Chapter ONE
Gaara placed his brush down on his desk, feeling more satisfied than he had ever in his life. He turned slightly to look at the pile of papers on his desk, which he had just finished signing, and had the childish impulse to stick his tongue out.
He didn't though, for his name was Sabaku no Gaara.
He felt a familiar chakra signature coming towards his office and felt a small smile slip past his usual emotionless mask.
There was a knock.
"Come in."
The door opened up to reveal Sakura. She offered him a faint smile before stepping completely into view.
Gaara stiffened, and the previous happiness he had felt vanished. He prepared his sand to teleport himself away.
His gourd had just popped open when it was forced closed by chakra strings.
"My apologies, Gaara-sama." Sakura said. "But I have orders from Sasori-sama to not let you out until you have finished." She held up the file she was holding in one arm, the other hand held out to control the chakra strings stopping him from running.
He cursed Sasori under his breath. He stabbed the redhead in his mind.
He just knew the Puppet Master had taught Sakura to use chakra strings to make sure he didn't run.
He didn't know how he felt about the suggestive smirk Sasori had shot him when the Kazekage had questioned him about it.
He winced at the subtle frown Sakura shot him. The one year mark since he had taken the title as the Fifth Kazekage had just passed, and Gaara was very pleased with Sakura's improvement. She could now voice her thoughts without too much hesitation.
Recently, the longest he had had to wait for her to respond when he had asked for her opinion was five minutes.
He had asked her what he thought of the color scheme of some project logo he had come up with, and it had taken Sakura a while to gather the courage to tell him that it looked horrible.
Now, when Sakura didn't immediately praise him, he knew she disagreed with whatever it was he had asked her about.
It was improvement, though.
He couldn't say much about it, especially because he knew he had been equally damaged, but he could tell. Maybe it was because they were alike.
He blinked again, shaking himself out of his thoughts. Sakura was still patiently standing there, staring unblinkingly at him.
Gaara sighed, starting to feel a little giddy.
Did Sakura even know what she did to him?
However, he didn't voice this. Instead, he just sighed in defeat and was rewarded with a small smile. Sakura placed the files and the stack of paper on his desk, then lingered there.
"I think this is the last. Once I'm done with this, we can go get dinner." Gaara looked pointedly out the window, where the sun was just beginning to set.
Sakura nodded.
Days came and went.
Paperwork came and went too.
At this moment in time, Gaara had no idea why Naruto wanted to become a Kage. It was more paperwork and close to no 'awesomeness'.
In fact, if any of the villagers saw their Kage drowning in stacks of paper in their office, they would probably faint of disappointment.
He would have assassins after his head for shattering the dream of young shinobi.
Kages were not the role models everyone looked up to.
Not in office anyways.
In battles, maybe. Gaara was a skilled shinobi, probably one of the best, and everyone knew it too. However, in his office, Gaara was like any other person.
He knew he should appreciate the days where nothing happened, and went on like any other day.
Still, if only something would happen. Something that could get him off this chair. Something-
There was a knock at the door. Gaara instantly recognized the chakra signature of his brother. "Come in."
Kankuro entered the office, and bowed his head. "Kazekage-sama."
Gaara looked up, instantly alert. His siblings never called him that unless it was something important. Something was wrong. "What? Did something happen?"
Kankuro didn't meet his gaze. "Uh...yes..."
"What is it?" Gaara pressed.
"Well, do you remember the dude from Iwa? Sasori's 'friend'?" Kankuro asked.
Gaara nodded, recalling the annoying blond from the time at the festival.
"Well, he came over, you see, and Sasori just happened to be hanging out with Itachi, who was passing by for a mission with his team, and he said something and Sasori snapped and...and..."
"I don't have all day." Gaara said, starting to get annoyed.
Kankuro took a deep breath. "They kinda destroyed four training grounds and a part of the street in their 'spar'." He raised his arms in a please-don't-kill-me kind of way.
Gaara, on the other hand, was cursing himself within his mind. Okay, he had asked for something to happen. However, he hadn't asked for more paper work.
The whole mess between Deidara, Itachi and Sasori was kind of solved. Sakura had stepped in before the damage could spread further. Luckily, Gaara didn't have to do any extra paperwork, for he just quickly fixed everything with his sand.
Deidara was kicked out of the village by an annoyed Gaara. Sasori stood behind his Kazekage, smirking at the blond.
Gaara sent the redhead off on a D-rank mission to pick the weeds out of the greenhouse. Sasori stormed off with a 'you-better-watch-your-back-because-I-will-kill-you-in-your-sleep-and-turn-you-into-a-puppet-so-that-I-can-bash-your-face-in-then-fix-you-then-bash-your-face-in-again' glare.
Itachi had stepped into his office later to formally apologize for the mess, and Gaara let him off, simply because he was Naruto's best friend's brother.
Finally, after what seemed like a week worth of trouble, Gaara left his office. He walked through the streets, greeting people that happily greeted him back.
Things had changed, just like he had promised.
He paused in his step, not really sure if he knew what he had meant that time that now seemed like a lifetime ago.
As if his thoughts had summoned her, Sakura appeared in front of him in a swirl of sakura petals.
Gaara smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair.
Sakura stayed still and waited until he was done.
"Shall we?" Gaara held out his arm for her to take.
Sakura simply nodded and took his arm. She then fell in step with him as he wandered around. Finally, a ramen stand caught his gaze, and from the way Sakura had paused, she had seen it too.
Wordlessly, they changed the course of their path and entered the stall.
Here's chapter one! Leave us a review and tell us what you think, okay?
So, right now, our minds are bursting with more ideas for more stories!...!...!..!.
Anyways, please tell us which one you will be the most interested in reading next!
Shikamaru x Sakura:
Having been born at a Jashin temple, Sakura had been exposed the the Jashinist ways since she was young. A few days after her ritual of choosing and obtaining Immortality, her temple is attacked and she is taken in by Konoha. There, Sakura struggles to learn and understand the value of Life.
Sasori x Sakura:
Kill the Kazekage and leave Suna. That was the plan, until he comes across a small girl at the scene, looking curiously at the dead body of her father draped over his shoulder. Her exotic pink hair and gem like green eyes. Everything about her was perfect. Her inherited Magnet Release was just a bonus.
We know we need to finish our other fics first...but...it's better to be prepared! Yes...that's it...
Read and Review!