Whirlwind

Chapter Nineteen

-Unexpected-

Sakura woke up about an hour and a half before sunrise, knowing that Gaara was still asleep. Taking a quick shower, she grabbed her money pouch and headed out the door. Since there wasn't anything at the house to eat she made her way to the marketplace. She bought biscuits from the bakery, a few jams, bacon, and sausage. It wasn't much, but she didn't have a lot of money, so it would have to do.

When she got home, she set the food on the dining room table, and made her way to the kitchen. Finally taking in the sight, she sighed. It wasn't very healthy for her and Gaara to stay in the same house together, since they seemed to destroy everything. She smiled to herself. Oh well. If they did become something more, she was sure they'd come up with a way to save the house.

It would be another fifteen minutes or so before he came downstairs, so she began to pick up in the kitchen. She made a pile of large debris, and a pile of small debris. Then she took out a wash rag and began to wipe all the dust off the counters. That way they could set things on it without having to worry about them getting dirty. She swept the floor, and then decided that she had done enough for now. She didn't want to be all sweaty when Gaara came downstairs after all. Plus, she would need all her energy to help pick up the arena she helped destroy.

She grabbed two plates and took them into the dining room. Setting up all the food, she scanned her work to make sure it looked nice. It wasn't anything fancy like what Gaara made her in the mornings, but it's the thought that counts right? She looked at the clock. Any minute now he should be getting up. Suddenly, an idea struck her. Grinning evilly, she grabbed a tray and a glass of water. Sitting the plate on the tray, she made her way upstairs. Let's see how he likes being woken up in the morning.

Taking a fortifying breath she quickly knocked, waited two seconds, and opened the door. With a cheerful smile on her face, she said, "Good morning Gaara!"

Finally Gaara focused on the intruder, and his sand dropped immediately when he took note of who it was. "What do you want?" he asked, obviously still halfway asleep, his hair stuck up in odd places, probably from a rough night of slumber. "I thought I told you never to come in here while I was asleep. I could have killed you."

She put the tray on his nightstand and sat on the side of his bed, giving him a reassuring smile. "But you wouldn't have, because I trust you." Nodding over to what she brought in, she continued. "I brought you something to eat. It's not as good as what you make in the mornings, but the kitchen is still messy so we'll just have to work with what we've got." She left out the fact that she had bought it with her own money, since she knew he was touchy about that. She figured it was a guy thing.

He glanced suspiciously over at the food, returning his gaze back to her. "How did you buy all of that?"

She laughed nervously. "What do you mean? I was given these…by the people I purchased them from…" she said, mumbling that last part and looking away.

"Uh huh." He sighed, deciding to give up. He really didn't want to fight with her today, since it would be his last with her. He grabbed the plate and started picking at the food. He didn't have much of an appetite, but he didn't want her trouble to go to waste. So he ate.

Watching him eat, she began to fidget nervously. "Um…Gaara? Do you think I could come with you to help repair the damages? I feel bad, since I caused some of them myself…"

He looked up at her and shrugged, "You can if you want, though I am sure that the Suna shinobi have most of it done by now. I have to file some paperwork on the incident." He began eating again, mostly just to fill his stomach so he wouldn't be hungry later.

"Oh…ok." she said, looking down at her lap. She really just wanted to spend more time with him, since they would be leaving tomorrow, once Sasuke recovered a bit. But, if he was going to be doing paperwork, she wouldn't have anything to do, and would most likely get in his way. Her only other option would be to go work at the hospital, but she didn't want to chance them asking her to check up on Sasuke, because she really didn't want to see him.

He watched her expressions carefully. Keeping in a sigh he knew would upset her, he set the plate aside. "It shouldn't take me too long…if you would wait and deal with the boredom for a little we could…do…something…" he trailed off, not really having any idea of what they could do, but knowing he wanted to spend what little time they had left with her.

