When somebody returns from vacation, he is sad that it's over and he has to go back to work. Not the Kazekage's family though, who has never felt happier to be home. Gaara showed his possessiveness and care for his wife by always holding her around the waist or by holding her by the upper arm when she got off the train to make sure she doesn't fall.

As they were walking home, Shinki smelt food even before they entered the house. He started running and burst into the house. The maid screamed in shock and the boy laughed. He greeted her while running to the kitchen to eat after discarding his shoes in one move. The shoes ended up in different corners of the hall.

"I'm starving!"

"Shinki, you haven't washed your hands."

But the boy didn't even take Sakura into account. He kept stuffing food into his mouth.

"Shinki, come here."

Shinki couldn't ignore his father. He came in the hallway with food hanging from his mouth. Gaara pointed to the boy's shoes with a scolding look in his eyes. Shinki swallowed the food in his mouth and wiped it with the back of his hand before he carefully arranged his shoes in place. A bright smile and hopeful eyes greeted his father as the boy was waiting for permission to leave.

"Who was mom talking to earlier?"

Shinki adopted a sad face, like a crocodile and looked down. He was a good actor.

"With me."

"Next time she calls you, listen to her."

"Yes, father."

"Now go wash your hands."

The boy left somewhat happy that he wasn't punished. Sakura smiled and shook her head. Sakura took his hand in hers and looked at her husband with eyes drowned in love and a little shyness.

"I want you to come to the doctor with me."

Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"Not because I don't trust your medic abilities. I am aware you are the best medic in the ninja world. You are the only doctor who managed to heal my insomnia and migraines." His smiled made her relax her shoulders.

"I want to make sure you are pregnant so I can let the elders know. That method you used to find out seemed shaky."

Sakura turned around and sat down to take off her shoes. Gaara followed her lead.

"Do you use that method in Konoha, too?"

"No, it was a crisis, that's why I used it. You wanted so much to know whether I am pregnant or not, that you couldn't wait."

Gaara smiled proudly and mysteriously.

"So it's settled. I will take you there today."

"Ok, but I want to eat and sleep a little first. I feel very tired."

"Of course, my flower."

"Kazekage-sama, Kazehime-sama, welcome. Please come in."

Gaara encouraged Sakura to go inside the cabinet with a hand on her lower back, before he also came in and closed the door behind him.

"Please have a seat here."

Sakura jumped to sit on the high bed and laid down with her head resting on the pillow. Gaara stood next to her.

"Please lift your blouse."

Sakura exposed her still flat abdomen. The nurse formed signs with her hands and green light glowed on her fingertips. She placed her right hand on Sakura's abdomen while lifting her left hand in the air. A medium sized bubble made of water appeared in the nurse's left hand. She held it like a balloon. And examined it. Sakura was calm because she already knew the result. Gaara was nervous. His heart was in his throat.

"So?" he asked.

"Honey, have a little patience."

The nurse's face lit like the clear sky all of a sudden.

"Kazekage-sama, congratulations! Your wife is carrying your child."

Gaara was so happy that he kissed Sakura's hand in front of the nurse. He didn't care that these moments should be reserved for the intimacy, according to tradition. The nurse turned a little to the side to avoid embarrassing the Kazekage. Sakura's face was cherry red.

"How far along is she?"

"Judging by the size of the embryo, I would say about 4 weeks."

"See? I told you so." Sakura said boldly.

Gaara's ears didn't even catch the words she spoke. He was the happiest he has been in his life. He managed to impregnate her on the first days of making love to her as her husband. He took Sakura's hand into both of his and gently caressed it on all sides as he looked at her with hopeful eyes. Sakura smiled to him, but not for long because she had to know if the baby was healthy.

"Is the baby healthy?" Sakura asked the nurse with seriousness. Her look was intense because she wanted to make sure the nurse won't try to hide anything from them.

"Of course. I sensed nothing wrong with the child."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief and laid back on the bed.

"Thank God!"

Gaara helped his wife cover herself again. He held her by the upper arm when she jumped off the bed to make sure she won't fall.

"Kazekage-sama, Kazehime-sama, congratulations!"

"Thank you for taking care of my wife. We will count on you if anything else arises."

