A/N: Hello everyone! I've missed you all, and I seriously can't believe it's already been a month lol. Time really flies. I have some stuff to say but I'll wait until the end notes so you can just jump right into it~

Thanks as always to the amazing TipsyRaconteur and cosipotente for beta'ing ^^

The faint morning light shifted across Sakura's skin as she pulled her shirt on, nerves fluttering in her stomach. After she'd showered the night before, she'd grabbed clothes to change into from her room, and even though she'd woken up in Gaara's arms, there was something about being in the sunlight that made her more acutely aware of what they'd done.

Gaara pulled out almost all the way, his sand moving beneath her and lifting her hips slightly. When he thrust back in again, waves of pleasure washed over her as he hit her sweet spot. She cried out, fingers digging into his chest as tingles ran along her skin.

A flush rose on Sakura's cheeks as she shook her head, trying to clear the night before out of her thoughts. As she turned around, she spotted Gaara standing by the door across the room already fully clothed. His eyes slowly lifted from her chest to meet her gaze, his face reddening with embarrassment.

Gaara coughed awkwardly and cleared his throat before speaking. "Do you have any plans for the day?"

"Kankuro and I came up with a few possible formulas for the antidote, so we're meeting with Tsubaki-chan to go over what plants and herbs we'll need her to grow for when the tetrodotoxin comes in," Sakura answered, shifting on her feet as she tried to not feel embarrassed. She would have watched him get dressed too if she'd finished first, and after what they'd done, there really wasn't a reason for her to suddenly get shy now.

"That sounds like a good plan," Gaara murmured, nodding once before holding his hand out for her.

Sakura moved closer to the door, linking her fingers together with his and watching as the sand began to swirl gently around their hands. At first, they'd only held hands outside of the residence at night when it was unlikely that anyone would be around to see them, but lately it seemed like Gaara had stopped wanting to hide their relationship so much. She wondered if there would be a day where they could walk around openly without the sand hiding them. It was unlikely since he was such a private person, but she couldn't help imagining it.

They moved through the otherwise quiet residence together, staying close even as they left and began to walk through the streets of Suna. There weren't many people out this early in the morning, but those who were out just waved or bowed toward them. Sakura wasn't sure if they just didn't notice her hand linked with Gaara's, or if they noticed and didn't think it was anything worth reacting to.

Time passed too quickly and they reached the Kazekage tower in almost no time at all. Sakura frowned, not wanting to let go, and squeezed his hand lightly before she could stop herself. Gaara turned around to face her, his expression confused at first, but it was quickly wiped away by understanding and a soft smile.

Sakura watched as he glanced around them as if looking for danger, her senses heightening as she wondered if he'd noticed something that she hadn't. Just as she was about to ask what was wrong, two sand walls rose on either side of them, and he leaned forward to kiss her.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she melted into the kiss that was both gentle and quietly urgent. It was far too short for her liking, and when he pulled away she leaned forward to peck his lips once more.

"I'll see you tonight," Gaara murmured, kissing her forehead softly before pulling away.

"Have a good day," Sakura breathed.

"You, as well," Gaara said softly, the faintest of smiles on his lips as he turned away from her and pressed his free hand to the seals on the door to unlock them.

Sakura let go of his hand as the sand walls fell away, just in time for the door to open. Shin was standing in the entryway, obviously waiting for Gaara, and she nodded her head toward him to acknowledge him. He returned the gesture, and Sakura's eyes moved back to Gaara, watching as his eyes shifted toward her one last time before moving into the tower, the door shutting behind him.

Sakura stood there for a moment, biting her lower lip to keep herself from grinning stupidly, before turning around and pushing chakra into her feet. She began running to the opposite end of the village, wanting to get to Tsubaki's parent's restaurant for their meeting before she was late.

"We're going to need foxglove, a lot more than we already have," Kankuro said, his voice muffled by the scone he'd just shoved into his mouth.

Sakura grimaced and quickly shifted her eyes away to watch Tsubaki, who pushed her fluffy auburn hair behind her ears as she glared at Kankuro. The threatening look still somehow looked cute when it was coming from her.

"Do you realize how hard it's going to be to grow that much that quickly?" Tsubaki chastised, rolling her eyes when Kankuro shook his head. "It's going to be nearly impossible! Your samples are coming in, what, 2 weeks from now?"

"About that, give or take a week," Sakura commented before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Foxglove takes more than a week to germinate, and then another 3 weeks to grow to the size we would need." Tsubaki scowled, crossing her arms over her chest. "You guys are asking for something that just can't be done."

