I'm back!
'twas a crazy vacation, but i survived and present to you yet ANOTHER chapter.

it was nice coming home to all of those amazing reviews...thanks everyone once again!

i gotta give a shout out to my girl Sakuradeathblossom because she drew me yet another amazing pic from this story (and i WILL steal that purse from you! beat me with sticks, baseball bats, whatever! it will be MINE!!!).

anyways...i wish i had written some of the ideas that came to me while on vacation down because when i got home, i couldn't remember any of them...so this is what you get.

enjoy!

:-)

The day before the wedding, Tsunade, Naruto, and a bunch of other shinobi that were Sakura's friends including the Nara boy, Lee, TenTen, Neji, Kakashi, Hinata, and an obnoxious blonde haired girl arrived.
Sakura and I greeted them at the gates, since that was the customary greeting between all of the kages.
I had to dress in my formal wear, along with Sakura who was wearing her kage robes for the first time.
It was just a simple white dress with a single blue stripe down each side and the sign for 'wind' on the back.
I hated wearing my robes, but apparently she loved wearing hers because she wouldn't stop talking about them...

As the group approached, I had to grip her hand tightly in order to keep her by my side and prevent her from rushing towards them.
I knew she was overly excited about the whole ordeal, but I could not let her break protocol because of mere emotions.

I bowed to Tsunade and welcomed her to Suna once again.
She bowed to me as well and returned the formal greeting.
I motioned for them to follow me into the city, which the group did gladly.

Sakura embraced her friend, who I now remembered as Ino, and I heard the girl mumble something about the heat and the sand.
I rolled my eyes and sighed inwardly at the blonde, but I forced myself to keep my patience because this was important to Sakura.

Swallowing my agitation I said, "Water and food, as well as showers, are all provided in the rooms that you will be staying in."

Ino spun around to face me and smiled widely, "Thank you Kazekage-sama."

"It's Gaara." I said biting back my agitation once again.

I didn't think it was possible, but her smile grew even larger as she repeated my name back to me.

I knew Sakura could tell that I was agitated, but she didn't say anything to her friend.
She just motioned for Ino to go ahead with the group, promising a night of girl-talk, and then joined me once again.

Grabbing my hand and squeezing it, she gave me a sympathetic smile.

"Thank you for this." she whispered, her eyes shining up at me. "I know it was just supposed to be the two of us in the ceremony but…"

"It's your wedding too, Sakura." I said, cutting her off. "If this is how you want it, then that's how it will be. Just keep Ino on mute."

She smiled up at me again laughing and kissed my cheek, "I'll keep her comments to a minimum." she winked at me.

I smirked at her and noticed Naruto bounding towards us.

"GAARA!" he yelled loudly as he jumped on me, knocking the wind out of me with a strong hug.

Lee came over as well and hit me hard on my back. I assume he meant the gesture to be friendly…

"It's good to see you up and moving!" the green boy said smiling at me and sporting a thumbs up.

This was way too much for me to handle.
The restraint on my agitation was running dangerously low...

Luckily, Sakura noticed this and ushered the two away from me. "Go get freshened up you two, there will be plenty of time to talk later." she said as she pushed them towards the building at which they would all be staying.

Naruto escaped from her pushing and whispered into my ear, "We still have to talk later."

I nodded at him before Sakura grabbed him once again and pushed him away.

Letting out a heavy breath, I gave Sakura a weary look.

"It's only for a few days," she said trying to reassure me as she rubbed her hand up and down my arm. "Besides, they're just excited about everything. Once they all settle down it won't be so bad."

"Promise?" I asked her.

"I promise." she said, smiling once again.

The moment was interrupted by loud yells from the girls that had come from Konoha, "Sakura! Come with us! We have to figure out how we're going to do your hair for the wedding tomorrow!"

Squeezing her hand, I told her to go join her friends.
Giving me a quick kiss, she ran ahead to the girls.

I stood in the street, trying to recompose my shattered politesse, when suddenly I was bumped into by Lee's sensei, Gai.

"Hello Gaara!" he said as she flashed me a smile, "Where should I put these?"

I looked up at the mountain of boxes that the man was carrying.

"What are they?" I asked.

"Wedding presents of course!" he said. "I volunteered to carry all of them since it would be good training!"

I clenched my jaw and chewed and swallowed my words of agitated sarcasm.

"Follow me." I said as I walked in front of him to my house, my eye twitching the whole way.

When the last of the presents had been loaded into my house, as well as a few boxes that Gai was told to put at the site of the ceremony directly, I led him to where he was staying and then transported myself back to my house.

Sitting down on one of the boxes I placed my head in my hands and worked away the migraine that was building.

