Title: Political Event

Author: AppleL0V3R

Beta-reader: SymphoniaFreak

Fandom: Naruto

Pairing: Sabaku no Gaara and Haruno, Sakura

Rating: T

Type: One-shot – Complete

Summary: She'd kill Ino one day, Sakura vowed to herself when she found herself at a police event. Naruto and Sasuke had goaded her into that. No, it was how she looked that screamed Ino.

Theme: 50 Shinobi LJ challenge (#39 – Silk Kimono)

Word Count: 3,145

Disclaimer: If you've heard of it before, then it's obviously not mine.

Note: This is an odd thing to be asking now, but is it Subaku no Gaara or Sabaku no Gaara? I've always seen it as Subaku but I've recently seen it as Sabaku. I'd appreciate it if somebody told me. Also, though this is set in modern times, I decided to still use terms such as Kage because I am using the shinobi nations. I've merely turned the shinobi into police or given them respective jobs.

Edited on: October 10, 2011

Sakura shifted her skirts again as she moved. She hated this dress. Absolutely abhorred it but according to Ino it made her look like an old era Japanese princess. The blonde haired woman seemed to have penchant for dressing her up in clothing from times long passed, not that the rosette could ever figure out why and her sister's only reason was that it suited her. Like the last time when Sakura was dressed up in what the princess of England would have looked like so long ago, now she found herself dressed in something a Japanese Empress or princess would have worn. Why did Ino feel the need to dress her up like a princess of every sort? And when she couldn't dress her like a princess, she found some really old style or an exotic one. It was beginning to get on her nerves.

Oh right, it was because the other woman thought the fashion suited her. At least, that's what she said. Sakura knew the real reason was because she was twenty-one and still single. Sure, she'd at the very least kissed a few guys, but she'd never really dated before. And Ino was the queen of relationships: always in one and always trying to play matchmaker. And Sakura? Being the Yamanaka's best friend since childhood meant she was a prime target. Always. So she was used to it, she'd accepted it, but it still irritated her to no end.

How'd she even get talked into wearing this particular outfit? It was beautiful yes, but it was heavy and uncomfortable and had taken a millennia to put on properly. But here she was at some police event that her self-proclaimed brothers had talked her into and when Ino found out had insisted in dressing her up this way.

"What better way to come to a police hosted event, then as a princess from medieval Japan?" Ino had said in that 'duh' tone of hers.

Sakura's reply to that after she'd been dressed in the outfit was that she was pretty sure the kimono was still around in modern day. This dryly delivered comment had been dismissed with a wave of the blonde's hand as she focused on applying all the finishing touches. Said finishing touches had taken half an hour. By the time the green eyed 'princess' was finished being dolled up, she came unsteadily to her feet. And then Sakura had proceeded to complain the entire way to their destination, which didn't really get the young woman anywhere because all complaints were ignored or rebutted.

All the rosette had wanted was a peaceful day off, topped with a cozy night curled on the couch with some coffee and a good book.

She huffed softly, doing her best to keep out of everyone's way and draw as little attention as possible. And surprisingly she was doing a pretty good job of both considering her attire and hair color. After she was out of high school most didn't say anything about her hair color and though odd it was a pretty nice thing to get use to.

Well she had been doing a good job of it, but she'd jinxed herself by thinking about it because right then she managed to bump into someone.

"Sorry." She mumbled and then remembering she hadn't accidently brushed shoulders with someone on the street she straightened up a little and spoke clearly, "I'm sorry."

She found foam green eyes staring back at her, a nonexistent eyebrow raised, "I heard you the first time."

Sakura felt her face heat up as she bobbed her head, mind scrambling for a quick escape. She tried to smile – it came out slightly nervous, at least it felt that way – and backed up a step. Only to bump into someone else.

Great. She really had jinxed herself.

"Sorry." She told the waitress who merely smiled and stated it that it was alright. Thankfully it was someone the Haruno knew and therefore wouldn't be rude about it. Glad for the fortune she nodded in turn and took a step forward careful this time to make sure she wouldn't be colliding with anyone while performing the action.

When she looked in front of her, the man was still watching her, an amused glint in his eyes along with a barely there smirk.

She tried not to groan. "Err, is there something I forgot to say?"

His eyes watched her like a predator would watch its prey, the feeling made her shiver. Finally he leaned forward a little, arms still crossed over his chest like they had been when she ran into him. "It's not very becoming for a princess to make such noises." She could only blink at his quite statement and his eyes showed even more amusement. "You're not very fitting for the attire you wear."

It took her a moment to regain her bearings in this bizarre situation. "Perhaps, I am fitting for the attire I wear but simply choose not to show it."