"I'm sure-" Kankuro started, his words halting as he began choking on his pastry. He pounded his fist against his chest and gulped the food down, eventually letting out a sigh before continuing, "-If anyone can do it, it's you. You're the best at this stuff."

Tsubaki grinned and Kankuro's face burned red, as if he finally realized that he'd complimented her directly. Sakura snickered quietly from the other side of the table, chewing the inside of her lip to stop herself from laughing when Kankuro turned his eyes to glare sharply at her.

There was movement under the table just before something hit Sakura's leg. She leaned back to look beneath the table, only to see Kankuro's foot moving back to his side of the booth. Sakura shifted her eyes up to glare at him, pushing a tiny bit of chakra into her big toe when she saw the smug look on his face, like he thought he'd won.

Sakura kicked her foot out toward Kankuro's leg, smirking when his mouth fell open in a silent scream. His hands quickly flew up to muffle the shriek that he let out as his head fell to the table.

"What's wrong?" Tsubaki asked as she placed her hand on Kankuro's back.

"Nothing. I'm fine," Kankuro groaned, his voice strained.

Tsubaki looked up and glanced at Sakura questioningly, to which Sakura responded by vaguely shrugging her shoulders. It took a moment, but Sakura knew that Tsubaki had figured out what happened when she rolled her eyes and smacked him on the back of the head.

"Why are you pissing Sakura-chan off when you know she's stronger than you?" Tsubaki asked, baffled.

Kankuro groaned into the table and then shifted so that his chin was resting on it, though his eyes were still cast down. "She's not that much stronger..."

Sakura grabbed a discarded straw wrapper, crumbling it into a ball and placing it on the table before flicking it at him as hard as she could without using chakra. It hit him right between his eyes and he hissed, bringing his arm up from under the table to rub at the spot that was quickly growing red.

"Don't you even think about retaliating," Tsubaki scolded, and from the way Kankuro pouted, Sakura knew that he'd been about to do exactly that. "You'll only get hurt, and if you do it I will take exactly one piece out of one of your puppets, and you'll have to tear every single one apart until you find what's missing."

Kankuro opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut as he glanced between them. There was a look of betrayal in his eyes as he glared at both of them before muttering, "Women are evil."

There wasn't a whole lot for Sakura to do while she was waiting for the poison samples to come in, especially now that Shin had returned as one of Gaara's guards. So she'd decided to gather information, wandering the streets of Suna and chatting with the villagers who now recognized her just as easily as any actual Suna resident. Even though she'd found out what kind of poison was being used and was on the way to figuring out an actual antidote, she still had no idea who was behind the attacks. It was unsettling, to say the least.

The bell above the door rang as she entered Yamane's, the civilian bookstore she'd been to many times before. She could see little specks of dust floating around the large room through the dim lighting, and the seemingly endless rows of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves gave off a smell that only old books could. Some people hated the smell, but Sakura loved it.

"Hello, Sakura-san," the owner of the bookstore suddenly spoke up from her left. "What brings you here today?"

Sakura glanced toward him, smiling kindly as she took in his slightly haggard appearance. His curly dark brown hair was messier than normal, standing up in random directions as he pushed his glasses further up his nose. There were dark circles and bags beneath his eyes from exhaustion, but they did nothing to diminish the bright and icy blue color of his eyes.

"Hey Yamane-san. I'm looking for books on aquatic animals, though I realize that might be a little odd to ask for in the desert," Sakura replied, grinning when he laughed. They weren't close enough to be considered friends, but he was one of the few villagers who hadn't been suspicious of her when she'd first arrived and started asking questions.

"I don't hear that request very often, that's for sure," he chuckled before leaning over the counter, pointing down one of the aisles. "It should be down there to your left, all the way toward the back."

Sakura thanked him and began moving down the aisle he'd pointed out, glancing at the sections she passed. There were more romance novels than she'd expected, and right beside them was the self-help section, which was mostly filled with books on how to get and keep a relationship. It made sense, considering that most people finally had time for romance now that the war was over, but it was still a bit surprising to see just how many books there actually were.

Once she reached the shelves she was looking for she glanced over the titles, trying to find ones that she hadn't read before. There were only three, which was less than she would have liked, but maybe one of them would have more information on the tetrodotoxin or the puffer fish. She wanted to be as prepared as possible before the sample came in, so that she would know exactly what to do with it.

Sakura grabbed the three books and headed back to the counter, placing them on the dark wood surface. As Yamane-san rang them up for her, she caught the glint of a ring on his finger and tilted her head curiously.

