Gaara sat on a chair on the balcony with his back to the bedroom, where Sakura and Shinki were sleeping peacefully. He looked at the endless hills that graced the horizon. The birds woke him up from his sleep at sunrise, around 5 am. They didn't stop chirping even 4 hours later. He wasn't used to hearing other birds in Suna aside from birds of prey that hunted scorpions, rats and other parasites. The sound of a vulture would have never waked him up. However, the melodious chirping of chaffinches and wrens pulled him by the ears to the window. Sitting still for hours didn't bother Gaara. He was a man who enjoyed peace and quiet. There was no trace of humans outside. The nature looked untouched, like a virgin girl.

Two delicate hands touched the sides of his head before descending to his cheeks in a loving caress. Sakura bent forward with the intention of placing a kiss on top of his head, but Gaara lifted his head eager to look at her and they ended up kissing on the lips. Her hands clasped each other under his chin, on his chest. Gaara's left hand cupped both of her hands. She kissed his cheek before resting her head on his left shoulder.

"How did you sleep?" Gaara asked.

"Pretty well. My stomach was bothering me a little, but nothing out of the ordinary."

"Good." His head turned back to looking out the window.

"I like seeing you like this."

"What do you mean?"

"Calm, well-rested, without any worries." Sakura got up on her feet again and used her fingers to play with his hair. Her nails grazed his scalp and it felt amazing. Gaara closed his eyes in relaxation, so much that he was about to fall asleep again, when small but loud steps travelled the distance between the bed and the balcony door.

A brown haired boy who was rubbing his eyes with one fist appeared in the doorway. Gaara smiled and waved his hand in such a way that Shinki understood that his father called him closer. Shinki ran towards his dad, who held him from under the armpits before sitting the boy on his right leg. Gaara was very loud when he did it and it made Shinki squeak. Sakura squeezed the boy's cheek between two of her fingers and she was getting ready to say something sweet when Gaara unexpectedly started tickling the boy who started screaming, laughing and squirming right away. Both Gaara's and Shinki's sand began to fly around the room which made Sakura take a step back from the two boys. She instinctively placed a hand on her tummy. Soon after, she noticed Shinki was whispering something in his father's ear.

"I wonder if mom is ticklish."

"Let's find out."

Gaara put the boy down. Then he stood up and both of them closed the distance between themselves and Sakura. The sly smiles on their lips scared Sakura. She quickly stretched her arm forward, trying to prevent them from getting any closer.

"Stay there! Don't come near me." She was laughing rather than being upset, so the boys ignored her request.

Gaara was quick to catch her wrist in his hand. He slipped behind her, holding both of her hands to her chest, keeping her still.

"Gaara, what are you doing?"

"Now!"

Shinki jumped forward and screamed at the same time as his fingers tickled Sakura's ribs. She was screaming and laughing, begging for them to stop. She tried to squirm and get away, but Gaara kept her still, trapped against him. Not only this, but Gaara's lips tickled her neck and ear.

"This is torture. Stop!" she screamed and laughed at the same time.

...

The plan for the day was to pay a visit to the Red Lake, where they were to stay for a week before continuing their journey.

"Mom, the water isn't red. In fact, nothing here is red. Why do they call it the 'Red Lake'?"

"A long time ago, there was a village on this very spot. A landslide swallowed everything here, killing all the people and animals. All of their blood accumulated in a big red puddle."

"Gross!"

"Its first name was in fact 'The Killer Lake'. Sometime later, the water lake was formed by the displacement of the clay mass deposited during the last ice age on the north-western slope of the mountain. Soon after the obstruction of the valley, the forest of fir got flooded and all the trees petrified."

Curiosity pushed Shinki to check if the trees were actually made of stone. Sakura turned her head to Gaara:

"This environment is perfect for treating physical and psychological tiredness and also insomnia."

Her aching stomach pulled her hand to it like a magnet as she was speaking. Gaara saw her frowning and decided to get closer to her.

"What is it? Are you in pain?"

"It's just mild cramping."

Her worried husband touched her forehead with the back of his hand to check her if she had a fever.

"Do you want to go to the doctor?"

