First, thanks for all the kind reviews! I really do love them.

Second, someone asked if this was GaaSaku. I was going to answer that, but I think I'll let this chapter speak for itself. :wink:

Enjoy!

Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.

Chapter 4

Gaara smashed his hand down on the alarm before it reached its full intensity, wide awake despite the early hour. Trying unsuccessfully to calm his frayed nerves, he brushed his teeth and washed his face before attempting to tame his mop of bright red hair. When it steadfastly refused to take up any semblance of order, even on threat of removal, he gave it up as a lost cause, cursing his father for passing along his curly hair genes.

Foregoing his usual long robes, knowing they would only get in the way, he instead donned a pair of white linen pants and shirt, hoping the ensemble would be suitable for whatever Sakura had in mind. He briefly considered taking his gourd, but decided at the last minute that it was unnecessary and would only be a nuisance. There was plenty of sand at his disposal in case of an emergency, though he was relatively sure the morning would be uneventful in terms of foreign attacks.

He rather hoped the morning would not be uneventful in all areas, as he would be spending it exclusively with Sakura. He hoped this would be a chance for him to more firmly ascertain his feelings for her without outside interference. Not to mention, he was really looking forward to seeing her in those tiny shorts again.

He set out for the training grounds a half hour before the appointed time, determined not to make her wait on him. With nothing better to do than pace his room until they had to meet anyway, Gaara figured he could get a light warm up in before Sakura arrived. When he got to the grounds, though, he found himself unable to concentrate on anything resembling his usual warm up routine and ended up waiting for her by the edge of the lake, his feet dangling comfortably in the warm water, which remained heated year-round from the harsh sunlight.

She showed up at five minutes after six, jogging quickly through the gate and bowing to apologize for her tardiness.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" she huffed, trying to catch her breath. She had obviously run from the mansion in the hopes that she might beat him there.

He waved his hand dismissively. "It's no problem," he assured her, pulling his feet out of the water and attempting to put his sandals back on without getting sand everywhere.

"Oh, you won't need those," she told him, and she tugged her own sandals off as well. Gaara looked down at his wet feet, then at the sand surrounding them, and shrugged, awkwardly shaking first one foot and then the other before standing. He wiggled his toes at the uncomfortable feeling of wet sand, but knew the grains would fall away when his feet dried.

Sakura was laying out two mats like the one she had been using the other day, setting them side by side and arranging them so they were even on the sand. She reached down to brush off her feet before stepping on the pink mat, inviting him onto the blue.

"I usually warm up with sun salutes," she explained, "but I'll show you all the basic moves before we do that since you probably won't be able to keep up otherwise."

"I don't know about that," he grinned. "I'm a very fast learner."

He looks so nice when he smiles, Sakura thought, smiling at his confidence.

"I'll be the judge of that," she smirked.

"Yes, Sakura-sensei!" Gaara saluted sarcastically and she burst into laughter.

He looked a bit startled, so she apologized, "Sorry! But you looked so much like Lee-kun just now!" She broke down into helpless giggles again and Gaara smiled more widely, wishing he knew of something else he could say to make her laugh. She wiped at the tears of mirth pricking her eyes and tried in vain to straighten her features.

"Just get over here," she commanded, waiting until he complied to continue. When he lifted his foot to step over, she opened her mouth to stop him, but he didn't react fast enough.

"Brush your feet off—" he set his foot down and sand scattered over the mat.

"First," she finished lamely. He looked down and wriggled his toes, more grains falling from his feet and settling into the grooves of the mat. Sakura sighed.

"Come sit down here," she motioned to the edge of her mat and waited until he gingerly lowered himself, careful not to spread more grains than necessary. Sakura shook her head ruefully.

"Boy, this desert stuff really does make it more difficult. I'd have been halfway through my warm up by now at home!" Gaara began to apologize for the inconvenience, but she cut him off.