"Are you married?" she asked, a little surprised when he nodded his head. He was young, and looked like he was about her age, so she hadn't really expected it.

"I've been married almost four years now. This is actually my wife's family's bookstore."

"Did you take her name, then?" Sakura questioned, digging into her hip pouch for some money before handing it over.

"Yeah, that's how things work in my family," he replied, his gaze darkening so slightly that Sakura wasn't sure if she was imagining it. "The men are seen as useless and are married off at the first available opportunity. Only the women get to keep the 'Hoki' name."

Sakura frowned, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to figure out where she'd heard the surname 'Hoki' before. She had the feeling it was something important, but couldn't quite remember why.

"Ah! That reminds me, I had something I wanted to ask you, Sakura-san!" Yamane exclaimed suddenly, his bright and friendly smile back in place as he held his hand over the counter.

"Ask me anything," she said, opening her hand beneath his to catch the change.

"Does the Kazekage have a girlfriend or something?"

Sakura nearly dropped her change all over the counter, only managing to catch it by sheer force of will and trained ninja reflexes.

"Why do you ask?" she inquired, lowering her eyes and keeping her voice as steady as possible. She quickly pocketed the change, zipping her hip pouch closed before she could nearly drop anything else.

"He stopped by about a month or two ago and bought a few books from the self-help section," Yamane-san answered. The tone of his voice made Sakura look up at him, only to find mischief dancing in his blue eyes. "I'm sure you saw what most of those books are about when you passed them, right?"

"That's not a definitive reason to suspect that he's in a relationship, though."

"He also asked me to recommend a few romance novels, and when I asked why, he said it was to 'collect information'."

Sakura fought to keep her cheeks from flushing bright red as she realized why Gaara had been such a good lover, despite never hearing about him being in any kind of relationship before.

"Even if I knew the answer to that question, I'm afraid I can't tell you," Sakura finally answered.

Yamane-san narrowed his eyes suspiciously for a moment before he leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head and grinning. "I suppose you're right, sorry about that."

"It's not a problem," Sakura said as she grabbed her books. "Have a good night, Yamane-san."

"You too, Sakura-san."

Sakura smiled kindly before turning to walk out of the store, only glancing back at him once over her shoulder before pushing the door open. She realized quickly that she must have been in the bookstore longer than she'd thought, because the sky had darkened considerably. Her feet carried her along the now-familiar streets to the Kazekage tower, her body moving instinctively.

Her footsteps slowed as she began moving closer to the tower, frowning slightly when she saw someone leaning against it with their arms by their sides. From this distance she could only make out the ashy blonde hair and slender frame, but as she approached them she noticed the Adam's apple along with soft facial features and large doe-like brown eyes.

He's beautiful, Sakura thought to herself, bowing slightly when he did the same.

Sakura leaned herself on the wall of the building across from the tower, her arms folded across her chest as she subtly kept her attention on the man who was now watching a scorpion move along the ground. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't place her finger on what.

Just then, the door to the Kazekage tower opened and Shin emerged from the tower. He nodded slightly toward Sakura to greet her and then moved to the young man, who surprised Sakura by turning his body to face her fully. He smiled kindly and bowed before saying in a voice that was surprisingly calm and feminine, "Have a good night, Sakura-san."

"You, too," Sakura replied, her brows furrowing. She felt like she recognized his voice, but pushed the thought to the back of her mind as she watched them leave. Shin placed his hand over the other man's shoulder blade, which the other man responded to by resting his head on Shin's shoulder for a moment.

The door opened behind her and she shifted her attention to it, smiling when she saw the familiar shock of bright red hair. Gaara glanced down the road Shin had just disappeared down, and Sakura thought about asking if he knew what the relationship between Shin and that man was, but when Gaara smiled at her, all thoughts of other people disappeared.

"Are you ready to go home?" he asked, his calm and soothing voice rolling over her. She nodded, reaching out for his hand and lacing their fingers together. The sand swirled around them as they began moving toward the residence in comfortable silence.

It was then that Sakura realized that, no matter where she was in the world, as long as she had Gaara's hand, anywhere would feel like home.

A/N: So, I'm sorry that this chapter isn't anything huge or ground-breaking, especially since it's the first one I've posted in a while. I promise that there's a reason for everything though :3

Also, from here on, I'll be updating every two weeks instead of every week. I'll still post at the same time on Thursdays, but with everything going on, I figured it'd be better to give myself a bit of leeway instead of potentially having to make you guys wait a month again at some point. I hope you can understand~ and thank you to everyone who has still stuck with me. I really appreciate it.