A.N. - Hi everybody!!! Sorry I took a little long to get this out but I have finally managed to get it out and by popular request this is focusing back on Sakura and Gaara. This is their story still don't worry I'm not forgetting them. Lol I also want to tell everyone MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!!Alrighty so last time we saw Gaara and Sakura… Sakura had just left campus to have lunch with her mother and talk about what was distracting her during class. Sakura turned out to be thinking about mating Gaara and when she wanted to and how to go about telling her sandman she loved him but wanted more time. Saiyomi gave her words of wisdom and Sakura felt sure enough hat she could tell Gaara how she felt thanks to her mother's help. Little did the two ladies know, Gaara who was more worried than he'd been willing to let Sakura know had stealthily followed the two of them to the café and eavesdropped on their whole conversation! Now that he knows he's not in danger of loosing Sakura he is fine with whatever she wants. So he returned to his dorm and is now waiting for her to return and tell him what he already knows. Lol sneaky Gaara. Ok there's a little recap since its been a while since they had the spotlight. Now on to the chapter! I hope you all enjoy it!!

FanggirlX

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine

To Courtz. babee- Cute? Aw! Thank you! I was so worried I would mess them up lol which is why I stalled so long with them… but I' happy with how they turned out and I'm even happier that you liked it too!! I was ready for them to get it official to. Lol they're just too adorable together heehee. Yay! I'm so glad you liked that. I always pictured Naruto knowing just enough…lol so im so glad you thought that was cute! Heehee yeah my Naruto in this story is smart but sometimes a little slow on the uptake lol poor Hinata huh? I would've been mortified. I hope your party was fun! Thank you for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!!

To hayhayhiltz- Thank you! I'm so glad you think so. I truly was terrified that I would but I must say I agree with you in the end I think I did pretty good. They're a tough couple to write and like you said because so many people ruin them I worked super hard to make sure I didn't. So I am just ecstatic you say that I didn't. and yeppers this next one is gaasaku so I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for your review!!

To Lee-chan- heehee I made you blush!! Really? you never have before! Oh my goodness that's so cool!!I'm really happy I could achieve that leechan now just wait till I write sSakura and Gaara's lol that might be even more fun I think. (though honestly I'm even more nervous about messing them up I mean the whole point is to get them together! I can not mess that up…so wish me luck for when I come to that!) /////// you're making me blush now! Dangerous and powerful thing? Oh wow… thank you! I am speechless bow to its awesomeness? Oh my. Thank you so very very much! Heehee I wouldn't go that far but I am honored and flattered beyond belief that you think so! Thank you so much for your review and I hope you enjoy what happens next k?

To Gugga- Am I allowed to take out the s? I'll put it back if I must. It's fine that you haven't reviewed I totally understand. I have been in that same world many times lol. Yeah! Weird is healthy for sure heehee plus it makes life much more interesting. 13th ? Really? I hope you aren't superstitious then heehee I do believe in Friday the 13th many strange and awesome things have happened to me and my family on those days. I do too! Kakashi rocks! Yeppers I have a twin and he is amazing. He says he's the better half. Lol I strongly disagree heehee. I have an older brother and sister who are twins as well. And my adopted brother just found his 'twin' she isn't really but thy are so alike it might as well be. Lol my family apparently likes pairs heehee its fun though (plus it drives my bf crazy which is hard and always fun to do so I wouldn't give it up for anything) Oh I hope you did good on your exams! And gasp! A Christmas ball!? Oh my goodness that sounds like so much fun!! Heehee a 'silly american' celebration? Funny. Lol but I like all the free candy I get on Halloween so silly it may be but fun it also is lol. Do you have any celebrations that america doesn't? I love that line!!! I laughed so much at it! Six sounds like sex? So… lol if some one had sex six times in ones night they'd say sex both times? That would sound funny we had sex sex times. Heehee sorry I'm silly right now. Thank you!! I'm so glad you loved me chapter! I know he was just adorable thinking he'd hurt her. Gotta love Naruto. And yeppers this next chapter is about Gaara and Sakura so I hope yo enjoy it! Thank you for your review!! (and once again thank you for letting me help with Until Christmas! I had a lot of fun. I'm working on the other chapter as we speak.)

