Chapter EIGHTEEN

"Citizens of Sunagakure, I welcome you to our annual Festival of Spring." Gaara stood on stage. He was wearing a dark green montsuki haori, the emblem of Suna printed proudly onto the back. Underneath, he wore a a formal red kimono.

"I would like to mention that this year, we have important guests from Konoha -gakure no sato." Gaara nodded hit head in the direction of Minato and the other Konoha representatives. Minato returned the nod.

He then went on, talking about the traditions of the festival.

"I hope you all enjoy this period of celebration." Gaara's shot speech was met with applause. Gaara bowed before walking off the stage, towards where Sakura was supposed to be waiting. He had promised to take her around the festival grounds.

Then he saw her.

Oh gods.

He didn't know what to do. She had noticed him. A smile lit up her face, and she was coming towards him.

Seeing nothing else he could do, he stayed where he was.

"Hello, Kazekage-sama!" Matsuri smiled at him cheerfully.

Gaara just nodded. He didn't want to keep Sakura waiting. He knew she would stay at their allocated location, waiting for him, as he had promised to come. She would wait forever without complaining, and he didn't want to take advantage of her undivided loyalty.

"Kazekage-sama, would you like to come around the festival with me and my friends?" Matsuri asked. A few other kunoichi approached them, all smiling.

Gaara shook his head briskly. "My apologies. I thank you for your invitation, but I'm keeping someone waiting."

Matsuri wilted in disappointment. "Oh, I see..."

Gaara couldn't help but feel as though he didn't really care. The expression of disappointment would only really affect him on Sakura's face, and he knew the girl would never show disappointment on her face, especially to him.

"But Kazekage-sama? I'm sure they wouldn't mind waiting a little..." Another one of the Kunoichi, Rumi, or something, chirped up.

Of course, Sakura wouldn't mind waiting forever for Gaara, and everyone knew that. And all the Kunoichi here probably knew that this 'someone' was.

Prodding at Sakura's loyalty like that made Gaara a little angry. "I'm sorry, but we promised to meet up, and I am already late."

He brushed past them, not looking back.

He finally reached the single tree standing at the edge of the huge training grounds used as the main ground for the festival. Sakura's bright pink hair stood out even in the sea of people.

When he caught sight of her, it took everything within Gaara to stop himself from stuffing the girl into his robes to shield her from everyone and everything. Then again, that meant she would spend the rest of her life pressed against him, and that didn't sound like a bad idea...

Also, Gaara regretted the fact that he had let Sasori have his way with the girl. Earlier that morning, Sakura had been kidnapped by Sasori, who was going to 'prepare her for the festival'. He was being very creepy, muttering "Doll, doll, pretty little doll" over and over under his breath.

Sakura looked breathtaking. She really did.

She was dressed in a striking red and black kimono. The red matched his hair as well as his own clothing. Her hair was held up in an elegant bun with black hair decorations holding it up, the color bringing out her green eyes.

Sasori had done his magic as an artist.

Sakura looked up when Gaara planted himself in front of her. He felt Kankuro's chakra leave the area and had to suppress a smile.

"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting."

Sakura quickly got to her feet and shook her head. "It's okay, Gaara-sama. I wasn't waiting that long." She tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear and looked up at him from between her pink lashes.

Gaara's heart skipped a beat, but he was quick to compose himself. He offered his arm to Sakura, who reached out and gently gripped his sleeve.

"We aren't in office. Call me Gaara." He then turned around promptly to show that he wasn't going accept any arguments.

The two of wandered around the festival, nothing really in mind.

At one point, Gaara led them to a stall that caught his eyes. The old woman running the dango stall looked up and smiled when she caught sight of them.

"Hello, Kazekage-sama." She smiled kindly at Sakura, who ducked her head. "Hello, Sakura-sama."

"Hello." Sakura murmured.

Gaara smiled faintly and nodded. "The usual, please."

The woman reached under the counter and pulled out two boxes of dango. She put them into a bag, then slipped in the utensils. She handed Gaara the box and smiled, stopping Gaara from pulling out his wallet. "It's on the house today."

Gaara sighed and shook his head, but he took the bag with a smile.

He often visited this store to buy Sakura dango. The woman knew him well and sometimes gave him discounts.

"Thank you."

Sakura dipped her head at the woman, then let herself be dragged out of the store.

The two of them sat on a bench at the edge of games corner, watching as a group of children ran around. They dug into the boxes of dango, content with sitting in the silence.

After finishing one box, they decided to keep the other. Gaara took Sakura's hand, intent on getting Sakura to have fun tonight. He led her through the games section, greeting the villagers as they bowed.

He stopped in front of a pool of goldfish. A group of children and a pair of young adults were crouched around, trying to scoop the fishes with nets made of paper. He looked at Sakura's who's eyes were rapidly chasing the movement of the fishes. "Want to try it?'

Gaara paid the man running the activity, then handed Sakura a net.

Not knowing what to do with the thirty four bags of goldfishes Sakura had managed to scoop, they handed it out to the crowd that had gathered around them.

Gaara himself had only managed to scoop two, and that had been after going through twenty or so nets. Sakura had managed her amount in two nets.

He made a note to himself to never attempt goldfish scooping with Sakura.

He was going to have to practice first.

They visited several other game stalls. They competed in a dart throwing game, and a hoop throwing activity, where they simply gave back the prizes they had won. They were shinobi, and that gave them an unfair advantage.

Sakura did, however, take a raccoon plushy she had gotten and gave it to Gaara. Gaara buried his face in the soft toy to hide his blush he was sure he was sporting. An old couple walking past smiled kindly at them, chuckling.

"Hey, give me those." Ino snatched the binoculars from Temari and eagerly pressed them to her eyes. "Oooooo."

"Ino-chan, I don't think..." Hinata trailed off nervously.

"Jeez." Temari easily reached into her pouch and pulled out another pair.

"You had more?" Ino asked without turning around.

"Duh. I cannot miss this. I absolutely cannot."

"What makes you so sure that it'll be today?" Tenten asked curiously.

"Because!" Temari turned around with a huff. "It's got to be! I mean, look at them! Look at them!"

"But they've been like that every time I see them." Tenten argued.

Temari huffed. "Because I know my brother, and he likes for everything he does to be significant. Today is the Spring Festival! I know something's gonna happen!"

So, our first cross over is out! If you have time, please check it out!

Of Team Riki: At Hogwarts:

Hired by Voldemort, Team Riki consisting of Itachi, Sakura, Neji and Shikamaru attend Hogwarts as spies and as weapons for the coming war. However, as they watch Harry Potter and his friends struggle against a seemingly unbeatable force, they are reminded of Konoha. This was supposed to be a mission, nothing emotional, but they begin to doubt if they are on the right side.

So...okay, this time, we're really nearing the end.

Yeah...

Darque: In Taiwan right now, for challenge week/camp thing.

Raven: Nice~

Darque: I debated over whether or not to bring my laptop, but in the end, I decided to!

Raven: Oh? Why's that?

Darque: Cause if I didn't bring it, I wouldn't be able to post this new chapter!

Raven: Oh. Also, I see that you've passed your 'Oooooo' disease to Ino.

Darque:...

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