'Why is this happening to me?!" Sakura thought as she dodged a slab of falling sandstone. She gracefully dived out of the room, careful to avoid the falling debris as she raced out the door. It had only been four weeks since she started renting out her apartment in Suna and she had ruined it already. The Kazekage was not going to be impressed, especially as it was at his expense. But then again it was his fault for offering such a tempting job in the first place. Not only did she get to leave behind all her mistakes and regrets in Kohana but she also got to work extra close to her favourite Kazekage and crush, Gaara.
She sighed, he was going to be furious when she told him, 'he might even fire me' she thought 'God it's such a cushy job being Kakekage's personal assistant, I can't lose it!' Not knowing what to do she rang up her close friend Temari and explained the situation.
"Why don't you come stay at out place?" Temari offered cheerfully
"At the Kazekage's mansion?" Sakura gasped
"Well it's my place to ya know" Temari said and Sakura giggled
"Yeah sure Temari that'll be great. I'll get what things I can and meet you there"
"On one condition Sakura"
"W-what is it?" She asked unsurely
"No practicing powerful jutsu's that make the roof cave in ok?" Temari laughed
Sakura frowned, then laughed too "okay it's a deal" She hung out the phone back on its hook then stepped out of the booth and stretched. The nights of Suna were cold compared to the scorching heats of when the sun was up. An icy wind blew through the few trees darted around the paved streets and Sakura shivered. She walked quickly back to her apartment block and opened the door to what was left of her apartment. Grabbing the few belonging she could amongst the rubble she stuffed them into a backpack and slung it over her shoulders. She stepped out into the hallway and pushed pass the door of her apartment block for the last time.
The Kazekage mansion was hard to miss. Its tall sandstone walls and heavily guarded exterior really was a give away. Sakura brushed the sand from her dress and fixed her hair into place before walking up to the front gate.
"Who are you and what is your purpose here?" a man said over the intercom in the wall
"My name is Sakura Haruno, I work here" she smiled slightly it was funny but it made her feel as though she was worth something when she said she worked for the Kazekage
"Please scan your ID card" the voice said calmly.
Sakura pulled the pack off her back and began rummaging through it. 'Shit, shit, shit!' she panicked. "I'm sorry, I don't have it" she said nervously
"I have no record of you working a graveyard shift miss Haruno, therefore you have no right to be here" the voice replied coldly
"My apartment just collapsed" she cried in despair
"The Kazekage's mansion is not a hotel, however there is one down the road, good-"
"I have Temari no Sabaku's permission to enter!" she interrupted
"Temari is not in, good bye Miss Ha-"
A familiar voice interrupted the man on the intercom "Oh you're such a dick, let her in!"
"Temari!" Sakura cried happily "Thank god!" The gates opened and Sakura rushed in to great her blonde friend with a hug "I thought I was going to have to stand out there all night!"
"Yeah the guys Gaara employed are such assholes" Temari snorted "I guess that's one thing he has in common with them" She wrapped her arm around the pink haired ninja's shoulder, unaware that she was blushing slightly.
"Yeah…" she said nervously, uncomfortable about talking about Gaara.
"Well I guess you must be tired, what with you wasting your chakara on a jutsu and waiting so late to do so" Temari said, Sakura frowned at her criticism "Don't worry we've all done it at some time or another" Temari smiled "You can sleep in Gaara's room tonight, he's off…somewhere, actually I have no idea where, probably off being a prick no doubt. Anyway its not like her use's his bed anyway, the bugs get more use out of it than he does, so I'm sure he won't care. Though actually I doubt he'll even be back by morning so there's nothing to worry about" she led Sakura down the hall into a richly furnished bedroom "There you go. Shower if you want, make yourself at home, but get some rest you look tired"
"I hope your not implying anything" Sakura frowned looking at herself in the mirror
"No, no of course not, would I do that?" Temari grinned "Night Sakura:
"Night Temari" She said before closing the door.
