Typhoon

Chapter Nine

-Back to Suna-

Standing at the gates of the village, Sakura turned back with a sigh. It wasn't like this would be the last time she saw her hometown, but she didn't know when she would be coming back.

When she and Gaara got up that morning, he had helped her pack up her clothes and personal belongings. Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Kiba were coming with them to help with the wedding plans and negotiations between Sand and Leaf, so they were helping to carry her stuff. Everyone else had gathered at the gate to say goodbye. Even Sasuke was there.

Staring at the Hokage monument, she sighed once more. "I sure am going to miss this place."

Gaara looked over at her, following her gaze and almost feeling guilty. Almost. He hadn't really taken into consideration that she wouldn't be coming back to Konoha for a long time. She wasn't going to live here anymore, she wouldn't see her friends for maybe years. He finally focused on her face again. Did she really want to leave everything she knew and loved for him? She looked sad, which made his heart sink. "Sakura…if you don't want to go you don't have to…" he tried to sound sincere.

Startled, she looked to him. "It's not that. I'm just going to miss everything here…"

He tried not to take her statement offensively, but of course, he was Sabaku no Gaara, and he took everything the wrong way. "You know what Sakura don't to force yourself to come with me. If you don't want to leave your precious village we just won't get married." He crossed his arms angrily.

"What are you talking about?!" she asked, confused. "Of course I want to marry you! You can't blame me for being a little sad to leave the place where I grew up!" she yelled at him, already tired of his childishness.

He blinked, taken back by her anger. "I'm simply telling you Sakura that if you really don't want to, you don't have to. I don't want to force you." He glared down at her, everyone around them letting out an audible sigh. This was almost expected from the two.

She continued to yell at him. "You're not forcing me! I just said I wanted to marry you! And marrying you means I have to move to Suna! There's nothing wrong with that!"

"Well," he stopped, not really understanding why he was trying to make Sakura stay. It seemed foolish. But before he could speak, Sasuke stepped forward.

"It's ok Gaara, you can leave Sakura here. I'll take good care of her." The man spoke, keeping his dark eyes locked on Sakura. She would be the one to continue the Uchiha line. Nobody else was good enough.

Gaara grabbed Sakura by the wrist and pulled her against him, "That's quite alright Uchiha." He looked back down at Sakura, who still seemed mad. "I'm sorry…I guess I just…" he sighed, but she seemed to understand and gave him a smile.

"Take me home Gaara." She said simply, talking about his mansion.

He nodded and looked to the others accompanying them on this journey. "Are you all ready?" he asked. Ino and Kiba nodded, Shikamaru didn't really care enough to answer, and Temari already started heading for the gate.

"Bye everyone!" the sand shinobi waved.

"Bye Sakura-chan! We'll see you at the wedding!" Naruto yelled happily, running to hug his lifelong friend.

She hugged him back. "Take care of Hinata." She said, knowing that he would.

He gave her a thumbs up pose that would make Gai-sensei proud. "Of course I will! As my woman, Hinata-chan will always be taken care of!"

This statement caused the Hyuuga to blush. She gave Sakura a tentative hug, trying her best not to get any darker than she already was. "Bye Sakura. Take care."

"You too Hinata." She answered, moving to walk back over to Gaara's side. Before she could get there Kakshi stepped in front of her.

"Remember what I said Sakura. Numbers one, two, and three."

Stepping around him, she gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Whatever Sensei. Did you ever think that I may like number two?" she asked, latching onto Gaara's arm.

Kakshi just stood there, flabbergasted.

"Bye guys!" Sakura shouted with a wave.

With that the group of shinobi left the Konoha gates and took off towards Suna. Sakura took a deep breath. It was odd. She was going to live in Suna, for the rest of her life, but the thought made her smile. She was going to live in Suna with Gaara…for the rest of her life.

Seeing the gates of Suna in the distance, Sakura smiled. They were almost home. When they entered the village, a crowd of people was waiting for them. Before she could ask Gaara what was going on, they were swarmed by the people.

"Kazekage-sama! Is this your fiancé?"

"Look! It's Sakura-sama! Sakura-sama we missed you!"

Not used to the attention she was receiving, she clutched Gaara's arm closer to her body and tried to move behind him. All she wanted was to go home in peace, shower off the dirt from traveling, and go to bed. Was that too much to ask?

Sensing his love's want, Gaara stood in front of her, telling his village that he and Sakura needed rest from their long journey. "You can ask questions tomorrow," he waved to them and led Sakura off. The rest of the group followed, and once they reached the mansion they set Sakura's things in the living room and left.

"See you guys later!" Ino waved, taking Kiba with her to their hotel room.

"Yeah, I just bought a new house, cause no way am I living here anymore with you two." Temari laughed, taking Shikamaru by the arm and escorting him away.

Gaara looked down at Sakura and had his sand pick up all her bags and take them upstairs to their room. They walked in and Sakura gasped, realizing that his room was a bit different than she remembered. Now there was a vanity near the large balcony, filled with perfumes and such, and the bed was adorned with a sheer black canopy.

"The room looks amazing." She said in awe, turning in a slow circle in order to take it all in.

"I'm glad you like it." Gaara said, a small smile on his face.

She walked over and sat on the bed, then began to pull her boots off. Sighing at the feel of the cool air hitting her sore feet, she looked over at him.

"It feels so good to be home." She said, smiling.

"It does." He nodded, letting his sand take her bags into their enormous closet, a part of his room she had not seen. "All your presents are in the closet, so you can arrange everything as you would like tomorrow or whenever you feel like it. If you need help don't hesitate to ask." He nodded and looked around, this seemed odd. The last time she had been here she was trying to save the Uchiha and they had a pretty interesting start. "Oh," he looked back towards the door. "I had the kitchen redone….so, it's not destroyed anymore."

She smiled. "Good. Are you gonna make me waffles in the morning?" she asked with a devious smile, remembering the last time they ate her favorite breakfast food.

The blush on his face did not go unnoticed. "We'll see, though we might have to wait till our wedding morning to make waffles…you know what happens when we have waffles." He smirked, giving her a knowing look.

She crossed her arms in a pout. "Fine." Then she stood up and walked over to one of her bags. She pulled out an extra set of clothes and her toiletries. Standing up, she turned back to him. "I'm going to get a shower and wash all this sand off me. Think about what you want for dinner." She said as she made her way towards his bathroom, a feeling of excitement going through her. She had never seen his bathroom before, and wondered if it would be as elegant as the one in her old room.

"I'll eat whatever and after you're done you might as well claim the second sink and place all your things in the drawers." He called after her. Deciding to be helpful, he went into the closet that was almost as big as her old room in the mansion. He started taking her things out of her bag and putting them in their own areas. By the time he was done, Sakura had gotten out of the shower and was taking her sweet time in the bathroom. He came out from their closet and slipped his shoes off, lying down in his soft bed. He was tired from their journey.

She walked out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. Forgetting about food, she padded across the room to the bed and got in beside him. She wrapped her arms around his midsection and nuzzled his neck, letting out a contented sigh. "I'm considering skipping dinner just so I can go to bed sooner." She admitted.

"I'm not that hungry anyway," he sighed, having to get up and pull his shirt off. Once he was only in his pants he got back into bed with her and let her resume her snuggling.

"Ok, then we can stay here." She said with a smile.

Shortly after that they both fell asleep in each other's arms, not a care in the world.