In the next few days, Gaara sent a hawk to the Land of Cloud to set up a meeting with the Raikage and discuss an urgent matter. They were going to clarify whether the Raikage wants to start a war against Suna or not, although the chances were less than 10%.

Anbu from Gaara's personal protection team were ordered to follow all those Sakura worked with ever since her arrival in Suna, including Usagi. Kankurou also observed the situation and felt as if he was sitting on thorns. Everyone was on high alert, and yet nobody seemed to be doing anything. It was an apparent silence, the silence before the storm. Sakura didn't suspect what was about to happen. Even Shinki felt something was wrong. He was more tense and cautious than before. Sakura thought it was because of the exams he was going to take at school.

Sakura and Shinki were preparing to start their lessons together, when Shinki couldn't find the papers Sakura made for him to study. He searched everywhere, but couldn't find them. Sakura had her hands on her hips and she was pissed when Gaara burst into the room. He came home because he forgot something and he would have gone back to the office the moment he found it.

"What's going on here?" Gaara asked, sensing the tension in the room.

"Shinki lost the papers I gave him to study."

Shinki adopted the snowdrop position: hands resting to his sides and head looking down at the floor. Gaara suddenly became angry at his son and started scolding him. He wasn't yelling, but his tone was harsh. Shinki didn't even squeak. The scolding went on for about 10 minutes before a thought flashed in Gaara's mind:

"What kind of papers were they?"

Sakura explained briefly the theory written on them and that was when Gaara realized:

"Oh, I am sorry. I threw them away." Sakura stared at him, while Shinki started to laugh. "Sorry" Gaara bent his head to her "I was in a hurry and I thought you don't need them. Sorry."

Sakura joined Shinki in laughing. Gaara looked back at his son and ruffled his hair with affection.

"Be nice to Sakura."

"Yes, dad." Shinki looked into his father's eyes and grinned ear to ear.

*First day at the greenhouse*

The day when Knakurou and Sakura arrived at the greenhouse for the first time, Sakura made a blunder. Kankurou introduced them to each other, and Sakura found out the girl's name: Matsuri.

"You look like a tree." Sakura said.

Kankurou frowned trying to grasp the meaning of that sentence, while Matsuri looked like she was nailed into place. Sakura covered her mouth when she realized what she had just said. In her mind it was supposed to be a compliment. She apologized. Matsuri shoved it off, but she seemed somewhat uncomfortable. Matsuri and Sakura were to work together from now on. Kankurou left. Matsuri showed Sakura all the different species they had in the greenhouse: some rare flowers, pretentious plants, some very frail, others sat in a dark corner because they couldn't bear the light. Matsuri explained that those flowers were exposed to indirect sunlight for 30 minutes each day to make sure they make photosynthesis before keeping them completely in the dark. Otherwise they wither. Sakura noticed many species she has never been before: rare flowers which only grew in Suna. One of them had very small white flowers in the shape of little bells. It looked very fragile, but it was that much poisonous. Nothing grew next to it. When you water this flower, the roots eliminate poison that make that water poisonous, too and kills everything around it. Amazing! There are no poisonous plants in Konoha.

During the next days of work, Sakura brought her babbler, too. If she let the bird alone at home all day, it cried until it had no voice anymore. When Sakura was back home, the bird was hoarse. These birds couldn't survive on their own. They needed to be part of a group.

Sakura let the bird fly around the greenhouse because she knew the bird would come back to her. One day, Sakura forgot to give her bird water. The babbler struggled to find some source of water. Eventually, she spotted a thin and tall vessel that was half filled with water. She tried to insert her beak and drink, but the water level was too low and the bird didn't fit in the vessel. She looked around and started gathering little stones in its beak to let go into the vessel. With each stone, the water level grew. The girls observed the bird with curiosity. So much noise caught their attention. Stone after stone, the water reached the upper lip of the vessel and the tired bird could drink freely.

"Sakura-san, you have such a smart bird. You are very lucky." Matsuri said.

Sakura remembered with pride that Gaara gave her this bird.

I have to give him a present, too.

Noriko put food on the table so Sakura and Shinki could eat together. Sakura ate only a little, so she was half full because she intended to eat again when Gaara came home. Shinki told her about the things that happened at school and Sakura listened to him while eating peacefully. He was funny with no eyebrows.

Sakura was about to go to her room, when Shinki reached for her hand and asked her to stay with him some more. She nodded and he was so happy, he hugged her leg.

The little boy climbed the bed and sat on his behind watching her go around the bed. She slid under the covers and sat next to him. Shinki got closer to her. He had his hands clasped on his lap. Sakura draped her arm around his shoulders in a side hug. He giggled and clapped his feet. He looked at her with his big brown eyes as if he was waiting for something. He didn't look sleepy. The kids from school talked about the stories their mothers tell them, but nobody has ever told him a story and it made him wonder what is it like.

