A/N: Happy National Hug Day, everyone! Usually, I'm a GaaNaru guy - having done a story called Gaara Wants a Hug - but because of KagamiPINKAgreste, I've also been open to the idea of GaaSaku, so I wrote this one for her. Cheers!

It was a hot, sunny winter day, but that was par for the course in Sunagakure – The Village Hidden In the Sand – and it didn't bother Gaara one bit. The thing that did bother him, however, was the mountain of paperwork he had to put up with. Even after so much time as the Kazekage, he never got used to it. All he wanted to do was to shake off the negative image he picked up as a Jinchuriki and be seen as a good person. Still, he vowed to keep it up as much as he could because despite the negatives, he found that there were many positives to be had, too, and he was infinitely grateful for them. Then, he heard knocking.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Temari stepped in.

"What is it, Temari?"

"Hey Little Bro, you have a visitor!"

"Who is it?"

Temari smiled. "It's Sakura Haruno, you know, from the Leaf Village!"

Gaara froze. Why Sakura was here was beyond him, but he figured she wanted to make a love confession to him, the thought of which made him more nervous than a defendant on trial. Still, he kept a cold face about him and gave his response:

"Let her in."

Temari stepped outside, and shortly thereafter, Sakura entered.

"Good afternoon, Gaara!"

Gaara smiled. "Ah, hello Sakura! How are you today?"

"I'm all right! How about you?"

"I'm swamped with paperwork, but I suppose that's to be expected in my line of work."

Sakura smiled. "Of course, Naruto has the same problem. By the way, I hope you can figure out what today is." She giggled.

Gaara's look turned serious. "It's Sunday. There's nothing special about today."

Sakura giggled again. "And that's where you're wrong! See, today is National Hug Day!"

"Oh, so you came over here because you wanted to hug me?"

"Exactly!"

Gaara's smile returned. "Well, if that's what you want, then by all means go ahead."

Gaara stepped out from behind his desk, and Sakura gave him a big hug, which he gladly returned. After all these years of being treated like an absolute monster, it meant so much to the raccoon-eyed Kazekage to have someone giving him such physical affection as this. Holding on to her, he felt like the best person in the world, someone who genuinely deserved to be loved and cared for. Truth be told, ever since he first saw her, he found her to be quite attractive and wanted to get to know her better, but because of his own warped personality and his father's domineering nature, he'd had no hope of even getting a micrometer close to her. Now that he had her in his arms, though, he felt the best he'd ever had. She may not have been the softest or most cuddly woman ever, but she was warmer than the sun's golden rays, and it truly made his day.

Sakura's day was going exceptionally well, too. She had also found Gaara to be attractive when she first met him. However, his personality and murderous nature had scared her off at first. After this initial scare, however, she got this strange feeling like deep down inside, he was a genuinely good boy who only wanted to be loved. After Sunagakure's attempted invasion of Konohagakure and Gaara's heel-face-turn, she found that her thought about him being a good boy were right, and she managed to get him to open up to her, slowly at first, but that small degree got larger exponentially, and she now felt very close to him. Feeling his strong, manly arms wrapped around her not only made her feel like a natural woman, but it made her feel like a good human being. Overall, she was as pleased as punch that this holiday existed. Eventually, Sakura let go, but not without leaving a smile on Gaara's face.

"Thank you so much, Sakura. You made my day."

Sakura smiled. "You're welcome, Gaara."

"May I please have another?"

Sakura giggled. "Of course!"

Sakura gave Gaara another hug. This one didn't last as long, but for Gaara, it would last a lifetime.

"Sakura, would you like to stay for tea?"

"Thanks, but I'd better get going. I promised Naruto some hazelnut cake for dessert."

Gaara nodded. "I won't keep you, then. Have a nice day!"

Sakura waved at Gaara. "You too!"

Sakura exited the office, while Gaara continued attending to his paperwork, eagerly looking forward to meeting the pinkette again.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.