She perked up immediately at that. "Really?" Giving him a sly look, she said, "So, it wouldn't bother you if I just sat there, and stared at you?" She sounded like she was joking, but she wasn't. This way, he would be expecting her to watch him, and would think nothing of it. Her plan was full proof.

"No." he shrugged, not really thinking anything odd about it. "Well I just have to shower and get ready," he said simply. A sly smile crept up his face, "So you probably need to get ready too…" he leaned towards her, resting on his arm. "We could always…save some water." His smile turned quickly into a devious one.

She leaned forward as well, her face mere centimeters from him. Giving him a devious smile of her own, she said, "That sounds like a really good idea. But, unfortunately, I already took a shower while you were sleeping." Standing, she turned to him, "So I'll just wait for you downstairs." She sauntered out of the room, swaying her hips as if she were mocking him.

He watched angrily as she left. He got up, pulling off his shirt and tossing it aside. He went into the bathroom and showered quickly. Still mad at the pink haired woman for messing with him, he decided to leave after he was dressed in a swirl sand.

Sakura waited downstairs, tapping her foot impatiently. It had been more than fifteen minutes, so he should be done by now. She marched up the stairs, and knocked on his bedroom door. Not getting an answer, she opened the door and walked in. "Gaara?" she called, looking around the room. She went towards the bathroom, and, seeing that it was unoccupied, grew angry. He left her?

She left the house, slamming the door enough to cause the wall to crack again, just to spite him. She stomped the whole way to Kazekage Tower, the look of rage on her face making people run out of her way. Reaching the door to Gaara's office, she slammed it open, cracking that wall as well. "How dare you!" she yelled, marching up to his desk. "After I was nice enough to bring you breakfast and wait for you to get ready?" Placing her hands on her hips, she raised an angry brow at him. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

He glanced up at her, uninterested in the tantrum she was throwing. He let out a deep sigh and stood. "Nothing." He shrugged, walking around his desk, making her turn with him until he was right in front of her. He placed his hands on either side of her and pressed her against the desk with his body. "You made me angry, so I decided to make you upset in return." He informed her, pushing her down to the desk so that she was sitting.

"Now if you don't mind," he smiled evilly, tilting her chin up so he could see her infuriated eyes. "I have something new to attend to." He whispered, placing his other hand behind her neck, causing her to lean forward, so their lips were only centimeters apart. He could feel her nervous breath, and couldn't help but laugh darkly.

She swallowed, her face as red as a cherry. "S-something new?"

"Oh yes." Gaara moved his hand on her neck to her cheek, stroking her skin tenderly. "Something that appears to need all my attention." He gave her another push, holding her down to his desk. He hiked up himself, straddling her tiny waist and lowering his face to her neck, pressing his cheek against hers.

She began to breathe in shallow gasps. This was all happening way too fast for her liking. She was supposed to be yelling at him and making him feel bad about leaving her. Not him making her so nervous that she could hardly breathe properly. "W-what is it?" she asked shakily.

He laughed and buried his face into the crook of her neck. "You of course." She could feel his smile against her skin now.

She chuckled at his antics, trying to hide the fact that she was disappointed. Burying her face in his neck in return, she finally found her voice. "Good," she smiled, "Because I've been feeling very neglected."

He pulled away from her, staring down into her beautiful green eyes. "Is that so? I'll make sure to attend to your every need." He leaned back down, taking a soft bite of her neck.

She gasped and arched into his touch. She'd never felt anything like this in her life, and she never wanted it to end. "So allow me to cater." He moved one of his hands to her front, grabbing the zipper to her shirt and giving it a small tug.

Leaning closer to his face, she gently licked the shell of his ear. "Do you know what I need now?" she asked in a husky whisper.

"And what's that?" he stopped, clearly interested in what she wanted from him. Hopefully it was what he wanted as well.

She brought her hands up to one of the buckles on his shirt and began to unclasp it. "You." She said emphatically.