"Sakura, do you know a story?"

"Oh, where did this come from?"

"I wonder what kind of stories you mother told you." He said while scratching his nose with his finger, looking down.

Sakura understood the message and remembered one of her favorite stories: The girl with gold hair.

"Once upon a time, a mother who woke up every morning and prayed by the window: Please give me a daughter with hair made of real gold, so all of my friends die of envy. The stork flew past her window every day, but never looked at the mother. One day, God told the stork to send a message to the woman: If I give you a daughter like you asked, you won't be able to cut or brush her hair. Even if you rip only one hair, she will die. Are you sure this is what you want?

"Yes, of course." The mother replied happily.

The stork sighed and said "Fine, this is what you'll get."

Nine months later, a beautiful baby girl was born. She had blue eyes and her hair glowed like the sun. She was the only girl with gold hair in the village and all women were envious. Her mother bragged about her daughter all the time. Her baby hair was like a cloud, soft and light.

As the girl grew, her hair was also longer and heavier. She always complained about having headaches because her hair pulled her head back. She wanted to cut it, but her mom wouldn't let her because she knew the girl will die if only one hair is cut. When she was 9 nine years old, she couldn't get up from the bed anymore because the hair was too heavy. She cried and told her mother:

"I want to run and play, but I can't do anything because of this cursed hair."

"My dear, you are special. Nobody in the world has ever had a hair like yours."

"I don't care. This isn't life. I want to die."

The daughter's words triggered and earthquake in the mother's heart and she felt the fear of losing her one and only child, her most precious treasure. The mother kneeled before the window and prayed with burning tears that God takes this curse away. She prayed until morning when she fell asleep. The stork looked at her tenderly. When the woman woke up the next day, she saw her daughter running and screaming of happiness in the garden with her friends. Her blonde hair didn't shine like the sun anymore, but the mother was happy that her most precious treasure was preserved.

Sakura kissed the crown of his head.

"Children are the most valuable treasures."

She caressed his face before she sat him on his side to hug him from behind and put him to sleep. Shinki thought: How can a child be a treasure? It doesn't make any sense. He didn't verbalize his thoughts, but he savored the moment when his heart was whole and fell asleep.

Sakura slowly slipped out of bed and walked on tiptoes to get out of the boy's room. When she opened the door, she bumped her nose into Gaara's. Sakura smiled and moved to the side to let him see inside the room.

"Look, he sleeps like a log in the forest." She whispered.

Gaara smiled before taking her hand to place a kiss on her knuckles.

"Thank you for taking care of him."

Sakura and Gaara sat next to each other while eating later that day. Each time Gaara put a morsel in his mouth, Sakura pinched his cheek and pulled, asking him shameful questions.

"Who is a good boy? Go on. Answer me. Say: I am."

"You are."

"No, you have to say that you are."

"Exactly. What did I say?" Gaara didn't want to yield and Sakura refused to stop. Her head rested on her left palm, with her elbow on the table. She waited for him to have his mouth full so she call pull at his cheeks again. He closed his eyes, trying to calm down, but he snapped at some point. He dropped his chopsticks on the table, which made her jerk.

"Eat so I can do the same to you."

Sakura hesitated and started laughing.

"Go on, eat."

He wouldn't budge. She picked up her chopsticks and put only a grain of rice in her mouth, waiting. Gaara pinched her cheek with his long fingers and pulled the same way she did before, while she tried hard not to burst out laughing.

Later that night, Gaara pulled Sakura closer to him, with his hand on her stomach and asked how she feels. She had her back to him and both stood up in his room. His lips brushed the shell of her ear and listened carefully to her every word.

"Nothing hurts anymore, my lion. Your love has cured me."

She placed her hand on top of his on her stomach. He spread his fingers to make room or hers and squeezed lightly. She turned her head to the right to capture his lips for a kiss.

...

Sakura lifted her head from the pillow to kiss any part of his skin she could reach with her lips. A few moments later, Gaara's breathing came back to normal and he somewhat got up from her to look into his lover's eyes. His big hand caressed her cheek and asked her:

"How was it, my dear?"

"Better than last time." She replied with a smile.

Still, something didn't feel right. Gaara was sure he missed something because he felt hesitation in her voice. He kissed her head and thought:

I will make sure next time will be even better.

Note: I couldn't post the whole chapter here. Please read the description in the profile to find out why.

The previous chapter was chapter 15 and this is chapter 16. I couldn't post chapter 14 here.

One of my readers is right with part of the reason Sakura is sick. ❤

Thank you all for reading and leaving reviews. 💕