I am currently in the process of re-writing this story, please be sure to read from the beginning if you are familiar with it. Updates on later chapters will be posted sporadically. I am sorry I've been so busy of late but I hope you enjoy the story regardless of this! –Saki
Chapter 25
"So do you want to start looking in the forest today?" Sakura asked, standing up and pulling the map out of her bag once again. Gaara shook his head.
"Let's wait until tomorrow. There is no point looking in this weather, we will just get lost. Perhaps by tomorrow the storm will have subsided." Sakura nodded and put the map on the small coffee table in front of the sofa. She pulled out a pencil and circled the forest along with the upper district. Gaara watched as she did this, his brow furrowing as he noticed the second circled area."The upper district? Isn't that where the lord lives?" Sakura nodded.
"Tsunade told me that he has been oddly quiet for the past few months and has not left the compound he lives in. The lady at the store told me that it was a safe place to settle which makes me believe that the gang has seized control of it and made the lord give them money or something in exchange for protection of his compound and area." Gaara looked at her with a questioning look. "It's just a theory, maybe a bit farfetched but still." She stated, a bit defensively.
"It would be worth it to check it out as well." Gaara murmured, glancing at the map as Sakura nodded. With one glance he could tell she was in full mission mode. He liked seeing her this way. "Would you like to go and get some lunch?" He questioned standing as he pulled on his mask.
"Sure, we can try and get some more information." Gaara nodded and followed her out the door.
They passed the secretary and were almost to the door when he took her hand in his. Sakura sighed and then looked over at him, loosening up a little bit.
"This is a mission you know. One that you aren't even supposed to be on." She gave him an exasperated look as he simply squeezed her hand slightly. "You're terrible." She shook her head and smiled before pulling the door to the hotel open and stepping into the harsh storm.
"You know, I wonder if anything is even open in this weather!" Sakura shouted over the wailing wind. Gaara nodded and pulled his hood closer to his face. He was suddenly very grateful for the mask, as it covered his face from the storm.
Sakura burrowed into his side, trying to stay close so as not to lose him. He held her hand tighter and pushed forward. In about fifteen minutes they were stumbling into a small bar on the west side of town.
"Look what the storm blew in!" The bartender called at them from the other side of the counter. The few people sitting at the counter looked at them as the bartender laughed. "Come on in and we'll get you something to warm you up!" He smiled at them as Sakura took off her cloak, hanging it up on the peg near the door. Gaara took off his cloak as well and hung it next to Sakura's. She gave the bartender a smile and nodded to him as they crossed the room and sat in a booth near the bar counter. The bartender called to a girl inside of the kitchen and she walked over to their table and asked them what they would like.
"Some pork ramen for me please." Sakura said and the waitress nodded. She then turned to Gaara and asked him what he would like.
"The same as her please." She nodded and walked back into the kitchen. Sakura smiled at Gaara and he nodded back to her. They had been lucky to find this place. There were people here and on top of that, it was a bar and restaurant, one of the best places to pick up the local gossip.
Sakura sat quietly for a moment, giving small glances to the men sitting at the counter. They had been glancing between herself and Gaara and Sakura knew it was only a matter of time before they called them over, or moved to speak with them. A few more moments passed before one of the men did exactly that.
"Hey why don't you two come on over here near the kitchen and warm up!" One of the men called to them as Sakura gave Gaara a small smile. Gaara nodded to the men as he sat next to them, letting Sakura sit on his other side.
"You two are obviously not from around here. What I want to know is how two young people like yourselves ended up here in this weather. Are you shinobi? Where exactly is it you two are you from?" The bartender leaned against the counter and waited as the others at the counter looked at them, interested in the mysterious newcomers.
"I lived in a small town not too far from here. I worked in a shop and he was a town guard." Sakura started, smiling at the bartender. The man nodded and turned to Gaara.
"So are you her brother?" He asked setting down a glass. Gaara shook his head.
"No, she's my wife; we were married two days ago." The men all laughed and congratulated them both.
"Now as to my first question, what brings two newlyweds like you to a humble town like ours in weather such as this?" The man next to Gaara asked.
"Well we are passing through on our way to Grass Country. We weren't aware of the weather heading this way and were taken a bit off guard. We were attacked on the way here by an animal when we took to the woods for shelter and he was injured protecting me. The mask is to protect him from the wind and to shield his eyes until he heals. When we got here we got medical treatment but then the storm slowed us down." Sakura latched on to Gaara's arm for a moment and gave him a sad look. The bartender shook his head and handed her a glass of water. She thanked him and he gave her a sympathetic look.
"That must have been terrifying. You are certainly lucky your husband was there to protect you." One of the men chimed in as Sakura had to stop herself from retorting that she was, in fact, perfectly capable of fending for herself. Remembering she was supposed to be a normal civilian, she resorted to nodding and leaning slightly against Gaara.
The bartender shook his head and then turned to them. "Well I'm sure it's not something you want to discuss. By the way, my name is Iori and these old codgers are Kisho, Kai and Rozu." The men at the counter waved to them and smiled as Iori looked back at Sakura and Gaara. "So what are your names?"
"My name is Yuri Kensho." Sakura said cheerfully.
"I'm Gen Kensho." Gaara stated as Sakura nodded her approval. Iori smiled.
"Nice to meet you Yuri, and Gen. I'm glad to hear that you are on the mend Gen." Gaara nodded.
