"Sakura, come to bed."
Sakura looked up from her paperwork to find Gaara standing in the doorway, a frown set into his face. He didn't like this. It was only to be a few more months and the hospital, along with their wedding, was looming over them. Sakura was swamped with paperwork and trying to make sure everything was transferred over before the 'big move.' She wanted everything to go as smoothly as possible, especially when it came time to move all the existing patients.
"I can't, Gaara," she muttered, turning back to her paperwork in the next moment. Gaara's frown deepened. Surely he did understand she needed to get this done as quickly as possible. On top of that, she wasn't even tired! She didn't want to give up until she could barely keep her eyes open and she wasn't quite there yet.
"Yes, you can." His quiet voice held barely restrained frustration with her. He hadn't shared a bed with Sakura since her birthday a few weeks ago and it was starting to cause him stress. His siblings were feeling his wrath more often than not and his secretaries rarely came into his office without backup anymore. Gaara was on edge and indiscriminately angry simply because he didn't get his usual dose of warmth and comfort every night. A silly reason, but a valid one.
"Just go without me, I'll be done soon." At this, he finally cracked. He took two long strides to her and slammed the paperwork down on the desk. Sakura, surprised, looked up at him, though her surprise quickly turned to anger. "Listen, I have to—"
"Bed, now," he cut across her. At her continued protests, he bent and scooped her up easily, landing in their bedroom after a moment. Sakura hadn't been there for a few days, but it was just the same as she remembered it, though the bed wasn't made. The blankets were strewn everywhere and there was quite a bit of fluff on the floor. Seeing it made her anger rise. What was he doing in here? She turned to him to ask.
"Gaara, why in the hell have you turned our bedroom into a warzone?" sure she was angry, livid as a matter of fact. Sakura wasn't keen on being forcibly removed from her work.
"You haven't been here in a week," he grunted, placing her on the messy bed. He didn't seem to care, though, as he straightened out the blankets and threw a tattered pillow to the ground. He climbed in beside her, not caring that she was rather stiff, and pulled her body to his. Sakura could feel herself melting against his comforting and soothing warmth. She pushed away in an effort not to give into him. He glared at her.
"Just because I haven't been in here for a week doesn't mean you can tear apart the bed," she spat at him, sitting up. If she were to lie down next to him it would only be a matter of time before her anger was a whisper in the wind.
"I can do what I like. You wouldn't have known if I hadn't brought you home," his glare was enough to rival hers. He didn't want to fight. He just wanted to sleep. Without her beside him, sleep evaded him, fraying his nerves and driving him to the point of insanity. He was reverting to what he had been all those years ago and he didn't like it. His cure was right outside his window, but she hadn't deemed it important enough to return home for a week. He hadn't even had a chance to talk with her, eat with her, or hold her. It was driving him insane!
"Gaara, I don't—"
He shushed her with a kiss to her lips. He was tired and didn't feel like fighting. He just wanted to quell the rage she felt at him for dragging her away from what she deemed important. It wasn't lost on him. She was sporting dark bags under her eyes and her hair was lank, her body becoming such as well. She hadn't been taking care of herself, only throwing herself into her work. It was quite annoying to him. She should be better at this. She should be taking care of herself, at least.
"We'll talk in the morning if you're still angry," he said, voice heavily laden with sleep. "For now, Sakura, just come here." He stretched his arm out to her, beckoning. She looked at the invitingness of his body, the thought of his warmth coming to the forefront of her mind. She gave into him. She pressed close to his body and he wrapped a protective arm around her, pressing her all the closer. To her surprise, he was asleep before she was.
Ss
"Good morning," Sakura woke to the quiet words quite easily and she raised bleary eyes to her fiancé, who had seemed as though he had just walked in, a tray laden with food for the both of them. She spared a glance at the clock without a word and inwardly groaned. She was late!
"Gaara," her voice held a warning. She just wanted to get back to work and he was keeping her. She had allowed him enough that he could drag her to bed, but this was becoming annoying. She just wanted to go to her office and get back to work on all of the documents she had yet to finish.
"First you're going to eat and take a shower," he spoke blatantly. He pushed himself back into bed beside her and placed a plate on her lap. She sighed, giving in, digging into the eggs and toast he had prepared.
"I just want everything to get done in time for the hospital to open," Sakura finally lamented her angers and frustrations to him. Gaara set calm eyes on her, calm now that the storm had whirled away. She didn't meet his eyes.
"Not by ignoring me and your own body, you won't," Gaara bit out through his frustration.
