The second her message came through, his pen went down and his phone was flipped open. His jade eyes greedily scanned the message, the tiniest smile blooming on his face. He never smiled in front of others (he had an image to keep up, after all, plus it still felt a little unnatural most of the time), but Kiyoshi always brought him such unadulterated joy that he couldn't help but slip up. He was in the privacy of his own rooms, anyway, and no one was around to see just how much the small gesture changed his entire face into something soft, even cute. The sway she had over him was truly immense, and no one was aware of it yet.
I'll always need you, is what he wanted to type. Yet, even Gaara, for all his social ineptitude, knew that was probably too much, too soon. So, he had to think long and hard about what he could reply with.
'My patience with the council seems to be just as short as an old man's,' he tried for humor, but was never sure if it was genuinely funny, or if she just responded as though it was because she was so kind. 'I hope we'll be able to meet soon, but I have a trip coming up.' He was being intentionally misleading, he knew, but he wanted to surprise her with his arrival. 'Perhaps Tsunade could be convinced to send you on a mission here one day?' The redhead failed to mention that he would be trying to make that happen when he arrived at the Hokage's office later that week.
'Speaking of which, I'm afraid I won't be able to talk for a few days, while I'm on the road.' Traveling with others always slowed him down, but there was protocol to follow in who could and would escort him to Konoha. Thankfully it wasn't a large entourage, but Temari would remain in Suna in order to run the village in his absence, which meant he would have days of fending off his brother's teasing with no respite. It was all worth it to see Kiyoshi, though.
As Sakura sat next to her and began speaking, a feeling of hope began swirling within her. Cautious and small at first, but growing larger with each word. And when the other woman grasped her hands? Well, surely Fuyumi could be forgiven for thinking she'd died and gone to the pure lands, right? And the icing on the cake was that blessed confirmation of Sakura's feelings.
"Oh, thank the gods," Fuyumi let out the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. "I was starting to think maybe I just read too much into it!" The grin that stretched across her features, now that she had that assurance her feelings really were returned, was as bright as the sun and full of sheer joy. Hesitantly, trying not to overstep boundaries, she spoke again. "Can…" The brunette trailed off, face and ears turning pink as a new wave of shyness overcame her, and she had to lower her gaze to the floor before she could finish her question. "Can I call you my girlfriend?" It was, of course, fine if Sakura wasn't quite there yet - she could wait! Just knowing those soft, warm feelings were reciprocated would be enough to get her through as long as it took until Sakura was comfortable going public.
In the midst of such good news, however, she also now had an inkling of what the fight between Sakura and Ino was over. On one hand, she was flattered that two of the most talented kunoichi in the village were squabbling over her. On the other hand, it made her sad that she'd nearly come between a friendship. With any luck, they could all get sorted out and back to normal soon. Fuyumi's heart lay with Sakura, after all, and nothing would turn her from it now.
Kiyoshi giggled at Gaara's niche form of humor, "Oh, are those facts? ;P I can only imagine if I were on the receiving end, lol." Kiyoshi wrote, attempting her hand at flirting although she wasn't quite sure if Gaara had picked up on any of the prior times she had been dicey enough to do so. Upon entering her (nearly) desolate apartment, she was greeted by her companion- Tarot (A primarily black cat with some spots of white on his face and feet.) He sauntered between her legs and down the hall towards the kitchen where he was indicating he wanted to be fed.
The brief distraction provided by Tarot shielded her momentarily from the spikes about to be railed into her heart. Kiyoshi had only just satiated Tarot's hunger when she felt the pang that tightened her chest and constricted her windpipe. She had come to know the feeling as dejection, and although they weren't together and she hadn't outright been rejected- Kiyoshi fumbled to recollect herself to respond further.
Kiyoshi nibbled on her lower lip, tentatively mulling over how to react 'You don't give yourself enough credit, you still have youth you haven't discovered yet. Aw, well, if you're going away a few days then you might owe me a call instead of texting. :p' She concluded, sending it out before she could retract it as she glanced around her kitchen in an attempt to alleviate the rising warm, tight sensation encasing her chest cavity.
Sakura was just as relieved as Fuyumi when the tar-like tension seemed to dissipate altogether. Instead, a flush bright enough to put Rudolph to shame blanketed Sakura- cheeks, nose, ears, there wasn't any crevice of skin that wasn't ignited with smoldering heat under the erratic emotions Sakura sustained. 'Cha, did she just really?! I mean, of course she did! Sakura, you IDIOT-! Don't just SIT HERE, SAY SOMETHING!' Sakura internally chided herself for being so taken aback by the suggestion.
Processing the information and situation, Sakura tried with all her might to relay just what it was she needed to tell Fuyumi, "Oh, Fuyumi- You know I would love that!" She stated, fidgeting with the inside of her cheek as she lightly squeezed the other female's hand, "Let's keep it between us at first, ok? And it's not that I don't want people to get the wrong idea!" Sakura was hasty to ensure it wasn't out of shame having Fuyumi as a partner. Sakura just had to be certain their relationship would endure long enough to wash away any doubts they could possibly not last.
Although something in the depths of Sakura's essence implied that Fuyumi was the one, she had been burned before and needed the stability beforehand if it was going to work publicly, "I just want to be sure is all." She concluded, offering her most welcomed company a compassionate smile before she began to spazz, having almost completely forgotten about the stew as she dashed towards the kitchen to confirm she hadn't tarnished her living quarters.
