Sunlight woke Gaara but he was instantly wide awake. The previous night… He snapped for air as his heart started racing. Miki… his wife… He was her husband…

Sitting up Gaara looked around in the room. Though feeling awake his eyes needed a moment to adjust to the light but what he saw or didn't see was disheartening. Miki wasn't in the room. He let himself fall back down into the covers massaging his temples and trying to calm himself, not even caring how he exposed his naked chest to the cold morning air.

Maybe she was just an early riser. But where would she go to?

What time was it anyway?

It couldn't be very late, he was going to eat breakfast with his siblings today and there was no way either of them, though each for a different reason, would let him sleep in late. Temari because it was bad manners for the Kazekage to sleep the day away and Kankurou because he didn't want to be alone with their fuming older sister. Gaara knew his sister was unhappy with his decision, but right now he didn't care. That is…when thinking about last night he had no regrets, but when he started wondering where Miki was now… then he became less certain. But it had felt… Well, Gaara now understood why everyone else seemed so focused on this intimate bodily contact.

"You do look very handsome." Came a whisper towards him. Gaara's eyes opened immediately. He had been so far away in thought he hadn't noticed the door to Miki's changing room open and her walking in.

Before he had sat up again Miki had slumped down next to him. To his silent regret she was dressed. But unlike yesterday she was wearing something more sensible. Big loose trousers and a short sleeved shirt tied together at her side.

He would very much have liked to see her beautiful and naked in the morning sunlight… Blushing Gaara looked away. What was he thinking? That was not appropriate thoughts to greet someone else. Settling his mind he turned to face Miki again. She was looking at him with her characteristic curious smile on her lips, her eyes darting over his face as if she was trying to figure him out.

"Was…" he stopped himself. He had been about to ask her if last night had been satisfying for her. He coughed and tried again.

"Did you sleep well?" She nodded in reply and her fingers reached up to his shoulder almost to test if he was real. Instinctively he leaned into her touch.

"Yes." She breathed eyes focused on where her fingers touched him, down his arm, up again, then down his chest. Involuntarily Gaara tightened his muscles more the farther down she got. And when her gaze met his he saw a dark yearning that reminded him of the night. He swallowed. Her eyes then flickered to his lips as his did to hers, they leaned closer…

A hard knock on the door surprised them both as it yanked them out of their own little world.

Gaara fought the foolish urge to plummet the door and the knocker to the ground. It wasn't his brother or sister as they had special rhythms to their knocks so Gaara would always know it was them, so who?

Miki stood up and it was only in the last second Gaara remembered that he was still naked and thus stayed under the covers.

"I have to go now." she murmured. Her sad expression matching his own, but only until it was replaced by her warm smile.

"But we see each other at the breakfast!" Gaara smiled back.

And with that a silly idea popped up in his mind. Simply childish, and perhaps, or most likely, rooted in the previous night's exploits, he caught her hand and quickly pulled her down on top of him. The action surprised her enough for her not to resist his pull but as she landed on him she laughed heartedly. As she clearly had some kind of deadline Gaara didn't waste any time before pressing his lips to hers. Just as fast she replied pressing her body close to his.

The knock came again. Impatient.

Again Gaara fought the urge to send a sandstorm at the door as his lips felt lonely when Miki got up again.

"Ja! Jeg er på vej, jeg kommer nu!" Her words were coarse in his ears as she spoke a language Gaara didn't understand. But he heard and was rather pleased with the irritation in her voice; she wanted to stay with him.

She uttered a few words Gaara couldn't hear as she opened the door the knocker had been so determined to interrupt them by. Before she slipped out the door Miki sent Gaara a big smile that lit up her whole face as the annoying frown she had had on her face as she walked towards the door was gone.

"We see each other at the breakfast… husband." She smiled again, closed the door and was gone.

Gaara waited a moment before he moved. His heart pumping in his chest but his body unhappy with the interrupted situation as it clearly remembered how good it had felt with her so close during the night.

Disgruntled he finally got up.

