I am currently in the process of re-writing this story, please be sure to read from the beginning if you are familiar with it. Updates on later chapters will be posted sporadically. I am sorry I've been so busy of late but I hope you enjoy the story regardless of this! –Saki
Chapter 4
Sakura woke up early the next morning feeling well rested and relaxed despite the strangeness of the day before. Lazily she sat up in her bed, stretching and smiling as she looked out the window and saw that the snow had stopped, leaving behind a world of pure white. Sakura looked at it for a moment before quickly gasping.
"Oh no! It's Christmas and I have no presents for Gaara or Tsunade-sama! I completely forgot about them!" Without wasting a moment, she shot out of bed, hissing at the coldness of the floor as she raced to her closet trying to be as quiet as possible. Reaching inside her closet, her fingers curled around the first long sleeve shirt and long pants she could find, throwing her pajamas across the room as she pulled on the other clothes.
A quick glance in the mirror showed that her short pink hair was only slightly tangled and thankfully only needed to be brushed. "I can't believe I completely forgot about Tsunade! Gaara was a surprise but Tsunade is my Shishou! How could I have forgotten her?!" Sakura thanked her lucky stars she had already bought presents for the rest of her friends as she quietly left her room.
Hoping Gaara had gotten over at least some of his former insomnia, Sakura tiptoed down the hallway, pulling on her boots, coat, and scarf before slipping out the door. As soon as she was off the porch she hurried into a run. If she was going to pull this off she needed to be quick. With a burst of speed Sakura rounded a corner and sprinted down the road to a nearby liquor shop to buy a nice bottle of sake for Tsunade. The owner seemed to notice her hurry and quickly wrapped it for her, placing a bow around the top and waving her off as she called her thanks to the owner.
Her breath came out in steamy tendrils as she raced down the road to a small shop that she knew had knick-knacks depicting places in Konoha. Deciding a snow globe would be a funny present to give the rather stoic ninja, Sakura found one with a model of Konoha from above and bought it with a smile. As she left the shop Sakura found herself moving away from the direction of her home. Something in her knew that the snow globe was a funny and sweet gift but didn't express how truly grateful, and rather amazed, she was that Gaara had come to visit her during the holidays. "I don't know what else to get him. Whatever it is it needs to be special." She thought, turning a corner and nearly smacking into a woman standing there.
"Oh I'm sorry!" Sakura mumbled as the woman chuckled.
"It's alright Sakura-san, you look rather disheveled, forgot to buy someone a present?" The woman laughed as Sakura looked up to see the familiar face of one of the nice shopkeepers Sakura had befriended over the years.
"Aiko! I didn't realize it was you! Ah, and yes, I did forget a present…or two." Sakura mumbled out the last part, a little embarrassed at admitting her forgetfulness.
Aiko laughed and shook her head. "You are always so busy, it doesn't surprise me! Maybe I could help you out, come on in and we'll see if I have anything that would work." Sakura nodded and followed Aiko inside her warm little shop.
"I really appreciate it Aiko." Sakura said, following Aiko to where she had disappeared into the back of her store.
"Don't mention it! Now, who is it that you are getting a present for?" She asked, leaning against her counter with a friendly smile.
"A friend from Suna, he's staying here for the holidays." She said to her, watching as Aiko's smile grew even wider.
"From Suna you say? He's probably not used to this weather. Does he have clothes that are suited to this climate?"
"Yeah he's been here before. I didn't know he was coming until he got here last night. I have to say I was rather surprised he wasn't shivering from the cold but he seemed ok in it." She said casually as Aiko nodded and pursed her lips for a moment.
"Well let's start with the basics. What exactly did you have in mind for a present? What do you think he would like?" She asked, as Sakura sighed.
"That's the problem Aiko; I have no idea what to get him." She admitted this last bit with a shake of the head, sitting down in a chair near the stove as Aiko moved to the place next to her.
"Well then why don't you tell me what he's like? Maybe then I can get a feel for what to give him." Sakura nodded and thought for a moment before speaking.
"Well he's very quiet and rather hard to read sometimes. He is stoic and sometimes a little proud, but not at all in a bad way." Sakura stopped for a moment, trying her best to think of anything else to say about the mysterious friend of hers, without giving his complete identity away.
Aiko smiled and raised an eyebrow."Ooh the strong silent type hm?" She chuckled as Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well he's from Suna right? So I think the best thing to do would be to get him something that only comes from Konoha. A little piece of here." She smiled and held up something for Sakura to see. Her eyes widened as Aiko's smile grew even wider.
"Oh Aiko! It's so pretty! I wish I would have thought of that! It will most definitely suit him!" She gushed over the object in Aiko's hand and hugged her happily. "You always have the things I need Aiko! Thank you so much!" Sakura smiled as Aiko chuckled and began to wrap the gift up for her.
"I'm glad to have been able to help! You'll have to let me know how he likes it!" Sakura nodded as she paid for the gift and left the shop with a smile and a wave before taking off down the road, leaving behind a laughing Aiko.
Sakura turned the corner to her house clutching her gifts tightly before racing up the steps to her house. Wasting no time, Sakura pulled off her boots, coat and scarf, scooping up her gifts carefully before sneaking down the hall and into her room. With a massive sigh of relief at not being caught, she moved quickly and hid the bags in her closet. Deciding it would be best to get a cup of tea to warm her cold fingers, she left her room and walked into the kitchen.
