Time was going by faster than anyone had anticipated. Sakura's nerves were shot. The wedding was about to become a reality. There was no backing out or waking up. Things were falling into place smoothly. With only 3 days left till the wedding; it was crunch time. Guests started to arrive from everywhere. Sakura sighed nervously and twisted a strand of her pink hair around her finger as she re-read the same line for the fifth time. She had so many other things to get done; more important than her paperwork. The group from Konoha was arriving today; she had her final dress fitting, not to mention the rumor that Kankurou and Temari were planning a party of some sort.

She had yet to decide on what to do about Sasuke. Meeting him alone would be stupid, but meeting him with someone would be by far worse. What on Earth could he have to talk to her about? She made her feelings clear before he left. He had shot her down, and took her heart with him. Or did he? She had to admit she liked Gaara. When they were alone he was a completely different person. He would every now and then smile at her. To her dismay, there hadn't been a repeat of her first night there.

She also hadn't been able to find Matsuri to ask her where the scroll had come from. That girl had to be going out of her way to avoid Sakura. Who could blame her though? Sasuke was a missing nin and had racked up incidents he needed to answer for. He should be arrested on the spot.

"Is something bothering you?"

"Huh? Oh no, it's nothing. There's just a lot I have to get done before we get married." She forced herself to smile.

"Are you sure? You should have had that form signed five minutes ago." His jade eyes looked from her, down to the un-signed paper, than up to her emerald gaze.

"I'm just not feeling paperwork today." She groaned. Paperwork was becoming her life. "Naruto's coming today; I wonder if anyone has told him."

"Tsunade assured me she would inform him if he returned before the wedding." He replied; resuming his paperwork.

"You know Matsuri likes you."

"Your point?"

"Some people have been saying she should be your second wife."

"I am not taking a second wife, when the first one will suffice. Suna needs a strong kunoichi as its Kazehime. She has to love her people. They need her to stand up for them. That requires heart and strength. "

Sakura arched her slender brow at the young kage. "Thank you." She was pretty sure he was complimenting her. 'Ugh, I'll have to work on his people skills.'

"I can see not much paperwork is going to get done today."

"Heh, sorry." The apology didn't sound as sincere as she had wanted it to, but her heart just wasn't into all this paperwork.

Knock

"Kazekage." the gruff voice of Baki called. He bowed his head to his former student and entered the office. "Kazehime." He bowed his head once again. "The Konoha group is approaching the gates."

"Thank you Baki. We'll greet our guests personally this time."

Sakura could hardly contain her excitement the whole way to the gates. She couldn't help but smile; she was going to see everyone she left behind, and mainly Naruto. She really wished she could have to him herself that she was getting married. But would he understand her reasoning? Better question; how would he take her marrying Gaara? She wanted Naruto's approval for some reason. He'd always been there for her; it only felt right for him to give her the metaphorical thumbs up.

"FOREHEAD!"

"PIG!"

The way these two greeted each other would never make scene to Gaara. He had gotten some story of how they use to be best friends when they were younger, but something happened between the two due to that Uchiha bastard. 'I'm beginning to think Shikamaru has the right idea. Women; so troublesome.' Though it was nice to see his bride-to-be smiling a genuine smile. Something had really been eating at her the last few days, but she always seemed to dodge the question. Naruto had been a name that had repeatedly been brought up. Though he played it cool, Gaara was concerned on how his friend would take the news.

It was apparent someone had filled Naruto in. The look on his face was pure disappointment. Seeing his face made Gaara experience a twinge of guilt; he hadn't wanted their first meeting in three years to be glum. Weddings were supposed to be a happy event. Gaara watched Naruto put on a smile for Sakura. It seemed she hadn't noticed his face in all the excitement. She had given Naruto a quick hug and commented on how tall he'd gotten.

Ino, Ten Ten, and Hinata had pulled her off to the side to talk; about what was beyond Gaara. Girls seemed to giggle too much for his liking. The Kazekage shook his head in amusement before returning the cold stare he was receiving from his friend. Gaara motioned for Naruto to follow him.

"Gaara, why? Why would you agree to something like this?" the blonde finally blurted out. Gaara inhaled as he crossed his arms. He knew Naruto cared for Sakura; he would even go as far to say he was in love with her. Losing Sakura to someone couldn't be easy to swallow, but he hadn't thought he would take the news this badly.

"You should be able to understand since you dream is to be Hokage. You need to keep your people safe, even if you have to sacrifice a bit of your own happiness. Our joint efforts ensure that if we go to war; we will stand a fighting chance. Sakura and I both see that. You once told me we all have people we want to protect; Sakura is one of them. I want to help you protect her."

"This isn't something you do for the hell of it! This is marriage! Its life long, you can't quit at it after everything is said and done!" the furious whiskered blonde shook one of his balled fists at the young kage."No matter how well you think this is going to play out; in the end someone is going to get hurt! Sakura has already been through enough. I don't want to see her hurt anymore." His fists clenched tighter as his blue eyes fell to the ground.

"Naruto…" Sakura's voice softly called from behind Gaara. Her pink haired head peered out from behind her fiancée; her soft eyes meet Gaara's, smiling at him, than her attention shifts to her longtime friend. "Thank you. You've always have tried to protect me, but now it's my turn to protect everyone including you. You've done enough don't you think?" She steps up next to Gaara, meeting Naruto's gaze.