"It's ok," she grinned, "this makes it more interesting." She stepped off her mat and shook his off, sending the sand into the wind so it didn't get in their eyes. Gaara watched for a moment before trying to brush off his feet, failing miserably when he stumbled and sent his legs tumbling right back into the drifts and coating them all over again. Seeing his predicament, Sakura smiled and came over to help, carefully arranging his mat again before she did so.

"You boys are all so hopeless," she said softly, kneeling next to his feet and picking his leg up, brushing the grains from the hair on his legs before moving to the bottoms of his feet. The sensation of her touching him in such an intimate—and admittedly embarrassing—area made shivers run down his spine. His foot jerked when she hit a ticklish spot and she grinned maniacally, fingers poised menacingly over his sensitive flesh.

"Ah, so the Kazekage is ticklish, is he?" she joked, brushing the area lightly with the tip of her finger.

Gaara shivered again and it had nothing to do with ticklishness.

"You really don't have to do that, you know," he remarked dryly, but she simply smirked and held his foot more tightly when he tried to pull it away.

"Don't have to tickle you? I beg to differ," she laughed, a pretty, full-throated sound that made him want to lean into her touch and return it with his own. She ran one finger lightly, so lightly, over the bottom of his foot again, her lips parted in concentration, and the sensuality of it all threatened to overwhelm him. Gaara reached down with one hand, stilling her own, and waited until she looked into his eyes.

When she finally did look up, green eyes blinking in merriment and a pretty flush staining her cheeks from the morning heat, he stared back at her with heavy lids, gazing deeply into her eyes before flickering down to her mouth. She noticed and nervously licked her lips in such a way that he had to forcefully bite back the groan that threatened to tear from his throat.

"We should probably get started," he breathed, his face now inches from her own.

"With what?" she whispered back, holding her gaze with his.

With what? Gaara thought. What were we doing again?

He tried to force his brain to focus, but all he could seem to register was the feel of her hand against his ankle and his hand against hers, rubbing slow, miniscule circles against her thumb.

Get a grip! he told himself sternly. You have to get a grip before you do something so monumentally stupid that even being Kazekage won't fix it!

Gaara wrenched his eyes away, blinking heavily, and the spell was broken. He stood quickly and stepped to his own mat, using his jutsu to remove all traces of the stuff before looking down at her for instruction.

She huffed a small sigh of indignation and crossed her arms, making no move to join him.

"You mean you could have done that from the start and saved us all that trouble?" she questioned crossly.

"What?" he asked, honestly having no idea what she was talking about. She gestured to his feet and he blushed, realizing belatedly that he had removed the sand without a thought, concerned only with distancing himself from her intoxicating presence. He'd been so flustered before that he'd forgotten his own jutsu.

This morning cannot possibly get any more embarrassing, he thought, inwardly grimacing.

Sakura's face flashed in recognition and she giggled, reaching out a hand for him to pull her up. He took it reluctantly, not wanting to give himself any more cause for distraction but reveling in her touch all the same. She stepped on to her mat, looking at him expectantly. He obligingly removed the sand from her area as well, letting the soft grains tickle the hairs on her arm before moving away to drop harmlessly to the ground. When he turned back, she was looking at him thoughtfully, rubbing the spot on her arm where the sand had touched. He raised his eyebrows in question and she shook her head, smiling gently.

"It's nothing. I just think it's funny how your sand attacks are so deadly, but you can be so gentle with it at the same time. I guess it's kind of like you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," she began, still rubbing the spot he had caressed, "it's rough with a harsh exterior, but soft under the right conditions. It can be angry and unforgiving during a storm, but glistens with warmth under the sun. When honed, it's becomes sharp glass, but that glass is also capable of being molded and blown into something beautiful and strong." She looked at him pointedly.

Gaara flushed, staring at the ground. Maybe it can get more embarrassing.

"Glass breaks," he told her flatly, refusing to meet her eyes.

"Only if it doesn't have someone to catch it when it falls," she replied softly.

They stood in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, when she suddenly clapped her hands and said, "Let's start with downward dog. It's really one of most basic and well-loved positions."

