Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

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Ten years had passed since the chunin exams when Gaara and his village had betrayed Konoha. In those days, he’d been in a constant state of rage from his tailed beast. He was no longer an enemy of Konoha, but his village was their strongest alliance — an alliance forged by friendship.

Which was not to say an infallible alliance. Perhaps his sister’s upcoming marriage with Shikamaru Nara would help secure their connection? Their relationship was forged through mutual affection. They weren’t a political arrangement.

Gaara’s mind flashed back to his father. He’d never truly understood the man. Even now, he struggled to comprehend Rasa’s choices. As the kazekage himself, he understand the pressures of the position, especially with the council breathing down his neck about securing a wife. Gaara had been given an ultimatum of finding a wife on his own within the next six months, or accepting one of the young women they kept suggesting.

Perhaps it was too much to ask that he be given the chance to marry for love as well. He was happy for Naruto — truly. Naruto Uzumaki was Gaara’s first true friend. At one point, his obsessive mind thought he might be in love with Naruto himself. And maybe he was, but seeing as he was a guest at Naruto’s wedding, such feelings were obviously unrequited.

Though, when Gaara had been trapped within that godtree, living his dream-life, it hadn’t been Naruto at his side. It had been the female member of Team Seven, the one that had worked with him to keep Naruto alive after Kurama had been extracted. He tried not to think of that false reality, but dreams were still a new experience for him after so much of his life had been spent suffering insomnia. He wasn’t sure why it was Sakura that he dreamed about, but maybe it was related to Elder Chiyo. The woman’s spirit brought Sakura back from a mortal wound and resurrected him from the dead. Maybe the residual of the old woman’s life-force connected them?

Shinobi of all five major hidden villages were in Konoha, protecting it from enemies so that the Leaf shinobi could celebrate Naruto’s marriage to the Hyuga princess. Gaara had always assumed that Naruto would marry his long-time childhood crush. He had nothing against the dark-haired Hyuga heiress, but she hadn’t been the one that literally held Naruto’s heart in her hands and kept him from dying.

“Gaara, we’ve got this,” Kankuro assured him for the third time. “Go on. Temari is attending the ceremony. There’s no reason you shouldn’t. Naruto invited you because you’re friends, not because you’re the leader of another village.”

Temari had never tried to kill the groom, though that was ten years ago and most of the blame fell upon Shukaku’s unbridled rage. “Very well,” Gaara agreed. He left behind his Anbu guards, his sand armor was more than enough to protect him from any threat. Though, he didn’t expect to find any enemies at this wedding.

It truly was a time of peace. The blooming cherry blossom trees added a lovely floral scent and the pink flowers drifted to the ground in an ephemeral beauty. His thoughts drifted to the pink-haired kunoichi that Naruto wasn’t marrying.

Gaara settled into one of the chairs in the back of the congregation, noting Temari’s blond hair in the second row as she sat next to Shikamaru Nara. He wondered if their wedding would be the next one he attended. He tried to not be envious.

Then he studied the front of the assembly. Naruto was dressed handsomely in a black formal robe, his unruly golden hair tamed into submission. Next to him stood an older man with a scar across the bridge of his nose. Then the silver-haired hokage also stood alongside Naruto as his final groomsman. Where was the Uchiha? Gaara thought that surely Naruto’s proclaimed best friend would have been present on such an auspicious occasion. He caught Naruto’s sky blue eyes and offered a nod of his head in acknowledgement.

Then the music started and the bridesmaids started their march up the aisle. It’s when he saw her.

Her hair— the same pink as her namesake that was currently in bloom— was longer than when Gaara had last seen her. It was pulled back into an elegant braid adorned with yellow and purple flowers halfway down her back. She wore a strapless pale green dress (that may have been the same shade as his eyes) that reached just above her knees. Gaara struggled to draw his attention away from the toned muscles of her long legs and her powerful arms.  Sakura was a strong woman and he found her extremely attractive as such.

