Standard disclaimers apply. I'm just borrowing these characters for a little while.
Author's note: Kishimoto-sensei's plan is to fit the entire 4th Shinobi War Arc into a matter of days in the Naruto timeline, but I'm taking the liberty of extending it since war is never so quick and clean-cut. Events from the manga will be added, removed or shifted around. Please pardon my impudence.
Fratricide.
That singular notion hovered in the periphery of Gaara's mind as he maintained an outwardly cool gaze from the place of honour on the Kage's stage. His birthday festivities had commenced with the setting of the sun.
Sabaku no Gaara, Fifth Kazekage, Regimental Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces and one time Jinchuuriki of the One-Tailed Shukaku, was no stranger to violence. But he had grown since the extraction of said beast from his body, and those urges that used to plague his youth had mostly vanished.
Mostly.
When he had given permission to Kankurou to plan the festivities for tonight with Temari keeping an eye on him, he was certain that things would not be allowed to get too far out of hand. Clearly, he had underestimated his brother's propensity for getting away with everything but the kitchen sink. Temari - poor, frazzled-looking Temari - was off somewhere else in the camp, no doubt trying to stop the collective Allied Shinobi Forces from further sullying their name. She had probably given up and was washing herself of the debacle that Gaara was now first-hand witness to.
In the meantime, the Kage and their retainers had literal front row seats to a bikini-filled foam party that Kankurou had somehow managed to whip up, complete with Kuroari generating said fluffy foam out of its barrel-shaped body. Gyrating, scantily-clad female bodies (and more than a few male bodies) were moving to the beat of some new-fangled music that Gaara had absolutely no recognition of, nor the appreciation.
The rest of the table's occupants seemed to have not taken notice of his mild distress. Either that, or they chose not to. Tsunade and Mei were wolf-whistling loudly at the activities before them, while Ohnoki tried his best to sneak not more than one very obvious eyeballing of the dancing kunoichi's every few seconds. It probably had something to do with the caseful of sake he saw next to Tsunade's feet earlier - clearly, these three Kage have decided to get a head start on their drinking. A, meanwhile, was not-so-subtly squeezing the life out of the chopsticks he held from sheer effort to not speak his mind on what he thought about the entire affair. His Jinchuuriki sworn-brother, on the other hand, did not share his stuffy attitude and was instead rapping along with the song just off the stage; several chakra tentacles of his waving about almost hypnotically to the rhythm of the music.
The sand in his gourd that rested behind him stirred in mild agitation.
Kankurou had single-handedly wiped out the good name of their entire bloodline in one night. Gaara could just see the public bathroom scribblings now: "For squeaky-clean fun, call Kankurou at -"
Thus, a sandy punishment was warranted. If not outright death.
Where did Kankurou even find the time to make such modifications to his puppet, anyway? What if Akatsuki chose to attack right now? Was he planning on blinding the enemies with foam, or performing sneak attacks under the cover of said foam? Soap in the eyes stung, but it was something that even a genin could shrug off.
Pushing those thoughts away, Gaara tried his best to turn all his attention to the simple but rich meal of fresh pork arranged in the centre of the banquet table that the Kage were sitting around. And promptly found his mind wandering again.
Around midday earlier today, Baki had entered his tent to inform him of a possible attack; There was a discernible dust cloud headed straight for their camp that a scouting team had sighted. With tensions high amongst the more wary of shinobi who were all but certain that Akatsuki would strike them down tonight, it seemed prudent to bring this matter to the Regimental Commander's attention at once.
Gaara headed straight for a guard tower in the direction of the threat, gourd strapped to his back as he swapped out his robe for his combat jacket instead. Once there, he could just barely make out the approaching dust cloud, and casted his Third Eye in that direction.
Konoha's Beautiful Green Wild Beast and Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey were running in perfect sync with each other, and were trampling their way towards the camp. However, it was not their antics that had stirred up the landscape around them. Instead, it was the team of house-sized wild boars that were chasing them that was responsible for kicking up the dust storm that they were trailing behind them.
For one long moment, Gaara pondered if he was supposed to consider the situation before him a threat, or the hallucinations of a fevered mind.
