"Sakura, have you seen my shirt?"
"Yes. I threw it away."
"What? Without telling me?"
"If I told you, you wouldn't let me throw it away."
"You always do this. Stop putting my things in the trash."
"But honey, that shirt was 10 years old. You have new shirts."
"I don't care. I liked that one. It was my favorite."
"How about this one? You received it from your brother last year."
Gaara weighed his options for a minute before he shook his head in disapproval. In truth, Sakura didn't throw his things away from the first, but she hid them in places known only to her. If Gaara didn't throw a tantrum, he would never see them again. Otherwise, Sakura pretended she forgot she had put his things separately to throw them after she finished housework and eventually gave them back to her husband, who guarded them like a lion for a few days and then he forgot about them again.
One time, Sakura found him looking in the trash to see if he can find something else that his wife had decided by herself that he didn't need any longer. It only made Sakura laugh from behind doors.
"Fine. If you won't wear it, I will. Look how well it fits me!" she proudly said and then she took a long red pair of very big trousers out of the wardrobe. It made her husband laugh.
"Where did these come from?"
Sakura was naked from the middle down. She raised the trousers in front of her until they didn't touch the floor, but the waistline came up to her armpits. Sakura laughed, too.
"My mother sent them. She said if they don't fit me, then you don't feed me enough."
"Is that what she said?" Gaara laughed with his arms crossed over his chest. "I think she doesn't know that every time I look for you, I find you eating."
"Hey! It's not true!"
"What? I couldn't hear you because of all the food in your mouth. You look like a chipmunk." He said with a hand curved to his right ear while looking to the side.
Sakura slapped his arm and chest playfully to which Gaara protested again.
"You know what? Stop wearing my clothes." His hands moved to her collar to unbutton the shirt.
"Why? You don't wear them anyway." She moved to button the buttons he has just unbuttoned.
"Why do you keep wearing my clothes? I bought you so many clothes that you put them in my closet too. I don't wear yours."
"But you can. Which one do you like? Which one would you like to wear?" she turned her back to him and faced the wardrobe. She showed him dresses and skirts that she knew would annoy him. Of course Gaara felt like she was mocking him.
"I think I'll wear you instead!"
"Oh, you are still in the mood."
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"
"I thought you didn't find me attractive anymore after giving birth to so many kids."
"Nonsense. I'd take you every day, but I am too tired from work."
"You're getting old."
"No way. I can still let you out of breath. I like a woman with curves. You look so much better now that you put on some weight. I can feel your body better. How do you feel?"
He had put on his official dark blue robes, he took the Kazekage hat in his hands and prepared to get out the door and leave the house. Sakura was washing the dishes in the kitchen. The boys had already gone to school.
"Daddy." A sweet voice behind him made Gaara turn around.
He looked at his 7 year old daughter in the eye and his heart melted on the spot.
"Yes, my love."
"Do you think it will break if it gets wet?" she stretched her small arms to her father, showing him the watch she was wearing on her right hand.
"No, don't worry." Gaara took her hand in his and smiled.
"Because I wanted to wash my hands and it got wet because I wasn't careful."
Gaara bent his knees and kissed Karura's cheek before caressing her head lovingly.
"Wash your hands properly. It doesn't matter even if it breaks. Daddy will buy you a new one."
Karura smiled honestly and Gaara was happy to succeed in soothing his daughter.
"Are you ready for your lessons? Your teacher will be here any minute now."
"Yes, daddy. I studied everything. All of my notebooks are on the desk and my pens are in the drawer. I placed a glass of water on the table for the teacher, like you taught me."
"Good girl."
Karura's giggle filled his heart with joy.
"Your dad has to go to work now. We will see each other tonight. Help your mom after your lessons, ok?"
Karura nodded.
"And don't forget to pay the teacher. Do you know where I put the money?"
"Yes, daddy. They are on the cupboard, next to the door."
"Good. I'll be going now."
Sakura got out of the kitchen and greeted her husband before he left to work.
"Don't go before I give you a hug." Karura said while spreading her arms to hug her father.
Gaara almost felt like crying every time his daughter had her moments. His daughter was the only one who didn't inherit his power. The first time she hit her leg and came to her parents bleeding and crying, Gaara panicked. Even if it was just a scratch, Gaara couldn't stop himself from calling the doctor. Sakura took Karura in her arms and soothed her before the doctor arrived. However, Gaara felt as if sitting on needles, unable to understand what was happening. None of his kids had ever been hurt before. Whenever he heard loud noises, Gaara ran to check if his little Karura was hurt. He held her in his arms when she was crying and he gave her everything she wanted to make her happy. He often fought with Sakura over this.
"You spoil her too much."
"I only have one daughter."
"Gaara! You can't just forgive her whenever she comes to you with her big eyes and says 'I am sorry, daddy' after she does something wrong."
Gaara sighed. Why am I always scolded?