He shifted his attention back to Naruto, carefully gaging his friend's reaction. The smile on Naruto’s tanned face was pleasant, but there was no heat in his gaze. Perhaps the future hokage had truly gotten over his first love. Sakura stood on the bride’s side and waited, the breeze ruffling the skirt of her dress. Then the younger Hyuga sister made her way, carrying a framed photograph of the Hyuga prodigy that had passed during the war.

The music shifted and then the raven-haired bride with her pale eyes and white wedding kimono adorned with crimson flowers began her march. Gaara observed the dopey smile on Naruto’s whiskered face as Hinata approached him.

Gaara folded his arms over his broad chest, watching the ceremony while feeling strangely light without his gourd. He tried to focus on Naruto and Hinata sharing their vows, but his attention kept landing on the second bridesmaid. Green was a great color on her and he couldn’t help but wonder what she would wear at her own wedding. That faceless groom was a lucky bastard and Gaara wanted to kill whomever he was already.

As the ceremony ended with the bride and groom kissing before everyone as husband and wife, Gaara stood with the other witnesses. His attention focused back on the pink-haired kunoichi that saved his brother’s life and the silver-haired hokage escorting her arm-in-arm down the aisle.

“Gaara!” Temari latched onto his arm, smiling radiantly up at him. It had actually been a couple of months since they’d last seen each other. She’d been serving as Suna’s liaison with Konoha. Shikamaru was a few paces behind her, catching up at a sedate pace. “I’m glad you came. You can sit with us at the reception.” He allowed himself to be pulled along towards the food and beverages. “The wedding party will be taking pictures for a while,” she explained.

He sat with his sister and her boyfriend at one of the many tables. The floral centerpieces were elegant sprigs of lavender and golden sunflowers — a bit on the nose considering the bride. Hinata meant sunflower after all.

“So, how are things back home?” Temari asked, bracing her forearms on the table. The way Shikamaru casually draped his arm over her shoulders made Gaara narrow his eyes. The shadow-manipulating shinobi retracted his arm back to his side, muttering about ‘troublesome brothers.’

“The council has been even more tenacious of late without you to fend them off,” Gaara admitted.

“Oh, trying to pressure you into marrying?” Temari asked. Before she came to Konoha, they’d been focused on finding her a match. Gaara had been more than eager to help her escape that unhappy situation. “I thought that since you’re younger, they’d be less persistent.”

“The kazekage position is hereditary,” Gaara pointed out. He left unsaid that it was either him, Kankuro — who while he enjoyed sleeping with half the population of Suna didn’t want to marry, or Temari that would need to produce an heir.

“Oh, there they are,” Temari whispered, sitting back, her eyes trained just behind Gaara.

He turned, assuming she’d be speaking of the bride and groom, but instead, it was the Rokudaime with Sakura Haruno on his arm. Gaara felt his throat tighten for some strange reason. When was the last time he’d really seen Sakura? It wasn’t in that strange dream, but it had been on his sand cloud as she literally pumped Naruto’s heart with her bare hands during the war — six years ago. She’d been both fearsome and beautiful.

“Sasuke is an idiot,” Shikamaru muttered.

Gaara forcefully drew his attention away from Sakura and Kakashi to face Shikamaru. “Why do you say that?”

“Sakura offered to go with him on his last mission, but he turned her down. He said he didn’t want to burden her any more.” Shikamaru explained. Gaara merely stared at him, willing him to explain more. “She finally broke up with him. Now she’s making arrangements to leave for Cloud to help with their hospital.”

She was leaving the village? “Why Cloud?” Gaara asked.

“Apparently the Raikage’s assistant, — Cee? He and her had some sort of connection during the war. They met in the medic corp,” Shikamaru explained. “She told Ino that she wanted a change of scenery. Now that Naruto is married and Ino and Sai are together, she didn’t want to feel lonely.”