"I just want to see you happy, Sakura." The sadden expression pulled at Sakura's heart strings. What had she done to deserve such an amazing friend? His face also warmed her heart. Someone had her best interest in mind besides Tsunade. She reached her hand out softly caressed his cheek briefly before pulling him into a well-deserved and overdue hug.

"Keeping everyone safe will make me happy. Trust me; we know what we're doing." She whispered into his shoulder. He hugged her tighter as he glared at the almost forgotten Kazekage.

"Gaara, you promise me she'll be safe. Or I'll kick your ass myself! Believe it!"

"You have my word; I will take care of her."

"Are you guys done yet? We've got things to get done in these next few days! Let's move!" Ino huffed from the side lines.

"Ah, yes she still knows how to kill a moment." Sakura mumbled under her breath.

xXx

Ino had managed to separate Naruto and Gaara from Sakura's side; reminding them there was important 'girl things' that had to be done before the wedding in the next few days.

"Just have Temari meet us at the dress shop, if that'll make you feel better. Honestly! You act like we've come to kidnap her!" Ino waved her hand at the highly annoyed Kazekage as she departed with Sakura in toe. The dress shop was only a few streets over so the walk was a quick one.

The small bell above the door jingled softly as the four woman entered the small shop.

"Greetings! Oh Kazehime, I have your dress ready for you in fitting room one." The middle aged magenta haired shop keeper smiled and bowed respectfully to Sakura.

"Thank you so much Shina. I'm so excited!" Sakura returned the bow. The Fitting rooms were towards the back of the shop. It was a planned layout in Sakura's opinion. She had heard it was bad luck seeing the bride in her dress before the wedding. The long red velvet curtains were already drawn shut. Sakura smiled slyly at her friends as she slipped into her assigned room. The other three sat down on the long soft white couch that sat facing the room.

"You picked an awesome looking dress right?" Ino sarcastically called to her. Sakura rolled her eyes, as she tugged her top off, next her bottoms, than finally she stepped into her dress.

"Your confidence in me is over whelming, Pig."

"Ah, sounds like you two are having fun." Temari entered the shop, waved to ladies sitting on the couch, she made her way back towards them, than poked her head into the fitting room.

"AH! Temari!"

"I like it! It suits you." Pulling her head out, she turns, and mouths 'Wow' at the girls.

"It fits perfectly!" The curtains swish to the side as Sakura stepped out for all her friends to see.

"Alright Forehead, I give you credit. You've got some taste." Ino crossed her arms and smirked at her childhood friend. Ino had to admit the dress was pretty, and the cherry blossom pattern on there really did seem to fit her. Sakura smiled brightly to all her friends and bowed slightly. Her eyes found their way to the dainty shop keeper beaming from behind her counter.

"It looks beautiful Shina; I can't thank you enough for making it on such short notice."

Sakura felt like a princess. The dress was so perfect for her; the shades of pink complimented her hair wonderfully, and the kimono material. The design was all Shina's idea. Sakura couldn't decide whether she wanted a traditional kimono or something new. Shina had informed Sakura and Temari that white dresses were becoming popular in some regions. Whatever her soon-to-be Kazehime wanted she would make. After about 40 minutes of discussing it, Shina offered to try her hand at mixing the two concepts. The end results couldn't have been more stunning.

"It was nothing. I'm honored you chose my shop." Once again the shop owner bowed. Sakura smiled once again and stepped back behind the curtains to change.

Matsuri strolled around the city; not really paying attention to where she was going. She couldn't give her full attention to her patrol duty. There was only three days left before she would lose her chance with Gaara forever. There was no way Gaara would break the contract with Konoha. 'Damn it!' she cussed mentally. That man had promised if she handed over his message things would change. He had to be around the blasted city some where. She would find him, even if she had to look all day. She slammed her fist into her open palm as a sign of her determination, than picked up her pace. 'Let's start with the spot I met him.'

Sakura stepped out from behind the curtains. The couch was empty; she knew Ino was dreaming of the day Chouji would ask for her hand, not to mention poor Temari. She hadn't had a chance to work on her own wedding. She smiled as she watched her friends pull out dresses and kimonos, holding them up to one another before giggling. She looked toward the window. The sun was still up; that was at least a good sign. She didn't want to be out all day. A figure ran past the window…

"Matsuri?" her question came out as whisper. The pink haired kunoichi didn't look back as she took off running out the store door.

"Sakura!" Temari's cried as she took off for the door. Standing in the middle of the street, she looked in what seemed every direction. "This time for sure." She stated exasperatedly. "Gaara is going to kill me for sure this time."

"MATSURI!" Sakura yelled after the sandy brown hair girl ahead of her. Where was she running to? She was fast, perhaps it was to lose Sakura.

"Damn it." she panted out. She had lost her. What the hell would she be doing in this part of the city?

"Sa-ku-ra" a smooth voice whispered into her ear. Her eye widened; there was no need to turn around to know who that voice belonged to.

"Sa..Sasuke" she whispered into the wind.

xXx

Alright my comp came back so here's the next chapter! Sorry for the wait! There is a link to Sakura's dress on my profile. Read and Review please! Much love- Beauty