.

Oh, how cute he can be when he wakes up after a hard and tiring shift and cuddles close babbling sweet nothings and just relishing in the feeling of being home together.

Somehow it's still weird to see those different sides on him.

The unapproachable, powerful authority figure in full gear with his stunning uniform, the unsettling arming and the intimidating posture, the serious and profound interlocutor, the professionally competent contact, the tireless tinkerer, the wise chairman, the caring and helping friend, the indulgent animal and nature lover, the skilled photographer, the easy and funny joker who brightens up the world, the loving gentleman, the inventive lover and the dominant beast in the playroom.

My safe haven, my home, my solid rock and my love.

My everything.

The man who stole my very heart and soul.

I belong to you.

.

.

4. Gut Feelings

.

Gaara was lying awake in his room. He had never been able to sleep anywhere else than his own bed, but knowing his situation, that alone was an immense progress.

The kazekage remembered one of the last times he had been in Konoha. He had talked with Tsunade about the failed mission and later he had invited Sakura for dinner. After sharing some news Sakura had told him with sparkling eyes about her day and especially the sparring with her former sensei. Later she had taken his invitation to join him for some tea at the small apartment he had been given for his stay. At that time Gaara and Sakura had been both very lonely.

Like they had done before when the occasion had been right, they had engaged in sexual activities to unwind and to ease the loneliness. Sakura had made it clear that they would never try BDSM activities again after the last traumatic experience, but they had enjoyed some casual sex with no attachments from time to time.

At some point during that night they had been in a sitting position in the middle of his bed with Sakura riding on his lap and Gaara upright kissing her bouncing breasts and meeting her movements with his own. That time he had been sure he would finally manage to bring her to orgasm during normal sex. He had assisted her with deep thrusts upwards and had hold her close as her walls had started to shake around him and her moans had grown louder and louder with each motion. Her nails had dug into his shoulders as he had focused on her height with his own building up to a point where he had been about to burst. Suddenly it had all stopped.

A few moments prior it was the second time that he had heard her screaming a certain man's name on her peak, but her orgasm had never come. Apparently she had noticed her fauxpas and had been too mortified to let go. Deadly still she had been sitting in his lap holding her breath. Gaara had nuzzled her nose with a smile that had told her he had been aware of it all the time.

That had been the last sign they had needed to be sure it would have been the last time they had slept together. Though it had been just occasional sex they had both known she would have to do something about her own feelings soon. Fooling around would do no good.

.

Then the next time he had visited Konoha she had been in a relationship, to his surprise not with the copy-nin but with that strange ANBU Kakashi had brought with him to Suna once before. A guy she had never mentioned a single time before and they were close friends. They had no problems to talk openly about their private lives and they had always kept it discreetly to themselves. One time she had told him about a mind blowing one-night-stand with an elite shinobi. Gaara had gotten the impression that she had developed quite a like in that man, but he had doubted that her feelings for a certain silverhead would have disappeared. The ninja had been declared M.I.A. soon after anyway. Then the strange ANBU, who was her boyfriend now, had asked for a special armourer to make him a very unique tanto, while Kakashi had been seen buying a matching necklace.

The very same necklace she was wearing every day now…

It just doesn't fit together.

And Gaara recalled the hokage's behaviour around Sakura here in Iwa. All in all it was suspicious. He couldn't point a finger on, but his guts told him that something was off.

Sakura, what have you gotten yourself into?

.

.

One floor lower Sakura twisted and turned on her bed dreaming vividly.

In the pinkette's imagination she and Kakashi got separated somehow and he had to end their relationship to grant her safety. She experienced the same oppressive and tense feeling like during her stay here in Iwa. In her dream the self-imposed distance affected both heavily, everyday-life became suffocating and unbearable.

After suffering an awful long while, they randomly met each other in the park. It was the same place where she had been with him as Tatsuo enjoying some quality time together during their romance weekend at Anko's. With a sad smile they approached each other slowly, their heavy feelings visible in their eyes. They were drawn together by an irresistible force, but before their hands could touch a comet's impact separated them again.

In one brief moment he was gone forever.

.

Screaming terrified she wakes up. Her whole body was shaking, emanating sweat pearls as tears started to fall down. Suddenly the kunoichi tensed and was immediately set on alert due to a strange noise in her room, which sounded like paws on the wooden floor. In an instant she was reminded of a similar situation back then in Suna and she relaxed.

Smiling with teary and heavy eyes she laid down again.

Pakkun.

The cute pug snuggled next to her and both drifted off into peaceful slumber.

But the feeling in her gut wouldn't go away. Something menacing would come, that she was sure of.

.

.

In another room not far from the pinkette's Kakashi started up from his sleep a few moments before she woke up.

He was breathing hard and a slight tremble seared through his shinobi body. He ruffled his damp hair while he let his gaze wander to the distant stars.

.

What was that?

.

.

.