The whoop of joy from Gai was clearly communicated to his Third Eye.
"It's just Konoha-nin," Gaara replied tonelessly to Baki's questioning gaze.
"Are they in trouble? Should we send in reinforcements?"
Gaara shook his head, then headed towards the camp gates to meet the two green-clad taijutsu masters.
Approximately several hundred metres before reaching the gates, Gai and Lee suddenly stopped. There, they proceeded to turn on the stampeding beasts and pummelled the absolute living daylight out of them. By the time they had rendered the team of a dozen or so wild boars unconscious, a small group of curious shinobi had gathered at the gates as well, summoned by the commotion as they were.
Gai, cheerfully hoisting one comatose boar by the tail and the other balanced precariously on the flat of his head, strode right up to Gaara as if everything that had just transpired was a daily, normal occurrence, then loudly proclaimed, "Happy birthday to the most youthful of Kage, Kazekage-sama! I bring you a feast of wild pigs from the plains. You must eat more proteins to put more meat on your bones, especially at this crucial stage in your physical development! Your youthful growth spurt only comes once!"
Not to be outdone, Lee, dragging two boars back by their hind legs, added, "Kazekage-sama! I apologise for not gift-wrapping your present before I offer them to you! However, Gai-sensei has assured me that there is an insufficient supply of paper that the Alliance can spare for this, so I humbly ask you to please accept our joint gift of organic, grass-fed boars!"
Gaara felt his left eyelid twitch even as he nodded his appreciation. "Thank you both for the gift. The army will eat well today, and our stores will be full for the weeks to come, thanks to your personal efforts."
With a few whispered instructions to Baki, Gaara nodded once more to both Gai and Lee before returning to his tent. He found himself taking an extended detour along the way to avoid the Naruto clones in Sexy Jutsu trying out swimsuits whilst a certain blushing Hyuuga heiress stammered out her assessments.
It was a better idea than a Giant Rasenshuriken light show-cum-juggling attempt. Just barely.
On second thoughts, maybe Naruto planned for it anyway, thought Gaara, as he caught sight of a familiar blue pinwheel glow of chakra swirling some distance away; Music thumped and light strobed from the ground as the fatalistic snap of A's chopsticks echoed. Darui quietly slipped a new pair of chopsticks next to the Raikage's plate.
"Happy birthday, Gaara-kun." Tsunade grinned as she raised a toast to him.
All he could do was nod stiffly in reply, and take a sip of his water. Although Gaara permitted the rules to not be enforced as strictly as Shikamaru suggested just for the night, the least he could do as the Regimental Commander was not to consume anymore alcohol for the day, no matter how many cups of sake Tsunade and Ohnoki tried to nudge into his hands. Whenever he looked away, he ensured a small dome of sand was covering his glass to prevent its contents from being tampered with by the supposed adults at the table. He couldn't help but wonder, though, if it would help loosen him up a little; Kankurou had earlier commented that he looked constipated when he first unveiled his modified puppet, and the few sips he took whilst with Tsunade this morning had long since burnt off.
Gaara hoped that wherever Sakura was right now, she was having a more tolerable time than him.
Presently, Sakura was not having a good time.
For one, she had acquired multiple shadows of sorts - mini-Katsuyu was curled around her shoulders, Mr. Fluffy-kins was literally underfoot, and Shikamaru had been trailing behind her all night like a burr stuck on a pony. Somehow their little group managed to weave around the various crowds that were feasting, chatting and partying without drawing much more than a curious glance or two.
"Seriously, I'm not going to let someone get the drop on me. Can't you guys just trust me to watch my own back?" Sakura all but growled.
Shikamaru scratched the back of his neck, completely unbothered by the anger radiating off the kunoichi, and calmly stated, "I'm not doing anything, Sakura. With Kazekage-sama stuck playing host to the other Kage, it has fallen upon me to check in with the troops. I just happen to be going in the same direction as you."
"Ditto," chimed in Katsuyu.
