The week was almost up.
Sakura had been helping her mother in their bakery for the past week, although she wasn't sure if she was really helping much. If anything she was merely forced to dress up in the stupid red cloak to drop off all the baked goods at their different destinations, gaining the eyes of both the invested men, and the bitter women. It had her feeling drained at the end of the day.
Gaara had disappeared. After he had laid with her that one night she had awoken to find him gone. It was a bit disheartening, as she actually enjoyed sleeping next to him and taking in his scent.
Yet, the fact remained that he had stated that he was going to get a dowry for the end of the week. She wondered if it was even possible for him to do so.
Sakura brushed some of her pink hair back as she entered her family's cottage, only to find her mother standing in the kitchen smiling ear to ear.
"What has you so happy?" The pinkette gave a laugh as she hung up her cloak, and her mother eyed it fondly.
"Oh, there's a lovely gentleman in the living room... asking your father for your hand in marriage-"
"WHAT?!" Sakura screeched, running over to the doorway to peep around it.
Sure enough, the redhead was there with not only a nice sized pouch of gold coins, but a mountain of furs as well. He was currently having a laugh with her father, Kizashi. She flushed from head to toe at the thought that he had actually stayed true to his word.
"So, I hope this will be enough to cover as a dowry. I'm not familiar with how these things go, in the mountains we are a bit more simple about it. It's usually the strongest male has the pick of the healthiest female... barbaric, I know, but it's how we live." Gaara was smooth, and confident. It showed in his posture, and in the way he spoke. It seemed to have a desirable effect on the man sitting across from him.
"This is actually a lot more than expected, almost too much! Tell me you have some fortunes left over to care for my daughter!" Kizashi laughed, his mauve hair shaking as he hawed.
"But of course, I may not look the type but I am well educated. I have enough gold and furs to cover anything we need. I was actually quite shocked at how profitable the fur trade was, I had so many of them lying around I should have sold them ages ago." The redhead smiled genuinely, and it seemed that everything was going extremely well.
However, Sakura knew how stubborn her father was-
"How can I say no? I believe I can trust you to take good care of her. You're obviously a smart boy with a good head on your shoulders, handsome too. I only wish the best for both of you!"
The pinkette's mouth dropped in complete and utter shock. She could hear her mother behind her giggling with some sort of strange glee, and for the longest time she didn't even register the two men who were now staring at her.
"Sakura? Come over here, girl! Gaara has just asked for your hand in marriage, and we have come to a profitable agreement." Kizashi waved to his daughter, and she felt she couldn't move. Suddenly her mother was pushing at her back, and her steps began moving forward against her will.
'I'm going to... marry... a wolf?' Her thoughts jumbled about as she was moved to stand right in front of her now fiance. The redhead stood with a smirk, took her hand, and kissed it gently in front of everyone in the room.
"You seem shocked. I'm sorry, I should have talked with you before I sat down with your father..." Gaara murmured softly to her, but it could definitely be picked up by the other two in the room.
"Oh nonsense! This is such a wonderful surprise!" Mebuki clapped giddily before tugging on her husband's sleeve. "Let's leave them be for a moment, you can run down to the tavern and make an announcement while I go to see father Iruka."
Suddenly her parents were all smiles, off in a flurry, and she was left standing there alone in a room with the wolf who had paid for her.
She didn't know whether to feel insulted, complimented, bitter, or loved. It was a strange feeling in not having even an opinion on whether you may want to marry someone, even though she didn't mind the idea of marrying Gaara at all.
"Are you... unhappy?" The redhead brushed some pink strands behind her ear, and she flinched as a result.
"Why did you do this?" Sakura's brow furrowed, and she knew she was about to start something that would lead to an ugly finish.
"Because I want you to belong to me-"
"That's the wrong answer." The pinkette instantly soured, not caring that her attitude was infectious.
"What is your problem?" Gaara growled, his feral side was beginning to show.
"My problem is that you simply want to have me for selfish reasons. You don't actually love me, or care about my wellbeing-!"
"I care greatly about your wellbeing! When a wolf mates they mate for life unless the mate dies! I plan on mating for life!" The redhead tapped against his own heart, as if he were confessing his love in his own twisted way. "I didn't kill you! I wanted to continue this, do you understand?! The first time I let you go was my eternal vow!"
Suddenly his customs were becoming very clear to her. Why he chose to kill anyone he slept with, and how him sparing her was essentially the building blocks for something much bigger for him. He had decided to stop the cycle, and take a permanent mate.
He wasn't going to be killing people anymore. As long as he had her there would be no more deaths.
