Disclaimer: No (sigh)…I do not own the characters of Naruto…they all belong to that wonderful genius Masashi Kishimoto…I just took them away from him (evil laugh ;p)…but I promise to give them back to him as soon as I'm finished using them…honest! ;p
Setting: (Slight AU). This story takes place after the time skip, so the characters who were then 12 are now 15. Gaara is the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village. Sakura is a Chuunin. The Akatsuki haven't come into the picture yet…and Naruto is still running around with Jiraiya :p
(Important Note!) This story is was is known as an Established Relationship story, which basically means that the couple in the story are already dating one another, and the "how-they-got-together" story has either not been written yet or the author is leaving that story to your own imaginations
Please enjoy :-)
Aishteru Sakura…I Love You
Gaara stood tall as he looked through slightly narrowed eyes at all the activity taking place in the village streets that surrounded him.
Children were laughing and playing games with each other, darting in between legs and around street corners, and in Gaara's most humble opinion, being complete nuisances.
(Humph)…noisy kids…they remind me of Uzumaki Naruto…very loud and annoying.
At this last thought, Gaara allowed a slight smirk to cross his face before he quickly schooled his features back into one that best suited someone of his high rank and position.
Then taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, Gaara repositioned the gourd on his back, and slowly began walking down the crowed streets of Konoha.
As he made his way down the crowded village street, his eyes carefully passing over different people, Gaara began to notice certain reactions from the people that he passed.
Some people held their children closer to their bodies and stepped back when he went by. Others turned to the person standing next to them and began whispering softly and urgently with each other.
Of those whispered conversations Gaara heard the words "Kazekage" and "Sand Village" mentioned the most, more often than not with a note of fear and awe in those voices.
The corners of Gaara's mouth dipped down as he continued to make his way down the crowded street. Even more than he despised noisy people, he absolutely hated being the center of unwanted attention.
Releasing a deep sigh, and turning his eyes away from the crowd that surrounded him, Gaara looked down and had to stop quite suddenly as a little girl appeared out of seemingly nowhere before him.
Many years of shinobi training and quick physical and mental reflexes stopped Gaara's sand from emerging from his gourd and burying the little girl on the spot.
Gaara stood still and glared down at the girl in annoyance as he impatiently waited to find out what it was that she wanted.
The crowd that surrounded them also stood stock still, all of them seeming to hold their collective breaths at this unexpected situation.
Gaara felt a sudden urge to throw his hands up before him and yell "boo" at the nosy crowd. He allowed a slight smirk to cross his face as he imagined the reaction that he would get from that one, but then he remembered the troublesome little girl still waiting patiently before him and scowled back down at her.
"What do you want?" Gaara asked in a cold, emotionless voice.
The little girl, who couldn't be older than six Gaara decided after studying her carefully for a moment, smiled a sweet, innocent and slightly gap-toothed smile at him. She had dark hair, which looked almost blue in the late-afternoon sun, and bright, playful sapphire-colored eyes.
The young girl then pulled a previously-hidden object from behind her back, and held it up invitingly for Gaara to see.
Gaara had tensed briefly when he had seen the young girl pull something from behind her back…he was preparing to Sand Bury her after all when he focused more closely on the object and realized what it was.
The petals looked slightly crushed, and the leaves on the stem had definitely seen better days, but held tightly in the little girl's hand was a beautiful and sweet-smelling pink rose.
With the same sweet, innocent, gap-toothed smile on her face, the little girl opened her mouth, and in one long drawn-out breath said to Gaara, "here-Mr-Kazekage-sir-this-flower-is-for-you-I-picked-it-myself-from-my-mother's-flower-garden-I-was-going-to-keep-it-for-myself-but-I-decided-that-I-wanted-you-to-have-it-instead-so-here."