The sand-cat rubbed up against her inside ankle once, then shifted to walk on her left side - the opposite of where Shikamaru had now moved to. A group of suspiciously wet-looking kunoichi moved aside to let them pass. A statuesque brunette in a too-small yellow string bikini shot her a frown, but Sakura assumed it had more to do with the fact that she was dressed in her normal attire as opposed to failing to share in their kunoichi swimsuit solidarity.
"You're going to the ladies' room with me, Shika-kun?" Sakura's voice turned positively sugary-sweet, "Whatever will Temari think of that?"
"Nice try. You went twenty minutes ago while I was talking to Chouji."
Dammit.
"I don't need to be chaperoned!" Sakura knew that she was starting to sound like a petulant child with the whine in her voice, but she was a kunoichi, and gosh darn it, she could protect herself like one!
Shikamaru cocked an eyebrow at her, "I'm not here to safeguard your virtue like these two, Sakura. I'm really just doing my rounds, and you so happen to be on the same path as me."
At that comment, Sakura blushed. Maybe that's why she was getting more angry looks from the kunoichi-half of the army lately. Thanks to the plentiful rumours surrounding her and their very eligible Regimental Commander, she was being viewed as a strong contender for Gaara's more permanent affections. She could maybe lend credence to about half of those rumours, but the more brazen ones she preferred not to think about; she could not cross her ankles behind her head, no matter how hard she tried (and she did try once on a dare with Ino that ended rather poorly).
Could a group of kunoichi be the ones after her? Was it as simple as jealousy prompting them to try to eliminate her instead of the outrageous idea that she was distracting the Regimental Commander from the war?
"And before you say it, no, I don't think you're being targeted because of those rumours."
Sakura gaped, "Are you a mind-reader now?"
Shikamaru shot her a look that she was all-too familiar with.
Right. Dated for six months.
They continued in silence for several minutes, with Shikamaru stopping at a gathering of shinobi cracking open a small barrel of sake next to a firepit of roasting boar meat to converse with them briefly. After a quick reminder of their sake quota, and a shake of his head knowing that said quota would be ignored, they continued on to the next group.
"Everyone seems… well-behaved," Sakura remarked.
Shikamaru jerked a thumb sideways, and Sakura leaned over to see that he was gesturing towards the Kage stage. She could just make out the Five Kage from where they were, and that they were surrounded by their retainers and shinobi on guard duty. Gaara's expression was completely indecipherable from where she was, but he couldn't have been too happy, if the way he had sighed at Kankurou's grand unveiling earlier was any indication.
"Those who wanted to really party are over in that direction," Shikamaru explained, "Probably trying to catch the Kazekage's eyes. Which is an odd choice of location, seeing how they are trying to do that right in front of their village leaders. Or maybe that's their plan - to show that they are good little kunoichi's who can entice a Kage for the benefit of their own leaders."
And there it was - that strange, uneasy feeling of somehow being unable to compete in terms of her looks or her abilities with all the most formidable kunoichi of the shinobi world in their generation. Their army had been whittled down since offences started almost half a year ago, and those who numbered among them now have proven their mettle.
In short, the kunoichi left amongst them were all impressive potential Kazehime candidates.
The very next second, Sakura brought both palms up to her own cheeks in a loud, painful smack, startling her companions.
Stars, what is wrong with me? How can I think of other humans in this way? How many families have been changed forever; How many children left orphaned by this war? And my mind goes right to potential rivals?!
Sakura slumped over slightly, and Shikamaru found himself stiffened with confusion. Even the sand-cat was starting to purr in concern as it moved to stand in front of the kunoichi.
Look at yourself, Haruno. Some medic you make, thinking of fellow shinobi in such a calculated manner. Does Gaara know that this is how your mind works?
"Sakura?" Shikamaru reached out to touch her forearm lightly.
Sakura forced a smile onto her lips as she turned to face him, answering, "Just something on my mind."
Shikamaru tilted his head sideways, furrowing his brows at the same time. Sakura knew that there would be no fooling him, but now was not the time to bring up such silly, pathetic thoughts either. So she shook her head gently, and he understood that he had reached an impasse with her.
"You know where to find me," was his standing offer as he removed his hand.