Flustered a bit at the abrupt change in subject, Gaara watched as Sakura spread her legs and bent her knees slightly, lowering her palms to the ground and thrusting her rear in the air, creating a v-shape with her body. It took all his willpower not to just stand there and stare at her ass, all thoughts of the previous conversation flying out the window.

"Try it," she invited, and he stifled a groan, feeling very uncomfortable as he mimicked her position, praying he didn't fall flat on his face and make a complete fool of himself.

"Put me the hell down, you moron!" Temari shrieked as Kankuro swept her up and spun her around in a very undignified manner.

When he had turned full circle, he simply stood there, holding her above his head, the muscles in his arms straining attractively as he grinned like an idiot. When it became obvious he wasn't going to comply, Temari looked to her husband for help.

"Shika! Help me!"

In answer, he simply jostled the baby in his arms, a clear indication that his hands were already full. She glared, trying to swat and the still-snickering Kankuro, who easily ducked out of reach.

"Well, hand him off and then help me," she commanded.

Heaving a long-suffering sigh and muttering something that sounded an awful lot like, "what a pain," he glanced at the room's only other occupant, who seemed quite horrified at the silent request.

"Just hold him for a sec," Shikamaru drawled, ignoring the dismayed look on Gaara's face as he thrust Eiji into his arms. Shikamaru shuffled over to help his wife, though Kankuro had set her down when he saw that he would soon be outnumbered. Gaara hardly paid attention as Temari berated their brother; he was too busy staring warily at the small bundle he had been given.

He held the baby away from his body in an attempt to touch as little of the boy as possible. He hardly dared breathe for fear he would somehow contaminate his small nephew. Eiji gurgled and cooed, wiggling and causing the thin blanket he was swaddled in to shift lower.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, Gaara," Temari scolded. "He's not toxic."

Shooting her a guilty glance, he awkwardly cuddled Eiji closer, pressing the baby against his chest without moving his hands and looking for all the world like he would rather be anywhere but there.

Watching for a few moments as Gaara struggled to still the squirming boy without actually moving him, Temari finally took pity and shifted the baby, helping Gaara hold him more comfortably by gathering Eiji into the crook of his arm.

"There you go, see?" she chided. "It's not so bad, is it?"

Gaara hoped the pointed look he gave her made perfectly clear that it was so bad and completely uncomfortable and humiliating and a whole host of other emotions that the Kazekage should not have been subjected to.

He became distinctly more discomfited when she laughed gaily and left the baby with him anyway, opting instead to catch up with Kankuro. He glared openly at them until Eiji drew his attention, burbling and babbling like a brook, unaware that he happened to be in the care of one of the most dangerous shinobi on the continent. For his part, Gaara regarded the baby with a mixture of awe and apprehension, not quite sure how to approach this new enigma.

Gaara had never thought much about children; he just assumed he would never have any. He and his siblings hadn't been happy growing up, he never considered marriage, and the thought of impregnating anyone not his wife was out of the question. Children were one of the few responsibilities he'd never had to shoulder, and while he supposed in a very roundabout way he was responsible for every child in the village, he didn't consider them his any more than the rest of Suna.

Shuffling uncomfortably with the happy baby in his arms, he wasn't particularly inclined to change his mind about kids. While he still yearned to be needed by someone special, he wasn't ready to be quite so needed. He wanted to be depended on and relied on, but he wanted to be able to return those feelings. He was quite certain that he could not depend on a baby to help in a time of crisis.

Unbidden, the picture of a smiling Sakura holding a pale-haired baby popped into his mind. Flushing deeply at the thought of a woman he barely knew—certainly a woman who had no idea he was entertaining ludicrous family fantasies of her—having his child, he willed the thought away with a grimace.

So not appropriate, Gaara, he thought, dismayed at the direction his brain seemed to head every time he let his guard down.

If you're not careful, this could get majorly out of hand. You've already had one too many close calls with her. She is not your girlfriend. She is not your lover. She does not like you like that. Stop it.

As Gaara mentally lectured himself, Kankuro and Temari continued their discussion in low tones, shooting furtive glances his way to make sure he couldn't overhear. Seemingly preoccupied with his small bundle, Temari ventured, "He's doing alright, then?"

