after naruto left sakura trained and became even stronger. with jochis help she began to be able to harness and use their clans gift. with tsunades help her medical skills were perfect, she could cure anything, except death. she worked hard for the next two years and became stronger, smarter, and even more gorgeous, but she refused to open her heart to romance. she made more friends and became loved, but she wouldnt love anyone like anything more than family.
things were going well. sakura decided now was the time to start playing matchmaker.
"first up ino and kiba"
sakura snuck to the grounds where she saw kiba, hinata, and ino. ino and hinata's backs were to her as they talked. kiba who was training by throwing rocks to akamaru was right across from them, his back also to her.
'perfect' sakura picked up a rock and hurled it at ino. it hit her back dead center.
now ino being the short-tempered drama queen that makes her ino whirled around and screamed at the top of her lungs, "DOG BOY! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM! WHY DID YOU JUST THROW A FUCKING ROCK AT ME YOU MUTT!"
working fast sakura ran and grabbed hinata as ino continued to scream. "YOU IDIOTIC DOG! ITS BAD ENOUGH THAT YOU SMELL
LIKE ONE BUT NOW YOU HAVE TO ACT LIKE ONE TOO! SCRATCH THAT AKAMARU ACTS TWENTY TIMES BETTER THAN YOU! HIS IQ IS PROBABLY THAT MUCH HIGHER TOO!"
it wasnt long before kibas ego had had enough and he fought back, "SHUT UP INO! SERIOUSLY GET OVER YOURSELF! WHY THE FUCK WOULD I THROW A ROCK AT YOU IDIOT! YOU ARE SUCH A DRAMA QUEEN! JEEZ! YOU ACT LIKE EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD IS ABOUT YOU! YOU CALL ME AN DUMB LOOK IN THE MIRROR! YOU'RE SUCH A BITCH!"
that hit hard ino was quiet taking it all in. not many people especially guys stood up to ino, let alone insulted her. no one usually had the guts to yell at her besides sakura. they want to live.
sakura prayed that this would work, that ino would act just as sakura had predicted she would. hinata held her breath as they watched from the bushes even the collected and shy heiress was intrigued by the scene.
then ino walked over to kiba and kissed him. the poor kid didnt see it coming. he stood there in complete shock and ino was pulling away before he realized what had happened. ino who had noticed she had had no reaction from kiba was utterly embarassed and hurt as she pulled away, but kiba grabbed her arm pulled her back and kissed her.
"sakura you're a genius" was all hinata said before the two snuck off.
"next is temari and shikamaru."
"there you are shikamaru! you know when your someones guide it means you have to stay and guide them, jeez. what are you doing anyway? cloud gazing" temari said looking at the shawdow-nin who lay on his back on a grassy hill
"..."
"are you even listening" temari was getting annoyed
"..."
"oh my god! your sleeping arent you!" as she got closer she realized he was indeed sleeping
"ugh! I swear youre so annoying. why do I even bother to like you. I could have been normal and gone out with a guy whose worth while at least" temari muttered ot the sleeping boy not realizing he was faking his sleep, hearing every word.
so temari spilled her heart out to shikamaru oblivious to the fact that he could hear her.
a while later temari was bored of waiting for him to wake so she decided to wake shikamaru up. however as she leaned over him, shikamaru's hand shot up and dragged her down her face an inch away from his.
"well temari I didnt know you liked me so much" he whisper before he kissed her. temari on the other hand was in a trance, shikamaru was a better kisser than she thought. alot better.
sakura arrived at the hill to see the two making out. "hmm I guess they dont really need my help. of course they are smarter than the others" then she left them to make out in peace.
"two down two to go, neji and tenten its your lucky day"
sakura found neji at the training grounds, obviously, and of course that meant tenten wasnt far away. sakura knew this one would be difficult, but her plan was simple.
"neji" sakura yelled cheerily waving her hand at the huuyga prodigy, "I have a question"
"hn"
"great and you promise you'll answer"
"that depends"
"oh you will. so are you like crushing on tenten"
neji stared at sakura like she was insane, then he glared
"so thats a yes. wow neji you should tell her, I mean come on."
"shut up sakura mind your own business"
"well I was just letting tenten know that you like her, because neji I know your smart and everything but seriously your as dumb as naruto when it comes to girls. tenten's crush on you was almost as obvious as hinatas old crush on naruto. shes liked you for like ever. so swallow your ego and ask her out." sakura turned around facing the forest where tenten was running to come kill her, sure enough eight kunai flew out of the trees at sakura who easily blocked them and shouted, "your welcome tenten" before disappearing to watch in a tree.