To BLADEILLEGAL- Hi! Lol yeah I would have too if I were a guy in his shoes. I'm glad I could help! Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy this next chapter too!

To BluePanda22311- Thank you! I am so happy you loved them all heehee amazing? Aw I'm blushing… Yeah I know it's mostly about Sakura and Gaara's love but I have al these other couples and they deserve a little spotlight too. I'm so thrilled you liked that! And I'm glad you're loving my couples more and more heehee I'm growing quite fond of them myself actually. Yes, huge yay for Hinata being there to give Naruto 'the talk' lol. I know! They're such a cute couple! Really they are! I am finally back to the gaasaku part of the story now so I hope you enjoy it! Lol but I am ecstatic that you'd be excited for any chapter I put out. You have no idea how special that makes me feel. Thank you! And also thank you for your review! I hope you like this next gaasaku filled chapter!

To I'm Wynnin- lol hi Wynna… heh nice name silly. I'm glad you liked my story! I'm writing an epic novel of Gaara potential? Heehee thanks… I think. Lol my Gaara is sexy? Yay! Gaara is sexy so I'm glad I'm doing him justice. Heh… no… I didn't know that Wyn thanks…lol I don't look the academica type? What is academica Wyn? Lol gasp! You admitting you're wrong? Careful people pigs may be falling form the sky soon! Heehee jk. Kankuro is hot? Thank you. I always thought he was awesome so I wanted to give him his own little special spotlight heehee. Oh gosh Wyn. The perfect man foursome? Lol no I don't think you could order a personal visit from them. Adding Temari too? Lol cough cough slut cough. I mean gosh Wynna leave some for the other people? Lol jk chica. And yeah I probably never should have told you about this lol now you're going to bug me until I update heehee I try hard enough to update as it is… oh Gaara and Sakura come back to play in this chapter no worries. Thank you! I love Yura too! She is so super cool! I had no idea when I made her for Kankuro just how great she'd become lol. But I'm loving it more and more! Heehee ego much? Oh and btw you so so owe me for that btw! Race still holds that over my head. You better give me a really great Christmas present lol jk… but you might want to think about getting Race one heehee my twin from another mother? Wow…. Lan will be heart broken you're trying to take his place lol. Thanks for reviewing Wyn! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

To Fallen Dark Neko- Hi! Thank you! I am so happy you love it! I'm glad you think it's good. And yes heehee I will give Gaara and Sakura their spotlight time no worries. This chapter will focus on them and many more to come as well. Thank you though for the advice! I will try to have more of them since they're the main people. K? You love how it's coming together? Thank you! I'm so happy you do! And thank you I will try hard to keep the good work up. Thank you for your review and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Gaara paced his room waiting , watching, wondering.

He'd thought that when he'd left the two of them he'd heard the whole conversation.

What else had they left to discuss?

She still loved him.

Forever still sounded good to her.

She just wanted to wait.

What else needed to be said between the two women?

Should he not be told now?

Gaara thought he was usually a fairly patient person but he currently felt like ripping his own hair out and shouting for her to hurry up at the top of his lungs.

He wanted to hold her.

And listen to her tell him those things. To listen to her say that he was still her love, that she did want to be with him, that she loved him enough and respected him enough to want to wait and learn more about him before becoming his mate.

That was what he very desperately wanted.

So what in the seven hells was taking her so damn long to get here!?

He stalked to his window and glanced out.

The rain was pouring down now. Gone was the slow steady rain of this afternoon and in its place an angry downpour that promised a storm to come.

Certainly she was okay. She would not be out in this…right?

He glanced at the clock on his wall.

It was five in the evening now…she had met her mother for lunch. Even if it had gone long they surely would have finished by now…right?