"I thought you could handle yourself," Sakura shot back. She wasn't angry, not outright at least. She simply didn't understand why he wouldn't leave her alone to do this. It was something he had assigned her and she had simply thought he could deal with being alone a few nights a month. Alright, that was exaggerating. She had been staying away for weeks at a time. The last time she'd slept in this room had been about a week ago and before that it had been on her birthday.
Gaara pulled the plate from her and placed it back on the tray along with his. He turned to her and pulled her cheek into his hand, running his thumb under her eyes and lazily dragging his fingers through her lank hair.
"I have watched you work through nights with only two hours of sleep beforehand. I have watched you tend to patients and perform surgeries with little sleep or sustenance and therefore little chakra to keep you going. I have watched you skip meals and bark at your subordinates only to stare at those documents for hours. This isn't healthy for you. You do not return at night, to me, and I have suffered loss of sleep as well. You are dragging me down as well."
"That sounds like a personal problem," she wrenched her cheek from his fingers and pulled herself from the bed, wanting to get back to the cramped office she had been using as a home for a while. She decided she could change her clothes while she was here. As she pulled away to rummage through the closet, she felt a large hand encase her wrist. "Let go, Gaara."
"No." He was behind her then, his chest against her back. He didn't wrap an arm around her or touch her in any other way than her wrist. "Not until you tell me why you have been working so hard and ignoring the other aspects of your life." She had been ignoring Temari and Kankorou as well, not to mention Kankorou's very good friend, Amaya. They still came for dinner whether Sakura was there or not and had been asking after her.
Sakura didn't answer. She didn't want to. She missed her friends and her mentor and her home so very far away. She missed the tall trees and the sprawling fields the farmers worked. She missed Naruto and Kakashi, hell even Sai, but she had left them in the dust and had never planned on returning. She couldn't bear to hurt Gaara, couldn't bear to break his heart because she was still and would always be very much in love with him and wanted to stay by his side, but she couldn't help missing it. She had been unable to face him when taunted by these feelings and therefore had holed herself up in the old hospital, turning her misery into robotic work.
"Sakura," he said quietly, trying to get an answer out of her.
"I'm not going to tell you," she finally said. His eyes narrowed at this, but before he could ask why, her voice rang out in the heavy silence again. "You wouldn't understand and I'd rather just get back to work." She was pulling away from him again, pushing him out, and he didn't like that feeling. He just wanted her to be happy and whole.
"Sakura," his voice held no warning this time, but he spun her around and kissed her, his arms tight around her. He didn't know what to say to make it better. There had been such anguish in her voice and he couldn't stand it. He didn't have the words to make it okay, especially when she wouldn't even say what was wrong. To his great relief, Sakura responded to the kiss, her hands resting lightly on his shoulders. "Why don't you go take a shower?" he asked, slightly breathless, as he pulled away. "We can go for a walk afterwards if you'd like."
"But the documents," she started, looking to the window worriedly.
"They can wait until later in the afternoon, though I expect you home for dinner tonight. Temari has been a nuisance lately and my brother and I can no longer quell her. If you are not here tonight, she will go looking for you." It wasn't quite a warning, not really, but an excuse to make her come home tonight. He was using guilt to make her do it. She wouldn't want to disappoint Temari after all.
"What time is it?" she asked, trying to look at the clock over his shoulder. He stopped her movements and kissed her again, though it was short.
"Half past noon," he told her when he pulled away again. He would have liked to make her stay away from that tiny office today, after all she hadn't taken a day off since her birthday, but he wasn't so sure how she would react to it. There was a high chance she would simply glare at him and knock him unconscious so she could do what she wanted.
"Can we spar?" she finally asked, giving into him. She really shouldn't be so protestant about spending time with him and she knew it. If she had come here two years ago and had ended up falling in love with Gaara, she probably would have been the one tracking him down and forcing him to spend time with her instead of this. She knew she was protesting for no real reason at all, either, so she simply let it go.
"Of course," he answered, "Would you like to take a shower first?"
"No, I'll just need to take one after," she shrugged. She closed her eyes and felt his whirlwind of sand pull them away to their regular training ground. She opened her eyes to see the large expanse of sand, seemingly untouched after all the time she spent away from it. There were debris sitting against a wall and she looked up at Gaara, who sent her a look that said 'don't ask.' She shrugged. He must have wanted to destroy something out of his frustration and chose the dummies to destroy. She was happy, at least it wasn't herself.
