That night Sakura couldn't sleep. The meeting had ended with the he agreement that Gaara, Sakura, and Temari would be leaving for Suna in the morning; Tsunade had some work for Shikamaru to finish before he could leave Konoha. Everyone was handed a copy of the contract in which they signed; Sakura had spent most of the night re-reading it. It was iron clad; she couldn't find a single loop hole in it and since all parties had signed it was official.
In between her reading fits she managed to pack some of her clothes, and a few other things she felt were important. She hadn't had the nerve to tell anyone what was going on. It was too hard to think about saying good bye to any of her friends. 'I'll see them again soon.' She reassured herself. 'I will be able to come home and visit.' Smiling at this thought, she threw the rest of her stuff into her pack and laid down on her bed. She was only going to get about 4 hours of sleep before she would have to leave, and it was a good day or two worth of traveling ahead of her. 'Am I really ready to let go of Sasuke?' she wondered as her eyes slowly slid closed and sleep took her.
xXx
The youngest member of the Uchiha clan sat on the floor in the middle of a room with no windows. His concentration kept breaking. 'Why was this memory suddenly plaguing me?' he fumed to himself. Standing in the dark with the only girl he ever felt comfortable with, she was crying her eyes out asking him to take her with him or not leave at all. She had said she loved him and would do anything for him, and all he could say was Thank you. He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. He needed her to get out of his head or he would never get anything accomplished. 'You loved her' a voice inside his head spoke. "No. I only have one reason for living and that is to kill him." He muttered to himself. 'Go ahead and try to deny it but she'll always be there in the back of your mind. You're always going to wonder about her. You should have brought her with you.' The voice answered back. Sasuke shook his head and got up off the floor. "My path is something she should never have to witness." Blocking the thoughts of her was hard but he managed it. He took off towards the bathroom for a shower. 'What if you didn't have to block her out? What if you could talk to her? What if you could have her?' the voice questioned him. "Hmmmm, what if…"
xXx
It was still dark outside when Sakura finally got out of bed and dressed. She put on the fish net looking cloths under her normal ones. Temari had told her the netting helps with the sand. She took one final look around her apartment. She'd miss this place; this was her first place on her own. So many things had happened here in the last 3 years. So hard to believe she was about to leave this all. 'It's only for a little while' she once again reassured herself. Sighing she flicked the light switch off, grabbing her pack and heading out her front door. "Oh! Temari! You kind of scared me." The blonde smiled an apologetically at her. "I thought you would have more to bring with you." Her tone sounded almost bummed.
Sakura arched a brow at her as she half wittingly smiled. "I thought I'd be allowed to come back every now and then. You know visit with all my friends and family." "Good point. I'm sure there will be a few times we'll get sent here for missions." Temari smile wasn't filling her with confidence. The two girls walked towards the front gate of Konoha, both saddened by what they had to leave behind. Gaara and Kankurou stood outside the open gates, waiting for the two remaining companions. Both guys stood there with their arms crossed; growing impatient with each passing moment. Upon seeing Sakura Gaara felt a weight lift from his shoulders. He had begun to wonder if she was going to show or not. 'I'm sorry Sakura.' Was his final thought before announcing "Its time. Let's go." Everyone nodded and took off into the forest towards the desert.
xXx
They were making good time; with this fast pace they were keeping. Sakura stopped at the very edge of the forest for one last look, a small tear slid down her cheek; she wiped it as Temari's hand fell on her shoulder. She gave her a gentle squeeze and a soft smile. "Come on, Gaara doesn't stop, so we'd better not fall behind or he may actually leave us behind." The blonde gestured for Sakura to carry on. She smiled at Temari and took off after the two men. Looking back she noticed Temari glancing at the forest one last time before she leaped into the air and caught back up. She was probably saying good bye in her own way to Shikamaru.
The four traveled well into the night before reaching the "gates" of Suna. The guards all eyed Sakura. She had never felt so out of place before. None of her previous missions had her here alone really. Sensing that she might be feeling odd Gaara did something out of character for himself. Reaching out and grabbing her hand he laced his fingers with her giving her hand a quick squeeze. Sakura averted her eyes as she blushed and smiled. When she felt the red in her cheeks was faint enough she eyed him. And for a brief second their eyes met and they were both smiling at each other.
Temari and Kankurou both nearly fell over in shock. Gaara willingly made physical contact with some one? Once in the gates Kankurou cleared his throat. "This is where we go our separate ways. I'm exhausted." "We'll all be resting up tomorrow. Then back to the normal routine." Temari added. "Till then..." Sakura smiled and waved good bye. "Our place is this way." His deep voice urged as he gave a small tug on her hand. She took her queue and followed. With the first leap up he let her hand go. She almost felt disappointed with this. It was nice change, and for once she felt like it was almost natural to want to hold his hand. 'Stop it! This is Gaara! He's no Sasuke…No he isn't. But he isn't half bad looking either. 'Ugh her thoughts could be so confusing at times, but she did say to herself that she was going to give this her all. Not for her but for her people. The people she wanted to protect. She took note of where she was. A huge building standing taller than the rest was right next to the building they were walking into. 'Well at least work is right around the corner.' She joked with herself.
