Monogamy

Chapter Ten

-Stupid Squires-

Sakura hummed happily to herself as she made her way to the stables to see Taira. It had been two days since she and Gaara had had sex for the first time, and she still couldn't fathom why it had taken them so long to perform such an act. Ever since that first time, they had treated each other differently, more kindly to be precise. And their nights were filled with such passion as they continued to explore and learn the other's body, that she had slept the best she'd had in years. Niro and Taira of course, didn't hesitate to let it be known that they were right, but she and Gaara just ignored the dragons. Some lessons just have to be learned the hard way.

As she neared the stables, Sakura could hear angry hissing, and what sounded like objects being thrown around. Picking up her pace, she ran to the door and her eyes widened at the sight. Taira was practically crawling up the wall of the barn in an attempt to get away from Naruto, who was holding a bucket filled with some sort of liquid in his hand, and a paint brush. Said blonde had arrived the day before with Sakura's clothes and supplies, but she didn't mind that he was late, because she just wore some of Gaara's. And he didn't mind either, since, according to him, it showed everyone that she was finally wholly and completely his.

'Get that vile thing away from me before I kill him!' Taira hissed, seeing that her mistress was there to save her.

"What's going on?" she yelled, coming up to her squire. He looked at her with a mixture of relief and excitement.

"Well, you said before you left that if I treated Taira like a lady she would like me more. And fancy ladies always have their nails painted, so I figured I'd paint her claws. Isn't this a great color?" he asked, thrusting the bucket before Sakura.

"Uh…" she looked at it, disgust evident on her features. It was the most hideous shade of neon orange, similar to the color that Naruto always wore.

'It's the most horrid color I've ever seen, and if it touches me, someone is going to die.' Her dragon said.

Taking his mistress' lack of words as a yes, the blonde man dipped his brush in the paint and made to move towards Taira's front left foot. She tried to scramble up the wall, her hind legs already elevated away from the squire's reach, and in her panic, she called out to the one person she knew would effectively stop the man from trying to hinder her beauty. 'NIRO!' she called, screeching for her mate. Hearing the call in her mind Sakura moved out of the way of the entrance and crossed her arms.

"Naruto, if you value your life, you'll step away from her." She warned. He looked back at the pink haired rider with a smile.

"Naw, she won't hurt me. I think deep down she really does like me, and if she was going to kill me, she'd have done so by now." He said, resuming his advance towards the pink dragon.

Sakura sighed and shook her head. "It's not Taira I'm warning you from." She said, feeling the earth begin to tremble. In a matter of seconds Niro burst into the stables, roaring loudly as he snapped at Naruto. He snarled viciously at the blonde, glaring hatefully at the one who dared threaten his mate. His wings spread in challenge, approaching and cornering the squire slowly. Flames licked up from his closed mouth. He was ready to fry this man.

"Whoa! I'm just trying to make her pretty!" Naruto said, holding his arms up in surrender. Taira growled, baring her teeth.

'That is only going to make me look stupid.' She said. In Naruto's surrender, he dropped the paint, making it splatter onto the ground. The whole group froze as Niro slowly craned his neck to see a spot of orange on his left front leg. After that, the frenzy began with a reign of fire and a loud screeching roar.

"Niro, calm down and let me see if I can get it off!" Sakura yelled, grabbing a wet wash rag and slowly making her way towards the angry beast. Taira crawled down from the wall and moved so that she could take a closer look as well, while Naruto prayed to the gods that it would go away. But Niro did not calm down, he turned quickly, smashing his tail through the support beams. He took in a deep breath, unleashing a flurry of white hot flames that caught the hay quickly and started spreading around the entire stables.

As Naruto and Sakura ran outside to get away from the flames, Taira made her way to her mate. 'Dearest, please let me have a look at it.' She said, lowering her head and looking up at him. He roared loudly at her, snapping and making her cower back. Gaara ran up, along with Neji and Kiba, stopping beside Sakura and Naruto.

"What's going on? Where's Niro?" the redhead demanded.

"He's in the barn with Taira, setting the place ablaze." Sakura explained. "Because somebody over here was an idiot." She said, hitting Naruto upside the back of his head.

"Ow!" the blonde exclaimed, putting his hand over the wound.

Kiba walked over and hit the blonde over the head as well, only a lot harder. "What the hell! Stick to your own dragon moron! Why'd you have to piss the alpha off?"