After having a shower and dressing in her white fuzzy pyjamas Sakura decided to inspect her surroundings. Gaara's room was big alright, probably the same size as her entire apartment. There was a huge mahogany desk towards the back of the room, a huge open window behind it. There were three huge wardrobes to the side but she dared not go near them. Seeing the same Kazekage robe a hundred times over was too much for her to bear. In the centre of the room were two large sofas's facing a huge plasma TV. Sakura almost laughed when she saw a play station two on the coffee table, she never expected Gaara to be the type. Among the various paintings, rugs and other expensive decorations her favourite thing in the whole room was his enormous four poster bed. Beautiful velvet material was draped over the mattress. Flowing white curtains hung form the mahogany frame, while the mattress itself was so comfortable it made her just want to get up and jump on it. She let out a sigh as she threw herself onto the bed and wrapped herself up in the covers. After all it seemed a shame to let it go to waste.
Gaara let out a groan as he flung his paperwork carelessly onto the desk. It seemed so easy years ago to just solve his problems by killing. But since then things had changed and suddenly Kazekage life thew him a little thing called responsibility. It was enough to make him feel sick. Do this, go here, sign this, make this decision. He would probably be drowning in his work if it wasn't for his charming assistant Sakura. Now there was a ninja who knew what she was talking about. She seemed to give better advice than any of his selfish, greedy, self-centred advisers. Not to mention she was probably the most beautiful, graceful and thoughtful ninja he had ever come across. Gaara sighed, what was he thinking, after all Sakura saw him as was the Kazekage, her boss. He sat down in his chair, leant back and looked out the window to stare at the stars. It was the only time ever escaped the world and his work. The only time he got to daydream about what his life could be like. The only time he allowed the silence to wash over him in the cold midnight air.
Until now he hadn't noticed, the room wasn't silent at all. There was a soft murmuring coming from his bed. 'What the hell!' Gaara thought as he sprung from the chair and raced cautiously over to the bed, arm outstretched gathering sand, ready to smother the perpetrator. He gasped as he drew back the curtain to reveal his pink hair assistant curled up in his bed. He released the sand before it reached her and he smiled slightly at the beautiful woman mumbling softly in her sleep. She held a pillow tightly in her hands, as one might told a teddy bear and she wriggled slightly in her sleep. 'What I wouldn't give to be that pillow' he thought to himself sadly. 'I could always use a substitution jutsu' he grinned then shook the thought away. 'I'd scare her witless'. Sakura shivered and rolled over. 'Perhaps she's cold?' he thought and pulled a blanket over her, then gently caressed the side of her pale face. 'Oh god what am I doing! No, no no Gaara stop it. You're getting in too deep. You're getting confused! You the bad guy remember? Your mean, your scary, your Kazekage' he grimaced and disappeared in a swirl of sand 'you're not good enough for her…'
Sakura's eyes fluttered open and she stretched. She rolled over to get out of bed only to find nothing but more soft mattress. She sat up with a start and looked around "Where the hell am I" she said trying to remember, the voice that broke the silence quickly reminded her.
"You're in my bed" a familiar voice said from somewhere deeper in the room
"Gaara?" Sakura asked, getting out of bed to see him sitting at his desk, as usual
"Good mourning Sakura" Gaara said "sleep well?" she blushed and bowed her head slightly "Sorry, Temari said you would be back and I…" she stopped as Gaara waved his hand
"Its no big deal, Temari left me a memo this mourning before she went shopping" He looked up from his work to stare at her with his pale green eyes.
"I'll see if she can set up a sofa bed for me when she gets back, if I'm making you uncomfortable" she said quietly
"There's no point wasting a perfectly good bed I guess. As long as you can sleep through the noise of my constant pen strokes then you'll be ok" he smiled slightly, but his eyes were sad and lonely.
"That'll be fine" she said and grinned "I don't know about sleeping thought the noise of your play station though." She laughed
"Are you kidding" he smiled too "I can't even beat Kankuro at the sodding game". Sakura didn't reply, she just stared at him, dumbfounded. 'He just made a joke' she thought, after processing the fact she threw her head back in laugher. Rich, angelic laughter. Gaara frowned. There was a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. 'What the hell is this damned feeling?!' he thought irritably 'She's the only one I feel like this around… the only one that makes smile…makes me happy' It made he angry to feel so weak with her.