He got a small nod in reply, and knowing that there would be no further questioning of her train of thought for tonight, he continued on his meandering patrol of the campgrounds. Sakura made to follow after him, but was stopped short by the sudden sensation of grit against the back of her right hand.
Sand.
It had been a while since Gaara had summoned her in such a manner, and she paused in her footsteps to turn around and look at the Kage stage. Upon noticing Sakura's actions, Shikamaru mirrored them as well.
All the Kage were still seated, though there was some movement from the left side of the stage. Squinting, Sakura could just make out a small contingent of shinobi led by a black-clad male. When the leader of the group turned to face the crowd, she finally recognised him as Kankurou. They were too far away to make out what was being said, but none of the Kage or their retainers seemed bothered by the interruption, so she assumed it was nothing serious.
"Let's head back? I'm about done anyway," suggested Shikamaru.
Sakura nodded her agreement; She was supposed to meet Gaara, anyway, if the persistently rubbing sand was any indication of its master's temperament.
So they were all quite startled when Gaara materialised from the shadow of a cluster of empty tents and made to approach them; Shikamaru immediately made a bit more space between himself and Sakura subconsciously.
"Shikamaru-san," Gaara nodded curtly to the Nara prodigy, "I'll take it from here. Thank you for accompanying Haruno-san tonight."
"It was my pleasure, Kazekage-sama. I will continue my rounds now, and I will convene with Baki-san should any matters arise while you are gone."
There shouldn't be too much for him to do at such a late hour as the Proxy Commander; the most that he needed to accomplish was probably to fend off questions from others as to where the Regimental Commander had disappeared to, and Shikamaru would never answer that question even under the duress of torture. Not if he wanted to escape a chakra-enhanced punch.
As Shikamaru brisk-walked off, Sakura turned to look at Gaara, then turned her head towards the stage where an identical Gaara was now standing in front of.
"You're a sand clone, aren't you?" asked Sakura when the idea of two Gaara's suddenly clicked.
At his nod, Sakura could not resist - she raised her index finger and lightly dragged it down his cheek. The texture of his clone was pretty close to human skin, only rougher and a bit bumpy in certain spots - almost indiscernible from his sand armour. Gaara's clone was content to stand perfectly still for her inspection, though he did furrow his brow bones at the intimate gesture done so publicly. They were fortunately not in the vicinity of any celebratory groups to be observed.
He did not flinch when Sakura lightly tapped him on the chest with a brush of her knuckles, and she asked, "And is there a good reason you're wasting chakra like this, Kazekage-sama?"
"Unfortunately, the messenger hawks are all asleep. Gaara wanted me to let you know to meet him at our tent in about twenty minutes."
Great, now his clones told jokes, too.
"He requests that you dress warmly, perhaps in one of his spare robes. And to leave Katsuyu-san and Mun behind before you go on your date with him."
Katsuyu raised herself a little taller, ready to spit a jet of acid at the clone, but was quickly stopped by Sakura clamping a hand over the slug's general mouth area. The sand-cat she could do little about, as it arched its back and puffed itself up in obvious disagreement.
Gaara's clone observed the two animals' reactions, reassuring them, "Gaara won't let any harm come to you on his watch."
Providentially, Sakura's hand prevented Katsuyu from replying to that statement to argue differently. Her other hand which hung by her side was carefully plucked by the sand clone, who raised it to his lips to soothe with a tender kiss. With his eyes closed, the clone did not notice how the touch was affecting Sakura, causing her insides to heat up in ways she knew to be new and strange.
"I'll see you soon," the clone announced softly as if it were the man himself, then dissolved into a cloud of sand to be carried off by a non-existent wind.
Leaving a stunned, very pink Sakura standing alone. Well, as alone she could be with her two animal guardians. Whom she was just given very clear instructions to ditch so she could have an uninterrupted date with Gaara.
Oh, stars.
It was close to half an hour later when Gaara finally entered his tent, first flaring his chakra once to alert Sakura of his presence before he pushed open the tent flap. Sakura was sitting at her own chair next to his desk, back to him and a brush in hand as she perused a dwindling stack of scrolls. She acknowledged him with a wave of her arm, which Gaara could see was clad in the maroon sleeve of his robe.
