Warning: Trigger warning. Rated 'M'.

Breath of Life
By: Rise of the Blossom

Chapter 1

Two years.

They had been together for two years, married for one of them.

People had been shocked when they heard of them being together, but that didn't surprise either of them. Even they had been shocked to discover they had feelings for one another. The only person who hadn't seemed all that shocked was their best friend, Uzumaki Naruto. He had grinned, telling them he was glad they found each other, that they could be truly happy now like they deserved to be, and he was even happier that they could be that way together (part of them thought that Naruto believed he was the reason they were together).

It had been her who made the first move, her who asked him out, but it had been him who surprisingly revealed his feelings first. He'd been rather uncharacteristically shy at first, but she knew now that it was because he wasn't sure how to act and because he didn't want to risk ruining the friendship between them that had slowly but surely been building over the years.

At first, Sakura had been unsure about her feelings for Gaara. There had been a small part of herself warning her not to trust him. It was the thirteen year old part of her, the one that had been pinned against a tree and almost crushed to death by his sand. However, one night when she had been in Suna on a mission, completely out of the blue, Gaara had apologised for hurting her and when she had looked into his usually impassive eyes, Sakura had been shocked to see the emotion behind them.

It was with that one look that she knew she was a goner, that she had fallen in love with Sabaku no Gaara.

As for Gaara, it had taken a little more than a single look. It had been when Suna was under attack. Everywhere he had looked, there was chaos and he couldn't help, couldn't save everybody. His people were dying and he couldn't do anything. Children who were barely even five years old were being forced into battles, being forced to kill to save their important people, their families. Whenever he had seen that, it was almost automatic how his sand had lashed out, grabbing the enemies and mercilessly crushing them with his infamous Sabaku Kyū.

But there had been too many for even him, the Kazekage, the person who was supposed to protect Suna and its people. However, just when he had felt his energy fading, when he felt himself on the verge of passing out from chakra depletion, he had seen her.

She'd looked like a Goddess. Deadly and beautiful. Her small yet monstrously powerful fists had slammed into the ground a second before she picked him up, using her chakra to put more distance between them and their enemies during the distraction of so much sand up in the air, hiding them from view. Gaara could still remember how her arms had felt around his waist as she helped him stand, how her eyes had looked wild with adrenaline, yet calculating and careful. She had placed him down before shooting back over to the attackers, pummelling them all with her chakra laden blows. As though that wasn't enough, when she had finished with them, Sakura had gone onto healing him and his people without even muttering a word of complaint.

After that, she'd stayed in Suna for a month, helping people (mostly young children) cope with what they had seen or what they had done. She had helped rebuild his village, earning herself a lot of respect from his villagers. With her strength, Sakura had torn down old buildings so that they could be rebuilt from scratch and she had done it all with a genuine smile on her face, happy that she could be of use.

Now, his village didn't look as poor. Yes, some parts were still a little rougher than others, but now people no longer groaned when they learned they had to come to Suna, unless they were complaining about the inescapable heat. There were more food and drink stands, more bars, more shops… Name it, they most likely now had it and it was all thanks to Sakura. She may not have chosen what they built or where those things were going, but she had given him the idea of rebuilding his entire village since most of it had been destroyed, just like Konoha had been rebuilt after Pein's attack. He was grateful for that because no longer did his people live in poverty. All homes and buildings now had running water thanks to a jutsu that Hatake Kakashi had used, before he then went onto teaching it to some of his people (though they were not as strong or as talented as the Copy Ninja, so it was quite a lot harder for them to produce the water while in the desert).

Kakashi had accompanied Sakura to Suna and stayed just as long, although he wasn't as genuinely happy about it. But despite that, the man had done a lot to help out and he didn't even have to. Was that a trait all Konoha shinobi had? No, not all of them, but most of them did.

When she had left, he had missed her. Gaara had missed having her come into his office and eating lunch with him not only because she wanted to make sure he ate, but also because she enjoyed his company. He had missed how she hadn't flinched whenever he got angry, whenever his temper got out of control due to mood swings. He had missed how she wasn't afraid to stand up to him, how she gave just as much as she took, how she smiled victoriously whenever she won one of their playful, harmless arguments.

It was then that he realised he had fallen in love with Haruno Sakura.

And damn, it had shocked him.

For a while, Gaara had refused to talk to anyone, had tried to get his head around the fact that he, Sabaku no Gaara, was in love. He hadn't even thought that such a thing was possible. After that though, he had spoken with his siblings, two of the most important people in his life, asking them what he should do. To say they were shocked was an understatement but almost instantly Temari had grinned that wild grin of hers, whereas Kankuro smirked and said, "Well it's about time".

They had told him what he should do, told him that he had to tell her, to fight for her, to prove to her that his love was true. Not only that, but Temari had warned him that there was a possibility she may not be too thrilled about a relationship right away, reminding him of how in love she had been with Uchiha Sasuke, of how he had betrayed her and repeatedly viciously broken her heart.