“Is it finalized?” Gaara asked. If she was willing to leave Konoha and have a fresh start somewhere, why not Suna? They were closer allies and she was a hero in Wind for having been the one to fight alongside Elder Chiyo to take down the notorious terrorist Sasori. And he and Sakura shared a literal connection — Elder Chiyo’s life-force brought them both back to life from the greedy maws of death.

“No, it’s not finalized.” Shikamaru frowned and he looked between Gaara and then Sakura with a calculating look in his dark eyes. “I suspect she’s evaluating her options.”

“Maybe you can offer her something better?” Temari suggested.

Gaara drummed his fingers over his crossed arms, his eyes settled back on the woman in green. As if feeling his attention, Sakura turned towards him. A soft smile of acknowledgement crossed her lips before she turned back to speak to Kakashi.

“If you were interested,” Shikamaru murmured, drawing Gaara’s attention. “She’d appreciate someone that was upfront with their intentions. She’s spent a lot of time wasted on a man that while they may care about each other, he didn’t seem to understand what she needed.”

“And what is it that she needs?” Gaara asked.

“A man strong enough not to be intimidated by her power and smart enough to keep up with her mind,” Temari answered. She laid her hand upon his shoulder and bent close to his ear. “Suna would be lucky to have her as the next kazehime, little brother.”

Naruto and Hinata joined the guests and after a few speeches, people began to mingle. A crowd had formed around the bride and groom, so Gaara would wait to offer his congratulations later. He strode with purpose towards Sakura. She stood in a loose circle with Kakashi Hatake, Ino Yamanaka, and Sai. Their conversation ended abruptly when Gaara joined them.

“Kazekage,” Kakashi acknowledged, standing close to Sakura, but not touching. It was an indication of their close bond, yet it wasn’t anything improper between a former teacher and student.

“Hokage,” Gaara answered, his eyes focused on Sakura. She smiled at him tentatively. Her teeth were even and white and he had the unbidden desire to run his tongue across them. “Sakura-san.”

“Kazekage,” Sakura greeted. “Naruto will be so glad you made it.” A gentle breeze swept through again, a few cherry blossoms fluttered into Sakura’s hair.

Gaara could vaguely hear the blond kunoichi and the dark-haired young man saying something, but Gaara kept his attention wholly on Sakura and the way her jade eyes looked even more lovely with the fabric of her dress so similar in shade to his own green eyes. He brought his hand close to her face and pulled one of the cherry blossoms from her hair. He rubbed it between his thumb and index finger, watching as it crumbled. Then he kneeled on one knee directly in front of Sakura and took her hand.

She was too stunned to do anything but let him hold her hand as he made his very public, very loud declaration.

“Sakura Haruno, will you marry me?” Gaara asked, bringing her hand to his mouth and pressing a gentle kiss to the back of her knuckles. He kept his eyes trained on hers, wide with shock. “Be my kazehime, the mother of my children, and inspire future generations with your knowledge and skills?”

Her cheeks burned crimson as the attention of everyone at the wedding reception was now centered on them. “Gaara?” She squeaked in surprise.

“I am willing to go to war for you,” Gaara added, flickering his gaze briefly towards a narrow-eyed Kakashi. The smell of ozone began to grow thick around them.

Sakura cleared her throat. “I don’t think we need to go to war.” She pulled him to his feet, her face flushed under the attention.

He could feel Naruto start to make his way towards them. He couldn’t understand why there seemed to be so much killing intent coming from his friend and from the hokage. He said he was willing to go to war, not that he was declaring war.

“I say do it,” Ino whispered. “It’s not every day a kage proposes marriage.”

“Oh, is one supposed to announce their intentions to copulate at a wedding?” Sai asked. He mimicked Gaara and knelt in front of Ino and took her hand in his. “Ino Yamanaka, I wish to fornicate with you and have you shout my name until your voice is hoarse.”

“Oh my Kami,” Ino hissed pulling Sai up and burying his face in her cleavage. “Just shut up!”