His eyes widened in disbelief, but his shock disappeared more quickly than it had come. "I can do that." Without any hesitation he pulled the zipper down, revealing her pale flesh and the bit of black cloth covering her breasts. She fumbled quickly with the last buckle, tossing his outer vest to the side and working on getting his shirt off. It was a frenzy of hands, until finally Gaara was left in only his pants and Sakura in her black shorts and the small amount of clothing on her top. The redhead grasped the hem of her shorts, already starting to bring them down, when he heard the door slam open, causing him to freeze. He looked through the small opening between his and Sakura's legs to see a horrified blonde haired, blue eyed ninja. Hinata peeked in from behind him and went wide eyed, her face turning such a dark red it had to be unhealthy.

"Hinata-chan! Shield your eyes!" Naruto cried out, tackling the poor girl once again. She flailed, nearly falling into a coma from the embarrassment this time. Gaara blinked and then looked down at Sakura, his eyes going wide. Immediately he jerked away from her, a blush matching his hair spreading across his whole face.

"It's not what it looks like!" he yelled. Feeling as if he had already been through this situation he shook his head, trying to get rid of the evidence on his face. "We…we were playing this new game!" he nodded, still shirtless and Sakura still practically naked.

Naruto stood quickly, pulling Hinata with him, a huge blush on his own face. "Oh yeah? What game! Sex!" he shouted, dragging Hinata away from the scene as fast as he could.

When he turned around, he saw that Sakura had already righted most of her clothing, and was zipping up her red shirt. He was about to say something, until he saw the hurt look in her eyes. "Sakura…"

"Is that all this is to you? A game?" she asked, on the verge of tears.

"A game?" he shook his head and for the first time in his life, Gaara was flustered. "No, it's not a game! It's just that Naruto, he...I don't know! I can't explain what's happening to me…I'm acting…strangely…" he looked away. He didn't think anything he could say would quail her new anger. "I can't control myself." He shut his eyes tightly, feeling only more confused now with his jumbled emotions.

Realizing that this was just as new to him as it was to her, she walked over to him, grasping him in a reassuring hug. "Want to go get some lunch? And then maybe some ice cream? I didn't really get to eat any of it last time." She said, looking into his face with a smile.

Without looking at her, he nodded, pulling on his shirt and adjusting his vest so that he looked presentable.

They went to a kebab stand, and then headed for the ice cream. After that, they wandered around the village aimlessly, content to be in the other's company. Then, coming upon a group of street performers, Sakura grabbed a hold of his arm and eagerly dragged him over to watch. She had never seen such feats performed by ordinary people before, and was in awe.

Gaara watched her enjoy the simpler pleasures in their ninja life. He turned back to face the people in the street, noting all the stares they were getting from the villagers. They were clearly more interested in the beauty locked onto their Kazekage's arm than the performers.

She watched as one of the performers stuck a long sword down his throat and pulled it out without a scratch. "Gaara! Did you see that?" she asked, excitedly shaking his arm a bit.

"Yes Sakura," he laughed lightly, focusing his gaze on her alone. She was more interesting than the silly people in the street anyways. "I was standing right here."

She gave him an annoyed look. "Don't tease me. It was cool!" Laying her head on his shoulder, she sighed. "Suna's a lot cooler than I thought it was gonna be."

"I don't understand why everyone thinks it's so hot." He crossed his arms, annoyed with stereotypes now. "How did you think I could survive if I wore all that clothing?"

She snickered at his response. "I meant cool as in awesome Gaara. Not cool as in the temperature."

"Oh." He looked off then, feeling extremely stupid now.

She laughed. "It's ok. I think it's cute when you think I'm talking about something else."

He huffed, doing his best to pretend like he didn't care. "Well...what do you want to do now?"

"YEAH! IT'S TRUE! I SAW GAARA AND SAKURA-CHAN DOING IT IN HIS OFFICE!" an overly obnoxious, loud man yelled to two blondes. Temari and Ino blinked, obviously not believing it. Hinata nodded, not really knowing what happened, but trusting what Naruto had seen.