About two hours later, and she couldn't take anymore. Gaara was certainly letting out his frustration and certainly wasn't holding back. She had to give this match to him, she knew it. She straightened herself up, Gaara doing the same. He'd been waiting for her attack, one that would never come. He raised his brow at her.
"I can't take anymore," she gave him a half-smile. I'm a little tired out now. Want to get some food?" she offered, looking to the exit of the training ground.
"Sure," he nodded, letting her lead the way. She grabbed his elbow and started to pull him out of the training grounds and into the streets. He let her guide him along the streets, her hand tight against his elbow. It was slightly annoying to be dragged through the village like this, but he wouldn't complain. He didn't want to anger her and have her stalk away like she would to Naruto. No doubt she would go back to her office and ignore their home for dinner.
"Here," she stopped outside a small restaurant that, in Gaara's opinion, had seen better days. It was an old building, the stone falling away in some places, but it looked neat and tidy from the outside. He followed Sakura in and found that the inside was much the same. Though shabby and rather dated looking, it was neat and clean. They were seated at a booth in the corner, surely to protect their privacy, and Sakura ordered for the two of them.
"I heard you fired Jouji," Gaara decided to try and start conversation with her. He had, indeed, heard that Sakura had fired Jouji, though he wasn't too sure why. He had seemed like a promising student who was keen to learn whatever she taught him.
"He was the one who inappropriately conducted himself with me on my birthday," Sakura supplied. "He had apologized, but he would not stop his advances and was trying to advance on a few of the other women as well. I will not deal with sexual harassment in the workplace and therefore fired him," she responded in a clipped tone. It wasn't because she was angry with Gaara for asking, but rather because she wasn't too happy with the young shinobi. Anbu or not, she wasn't going to allow that type of behavior.
"That I did not know," Gaara nodded to her. He agreed with her. "Did you give him warnings to quit his inappropriate advances?" he asked. Jouji could make a case against Sakura that she had turned him away without as much as a warning to his actions. Sachi had attempted that when she'd been let go, but the evidence of her wrongdoing was too great to execute such a thing.
"Of course I did, there's paperwork on him in the office. I gave him a couple verbal warnings and quite a few written ones, which included punishment like washing the floors, but he still wouldn't quit it. The reason for him being fired was also written in the file," Sakura said simply. "I was disappointed. As Amaya's brother, I would have thought he would have some manners."
"Just because Amaya's his sibling doesn't mean her influence reaches him," Gaara said. Sakura only shrugged, her eyes lighting up when their food was set in front of them. She wasted no time in beginning to eat, the sparring session making her hungrier than she realized.
"Well, sure, yeah, but you'd think that someone who has a sister as well as a mother would have just a little bit more respect for women," Sakura shrugged. Gaara had to agree. Though he would never be able to understand her words, seeing as he was an emotionally constipated child all the way up until he had had the tanuki torn out of him, he could agree.
"Sure, yes, but look at Kankorou. Have you ever seen anyone more infatuated with women?" Gaara asked, trying to liken something he knew to Sakura's point. Sakura swallowed her mouthful and looked thoughtful for a second.
"Kankorou didn't have a mother and so he had Temari to look up to. Your sister isn't even remotely motherly to you two, so I can see why he goes looking for a girl that has that type of demeanor."
"What demeanor do you speak of?" Gaara could hear the words coming out of her mouth, but was having a hard time understanding it. He had grown up without a mother as well and hadn't looked to Temari to set an example of a girl he would find himself interested in one day. If that was what she was saying about Kankorou, that is.
"Someone who can give unconditional love. You aren't the same, Gaara. You weren't like the other kids when you were younger and I don't think you cared for a women's touch at all like Kankorou did and does," Sakura shrugged. She had finished off her meal rather quickly and was waiting for Gaara to do the same. He was almost finished at least and then she could go home and take a shower, perhaps get a little more of that paperwork done at the hospital.
"Hmm," he nodded, in all image agreeing. He had never told Sakura that he wished he had had a mother, someone who would give him the unconditional love he had so desperately needed when he was younger but everyone was too afraid to give it. He would probably never tell her. She was more than enough love and comfort for him. If she didn't wrap herself up in her work and ignore him that is.
Gaara finished his meal quickly, just as Sakura thought he would, and they were back home with Sakura in the shower within five minutes. Gaara rooted through his dresser for a moment before pulling out a picture frame and sitting on his bed, staring at it.