Sakura smiled at his confused face. Her warm look puzzled him.

"To a certain doctor, if you know what I mean." And she finished the sentence with a wink.

His left hand grabbed her closer to him by the waist.

"Do you mean..."

"I think so. I can't be 100% sure until I see a doctor, but that's what I feel."

His lips kissed her temple tenderly before Gaara hugged her to his chest.

...

Gaara asked many locals about where he could find the kind of doctor who could tell him whether Sakura was pregnant or not, but they let him know that the doctor was hours away and he had to walk to get there as there was no other means of transport. They warned Gaara that he might not even find the doctor in the cabinet because it was the vacation season and on top of everything, Gaara found out the doctor was a man. He had to give up on the idea of seeing a male doctor as his wife's body was for Gaara's eyes only. No other male was allowed to see her naked. He went back to the hotel angry and upset because he failed. Sakura agreed that it would be too shameful to let another man look at her private parts. When she saw how upset her husband was that he couldn't know faster whether she was carrying a child or not, she thought of other methods to find out. Suddenly, an idea popped into her mind.

"I remember I read in a book back home about a method to find out by yourself at home."

"Really?"

"With 80% accuracy."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. We need a latch and a metal recipient that we'll throw away right after."

It was the most confusing day for Gaara. Still, curiosity got the better of him, so he procured everything Sakura needed. Her happiness made his lips turn upwards in a precious smile that married his once hard face and divorced him only at night, after Shinki went to sleep and Sakura went into the bathroom to prepare.

She urinated in the metal container and then threw the latch into the urine. She stepped outside the bathroom, where Gaara was waiting for her.

"So? Are you pregnant or not?"

"We have to wait about 3-4 hours."

"That long? I want to know now."

Sakura smiled at his childish attitude.

"We can't hurry the process. Let's go to sleep. We'll check in the morning."

Only Gaara couldn't sleep at all that night. He looked at his wife and sighed. He wanted to wake her up and have her check, but wasn't it a juvenile act? I can't help it. I have to know now. He lay on his back with his arm thrown over his eyes and pretend to snore really loudly. Seconds later, a grumpy Sakura meowed her displeasure.

"Gaara" she said shaking his shoulder "Gaara, you're snoring."

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that." He turned his body to face her. When his left hand caressed her stomach protectively, Sakura remembered.

"What's the time?" her sleepy voice amused him.

"About 4 am."

Sakura threw her legs out of the bed and stood up to go to the bathroom, clutching her sides. Gaara heard sound of water being dumped in the toilet. It as actually the urine from the container. Sakura took the latch out and she saw the latch had left marks on the bottom of the container. She quickly washed her hands and started screaming:

"Gaara! Gaara!"

"Yes."

"I'm pregnant!" She said from the doorway before throwing herself onto Gaara on the bed.

She was so happy that she started crying on his neck. Gaara held her by the waist with one hand while stroking her hair with the other one. His lips eagerly kissed her eyes, her temple, her cheeks and everywhere within his reach. He was also very emotional.

"Are you sure?" his voice calm and full of hope.

"Yes" she managed to say between hiccups.

"I'm going to be a father."

"Gaara..."

"I'm going to be a father!" he happily said into her ear again.

...

A week later, they were all on a boat on the Vidraru Lake. The overprotective Gaara held his wife by the upper arm when she stepped into the boat, to make sure she doesn't trip or fall or hurt herself, even though she hadn't shown any sign of weakness. Sakura accepted this side of her husband with an open heart because she secretly wished that somebody cared this much about her. Shinki looked at the water and pointed the various fish with his finger. His father got bored of how many fish he had to look at. Every 20 seconds, his son showed him something. There was half a meter tall grass mixed with snow plasters on the lake banks. The trees were bent towards the lake, with their branches halfway into the water. It was as if they respectfully bowed before the Kazekage on the way to the Calugarita Waterfall. The waterfall looked like a giant slide that connected Heaven and Earth. Sakura looked at the sky and placed her hand on Gaara's. It felt like an icicle.

"You're freezing."