What was she doing? She hated word games and the like. She was sucked into enough of them by Sasuke's elder brother, Itachi. She lost every time, but losing to her heart's brother's brother was different from losing to a complete stranger and she didn't want to chance the humiliation and embarrassment of it.

He nodded still looking as regal as ever. She found guys like this ticked her off until she got to know them better. Sasuke, Itachi, Neji, they'd all been the same until she'd dug beneath the surface. Which that in itself took quite a long time to happen. Suddenly, she found herself wondering what was under this noble, stiff exterior of his. She knew she shouldn't have been, it would probably be the death of her, but now that she was curious there was no way she was just going to walk away.

She held a black gloved hand out, "Haruno, Sakura. Pleased to meet you."

Again he seemed to analyze her for a moment. Though it wasn't as long this time it still made her want to squirm slightly. She fought the urge and forced herself to stay completely still. Finally he unfolded his arms, on falling to his side the other reaching out to grab hers. He had long slender fingers and pale skin, his grasp was firm but light. They say a handshake is a good way to learn a lot about someone. If that was right then his meant he was strong and sturdy in more than the physical sense, but he also knew how to approach things delicately when he saw the need. "Sabaku no Gaara."

When she pulled back, her hand felt slightly colder. She realized then that it wasn't because the room had gotten colder but that his hands were warm enough to heat her own up through the silky gloves but not enough for her to notice the difference. Or maybe she'd been so distracted it didn't even register consciously.

"Are you here with a date?" She asked when he still didn't chart a new course through the room.

He shook his head, "I'm from Suna."

She nodded, feeling even further intrigued though she decided it was probably best not to ask for more detail about him until they got to know each other a bit better. Or at least got into the conversation a little more, "My brothers drag me to these events. I haven't the slightest clue why, considering I don't particularly like them."

Again he raised the nonexistent eyebrow, "Really?"

"Yeah, I'm a doctor at the Konoha General Hospital, but I used to be an escort for my teacher to events like these. I guess that's why I still come when I'm invited."

He nodded his understanding and, turning to the side he beckoned her to follow.

She raised a delicate pink eyebrow of her own at this, "Don't like staying in one place for long?"

Again he shook his head, "I'm the leader of Suna, there isn't anywhere in the world that's truly safe."

Her already big green eyes widened and her steps faltered slightly, "You're the Kazekage?"

Green eyes shades lighter than her own glanced back at her, "Is that a problem?"

Immediately she shook her head, her braided hair moving in waves with the motion. "No, I was just surprised is all. I figured that someone that important would introduce themselves with a title or something."

"And what about you? Your teacher is Senju Tsunade the current Hokage."

Her cheeks pinked again as she nodded, "True, but it's not like I'll be taking over the position or anything. I'm just a doctor."

"A renowned doctor." He corrected.

She conceded to that but before she could say anything, "And your 'brothers' are Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, are they not?"

She was baffled to say the least, not to mention the fact that she was starting to feel a little defensive and wary. "How do you know so much about me?"

"I'm the Kazekage." Gaara reminded her, "If I don't have some knowledge about important people from other countries, be they allies or foes, then I wouldn't be doing a very good job."

She still felt slightly wary, no matter what his reason was but she pushed her cautiousness away. She was a doctor, what reason could a Kazekage possibly have for harming her in her own home? When she thought of that way, her wariness seemed unwarranted, and so she relaxed and continued to walk with him through the crowd. She wondered though, if he had a specific destination in mind. When she and her boys had been in college, she would frequently come here – the police department – when she wanted to get away from them for any amount of time. All the way until the point when Itachi had ratted her out in one of their games.

"Are we going anywhere in particular, or just walking?"

Again he glanced at her, "Just walking."

She nodded and they both lapsed back into silence. She kept quiyt about the fact that the choice of shoes Ino had forced her into were beginning to kill her. As she told her patients though, if one didn't think about the pain – as long as it was minor enough – then one could also forget it was there. And to distract her mind, conversation seemed really ideal right now, "Do you have any siblings?"

He nodded, "They are my advisors, Temari and Kankuro."

Though, conversation could be more than a small challenge when it was with an antisocial stranger. Well, she supposed he could be considered an acquaintance now. Thankfully she'd spent enough time with antisocial guys to figure out how to talk enough for the both of them.

"Do you have guards?"

His answer was immediate, "Of course."

"Are they in this room?" She hadn't seen a single person looking like they were keeping tabs on him and someone as important as him was sure to at least have a group that accompanied him everywhere. So where were they?