"Forgive me. I didn't understand." Sakura bowed to him, and felt the room go completely silent. His body was tense at her respectful motion, as if he had never recieved such treatment in his life. "I'm sorry, Gaara."
She straightened, and watched as a few strange emotions crossed his features. It finally settled on dissapointment, and he turned his back to her with his hand to his eyes.
"I wanted you to be happy about this... you don't seem happy at all-"
"I am... I'm just in shock is all. I never thought I would be getting married after... everything we've..." Sakura flushed at the thought that she would be at his beck and call day and night. It was a wife's duty to keep her husband satisfied in the bedroom, and now she would have to fill those very large shoes.
Porcelain hands were wrapping around her waist, pulling her in close.
"You don't have to feel guilty anymore, I know that plagued you. Now you can have me, and enjoy me as you see fit." Gaara took her face in his palms, and leaned down to kiss her passionately. It left her gasping, and he took advantage of such opportunities.
He was always so quick to go in for the kill, any opening was one that he would snatch up right away.
However, her mind was racing over her current fate. Where did he live? Would she have to live in a cave? Could she even bare him any children-?
"Where have you gone, my dear? Come back to me..." The back of his fingernails felt strangely smooth down her cheek, waking her up to two coal rimmed eyes staring at her. She blinked, and fidgeted much to his dissapointment. "My words are beginning to lose there effect on you... however I suppose it was only a matter of time-"
"I'm sorry... what did you just say?" Sakura's brows furrowed in confusion, but a strange sense of anxiety filled her as he pulled her even closer.
"You're not a stupid girl, but you allowed me to walk with you in the woods, learn your secrets, and you fell to my whims. I'm sure you had asked yourself 'why' at least once, correct? Wondering how you could be tamed so easily by me..." His larger porcelain hand gripped around her neck, but didn't squeeze. He merely rubbed his thumb along her jugular as her eyes went wild.
"My kind... we can hypnotize with our words and our touch. The way we move, the lights reflecting off our eyes, even our scent... everything makes us enticing. The 'wolf in sheeps clothing' is a real thing, you believe you are safe until I sink my fangs into your delicious flesh. You are still enraptured up until the final breath, and then that look of fear glints off of your beautiful eyes-"
"LET GO OF ME!" Out of panic her hand reared up, slapping him hard across the face. It took them both by surprise, but more so the victim of her outburst.
At first it was merely shock in his expression, but then something behind his eyes changed. Something was burning beneath the surface. It was feral, and it was frightening beyond belief.
"That energy... it keeps you so interesting." Although his eyes were threatening his words were not, to anyone else it might have sounded flirtatious at best.
"It's why I kept you, and why you'll be mated to me. No one has ever had the guts to ever challenge me, and yet you with your weak little girlish form have decided that you want to fight back. It makes me so excited, I could just howl-"
"I'll expose you! I'll tell them all what you really are-!" She screamed.
"-And then I'll tell the villagers how you gave yourself to me not just once, but twice. At least I have the decency to marry you after the fact. I could have just killed you." Gaara gave a dark chuckle, then played gently with the ends of her pink locks. "I've never been married before. Hell, I had never kissed a human before you."
The pinkette shivered for a moment, her thoughts racing on whether or not she should run. However, her curiosity was piqued when he stated he had never kissed anyone before.
"How have you... not kissed anyone?" As she asked his haunting cyan eyes locked onto her own. She wondered if he might be trying to 'hypnotize' her again.
"It's a loving thing that humans do, is it not? Wolves don't focus on mouths, there's no point. You simply fuck, and then perhaps you lay next to each other, but that is all. There is no such thing as 'romance' in the animal world, only instinct." The redhead's voice started to grow softer, and his eyes were beginning to match.
He looked truly human then.
"Sakura... you kissed me first. I did not push you to do such a thing, yet you have done it twice. The first time had me confused, as I had never felt so alive in my entire life. Even the thrill of a good chase had nothing on the kiss you placed upon my lips that night. It made me want to try being a human for once..." Gaara spoke just above a whisper, his lids lowering in a dreamy way.
His strange flip flopping between two worlds had her afraid, but it also had her so intrigued. She knew she wasn't being sucked in by him now, instead she was plunging deeper by herself.
"So I followed you, and you intrigued me. You kissed me again, and I became a lowly dog begging for whatever affection you can give. I kissed you back, and I was tamed by your witchcraft-" The redhead's patience broke, his lips descended onto hers desperately while his hands pawed at her trembling frame.
It was deep, it was frantic, and possessive. Yet in the same breath it was also loving, and deeply personal. It was like she could read his thoughts, and feel his emotions. She hummed despite her initial discomfort, and clung to him almost out of necessity. Something outside of their control was at work here; something incredibly powerful.