It was a picture of his mother and Temari when she had been just a toddler. His mother, with sandy blonde hair and pretty, smiling eyes, was waving at the camera, her daughter's hand in her own. Gaara looked at the smiling woman, a deep sense of longing filling his heart. He shook his head after a few moments and put the picture back where it belonged, where Sakura couldn't see.
Sakura was out of the shower in the next minute, a towel around her form as she dried her hair off. She was looking better already, what with the long hours she had slept the night before. She sat on the bed and continued drying her hair, sitting with Gaara in a comfortable silence.
"Thanks, Gaara," she finally spoke, twisting her hair up under the towel. Gaara watched her impassively as she dried the rest of herself off and went rooting through the closet for clothes. "If it wasn't for you holding me captive last night and this morning I would still be poring over paperwork, frustrated and claustrophobic in that tiny little room," she let out a short bark of laughter.
"You don't have to wait for me to pull you away from your work," Gaara said, a look on his face as though it was obvious. It really was obvious. If she was pent up and frustrated, she could abandon her work for a few hours or a day to come and spend time with him. He would never mind that.
"I know, but I just get so involved sometimes I forget what's going on around me," now that she was dressed in simply civilian clothes, she sat next to Gaara again, a small smile on her face. "Honestly, it isn't hard to get caught up in the hospital. There's always some emergency somewhere and there's always paperwork to do, then you find yourself sleeping on the couch in the office because everything else took so much of your energy, then by the time you actually realize the clock is a thing, three days have passed!" Gaara let himself smile at her words. She was trying to be humorous and he would humor her for this.
"You're saying I must start checking on you and telling you what time it is?" Gaara asked, poking fun at her. She gave him a playful shove.
"I don't need to be told what time it is, but pulling me away from my desk to sleep is always smart. Last night I only thought it was seven at night."
"It was two in the morning," he interrupted her next words.
"I know," she sighed. "Oh well. Nobody really pulled me away from my work before. Neji was an aloof thing and would patiently wait weeks on end just to have me in his bed for perhaps a night or two before I was off for another month. It would be even worse if something was dragging me down," Sakura's mood turned sad.
"Is something dragging you down?" he couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, but it's alright, it'll go away soon," she gave him a bright smile, though he was unconvinced. He wasn't too happy that she was still hiding something from him and, though she had every right and reason to, he didn't like it. He couldn't help her feel better when she wouldn't tell him what was bugging her.
He didn't say anything about it, though. He only pulled her against his side and kissed the top of her head. He let her go, knowing that she wanted to get through some of the files on her desk today, even if wasn't as many as previous days. "I'll send Kankorou to pick you up when dinner is ready."
"Can't you come get me?" she whined. "Every time I'm alone with Kankorou, he tries to tell me how good a time he and Amaya are having in bed. I'm not too keen on hearing it this time around." Gaara wanted to laugh.
"I could come myself, but that would leave my siblings here unattended. I'm not quite sure I would like to do that." Sakura couldn't help but laugh. Gaara's dry sense of humor always got her and she couldn't help dissolving into giggles when he let it out.
"Surely you wouldn't mind for two minutes," she begged, pulling herself into his lap and staring at him with the biggest doe eyes he had ever seen. Gaara hated when she did this. She looked so cute and if he didn't acquiesce soon, she would begin kissing him. That he didn't mind, though, so he decided to wait, watching her impassively. "Please," she whined, pulling herself up to inch near to his mouth. Gaara wanted to chuckle. She was so very predictable. He let her pull him into a deep kiss, his hands tightening on her waist.
"Keep going and I won't have to pick you up," he breathed against her lips. A red flush appeared on Sakura's face in the next second and she stared down at him. He gave her a smirk and pushed his hand into her hair, pulling her back down to his mouth, his lips devouring hers as he pressed her close to his body. A small whimper—of surprise or arousal, he couldn't tell—escaped her. He could feel the heat of her blush so near to his cheek and he finally released her, watching in satisfaction as she slowly came to sit back on his lap, her eyes dazed and confused.
"I—uh, I'll get going," she barely got it out and she was gone in the next moment. Gaara let himself chuckle in the empty room. He had clearly flustered her. She hadn't expected his response to her kiss and he thought it funny. Perhaps he should let her get away with that a little bit more, if only to see that blush on her face when he tugged her close and kissed her senseless. He idly wondered, as he descended the stairs to prepare dinner, whether or not she would get over her flustered state and want to continue where they left off.