"She had to have a big wedding…" I mumbled.

Good thing the wedding was tomorrow, and this would all be over and we would be left to ourselves once again.

A big dinner was held at my house that night.
Luckily Kankuro and I talked Temari out of cooking for it, and she hired one of the most well-known chefs in all of Suna to cook.

The long banquet table was filled with delectable foods of all kinds as well as laughter and happy chatter.

I sat at one head of the table while Sakura sat at the other. Every once in a while we would flash each other looks and smiles.
This apparently went unnoticed by everyone but Tsunade who was seated next to me and kept flashing me a knowing smirk.

After everyone had eaten and drank the wine that was served, Tsunade announced that it was time for Sakura to open her presents.

I made a beeline for the back of the room and sat in the shadows, the other guys in the group followed me as well since we knew this was a time for the girls; but leaving them alone was out of the question since we knew that it would only anger them.

Naruto sat next to me while I watched Sakura open her first present, breaking the ribbon that was tied around it.
I heard Naruto whisper, "Can we talk now?"

Rolling my eyes as the girls pointed at the broken ribbon and squealed that it meant that we were going to have a child, I welcomed Naruto's interruption and gave him my full attention.

"I meant to do this earlier, but…" Naruto swallowed hard and finished, "certain events came up."

Knowing full well that he was talking about my abduction and death, I nodded at him and motioned for him to continue.
This seemed to put Naruto at ease a little since he was obviously nervous.

"I just want to make sure that you aren't going to hurt Sakura. She's been through so much and…" another squeal from the girls as Sakura broke another ribbon forced Naruto to stop and wait for it to quiet down. Continuing he said, "I just want to make sure your intentions are pure."

I smiled slightly at the boy next to me.
It amazed me how protective he was of her.
He was probably the closest thing to a father I'm sure I was going to get from Sakura's side of the family.

I opened my mouth to respond but was interrupted by more loud squeals.
Looking over at Sakura, I noticed that she was beat red and was looking at Tsunade weirdly.
Something was going on, but I didn't know what…it reminded me of the hospital when Tsunade was playing matchmaker.

Returning my attention to Naruto, I asked, "Do you think I'm the type of guy to be false towards anyone?"

Naruto laughed and hit me playfully on the back, "Nah. I don't think you've ever told a lie in your life! Even when you should have… I know you'll treat her well, I just have to do my duty as her friend and make sure."

I smiled at him again and returned the gesture of patting him on the back.

Another squeal was heard throughout the room and I groaned.
I really wish Sakura would be more careful with those ribbons…

I looked up at her once again but the blush that was once there was now gone and a pale sickly color covered her face.
I watched as she smiled at her friends, but it looked forced.
Taking another present from the pile, she brought her hand to her forehead and steadied herself.
I stood up immediatly and walked over to her.
Something was wrong, and she was trying not to let anyone know; but I saw through this act immediately.

Pressing my hand to the small of her back, I whispered into her ear, "Are you okay?"

Her eyes were dull as she looked up at me, "I just need some fresh air."

"Go out to the balcony. I'll go get you some cold water to drink and I will join you out there."

She nodded at me and made her way outside.

I looked at Tsunade and the woman took that as a cue to say something as everyone immediately swarmed around us to make sure that Sakura was okay.

Pushing everyone back, Tsunade announced, "Everyone calm down, she is just a little overexcited is all. Gaara and Sakura will rejoin us in a moment. Until then, bring out the sake!"

Everyone cheered at this and resumed their party.

As soon as I closed the door behind me on the balcony, their cheerful voices were shut out and the quiet of the night greeted me as I made my way over to Sakura who was leaning on the balcony staring out over Suna.

"Are you feeling any better?" I asked her as I handed her the glass of water.
I noticed that the color had now returned to her face and she looked like her usual self once again.

Sipping at the water she nodded and said, "I'm much better now. I think it was just all of the excitement getting to me. Plus I'm nervous about tomorrow."

"You're nervous?"

"Well…yeah. Aren't you?"

I shook my head 'no' as I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her waste pulling her into me.

"If I was, I'd never let you know."

She playfully tickled my side and I flinched away from her game.

"You need to stop breaking those ribbons on the presents." I mumbled to her.

She laughed and shrugged at me, "I'm trying, but they just keep breaking."

"Hn."

Turning to face me she said seriously, "The girls said that I have to stay in their room tonight since seeing the bride on the day of the wedding prior to the actual event is bad luck, but before they do, I would like to talk to you."

"You Leaf people and your superstitions…" I said shaking my head, but then I followed it with a nod in agreement to her request and pulled her close to me once again.