"Of course. It will be my pleasure to assist you." The nurse bowed deeply before her leader.

"Let's go to a cake's shop. You like cakes, don't you?" Gaara asked Sakura when they were out on the street.

"Yes, I do."

He took her hand and gently pulled her closer. She walked a little behind him because she wanted to bathe in his facial features without making him nervous. He wasn't this happy even after he came back from the dead. That was why his face had some kind of glow that Sakura wasn't used to see. He couldn't wait to share the news of her pregnancy to the village. Now that he was in good terms with the daimyo, he wasn't scared of any other coups or attempts on his or the baby's life. However, Sakura needed security, so Gaara made up his mind to give this job to his brother. Gaara trusted Kankurou to keep an eye on Sakura from the distance with the help of his puppets, undetected. As he was getting deeper into thought, his face became sharper and the serious, tough and almost scared face replaced the happiness he had previously felt. Sakura felt something bad coming. She moved her eyes on the road and waited for him to talk. It didn't take long before that happened.

"Sakura."

"Hm?"

"I need you to be very careful. I anyone or anything upsets you, don't start a fight. It's better to leave and tell me instead. I will take care of it."

"Ok."

Gaara's tone softened a little seeing no resistance and continued:

"You heard what the nurse said, didn't you？ Don't lift weights, don't do any stunts in the house and please don't do anything that could result in you getting hurt. Most importantly, don't stress yourself. We can't afford to lose something as precious as this child and I can't risk losing you. We have to do everything in our power to keep you healthy for as long as possible so you can deliver without a problem. I will take care of you the best I can. I will give you everything you want as long as you help me, too. I want to do this together."

"I ask you for violence and you give me your grace, your light and your warmth." Her head leaned on Gaara's arm, hiding her shame. She hugged his arm to her chest with both of her hands. Gaara looked down at her, but that sea of pink succeeded in hiding her perfectly pink cheeks. He smiled and continued to walk.

In the early weeks of pregnancy, Sakura often felt exhausted. Gaara always found her sleeping when he got home from work. She was sleeping when Shinki came home from school, too. The maid thought of waking her up to suggest sleeping on the bed instead of sleeping on the floor with her back against the couch in front of the TV, but Sakura was so angry when she woke up, that the maid got scared, apologized many times and tried to silently do her job around the sleeping beauty.

One night, when Gaara was bound to come home very late and Shinki saw that there was no chance that Sakura would wake up any soon, he sat down next to her on the floor, with his back to the couch, lifted Sakura's right arm and snuggled on her chest. Half awake, half asleep, Sakura wrapped that arm around the child's shoulders and kissed the crown of his head before dozing off again. When Gaara came home, he laughed and carried them one by one to their specific bedroom before taking a bath and going to sleep himself.

Their house was full of maternity clothing, baby bottles, pacifiers, diapers, toys for newborns and all kinds of things that Gaara bought himself. His sister had sent a lot of baby clothes that she had from the time Shikadai was a baby. Kankurou had bought baby clothes with cute messages such as "I have the best uncle" or "My uncle will teach me the fun stuff". The fact that Shikadai lived in another country prevented Kankurou from offering all of his love to his nephew. For this reason, Kankurou was happier than Gaara about the baby's birth. Gaara was solely preoccupied about Sakura being stressed which would cause issues in labour. That was why he looked more sullen and brooding than usual. Kankurou interpreted it as fear of being a father. Kankurou patted his brother's shoulder and did his best to cheer him up with his happy mood and long talk typical for women. He was annoying sometimes, but Gaara hated being alone because he remembered the times when he struggled with loneliness and absence of love, so he listened to his brother and tried to tolerate his loud voice and annoying jokes.

Around the 5th week of pregnancy, Sakura started feeling nausea. She got out of the bed in a split second and ran to the bathroom to throw herself on the floor and vomit in the toilet. Gaara was scared that something was wrong the first time Sakura acted like that and he wanted to call the hospital to ask a team to come to his house and examine his wife first thing, but Sakura tugged on the hem of his trousers:

"Just stay with me."

Gaara sat down behind her and stroked her back soothingly.

"But, my dear, maybe the doctors can help you somehow."