…

After having showered and getting dressed Gaara walked to the dining room where he was to meet his siblings. He was in no hurry as he and Miki had apparently awoken quite early and most people in the village were only starting to get up now. Nonetheless he was still met by a well-provided morning table full of every possible dish for the celebratory breakfast. But his siblings were nowhere to be found.

It actually suited Gaara nicely and as he poured himself some tea he asked one of the servants to bring him the previous night's reports so he could go over them before the ceremoniously events of the day would begin. He preferred to be on top of things which included knowing the lesser significant details of a night patrol.

It was like this, with a cup of cold tea in one hand and his eyes scanning the pages that his brother and brother-in-law found him.

"Goodmorniiing." Kankurou yawned as he took a seat at the table perpendicular to Gaara's. Shikamaru sat opposite Kankurou at a table set for him and his wife. Shikadai was supposed to sit next to his uncle and Gaara assumed that his nephew was trying to sleep in late, which was also what kept his sister away. Not that she was sleeping but because she was most likely fighting to drag his nephew all the way down to breakfast.

For a moment the men enjoyed the silence. Pouring some tea, choosing a few small dishes and sharing a few documents between them.

It wasn't all information regarding Suna that Gaara let Shikamaru in on, but the man's mind was spectacular and had a couple of times helped Suna. Naruto was well informed of this as he himself, on behalf of Shikamaru, to the latter's trouble, had been the one to suggest this opportunity. After all, Konoha benefitted from Temari's wit most of the time as the couple lived there, and had several losses reduced due to her skills.

Gaara was sorry that Naruto hadn't been able to attend the ceremony. He saw Naruto as one of his closest friends, though living so far apart from each other, but he also understood that a kage couldn't just take time off. Because of the diplomacy behind the wedding the announcement had been with a rather short notice making it impossible for Naruto to make it. He had instead sent congratulatory gifts and noted that they would toast the next time they met.

Absentmindedly Gaara slowly realised that his brother was laughing at him.

"Earth to Gaara?"

Raising an eyebrow he looked up to see the smirk on his older brother's face while Shikamaru remained politely silent.

"I was asking you," Kankurou chuckled, "how your wedding night went?" An almost cringle at Gaara's eyes was the only thing warning Kankurou, and he didn't see it in time.

"It was quite pleasant." Gaara looked up to fully see the reaction his words would undoubtedly have on his brother. "I understand now why you always been so focused on the female body."

Shikamaru almost spit his tea out, only managing to seal his lips by putting a hand to his mouth. He openly gawked at Gaara. But it was Kankurou reaction that was most funny. First he seemed to take it as a joke, then it was like he realised that his brother rarely joked… Then he also stared, jaw hanging, at his younger brother.

"You what?!" It could have been interpreted as a rude remark but the curiosity and light in Kankurou's eyes as well as his tone of voice left it easy for Gaara to understand that his brother was proud.

Only answering with a light smile Gaara returned to look at the papers and documents in front of him just as his sister and nephew walked into the room.

A quick look from Shikamaru silenced Kankurou who had been about to comment on the news. It was not a good idea to tell Temari, even if he tried to use coded language, that her younger brother, who had just gotten married to a woman she disliked, had consummated the marriage in the most intimate of ways. Besides Shikadai would without a doubt break the code instantly and though he wouldn't understand most of it, they did want to spare him.

Kankurou was almost skipping in his seat wanting to pry more details out of Gaara. His younger brother didn't joke around and never told lies, so it had to be true, which meant that Gaara had been able to make a special connection with someone else. How could Kankurou not be excited about that?

"What's with you?" Temari remarked starkly towards Kankurou. The man stiffened. He knew his sister and when she was in a bad mood, like she was now, the best course of action was to lay low.

Again he was interrupted though this time to his advantage as their younger brother's new wife entered the room followed by an entourage carrying packages and bags.

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It's a crude place to stop but I want to share with you at a regular pace, so here is a little something. More sibling squabbles to come as well as more romance… (^-^)