The idea of sleeping alone that night was not appealing at all.
I had grown accustomed to her company at night to the point where the years that I had spent the nights alone seemed surreal to me.

"Come on." she said as she took my hand, "let's go back inside."

I nodded at her and followed her in.

Sakura grabbed another present and opened it, and much to my dismay, broke another ribbon.
I sighed once again and resumed my seat in the back of the room.

"How many ribbons is that now?" Kankuro asked as he jabbed me in my ribs with his elbow.

"Too many." I mumbled back to him, but inside the idea of having a lot of kids made me happy and I had to stop the smile from showing on my face.

Suddenly cat whistles and girlish laughter was heard throughout the room and I looked up at Sakura who was the darkest shade of red I had ever seen.
Trying to find the cause of her embarrassment, I looked at what she was holding.
Apparently someone had given her lingerie as a present…

I could feel the heat rush to my cheeks and I had to turn my head away in order to hide the pink that now resided on my face.

I don't care how much I had changed…whoever had given her that present was dead.

As the party broke up, everyone started to leave the house and return to their rooms.

The girls were dragging Sakura out of the door, but she pulled away and said that she would join them later, but she had to talk to me first.

The girls reluctantly left with the threat that if she stayed here, they would come in during the night and kidnap her.

Temari and Kankuro were picking up the mess that was left behind and Sakura offered to help them, but Temari just shook her head 'no'.

"Not a chance. You two go talk about whatever needs to be talked about before tomorrow. We can handle this."

Sakura nodded and then pulled me to the window.
Apparently she wanted to go out on the roof to talk.
I followed her lead and sat down next to her staring at the full moon that was directly in front of us, it was large against the vastness of the desert.

As soon as I sat down, she pulled me into a kiss and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck.
The kiss lasted for a few moments until we had to break for air.

"Much better." she said as she snuggled close to me as protection and warmth against the cold night wind. "I've been wanting to do that all day."

I smirked as I wrapped my arm around her to protect her further from the cold.

"What did you want to talk about?"

She sighed and pulled away from me. She looked me right in the eye and said, "I want your permission as the Kazekage to work at the hospital as a fulltime medic shinobi. I'm a medic nin after all, and Suna's medics are in need of a good teacher. I knew that the medical program was behind here, but I didn't realize how far behind it was until I saw them work on Kankuro when he was poisoned. I want to work, Gaara. I want to be helpful. I just don't want to be a wife and sit at home and wait around for you to come home everyday and pop out a kid every year like I'm expected to do."

I laughed slightly and said, "What made you think that that was what you were supposed to do? I never said that."

She shrugged and said, "The elders implied it."

"Well, you let me worry about the elders. You can do whatever you like. I would be more then happy for you to work at the hospital in order to improve our medical staff there."

Satisfied with my answer, she rested her head on my lap and stared up at the stars while I leaned back on my hands and looked at the stars as well.

"Sakura…" I said quietly after a few moments. "What exactly happened when I was kidnapped?"

I felt her body stiffen at my question and she turned her head away from the sky and directed it out towards the desert.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked quietly, and I felt as a tear soaked through the pants that I was wearing.

"Because I need to. I want to know what happened instead of it being a mystery to me. I'm tired of people tiptoeing around the subject like it never happened. No matter how hard you avoid it, it still happened."

She sighed and sat up while wiping her face.
She lowered her head and played with her hands the entire time she retold what happened after I was defeated.

She told me how Kankuro went after me and was poisoned and how she had saved him.
She told me how Naruto, Chiyo, Kakashi, and herself, along with Gai's team went after me.
She told me about the battle between Sasori and herself and Chiyo.
She told me everything…

It was hard to hear it, but I remained silent and didn't move a muscle throughout the whole thing.

When she was finished, she looked away from me and I could see as the moon illuminated the tears on her cheeks.
Wiping them away with my thumb, I thanked her for telling me what no one was willing to.

She looked at me and her eyes filled with tears once again, the water threatened to spill out, but she was holding them back.

"There's more." she said as her voice quivered.

"Tell me." I said gently, trying to not make it sound like the order that it was.

Taking a deep shaky breath she said quietly, "When I went to visit Leaf with Temari, I wasn't feeling well. Tsunade examined me herself and she…" she broke off there and sniffed.
She closed her eyes and the tears finally broke free of the barrier that she had made for them.

"She what?" I prodded, becoming impatient.
Whatever the news was, it was big and I wanted to know.

Sakura only looked at me, her eyes searching my face for something.

Grabbing her arms forcefully, I squeezed and demanded, "She what?!"