“I quite like this method of shutting up,” Sai answered, his voice muffled by her breasts.

Gaara ignored the murmurings amongst the wedding guests and kept his attention focused on Sakura. She hadn’t given him an answer yet. He took her hand and using his skill with sand and magnetism, took gold dust from his sand armor and forged a golden bracelet. The bracelet wrapped around Sakura’s left wrist with a chain that led up to her middle finger— the traditional Suna jewelry for a royal bride.

“Um, so, what’s going on?” Naruto asked, laughing awkwardly. “It sounded like Gaara just proposed to Sakura-chan.”

“He did,” Sakura answered, her eyes studied the bracelet on her hand. She curled her fingers around Gaara’s where he still held her gently. “And I accept.”

A slow, satisfied smile curled Gaara’s lip.

In the distance, a hawk screeched angrily.
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Art created by arichii98, please visit her tumblr.

Chapter Text

Two Hours Earlier…
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She had to sit on her hands to keep from interfering as Temari curled Sakura’s medium length hair. Sakura had been so close to dragging a kunai or using a chakra scalpel and simply hacking off those long pink tresses. Ino normally helped Sakura when it came to doing anything fancy with her hair, but her best friend was busy between the floral arrangements, Hinata’s bouquet, and sneaking off with Sai to make out.

Thankfully, Temari had stepped in. The Suna kunoichi had become someone Sakura had come to relay on these last few months. When Sasuke left the village on his redemption quest, Sakura felt so many of her dreams of marriage and family simply vanish. She’d never imagined another man’s face in her role of husband. Then at her birthday the year before she’d let herself become wasted and Kakashi- the Hokage — had escorted her home. She’d drunkenly suggested that if she wasn’t married by the time she was twenty-five, that maybe they should marry.

Surprisingly, he’d agreed.

They’d never talked about it since, so Sakura didn’t really take it too seriously. And the only person she told about that conversation had been Temari. Ino would have teased her relentlessly and Naruto would have been weird about it. Temari had listened, without judgement, but had advised Sakura to not be so quick to discount love. It could come from someone unexpected, if only she was willing her open her heart to the possibility.

Then Naruto and Hinata became engaged and Ino and Sai had become quite serious. Thankfully, by this time Temari had moved to Konoha as Suna’s emissary and started dating Shikamaru. The two women had gravitated towards one another quite naturally. It helped that Sakura and Shikamaru had become decent friends over the years and were frequent shoji partners.

Temari had even helped Sakura pick out her bridesmaid dress and jewelry for the wedding. When Temari had suggested the sea-glass green dress, Sakura had been skeptical, but it had been rather flattering with her skin tone and her eyes. There was something about this particular shade of green that Sakura couldn’t quite pinpoint what it made her think about. But she knew she’d seen it somewhere before.

“Your hair is really beautiful,” Temari said, as she curled the last lock. She leaned her chin on Sakura’s shoulder and together they peered into the large dressing room mirror at their reflections. “I’m surprised you don’t have a date for the wedding.”

Sakura shrugged her free shoulder. She had an escort down the aisle as part of the wedding party, otherwise, it didn’t really matter. She would simply spend time celebrating with friends. Though, Hinata had been transparent about the guests and it was clear that the majority of the people were partnered up.

“Will your brothers attend the wedding?” Sakura asked.

“Kankuro will be on guard duty. I’m still trying to convince Gaara to attend the service. He’s the kazekage and he considers Naruto his closest friend,” Temari explained. She met Sakura’s eyes in the mirror. “He’s single, you know? Would you consider Gaara as a romantic partner? I actually think the two of you would suit one another. I worry for Suna if I end up staying in Konoha.” Temari stepped back and began to gather up the curling iron and the brush to put away. “Between saving Kankuro from that poisoning, winning over Lady Chiyo, and being the one to stop Suna’s most notorious missing nin— you’ve certainly caught Gaara’s attention. You’re probably the only foreign woman the council wouldn’t be able to protest.”  She smirked.  "And he's a bit of the brooding sort.  I know how you're attracted to that sort of man."

