Matsuri watched the return party enter the city from her perk near the top of the gates. Her heart raced with excitement; her teacher and leader had returned home. She normally served as Gaara's escort when he had to leave the city. Gaara had informed her that the elders requested he bring Temari and Kankurou. Her feelings had been hurt slightly; she had promised herself she would always protect Gaara at all cost. At this point her mind wasn't on that. They had returned with one extra person, she wanted to know who it was and why had they brought back some from the leaf.

Heaven help that poor soul if they even tried to lay a hand on her Kazekage. Matsuri had spent the last few years training and perfecting her ninja ways. Ever since her kidnapping she had vowed to become stronger. She refused to be defenseless next time round. Though these days she hardly got to spend time with her teacher since he didn't get to leave the city much.

Her replacement finally came to relieve her of her post. She thanked him than took off towards Gaara's home.

'I guess I should knock this time. If he has someone important he may not want to be disturbed.' She told herself as she landed in front of the apartment building. Looking up she saw lights on. It didn't surprise her since Gaara normally didn't sleep much anyways. She raced up the stairs, and knocked twice on the door before cracking it and calling in "Gaara, it's me."

She was use to letting herself in to give evening reports to him. But he wasn't in his training room or his living area. "Hmm." She turned and closed the door behind her. Taking two steps in she looked into the kitchen, he wasn't there either.

"Matsuri…" his deep voice sounded from behind her.

"Oh Gaara…you…scared…me." Her attention was immediately on the fact that he was walking out of his bedroom with his normal pants, but his split shirt hung open exposing his defined abs and chest. He stopped and stood in front of the glass doors and looked out on his city. She felt herself beginning to blush. Her mind raced; why was he half under dressed?

"You made it home! Welcome back." She smiled softly at him.

She had decided to play this cool. Backing up against the wall and leaning on it. She crossed her arms hoping she looked cool.

Sakura snuck out of the bathroom wearing Gaara's shirt. His shirt was a bit bigger than she had expected so it hung off one of her shoulders. Her pack was still there near the door. Sighing in relief; she dug through it till she found a pair of black leggings. 'At this point something is better than nothing.' She pulled them on as she peeked out the cracked door. She watched the girl blush and back up against the wall.

'She likes him!' for some reason watching this other girl drool over Gaara made her mad.

"What did the elders agree on?" the young girl questioned.

"They have made arrangements with the Hidden Leaf." As always his tone was calm.

"I hope they weren't asking for too much."

"They felt it was a fair exchange."

"I saw you brought back someone with you…"

"Hn. Haruno Sakura."

"Really? Sakura came to visit?" Matsuri smiled wide. She liked Sakura; she had been there to help heal Gaara after her kidnapping.

"Actually, it's more like live." Sakura appeared in the bedroom door way smiling at Matsuri.

Matsuri smiled at the pink hair woman for a moment. Her smile fading as she noticed she was wearing a shirt that wasn't hers. To top it off she had just come out of the bedroom with wet hair. The young ninja looked from Sakura to Gaara then back. 'OH HELL NO!' he brain screamed at her. There had better be a good reason for her to be in Gaara's shirt AND room.

"Um, what were you doing in his bedroom? Is that Gaara's shirt?" she couldn't hide her jealousy at that point. She felt betrayed. She liked Sakura alright, but all this was a little too over whelming.

She watched as Sakura crossed her arms and cleared her throat. He emerald eyes shifted their focus to the only man in the room. He had turned back to the room, looked at Sakura, and took the hint. He closed his eyes as he lowered his head in what looked like slight annoyance.

"Well you see Matsuri..." Sakura hesitated, looking like she was trying to find the words.

"The elders made arrangements for our villages to be joined by marriage." He finished the sentence for her. Sakura pressed her lips together; making a guilty face and looked at the floor.

"Oh. I see." Both could see the tears wielding in the young ninja's eyes.

"Sorry for disturbing you." The poor girl choked out as she backed up towards the door.

Sakura stepped towards Matsuri; but the hurt girl held up one hand stopping her in her tracks. The damn finally broke; tears streamed down her cheeks. She took one finally look at Gaara; than flung the door open and disappeared down the stairs.

xXx

She didn't even bother to look back; she just ran blindly. This pain in her heart was unbearable. How could she have been so foolish to think she even stood a chance with him? She ran till she couldn't breathe. It must have been out of habit but she found herself at her favorite spot along the back side of the city. Hardly one came to this area. She sobbed harder, flinging herself against the wall, sliding down, and bringing her knees to her chest.