So she had listened to him, and donned the very robe that she once flinched at the idea of wearing straight off his back, trading the flak jacket for something more comfortable for once. It caused a little bubble of warmth to settle in his chest as he realised that.
Gaara walked up to stand beside her chair, and she finally looked up at him.
"I apologise for the delay. It was not as easy to get away from Kankurou as I had hoped when he had his mind set on certain matters," he offered as an explanation.
"I don't mind. Did something happen?" Sakura jotted down a few words on the edge of the scroll before laying it back down, "I saw him going up to the stage when your clone found me."
She was not expecting the grimace on Gaara's lips as he replied, "Apparently, the swimsuit showcase entailed a winner, and I was asked to pick one."
And really, the thought of her boyfriend being asked to scrutinise a group of just barely clad kunoichi in their physical prime should not have caused the brush in her hand to splinter and crack audibly. As a kunoichi, she should have better control over her emotions; she cannot be broadcasting her feelings like a genin anymore.
"Oh?" Sakura knew her voice was pitched a little too high, "And who did you choose?"
Gaara levelled a strange look at her before he carefully took the broken writing instrument out of her hand, dropping it onto the table as he said, "No one. I told Kankurou it would not be diplomatic of me as the Regimental Commander to show preference towards any one specific kunoichi, especially if it was in a competitive situation. I gave him the honour of choosing instead, since he did arrange the entire affair after all."
Two birds with one stone: not only did he manage to push the task off onto his brother, thereby subjecting him to the losers' wrath, Gaara also managed to prevent any kunoichi from feeling slighted if the Regimental Commander did not pick her as the most perfect of his army. Any kunoichi not chosen will instead take it out on Kankurou instead.
Payback was sweet.
"You are showing preference to me, though," Sakura's response was coloured by the blush on her cheek.
"I wasn't aware that you were in any competition for my favour, Sakura, considering you are the only woman I know to hold it."
Damn his silver tongue!
She rose from her seat and started dusting off imaginary specks off her robe; it was very cosy and there a hint of his unique masculine scent seeped into the fibres of the fabric, and it made her feel protected and awkward all at once. Plus, it secretly made her glad that she could hide the fact that she couldn't find anything special to wear for their date - boring daily wear underneath was all she had on.
"Did you escape before the cake-cutting? Because I didn't hear any birthday songs," she asked as a way to distract herself.
"I have had enough of singing for today," Gaara scowled, "I didn't run out on my guests, if that's what you're implying. The Hokage, Mizukage and Tsuchikage are all three sheets to the wind, and Naruto and Killer Bee have wrecked half the stage in an attempt to teach Killer Bee how to juggle Rasengan's."
That was… a completely Naruto way to end the night, she supposed.
"But," Gaara beckoned two fingers behind himself, "I did manage to save you a slice of cake."
On a tiny sand platform, perched perfectly on a ceramic plate with a dessert fork, was a piece of cake dusted in icing sugar and layered with an assortment of wild berries. Sakura's eyes widened at the sight - it had been months since she had the chance to taste anything sweet that was purely for decadence, and now, there was a generous serving of it being presented to her. And a ceramic plate? When the entire army ate off metal dishware? They certainly saved the best for the Kage's.
"Do you want it now?" Gaara's voice interrupted her silent salivating, "Or do you prefer to have it during our date?"
Right, their date. The reason why she had to plead and coax and then resorted to begging mini-Katsuyu to stay in her tent for the rest of the night. Katsuyu had finally relented when she openly downed a cup of now-cold contraceptive tea, even as she reassured the slug summon that she would have absolutely no use for it tonight, and by the way, she was already on the pill, thank you for asking.
Mr. Fluffy-kins she had more success with - a few reassuring pats, a kiss on its nose, and the sand-cat was putty in her hands.
"Later is fine," Sakura tilted her head in a question, "Where are we going?"
Gaara did not reply, instead reaching out to her and placed a hand on the small of her back to draw her towards himself. When her chest connected with his side, he summoned his sand to engulf them both. Within seconds, but for a few stray bits of sand left behind, it was as if they had never been in their tent tonight.