Sakura laughed in disbelief at that. Gaara was too busy as kage and the only person he willing spoke with in Konoha was usually Naruto. Sakura and the kazekage had only spoken on rare occasions. Honestly, the longest they’d ever spent in each other’s company was on Gaara’s sand cloud while she pumped a dying Naruto’s heart until they reached an Edo Tensei resurrected Minato during the war.  "Sure, if Gaara asks me out, I'll give him a chance."

After Naruto and Hinata exchanged vows, Sakura felt a tightness in her chest.  She was truly happy for Naruto. If only that young, orphaned prankster that he’d once been could see just how many people across all five of the hidden villages had turned up to celebrate his wedding.

And while she knew Naruto and Hinata were the focus of everyone’s attention, she couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched. Though, that was a natural sensation given that she was part of the wedding party and with Kakashi— the most eligible bachelor in all of Konoha escorting her, they were bound to be drawing attention.

She was a little nervous about leaving for Cloud, but it was time to get out of Konoha. Things hadn’t worked out with Sasuke and she simply needed a change of scenery. It wasn’t like she had too many other opportunities knocking on her door. And Cee seemed like a nice man. They got along well and it was time she opened her heart to other people, like Temari suggested.  Though Chojuro in Mist also seemed rather interested in her.  Sakura has discussed the option of leaving Konoha for one of the other villages with Master Tsunade, spreading the knowledge she'd learned in medical ninjutsu.  Tsunade had been supportive of the idea, pointing out how she spent nearly two decades outside of Konoha, finding herself after she lost her first love.  

After the photography session was over, Sakura had been enjoying a pleasant conversation with Ino, Sai and Kakashi. Everyone was partnering up and it was a bit of a reminder that she was painfully single. She did have her pact with Kakashi, but she didn’t take that too seriously.  He certainly never brought up the topic and hadn't protested her idea of spending a few months in Cloud.

What she didn’t expect was for the very handsome, tall, green-eyed, and crimson-haired kazekage to stalk towards her and propose to her out of the blue in front of —everyone.  She'd been prepared for him to ask her out on a date, but a marriage proposal?  A quick glance over his shoulder at Temari and Shikamaru showed the two of them flashing her a very obvious thumb’s up sign. Ah, so this had been a set up, huh?  It wasn't like anyone else had proposed to her and it was already a more romantic set up than over a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's like Naruto had done with Hinata.

It had been literally six years since she and Gaara last spoke with one another while she’d been distracted pumping Naruto’s heart. While the invasion of Suna and Sound against the Leaf when she’d been a fresh genin had been terrifying, her times in actual Suna had been positive. Her time with Lady Chiyo had been limited, but she’d adored the elder medic. And Sasori of the Red Sands had been her first kill as well as her first time truly being acknowledged by a strong enemy. She had spent a few days with Gaara and his siblings then, waiting for Lady Chiyo’s funeral. He had taken her on a walk around Suna, pointing out the constellations in the night sky of the desert from the kazekage tower’s rooftop. Maybe that could have been construed as a date?

Regardless of their limited interaction, she knew of the kazekage’s reputation and Temari has spoken of him often. She was sure that his sister had shared plenty of stories about Sakura to her brother in turn.

Gaara was especially attractive in his charcoal grey suit and cute little green bow-tie that happened to be the same shade as Sakura’s dress — as if their outfits had been coordinated. Then when he dropped down on one knee to propose and then literally created her a golden bracelet-ring combination that completely dazzled her, Sakura seized the opportunity.

Her maternal grandparents had been in an arranged marriage and they’d enjoyed fifty years together. Her own parents had gotten engaged after their third date.  And Gaara wasn’t exactly a stranger. So, she’d agreed.