"Sure, he's fine. I don't know why you're always so worried about him. I can handle anything that comes up. You know he hasn't lost it in years," Kankuro assured.

"I know it. But I was right there with him for so much of that crap, and I don't know... He just seems so lonely," she finished lamely.

"He's fine. He's a big boy who can take care of himself."

"I know that," she spat. "But the nightmares... you never were too sensitive about that kind of stuff, idiot."

Kankuro glowered and was about to retort with a nasty invitation about just where she could stick her sensitivity, but Shikamaru interrupted with the quirk of an eyebrow.

"Look, Temari, I know you're worried, but Gaara can take care of himself," he sighed, and she turned her glare on him instead.

"What would you know about it?"

"Hey, I know we're not exactly close, but Gaara's a guy," he explained. "He won't take kindly to that kind of meddling, and he's not nearly as laid back as I am. Just let it be."

"But I—"

"If you want to help him, you could start by taking back our kid," he laughed, flinching when Temari raised her hand and looked like she might smack him.

"Seriously, you just need to be there to listen to him if he needs it. He'll talk if he's ready and has any problems. But I wouldn't go asking for trouble when there isn't any," Kankuro advised.

"Ugh. Men." Temari opined, making them chuckle.

"It'll be fine, Temari," Shikamaru insisted. "And I was totally serious, he's looking really distressed with Eiji over there, and the little guy's kinda growing on me. Maybe you could go take him back?"

"Maybe you should take him back," she retorted, but Kankuro beat them both to it.

"Hey Gaara," he called, "when you gonna give me a turn with my favorite nephew?"

Temari and Shikamaru rolled their eyes, but Gaara quickly handed the baby over, looking relieved. They watched for several moments as Kankuro coddled and sweet-talked Eiji, tossing the giggling boy into the air and catching him, making funny faces.

"Alright, that's enough," Temari announced after a few minutes, taking the baby from Kankuro and herding her husband to the door. "We're tired, this little guy's probably hungry, and if we leave Shika's students to their own devices for too long we might find one of the wings to the mansion missing. We'll see you guys later."

The door shut behind them and Gaara and Kankuro sat in companionable silence, Gaara going over some paperwork with Kankuro straightening the binders for the exam instructors.

"Hey, Gaara?" Kankuro asked.

"Hn?"

"You doing okay, man?"

"Hn."

"Dude, what does that even mean? Yes or no?"

Gaara quirked an eyebrow at his brother. "What do you think?" His tone left no room for discussion.

"Alright, fine, I get it," Kankuro complained, gathering the binders and moving toward the door. "Just worried about you."

"Why?"

"I dunno, I'm not... whatever, forget it. Gonna go drop these off," he mumbled, closing the door behind him. Gaara stared after him for a moment before shaking his head and going back to work. They had been alone for a whole ten minutes and Gaara hadn't broached the subject of Sakura and Kankuro's intentions toward her. He felt foolish for being unable to get up the nerve to ask his brother something so stupid, especially since he knew Kankuro and Sakura were just good friends and had been for long time.

But there was a chance, one niggling little thought in the corner of his mind suggested, that there was something more than friendship between the two. Gaara knew it was an issue he should clear up before confronting his own feelings for the girl or pursuing their relationship further. But he couldn't bring himself to consider that he might have already lost before he truly understood what he had to gain, so he let it go for the time being.

Naruto sighed as Hinata slid her arms around his shoulders and pressed her lips to his. When she pulled her body flush against him and ran her tongue along his bottom lip, a delicious shudder ran down his spine. He moaned into her mouth, touching the tip of his tongue to hers, heat shooting through his limbs and resting in his groin.

He pulled away slightly, lips hovering just above hers, and whispered huskily, "Damn. You know, Konohamaru tells me I've got sexy no jutsu down to an art form. But I have to tell you, babe, you've mastered the real sexy no jutsu."

She giggled and kissed him lightly. "I missed you, Naruto," she breathed against his lips.