"Enough of this" he said suddenly "There are other matters to attend to. After a quick breakfast you have a job to get to. Don't think you're living here for free, you'll have to work extra hours to work of the damage you did to that apartment"
Sakura blushed "Sorry, Kazekage"
"No point apologising it won't get you anywhere, it's in the past, so deal with it" he said before Sakura left the room "Oh and Sakura"
"Yes Kazekage?" she turned around
"It's Gaara to you ok?"
"Yes Ka…Gaara" she smiled and left the room, leaving Gaara to his thoughts and emotions.
By the time Sakura finished working she was exhausted. In the past thirteen hours it had been non-stop work and requests. Every time she found a moment to herself someone would spot her and have a job for her to do. She collapsed on Gaara's bed and shivered. 'Why the hell does he have such a big, open window if it's so damn cold at night?' she grumbled as she tried to warm herself under the covers, but to no avail.
She heard someone open the door and walk casually into the room, mumbling under their breath. She wanted to talk to him so badly, but there was a lump in her throat that made it hard to talk. She knew it was the only time she got to talk to him, the only time she was alone with him.
"G-Gaara" she whispered
"Hn?" he lifted his head up from his work
"It's so cold" she whispered, he got up from the desk and sat on the edge of the bed "aren't you cold?" she asked, staring into his sad eyes
"Sakura" he whispered, lying next to her "I've felt nothing but cold my whole life" They laid in silence for a long time before Sakura shivered again. He rolled on his side top face her. "You not cold" he whispered "In here" he pointed to her chest "You so warm, compared to me…your so warm" his voice trailed off as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Then let me share my warmth with you" she whispered running her fingers through his hair, her heart beating faster as she lent in, their breath upon each other. He lent forward a little so their lips brushed against each other in a gentle yet passionate kiss. Gaara ran his hands down her back and held her tightly as she seemed to melt in his arms. Her soft hair tickled his face and all he could smell was the soft essence of her shampoo. 'What am I doing?' he thought and pulled away suddenly, she looked at him confused.
"What's wrong?" she asked softly
"This is wrong Sakura, don't you see, I'm a monster compared to you, I don't deserve something so sweet"
"Oh" Sakura cried "Then who does? Sasuke? Naruto? Lee?" a tear ran down her cheek
"No" he said softly, wiping away the tear "But they deserve you more than I do"
"But I don't want to be with them" She paused and blushed slightly "I want to be with you Gaara"
"Sakura" he shook his head "I'm not…I can't….I don't think I can love" he looked down as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Then I'll teach you" she whispered desperately and lifted her head up to kiss him, he responded instantly and wrapped his arms around her, running his fingers though her bubblegum pink hair. "Do you think your up for the lessons?" she asked when the parted, resting her head on hic chest. How could her resist her?
"I do Haruno sensei, I do"
Sakura stood at her window gazing at the stars, just like Gaara often did, before he found her. Now instead of looking out into the night he laid by her side as she slept. Stroking her hair and feeling her touch against his body. Feeling her warm breath against his cold skin and enjoying the smell of her hair. Sakura sighed. He'd been gone almost a week and she was lonely without him. She shivered, nights were lonely without him.
"Are you cold my little cherry blossom?" a man said behind her wrapping his arm around her waist
"Gaara!" She squealed, turning around to wrap her arms around him
He nibbled her neck "Miss me?"
"As always" she smiled "Happy birthday" she kissed him and he deepened the kiss. "That concludes our final lesson" she said tenderly
"Oh?" he smiled softly "And which one is that?"
"The best gift to give a girl on her birthday"
"But it's my birthday not yours" he smiled and frowned at the same time
"Who cares" she laughed as they fell on the couch together. "And now I have one last lesson for you, as a birthday present"
"And what is that?" he asked as she lent forward to get something of the table
"I'm going to teach you to whoop Kankuro's ass at play station" she grinned and handed him a controller
"Very well my little cherry blossom you're on!"
THE END
This is my Second fanfiction ever, though it's much better than my last I think. I bet you were thinking something dirty at the end, tut tut. I know I didn't need to add in the last bit but I really dislike soppy endings. Any way please review, but be nice thanks for reading.