Sakura grunted.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes. It's normal. Don't worry. Just stay with me."

Her breasts became bigger and fuller. The veins on her chest were more visible. Gaara liked feeling her breasts in his palms. He thought they will remain like that forever, but Sakura ruined his hopes.

"Enjoy them while they last. After I give birth, they will return to their original size."

"Oh no."

Sakura burst out laughing. She turned to face him. She placed an open-mouthed kiss on his neck and climbed on top of him with courage. Every morning, Gaara thought her face shone like dew. Sakura woke up the desire in him, but he was afraid of hurting the baby in the process. Sakura was very relaxed. She took him in her hand from the start and pushed him inside without any foreplay. Gaara held her by the hips to try to slow down her moves.

"Sakura, are you sure this is alright?"

"I will tell you if anything hurts. Now move! My stomach hasn't even grown yet. There's no danger."

Gaara smiled and started moving slowly.

"Why are you holding your breasts like that?" He saw that she prevented her chest from moving too much up and down with an arm under her chest. He tried to move her hand away.

"My breasts are full and they hurt."

"Let me hold them."

Sakura smiled.

"Pervert." She looked at him slyly and let her breasts loose.

Gaara took each breast in one of his hands and continued his rhythmic penetration. Sakura was the one who initiated sex most of the time: in the middle of the night, before having lunch, in the shower, she went to his office during his lunch break and didn't leave unsatisfied. Gaara couldn't risk getting caught having sex in the office, but he could satisfy his wife with his fingers only.

Whenever he wasn't guarding her, Kankurou or Matsuri did from the shadows. Gaara couldn't risk even the smallest accident. Somebody might have thought of kidnapping Sakura to blackmail Gaara. Therefore, the Kazekage was very cautious and didn't allow anything like that to happen.

Sakura went to work mostly for gossip and because she wanted to have someone to eat cakes with. Sakura's happiness didn't last long because around the 7th month of pregnancy, mood swings appeared along with the big tummy. The pregnancy hormones gave everyone around her headaches. She was pissed on everyone for no reason. She picked fights with Gaara for being home too late or too early, for nagging her, saying nobody ever listens to her wishes. Once, she sent Shinki back to his room only because he chewed with his mouth open. Gaara looked at her in surprise.

"You're sending me away from dinner just for that?"

Gaara took Sakura's hand before she had the time to open her mouth and yell at the child. He gestured Shinki to do as he was told to. When the child was out of earshot, Gaara spoke:

"Sakura, I think you overreacted a little."

"You always think that."

He was on edge, but tried his best to keep silent. It was necessary to keep Sakura in a good mood and try not to fight with her at all. Otherwise, her illness might come back and who knows if she would survive the birth. The thought of losing Sakura like he lost his mother mortified him because if that were to happen, Gaara was bound to become like his father. The relatives would avoid him, his children would hate him and he would die alone and sad.

A few minutes later, Sakura started crying still for no reason. Gaara hadn't said anything. He felt defenseless in enemy territory. Each sudden mood change of Sakura's hit him right in the chest and he had no idea how to react.

Later that night, when Sakura announced that she would soak in the bath, Gaara prepared food in a lunchbox and went to find his son. The boy's room was empty and his window wide open, the wind blowing in the curtains. Gaara jumped on through the window and landed outside. He followed his son's chakra and found the boy in the backyard, throwing kunai in a target. He seemed upset. Gaara watched him from behind a tree. He was proud to have Shinki as his son. His son became strong enough to go on missions without making his dad worry of dragging his name through dirt. When Shinki's nostrils smelled delicious food, he turned around and saw his father smiling, with his arm stretched out and a package hanging from his fingers. Light glowed in Shinki's eyes and he ran towards his dad to take the lunch box out of his hands.

"What do you have there?"

Gaara ruffled the boy's hair, created a carpet made of sand and they both sat on it. Shinki opened the box and started taking out food with his chopsticks.

"Dad, have some, too. It's delicious."

Gaara took a few small bites as to not be rude and left the rest to his son. They talked about the Academy, his new teacher, possible private lessons, who's the strongest in class to which of course the boy answered with his own name. They talked about his friends, school trips that Shinki wished to attend...Gaara allowed his son to participate in anything he wanted as long as his friends would be there too because Gaara knew how important it is to have friends and he wished to go on trips when he was Shinki's age if he wasn't so lonely.