Sakura broke down then and cried into my chest as she let everything spill out in one large exhalation, "She discovered that I was pregnant! I had no idea because it was too early for any signs but she found it almost immediately…I'm so sorry Gaara! I wanted to tell but I didn't know how to tell you, and I was going to tell you when I got back to Suna but then we got into that fight and then you got kidnapped and then afterwards I wanted you to just focus on getting better and not worry about me and…" at this point she could no longer talk as she sobbed into my chest grabbing onto my shirt.

My eyes were wide and my arms automatically wrapped around her, but I had no conscious knowledge that I was doing so…my mind was fixed on the news that I had just gotten.

Sakura was pregnant.
She was pregnant with my child.
And she didn't tell me...

A wide array of emotions coursed through me.
I was happy.
I was scared.
And I was angry.

Eventually she ran out of tears and she pulled away from me.

"Talk to me…" she said quietly searching my face once again.

"I don't know what to say…" I said shaking my head.

"Say something! Say anything! Just don't sit there!" she said yelling.

I opened and closed my mouth a least a half-dozen times before I finally got some words out, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to tell you at the right time. I was afraid if I caught you at the wrong moment you would be mad and call off the wedding and throw me out onto the streets…"

"Why would you think that?" I was hurt that she could even imagine me being so callous and cruel.

She shrugged and said, "I honestly don't know…"

We sat in silence for a while.

"Are you happy?" she asked me, breaking the silence that hung around us.

"I'm so happy that I don't know how to express it. I…we are going to be parents…I never thought in a million years that this would ever happen to me…"

She smiled widely at me.

"I am hurt that you were afraid to tell me though. And I'm even more upset that you broke your promise to not come after me when you knew full well that you were pregnant. What if something happened to you or the baby Sakura!? What then?!"

"What good is sitting safe at home when I know you're out there dead or dying?" she fired back.

I shook my head at her, "You should have stayed here where it was safe."

She crawled near to me again and pulled me close to her.

"Tsunade examined me once we returned and nothing is wrong with me or the baby. And most importantly, you're back home as well. So everything worked out in the end."

I pulled away slightly and rested the palm of my hand on her flat lower belly.

"How far along are you?"

"I'm about a month." she said as she placed her hand over mine.

I pulled her to me and kissed her senseless.

Breaking our kiss I asked, "Any more news for me?"

Sakura shook her head 'no' and resumed the kiss.

We sat in silence for a while, basking in the news of Sakura's pregnancy as we held each other close and stared up at the sky.
Sakura's soft laughter pulled me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I asked.

She shook her head and said, "It's nothing."

"Tell me." I said as I shifted my position to face her.

Smiling and letting out a deep breath she said, "It's just ironic that the purest love I've ever known exists in the man that was never loved."

I smiled at this as well.

Looking at me she added, "Until now."

"It's all thanks to you." I said.

Sitting up once again, Sakura said, "I'd better get going to Ino's room. Otherwise she'll come knocking on the door and wake all of Suna up."

I nodded at her reluctantly.
I didn't want her to go before, and now that she had given me the news of her pregnancy, I definitely didn't want her to go now.

Bending down and giving me one more long kiss she whispered, "I'll see you tomorrow at the wedding." and then she started to walk towards the window.

"You'd better be there." I called after her.

She turned around and smiled at me.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

And with that, she disappeared inside of the house.
I watched her as she walked down the street and was pulled inside of the housing building by Ino and the other girls.

Not tired at all, I decided to take a walk through the streets.

The night was quiet and the streets were dark and empty.
Everyone was sound asleep by now.

I felt a presence and immediately recognized Tsunade's chakra. "I take it she told you." she said.

I turned to face her and nodded.

The woman smiled at me and said, "I'm happy for you two."

"They're both healthy, right?" I asked her.

Tsunade smiled and nodded at me and confirmed what Sakura had said earlier.

"I would like you to examine her throughout the pregnancy." I said to her.

"I would be honored." she said as she bowed towards me.

I rolled my eyes at her action and said, "You know I hate that…"

"I know, but the occasion called for it."
She started to walk away then and said, "I'll leave you alone. I'm sure you have plenty to think about tonight."
And with that she was gone and once again I was alone.

I returned to the house and went to my room.

Sakura's absence depressed me and I found myself staring up at the ceiling in bed thinking about things to come.

I must have nodded off at some point because the next thing I remember was Naruto jumping up and down on my bed yelling that it was time for me to get up and get ready for the wedding.

Sitting up, I pushed him out of the room using my sand and rubbed my eyes.

Reflecting on the night before, a small smile returned to my face.

I was going to be a father soon.
And today I was getting married…