"Thank you." Iori nodded and set two bowls of ramen in front of them.
Sakura thanked him and began to eat as the conversation between the men started up again.
Gaara lifted up his mask just far enough that he could put food into his mouth. He finished rather quickly and watched Sakura eat while taking in the bar and the people in it. Kai and Kisho talked to Iori about the storm and hoped that it would blow over soon. Gaara and Sakura listened as they talked, learning that the village was rather poor as of late and that the trade had been rather slow. They were rather uninterested by this but were immediately brought back into the conversation when Kai mentioned having to pay extra taxes.
"They make us pay too much!" Kisho agreed.
"They took away my best pig and said it was required to make up the taxes I was late on." Rozu said bitterly. Iori shook his head and cleaned off the glass he was holding.
"Things have gotten quite expensive lately. They taxed me almost double for the sake imports. The farmers selling me sake locally just can't put up with the demand, and besides, the best sake comes from the north." Kai nodded at this fact and then immediately shook his head in disgust.
"Are the taxes really that bad here?" Gaara questioned as Iori shrugged.
"They aren't usually too bad just lately they have been a bit high." Kisho laughed bitterly.
"A LOT higher than usual, especially for those of us that own farms." Rozu corrected. Iori shrugged.
"It is winter; the taxes always go up to make up for the lack of farming industry." Kisho and Kai nodded but Rozu just shook his head.
"If you two are going to settle down here you'd better have a lot of money and be able to afford a house in the upper district or you'll find the taxes to be almost unbearable in the winter." Iori and Kai sensed the hostility Rozu was adding to the atmosphere and quickly switched to a different topic.
"So did you live anywhere near Konoha?" Iori said looking at Sakura. She panicked a little thinking that by some odd chance he might recognize her. She had henged her hair brown but wondered if her eyes had given her away. They weren't easy to forget. She shook her head.
"I visited there a few times but we were a little over a day's journey away." Iori nodded.
"The Godaime Hokage said she would try to get the Daimyo to lower the taxes on us smaller villages. I hope she does, they are getting a bit excessive." Kai muttered. Sakura nodded.
"We wanted the same thing, maybe Gen can write a letter to her. He has friends that live in Konoha and they can probably talk to her for you." Iori smiled.
"Thank you, that would be a great help." Sakura nodded and Gaara did as well. A few more minutes of idle conversation passed between them before Gaara stood up and looked at Sakura, as if to say they were done there. She understood immediately and stood up as well, commanding the attention of the men.
"We had best be going, thank you very much for the food!" Sakura waved to Iori as he smiled at her.
"Here take this for dinner so you won't have to venture out again." He handed them a bundle of cloth with two boxes inside. Sakura smiled and took them before paying him for their meal.
"You are very kind people, thank you. I hope everything goes well for you all." Gaara bowed a little as the men smiled and waved goodbye. They retrieved their cloaks from the pegs by the door and then ventured back into the bitter storm.
Gaara took Sakura's hand in his own and they hurried back to the hotel with only the streetlights to guide them. When they got to the forest and unlit road leading up to the Inn they almost strayed from the path. Gaara, who was used to the sandstorms of the desert, knew which way to go and led her through the storm.
"Thank the gods Gaara is here or I would be lost!" Sakura thought holding on tightly to Gaara's arm as they fought through the storm and deep snow. They eventually had to resort to walking with chakra across the snow, for it got too deep to trudge through.
Eventually, tired and cold, they stumbled into the Inn. They walked quickly down the hall and into the room where Sakura promptly turned up the heat and huddled next to Gaara on the couch under a warm comforter from the bed. He turned on the TV and put in a movie. Sakura smiled and settled down into the warmth cuddling next to Gaara. They sat like this for a while watching the movie.
"You'd better not go anywhere anytime soon." He growled as Sakura shifted on the couch. She laughed.
"Oh and what would you do if I did?" She poked his chest challengingly. He smirked back at her.
"I would make you stay." She raised an eyebrow at him and laughed again.
"Oh really and how exactly would you do that?" She reached up and traced the scar on his forehead her eyes challenged him. She began to move backwards, smirking as she moved to stand up. In a sudden blur of movement Gaara had his hand gripping her arm and his sand curled around her waist and other arm freezing her movement. She laughed as he smirked.
"What were you saying? That you would move?" He smirked devilishly at her and she rolled her eyes.
"Well your sand was not a fair move Gaara." She turned her head away from him but he reached over and tilted her chin back towards him with his free hand.
"I think it was very fair." He smirked again and leaned down, kissing her before pushing her back onto the couch. She sat down without complaining and he sat next to her as she smiled and curled up next to him again.
"I wasn't going to go anywhere anyways." She whispered and he smiled.
"I know." He turned the movie back on, letting Sakura lean on him as it played.
"I don't want to go back to Konoha and hide this but I guess we will have to, it's just, I know when we get back we have to be careful so nobody knows we are engaged until he makes the official announcement." Sakura thought as she watched the movie. With a small smile she pulled Gaara's hand into her own as he glanced at her for a moment and smiled.
"I made the right decision. She will be a perfect fit for Suna's leadership. What was it the council always droned on about? Something about finding a strong partner to support you in your decisions? Well I think they meant themselves, but Sakura fits much better than those old morons." He shook his head lightly, watching the movie as he thought about Suna and their future with a small smile present on his usually expressionless face.
End of Chapter 25
This chapter has been re-written.