"Come to me if Sakura behaves like that again. I will talk to her."

Shinki tensed. He ate with a knot in his throat. Gaara placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"It's a weird period for all of us."

"But dad, she punishes me for no reason."

"I know. Do what she says and don't talk back to her. You have to show respect. I am sure she already regrets it and she will make it up to you."

"Yes, father."

"Come to me if you think she is unfair and I will settle it."

"Ok. At least you are just." The boy said it happily.

"You can come by my office when you finish school if Sakura is angry so she won't take it out on you."

"Ugh! It's boring. All you do is sign papers."

"My heir, the next Kazekage, must know his attributions."

It filled Shinki with pride.

"Yes, you are right. I will be there. You can count on me." The little boy was afraid of being replaced with his father's real son after Sakura's birth if she were to give birth to a boy. Gaara's declaration was very suggestive: the heir was Shinki himself and Gaara invested time and money to teach him everything he knew.

His father was right, as always. When Shinki got back into his room, he noticed chocolate on his pillow and smiled. Sakura truly was sorry.

No matter how much Gaara avoided fights, he finally snapped one night when Sakura insisted on firing the maid.

"Why would I fire her?"

"She always pisses me off. She never puts one thing in the same place. Whenever I want something, I can't find it."

"I'll talk to her. Anything else?"

"Don't play smart with me."

"Watch your tone. I have always given you everything you wanted and I have always backed down to be everything like you wanted and avoid upsetting you. All I ask in return is respect."

"Respect? How can I respect a man who looks at another woman?"

"Excuse me? What other woman?"

"The maid."

The corners of his mouth lifted upwards.

"I am serious and you're making fun of me."

"No. Sorry. I was just surprised. You know I only love you. I only want you. I am having a baby with you. I would have done it if I didn't love you."

"Then fire her."

"No."

Sakura's eyes filled with tears.

"If I fire her, who will cook? Who will clean? Who will wash the clothes?"

"Me."

"We have already talked about this."

"Yes and every time you defend her."

Gaara sighed in desperation as he didn't know what else to say. Sakura bit her lower lip to stop the tears from falling. She put her hand on her hip and said in a serious tone:

"If you don't kick her out, then fire the gardener you appointed for my suspended gardens."

Gaara looked puzzled.

"What's wrong with the current gardener?"

"He's too old. I want a younger one, slim and tall like the maid."

He saw black before his eyes. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists at his sides.

"Don't even joke about something like that." He boiled with anger.

"It's your choice. I'll go take a bath."

Gaara wanted to break something. He stormed out of the house and spent hours throwing sand kunai into an oasis close to the border to try to calm down. He did that for hours. Who would have thought a pregnant woman can be so difficult?

The next day, the maid disappeared along with all of her things. He couldn't lie to himself. The maid was pretty, she had a harmonious body, but Gaara had never thought of sleeping with her. This kind of mistake would have cost him his career, his honor and his family. Still, Sakura's words didn't let him rest. He had never feared that Sakura could cheat on him until now. Her words made him wonder: Would she do it? After everything I've done for her? Did she only say it in anger? Does she regret marrying me? The uncertainty stressed Gaara very much. He no longer felt relaxed at home. Sakura felt bad when she saw the hurt in his eyes and she knew she knew it was because of her. She hated to know she was the reason for her husband's unhappiness. He didn't even look at her like before. At first, when she noticed the maid was gone, Sakura was ecstatic. She thanked him, but Gaara coldly asked her if there was anything else that she needed.

"No. Everything is perfect now."

"Alright. I will go train."

Sakura knew the only time he trained was when he was angry. She thought it was just a phase and hoped it would pass, but it didn't happen. Gaara become colder and more formal towards her. He looked at their marriage as a duty and didn't invest any feelings anymore. Guilt ate Sakura from the inside. She exaggerated and now Gaara thought she no longer wants him, which couldn't be any farther from the truth. She was sorry and she wanted to make it up to him. So, she started painting a daira on glass, with wooden edges to prevent cutting her fingers. She drew a scenery from Konoha with various colorful flowers in the middle of which a single red flower shone like fire.