Whatever Sakura was expecting, she certainly wasn't expecting this.
Ok, maybe on some level, she was musing that they could go to a small town where they wouldn't be recognised. Maybe take a stroll down a moonlit street and perhaps a small, quiet meal for two - something that she had been missing since the war started, as she had to take her meals in the mess hall with other medics - that one breakfast with the Kazekage notwithstanding.
She didn't have very much experience dating, that much was obvious. Thus, her somewhat limited expectations.
Gaara, though, had taken her to where he was literally in his element. The desert.
More specifically, a small oasis in the desert; where someone had made the effort to hang several glowing lanterns on the gently swaying palm trees. A carpet of wildflowers lined the water's edge, giving way to the occasional shrub or cacti. Every plant was in various stages of blossoming, but what really caught her eyes was the riot of colours that seemed to explode across the entire oasis. She knew there were plants that grew in the adversity of the desert, but never before had she seen a literal sea of them.
"Oh," she gasped in wonderment, hands raised to her mouth, "I never knew so many flowers bloomed in the desert."
Gaara nodded his head towards the distant dunes, replying, "We had a very rare rainstorm come across our lands several days ago. It is during this time that plants will come alive to drink their fill and to pollinate a new generation. Tonight is the night that everything blooms most brilliantly before the desert returns to the way it was."
Sakura slipped out of his hold on her waist, drawn to a patch of multicoloured flora. She ghosted her fingers across the tiny, delicate blooms - a number of plants here were new to her senses, and the light from the lanterns added a mythical glow to them.
"They are so beautiful." The awe in her voice reassured Gaara that she was not disappointed in his choice of location for their first date; he had wondered briefly if she was dissatisfied when she pulled away from his side a moment ago.
He removed the gourd from his back and deposited it against a nearby palm tree, then walked up next to her and sat carefully down on the slightly dewy grass, watching as she studied each bloom with reverence and care.
"Sakura, if I may ask a question?"
"Mhmm?"
Gaara cleared his throat, then asked in an impassive tone, "Was there a specific reason you gave me a sleeping bag for a single person as a present?"
Her hand froze just above a showy-looking white flower, and Sakura replied with pink on her cheeks, "There is no way my parents would send me a sleeping bag for two without grilling me within an inch of my life first as to who I am sharing it with. You're just… insufferably nice about letting me sit on your vest-"
Gaara bit back a scowl.
"But," she continued, "I like spending that time with you, and we should be more comfortable on a sleeping bag, even if we have to just sit on top of it instead of trying to fit into it."
"I'm sure we can both fit if we tried, though, it will require a lot of close physical contact to make it work," he smiled behind his hand, knowing that Sakura would only blush harder at the suggestion.
And she did not disappoint. Sakura whipped her head in his direction, her expression warring between embarrassment and resentment at being his source of amusement. She was a kunoichi, dammit! She really shouldn't be letting someone get under her skin so easily, if even said someone is a person whom she was romantically involved with and thus a constant source of fluttery feelings in her chest.
A chill wind whispered past the trees, causing the lanterns to sway a little harder. Unconsciously, Sakura drew Gaara's robe tighter around her shoulders. The action was not missed by Gaara, who immediately moved close enough to press up against her and wrap an arm around her shoulders.
"I did warn you to dress warmly," he tugged at her collar to close it further around her slim neck, "Do you want to go elsewhere?"
Sakura shook her head, and turned her suddenly intense gaze to him, "You did all this for me. I want to stay here."
"I did not make it rain, Sakura."
"No, but you did hang up the lanterns. And this," she gestured towards the flowers, "I know a few species here are not native to the desert, Gaara. You seeded this oasis before the rains came, didn't you?"
Gaara shrugged; in the past, he had helped his botanical team seed the lands with precious medical herbs before the annual rains came. The job had to be done as close to rainfall as possible, lest the winds carried away the seeds if sown too soon - a monumental task that was but child's play to him. It seemed like a perfectly natural thing to him - to use his sand to scatter some wildflower seeds he had managed to procure from several distant lands - to make the otherwise plain oasis a little more breath-taking for just a few days. Baki had been confused by the supply request, but knew better than to question him.