Only a couple hours later Gaara found himself in the hospital looking for her. She hadn't been in her office and therefore he looked around the floor before giving up and locking onto the sand bracelet he still had yet to remove. She wouldn't let him, though, and in these situations he was blessed with that fact. He headed towards her presence.
He found her in one of the examination rooms with a pretty torn up shinobi. She was healing a broken arm but didn't notice him. He wasn't surprised. She had her back to him and he didn't make a sound. He watched.
"You won't be able to go out again if you come back one more time like this," she was saying when he decided to listen in. "The fact that every time you go out on a mission and come back with a broken something is worry enough. The other fact that you will allow no one else to heal you gives way to annoyance." Gaara was surprised. Sakura's words were harsh, though they didn't carry the edge of her early days in the village. She was irate with him because he made her irate.
"I just like to see your lovely face," Gaara had to stop himself from shouldering through the doorway and choking the idiot himself. He was flirting with her! He probably tried to sustain injuries just so he could have the opportunity to do so. He waited with narrowed eyes for Sakura's response.
"My lovely face can be seen all around the village," she spit back. She really was irate. Gaara wondered if it was because of the infatuated man or because she was late for dinner and she knew it. She finished with his arm and moved to a pretty large gaping wound in his leg. "I wouldn't suggest becoming hurt just to see a woman you have an attraction to." She sounded as if it wasn't herself she was alluding to.
"How else will I see you?" the shinobi asked. "You're always here."
"I'm always here trying to avoid people like you," she shot back. Her hands were tense over the wound, the diamond on her left hand glaring in the light above. It wasn't a small diamond and it was easily seen in this atmosphere. Gaara thought maybe the shinobi was just stupid.
"Why's that? I could show you a pretty good night if you let me," what probably sounded like a seductive tone to the shinobi sounded greasy and disgusting to Gaara. He still lay in wait behind the door, though, letting Sakura handle it. He still hadn't alerted her to his presence.
"Because if I don't I'll want to punch you through a wall," Sakura said sweetly. She patted his leg and stood. "You're all set. Wait for a nurse and they'll complete your paperwork to let you out." She left the room quickly, annoyance rolling off her very being, when she ran smack into someone. They caught her around the waist, keeping her from landing on her butt.
"Oi, let me go!" Sakura was about to clobber the poor idiot that decided to stand behind the door of someone she thought was very annoying. She finally looked up to see Gaara, a very amused look in his eye, staring down at her. She flushed, embarrassed that she hadn't even noticed Gaara had been there, but hugged him nonetheless. He brought them back home without wasting another minute. He didn't want to talk to her where others could hear.
"Who was that?" he wasn't jealous, Sakura had shut the other man down quite quickly. She obviously wasn't interested in anyone else he merely wanted to know what had been happening with the male. The male didn't seem too smart, at least, and he was glad she hadn't punched him through a wall or else he'd need to shell out money on repairs for a building that was going to be torn down soon anyways.
"One of the jounin that takes missions regularly. He came to the hospital about a month ago with a sprained wrist and now he comes back after every mission with something wrong with him. His teammates didn't know how he sustained the injuries today, they had simply been scouting the borders and there wasn't a fight at all." Sakura answered without much delay. She was still slightly fuming at the guy and had to stop herself from swearing about it.
"You handled him well enough," Gaara said. She still hadn't moved from his arms and he leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. She responded animatedly, her hands caught up in his shirt as she held him there. He wished to continue but dinner was getting cold and his siblings were probably becoming impatient.
"Can you take him off the mission roster?" Sakura asked as they made their way down the stairs. "I don't remember how to spell his name; I'll have to bring it to you later."
"Why do you want him off the roster?" Gaara asked, waiting with bated breath for her answer. It was no doubt going to be hilarious.
"Well, with someone as accident prone as he is, I don't think he's very safe on the field, and that's my professional medical advice," Sakura answered sweetly. Gaara couldn't hold the chuckle that burst from his lips and Sakura even gave him a bright smile when she heard it. Gaara only shook his head at his little hellion. "What's for dinner?" she asked now.
"Stir fry," Gaara answered easily as they came into the living room. Everyone perked up at seeing the head of pink hair. They hadn't really seen her for the past month or so and had begun to miss her. Even Kankorou seemed happy to see her.
Sakura crossed across the room and sat next to Temari, leaving Gaara to portion out dinner. He brought them their plates and they sat back to watch whatever Temari had put on though the silence didn't last long.
"Sakura, what's been keeping you?" Temari asked around a mouthful of food.