'You could never try my patience like they do. You have more reason and common sense in one finger than the entire council combined.' Gaara could be savage when feeling saucy, as he was that night. In his defense, he seemed to be amusing Kiyoshi, and that was his goal. So why not play into it? Still, the announcement of his travel seemed to disappoint her, and he rushed to continue on the same line of hunting at her coming to Suna one day.
'Only a call? I would think you'd want me to request a mission with you in particular.' The redhead was still too unsure of texting to send the (cute) faces like Kiyoshi did, but he hoped his gentle teasing was obvious. Hopefully, the prospect of getting to see him in Suna would cheer her up enough, until he surprised her in Konoha in a few days. Then again, what if he was being too presumptuous about his own importance to her? He thought they'd been flirting (Kankuro and Temari both seemed to think so), but what if he'd simply been reading too much into her messages? Since taking on the role of Kazekage, Gaara tried to never doubt himself, but rather walk into things as fully informed as possible and completely tuned in to his shinobi intuition, but he couldn't help himself in this instance.
All he could do was wait and see how she responded to his message. If she took it well, he would look forward to making further advances when he finally got to see her in the flesh (and had a moment of privacy) and to start preparing her to hopefully transfer her citizenship one day. If not? Well, he had a few days to get over his disappointment, and greet her as just a friend.
_
"Oh, yes, of course!" That was the sensible approach, wait a bit to see if things would last. Not that either of them were doubting it would (or at least, Fuyumi was pretty sure neither of them had doubts). It was just lucky Sakura had to take the next moments to freak out over the dinner she'd left cooking, otherwise she would have a front row seat to the brunette's positively goofy grin. Fuyumi managed to tame it after a moment or two alone, and she was left leaning her head onto the back of the couch- still grinning, but with less of a foolish look, and with significantly less red to her face.
"Do you want me to help with anything?" She called to her girlfriend (her! Girlfriend! She could just die of happiness!), wanting to at least be somewhat useful that night. Having been a frequent visitor to the apartment since Sakura moved in (and helping her decorate), she moved with ease through the kitchen, pulling bowls, spoons, and cups from their various cabinets and drawers and setting the table neatly. With the fresh development in their relationship, what was always a relaxed routine between friends now had a more domestic feel to it. They already moved seamlessly around one another in the small space, which was a good omen for all there was to come!
"Oh! You were in surgery until I left, so I didn't get the chance to tell you." And then, as the brunette poured their drinks, she gave the details on the affair she'd stumbled upon, just as she'd told Ino earlier. Hopefully i would give Sakura some vindication, since she was in the hospital more and therefore the target of the jerk's haughty attitude more.
As Kiyoshi suspected, her hand at being flirtatious had gone slightly over Gaara's head- though texting usually did do that. She wasn't quite sure if it was due to being slightly drowsy with the hour now being nine-thirty, or if it was the rush of the overall text as she absorbed the entirety of its contents, but Kiyoshi decided to pursue it again. Although with a different approach this time, 'I'm flattered, though I'm still human- I'm sure I can press something..." she pushed, emphasizing certain words in bold and dropping the cutesy garb in hopes he'd catch on.
It was his next statement that made Kiyoshi's cranium fuzzy, erupting in a fit of giggles over how tenderly she'd have to respond, 'While I don't oppose any missions we have the chance to complete together, you frequent Konoha just enough- I would like to think you'd like to not only do missions- right?' She thumbed her keypad a tad reluctantly.
On a good day, Kiyoshi would've never been so saucy. The extent to which she had locked her feelings away was on a violent spiral downwards, if Kiyoshi had to withhold them any longer it was going to produce devastating results. That was why she forced herself to send out something she wasn't quite sure would shift anything between them.
Before Sakura could say she would appreciate the help, Fuyumi was already on it. She expected no less from the spunky brunette, what had been a cherished activity between two close friends was easily becoming a favored pastime for a blooming couple. Sakura maneuvered around Fuyumi with grace as she did in her operating room, the aroma of chicken and fresh veggies wafting throughout the space and forcing Sakura to salivate a little harder as she was well over-ready to sit down and enjoy what they were creating.
With a pricey wine glass in hand, Sakura had just taken her first sip when Fuyumi dug into the juicy meat of gossip that hadn't gotten around to her yet. Almost choking on the liquid, Sakura managed to hang in long enough to swallow before she let slip a snort as she began to laugh hysterically. She set the glass down to preserve it from getting shattered, "You're kidding, so it wasn't just the rumor mill pumping out more crap?!" She gushed, light greens shimmering with glee.
'Cha! Serves him right, getting caught, what a prick!' Sakura gleefully thought, all but squeeing with joy over the fantastic news, "You s'pose he's gonna get sacked?" She inquired, eager to listen to any of Fuyumi's estimated guesses.
Ino had just gotten cozy in her pjs and nestled in for the night when she turned to retrieve her cellular device. In the midst of her pillaging her noodle for their last teammate she had almost forgotten to shoot Fuyumi the information she had promised. Ino shimmied her duvet further up her body to rest on her lap as she opened her lilac flip-phone to relay the plans.
"Hey girl, I know it's late- I'm so sorry, sue me!" She started, trying her hand at easing some humor into the mix, "I got pretty distracted and, sheesh, wouldn't ya know I got done later than I'd hoped. With Sakura being our medic, you and me being our heavy hitters- I'm thinking Hinata. She's an excellent tracker and can be put in offense if we absolutely need it!" Ino concluded, hitting send before setting the device back on the nightstand to settle in for the night. Anything Fuyumi replied she'd see in the morning.