"sakura im gonna kill you" tenten shouted to the surrounding forest. neji was completely silent, not sure what to do for the first time in his life.
"tenten"
"uh hi neji" tenten mumured blushing as neji looked at her
"hn"
"um neji" tenten blushed even deeper
"hn"
"do you really, uh I mean I sorta, well I kinda-"
"tenten" neji said holding up a hand "what"
nejis attitude really pissed tenten off so she marched right up to him and said heatedly "is this okay with you" and kisses him senseless.
as she pulled away all neji could do was say, "uh" but whe he saw tentens victoriuos smirk he grabbed her and kissed her so passionately that even sakura was stunned and a bit grossed out and so she took her leave
"well hinata I saved the best for last you and gaara are meant to be"
sakura strolled into tsunades office and said "tsunade I need a big favor huge really"
"what sakura anything legal or close to it" answered the blonde alchoholic hokage
"I need you to assign me and hinata to accompany temari back to suna for two weeks as her guards" temari had mentioned the other day that there was business in suna that gaara needed her help with but that shed be back soon. it was the perfect time to get hinata and gaara together sakura knew them both so well that it would be easy.
"uh sure sakura, but why" asked tsunade suspicious of her former pupil
"well your love of matchmaking rubbed off on me and I think gaara and hinata are perfect" sakura said unabashed remembering the elaborated scheme tsunade was planning for her apprentice shizune.
"oh I love a good setup. of course you two can go and I want a full report"
"great! thanks tsunade" said sakura running out excitedly to pack her bags. tsunade sighed and summoned a chuunin to inform hinata and temari
"oh and tell genma and shizune to come to my office too" tsunade added smiling deviously before he disappeared in the classic whirl of leaves but that is another story
"temari are we there yet" sakura whined even though she knew they were about five minutes away from suna it was fun to annoy temari who as an answer glared mercilously at her, she wasnt happy about being away from shikamaru for two weeks and had begged tsunade to let him escort her but the hokage had denied it saying she needed him for a mission in the village.
"you could at least pretend to be happy to have two of your best friends with you instead of strangers you know"
"I could have had shika" temaru grumbled as the stopped in front of the mansion she called home.
"uh temari" hinata said shyly "is lord uh kaze- uh"
"gaara" sakura said helpfully and by hinatas deep blush she could tell the answer
"what about me" gaara asked materializing at sakuras side out of sand
hinata blushed deeper if possible causing gaara to look at her strangely
sakura seeing trouble jumped to the rescue, "we were wondering if the all mighty kazekage would be gracing us with his prescence any time soon."
gaara smirked and turned his attention from a grateful hinata
"is your question answered?" temari playfully hit him or almost did before the sand appeared.
"ugh sakura come with me poor hinata wont survive kankuro without gaaras sand. you know how he gets" so temari and sakura stood in front of gaara and hinata ready to brave what is known as the worlds second worst pervert.
as soon as the door opened kankuro was there hugging sakura which is the suttle way to feel her up but before a second had passed she had shoved him off. then in the next second he was greeting hinata or her breasts actually. luckily temari was right to put gaara with hinata and sand pinned the now unconcious puppeteer to a chair.
"thanks gaara, when will he learn" temari said shaking her head ashamed of her little brother's behavior.
hinata was still a tomato red and at the sight of her sakura and temari burst out laughing. hinata also laughed and to sakuras pleasure she saw gaara's reation.
"wow" gaara thought as he listened to hinata angelic laugh, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever experienced. "how had I never noticed her beautiful flawless skin, her round face, mezmorizing eyes, and her curvacious body" gaara shook his head he was a demon he wouldn't think like that about her
as if reading his thoughts sakura frowned, this wasnt going to be as easy as she had hoped.
later that night when everyone else was asleep sakura snuck into gaaras office knowing that since he never slept he'd obviously be there.
"hey what are you doing" she asked smiling as gaara looked up from an array of papers
he pushed them away "nothing interesting why are you here"
"well gaara I have a question to ask"
"okay"
"I need you to be completely and utterly honest"
"fine"
"and since ive known you practically our entire lives I expect you to-"
"SAKURA!!!"
sakura jumped and looked at gaara shocked, he never yelled
gaara took a deep breath "I said okay"
"right so I was wondering..."
"yes"
"well if possibly"
"what"
"maybe just maybe"
"get on with it" gaar growled growing impatient
sakura smiled teasingly and sat in his lap "well do you think hinata is hot"
gaara nearly knocked sakura off of him in his surprise "what are you crazy no"
sakura smiled deviously an evil glint in her eyes "so thats a yes"
"NO!!!"