"They wouldn't be very good guards if at least two of them didn't have sight of me at all times."

She conceded to that point, looking around in small glances. 'Looking without looking,' as Naruto had named it when he'd first noticed her doing it. That had taken a while, long after they were all in college in fact. He'd asked her where she'd learned it considering she was training to be a medic, not a field agent. Before she could answer him, Sasuke had cut in saying that it was a girl thing, all girls could innately do it. And from then on the two tended to use her for it every now and again. It had made her very good at it, though with as much time as she spent with the two all she needed was a badge and she could pass for a decent police officer. But she couldn't find anyone who looked like a guard.

"Two are at each door, another is at the food table, three more are at the dance floor, two are a little ways behind us and two are a little ways in front of us." He informed her, apparently she'd been caught looking.

She blinked and nodded, looking for all ten. Each one was exactly where he said they were. "Wow, that's more than two sets of eyes at all times."

He didn't respond. And so they were back to silence and she found her feet felt even worse. If she didn't say something, her feet were going fall off. "Can we stop a moment?"

He looked at her this time before coming to a halt. She stopped beside him, grateful that he had listened without asking for a reason. "Sorry–"

"No need to apologize, you clearly aren't the type to wear those kind of shoes." The redhead herded her towards a chair, sitting down only when she was seated.

Again she found herself baffled. How had he known that they were bothering her? Still she just gave him a smile, "My sister insisted that I wear all of this, including the shoes." She wrinkled her nose slightly, "Personally I don't see how it matters since the dress covers the footwear anyway." She fought the urge to reach down and soothe her foot, it wasn't very proper to do something like that in front of the Kazekage.

Speaking of which, it amazed her that he was still sticking around. She couldn't help but wonder why, and then decided that would be a question best left for later if he was still with her at the end of the night.

And he was. Gaara stuck around the whole night and though he didn't speak much she had found out quite a bit about the man. As the night had worn on though, it had been a chore to remind herself not to get too friendly, she knew instinctively that he wouldn't like personal contact from her. Sure, he didn't seem to mind her talkativeness or her bright personality in general but that still didn't mean she would tempt fate with personal contact. He was fast becoming someone she found she liked, which was more than she could say about how long it'd taken to get close to all the other quiet guys in her life. He was easy to talk to, no matter what the topic was. By the end of the night she was sure he knew a good portion of her life's story, but she couldn't find it in her to be the least bit embarrassed.

They had found some seats to sit in an hour ago. After they'd first sat down because of her feet, which had forced her to ask for breaks periodically, they'd wandered through nearly the entire guest space of the department. She didn't think she'd ever walked so much in one night, or even a week in her whole life. Thankfully he'd been more than a little mindful of her.

As people began to leave for their homes or other destinations, she wondered when he would be leaving. She knew she was stuck until she found one of her family members again, which meant it could possibly be a while. "Do you have to leave soon?"

He seemed to think about it a moment. "No, I don't have any business to attend to until tomorrow afternoon."

She smiled brightly; maybe he would stay with her until she left. As soon as she'd thought of that though she pushed it away, reminding herself that though he'd humored her most of the night, there was no reason he would stay even after the event was over. And it would be over within the next half hour. The thought of losing his company saddened her a little; she would probably never see him again. "I actually meant, do you have to leave Konoha soon."

"I will be leaving in three days time."

And he would be busy the entire while. She stamped out the urge to ask if he would have any time to spare and if they could do something together before he left. "Will you be back anytime soon?"

He paused then, "I'm not sure, perhaps if I'm invited again."

She nodded, "I see. Maybe we'll run into each other again."

He raised an eyebrow and she saw a glint of deviousness in those eyes as she had a few times that evening. "Not literally, I hope."

She laughed, "No, hopefully not." She couldn't help but realize that she liked that amused and devious look in his eyes right then. And his smirk too, she usually hated those, but she liked his.

She folded her hands in her lap; the silence that set in was a comfortable one that she saw no need to break right away. She watched people as they said their goodbyes or did some last minute mingling.

"You have tomorrow off correct?"

She nodded, turning to him with a curious look. Their respective work hours was one of the many topics they'd covered. "That's right, may I ask why?"

He didn't hesitate, "As I said, I don't have any official business to attend to until tomorrow afternoon."

She blinked, confused. Why would he bring that back up? And then it clicked. He wanted to spend more time with her. She felt the smile split her face, boarding on a grin. "I'd love to, have you ever had a tour of Konoha?"

Something in his eyes seemed to change and she caught a glimpse of relief as he shook his head, "Not a very detailed one."

She smiled, "Then as a life long resident, I would be honored to give you one."