"I've been busy," Sakura said, her voice light. She didn't want to let them know what had been plaguing her mind recently and wanted to keep herself away from the rest of them. She didn't want to clue them in on her mental state. Gaara narrowed his eyes at her, knowing she wasn't saying something. He kept his posture relaxed, however. Perhaps she just wanted to keep it between her and him. He didn't mind that.
"Too busy to even come for dinner?" Kankorou asked, raising his brow. Sakura shot a glare his way.
"You don't know what goes on in a hospital. Why would you even say that?" Kankorou recoiled. Great, he made her angry now; this wouldn't end well at all. Amaya had a worried look on her face as she sat beside him and couldn't help looking between Sakura's glare and Kankorou's barely guarded stricken face.
"Sakura," Gaara admonished. She whipped her head to him and seemed to calm the instant her gaze connected with his. She only sighed and leaned back, continuing with her meal. Kankorou didn't dare say another word just in case she reacted the same way.
"So what have you been up to?" Amaya ventured, her soft voice causing no negative reactions.
"Just a lot of paperwork. If I don't get it all done now I'll have to do it when we finally move everything to the new building. It saves a lot of time later," Sakura explained, trying to be calm about it. Now that she mentioned it, she realized all she wanted to do was get back to it. She didn't want to deal with social interactions right now, even if they were people she liked.
"Well it's good that you're getting all this stuff done," Amaya said, her voice verging on a 'but,' though it never really came. "What did my brother say that you stopped training him?" she asked now. Jouji hadn't wanted to talk about it and this was the first chance she'd had to ask Sakura, knowing the pinkette wouldn't lie to her.
"Your brother decided it would be a great idea to try and flirt with me and several of the other female nurses and doctors at the hospital. I couldn't have that type of person around my employees," Sakura explained quickly. Though she didn't exactly want to shed a negative light on her brother, whom she undoubtedly loved, she couldn't lie to her.
"Oh," Amaya's voice was barely there. She hadn't thought it was something of that nature. She had believed it to be because Sakura hadn't thought he was coming along very well and didn't want to expend energy on a dying cause. "Well, if he was conducting himself in such a way I'm not surprised you let him go." Jouji had been angry about it that was for sure. He would have destroyed the entire house if her father hadn't stepped in.
"I'm glad you feel that way," Sakura placed her empty plate on the coffee table.
"Sakura, we need to do something," Temari cut in across what she thought was boring talk. "I haven't been able to go out with you in a while and I'd like to do something," she elaborated on her earlier statement. Sakura fixed her with a look that questioned why. Sakura used to be someone that could spend an entire day with her girls and do whatever they wanted, but she wasn't so much that way anymore. She didn't like going out to shop or go to the spa. It was either tedious or boring.
"Yes, we should do something," Amaya piped up, her eyes lighting up in excitement at the prospect. "It would be great to get away for a little while," she was getting more and more excited as she spoke about it and Sakura could see it was bleeding to Temari.
"I have too much work to do with this hospital business right now," Sakura politely tried to decline without point-blank saying no. She was trying to get the work done as quickly as possible and didn't have time for medial things like a spa day.
"Sakura, you have to take a break every once in a while," Amaya said, trying to sway her.
"Yeah, and I could always ask my dear baby brother to forcibly remove you from the office for the day," Temari said, her eyebrows waggling. Sakura glared at her and then whipped her head to Sakura, wondering whether he would actually do it or not. He gave her a look and she hung her head, knowing full well he would.
"Fine," she finally agreed. Gaara didn't look fazed and didn't drop the look on his face. He did agree that Sakura needed a day off every now and then, but it seemed she had to be forced to take it. Sakura only huffed and gathered the empty plates and headed to the kitchen to wash them. The other three were silent while she did and she finally came back to sit down. She didn't seem to want to take a place beside any of them, but finally chose to sit on the armrest of Gaara's chair. He wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her down beside him, half on his lap. She only resigned herself to her fate and rested her head on her shoulder, her tiredness finally catching up with her.
The other's voices were becoming distant din to her as she settled into the comfort of Gaara's side. Perhaps she really was tired. She hadn't been sleeping much lately and she was still groggy from how much she had slept the night before. She couldn't seem to keep her eyes open and her mind was slowly becoming foggier and foggier before everything became black.
The next time she woke it was still night outside. She was in her and Gaara's bed, the blankets pulled up to her chest. She stirred slightly, groggy mind lagging. Why did she wake up? She couldn't quite remember. She was about to get up to go to the bathroom when she realized what was off about the situation. Gaara wasn't in bed with her.
