Warning: Minor sexual reference.

Turning Page

By: Rise of the Blossom

It did not start with love.

It started with two people, two broken and lonely people, who craved human touch, who craved to feel like they mattered.

It did not start with love.

But it ended with it.

If you were to ask her how this – how any of this – had started, she would be unable to answer you. The truth was, was that she honestly had no idea. One evening she was alone and then the next, she had a very powerful man laying next to her, holding her as she slept.

Outside of the bedroom they were powerful and highly respected shinobi. One was the Kazekage, another was on her way to surpassing her master, the greatest medic–nin in the shinobi world as well as being the Godaime Hokage. Inside of the bedroom, they were two broken people, seeking love and affection and human contact. Sure, they were never made to suffer in the same way, but they had still suffered. They had both been betrayed by the people who meant the most to them. For him, it had been his uncle. For her, it had been a certain Uchiha.

However, when he would come to Konoha, at night, he would come to see her. There was no Sasuke. There was no Yashamaru. There was no pain. They comforted each other with their bodies. It hadn't always sexual, however. At first, he would simply hold her as she slept. Even though he was no longer the vessel for Shukaku, Gaara was still unable to sleep without vicious and unrelenting nightmares jolting him awake. He told her once that sometimes, it was better not to sleep at all. She wished she could help him, but there was little she could do. There was no way to relieve him of the pain unless she erased his memory, wiped it clean of all the horrors he had seen and done.

At first, he had held her as she slept, enjoying the feeling of having such a soft being in his arms, enjoying that she trusted him enough to sleep around him – as shinobi, it was difficult to give a person such trust, but she had done it without hesitation. Sakura had completely lowered her guards around him. And after a while, Gaara had decided that it was only fair that he did the same.

Now, whenever they were together, he no longer wore his sand armour.

He trusted her.

He wasn't going to lie, it had been difficult for him to give her such trust as not a lot of people had it. However, not once had Sakura ever abused or made him regret giving her that trust. She respected him for it.

That was when things began to grow sexual.

They were innocent touches at first. A caress here and there. A gentle, tender kiss. As time went on, though, things heated up and they found themselves feeling things they had never felt before. Things such as lust, the delicious sensation of feeling skin pressed up against skin.

In the bedroom, they were completely different people. He was no longer Kazekage and an ex–psychopathic murderer who had been hellbent on killing just to prove his existence. She was no longer Haruno Sakura, the Godaime's apprentice and the girl who had so foolishly fallen in love with a traitor, the girl who had had an extremely difficult time letting go of Sasuke.

It wasn't until the news of Uchiha Sasuke's death reached Konoha that things became more serious.

She had left Konoha for a short while, running to the first place she could think of. To Suna. To Gaara. Of course, it was almost as though he had been expecting her. As Kazekage he had already heard of Sasuke's death and knew that she would seek him out. That night, it had been more of a sparring session than the previous times they were together intimately. Gaara didn't complain once and instead returned her rough touches, knowing that right at that moment in time, she needed it. She needed that brief feeling of release and bliss to make her forget. Even if it was for a short while.

Sakura had stayed in Suna for a week until she returned to Konoha just in time for Sasuke's farewell. Due to not everybody agreeing that he should be buried in Konoha, the Uchiha district was no longer open. It hadn't been in a long time, but now, it was more securely closed off so that nobody would break in and vandalise it. Sasuke had been buried with his parents and his older brother, Itachi. Until they had told her about what Itachi had done for Konoha, the sacrifices he had made, Sakura had screamed and yelled obscenities at them all until she was red in the face and breaking down, saying Sasuke would despise being buried next to the murderer of his family.

Now, Sakura made sure to leave flowers for not only Sasuke, but also for Itachi, whenever she went to visit him.

Not long after, Gaara had visited Konoha, using the excuse of treaty meetings to visit her, to check on how she was doing. Nobody questioned him. Nobody told him that the treaty didn't need to be discussed. Sakura was certain that Tsunade knew about them, but it seemed the Hokage could understand why. It wouldn't surprise her. She knew of loss, too. She knew of the excruciating pain that Sakura was currently feeling.

Unlike their other times together, that time, Sakura had opened up to him with words instead of her actions. She had cried against him. And he had held her before putting the pieces back together.

The things they told each other never left the bedroom and they promised, without words, that they would never hold them against each other, either. The things Sakura told him could completely destroy Konoha, could utterly annihilate whatever trust was between the walls and outside of it, but Gaara never once thought about using it against them. The thought never passed through his mind. To do so would violate the trust Sakura had given to him. By using that information, he would be betraying her. That wasn't an option. Gaara refused to hurt her. He just couldn't.

Not only did Sakura open up to Gaara, but slowly, he opened up to her. So not only did he know dangerous information about Konoha and what really went on between the village walls, but she knew what went on in his village.

"The village elders wish for me to marry." he told her that very same night.

Sakura tried her best to hide her panic, really she did, but it was impossible. If Gaara got married, then they obviously couldn't continue with their meetings anymore. It would be disrespectful to his wife. But… Just the thought of never being with him again in such a way was causing her pain. How could they go back to simply being friends after all of this? "…I see."

Silence enveloped them and all that could be heard was their breathing and the occasional villager passing underneath her window. To make sure nothing they said went beyond the bedroom, there was a soundproof barrier that blocked all sounds from within the room, but also allowed them to hear everything on the outside. It was a complex jutsu, but for them, for the Kazekage, it was simple. He used it quite often during important meetings.