Like that was something he could ever forget. Not long after the Uchiha had defected, Gaara had been sent on a mission to Konoha (before he had become Kazekage). He remembered seeing Sakura for the first time since trying to bring back Sasuke, how dead her eyes had been and how mechanical and heavy her movements were. It had stunned him to say the least. Where had the girl who had been more than willing to die to save her teammates from Shukaku gone? Where had the fire in her eyes disappeared to?

Uchiha Sasuke had snuffed out that flame.

It had made him so, so incredibly angry.

So, following his siblings' advice, Gaara had put Kankuro in charge for two weeks with the help of their former sensei, Baki, before he and Temari left for Konoha. He wasn't really supposed to leave the village if it wasn't – in the council's eyes – serious or important, but it was something he needed to do. Temari had come with him because she couldn't miss out on a chance to see her lover, Nara Shikamaru, although at the time, Gaara hadn't known a thing about it and had thought she was with him for one hundred percent support, instead of just… fifty, possibly sixty percent.

Telling Sakura of his feelings for her had been one of the most terrifying things he had ever done before. Gaara could still recall how he had used his sand to go to the training grounds, where she had been training with the rest of Team Kakashi. They had all been shocked the moment they felt his presence and at first, they thought Gaara had been there to see Naruto. Oh the looks on their faces when he walked straight over to Sakura had almost been hilarious, had he not been so nervous. What if she rejected him?

Despite how nervous he had been, however, Gaara had kept up his mask, pretending like what he had been doing was an every day thing. Merely giving the rest a nod of acknowledgement, he'd walked up to Sakura, told her that there was something important he needed to discuss with her. When she told him that she was free later that day, Gaara couldn't deny that he had felt a little shocked that she more or less said he had to wait until later. When later came, though, he turned up at her apartment and told her everything. He didn't know what surprised him more: the fact that she had smiled brightly and threw her arms around him, or the fact that she had told him she returned those feelings and had for a while. She had just been unsure about telling him.

Six months later, he had proposed to her after a celebration dinner. It had been filled with their families and friends to celebrate their six months of being together (something he still, to this day, could not fully understand. What was the point in celebrating only six months together? Why not wait until a year had passed?). He had waited almost anxiously for Sakura's response. Gaara was down on one knee, like Temari had told him to do. She had told him that it was romantic and that Sakura would love it, given that she was a romantic type of person.

Then, she had pulled him to his feet while chiding him, "The Kazekage shouldn't kneel before anyone."

Those words had made him freeze in place. Was she rejecting his proposal? Didn't she want to marry him?

However, not even a second later, Sakura was grinning brightly with tears in her eyes, repeating over and over that of course she would marry him, that she loved him so much and couldn't wait to be his wife. After that, the night had been filled with happiness, tenderness and a lot of wonderful lovemaking.

Two months after the proposal, Sakura moved to Suna and four months after that, they were getting married. The day they were wed had been perfect. Though, because of Sakura's father passing away, she had asked her sensei, Hatake Kakashi, to walk her down the aisle. The girls of Konoha eleven as well as Temari had been her bridesmaids, though Ino had been her maid of honour. Naruto, because he was always so positive about them being together, had been the ring bearer. Sakura had complained when she heard that, saying that knowing Naruto, he would drop or lose the rings, but thankfully, he didn't. Gaara's best man had been Kankuro. Some thought that it would have been Naruto, but honestly, it felt better having his older brother as best man, since he always went to Kankuro for advice and whatnot.

Gaara wasn't going to lie, however. The first year of living and being married to Sakura had been hard. There were things they disagreed on, things that caused an argument, but at the end of the day, they apologised to one another and had amazing make up sex.

One day a week, Gaara would take the entire day off and spend it with Sakura, knowing that she got lonely sometimes in Suna without her friends there. Sure, she was friends with Temari and Kankuro, but they were almost always out on missions. She had tried making other friends and got on well with the people she worked with, but considering the fact that most women her age were his fan-girls…

Today was one of those days.

So there they were, Sakura laying on top of him with a tired smile on her lips as she traced small patterns on his chest and stomach. Their clothing was thrown carelessly across the room and on the bed, the couple were both worn out and exhausted from their previous activities. They both held one another, one still marvelling at the feeling of having somebody they love in their arms and having all of their trust, whereas the other was still breathing hard, trying to calm the tingling of their body.

"I still can't believe I'm here," came a soft voice, only slightly muffled due to her mouth being pressed to his chest. "Who would have guessed it?"

Indeed. If somebody had told Gaara that not only would he one day be married to Haruno Sakura, but also that he was in love with her and could completely lower his guard around her… Well, it would not have ended well for them, especially if it had been before he had changed.

Although he didn't reply, Sakura knew that Gaara agreed with her by the way he exhaled and tightened his hold. Nobody but she, his siblings and Naruto could read him so easily and even then, the latter wasn't all too great at it.

"I'm glad that we're together, though," Sakura continued, though she sounded like she were talking to herself more than to Gaara.

She was happier now and so was he.

A/N – This is just an introductory. It lets you know all the little things. I promise, it will get better next chapter (hopefully you think that, anyway).

My nephew was born yesterday morning and is thankfully very healthy! He's so adorable and I just wanted to take him home. I can't get over how small and soft he is!