She stretched and decided to go to the toilet before going in search of Gaara. She was out of the bathroom in a minute and went looking for Gaara, wondering where he could have gotten off to. The house was still and dark, apparently everyone had gone already. She tried to find his chakra signature in the house but couldn't locate it.
She began to get scared, then. She hadn't woken up without Gaara in the vicinity before and it seemed wrong. She looked about the house, wondering where he had gone and why. She sat on the couch, fear of being alone beginning to overtake her. Sure, she had been alone in the office, but being alone at home, where Gaara always seemed to be her shadow, was something capable of terrifying her. She looked around the dark, empty house, and decided she needed some light and sound to make herself feel better. She turned on a lamp and the television, wrapping herself in a blanket and laying on the couch. Through the medial comforts she provided herself, she found herself asleep again within twenty minutes.
He was surprised when he came back from his walk. Sakura was no longer in their bed, sleeping peacefully. She, instead, was sleeping on the couch, a small blanket wrapped tightly around her. There was a light on and the television was turned on to an infomercial he wasn't completely certain she'd been watching. He looked down at her and pulled her into his arms, turning off the light and the television, walking carefully up the stairs and back into their room where he laid her on the bed. He went to the bathroom before joining her.
When he came back, she was awake again, no doubt because the light was gone and the noise wasn't there anymore. He gave her a curious glance. She watched him while he finally climbed into bed and curled an arm around her waist, pulling her to his chest.
"Don't do that again," her quiet voice reached him, teetering on the edge of sleep and wake. He looked down at her, questioning.
"What do you mean?" he asked, wondering what she was talking about.
"Don't leave me during the night again," her voice was small and she was becoming closer to the waking world. Gaara thought over her words for a minute. Did she venture through the house and turn on the light and the television because she had woken without him? It was a curious thing and he made a mental note to ask her about it when it wasn't two in the morning. He decided agreeing with her would be the safest route.
"Alright," he said, pulling her tight against his body. "I won't," he added as an afterthought. Sakura only nodded, already losing her fight against her tiredness. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before she fell asleep again.
The next time Sakura woke, she was pressed into Gaara's side, his arm tight around her waist and his nose buried in her neck. He held her snugly and when she tried to move, he let out a soft grunt and pulled her even tighter against himself, his other arm joining the first around her waist. She felt calm here while she was basically being squeezed to death, but she didn't avidly try to break his hold just yet.
"If I am not allowed to be out while you sleep, then you cannot either," came his low voice. She started. He was awake and she didn't even know.
"But you aren't asleep," she pointed out softly.
"Neither am I awake yet," he countered, pressing himself all the more against her body. His legs were tangled with hers and he kept her firmly against him, unwilling to let her go just yet. He knew that she could easily get away and he hoped she wouldn't. She didn't. She moved about, twisting and turning, until she faced his chest. She pressed her face to his shoulder and wrapped an arm around him. She didn't do this often, but he enjoyed it and she knew it.
They lay in bed for a few hours, lazily drifting in and out of sleep. She didn't move from where she'd gotten herself stuck, and he didn't readjust. He enjoyed this. It wasn't often she held him as well and he was enjoying the feel of her arm around him, hugging him to her every so often when she drifted back into the waking world. He often woke then too, only to return the embrace.
"Shit," he was startled awake by her loud voice. He gazed down at her. She hadn't disentangled herself from him though her eyes were pointed towards the clock.
"Hm?"
"It's one in the afternoon," she said, trying to pull herself away from him. He held fast. "Gaara, there's work to do."
"There's me to cuddle," he said immediately. He hadn't thought it through and didn't care the way it sounded. He wasn't done with her yet, though he wasn't looking for sexual intimacy right now. He just wanted her to be calm and in his arms rather than running around and doing things. He had shirked his duties for the day and no one had come calling on him, therefore he wasn't being missed. The same could be said for her.
"Yes, I understand that, but there are things I must take care of," she said in a rather irate voice.
"Hush," he sighed, pressing a kiss to her forehead and then one to her lips. She seemed rather unwilling at first, but he managed to goad her into it as his mouth moved against hers. She dug her hands into his shirt and pressed herself against his body.
"Fine," she gave into him again. She couldn't understand how she found herself giving into him again. She knew she should really just be getting back to work, but she was just so tired and just so comfortable. She began to pull herself away from him, but he pulled her back to him with a soft growl. "Gaara, I'm hungry and I need to use the bathroom," she sighed.