“I’m sorry, I must have mis-heard.” Naruto plugged his index finger into his ear and twisted as he drew near them with Hinata in tow. “I thought I heard that you two were getting married.”

“That is correct,” Gaara answered, his voice a deep rumble. He continued to hold the hand where he’d created the bracelet and then tugged Sakura towards him. He stared down into her eyes. “It’s very nice to see you again, Sakura.”

“Um, yeah,” Sakura answered, feeling her cheeks heat. She could feel Kakashi’s anger from beside her and there was a hawk screeching something terrible in the distance. It reminded her of Sasuke’s hawk, but that would be ridiculous. Why would he care? “Nice tux.” She gestured towards his bow tie with her free hand. “You match my dress.” She giggled. “Though I suppose, my dress matches your eyes, huh?”

Why was she nervous? Apparently, she just agreed to marry the kazekage and she wasn’t even drunk.

“Temari had this prepared for me, in case I was able to join in the celebration.” Gaara finally drew his gaze away from Sakura and acknowledged Naruto. “Felicitations on your marriage, Naruto.” He nodded his head just barely. “Lady Hinata,” he added. He then turned back to Sakura. “Would you like to marry here or would you like to marry in Suna?”

“Maybe you should take a step back, Sakura,” Kakashi murmured quietly. “Reconsider. This is very sudden.”

The killing intent radiating off Gaara at that comment should have been alarming, but Sakura sort of liked that he was feeling so strongly about her. After years of pining after Sasuke and wondering if he actually returned her feelings and then realizing she wanted more than just love, but a partnership, she appreciated Gaara’s assuredness.

“This is great!” Naruto cried. He wrapped his arms about both Sakura and Gaara’s shoulders, drawing them together into a fierce hug. He released them and picked up Hinata by the waist and lifted her into the air and whirled in a circle while she gasped in surprise. “Let’s make it a double celebration! It will be easy to remember my anniversary now, because Sakura-chan can remind me, right?”

“Um, I would like if you can remember our own anniversary without help,” Hinata murmured. She cleared her throat when Naruto set her back on the ground. “But, okay, Lord Kakashi would you do the honors?”

“What’s this?” Tsunade roared, storming towards them, Shizune and Genma hot on her heels as she approached. She looked over at Gaara as if he were a bug. “What’s happening?”

“Um, I just agreed to marry Lord Gaara,” Sakura explained.

“I don’t understand what’s happening,” Ino murmured, clutching onto Sai’s arm, face paler than usual.

“It seems that the Hag has decided to marry the kage of Sand,” Sai suggested helpfully.

“Do not call her that if you wish to keep your head attached to your neck,” Gaara growled. The kazekage slipped his arm around Sakura’s waist and drew her against his side. He seemed completely calm, while Sakura felt herself spiraling. “Lady Tsunade, I humbly request if you would marry Sakura and myself.”

Temari was suddenly behind them, a sheepish Shikamaru at her side. “I believe you owe me fifty ryu, Lady Tsunade,” Temari teased.

Tsunade laughed, hands on her hips and head tilted up towards the sky. “A bet I don’t mind losing!” She gestured between their little group. “Alright, we’ll do it now.”

“You’re going to be hijacking Naruto and Hinata’s wedding?” Ino asked, tone laced with disbelief.

“Nah!” Naruto argued, gesturing towards the flowering cherry blossoms as their pale blossoms fluttered about them. “If anything, this scenery seems more appropriate for Sakura anyway, right? Besides, back when I used to day dream about marrying Sakura-chan I always imagined it would be under the flowering trees of spring.”

“Naruto, you shouldn’t say such things. Your wife may get the wrong idea,” Gaara warned. His arm squeezed possessively around Sakura’s waist, drawing her even closer against him. It almost sounded like he was purring?

Hinata laughed awkwardly. “It’s okay, I know my husband loves me.” She shook her head and smiled at Naruto fondly. She then turned towards Sakura. “I would be honored if you shared today’s wedding festivities with us.” Her smile was tight.