Frowning to himself Gaara decided to go with his instincts and summoned his sand around him and ported himself to Saiyomi's house. Perhaps she was there waiting out the rain…

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Saiyomi hummed happily to herself as she waited for her water to boil. Her chat with Sakura had gone well in her eyes.

Sakura knew exactly what to tell her red headed love now. She wished them both the best of luck in that conversation.

She hated that she'd been so against that poor boy in the beginning…she really should have done what her daughter had before passing judgment and that was get to know him and not listen to the stories circling around about him.

Even if he was a little creepy she should have given him more benefit of the doubt than she had.

And he wasn't really that creepy…

She turned around to grab a cup as she heard the water begin to boil and she nearly screamed.

There standing in her kitchen doorway was the object of her thoughts.

"G-Gaara…w-why…what are you doing here, dear? Did something happen between you and Sakura?", Saiyomi managed to stutter out after recovering from her initial shock of discovering the stoic boy behind her.

His hard gaze narrowed, "She is not here with you?" he asked slowly.

Saiyomi studied him a moment before shaking her head. "No, dear, we went separate ways at the café. She said she wanted a short walk before her talk with you. To clear her head I suppose. But…but we left around two if even that… surely you have seen her by now…?"

Gaara clenched his fists tightly at his sides.

"No. I haven't." he growled.

Saiyomi gasped and her eyes darted to view the situation outside.

A storm was quickly growing.

Sakura was…out in that?

"Oh dear! We must find her!" she gasped as she hurried to turn off her stove and grab her coat.

Gaara held out his hand to calm her.

"No." he said quietly, "You stay. I will go find her."

Saiyomi saw the quiet fury behind his stare.

"Are you certain? Dear, I'm sure two sets of eyes searching would be better."

"And if you find her? How will I know? Or vice versa?"

"I see…you make a good point…well then I suppose I have no choice but to trust you to find her and keep her safe. Please call me and tell me the minute you have her with you safely indoors alright?"

Gaara, shocked she would concede to his point so quickly, studied her a short second longer and then with a quick nod hurried out of the house.

Saiyomi sagged into the closest chair.

Oh those poor children…would they never catch a break?

It seemed to be one thing after the other for them…

She prayed for her daughter's safety and then set her mind on fixing hot tea to distract herself from worrying over Sakura.

Gaara would not rest until she was safe with him.

She knew this. She could only rely on him now, had to really, seeing as how he made a valid point of having no ways of communication between them.

She made a mental note to get him a cell phone and soon. The boy could not continue to go about unreachable if he were to be dating her daughter.

Nodding to herself she stood and retrieved the cup she'd initially turned to get.

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Gaara sloshed through the rain searching the sidewalks. His hair hung heavy with water down in front of his eyes as he systematically searched the entire lower half of town where the café was located.

Had she made it out of that section?

He was having no luck finding her.

Steeling himself against the cold biting wind and the stinging rain Gaara trudged further down the sidewalk.

Suddenly two arms grabbed him and pulled him into a small opening under an awning.

Snarling he whirled around and came face to face with a dripping wet Sakura.

She giggled and wiped water from his face.

"Hey." she said softly.

Gaara looked her up and down making certain she was uninjured.

When he saw that she was fine, a little water logged but otherwise fine, his relief was evident in his eyes and Sakura instantly realized why he'd been out here.

"Oh Gaara! You thought! Oh god I am so sorry!" she wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled against him. "I tried calling to let you know but my phone, its signal was gone. I couldn't get a call out. I didn't mean to worry you but it just got too cold to keep walking in that." she pointed out at the weather and Gaara silently held her closer to him.

"Are you…are you mad, Gaara?"

He sighed, enjoying feeling her heat radiate against him.

She was okay. She was not in danger.

Reluctantly he shook his head, too choked up on relief to speak just yet.

"Good. I really am sorry you had to come out in this. I'm sure it would have cleared up eventually."