"Fine," he released her grudgingly. As she went to the bathroom, he pulled himself out of bed and went to the kitchen, preparing something for lunch. He turned around at one point and saw that Sakura had come to join him. She sat at the island and he pulled out some melon from the fridge, handing it to her. She happily ate a few slices before lunch was ready.
"This looks good," Sakura said as he placed her plate in front of her.
"I hope it tastes good as well," he said as he took his place next to her. They didn't talk much as they ate their meal. Sakura took their empty dishes to the sink.
"What now?" she asked without looking at him. She stared out the window above the sink, though there wasn't much to see. It looked out onto the street where only a few wandered under the blaring afternoon heat. She was surprised, but didn't jump, when she felt him behind her, pushing his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder. He thought for several long moments before speaking.
"Would you like to watch something?" he asked. He didn't feel like going back up to bed with her. They had already spent much of the day there, sleeping, and he wasn't keen on feeling groggy the next day. Sakura only made a noise of agreement and they made their way to the living room. He turned on a movie he was sure she hadn't seen before and settled on the couch. She laid against the curve of his side.
"Thanks," she said softly, a little ways into the movie. Gaara was surprised no one had bothered them today. One of his siblings would have shown up by now, demanding why they couldn't find him. They were worrisome people and often came looking for him if they didn't see him at least once a day. Sakura wasn't as common for these things as she was often found at her office if not here.
"For what?" he asked, his fingertips drawing lazy circles on her back.
"Giving me a nice relaxing day," she sighed out, her eyes still on the movie. "After all, I have to start planning a wedding soon. We won't have a lot of days like these." Gaara looked down at her in surprise. She giggled. "What?"
"Temari has been planning the wedding," he said. It was common practice in the village that the groom's family plan the wedding so the bride wouldn't have to worry about it. They were often extravagant affairs, though Sakura wasn't that type of person. Because she was marrying the Kazekage, though, it would have to be.
"What?" Sakura asked, surprised. She had never heard of anything from Temari and she wouldn't have known now if Gaara hadn't said anything.
"I suppose I forgot to say," Gaara said, shrugging. "She's got everything planned already, even the festival."
"There's going to be a festival?" Sakura asked incredulously.
"You're marrying me, Sakura, why wouldn't there be?" Gaara asked, his voice stating plainly that she should have expected it. Sakura's face flushed and she felt she couldn't meet his eyes though she had yet to turn away from the movie she wasn't so interested in anymore.
"I don't know," her voice was soft.
"You don't have to worry about anything for our wedding, Sakura," Gaara allowed warmth into his voice for her. He seemed to succeed when she smiled and pressed closer to his body. He kissed the side of her head, making her smile grow more.
"What will I have to keep me up at night, then?" she asked, though her voice only held affection. She was only kidding and he knew it.
"Well I can think of a few things," he whispered into her ear, placing a small kiss on her neck. He earned a soft giggle and a nose wrinkle.
"I don't need to be kept up that late."
"I suppose that's true," he said, leaning back into the couch. Sakura was happy. She hadn't felt such calm in a while and it was definitely rejuvenating to her mental state to spend such a day as this with Gaara.
"When is your sister dragging me off on that girl's day out?" Sakura asked now, dragging the subject away from their upcoming wedding. She wasn't upset, talking about it. She was excited, but didn't want to dwell too much on it lest she track down Temari and demand to hear what she was planning that day. No, it was best to keep her mind off it.
"I believe she was planning it for next week," Gaara answered.
"And there's absolutely no way I can get out of it?"
He chuckled. "No, Sakura."
"Fine," she sighed. He only shook his head at her.
"Why must you rush so much anyways?" he asked. "Surely you can space it out."
"I have patients to see and things to watch," Sakura's voice was defensive.
"Shell it out to your employees," Gaara chastised her lightly. "That's what they're there for, silly," he had never called her silly or anything such, but he was learning how to be affectionate with her and she often smiled when he tried.
"I could try that," she shrugged. "I just don't trust them.
"You'll have to learn to."
"I suppose you're right," she sighed. "I'm done talking about work today, though. I have to go back tomorrow and you're not allowed to hold me captive any longer."
"Alright," Gaara agreed. He knew he couldn't have her to himself for any longer, her work really was important. He contented himself to sit back and enjoy the time he had with her today now that he had managed to win the fight to get her to stay home with him. He settled back against the couch and resigned himself to enjoy what little alone time he had with her.