"Well that was some welcome," he grinned mischievously. "Care to continue showing me just how much you missed me in my bedroom?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and was about to dive in for another kiss when an irritated and totally unwanted presence made himself known, clearing his throat loudly.

"Would you mind getting a fucking room?"

Naruto glared at their intruder, hunching protectively over Hinata and narrowing his eyes over her head.

"Uh, we were about to before you so rudely interrupted us, bastard."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such language. That's no way for the Hokage to talk, Naruto."

"Shut the hell up, you ungrateful dickwad," he sneered.

"Naruto!" Hinata squeaked. He looked down at her sheepishly.

"Sorry, babe."

"Look," Sasuke interrupted, "I'd love to let you two love birds go screw each other's brains out, but your brats"—he looked pointedly at Hinata—"told my brats that some Sand guy needs us downstairs for some kind of debriefing," his lip curled, the impending meeting obviously to his distaste. "I don't think they'll accept a nooner with the Hokage as an excuse for skipping out."

Hinata blushed scarlet and mumbled something unintelligible, but Naruto squeezed her hand reassuringly and shot Sasuke another glare.

"It's ok, Hina-chan. I'll see you later tonight." He turned to Sasuke. "And if I never see you again, it would be too soon."

"Love you too, sunshine," he quipped, grinning over his shoulder, Hinata trailing abashedly in his wake.

Gaara clenched and unclenched his fists, glaring in the general direction of the trio sitting to his right. He had been dragged out against his will again, the arrival of the Konoha instructors providing ample excuse for carousers to make the most of Suna drinking establishments.

To his left, Naruto sat speaking quietly with his fiancée, whispering in her ear and making her blush bright red. Knowing it had been almost a week since Naruto had last seen her, Gaara let them have the time to themselves. He hoped her presence would temper Naruto's drinking habits if the threats from Sakura didn't do the trick.

Gaara took a sip from his beer, barely noticing that it was now lukewarm as he continued to stare at the three next to him. He had managed to snag a seat next to Sakura, but all her attention was focused on her former teammate. She giggled when he leaned close, sharing a private joke, and Gaara felt the threads of his control slip even further.

Kankuro didn't look any happier than he did, he noted, glowering menacingly at the younger shinobi and tossing back more of the dark amber liquid in his glass. Kankuro had apparently promised Sakura that he wouldn't go overboard, but in Gaara's opinion he was well on his way past buzzed and rushing headlong into smashed. Sakura didn't seem to notice; in fact, she had had quite a bit to drink herself. The Uchiha had no qualms ordering her a second and third drink after she had downed the first.

She seemed frightfully unconcerned with how closely he was sitting to her, occasionally running his hands through flyaway strands of her hair or resting his hand on her lower back.

Gaara wanted nothing more than to smash that hand to little bits. A sand coffin death would be too good for that hand.

He ran a hand through the tangled strands of his hair, sighing and taking another swig from the bottle, grimacing at the taste. Loud music with a low beat played as couples bounced and grinded on the floor, completely ignorant of how wanton they looked.

A woman sitting on a low-slung couch across the room tried to catch his eye, sensuously running her tongue over her lip and batting her eyelashes coyly. He ignored her, turning back to his friends. This was why he avoided coming out. The noise, the women, the sheer inappropriateness of the Kazekage partaking in any of it... He might only be twenty-five, be he had responsibilities, and they didn't include rubbing against a stranger in a seedy bar.

Sasuke leaned down to whisper something in Sakura's ear and she blushed and shook her head furiously, glancing out at the dance floor. He grinned and twirled a wayward tendril of hair around his finger, responding in a low tone that Gaara couldn't hear over the music. She shook her head again and he shrugged good naturedly, grinning and sauntering over to the same woman who had propositioned Gaara.

The three watched as Sasuke pulled her up, clasping her hand and bringing her to the edge of dance floor, where she proceeded to move seductively against him while he looked bored with her attentions. Shaking his head at the absurdity, Gaara started to take another drink before he remembered it was no longer cold and pushed it away.

