Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Or Gaara. I could not have come up with an awesome story like that.

A/N: Thought about doing a lemon, then I figured I'd probably screw it up, so...No lemon. Sorry guys! This'll just be the morning after.

Sen lay curled against Gaara's side, sleeping peacefully with her hand resting on his chest.

Gaara, for the first time in his life, was truly satisfied with a decision he'd made. He'd asked and she'd accepted. It had been great for him, but...what he was worried about was if it had been good enough for her.

Sen woke a few minutes later and snuggled against Gaara. "Gaa-kun," she whispered.

"Hn? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Mm, nothing's wrong," Sen whispered. "I just wanted to say thank you."

"For what?"

"For..." Sen trailed off. How could he not know? After last night... Ooh, just thinking about it brought a shudder of sheer pleasure to her. She pulled herself up and lay down across Gaara's chest. She kissed him hard on the lips, feeling the sparks pass between them. "For last night for starters," she whispered as she pulled back.

I was actually good enough? Gaara thought.

Damn, stupid bastard, will you just drop it? I really don't want to have to re-live last night and the more you talk about it the harder it is to forget, Shukaku grumbled.

You're the one that's dragging it on, Gaara countered.

Shukaku grumbled a bit longer, but eventually dropped the issue.

Half an hour later, Sen stumbled downstairs to the kitchen. The whole time, from practically the second they had left his room, Gaara'd had his hand resting around her waist to support her. She was a little sore, but in an odd way, it was a good kind of sore. That was weird. She sat down at the table.

Gaara moved to make Sen some tea. Suddenly a shout broke the silence.

"Holy hell! Why do I get the feeling something happened between you two last night?" Kankurou shouted

Gaara scowled and winced irritably at the yelling. He whirled around. "Kankurou, why don't you mind your own fucking business?" he snapped.

"Because," Kankurou said, smirking at his younger brother, a dangerous game on the best of days. Not that this was the best of days, though. "I'm your older brother and that makes it my business."

Gaara suppressed a frustrated growl at his brother's aggravating nature and poured the tea into a mug and mixing a small amount of honey into it, before carrying it to Sen, only to have Kankurou snatch it out of his hands.

"Aw, great. I've been wanting some tea with honey in it. Thanks, Little Bro."

This time, Gaara let the growl out. "That was for Sen."

"God, I love good, hot tea-"

"Kankurou, if you value your life," Temari said irritably as she came in behind him, "you'll give that to Sen. I'm not going to take responsiblity if Gaara murders you."

Kankurou glared at Temari for a moment before glancing at Gaara. Seeing the raw anger in his younger brother's eyes, Kankurou shoved it onto the table near Sen. "Just kidding. Hehe. How 'bout I make you some, Gaara?"

"No. Thank you," Gaara hissed, before sitting down next to Sen.

Kankurou, taking that as a release from punishment he had feared, darted quickly from the room.

Temari sighed, shaking her head. He could be such an idiot sometimes. She sat down at the table next to her little brother. "So, is it too dangerous to ask what happened last night?" she said cautiously.

"Ask? No. Assume? Yes," Gaara replied as he leaned his elbows on the table, resting his head in one hand. For the first time, he hated being Kazekage. He wanted to stay with Sen, but that was impossible. He had work to do. Part of him knew she understood, but another part knew she wished that they could spend all of their time together. He sighed. It was impossible.

"All right," Temari said slowly. She picked her words carefully and said, "Might you be willing to tell me what happened last night?"

Sen glanced quickly at Gaara before saying, "There was just a small Shukaku outburst, and Gaara ran into the desert. But I managed to calm him down and bring him back."

Why does it seem like you're hiding something? Temari wondered as she looked from Sen, who was staring into her tea and swirling it slowly, to Gaara, who was still leaning on one elbow and now seemed to be staring at the window, as if the landscape outside held the answer to some meaningful question. "Oh," she said aloud. "Well, that's good. I'm glad it all worked out."

Twenty minutes later, Gaara was leaving for his office.

Sen sat, with arms wrapped around her knees as she leaned back against the arm of the couch. She hated when he had to leave, but someone had to run the village.

"Sen."

Sen leaned her head back and realized she was looking into Gaara's eyes.

Gaara leaned down and kissed Sen, running his fingers through her hair. "Do you want to come with me today?" he asked gently.

"But Kankurou says you don't like people in your office because they're distracting and annoying," she replied.

Well, you would be distracting, Gaara thought. Aloud he said, "Consider who I told that to."

"Oh, yeah," Sen said quietly. She reached up and touched his cheek gently. "All right. I'll come. As long as I get to be with you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Gaara replied as he walked to the door and opened it for her. Then they both left.

And so begins their rituals. But how will Gaara focus on his work? And where will their relationship go from here? Find out...In chapter 10, hehe.