Sugar, Spice, and a handful of Sand

Chapter Four: Stalking is such a strong word, I prefer obsessively shadowing

Izzy woke with a soft yawn and found herself not in her room. The one in Suna, the room she had left in the middle of the night to go to Gaara's. Rubbing her eyes, she looked up to the soft pearl canopy over her bed that glittered with the sun that was rising through the shades. That's when she fully took in the large room.

It was the size of her house. The floor were ice cold marble that were the color of a pale peach mixed with pearl and silver, the walls were a concrete sand that were painted a beautiful eggshell. The walls were covered with empty shelves for her to fill and paintings of flowers or of bedroom scenery that was just as breathtaking as the room.

There was a giant wardrobe and a dresser made of wood and covered in detailed designs. A mirror ontop of a giant beauty center that was filled with every kind of make-up and lotion, beauty accessory known to woman-kind, plus perfumes from approcot to wild Zig. Izzy didn't even know what a Zig was but it smelled beautiful and expensive. Then bed was 3 feet off the ground with a wood frame and a canopy, the sheets Indian cotton or something and it felt like clouds she was sleeping in. There was even a balcony which she found herself on to look at the rising sun.

Izzy then looked down to see Gaara and some old and some young men walking around the garden, talking amongst themselves and not the servants keeping them cold with umbrella's. Izzy found that her going to Gaara's wasn't a dream for she was still clutching onto the raggedy, yet precious, stuffed animal he had given her.

When she smiled and held the animal closer, he seemed to look up with a glimmer of what seemed a smile. Izzy waved back before walking inside her room. She didn't want to question who had returned her to her room because it would ruin the magic of whatever did it. Or whomever.

"Izzy?" Temari came walking in, eyes wide at the stuffed animal in her arms, "Where…where did you get that?"

"Gaara gave it to me, he felt bad because I left bunbun at home" She smiled, before putting the animal on her dresser and dug through what she had brought for clothes for the day. Temari ignored the stuffed bear and helped her dig through her clothes. They were going to go shopping today for some desert clothes and help her get accustom to Suna life style. Izzy couldn't wait to learn the culture and the life style of the people. Everything was different here and it was fascinating.

"Where to first?" Izzy asked, as she threw her clothes on the bed and went about changing while Temari pulled out a map she had found the night before. Izzy was down in her undies and bra while Temari talked about going to this or that shop. She was listening, while pulling her hair back and sprinkled one of her favorite perfumes she had found in the drawer on. It was Desert Rose, and it was divine.

"TEMARI, IZZY! GUESS WHAT I…saw…" Kankuro came bursting in and wide eyed with Gaara following as Izzy was bent over the beauty table in no clothes and Temari was talking completely normal and circling things on a map.

"Oh, Hey guys" Izzy waved to them as she crossed the room to pull on her pants. Temari arched her brow at the boys who went speechless. Gaara was dumbfounded, and Kankuro confused.

"Should…" But Temari shook her head and Kankuro furrowed his brows and didn't ask. It was a girl thing they would never understand. Izzy pulled on her shirt before pulling the stuffed animal off the dresser and placing him on her vanity table to sit and watch her room. She didn't notice Gaara watching her intently as she kissed it before walking over to Temari and looking at the map. Kankuro waited a bit before interrupting.

"YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT I SAW!" Kankuro blurted out, rushing inside, Gaara following with a glare and trying to cover his brothers mouth. Izzy and Temari watched as the two danced before Kankuro freed himself and blurted it out. "I SAW IZZY GOING INTO GAARA'S ROOM LAST NIGHT" Everyone went silent and Izzy suddenly looked upset. Gaara glowered at his older brother and hit him as hard as he could before going to Izzy's side.

"Kankuro" Temari snarled, "I bet there was a good reason why she went in his room"

"I'm afraid of the dark" She whimpered, "Without bunbun and the lamp post that always lights my room up slightly, I can't sleep. That's why I like sleeping over at peoples houses because there's someone else there. I need someone there" she finished and looked to her fingers. Gaara put a hand on her shoulder as Temari glowered at Kankuro before going to soothe Izzy.

"Oh" Kankuro looked to his feet, "Sorry, I thought…" He trailed off as she pulled on a smile and shrugged.

"Nah, it's alright, I know what you were thinking and I'm not like that. I… I need a relationship to do that" she giggled, patting Gaara's hand and getting up to her feet. "So, who's up for a day on the town?"

"I have work" Gaara grumbled, pulling his hat back on and flashing Kankuro a warning look before leaving. Kankuro looked to the girls and shook his head, running off to do whatever he wanted to do. Temari and Izzy looked at each other and shrugged. It would be a girl's day, too bad Temari was going to do shopping for Gaara while they were out as well. He had asked her to take Izzy out on the town, get her accustomed to the city, then get her one thing that made sense to her now.

One a night light that wasn't embarrassing. So When they went walking out onto the town, Temari snuck off while Izzy was trying on something and bought the simplest light she could find and came back without Izzy noticing.

