Chapter 21 – Bad Things Come In Threes

Warm and gentle kisses were littered along her neck, joining pants for breath as she was nuzzled by Gaara, but what was really getting her attention was the hand stroking her side, was that very same hand bringing her hips closer to his, the tip of his erection pushing against her. Sakura smiled. Even though it sometimes didn't seem like it, one way or another, Gaara always found some way of asking if it was okay.

Pushing her hips back against his, Sakura gasped his name and her hand swung behind her to grab his hair, trying to pull him closer, when Gaara entered her.

They were supposed to be getting up by now, as no doubt Ao wanted to go on his walk and then come back to a large bowl filled with food, however, it was just so cold. Their bed was just so warm and it became even warmer when Sakura had felt Gaara shifting in bed earlier that morning, pulling her closer and against him so that her back was to his chest. It had gone from there.

When the weather started to turn cold, it was a known fact that people got lazy, or lazier. It got harder to leave the comfort of your home or bed. Sakura and Gaara were no exception to that. They hadn't even shifted from their spooning position before he started to make love to her.

Pretty much all of their mornings started with sex, though. The only difference was that when it was warmer outside of the sheets, things had a tendency to get a little dirty. When autumn and winter came along, however, things settled down and their hot morning sex became passionate lovemaking.

The panting against her neck increased as Gaara grabbed her leg and lifted it ever so slightly, angling his hips and hitting a spot within her that was very well known to him by now. He smirked softly at her reaction, watching as Sakura's mouth fell open and her hips began a grinding movement against his thrusts, eager to feel more of that feeling. Gaara gave it to her without complaint, making sure he gently and slowly repeated with hitting that spot.

Pressing his lips to the back of her neck, Gaara shut his eyes tightly and increased his pace as he felt her tightening around him.

He'd always liked morning sex. Yes, he liked all sex with Sakura, but morning sex… There was something different about it. Gaara wasn't too sure as to what was so different, but something was definitely different about it. It felt like they were even closer.

When their orgasms claimed them, they were like their lovemaking. Slow and intimate.

Gaara's body curled around her own as they came down from their highs, embracing her warmly and in such a way that it made Sakura feel incredibly relaxed and safe. God she loved that man. For the past couple of months, it was because of him that she'd even bothered getting out of bed in the mornings. Having him there, by her side and helping her stand, meant so much more than anybody would ever realise. Sakura knew she would never be able to express how much it actually meant to her.

He was the reason why she got out of bed in the mornings, why she bothered to continue with her recovery.

It had been a whole month now since the funeral and now that she had had time to calm down, Sakura felt disappointed with herself for allowing her grandmother to get to her in such a way. Yes, that day had been an extremely difficult day for her and yes, she had every right to be upset but… But it had been her parents' day. Not hers. Not that woman's. Her parents'. Nothing but Kazashi and Mebuki should have mattered.

When they had returned that night, Sakura had gone for a nap, although when Gaara came in not long after to join her, he'd found his fiancée sitting on the bed with photo albums and loose photographs scattered around the bed. She'd told him that that was how she wanted to celebrate their life. Not by getting drunk and eating food, but by sharing stories of her parents, telling him memories of all their times together. Gaara had even been surprised when he found out that Mebuki used to ride a motorbike, and that Kazashi was the one holding onto her.

It also surprised him just how many pictures there were, and how each of them had so many different stories to tell.

A week after the funeral, Sakura had returned home to find a large canvas picture of her parents together. Not the picture from the funeral, even though that one had been beautiful. It was the one Sakura had shown Gaara, her favourite picture of them together on Mebuki's motorbike back in their early twenties. They looked so happy in that picture. They looked so madly in love.

"We need to get up and walk Ao." Sakura murmured even though she snuggled closer to him. "Otherwise he's going to pee in the living room."

That was true. Taking a moment to breathe in slowly, Gaara reopened his eyes and reluctantly pulled back the sheets, leaving their bare bodies as victims to the cold air that met them. He smirked at Sakura's reaction, as she acted more like she had been fatally wounded, before Gaara shifted over her and stood up, dragging his fiancée to the edge of the bed. Realising what he was doing, Sakura lifted her arms and smiled lovingly as Gaara picked her up bridal style.

"Before anything, we need to shower." he told her with a kiss.

Yeah, Sakura thought as she returned that kiss, they did.