Sakura had just set the tea kettle on the stove when Gaara walked into the room. His sudden presence would have startled her had she not been tensely expecting him to appear. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"
He nodded and watched as she pulled two cups out of the cupboard. He had meditated for most of the night until he had fallen asleep. "Would you like some tea? I ran out to see a friend this morning and decided I needed a little something to warm me up." Gaara nodded, having felt her chakra the moment she woke up and left the house."Are rice balls okay for breakfast?" Sakura asked, pouring the now warm tea into the two cups. Again, Gaara nodded. Sakura smiled and handed him his cup before moving to the fridge and pulling out the rice balls she had prepared the day before.
Gaara had sat down at the island in her kitchen, sipping the tea as she moved to sit next to him. He mumbled his thanks as she handed him the rice ball and watched as he set his cup down to eat the simple breakfast before him. Deciding he should ask the plans for the day, he cleared his throat, catching Sakura's attention before speaking.
"I don't know what you do for Christmas or in the winter when it's snowing. If you had plans for the day then I would like to accompany you." Sakura was once more shocked but quickly recovered and nodded, taking a small bite of her rice ball before furrowing her brow.
"Well I wasn't really planning anything but I guess since it's Christmas I definitely do want to do something. Here in winter there is quite a bit to do. If you like we can go ice skating, though that… might seem a bit childish." She mentally kicked herself remembering that this was Gaara she was talking to, not Naruto! Suddenly she remembered what had been nagging her thoughts since he asked about plans for the day.
"Oh gosh! I almost forgot Tsunade-sama is having a party tonight. It's not much but it's really fun and we don't have to stay very long. She started hosting it last year after the usual get-togethers began to overlap. After Tsunade-sama has had a few drinks, it's best to leave quickly before things get ugly." She laughed a little as Gaara inwardly wondered what Tsunade could possibly be like drunk if her normal self was any indication.
"That sounds like it would be interesting. I would be fine with attending. I haven't tried ice skating but I assume it isn't too difficult. It would be interesting to do that as well." He murmured this calmly before biting into his rice ball once more. Sakura fought the urge to openly gape at him. Gaara, the Kazekage, ice skating?! She recovered remarkably quickly the oddness of everything starting to cancel out her amazement.
"We could go after breakfast if you want." Gaara nodded once more and they fell back into silence, both finishing their meals quietly before standing and heading towards the door.
"Gaara you may want to bring your gloves it's colder today than it was yesterday." Sakura mentioned casually, as she pulled on her own black gloves.
Gaara acknowledged her with a small grunt, putting his on as well. With a small glance in his direction, Sakura opened the door and stepped out into the snow covered street.
It was immediately apparent to both parties that it had dropped several degrees since the day before. Sakura suppressed a shiver as Gaara glanced over at her.
"So, ice skating first?" Sakura asked trudging along in the snow, not bothering to waste the chakra to walk on top of it.
"If you wish."
"Alright it's normally set up on the river near here. Some of our shinobi freeze it every once in a while to be sure it's safe as sometimes it doesn't get cold enough." Gaara nodded his understanding as he followed Sakura through the village and looked around at the cheery scenes around him.
"For somewhere so cold it is rather nice." He thought calmly. He watched as Sakura led him to a stand and spoke with the man inside, returning with two pairs of skates. She motioned for him to follow her to a place near the Konoha Bridge where there were benches to sit on.
Sakura tied her laces quickly and stood up in the snow watching as he finished tying his own and stood on them, getting used to the foreign feeling. Gaara watched as she gracefully stepped onto the frozen river and began to glide across its surface. She seemed light as a feather as she motioned for him to join her. He stood up and glided across the ice to her, only wobbling once before steadying himself with a small amount of chakra in his feet. He would be damned if he fell.
"You're a natural Gaara!" Sakura said watching him. He wasn't smiling but he seemed very confident on the ice and stopped when he got close to her. She began to skate around the river. "It seems like such an easy thing to do, I put chakra in my feet and I always seem to keep my balance on any sort of water frozen or not." She smiled. "But then again I have been skating since I was little. My mom used to bring me here to skate on the ice in the winter. I used to fall over and always ask how she stayed up. She told me that with practice I could skate just like her. I eventually learned how and now it's second nature to me." Sakura blushed a little upon realizing that she was rambling. "I guess I'm just surprised you caught on so fast." She admitted. Gaara smiled a little and skated towards her.
"I'm a fast learner." He said and they began to skate down the river again. "She looks nice when she blushes." He thought absentmindedly. With a slight frown he shook off the sudden thought and continued to follow her across the water.
He felt strangely at ease with Sakura, and she felt the same. Despite his lack of conversation in some situations, she was certainly warming up to the red haired Kazekage.
They skated for a while long, enjoying the scenery until Sakura hit an uneven spot of ice. She wasn't paying attention to the ice and lost control for a mere moment before she began to fall. Gaara quickly grabbed hold of her arms, pulling her upright as his sand moved and stabilizing her movements. He stared at her for a moment before letting go of her arms.
"Are you alright?" He questioned, not breaking eye contact with the slightly blushing kunoichi.
"I am alright. I should be more careful. Thank you." She said blushing a little more.
"No problem." He commented, watching her as she skated ahead of him. Something in him stirred and for a moment he could still feel her warmth through the gloves on his hands.
End of Chapter 4
This chapter has been re-written. (They get longer I promise!)
