried once again to disentangle herself from the hold of a very impassive looking Gaara. He showed no signs of wanting to let go anytime soon. The younger kunoichi groaned as she saw a wide grin spreading on the face of the older one.
"Of course not… rrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggghhhhhhhhhhtttttttttt….. Anyway, your team wants to leave soon so you better get up. You two lovebirds should be more careful. If it had been Naruto here instead of me we would be standing on ruins by now. A piece of advice kiddies, the locks are on the doors for a reason, use them! And don't forget to wear protection!" She said in a sing-song voice. Chuckling the blonde left, closing the door behind her, and ignoring the two huge death glares directed at her.
There was an awkward pause.
"I… need to go to the bathroom…"
Reluctantly the red-haired let go and left for his own room as the (still embarrassed) girl locked herself in the bathroom.
No words were exchanged between the two during breakfast and the preparations for the journey.