Her concern made him aware of the shameful position he was in, so retracted his hand even though she tried warming it with hers. His pride wouldn't let him accept help and he shied away.

"My hands are always like this."

"At least keep them in your pockets. You'll freeze."

"Don't worry. This is nothing. I was wearing much thinner clothes at the five Kage summit and nothing happened to me. I'm fine."

Sakura sighed in exasperation. Why do men never accept help from a girl? Gaara was quick to distract her attention and get her out of her mind with the help of the beautiful surroundings. After bypassing the lake, they went down to the Cabana Capra from where they continued walking on foot the rest of the way to the Southern entrance of the Capra-Balea tunnel. It was a tunnel dug underneath two of the tallest mountains in the country: Iezerul Caprei (2414 m height) and Paltinul (2398 m height). The tunnel was 887 m long, 4,4 m high and 6 m wide; with electric light and natural ventilation. Such a place was a home for snow even in summer. Shinki was so happy, he stopped before every pile of snow to stick his hand into it or stump on it. He liked stepping on the snow and look at the foot print he had left behind. Back in Suna, all of his footprints in the sand disappeared as soon as the wind blew, but here, the prints froze and kept the shape for days before they melted.

Sakura started showing signs of tiredness; therefore Gaara suggested resting at the Balea Lac Hotel that was situated on the lake with the same name. It wasn't exactly the place Sakura had initially planned to stay at, but it was fine. The hotel she had had in mind was the famous hotel made exclusively of ice, on the other side of the mountain. All the beds, chairs, tables, even the plates, glasses and bowls were all made of thick ice. There was bear fur on the bed, tables and chairs to prevent people from dying of cold. It would have been a truly wonderful experience that they would never forget, but the only way to get there was by tyrolean and even after that they would have had to still walk a little to the ice hotel. Gaara feared Sakura might overburden herself and lose the baby, so it was best to spend the night at the Balea Lac Hotel.

While Gaara was taking a shower and Shinki was playing in his room, Sakura went downstairs at the reception.

"Do you have any hand warmers?"

"Let me check, dear. Wait here, please." The woman said and then went into some room behind her.

While Sakura waited, a strange 40 year old man with a long brown coat and grey fur collar who sat on in armchair stared at the pink haired woman. She was wearing her knee length pink coat with white trousers and matching boots that had rabbit fur around the calf. Sakura didn't pay any attention to him because she knew he was a civilian. Not many shinobi would come to a place like this for a vacation as it wasn't exactly affordable. He was no danger to her.

"I found some. You're lucky. I have hand warmers and feet warmers. Which would you prefer?"

"Give me both."

She took money out of her purse and paid. Then, she went back into her hotel room, where she found Gaara waiting for her in a thick white bathing robe. His hair was still dripping from the shower, his feet bare on the floor.

"Where were you?" He asked with curiosity.

"I went to get these. Have a seat on the bed. I'll show you."

"What's that?"

"You'll see."

Sakura kneeled before him, on the floor after she took off her shoes and hanged her coat on a hanger in the closet. She ripped open some sort of big bag of tea, or at least it looked like that from Gaara's point of view. She took off the adhesive tape, lifted Gaara's foot and glued the tea bag on his insole.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Have a little patience, will you?"

"Oh, I feel heat."

Sakura smiled wide. She placed her hands on his knees and her chin on top. She eyed him with her big deer-like eyes. He leaned on his back, with his hands behind him, supporting his weight.

"I couldn't let you freeze. This will keep you warm for the next 5 hours. I bought enough supplies. I have some for your hands, too."

Gaara smiled and caressed her cheek with one of his hands.

"Thank you, my dear."

"I'll go give Shinki some." She was happy that Gaara didn't protest, but appreciated her gesture.

...

On the next morning, right after having breakfast, they all went to the tyrolean. It looked frightening. It was a black cable that cut the already full of white and grey clouds and mist sky in two. They couldn't even see the other side of the tyrolean, where they should be landing. Of the audience, the most numerous ones were foxes, donkeys, marmots and Shinki's favorite, brown bears.