Adjusting her scarf as they climbed out the car, Sakura buried her chin and nose into it, desperately trying to keep warm. It was the beginning of October and already the temperature was rapidly dropping, meaning they were definitely going to be having a white winter this year. As another attempt to keep warm, Sakura had her dark jeans tucked into her knee high socks, which were then covered by her knee high boots except for the top part of the socks, as she was too cold and lazy to fix them. To go with it, Sakura had on a long sleeved t–shirt with a leather jacket and, obviously, her scarf. By her side, Gaara was dressed as equally ready for winter, like it had already hit them.

"I feel like Kakashi." Sakura told him as she opened the back door and grabbed Ao's lead before allowing him to jump out of the car too. Her voice was muffled by her scarf, but just like her socks, she couldn't be bothered trying to fix it. "He's always got his face covered."

Smirking, Gaara took her other hand and held it in his, putting them both in his jacket pocket. "We will go home after this and put the fire on." he told her, walking close to her and trying to share as much body heat as possible. "And pick up some takeout for breakfast on the way back."

She grinned behind her scarf. "Another movie day? Can we bring the blanket out too?"

"I think it would be best." Gaara muttered, barely suppressing a shudder. He'd never been a fan of the cold. Staying in with the fire on, drinking hot cups of tea and wrapped up in each other's arms as well as a thick blanket, sounded like heaven at that moment in time. It was simply too cold for anything else. "Any movie you have in mind?"

"Hm." leaning down for a moment once the park gates and the main road were both out of sight, Sakura took Ao's lead off his harness, watching as he sprinted down the path and onto the grass. Shoving the hand with his lead into her other pocket, she leaned more fully against Gaara, feeling rather content despite the bad weather. "We said we wanted to watch that new horror that came out not too long ago, didn't we?"

Thinking about it for a moment and trying to remember, Gaara nodded. "It should be on there by now."

God bless 'Netflix', Sakura thought.

Had this been a few years ago, the fact that she no longer went out at night to get drunk would have bothered her. A few years ago, every single weekend, she, Ino, Naruto and Sasuke were out at one party or another. Now? Now, Sakura was content with sitting in and simply being with Gaara. That part of her life was truly over and done with. Like Naruto had said at the funeral, her card for being able to have a drink had been revoked. Nobody trusted her to have just the one and she honestly couldn't blame them for it.

No, Sakura was not settling for staying in just because she couldn't drink, as you didn't have to drink to have a good time. It was just… more comfortable. Everything else right at that moment in time was rocky and so unsure. That was a part of her life that wasn't like that. Gaara made her feel safe, and gave her stability and comfort and love and so many different things.

"Do you have the ball?" Sakura asked into her scarf.

Instead of replying, Gaara waited until Ao was whirling around to face them, preparing himself for what was about to happen. He smirked, pulling away from Sakura for a moment before throwing the ball as hard as he possibly could, both watching as Ao tore up the grass and mud when the ball went high above him, chasing after it down the park. The moment Ao was running, Gaara pulled Sakura to him once more and continued with their walk.

Other than playing with Kakashi's dogs and occasionally with Akamaru, this was the most exercise Ao got. Not very good for a dog of his size, but there was little they could do about it. At least three walks a day and during every single walk, they completely exhausted him with all the running and ball throwing. It was a hell of a lot more than some dogs got, anyway.

"It's Naruto's birthday in a few weeks."

So it was. "What should we get him?" Sakura asked, biting her lip before adding, "More like what can we get him, actually."

Gaara was silent for a few moments as they walked, smirking softly when he saw Ao finally catch the ball, tearing up more of the grass when turning back to them. That dog was always filthy when they returned from the park. Always. "I'm sure he will be grateful for whatever he is given." Saying that, though… "Perhaps we should buy him Ichiraku's owner."

Sakura laughed. "Illegal, but it's definitely something he'll love."

When Ao returned, Gaara once again threw the ball for him. "We could just give him money."

"No, we can't!" she sighed, shaking her head. "There's no sentiment in that. We want to get him something that's meaningful and that he'll actually like."

"He enjoys fighting, doesn't he?"

She was thoughtful for a second. "It's not that he enjoys it – I mean he does, but it's not just about that. As you've probably already noticed, Naruto's got a lot of energy." Who hadn't noticed? "And as a way to release some of that, he took up quite a few sports. Fighting was his favourite. I can't remember the actual name of the fighting sport he took up, though."

Yes, Gaara could recall Naruto mentioning something about that, but also that he hadn't been able to go in a while. "A local dojo."