Now being the Kazekage had its perks like a penthouse! The door opened up into a huge living area , off to the right was an arch way that lead into a kitchen, a huge sliding glass door the lead out to a balcony, and to the left were two doors (which Sakura assumed were the bedrooms) looking straight back she could see a home gym/training room. The furniture was all hardly used and new. She glowed as she looked around; this place made her old apartment seem small and cramped.
"You must be tired." He finally broke the silence as he slid the gourd that held his sand off his back. He placed it on a small box near the door. The box looked like it had been carved especially for the gourd. "A little." She slid her pack off her back, pointing to the bedroom; she walked towards the first door. She found the light switch near the door with ease. Flicking it on she found there to be a queen size bed. It looked like it hadn't been slept in as of yet. She dropped her pack near the door as Gaara pointed to a door on the inside left. "That's the bathroom if you'd like a shower." The idea sounded wonderful, she could finally wash off all the sweat and sand. Without saying anything she disappeared into the bathroom. Gaara heard the water turn on. He flopped onto his bed deep in thought. How was he going to do this? A little hand holding here and there doesn't make a marriage let alone a child. 'A child? Hn. Never thought of having one, hell I never stopped to date. Being Kazekage is busier than I thought it would be.' His mind stayed on the idea of a child a little longer. He had actually started to wonder what their child would look like. He snapped back to reality once the sound of sunning water stopped. 'I guess I'll change and maybe go do some paper work or a guard round.' The red haired man pushed himself off of the bed and over to a set of drawers straight across from the bathroom door. Pulling off his long split maroon shirt, brown vest, and fish net, dropping them to the floor; he rummaged through one of the drawers before pulling out a black t-shirt.
xXx
The hot water felt wonderful against her skin. She really wished she could spend all night in there but her body reminded her that she was still human and required sleep. Feeling around she found her towel and shut the water off. 'Damn it' she cussed internally; realizing she had left her change of clothes in her pack. She dried most of herself off, leaving her hair only slightly damp. Wrapping the short towel around her; she opened the bathroom door. She stopped half way out of the door way, and found herself staring. Standing with his back towards her was a shirtless Gaara. Since opponents hardly ever got close enough to damage Gaara, his back was scar free and smooth. Sakura could see his mussels were toned, which was unexpected. Before he could notice her staring she cleared her throat and pointed toward her bag. "Um, sorry I forgot my clothes in here." 'Wow that sounded so lame!' she yelled at herself. "No I'm sorry I was just changing before I went into the office to maybe finish up some pa...per...Work…" He had finally turned around to leave the room with his shirt when noticed her standing there in an incredibly short towel, her hair slightly damp dropping water drops down her front and back.
Both stood there looking at each other, as they both blushed. He took a few steps towards her. "Sakura, can I ask you something?" "Um, sure." "Have you ever kissed anyone?" Her cheeks became a few shades darker with his question. The question though had made her mind reel. With the mention of the word 'kiss' she suddenly felt the urge to kiss him. "No. Have you?" she answered softly. "No." Dodging his glances she pushed a few pieces of wet hair behind an ear. "Why?" she questioned back. All she wanted to do was put some clothes on; she was standing there in nothing but a towel with the half dressed man that she was just now finding attractive. She never noticed the fact that he had closed the distance between them. He stood in front of her only inches away. She could feel his gaze on her. Her emerald green eyes met his jade ones. "Sakura, do you want this marriage to be just for show or shall we try to make something more of it?" He whispered in to her ear. She closed her eyes as his breath hit the side of her neck sending shivers up her spine.
The words slipped out as they came to her. "I want us to want this." Finally she opened her eyes again meeting his soft eyes. He had dropped his shirt. His hands touched her arms and softly slid upwards. "Your skin is so soft." "You act like you've never done this before." She watched as he lowered his face towards hers. "I've never had intimate contact with anyone." One of his hands had stopped at her should while the other one made its way up the side of her neck. "Gaara…" she whispered. Softly his lips brushed over hers as if he wasn't sure this was a welcomed act. Unable to hold back the desire any longer she pressed her lips against his. The kiss was soft and gentle which was somewhat surprising. Sakura had seen this man in battle. He was fierce, dangerous, and almost unbeatable. She felt like she had to be dreaming.
Knock. Knock. "Gaara, it's me!" a female's voice called through the front door. "Matsuri…" he muttered as his head whipped toward the bedroom door. Seizing the moment Sakura snatches the shirt on the floor and ducks into the bathroom shutting the door quickly. Leaning against the door, she tries to get her bearings. What was she thinking? First night in Suna and she was already warming up to the idea of being married.
xXx
Well there you have second chapter. What did you think? Should I continue or no? Read and review please!