And Sakura returned it, appreciating Hinata’s grace.

“And promptly left for Suna,” Temari mumbled under her breath.

Shikamaru snorted.

Sakura dared a glance at Kakashi, but he was still glaring at Gaara like he wanted to start another international war between the villages.

“Who’s your maid of honor, Sakura?” Tsunade asked.

Ino started to volunteer, but Temari latched onto Sakura’s other arm. “As Sakura is about to become my sister-in-law, I must insist. If someone will call for Kankuro to join us. He’ll be quite upset if he’s not chosen as best man.”

And so, twenty minutes later, Sakura found herself sitting at a reception table, opposite of Naruto and Hinata with confused guests congratulating her and the kazekage on their impromptu marriage. And she knew that the hawk, perched on a nearby tree glaring at them wasn’t normal. Kakashi’s congratulations had been stiff.

And when the dinner ended and dancing began, Sakura was careful to make sure this moment was still about Naruto and Hinata. She didn’t want to piss off the Hyuga clan.

Sakura and Gaara stood next to each other, his arm still firmly around her waist and hand upon her hip as they watched Naruto twirl Hinata around on the dance floor. “We will of course have another celebration in Suna. We’ll be sure to invite your friends,” Gaara whispered in her ear. “At least this way, we won’t have to deal with countless meddling from the elder council.”

“Um, yeah,” Sakura murmured. She did know one person on the council, Lady Chiyo’s younger brother.

“We should visit your parents after this,” Gaara continued. “I’m sorry, I should have thought to speak with them.”

“No need. They’ve been dead for a few years now,” Sakura answered with only a slight grimace. They’d been victims during the Konoha crush — Suna’s invasion. Of course, that had been orchestrated under Orochimaru and Gaara’s father had also lost his life under the same campaign. “But, I can bring you to visit their memorial.”

“I— would like that,” Gaara answered. “Suna is heading back in the morning. Would it be alright if I stayed with you tonight?”

“I—um, we’re married, so it seems sort of expected, does it not?” Sakura asked. She was going to have to deal with the fall out of this sudden decision. “I will need to pack.”

“We can wait another day for you to tie up loose ends,” Gaara offered. He turned towards her, his sea-glass green eyes studied her intensely and then he pressed a kiss to her temple. “I am the kazekage after all.”
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After the wedding, Sakura took Gaara to one of the local wineries rather than one of the local bars. They might as well have a date together, since they were married after all. It was a bit of a group date with Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, Sai, and Kankuro joining them. They all kept their wedding clothes on, because how often does one get dressed up?

“It is strange, walking around the village amongst the people,” Gaara observed, his sharp eyes scanning the streets attentively.  "And none of them are cowering in terror."

They weren’t exactly alone, having a couple of Suna Anbu guards in the shadow, Gaara’s guard detail. Kakashi had wanted to assign one to Sakura, but Sai quickly pointed out that he was more than capable of keeping an eye on her, but with her husband being the leader of Sand, it made more sense for him to be in charge of her security now.

Sakura pointed out that she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

Then Kakashi pointed out that if he and Gaara had to have baby-sitters, it was only fair that she did too.

They soon settled around a table within the winery. A band played soft, mellow folksy music on the stage near the entrance.

“I don’t generally drink alcohol,” Gaara admitted. “What do you like to drink?”

“Plum is my favorite,” Sakura answered. Taking one of the menus and placing it on the table in front of her husband. “Do you prefer, um, spicy or sweet?”

“Most things in Suna are spicy,” Gaara explained. “I would like to perhaps sample your plum wine that you like so much.” He smiled faintly. “Especially, if I’ll be tasting it on your tongue later.”

Sakura felt her cheeks heat up at the bold statement. She turned the menu towards appetizers. “And um, some grapes, crackers, and goat cheese would be nice too.”