Taking his silence for his answer, she leaned into his hold, her forehead pressing into the column of his throat, "Thank you. I love it."
"And I, you," he replied, pressing his lips to the crown of her head, hoping that she could hear what he left unsaid.
His radiant, bewitching flower in the desert.
Sakura would have been perfectly content to be held in his warmth for the rest of the night, but her stomach had other plans as it gurgled aloud rudely and suddenly.
Gaara's chuckle of amusement did not make her feel any better.
"Hungry?"
Sakura crossed her arms and pouted, "Well, you shouldn't have dangled that cake in front of me! I already had dinner!"
A ball of sand materialised in front of her, splitting open like a cascade of blooming flower petals to reveal the still perfect-looking cake within. Gaara picked up the fork and held it out to her, which she eagerly took. She speared a corner off the cake and popped it into her mouth without preamble, and had to fight back her moan of appreciation at the contrasting burst of sugar and tart berries.
"Oh! It's really, really good!" Sakura declared as she made to cut another portion, then held it out to Gaara, "You have to try it!"
Gaara shook his head, "You can have it all. I don't like sweets."
Sakura's fork paused in mid-air, and she looked completely appalled at his words. One would have thought that Gaara had just declared he was going to become a rogue-nin, or that he hated Naruto with the passion of a thousand suns, from the way Sakura reacted.
"N-nobody hates sweets!" Sakura argued.
"I don't hate sweets; I just don't like them," replied Gaara placidly.
Sakura shot him a look of utter disbelief, then turned her attention back to the confectionary before her - it was just too good to stop - muttering a soft, "Whatever."
The redhead watched her conflict with amusement; Sakura was clearly enjoying the cake, but she was obviously making an effort to not look as if she was enjoying it too much, now that the birthday boy had declared his utter indifference towards it.
"Are you sure you don't want it? You're missing out on something really good," Sakura mock-taunted him as she waved the last sliver of cake on her fork at him.
Gaara shook his head, waited for the cake to disappear into her mouth, then announced, "I believe I will try it now."
Before Sakura could register what was happening, Gaara had slipped one hand behind her neck, the other he used to flick the fork out of her grasp. Then he leaned forward brazenly while pulling her head forward, telegraphing his intentions in the intensity of his gaze before connecting his mouth to hers in an eager embrace. Whatever sounds Sakura was about to make was swallowed up by the bold sweep of his tongue into her gasping mouth. The taste of fresh cream and tangy fruits combined with a taste that was uniquely hers left him briefly light-headed.
He was only supposed to be teasing her; A quick peck to make her blush because she always looked so very entrancing whenever colours rose to her cheeks. But when he started to pull back, the ardour in her dazed eyes made his breath catch.
He could not deny her, not when she looked at him so.
Forcing himself to breathe again, he pulled back fully to reposition himself more comfortably against her, then swooped back in to claim her lips as if he had never left them.
Gaara noted with satisfaction that in the meantime, her hands had found themselves around his back; his own fingers were digging into the wind-chilled skin of her neck and the fabric bunched up against her hip. He considered leaning forward, to push her against the pillowing blooms beneath her, but Sakura's grip kept him upright even as she kissed him back with equal fervour.
There would be no one to interrupt them here. To stop them.
And Gaara knew he had to be the voice of reason, unpleasant as the idea was. This was not a decision that he would wish upon any teenaged boy, but then again, he had never been a normal teenager to begin with.
Sakura's hand suddenly descending very near the top of his buttocks was not in his game plan, though.
Torn between taking her touch as a cue for more, and the terrifying notion that she would regret her actions tomorrow, Gaara fought to slow the movement of his lips against her. It was not the easiest thing to do in the world, seeing how Sakura was alternating nips to his lower and upper lip in tandem. He needed to communicate to her in absolute terms to discern if she knew what her body was asking for from him, even as he fought to keep his hand palmed against the underside of her breasts and not stray further either upwards or down.