After the long stream of words had ended, which left Gaara wondering in a slight daze how the young girl had not simply run out of air and dropped dead on the spot, the dark-haired child raised her gift of the pink flower up to Gaara, once again smiling that sweetly innocent gap-toothed smile that was seriously beginning to creep him out.
Gaara didn't know what to do next…after all, he was used to dealing with kunai and shuriken-wielding, crazy ninjas…not creepy, flower-wielding, crazy little girls.
But despite himself, Gaara was touched by the child's kind gesture. It proved to him that not everyone thought of him as some insane, sand-wielding monster.
So Gaara bent down slowly, going down on one knee before the little girl.
Then with a very solemn look in his light, sea-green eyes, Gaara said softly to the child, "Thank you very much for this gift that you have given me. It was very thoughtful and kind of you."
Gaara then took the flower from the little girl's hand, and was about to rise when he was suddenly knocked off of his feet, and down onto the dusty road by the young girl as she grabbed him around the neck and gave him a great, big hug.
The gourd on his back reacted automatically, exploding, showering the two of them with sand, and cushioning their fall.
"Thank-you-Mr-Kazekage-sir-I'm-glad-that-you-like-the-flower-and-that-you're-not-a-great-big-meanie-like-my-friends-say-you-are! I'll-see-you-later-Mr.-Kazekage-sir-bye!"
The little girl then jumped to her feet and ran laughing back into the crowd, leaving Gaara lying on the ground, staring up at the sky wondering how he had managed to get himself into this mess, and thinking that things couldn't possibly get any worse.
"Umm, Gaara…sweetie…what are you doing down there?" a soft, melodic, and slightly amused voice floated down gently to Gaara's ear.
(Sigh)…the universe hates me…
But even as he had this thought Gaara allowed a soft smile to cross his lips and a feeling of peace and happiness coursed through his body.
Gaara looked up at the pink-haired, green-eyed young woman standing before him, and felt his heart clench in sweet, painful, longing.
Bending down until both of her knees were beside Gaara's head, Sakura reached out a hand, and gently wiped a bit of sand off of Gaara's face.
Then with a slight smile of amusement still playing on her lips, Sakura said, "Hey Mr. Kazekage sir…shouldn't you be more worried about the image that you're giving all of these poor town's people who aren't used to seeing the powerful Sand Kazekage rolling around in the sand…I mean…I know that you love the stuff and all, but isn't this going a bit far?"
Sakura, unable to contain her mirth anymore, grabbed her sides, and sat down hard on the dusty road as laughter burst from her and out into the village streets.
When the villagers heard Sakura's happy laughter they all relaxed, a few even laughing themselves. They were all relieved that Sakura had come along when she had because she was the only one that they knew who could calm the Sand Kazekage down quickly.
The two of them had at first seemed like an unlikely couple, but no one now could deny that they both loved each other dearly. You could see it in lines of their bodies whenever they were close together, and the tender and loving expressions that would cover their faces whenever they were with each other.
So the villagers, now that they knew that everything was going to be alright, went back to their previous activities, and gave Gaara and Sakura as much privacy as they could considering that they were both still in the middle of the street.
Sakura was now watching Gaara as he slowly rose into a sitting position, a gentle smile playing across her lips.
"So are you okay baby…that little girl kind of took you by surprise," Sakura said as she tried to keep the slight amusement that she still felt out of her voice.
"Yes, I'm fine…she was only a little girl after all…she couldn't have hurt me…but Sakura, all of that is besides the point…I came here today to see you…let us leave and go someplace more…private," Gaara said as he rose fluidly to his feet. All of his sand rose with him, re-creating the sand-filled gourd on his back.
Sakura smiled up at him, raised her hand, and was gently pulled to her feet.
When she was steady on her feet Sakura looked into Gaara's intense, light-green eyes, and felt her breath catch when she saw the smoldering look of desire burning in them.
Whenever the two of them were together like this pure, undiluted electricity would flow between them, leaving Sakura feeling weak and short of breath each and every time.