Gaara went wide eyed, seeing all the shocked faces around him. He felt his face becoming hot once more. He was going to kill Naruto. The whispers then started and he knew that he and Sakura were the source. The heat on his face only increased. God he hated this! Why did this happen when he was embarrassed? And why was he embarrassed?

"Gaara are you ok?" Sakura asked him, since he had begun to hide his face behind his hands.

"Don't look at me!" he yelled, dashing into a nearby alley. He didn't want Sakura to see him in a weak state.

Unfortunately that had gotten the attention of the three blondes and the Hyuuga far off. "Sakura?" Ino gasped, trying to wave her down.

She marched over to the yelling blonde, and grabbed him by his collar. "Naruto! Stop spreading lies!" she yelled, shaking him vigorously.

"B-but I saw you two Sakura-chan! You were both-"

She clamped a hand down on his mouth and gave him a murderous look. "Gaara already told you that we were playing a game. Don't you trust your friends enough to believe that?" she asked.

The jinchuuriki simply began to talk into her hand, his words muffled. Bringing him closer to her face, she whispered, "If you say anything more on the matter I will make sure that you will never be able to play that game. Ever." She emphasized for good measure. When he nodded in understanding, she dropped him and ran towards the alleyway she saw Gaara disappear into. "Gaara? Are you in here?" she called.

"Go away." He demanded, sitting on an empty wooden box, facing the back wall of the dead end, his back to her.

"You can come out now you know." She said. "I took care of Naruto, so we should be fine."

"I said GO AWAY!" he shouted, looking very tense.

She halted, about to walk towards him. "If that's what you wish." She muttered, hurt. She turned around and left the alleyway. Once she was out, she ran by her friends, and made a dash for the mansion, not wanting anyone to see her cry. Did she do something wrong? Was he ashamed of her?

The sound of her fading footsteps made him turn around. He stared at the empty alley, knowing he had hurt her feelings. He glanced back down. She had to understand, he couldn't be weak in front of anyone. He was the Kazekage, and being around her made him feel…vulnerable.

He got up anyway. No part of him could stand Sakura's unhappiness. His sand shot out and wrapped around him, taking him away to his home. He appeared in the living room, looking around for the pink haired woman.

By then she had already begun some laundry, knowing that she would need clothes for the return journey. At the moment, she was scrubbing the floor in the kitchen, having already thrown the debris out the front door in her rage. Not knowing that Gaara had followed her home, she poured more water onto the floor and resumed scrubbing like a madwoman. He could be embarrassed all he wanted, she wasn't ashamed of her actions.

Crawling over to a new spot to wash, she began to think about the whole situation. Perhaps, the reason she felt different about everything than he did, was because she knew that she loved him, but he didn't know of her feelings. She needed to tell him tonight. She just didn't know how. But, if she cleaned enough, maybe the answer would come to her, and she could get rid of all the frustration she was feeling.

Sensing her presence and knowing what she did when she was angry, he walked into the kitchen, standing in the doorway and watching her clean. Apparently she was so deep in thought that she was oblivious to the fact he was there with her. After a while of watching her, he cleared his throat to get her attention. "Sakura."

Startled from her thoughts, she accidentally knocked the bucket of water over on herself. "Damn." She muttered, before turning around. "Yes?" she asked, acting as if she didn't know why he was there.

He stepped into the kitchen, grabbing a towel from the counter and kneeling beside her. He began to clean up the water, soaking it onto the towel. "I'm sorry I told you to go away. I did not mean it…it's just that…I don't like when people see me when I'm weak." He admitted, refusing to make eye contact with her now.

Her face softened at this. She completely understood what he meant. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she said, "Gaara, I understand where you're coming from believe me. It's just, I wish you could show it to me, even if it's only once. I feel like I've shown you mine so many times." She laughed then, "You're probably tired of all my emotional outbursts by now."