"She took money from my purse to buy ice-cream after I told her she is not allowed to eat sweets before dinner. If any of our sons did that, you would punish him."
Gaara shut up and listened. Everything his wife said was true and he agreed to her, but he couldn't find the strength to be upset with his only daughter. He was scared that any kind of punishment might shake her up because his sweet little girl was the only one who was sick. She inherited the same disease as her mother. Education was the most important for Sakura and if her daughter was upset, Sakura knew how to make her forget. But Gaara would have preferred to be stabbed in the chest than hear Karura cry because of stomach aches, like she cried on her first days of school.
Gaara woke up his daughter when she was 5 to take her to school every morning. He dressed her and combed her hair. He took her backpack and gave her a piggyback ride to school, but his precious always complained about having stomach aches. She was always cheerless. At first, Gaara thought she was just faking it because she was lazy, but soon Karura woke up crying that she didn't want to go to school anymore because it hurt too much. Gaara called the doctor and he gave them the bad news. Gaara sighed and decided to hire a tutor to homeschool his daughter to avoid any source of stress. She couldn't be a ninja, but she was a jewel in her father's eyes.
When Karura made blunders or she was very stubborn, Gaara scolded her like that time when the royal family was spending time in the gardens and Karura wanted to throw her toys into her garbage instead of giving them to her brother who wished to have them instead. Regardless of how much he loved her, Gaara couldn't do injustice to his own son. He tried to convince Karura to hand over her toys of her own accord, but she rebuffed. So, Gaara gave the toys to his son and scolded his daughter. Karura started crying and she ran away. They looked for her for over an hour in the big gardens. She didn't wear a chakra signature, so they couldn't track her.
"Karura-chan, if you come out now, daddy will give you everything you want. Come to me! Come out wherever you are. Daddy promises you he won't punish you."
"Dad, I found her!" Itadori said while pointing to a bush of red roses.
Everyone gathered around it like grapes on a bunch, with Gaara being leader. He kneeled in front of the roses and looked at his daughter who was staring at the ground. She seemed upset with her knees to her chest. Gaara stretched his arms and took her into the light. He held her to his chest, with just one arm. Her left hand wrapped around his neck. The other kids followed them, always cheerful, always noisy.
"Why did you hide from me? Why didn't you come out when I called you?"
Karura was silent, but she was also sorry.
"Daddy is not upset with you, but you have to think about your brothers. You saw how nice they treat you. You should do the same."
Karura weighed her father's words and concluded he was right.
"You're right, daddy." She turned to look over Gaara's shoulder while hugging him around the neck. "Raijin, I am sorry. You can have all of my toys. Daddy will buy new toys for me."
That's my fate. Gaara thought. He was resigned and happy at the same time.
As for Sakura, she finally had 100% faith in her husband starting the day he saved all of them from 5 ninja who were sent to their house to kill the royal family. It was night and everyone was around the table, eating. Karura was 3 years old. She was sitting on her mother's thighs. Sakura was feeding her. Shinki stood up to wash his hands in the kitchen. The boys placed bets on who was going to eat chicken legs the fastest. Gaara was eating peacefully with his eyes closed. If Sakura didn't look at him carefully, she would swear he was sleeping.
"Sakura! The kids!" He screamed out of the blue.
Sakura was startled and activated her seal. The children looked at their father worriedly. Sakura hugged her daughter and called the boys to her right before a smoke bomb broke through the window, throwing everyone except Gaara into panic. Gaara instantly formed a sand shield to protect his kids' back from the shards.
"Come to me faster!" Sakura yelled.
The boys crawled under the table and ran to their mother while Gaara slowly got up from his chair. His giant sand arm caught the smoke bomb and threw it out of the house before anyone could register what had happened. The ninja got into the room and surrounded them. Hikaru stood tall in front of his mother, trying to protect his brothers. Thankfully, Gaara covered them with a sand dome to prevent them from interfering and seeing blood. The children were too young for this. Sakura pulled Hikaru to her with a hand on his chest. The twins were holding hands next to their mother. Shinki got out of the kitchen right away and wanted to help.
"Father!"
Before Shinki had time to do anything, Gaara's sharp needles had already pierced the enemies' hearts. Shiki hurried to check the men's pulse and had the immense joy to find out they were all dead with their weapons in their hands. They didn't have time to even fire once. Gaara's protective guards entered the room.
"Clean up!"
"Yes, sir."
Sakura was singing to the children inside the dome, but the stress of not knowing what was happening outside, transferred to the kids. Karura started to stir while eating her fingers. Sakura rolled her from one side to the other and smiled. Then, she caressed her sons and assured them that their father will safely let them out soon.
"Faster!" Gaara told his guards.
They washed the blood off and took the lifeless bodies out of the house. Gaara was furious on his security because they let such a thing happen. He kicked them out of the house and took a deep breath to calm down. He was starting to hear his daughter buzzing. Shinki leaned with his back on the wall and his hands in his pockets. Gaara let the sand dome crumble and light washed so many shades of red and pink hair. The twins ran out of patience, so they climbed onto the already crumbling wall and ran to their father.