All he recognised was that he wanted more, and he wasn't sure if Sakura was wanting to give that.
So the next thing Sakura knew, she was hauled onto his lap and held firmly down by her thighs as he forcefully and deliberately rolled his hips against her. For one brief moment, they were connected by a familiar, primal rush as their cores pushed together. There was no mistaking the heat between them even as they remained fully clothed.
A hot spark of desire shot through them both, licking through nerves and igniting their blood simultaneously with lightning. But in its wake it left a sobering chill down Sakura's spine, even as she gasped at the foreign hardness pushing insistently against her. Gaara's low groan of need next to her ear barely registered as she fought the warring demands from her own body. She wanted this, but… why did it feel so rushed? So desperate?
She promptly pushed herself off Gaara's lap and landed in an ungainly sprawl next to a shrub. Sakura slapped her hands over her face as she struggled to regain her composure, not believing what just transpired between her and the breathless Kazekage.
That she had pulled herself so violently off of Gaara telegraphed the fact that she was not mentally prepared to escalate their physical relationship, and Gaara was glad that he had chosen to test her thus, before he accidentally lured her into actions that she was not ready for.
Even if his male pride did sting somewhat at the rejection.
Sakura, meanwhile, was still staring at him, chest heaving in a mixture of surprise and shame.
Gaara pulled her away from drowning in her own embarrassment by acknowledging, "You were right. It was very good."
"What?" She blurted out between her fingers.
"The cake. It was very good."
Sakura shrieked in response behind her hands. So that was his plan all along!
And hearing Gaara's open, unhindered laughter should not cause the muscles in her stomach to tighten in… anticipation? Desire?
Stop it, Sakura! You're a kunoichi and a medic! Sex is part and parcel of life! Where else do you think shinobi babies come from?!
"Gaara," Sakura finally spoke up after several slow breaths, "I… I don't mind this at all, but…"
The young man across from her quickly calmed his demeanour, then scooted nearer to look down at her still-reclined form. He waited for Sakura to pull her hands away from her face, then finally spoke.
"I want you," Gaara declared as he beheld her suddenly shy gaze, her chin captured between his fingers to stop her from turning away, "But not here. Not now. I want you laid out in my bed. On my sheets. In the calm of peace. When we will have all the time in the world to learn each other's bodies."
He followed up his confession with a surprisingly chaste kiss to her cheek before dropping down to lean against her on his elbows.
"Ok," her reply was so soft that Gaara almost missed it, but her penetrating gaze did not escape his notice. "You can have me then."
Unable to trust his own voice, Gaara could only nod. He carefully slipped one arm around her waist, pulling the robe a little tighter onto her form. Together, they basked in the comfortable silence, pollen tickling their senses as they gazed skywards.
"Although, I do have one request for now," Gaara suddenly spoke up.
Sakura turned her head towards him, cocking a questioning eyebrow. In turn, Gaara smiled softly and uttered the absolute strangest words she had ever heard him say.
"Spar with me."
At her incredulous expression, Gaara explained himself, "We are both too worked up to return to the camp and go unmolested by rumour mongers. There are some training fields outside the camp grounds we can use where we won't be disturbed." Gaara then stood up and shifted his stance to avoid calling attention to his arousal, and Sakura mentally chided herself for even looking in the general direction of his very apparent attraction to her. Her body wasn't quite ready to listen to her either, to be honest.
"Are you sure that's all you want, Gaara?" She challenged him, green eyes sparkling at the prospect of a thrilling confrontation, her body alive with a rush that she had never felt before. Both Naruto and Sasuke have fought Gaara, and though this fight would not be life-or-death, she knew Gaara would not insult her by going easy on her either.
His radiant, bewitching, fiery flower in the desert.
Gaara shrugged mildly before he swept her up in a tight embrace, pulling her to her feet (why did her legs feel like she just ran all the way from Konohagakure to Sunagakure non-stop?) as she emitted a cry of surprise. She barely made out his words as his gourd materialised onto his back, sand swirled and enveloped them at his command, his teasing words ghosting past the shell of her ear.
"There's only one way to find out, Sakura."