"So…" Sakura mumbled awkwardly, her eyebrows knitting together as she continued to stare down at his chest. "Does that mean you're breaking up with me?"

It was so strange thinking of Gaara as her boyfriend. Was he? Not anymore if he broke up with her, of course, but before then. Was Sabaku no Gaara her boyfriend?

"No."

With her confusion obvious, Sakura sat up, watching him as Gaara also sat up. "I don't understand…"

"I do not have to marry a kunoichi from my own village, Sakura." he told her and no matter how emotionless he seemed at that moment, Sakura now knew him too well not to hear the slight tone of insecurity. No, not insecurity. Fear. Gaara had a fear of rejection, although that wasn't too surprising. Naruto often had his moments where he would fear rejection. "As long as Tsunade agrees, I can marry a kunoichi from Konoha."

Her heart was pounding in her chest. "Ino will be glad to hear that." she joked lightly. "She's always had a bit of a crush on you."

Yes, he had noticed that. "But she is not the woman I want."

"Say it." Sakura whispered as she shifted closer, as she slowly straddled his hips. Her eyes were soft with affection, yet they were serious at the same time. "Tell me what you want."

As her hands gently caressed his face, ran through his hair, Gaara closed his eyes and relaxed into her touch. Nobody else could make him feel such a way. "I want you, Sakura. I wish for you to be my wife."

Part of him wanted to tell her more, wanted to tell her that she meant so much more to him, but he was not one to say such things. Yes, there were moments when Sakura had told him he could be quite romantic, but Gaara was never one to pour his heart out with words. He was not Naruto, or Lee.

"I will never allow for you to be hurt again, Sakura." he murmured against her lips. "I will protect you with my life. Both physically and emotionally."

"I know." Sakura replied, trying her best not to start crying. The pain of Sasuke's death was still very much there and she was reminded of the betrayal, of all the hurt and hatred, every day. "But… I need some time to think." It wouldn't be fair of her to accept his proposal right now. Her head wasn't in the right place and she knew that, if she left Konoha now, it wouldn't be for the right reasons. It would be to get away from the pain. She couldn't do that to Gaara. "It's not fair of me to ask, but if you could just wait…"

He silenced her with a kiss, telling her without words that he would wait for her no matter how long her decision took to make. He understood her reasons.

He always understood her.

And she loved him for it.

She loved him.

It was seven months later that Sakura told him her decision.

She forced herself to think of every possible outcome, forced herself to admit and get over certain things.

The first, was the fact that Sasuke had never returned her feelings. It was unrequited love. He may have tried (not that she would know), but if Sasuke had truly loved her, he would not have abandoned her. He would not have tried to kill her. The second, was his death. She learned how to cope with it, how to accept it. Sasuke was at peace now. He was reunited with his family and the rest of the Uchiha clan. He could finally be happy. Thinking that way helped ease the pain, even if it was only by a little.

Then, Sakura took a long walk around the village (several times, every day) and made herself think of all the memories. Both good and bad. There were so many of them! Most of the time, Sakura would have to bite back a smile whilst others would leave her close to tears. The villagers most likely thought she had lost her mind by now, but that didn't matter to her. Naruto seemed to understand, as he had once or twice joined her, pointing out certain parts of their village and reminding her of the times they had spent with their teammate, their Sasuke. Not the Sasuke who had gone crazy with revenge, they meant the Sasuke who risked his life to protect them, to protect their team.

She finally accepted that that Sasuke had been lost the night he left Konoha.

It was when she reached the stone bench she had been left on that Sakura saw them. The Kazekage and his siblings. Tsunade had informed her that they would be coming to Konoha for the festival, to show the friendship between their villages.

It was also going to be announced tonight that Naruto was her successor. He was going to become the Rokudaime Hokage. After all this time, all his hard work, the village had finally accepted him and acknowledged him. They had ever since Pein attacked, but there had been a lot of work to do. Not only on the village, but on Naruto, too. That idiot had to be taught so many different things – starting with manners!

"Sakura." Temari greeted with a nod.

But Sakura's attention wasn't on Temari or Kankuro, it was on Gaara.

And if the way his eyes suddenly warmed, he understood.

"I accept." she told him with a smile, stepping closer and honestly surprising his two siblings with the show of intimacy when she took his hand. What surprised them even further was how Gaara responded, how he smiled and entwined their fingers. Who was this man and what had he done with their brother? "I will marry you, Gaara."

They didn't know the man their brother was whilst around Sakura, the man he had become. Her love had been a turning page for him, just like his had been for her.

It did not start with love, but it ended with it.

And both were so glad that it had.

A/N - Turning Page is a song by Sleeping At Last and I've had it stuck in my head for days! And the idea for this one-shot came to me when I literally just woke up, so I had to write it down. Only I didn't stop and then it ended up like this.

Oh, the war never happened. I'm not really sure where this is set. Maybe just after the battle between Itachi and Sasuke? Or maybe after Sasuke's battle with Danzo? I'm not sure. I didn't really think it through, to be honest, so I'll leave it up to you!

Also, I know that Gaara would never actually tell Sakura what secretly happened in his village, not unless she was married to him and living in Suna first. But I like to think that, what with her being so honest about everything that happened, he would share some information with her.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! :-)