Here is my daily freewrite! The pairing being GaaSaku (one I haven't written before) and the word being 'Misgive'. As always, un-beta'd for your reading pleasure. Tell me how I can improve!
He had watched her for a while. It wasn't conscious at first, he didn't know he was doing it. But, his eyes were continually drawn to her.
He sat around the meeting table, making plans with the other leaders. And he couldn't keep his eyes off her. It was infuriating. He constantly berated himself. Kazekage's do not focus on... on... women.
But he couldn't help himself. And it scared him.
Gaara remembered the first time he had truly looked at Sakura Haruno. When Suna attacked Konoha, he paid no mind to the weak little girl with bubblegum pink hair. She wasn't even worth killing.
But when he died... she came to save him. With her bright smile and pink hair and her constant beatings of Naruto. She was something else entirely. Beautiful and deadly.
He'd stared at her, during the celebratory feasts after he was rescued. Her short pink hair, bright and shiny like the cherry blossom she garnered her name from. Her green eyes, always alert, always on edge, and yet with a softness and warmth he had yet to see in many people. She was small, but far more deadly than anybody he knew. Being trained to Lady Tsunade herself, she was obviously powerful. But she had beaten Sasori of the Red Sand, one of, if not the most famous Missing Nin in Suna's history. And with the help of Lady Chiyo, she had stopped him. A girl that had only been a Chunnin for little over three months had beaten an S Class Ninja. Not only that, but her punch shattered a boulder. One punch. Legendary.
And they had spoken, also. She was polite and formal, and of course distant. Speaking to the man who had once tried to kill you must have been difficult. But she maintained a sense of, well, defiance. Not anything open, nothing disrespectful. But Sakura Haruno could easily look the Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure, in the eye. That was a feat most of his advisors had trouble doing.
Their conversation had been light and formal, merely himself thanking her for saving him. And she had replied with bow, and a smile. Soft and warm. "It was no problem Lord Kazekage."
And Gaara had found the corner of his lips twitching, but he refused to allow himself to smile. There was no reason. This was just some girl, after all. And they had made small talk for a short while. He couldn't stop listening to her voice. It was so light at first glance, but it held a powerful roar. She wasn't a little girl anymore. And she smelt of strawberries. Pine and strawberries.
When the Konoha ninja had left, Gaara had shaken Naruto's hand. And had watched Sakura leave.
For the next few weeks afterwards, thoughts of the girl with the bubblegum hair plagued his mind. This was stupid, and pathetic. He wasn't some lovesick puppy for a girl he had never met! Finally, he pushed the thoughts of the Chunnin from Konoha out of his mind, and focused on more pressing matters.
That was, until the letter.
He had kept in contact with Naruto (per the exuberant blonde's request) through letters that they wrote weekly. Gaara looked forward to it. On this particular day, he had sent off his letter to Naruto, and expected one the next day.
It never came.
Gaara wasn't overly concerned. While Naruto had always replied back the next day, he was most probably training to fight the Akatsuki. He could wait.
It was the next day he received a letter. But it wasn't from Naruto.
It was from her.
Dear Lord Kazekage,
Naruto has told me that it is important you continue to have social contact with someone outside of Suna, and continue to learn to interact with others. However, due to circumstances involving Naruto's training, he will be unable to write to you for a while. In his stead, I have been asked to exchange letters with you until he is able to write back to you.
I hope this will not be inconvenient, and I am under orders to continually send written letters to you from the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju.
Sincerely,
Sakura Haruno.
Gaara was taken aback. He had only really ever spoken to Naruto in letter form, and with such a strong bond between the two it was easy to find things to talk about. What could he talk about with her?
And so, he waited, and gave it some thought.
A week later, he received another letter from Sakura, almost demanding he write back. In a formal manner, of course.
And he did so. The letter was awkward and clumsy. What was he to write? What did he say?
However, he sent it off, as awkward and clumsy as it was, and received a reply back the very next day.
For the next few months, they constantly exchanged messages, discussing more and more personal things as the days went on. At first, it was mainly about non-confidential information about missions and such. It then delved into Sakura's work at the hospital, the work that Gaara did as the Kazekage, among other things. And then it delved into personal issues. Sakura discussed being from a civilian household in a shinobi world, while Gaara discussed his childhood. Not in depth, of course, but he did discuss it.
Apparently he had made so much progress, that even after Naruto began to write to him again, he continued writing to Sakura. This continued for a such a long time.
And then the war began.
There was no time for letters or discussions. It was time for action. Gaara fought and bled for everything in that war. For the Shinobi World to know peace. He had faced down his own Father, and had fought the legendary Madara Uchiha. He helped defeat Obito Uchiha, and save the entire Shinobi World.
And yet he could not talk to the girl. He was nervous.
The girl he had spoken to for months through letters. He was Kazekage. And he could not even look this beautiful girl in the eye. What a fool.
He examined her across the tent as he worked feverishly to heal the wounded, but still managed to look stunning.
A sad glint in his jade eyes told all the world needed to know. He would stand and watch the beautiful girl with the bubblegum hair for now. And maybe next time, he'd speak to her.
Yes, next time.
Dinner. It was filling, but not too much. The restaurant was formal, but also cosy. She looked good in her dress.
They went for a walk in the park, chatting animatedly. He took her slim hand in his, giving it a light squeeze.
Leaning in, he pressed his lips to hers.
There would be no next time, it seemed.