The poor boy was so scared, he held tight onto his father's coat. Gaara caressed his head reassuringly. Shinki looked up and into Gaara's eyes as he spoke:

"Father, I don't want to go."

"Nothing will happen to you as long as you are with me."

"But we'll go one at a time. Look at the others! No, I won't go. Let's stay here."

Sakura nervously rubbed her palms because she didn't know what to say. Gaara was quick to respond.

"Here's what we're going to do. I will go first and wait for you on the other side, ok? Sakura will stay here with you and she'll help you fasten the straps. I will go first and you go second, ok? Then we'll both wait for Sakura."

"Ok." The boy was a little happier this time.

Said and done. Shinki's eyes nervously watched from Sakura's side his father disappear in the puff of clouds. He was a bit tense, but he trusted his father's words more than anything. He waited patiently for the tyrolean worker to give him the green signal that Gaara reached the other side and Shinki is free to go while Sakura helped him fasted the straps to the tyrolean.

"Hold on tight."

His small hands gripped the wire that connected his single chair to the tyrolean black cable, grit his teeth and held his breath. The mountains on the side started getting closer to him, then he went into the mist and when he opened his eyes, he was already on the other side. Shinki relaxed completely when he spotted his father with his arms stretched towards him. His little legs swung of joy. Gaara unfastened the straps and put the boy on the ground, right next to him.

"Now we're waiting for Sakura."

"Yes. Oh wait. I see her. Look!" Shinki shouted, pointing his finger at the black figure from afar that was on the tyrolean. Only when the person got closer, the boys frowned.

"It isn't Sakura." Gaara said worriedly. Something is not right. His fists clenched at his sides and he frowned at the long black cable before him, waiting, hoping that the next person will be Sakura. Unfortunately, it was a man. The stress transferred to the little boy who didn't understand what was going on.

"Father, why isn't she coming?"

Gaara covered his right eye with two of his fingers and activated the sand eye that he then sent on the other side of the mountain, where he had left Sakura.

"Is she ok? I want to see, too."

"Silence!"

Sakura was nowhere to be seen, but Gaara noticed her purse in the snow and immediately realized someone had kidnapped his wife. He cursed in his mind. His face was straight when he opened his eye again. A sand plate formed underneath their feet and lifted them from the ground.

"Somebody took Sakura, son. We have to find her."

"Of course. I'll kill the one who dared to touch my mother."

I'll kill him. I am such an idiot! I shouldn't have let her out of my sight, especially now that she is pregnant. If either she or the baby is harmed, I'll skill that man alive! I'll take out his eyes and tongue! Gaara thought. He gritted his teeth in anger. Whoever took Sakura had no idea who he messed with.

...

When Sakura woke up, she was dizzy and she had a headache. Her vision was blurred and she didn't recognize the place she was in. She held someone open the door in a rush and steps running towards her, so she panicked.

"Who is there?"

"It's me, dear, your husband." The man told her from where he stood next to the bed, trying to help her sit on the bed.

Sakura frowned because that voice wasn't familiar. It wasn't her husband's voice.

"Who are you? Don't touch me!" she screamed.

"I'm your husband, don't you remember?"

"You're not my husband. Let me out!"

"My darling, you're just a little confused. That's all. You'll remember everything soon."

Sakura pushed him so hard in the chest that he fell on his back on the floor. She quickly stood up on her feet and ran to the door. She wasn't wearing her coat or her boots, so when she got outside, she started feeling very cold. She couldn't comprehend why her body felt heavier every step she took until she started seeing double. Right before she collapsed onto the snow, that weird man caught her into his arms and brought her back to the bed with great care and gentleness.

"My wife is so fragile. I must make sure nothing happens to her. Don't worry, honey. I will never leave you. We'll be together forever."

...

Note: What do you think will happen next? I am dying to know what you think. What punishment do you think would suit the man who kidnapped Sakura? What will Gaara do when he finds the man?

I couldn't post pictures on this site, but if you have the time, please look up all the places that I have mentioned in this chapter because all of them exist and they are one of a kind in the world. This chapter is dedicated to Romania as it is a gorgeous country. Let me know your opinion in the comments. Thank you very much for reading and for being my fans!