OR: Never a Dull Moment
By: Sei Umata and Atushi Komaji
Pairing: SakuraxGaara, NarutoxSasuke, and KakashixIruka
Sakura sighed. Her parents had beckoned her home because they felt she was being overworked. Since they were in her home village, Sasuke and Naruto were with Kakashi, while Sakura grudgingly returned home.
Trudging towards the entrance of her house, Sakura fingered her now-grown-out hair as she walked in. "I'm home, mother," she said, making sure her shuriken stars and kunai knives were still in their respective pouches for no reason other then the security of carrying them.
"Sakura! Come here, honey, there's someone I want you to meet!" Sakura's mom, let's just call her Amaki, called.
"Okay," Sakura said, walking towards the room where her mother called. At the sight of who her mother was with she stopped.
"Meet Gaara; he's your shinobi fiancé from the Village Hidden in the Sand," Sakura's dad, let's call him Atochi, proclaimed to a startled Sakura. It was Gaara, from his sandy hair to the tattoo on his forehead that said "Love". Sakura's eyes widened and her mouth dropped.
"Buh…uhh…B-b-b-b-b…bu…" Sakura stammered, staring at Gaara with a shocked look. He stared at her coolly, also unsure of her reaction.
"We'll leave you two alone to get acquainted," Sakura's parents said, leaving the room. Sakura simply stared at Gaara, unsure of exactly what to do.
"Don't get any ideas. I'm not doing this for anything other then strengthening my family's power," Gaara said, eyes cold as he stared through the wall.
Sakura gulped and nodded. "I know," she said quietly. "When are we supposed to get…" she stopped, choking on the word. "Married?"
"Two weeks," Gaara replied, turning his face so that his dark eyes met Sakura's.
"Where are we getting married? Here, in Konoha, or in your village?" Sakura asked tentatively, staring at Gaara. For some reason, she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. Sakura then noticed that she and Gaara were close to being eye-to-eye, which meant that he wasn't too much taller then she was.
"At my village, on the dunes," Gaara replied. Also, he was starting to feel the mutual attraction between the two of them that was starting to pull them together. Reluctantly, Gaara pulled out a chair and gestured for Sakura to sit down. With a slightly nervous look, Sakura quickly took the chair, her nervous blue eyes meeting Gaara's dark ones.
"Oh," Sakura said, sitting next to Gaara and staring at the ground. She started to blush, realizing how little space was between the two of them. There was a brief and awkward silence, in which both Sakura and Gaara stared at the floor. They had just started leaning in to kiss when…
"Sakura, honey! Someone's here to talk to you!" Amaki, Sakura's mom, called from the room closest to the door.
"Coming, mom! Sorry, Gaara. Will you come with me?" Sakura called back to her mom before lowering her voice when she was addressing Gaara.
"I guess. Who is it?" Gaara replied softly.
"I dunno," Sakura said. The two of them slowly walked outside, Gaara slightly in front of Sakura.
"Gaara?" came a startled voice as he appeared in front of Sakura.
"Kakashi-sensei? Iruka-sensei? Naruto? Sasuke?" Sakura said, startled. Her eyes were wide as she noticed that Iruka and Kakashi were holding hands.
"What's Gaara doing here?" Sasuke asked accusingly, glaring at Gaara. Everyone then turned to Sakura for an answer.
"Uh…well…" Sakura stammered.
"I'm her fiancé," Gaara said bluntly, moving in between Sasuke and Sakura. There was a few moments of shocked silence before Kakashi spoke.
"Anyway…Iruka and I have something to say. Your training will be postponed for two weeks on account of…" Kakashi started, holding Iruka's hand.
"We're married now, and…" Iruka continued.
"And it's our honeymoon!" Kakashi finished with a slight smile that could barely be seen through his black ninja facemask. The four chuunin shinobis' mouths dropped open in shock.
"WHAT!" Naruto said, eyes wide. "First, Sakura now has a fiancé, but…you two?" he said, astonished.
"Yep!" Iruka said, smiling.
"And with that, we leave!" the two master shinobi said, jumping away. The four younger shinobi just stared at each other before they returned to a different topic.
"So, when are you guys getting…you know," Sasuke said, slightly embarrassed.
"Two weeks, down at my village," Gaara said, his eyes narrow as he glared at Sasuke. Sasuke made a barely perceptible nod towards Naruto and Gaara relaxed.
"Who proposed?" Naruto asked tactlessly.
"It's arranged, STUPID!" Sakura snapped at the clueless boy. Naruto grinned sheepishly in return.
"Sakura, Gaara, dears! Time to come in! It's late!" Sakura's mom, Amaki, called from inside the roomy hut.
"C'mon, Sakura," Gaara said, pulling her inside and leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone outside the small hut.
"We all have our secrets, hm, Sasuke-chan?" Naruto drawled as he wrapped an arm around a grinning Sasuke's waist.
"Of course, koibito," Sasuke replied, wrapping his sinewy arm around Naruto's lithe waist. Leaning in, he kissed Naruto's neck before standing up.
Naruto kissed Sasuke passionately as the two stood up. Smiling and with one arm around each other's waist, they walked to find a place where they could spend the night…together.
Sakura stared warily at Gaara as they entered the house. "Sakura, since Gaara's gonna marry you, you and he share your room. Your bed's big enough for two," Sakura's mom, Amiki, said cheerily.
"Yes, mom," Sakura mumbled.
"Now show Gaara to your room," Amiki prodded.
"Okay. Come on, Gaara," Sakura stuttered, gently pulling Gaara behind her. They entered her room.
Gaara looked around. The bedspread was pink with yellow and red flowers, and it had a tall pink canopy. The bed was king-sized, and it took up most of the room.
The two of them stared awkwardly at the bed, and then at each other. "Um…yeah…" Sakura said. She grabbed a pair of pjs from an oak cabinet and disappeared into the bathroom.
When she came out, Gaara had changed into a long white robe. Sakura was wearing a cute knee-length tunic top and baggy silk-like pants. A light pink ribbon pulled up her hair, having grown out since the Chuunin exams. Okay…what are we gonna do for sleeping arrangements? She thought nervously.
"I'll take the right side. You can sleep on the left," Gaara said, his dark eyes glinting with an emotion that Sakura couldn't place.
"Oh…all right," Sakura said, pulling up the covers so that they could slide underneath. She was used to sleeping on her left side, so she ended up facing Gaara.
"Y'know, your hair looks cute like that," Gaara said, fingering a lock of her light-pink hair.
"Oh…thanks," Sakura said with an embarrassed smile. "You're pretty cute, too…" she murmured, starting to drift off to sleep.
After a few moments of surprise caused by the now-asleep Sakura's remark, Gaara then smiled. Maybe having Sakura Haruno for a fiancée wasn't so bad after all. With that thought, he, the blood-thirsty, killing-people-for-fun, strange, evil Gaara, took his sleeping fiancée gently into his arms.
END
Was that cute, nee? Sorry if Gaara was a little OOC…it was hard picking a way for them to like each other. Hm. Anyway, my sister and I have this debate. Is Sakura sleeping on her left or her right side? We can't decide. I say left, she says right. What's the right answer?
TBC