He tried to give her a smile, but the turmoil going on inside him was just too great. "Sakura, I've almost killed you two times…in the past week. Your outbursts are nothing to be ashamed of, and I promise you I am not tired of you."

"It's just how you express yourself. As I said this morning, you would never kill me." Hugging him closer to her, she said, "If it makes you feel better, I'm not tired of you either."

He nodded, standing up then and lowering his hand down to her. She took it, letting him pull her up to his level. "It's been a long day…that roaming around town all afternoon really tired me out."

"Wanna go to bed?" she asked, perking up at the possibility of sleeping with him again.

"I do and I don't." he admitted, keeping her hand tightly in his. He pulled her with him, leaving the kitchen and heading up the stairs towards his room. He didn't explain why, but he didn't want tomorrow to come. Ever.

When they entered his room, she immediately began to get ready for bed. She unbuckled her tan skirt, and pulled off her boots. Standing up, she watched as Gaara pulled off his shirt, revealing his chest to her. She blushed. Maybe now was the perfect time to tell him. That way, they could both go to bed happy. She walked over to him, hesitation I her steps. "Um…Gaara? There's….something I need to tell you."

He tossed his shirt into the corner and looked over at her, curious. "What is it?"

She poked her fingers in a Hinata-like fashion. She should just get it over with. She'd said the words to Sasuke plenty of times, why was it so hard now? Because this isn't Sasuke, she thought. This was someone who actually cared for her. Steeling herself with a deep breath, she looked into his eyes. "I…I'm in love with you." She finally said, hope that he returned her feelings in her eyes.

Gaara's eyes went wide, but not with shock. He looked very alarmed. "Wh-what?"

"I love you." She repeated, now sounding unsure.

"WHY?" he glared at her, his sand rising in defense. He backed away until he ran into the wall, pressing both his hands against it. He reached up, grabbing the area over his heart, right where his scar was. His heart hurt, badly, the only thing flashing through his mind were images of his uncle. The only person to tell him he loved him and then tried to kill him. "Why would you do something like this?" he screamed, the look that had been on his face when he thought she betrayed him returned, only this time it was worse.

She picked up her clothes, using them to shield herself. From what, she didn't know. "I don't know!" she yelled back. "You make me so angry and frustrated, all the time! If your sand wouldn't get in the way I would punch you!" Looking down, she muttered, "But, at the same time, you make me feel things I've only ever dreamt of feeling. When I'm with you, I never want us to be apart, and when you smile, when I'm the one that makes you smile, I feel as though my world is complete."

Slowly, his guard lowered. He watched her cautiously, but her words were sinking in. That was exactly how he felt about her, he wanted her to be happy, and he wanted to see her smile. He thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world. She also irritated the hell out of him when she wanted her way, but even then…he needed her. She made him feel human, something no one else had ever truly accomplished. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He didn't know what to say. He had never felt this before, never, what was he going to do? Consequently, Sakura took his silence for an answer.

Looking the most broken he had ever seen her, she began to back towards his door. "I understand." Was all she said, before dashing down the hall and to her room.

He reached out his hand, about to stop her, but then retreated. Did her running away mean she took back what she had said? He held in a yell. He didn't understand what was happening. Just when the pieces were starting to come together, his world was shattered and he didn't understand why.

Shutting her door, she immediately began to weep. He didn't love her. She had opened up her heart to him, and he didn't say he loved her in return. So she decided to leave before he said the words that would break her heart. The words telling her that he didn't love her, that he thought she was annoying and useless.

She ran over to the closet and flung the doors open. Ripping out all her clothes from the hangers, she began to stuff them into her pack. This way, she wouldn't have to linger in the morning and deal with the tense atmosphere, or hear him say those words. Next were her extra weapons. Reaching over to her nightstand, she grabbed the bandages she had laying there, causing something to fall off and clatter to the floor. Assuming it was a kunai, she decided to leave it. She had plenty of those anyways. Once all of her things were packed, she lay down, and cried herself to sleep.