Gaara felt an involuntary growl rumble in his chest at the thought of her even thinking he wouldn't look for her.

She giggled and pulled back in his embrace far enough to kiss the tip of his nose.

His eyes crossed for a moment as they followed her actions, which only caused her to start giggling again.

Sakura motioned for him to follow her. She stepped back a few feet and sat on a doorstep to a closed flower shop.

"So…" she started.

Gaara pulled her into his lap and buried his face in her shoulder.

She relaxed into his hold.

"You want to have our little talk now?" she asked quietly.

Gaara lifted his head and turned his head to meet her eyes.

She smiled brightly, "Of course for that to work you have to actually speak."

He huffed softly and dropped his head back down.

Chuckling she patted his slightly shaking hands that clung to her, "Alright I'll talk you sit and listen I guess."

Gaara nodded, showing he would listen.

Sakura absently traced a circular pattern on the back of his hands as she collected her thoughts and then began speaking.

"I had lunch with mama today to talk about you. You knew that though."

He nodded once to show he did indeed know.

"I wanted to talk to her about becoming mates."

Gaara felt himself go rigid. He had an idea of what was coming and he still couldn't stop the almost crippling apprehension that threatened to strangle him.

"I told her that you wanted to mate me." Sakura explained. "And I told her that I wanted to mate you as well."

Gaara slowly loosened his iron grip on her as he worked to calm himself. He already knew what she was going to say. He needed to be stronger than this.

"I also told her how I wasn't sure about some things…" she continued quietly, her fingers were trembling as they continued their intricate circular patterns. But Gaara couldn't tell if it was due to her nerves or being cold and wet. He pressed himself a little further against her trying to warm her incase that were the reason.

"I told her that I knew I wanted to be with you when I did marry or mate. But I also told her that…I just wasn't ready to take that step yet. That I wanted to enjoy dating you and learning more about you before we took that final step together. And I told her how I was nervous to tell you that. Not because I was afraid to tell you. Don't get me wrong okay, Gaara? I love you. I am not saying I want to wait on the mating because I am unsure about my love. Or because I'm unsure about yours. Its not that. Really its not."

She sighed lightly, leaning further into him.

"Gaara, its just…mating you will be wonderful. I know that. But only when I'm ready. And it may be unfair to ask you to wait for me to be ready…but that's what I'm doing."

She turned in his arms and her green gaze locked with his.

"So that's it. I'm asking you Gaara, will you wait with me? Will you wait for me to be ready? And until then just let me enjoy being your girlfriend?"

Her hopeful eyes held his as she waited his answer.

Gaara brushed a gentle hand down her cheek and along her jaw line ending at the tip of her chin where he held it in a soft grip.

"Do you fear my answer?" he asked softly, seeing the worry in her expression.

Sakura shook her head. "Not really. To be honest I'm just scared I have hurt you by asking this of you. I'm worried I offended you by asking to wait. That's the last thing I want to do, but I also don't want to make such a huge step until I am one hundred percent sure I am ready to be a wife."

Gaara leaned forward and gently rested his brow against hers.

"I am not offended."

"Not hurt?" she asked.

"Not hurt."

"So you don't mind?" she asked with hope high in her sweet voice.

"You love me?" he questioned with a rare gentleness in his eyes.

"Of course!" she replied without hesitation.

"Then I will wait for as long as you need." he whispered brushing his lips against hers in the tenderest of caresses.

He smirked against her lips, "But for my own sanity I hope it does not take too long or I will go mad with my desire for you."

Sakura laughed and smacked his chest lightly, "Why you dirty pervert. Who would have guessed the great Kazekage would be such a perv?"

Gaara shrugged, "Who would have guessed the Kazekage would find love?"

Sakura tapped his nose with her finger, "There was no doubt in my mind you would. I just didn't know in the beginning when I wished you love and happiness that I would be the bringer of yours and you the bringer of mine."

Gaara's smile spoke more than his words ever could as he held her close to him.

They sat together, comfortably silent, watching the rain fall.