"Yeah!"

Gaara smiled at her excitement. "We could buy him a pass for a year access at the local dojo."

Sakura grinned. "And maybe treat him to a few bowls of ramen."

Once more throwing the ball for Ao, Gaara smirked. "I have a feeling he'll be receiving a lot of ramen."

"Oh that's why his birthday is his favourite time of year. Nobody ever knows what to get Naruto, so they all treat him to ramen."

He shook his head, smirk still in place. "Why am I not surprised?"

Silence for a moment and seeing the happiness fading away, Gaara's features also became more solemn. "I've been thinking about the house…"

"Oh?"

"Mm." she hummed, then murmured, "I can't live there again, Gaara. Not after everything that's happened there. The other day, I drove by it. Just to… see it. I couldn't get any further than the opening to the drive. It's too hard."

Gaara squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Nobody is expecting it to be easy for you, Sakura."

Sakura nodded, her eyebrows knitting together. "I think I want to sell it."

Eyes going wide, Gaara pulled her to a stop before watching her, giving her a serious expression. "Are you sure that's what you want, Sakura? Despite the bad things that happened, you grew up in that house. It was your parents'."

"I know, but if I don't then it's just going to be left to collect dust and I know they wouldn't want that. That house… All they'd ever wanted was to make people happy, Gaara. If I sold it to a family and it made them happy, it would make my mom and dad happy, too, knowing that something they worked so hard on, wasn't going to waste."

Pulling Sakura to him, Gaara sighed and kissed her forehead. "This is something you should think about some more, Sakura." he told her quietly, looking down into her eyes. "You have to make sure that it's really what you want. Once it's gone…" he sighed. "It's an impressive house, Sakura. You probably won't be able to ever get it back."

Again, she nodded. "I will. I'm going to think it over for another few weeks, a month at most. If I still feel this way, then it's gone. I don't want to burn it to the ground anymore," a small smirk graced both of their lips at the memory of her telling everyone that, "but I still don't like it. It's not home anymore. Not without them."

The rest of the walk was in silence, both content with simply being with each other and taking turns in throwing Ao's ball for him. It was on the third lap around the park that they decided it was time to head back. It wasn't as cold as it had been when they first got there, but it wasn't exactly warm, either. Plus, they had a whole day of doing absolutely nothing but relaxing planned and neither could wait.

"Come on, Ao!" Sakura shouted to him and immediately, he was running over to her and Gaara with his ball in his mouth. "Good boy!"

Once he was on his harness, they began walking in the direction of Gaara's car with Sakura patting Ao's head as he nudged her hip softly. At her other side, Gaara rolled his eyes, eyeing the ball covered in dog drool with hidden disgust. Yes, he cared for Ao, but that didn't mean he liked seeing or touching his drool. Just the thought made him secretly cringe. So, when he dropped his ball, Gaara sighed.

"There's no way I'm picking that thing up." Sakura muttered, also feeling the same way about his ball. "Get it, Ao."

So he did.

And that was when the car hit him.

A/N - Please don't kill me! Hahaha. As the chapter title says: bad things come in threes!

Okay so I got a guest review the other day from someone who seemed kind of pissed off about the funeral chapter (last chapter). So... this is to whoever left that review:

Like I said, I've only been to one funeral years ago and yes, it had been a Christian funeral considering he was a Christian. That doesn't mean I'm a Christian though and I think it's wrong that you tried to slam me for that. Saying that I made the funeral Christian just because I am one? Erm... Hate to break it to you, but I'm not Christian. I'm not Catholic, not Muslim and not Buddhist. I don't have a religion. I'm not saying that I don't believe in a God, because who knows what's what. All I'm saying is that I've never been christened or brought up to follow a particular religion. My mum wanted to give me the choice of choosing my own religion and what I want to believe in, not forcing me to believe and follow what she believes.

I actually find it quite offensive how you brought up my apparent religion just because the funeral was in a certain way. I'm sorry if you don't like Christians, or the way their funerals work.

I'm a limited writer? How about you write something you know very little about and the research you do, tells you all kinds of different things. It's all confusing as fuck. So it's not that I didn't do any research, it was finding the right sort of funeral for Kazashi and Mebuki without making it drag and in the end, I couldn't. So I gave them a joint funeral to show that they'd be eternally together. All that was in the funeral chapter was a priest, people carrying the coffins and the eulogy.

So yeah. Rant over hahaha.