Sakura broke the kiss to breathe, but couldn't move her face away as his hands held her firmly in place.
"So we are both mystical in our own way, I am not the only one with power here..." Gaara breathed heavily, as if his heart was racing too fast for his lungs to catch up. "I am your slave... and you are my master-"
"I don't want that..." The pinkette trembled, her legs felt weak underneath her weight. She watched carefully as he shook his head.
"Neither do I, but I made the mistake of chasing after such perfect prey. I am... lost now. You're all that I desire anymore." The redhead kissed along her cheek, and down her throat while his hands roamed. "I shall devour you every night... and I only ask that you return my affections, my precious bride."
Sakura let him kiss her, and grope at her as he pleased, but she didn't return the 'love' that he desperately craved. Her thoughts had decided to quit on her completely.
'What happens now?'
- ... - ... - ... - ... -
The village was in an uproar over how the 'mountain dweller' paid a great sum for her hand in marriage, and while her girlfriends seemed excited about the fact Sakura found herself wandering about town in a daze.
When asked about the betrothal, she would simply smile and answer in the least conspicuous way possible. Gaara had left to go back to the woods for the time being saying work had to be done, and that left her alone to come up with all the tall tales.
She had decided that she needed to see Tsunade, and ask for her advice on the matter.
The pinkette trekked through the forest, climbing up steep hills littered in thick tree roots. Sweat broke out along her brow, and a poor choice of footing had her falling. She grabbed hold of a branch just in time, but not before a sharp stick snapped up her skirt, and scratched open her thigh.
"Shit!" Sakura cursed as a bit of blood trickled down onto her stocking, but the wound wasn't serious enough to bandage. She simply trekked on, knowing she could wash the wound later.
Not too long after that, the pinkette had finally made it back to the small cottage, and barely knocked before inviting herself in.
The hearth was dead, no candles were lit despite the curtains being drawn. There was a sense of foreboding there that had her worried, but then she heard harsh coughing in the next room.
With a sigh of relief she closed the door behind her, and went about lighting up a fresh fire. The coughing grew louder, concerning her over her teacher's welfare.
"Lady Tsunade? Are you ill?" Sakura made her way to the bedroom to find it darkened, but saw a bundle in the bed shifting. The figure had draped itself in blankets before entering the bed. "Lady Tsunade-?"
The figure coughed, and waved a hand at her. The pinkette breathed another sigh of relief, and closed that door behind her as well. The room was eerily dark, but there was at least one candle lit.
"Would you like some tea?" Sakura asked, and Tsunade coughed.
"No... but I am cold. Please..." Her voice was incredibly hoarse, and deep, but that was to be expected when one had been coughing so much. The pinkette scoffed a little though, and padded her way over to the bed.
"I understand, milady. I'll lay next to you until you are a bit warmer. Sound good?" Sakura chided gently, and even with her back turned she could see that Tsunade was nodding.
The pinkette slipped in, and only stopped to quickly blow out the candle before snuggling down. It was pitch black in the room now, but she felt comfortable next to Tsunade. She pressed her back to the other woman's, and took a deep breath before relaxing.
Her teacher moved, rolling over to hold the younger girl close. At first Sakura laughed, but then noticed how the older woman's body was not plush like it should have been.
The chest felt hard, and warning bells began to ring like mad in her head, but there was only one other person who had been to Tsunade's house before...
"Well, that's funny, I don't remember Tsunade having a six pack... or a penis for that matter-"
The figure behind her started snickering, forcing her to groan out of irritation. Large hands smoothed along her frame, and she reached back and up to clench her fingers in the person's hair.
Shorter, spikey, and thick. Of course it was him.
"You think you're so smart don't you, Gaara?" The pinkette said it sardonically, and the man answered by palming at her chest. She hummed, but then elbowed him for the inconvenience. "Knock it off, I'm mad at you-"
"Why?" He whispered, his lips ghosting along her neck. She shivered at the sensation, then took a sharp breath as his fingers traced up her thigh.
"You made me think Tsunade was sick just so you could get me into bed, but you know I probably would have let you do whatever you wanted without the trickery-"
"No you wouldn't." He whispered again, then smoothed his hand over her bloomers. She shivered with delight, but a question was hanging around in her head.
"And why do you say that?" Sakura turned around in his arms, reaching up to wrap her own around his neck. With a breathless laugh he finally answered her, but held her firmly in an instant.
"Because..." He nuzzled his mouth over to her ear to speak a bit more clearly. His next words leaving her numb to the bone.
"I'm not Gaara."
AN: Muahahaha, oh that was fun. I'm excited to write the next chapter now. Review please :) I love hearing what you guys think.