Shinki was having a sleepover at Araya's place. Sakura spent hours cooking Gaara's favorite food. The tummy was heavy and difficult to carry so she had to stop every ten minutes to sit down and wipe the sweat off her forehead. She looked at the door and sighed. Then, she went back to work. She tried her best to clean the whole house. After dinner was ready, she washed herself, put on clean clothes, perfume and waited for him.

When Gaara walked through the door, Sakura hurried to take off his coat and put it on the hanger. She encouraged him to sit down. She kneeled and took off his shoes while desperately searching his eyes, but Gaara was staring into space with his hands pressed against the floor behind his back to support his weight.

"Thank you."

Sakura swallowed hard. In the past, the warmth of his voice was present in all of his words, no matter how short the word was. This time, the mechanical pronunciation of his words made Sakura want to cry. She bit the inside of her cheek. Gaara stood up and turned around to leave. Sakura followed him.

"I cooked pork, your favorite. It's still warm. If you wash your hands now..."

"Thank you, but I am not hungry."

"Gaara" Her voice drowned in tears made Gaara stop in his tracks. "I am sorry." Tears spilled from her eyes, followed the line of her cheeks and knotted under her chin.

Gaara was looking at her from the corner of his eye. Sakura closed the distance between them. She rested her forehead against his back, so he could feel her body shaking and sobbing.

"I never meant to make you believe that I would run off with another man. You are the only man I love and the child in my womb is yours. When I was captive, you were the only one on my mind. Your love kept me alive. For you I fought and moved here. For you I wanted to cook and it is you that I wanted to wash. I gave you everything I held precious. When I see you upset, my heart cries and my eyes fill the see with bitter tears. When you cast your look away, I feel like a flower left in the shadows, deprived of light, destined to wither."

Gaara sighed from the bottom of his heart. Sakura dared to run the tip of her finger up and down Gaara's back to feel his muscles.

"End this punishment. Don't send me away. You are and will be the only man in my life."

Gaara's heart softened. He turned around to look at his wife. Sakura hurried to wipe her tears away. She handed him the daira that she had put so much work in with both of her hands and her head bowed. Gaara took it with both of his hands respectfully.

"Forgive me or kill me as I can't live like this anymore."

A small smile appeared on his face. His right palm cupped her cheek and it instantly got wet from the salty water of her sorrow. Sakura thought her heart stopped beating for a second. He enclosed that daira in a sand ball and crushed it until it turned into dust. Sakura felt relieved, but her body shook harder with tears of happiness. His lips closed in on her ear and whispered:

"You are my woman."

Sakura nodded. His other hand held her by the waist and put some distance between them so he could look at her face. Sakura smiled and honey flowed from her parted lips:

"I am your woman, your best one

I belong to you like this plot of ground

That I planted with flowers

And sweet-smelling herbs

Sweet is its stream

Dug by your hand

Refreshing in the north wind

Hearing your voice is pomegranate wine

I live by hearing it

Each look with which you look at me

Sustains me more than food and drink."

Gaara's heart melted as he drank her words. Her words helped him write a poem with his tongue, almost as beautiful as hers:

"I wish I were your mirror

So that you would always looked at me

I wish I were your garment

So that you would always wear me

I wish I were the water that washes your body

I wish I were the band around your breasts and the beads around your neck

I wish I were your sandal that you would always step on me."

His lips finally met hers and loved travelled from one to the other after so many days of suffering and regret. A kiss has never felt as sweet or as hot as then.

Note: Thank you for your reviews! I am so happy to read them:)

I don't know if I should have exploited that kidnapper's story more. I guess I became a little tired while writing this story and I wanted to end it faster. This chapter came out longer than expected, though. I hope I did a good job. Please tell me your opinion. I thought it would be nice to see Sakura try to express her love, too. Was it romantic enough? This story's finale is going to come in another 10 chapters or so. If you have any other ideas of what I should write about in a new story, please feel free to tell me.

I will post another chapter of my other story soon. That one won't end anytime soon.

Thank you very much for staying by my side.:)