"Ridiculous," Kankuro was saying. "Seriously, Sakura, how do you put up with that shit?"

Sakura blushed and grinned sheepishly, "Well, he's my friend, and he's been through a lot. He's just not very... socially adept. I try to help him where I can."

"By letting him flirt openly with you?" Kankuro demanded. Sakura grimaced, but Gaara silently agreed.

"Look, he doesn't mean anything by it," she explained. "It's harmless."

"Didn't look so harmless to me," Kankuro muttered. "You shouldn't be so nice to him about it, he'll take it the wrong way."

While Gaara thought Kankuro was absolutely right, he wasn't so sure this was the best way to break it to Sakura.

She proved him right when she burst out a second later, "What would you know about it? You have no idea what he's been through! You have no right to say something like that to me!"

She was shouting and quite a few of the nearby patrons were staring, some people even craning their necks to see what all the fuss was about. Kankuro tried shushing her, but that only seemed to fuel her anger.

"I will quiet down when I'm good and ready, you insensitive prick! How dare you lecture me about how I treat my friends and whether or not they deserve my attention!"

She continued to rant as Kankuro cringed, sinking back into his chair and looking ready to dart to freedom at the first opportunity. Suddenly, Sasuke appeared at her side, resting his hand on her shoulder. She shut up immediately.

"Problem?" he asked, smirking at the way Kankuro hunched away from her.

"Not at all," she said airily, shooting a final glare at Kankuro before taking her seat again. Sasuke was apparently done dancing with the other girl, because he too reclaimed his seat. He slung his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close, grinning widely at Kankuro when Sakura wasn't looking.

"You little bastard," Kankuro ground out, mouth twisting into a grimace. Sasuke continued to smile back, looking like the cat that caught the canary, and Gaara found himself glowering as well.

"Keh. Gotta piss," Kankuro spat, shoving his chair back and stalking to the men's room.

"What's eating him?" Naruto asked, joining the conversation from Gaara's other side.

"Dunno," Sasuke drawled, "Must have seen somethin' he didn't like."

Gaara's face twisted into a scowl. "He's not the only one," he muttered.

He hadn't meant to speak loud enough to be overheard, but apparently tonight just wasn't his night. Sasuke smiled widely, realization dawning on his features, and Gaara cursed his rotten luck that the one person he really didn't want to know of his infatuation had found out due to carelessness on his own part. Naruto looked at him questioningly and Sakura asked, "Did you say something, Gaara?"

"Nothing important," he sighed. She leaned over and picked up his discarded beer.

"It's warm!" she exclaimed in surprise. "Let me get you another one."

He opened his mouth to disagree, but she turned to Sasuke suddenly, a bright smile on her face.

"Sasuke-kun, will you go get Gaara a beer and me another one of these fruity thingies?" she wheedled. Sasuke growled at the request and Gaara felt his mouth turn into a grin of its own accord. He tried to squash it down into his usual expression of disinterest, but the longer he listened to the argument, the wider it got.

"Go get it yourself!"

"Oh, come on!" she pleaded. "You're taller and can get over to the bar more easily. Pleeeaaase?" She dragged out the word obnoxiously and he huffed in annoyance before standing and making his way to the crowded bar.

"And maybe another bourbon for Kankuro!" she called. He scowled, but continued forward until they lost sight of him in the group surrounding the counter.

Gaara couldn't help but feel slightly cheered at this turn of events. Sakura might have spent the night talking with the Uchiha and letting him touch her, something Gaara longed to do himself, but it was promising that he hadn't been reduced to an errand boy.

Gaara was much more animated as he joined the conversation between Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata. He couldn't help but notice how Sasuke sulked for the rest of the evening as Sakura lavished her attention on the rest of them, even resting her fingers lightly on his hand once or twice as she gestured comically during a story.

She might have bitten Kankuro's head off for his observations, but she was apparently taking his words to heart. He downed the rest of his beer, heart stopping when Sakura paused her chatter to give him a bright smile. He returned it, feeling warmed from the inside out.

Promising, indeed...