"you're right"
"thank you"
"its a definitely"
gaara groaned in defeat "I hate the fact she can tell when i'm lying" "fine yes"
sakura squealed in delight. "sooooooooooooooooooooooo"
gaara rolled his eyes "so what"
"are you gonna ask her out"
"uh no"
"why not you just said shes hot"
"yeah shes hot but what else do I know about her. come on sakura. what the heck is your problem" gaara glared suspiciously at sakura "whats up with her? she's acting weird."
sakura shrugged "nothing. I was just suggesting jeez, I mean isnt the whole point of dating getting to know someone"
gaara just grunted
sakura got up and walked over to the door turning to say "hinatas one of my best friends and I love her, okay. shes a great person gaara. give her a chance" and she walked out
the next morning sakura and hinata were walking to breakfast when sakura was hit with a brilliant idea. technically it had nothing to do with gaara and hinata but it would be fun. right before the two walked into the dining room where the sand siblings were already eating sakura whispered her prank to hinata who smiled and blushed whispering back
"isnt that alittle mean"
"after how temari yelled at me yesterday I think its a suitable punishment so just follow along" hinata nodded and they walked in as sakura whispered according to plan
"I still cant believe temari spent they whole night at shikamarus house"
hinata nodded pretending to ignore gaaras slight glance and kankuros stunned stare, temari was glaring
"I know I saw them making out on a hill in the park, ino said they'd been at it for hours"
kankuro and gaara were now looking pissed off and glaring at a beet red temari, everyone knew that the sand brothers were very protective of there big sister, in other words they beat any guy who touches her to a bloody pulp. as if suddenly realizing they were in the room sakura shut her mouth and hinata blushed faintly.
"what the hell guys" temari hissed through her teeth trying to ignore her brothers' murderous auroas
hinata was playing her part perfectly and said embarassed "I'm so sorry, I didnt notice I wasnt paying attention" hinata looked up at temari with her big pale glistening eyes, with her navy hair falling partially over one looking so adorable and as if she were about to cry. sakura was so proud she couldnt have pulled it off any better, she was even more pleased to see Gaara take notice of Hinata's adorable sex kitten look.
for a moment gaara couldnt take his eyes off hinata, all he could think was "I have to have her. I have to have her. I have to have her…" then he felt the table shake and he shook himself out of his trance. kankuro had stood up and was looking pissed off.
"temari" he said "can we talk" temari looked down at the table "now!" kankuro almost yelled
"um" everyone turned to look at sakura "maybe this is a bad time to mention that shikamaru will arrive back early from his mission, maybe in a day or two"
no one understood "so" temari said
"well since you begged her so much" sakura said trailing off
temari turned red from embarassment "what sakura"
"after he gives his mission report shes sending him here" as she finished kankuro exploded
"wonderful send that good for nothing bastard here. we'll teach him for making a whore out of our sis right gaara"
"I am not a whore and youre not gonna touch a hair on shikas head you hear"
"I dont think so, this guys gonna be like all the others. hes gonna leave you a wreck with a broken heart"
"the main reason so many guys disappear is because you and gaara usually send them to an early grave"
gaara who had yet to say anything abruptly stood up "thats enough" everyone looked at gaara "kankuro I won't have another war started because you killed some guy for sleeping with our sister" kankuro opened his mouth to protest but gaara silenced him, temari smirked victoriously "and temari as long as that guys here hes here on a mission, which means no making out no anything"
"but gaar-"
gaara cut her off saying "I'm the kazekage" he glared at his siblings "those are the rules, get used to it" and he left. Temari and Kankuro both left to silently brood, sakura laughed maniacly and went off to tan leaving hinata to marvel at how smart gaara was, okay she might have been thinking about how sexy he was too but only a little bit.
there were three days left in suna. shikamaru had arrived five days earlier and had to deal with a cranky temari and vicious kankuro. at the moment hinata was standing on the mansions roof watching the sunrise, enjoying the peace of 4am. then she noticed someone walking over to her. she turned to see gaara watching the sunrise. over the past two weeks hinata was positive she had fallen in love with gaara, and gaara was on his way to believing that too.
"gaara have you ever been in love"
gaara didnt seem at all surprised by her random question and answered cooly "no never"
hinata felt like a knife had plunged into her heart but she hid it well "i'm in love" this caught gaaras attention "i've loved him for nearly 2yrs but" she looked at gaara straight on "I know he doesnt love me"
in a flash gaara grabbed hinatas face and kissed her. hinata kissed him right back pulling him closer. finally when they seperated to breath hinata smiled.
"are you sure" gaara asked
"I guess I was wrong" and hinata kissed him again
unknown to the couple sakura sat in the shadows pleased that all her plans had been successful, tsunade would be proud.