Gaara went wide eyed and turned to Naruto, grabbing him by the shirt. "You got paint on my dragon?" he shouted, going a bit red from his pure rage.

"I didn't mean to!" the blonde said, now afraid for his life. "It just kinda splattered. But it's just a little bit, I swear."

"You were going to put that crap on Taira's claws Naruto, so either way you're in trouble." Sakura said, crossing her arms. Flame burst from the roof then, and Sakura held in a groan. Apparently, in her attempt to calm Niro down, Taira had stepped in some of the paint that had splattered on the floor, and now had some on one of her claws. "You are so dead." She said, looking at the blonde.

Niro and Taira burst through the burning wood, seething with rage. Kiba pointed at Naruto with a harsh glare. "Sick 'em boy!" Niro grinned maliciously. Unlike Taira, he liked his caretaker, and was more than willing to chase after the blonde. Naruto visibly paled, and immediately began to run away. The dragons followed in pursuit, Taira spitting fire just close enough to scare the poor man.

"Just make sure I can still use him, I don't feel like finding another squire!" Sakura shouted to the dragons, hoping they heeded her.

Gaara just sighed. "Kiba, when that idiot comes back make sure you make him scrub Niro until it suits him. No need for you to suffer for that moron's indiscretions."

"Why can't I find a squire who isn't a complete idiot?" Sakura asked no one in particular, placing her hand on her forehead.

"What ever happened to your old one? What was his name again? Rockie or something?" Gaara asked, taking Sakura's hand and heading back to the palace with her.

She sighed. "Well, a few years ago he just got extremely creepy. But I didn't want to outright fire him, because he was kinda nice. So-"

"My precious lovely mistress! I have found you!" at the sound of the voice, Sakura paled.

"Oh no." she said. When a green-clad figure off in the distance began to get larger, she moved to try and hide behind Gaara. "Hide me." She said softly.

The redhead looked forward and tried to get a better look at the man. "Hey, isn't that-"

"Rock Lee at your service your highness! It has been far too long my Lord. Seems you have an injury! Forgive my absence, for I would have prevented it!" the man with black hair cut in an odd bowl fashion saluted and then bowed.

"Lee, it's been two years, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked.

He looked over at her and smiled brightly. "Well, you see my precious lovely mistress, the task you sent me on was most grave indeed. When I had been given it, I did not realize it would entail so much, but for you, I accomplished it." He said, sounding proud of himself.

Gaara just stared at the man, "What exactly did you go and do that took you two years?"

"Well, my precious lovely mistress Sakura decided that she wanted chocolate. But not just any chocolate. A chocolate that tasted of every known fruit on this planet all mixed into one. So I set out on my journey, promising never to return until I found it." He declared.

Sakura grimaced. "And that hole in your boat didn't stop you? Even though it was hurricane season? Or the fifteen assassins? Or the rabid pack of dogs?" she asked, seeming to be in despair.

Lee's eyes widened. "How did you know about all that? Wow! My precious lovely mistress is so smart!" he smiled brightly, causing Sakura to groan and place her head on Gaara's shoulder. He pat her head, trying to comfort her.

"Well I'm hungry." He said simply, starting to walk off and causing her to fall over a bit. "And Lee, Sakura already has a squire, so you can just go away." He shooed with his hand, disappearing through the gates to the garden around the palace.

The other man looked devastated. "What?" he asked, looking to his mistress.

She shrugged, feeling slightly guilty. "Well you didn't come back, and Taira needed tending to. She likes him a lot more than you anyways, so we're going to keep him. Sorry Lee." She said, placing her hand on his shoulder.

He sighed. "Oh well." Suddenly he perked up and smiled at her. "Now that I am no longer in your employment, we can begin our torrid affair!"

"Oh no. No." she said with a shake of her head, backing away from him. "I'm married, remember? Not only would Gaara kill you, but I have never expressed any wish to be closer to you than necessary. I love Gaara, and he is the only man I ever want to be with." She told him, causing his smile to fade.

"Oh. Wow, I guess a lot has changed over the past two years I was away."

She smiled. "No, more like the past few weeks." She said, turning and heading towards the castle. She was going to find Gaara and grab a bite to eat with him. Then perhaps she might be able to persuade him to take a leisurely bath. Yes, she though with a smile, a lot of things had changed. And she was happy for them.