Gaara smiled devilishly when he saw the effect that he was having on Sakura…though in truth and in fact he was feeling the same way.
Throwing caution to the wind, Gaara bent his head forward, and claimed Sakura's lips in a hot, demanding kiss.
Sakura almost passed out when she felt Gaara's warm and tender lips cover her own.
Raising her hand, and running it through Gaara's thick, red hair, Sakura pulled Gaara closer to her body, trying to eliminate any space that remained between them.
Gaara growled softly in the back of his throat, and would have picked Sakura up and ran with her to the privacy of her apartment if at the moment he hadn't heard a very loud and very annoying wolf whistle.
Tearing his mouth away from Sakura's full lips, and looking up for the source of the annoying whistle, Gaara groaned when his eyes fell onto a group of people he knew only too well.
Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, and Choji were all standing in a small group watching him, all with different expressions on their faces.
Kiba, the most likely culprit for the loud whistle, was waving at Gaara with a big cat-ate-the-canary smile on his face.
Shino, standing right beside Kiba, the sun reflecting off of his dark shades, had an equally smug look on his face that really ticked Gaara off.
Shikamaru and Choji were the only really innocent-looking ones of the group, with Shikamaru looking as if he regretted rolling out of bed this morning, and Choji not even paying them much attention as he opened a new bag of chips and started eating.
By this time Sakura had come out of the daze that Gaara's kiss had put her in, and she now raised her head to find the source of Gaara's distraction. When she saw what or rather who had distracted him she quickly dropped her head onto Gaara's chest and groaned in embarrassment.
Gaara looked down at Sakura, whose face was flushing as brightly red as his hair, and allowed a tender smile to cross his face as he wrapped his arms around her, and held her protectively against his chest.
Looking back up at the other ninjas, and allowing a smug smile of his own to cross his face, Gaara concentrated his Chakra, released the ever-present sand from his gourd, made it surround both him and Sakura, and then to those watching who didn't know the trick, made himself, Sakura, and the sand disappear into thin air.
The four remaining ninjas laughed quietly with each other for a couple of seconds, then said goodbye to one another, and continued on their separate ways.
When Sakura next opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that both she and Gaara were standing in the middle of her bedroom.
The window was closed, and the blinds were drawn so that the only source of light in the entire room came from the small spaces in between the blinds which allowed the late afternoon sunshine to filter lazily through.
Sakura looked up through the gathering darkness at Gaara's face, and was slightly startled to see him already looking down at her. There was an intense look in his eyes that caused Sakura's body to shiver in anticipation.
Not wanting to break the sweet tension that was slowly wrapping itself around the both of them, Sakura said quietly into the tense silence, "One day I'm going to get you to show me how you do that little vanishing trick of yours."
Gaara didn't answer as he was still looking down intensely into Sakura's eyes. He then bent forward and once again covered Sakura's mouth in a kiss. But this kiss was much slower and sweeter than the one that they had shared in the village street.
Sakura shivered again and her eyes closed involuntarily as Gaara pulled her in closer to his body.
Then without breaking either the kiss or his hold, Gaara raised his hand and tucked the fragrant, pink rose that he still held, into the pink tresses above Sakura's ear.
Sakura then gently broke their kiss and reached up to feel the flower in her hair.
When her fingers brushed lightly against the soft petals of the rose, a radiant smile spread across her face. The smile made Gaara's heart soar with happiness and longing, and he bent down once more and claimed Sakura's lips in a hot, searing kiss.
"Aishteru Sakura…I love you."
Those were the last words that Sakura heard for the rest of the night as Gaara showed her with light touches and sweet caresses just how much he meant those heartfelt words…
The End…
A/N: Hey everyone I hope that you all enjoyed this story. I just love the characters of Gaara and Sakura…and Naruto too! I'm thinking of doing a story staring Naruto and Sakura, just like this one starred Gaara and Sakura. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think of that idea (and what you thought of this story too! )