"Sana, Itadori, it's dangerous! Hey, where are you going?" Sakura asked.
"Daddy!"
"Daddy!"
Gaara opened his arms and welcomed them. Hikaru went next to his older brother to ask more information about what happened, which were very vague.
"Nothing is going to happen to you as long as I am breathing." Gaara assured them.
The children cheered up, but complained about not taking part in the action. Karura smiled as soon as she saw light again and took her hand out of her mouth. She was now giggling in all of the noise created by her siblings. Gaara looked into his wife's eyes and read relief, gratitude and admiration. She finally felt 100% safe next to her husband. She had faith that Gaara would save her from any situation she might encounter in the future.
Sakura's happiness wasn't only thanks to her family, but also thanks to the fact that she felt useful to the village she lived in as the Kazekage's wife starting the day she and her youngest kids left on a trip to Konoha by train. Karura was already 9 years old. Sakura was sitting on a brown leather bench. On her left sat Raijin by the window. On her right sat Itadori, Sana and Karura in this order. On the bench across them sat an old woman. She was very nice. She was joking with the kids and even gave each of them chocolate from her own purse. The boys started eating it as soon as they received it. Karura checked all of its sides first. She noticed all of the thin lines that decorated the square pieces of chocolate, the name of the brand engraved in the melting chocolate than stained her small fingers with brown perfume.
"Whoever loves mom will give her his chocolate." The old woman said happily.
All of the boys handed their chocolate to Sakura without second thoughts.
"What about you, girl? Don't you love mommy?"
"I do. But love can't be measured in chocolate."
The woman was speechless. The boys were just as puzzled.
"She's poet material." The old woman said.
"Mom loves all of you, even if she didn't give you chocolate." Sakura smiled.
A crying kid entered the hallways of the train in a hurry and panic. He seemed scared. He looked around 5 years old from what Sakura could tell. She heard with her delicate ears the sound of 2 angry people who were running to catch him. Sakura stood up from the bench and caught the boy in her arms as he was running. She sat down next to Karura after her kids moved closer to the window to create space on the bench. The foreign kid wrapped his legs around Sakura's hips and his arms around her neck while he was hiccupping and crying. Sakura caressed his back while looking at the door to the wagon that she knew was going to burst open soon. A man and a woman did just that. They saw the kid in Sakura's arm, frowned, cursed in a whisper that didn't escape Sakura's fine ears and continued to walk ahead, passing through the next wagon.
"Mom, who were they?" Sana whispered.
"Nobody."
Karura looked at the foreigner in her mother's arms and stood on her knees on the bench to pat his back alongside Sakura.
"Don't cry. Look, you can have my chocolate."
Sakura nodded to the guards and they stood up to see what was going on with those weird people before arresting them in the end. They were trying to kidnap the boy in Sakura's arms, that was why he was scared and crying. The newspapers painted the Kazehime in a warm light ever since the event. She was a hero who saved a Sunan kid. When Sakura and her kids came back home from Konoha, she was pleasantly surprised by the admiring glances of all the mothers and children she met. Ever since that day, the kids kept asking for her help. They thanked her for always looking out for Suna's future. More deeds of this kind placed her close to the citizens' hearts and little by little, children started decorating her hair with ribbons and hair clips. Some were expensive, some were cheap, but they were all carrying the same gratitude and hope to always be protected by her.
One night, loud laughs coming from the bathroom, attracted Sakura like a magnet.
"You said you'll only cut the white ones."
"Yes. Look, they are all white."
"That one is red."
"Daddy, it's just one hair. Oh, I saw another white hair. Stay still, I'll cut it now."
"No. You'll make me bald."
"No, I won't. Daddy, stop complaining. Stay still, please."
"Sakura, save me!"
"Karura, baby, do you need help?"
Karura screamed happily with the scissors in her hand. Sakura hurried to take it from her so she won't hurt herself.
"Let me help you."
"What? It's not fair! You united against me."
"Restrain daddy for me, will you?"
"Yes, mommy."
Karura got off the chair behind Gaara and hugged him in her arms. His arms were glued to his sides.
"Daddy, you are not allowed to move."
Gaara groaned as if he was a prisoner even if he could easily break free of his daughter's weak hold. His blue eyes begged his wife to have mercy on him. Sakura caressed his cheek and started cutting his hair nicely.
I really am blessed. Sakura thought as the last tuft of red hair fell to the floor.
...
Note: Thank you so much for your support! Your positive comments have helped me a lot. :) I am grateful to you.
Thank you also for all your amazing ideas. I tried to put them to use throughout the book. Please give me your overall opinion on the book, now that it is officially finished.
I will solely focus on writing the other book starting now, which I hope is good news for all of my fans. :)
It was a pleasure to share this journey with you.