"What do you think?"

.x.o.x.o. Sugar, Spice, and a Handful of Sand .x.o.x.o.

"What do you think?" She asked twirling in Gaara's office in her new Desert outfit. Most of the women in Suna wore wraps but this one was one of the fancier ones that Gaara couldn't stop staring. The pants were a a bit puffy but there were two layers, one was silk colored baby blue, while there was a netting like second layer that was a bit darker and had golden glitter sprinkled evenly, a golden waist and ankle. There was a belly top that was shaped like a babydoll top made of the baby blue silk and gold rims. Then she had a matching wrap on her hands she was twirling around and dancing with.

Temari smirked as she left the room, Gaara wanted to call her out on it because he knew what she was trying to pull. However, Izzy noticed he hadn't said anything and stopped to look at him. Perking up, Gaara gave a nod of approval and turned his head down to his paper work. Don't pay attention to the barely dressed girl in front of you. Gaara tried to keep this in mind but he let his eyes wander up to Izzy reaching up for a book. His mind began to race and he couldn't focus any longer and all he felt was a need to be near her.

He knew what this was called. Kankuro had explained to this when Gaara had felt this way about a young girl in town a few years ago. Lust, the need to just have the person against you. For him, the girl had been nice to him then one day wore something skimpy and he couldn't hold it in, he didn't come out for days. Gaara wasn't stupid or anti-sexual, for he did his own "Pleasuring" most of the time, but he was still a virgin. He knew he wanted it to mean something when it happened because that was something that connected people to each other.

"Here" he waved his hand for the book to come flying off the shelf with his sand. Izzy went wide eyed and suddenly he knew his mistake. The lust was covered by worried she was frightened. Izzy looked at the sand with fear and he knew she was afraid of it.

"Where did … that come from?" She whimpered, "and why does it smell like blood" Gaara pulled it back closing the gourd to his side closed, feeling ashamed. He should have never done it.

"It's my … talent" He whispered, trying to put away the disappointment. Izzy nodded only to give him a sheepish grin.

"Sorry, that was probably really mean. I didn't mean to make you feel ashamed. It's creepy but it's not… It's not as bad as some peoples talents I know" she whispered. Gaara looked up from his paper to see Izzy standing beside him with a hand on his shoulder. The lust was back. She was afraid but she understood. "I could learn to live with the … smelly sand" She giggled, eyeing the gourd. However, Gaara was eyeing her completely differently. His eyes kept traveling her body and couldn't stop the images of seeing her against him. Gaara was yerning to touch her, to be touched by her, but he ripped his eyes from her body and tried to focus back on his work. She would never allow him to do what he wanted.

She had said she only did it for love, and what did he know about love. So when she finally left in her baring outfit, Gaara growled and threw some writing utensil across the room. Infact, for once, his pant line had rose and he couldn't get it to go down by trying to breathe. Every thought brought her back to mind in the skimpy Arabian outfit. Oh Gaara knew he wanted to rip it off her and feel her soft skin against his. The worst was seeing her Lips against his in his head.

Gaara put his hands in his lap, hissing at the throbbing thing that kept him focused on her only. He needed to rid himself of this, he had things to focus on and it couldn't be how much he wanted to have Izzy. Besides, it was just lust, it would disappear soon and then he could be around her and not want to attack her.

"There are water shortages I must attend to" He grumbled, putting his palms on the desk and looking to the scroll in front of him that described the patrol squad he had sent out. Nothing was working, all the water supplies were growing smaller and smaller. They were going to dry out of water. He could not allow this to happen, he was responsible for his people and their worries. If he had to, he would rather die then give up like the people expect him too. Never will Sabaku No Gaara give up, Never aslong as it's expected of him. That's when Izzy broke in to break up his thoughts.

"Gaara, I JUST HAD THE BEST IDEA!" Izzy came running in, scaring him out of his skin. She had changed back to her normal clothes which made it easier but not when she came up beside him and sat on the desk to look him in the eye.

"Gaara, what if we had a water ninja come and restore the old water lines, I know a man who came in for water lilies once and he told me he recreates water from the air and the ground. I could send him a letter and ask for his help. He was really nice and I bet he'd have a cheap price for it too!" She stated, grinning ear to ear. Gaara sighed, what could it hurt, if it didn't help, then they would be at where he was then and if it helped, his country would survive until the next time they dried up.

"Deal"

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Author's Notes: First off, thank you all for all the wonderful comments you've made, I do enjoy hearing from you all so I encourage you to speak your mind, I'm open to everything. Ideas, criticism, give it up =)

To Kakashis-girl90- I LOVE YOUR QUOTES, THEY'RE AWESOME, to say the least. They remind me so much of my friends and I love them, send them over, I got a kick out of them, I might not use them all but I will try to use plenty of them, thank you

To my readers, don't be afraid to send over quotes or anything you have that might help me better my works. But, Auf Wiedersehen.

With Love,

The Author.