"Damn you Sakura." She half whispered, half sobbed to her knees.

"Did I hear you say Sakura?" Matsuri jumped to her feet; looking around wildly for the source of this voice.

"Where are you? What do you want?"

"I'm just passing through you could say."

She finally located the source of the voice. A dark eyed man stood about ten feet away from her. His dark hair hung around his face shadowing his features. He wore a long dark cloak over what looked like a white shirt the hung half open, with a weird purple-ish rope knotted at his waist.

"Do you know Sakura?" she arched a slender eye brow at him, still not sure if he was a threat or not.

"I'm an old friend. I have a message for her, would you bring it to her?" a pale hand appeared out from under his cloak holding a small scroll. He held the item out to her

"I can't." she stated in a flat tone and clenched her fists tightly. "I will kill her if I see her again."

"Displeased with the news of her marrying your beloved Kazekage? Hn?" she could hear it in his tone; he was testing her. She crossed her arms and turned her back to him.

"He shouldn't have to marry her! He deserves someone who loves him! Deserves someone he knows already! He deserves-"

"You?" the man cut in. She didn't have to look at him to know there was a sly smile on his face.

"Give her my message. You may find things turn in your favor."

Turning her head slightly, she eyed this man before reaching out for the scroll. She made no attempts to move to him. If he really wanted that message delivered he would bring it to her. She felt the scroll make contact with her hand.

"You promise not to hurt Gaara if I do this?" he slender finger curled around the small item before taking it with a swift tug. He retracted his hand, smiling as he closed his eyes once more.

"I want nothing to do with him." To Matsuri his voice sounded sincere enough; with a firm nod from her; the man was gone. Using her free hand she wiped the tears from her face; he said things would go in her favor, and with that thought in the fore front of her mind she looked up at the moon and smiled dangerously. Without examining the scroll she tucked it into her hind pouch. Now all she had to do was find the right moment to deliver it.

xXx

The next morning Sakura and Gaara sat in his office. The elders wanted to address some concerns, issues, and demands.

"EEEEEEHHHHH?" Sakura's jaw dropped (you know how it goes anime style!)

"Yes, as our Kazehime, you will be required to assist the Kazekage with his paperwork and duties. You two will also need to start sparring together. Learning to fight together will only benefit our alliance. And Sakura we will need you to put time in down at the hospital training our new recruits." The female sand elder smiled at them both. Gaara sat with his arms crossed glaring while Sakura tried to protest.

"Now our final item up for discussion is the wedding. We have arranged for it to be next week. The sooner the better. "The elder winked at the two of them. Both of them glanced at each other; 'They just hinted towards a baby…' Both blushed slightly.

"Well we will leave you to your duties." The elders stood, bowed, and left the office.

"Seriously? Maybe they should go and worry about someone else's love life!" the pink haired woman shot evil glares at the door.

"They are truly worried about the war. It's coming, and they want everything in place. I can't say I blame them." The Kazekage adjusted himself in his chair. He was getting ready to finish the last of his paper work. He had left to finish paper work once Sakura fell asleep. As he pulled the final stack of papers towards him; he eyed his soon-to-be bride. Her face saddened a little, when it seemed she noticed him looking at her she forced a smile at him.

"I guess you are right. We all have people we want to protect. We'll just have to do our best for them!" she flashed one more smile as she sauntered towards the door.

"I will the paper work up to you dear. I am going to unpack and get ready for this training they want us to do. I'll see you at home." Off she went.

She was an odd one alright but he was starting to see her appeal. Even faced with the worst of situations so far she had turned them around.

"Sakura!"

"Oh Matsuri. I'm sorry about last night."

Matsuri shook her head with a smile.

"Don't worry. I over reacted. Silly school girl crush. Ha! You know how that goes."

"Um ok, not really but what can I do for you?"

Matsuri held out the small scroll.

"Some man asked me to give this to you." She placed the scrolled into Sakura's hand then waved.

"I'll be late for my shift. Bye!"

"Bye…" Sakura called after her. 'Who would send me a message here?' she wondered.

xXx

Thank you guys for your reviews! Love them! Very sorry this chapter is somewhat short. My newborn hasn't been sleeping well. Sleep and I are getting reacquainted. I swear the next chapter will be a bit longer and I'll start moving into the Shippuden series. R & R! 3!