Gaara leaned close, lips brushing over her ear as his deep voice whispered to her. “And shall we have each other for the main course?” Her entire face lit up like a tomato and Gaara leaned back with a frown. “Was that line too much? I had wondered if it was too crass when my brother first suggested it.”

“Um, you worked on lines to say with your brother?” Sakura whispered, kicking Kankuro under the table in the shin earning a hiss of pain from the puppet-master.

Gaara’s eyes narrowed. “Of course, I would eventually need a partner with my position. He thought it might be wise to have a few clever things to say.”

Surprisingly, the rest of the evening went smoothly. And when Gaara escorted Sakura to her apartment and came inside with her, they took their shoes off at her door. One of his guards had handed Gaara a pack with a change of clothes, then his Anbu guards stationed themselves outside to continue their watch.

Sakura excused herself for the shower first, still a bit unsure how to act with her new husband. Gaara busied himself exploring her small apartment. She found him at her kitchen table holding her Team Seven photo in his hands, studying the picture. He glanced up and his green eyes raked over her head to toe. She wore a red silky robe over a pair of pale green short shorts and cami top.  His eyes has lingered on her long, exposed legs for a while.

“The shower is all yours,” Sakura said, gesturing towards her bathroom.

“Will you wait for me in the bedroom?” Gaara suggested. “Or I can sleep on the couch if you’d prefer. Regardless, we can pack in the morning.”

She appreciated that he asked. “We’re married, so we should act like we’re married.”

Gaara stared at her a moment longer, nodded, and then headed to the bathroom.

Sakura tidied up things a bit, put her picture back in its usual spot and then settled into bed. She turned on her lamp and pulled out the medical journal she’d been reading the night before. What she didn’t expect was for her bathroom door to open, releasing a wave of steam, and a very naked Gaara wearing nothing but a towel, wrapped low around his waist as he stalked towards the bed.

He plucked the journal from her hand and set it carefully on her nightstand before he settled his knee on the edge of the bed, bracing his arm with his hand next to her head on the pillow. “Would it be permissible to kiss my wife?” Gaara asked.

Sakura nodded.

He leaned close, the faint taste of plum wine on his breath as he kissed her, softly at first, his free hand gently caressing the side of her face. He pulled back enough so that their eyes met. “Would it be permissible to claim my wife and consummate our marriage?”

Sakura stared at him. That was rather blunt, wasn’t it? But, isn’t that what she wanted? Someone that was blunt with their wants and desires and spoke their needs clearly? “Yes,” she agreed.

A slow smile stretched across Gaara’s lips, crinkling the corners of his eyes. “Very good.” Then his body pressed against hers, his hands began to peel off the layers of her clothes and his towel fell to the floor forgotten.
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OoO

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They ended up spending two additional weeks in Konoha. Kankuro had headed back with most of the Suna troops to deal with kazekage duties while Gaara was busy. Sakura simply had too many obligations and responsibilities to just skip out of town and move to Suna. Gaara refused to leave for Suna without her, so he insisted on learning every little thing about Sakura that he could and her life in Konoha. They’d become comfortable around one another in a quick amount of time.

When they finally did reach the inner gates of Suna, she discovered that the village of Suna had come out in force, the villagers lined the streets, flower pedals were sprinkled all over the path that led to the ruling family’s private residence — to her new home.

Kankuro and Lady Chiyo’s brother Ebizo seemed to be the ones most prominently celebrating their arrival. Beside Gaara and Sakura, Temari had a very smug expression on her face, and Shikamaru kept muttering about troublesome women. Apparently, Ino’s family had given Suna a very generous discount on supplying flowers for this parade.

Kankuro approached the royal couple and clapped his hand over Gaara’s shoulder. He quickly retracted his hand with an awkward chuckle. “You two go settle in.”

Gaara nodded and then he called forth sand from his large gourd. He created a cloud of sand and sitting with Sakura at his side, the two of them rode above the crowd. “Less stressful than the last time,” Gaara murmured. “Just the two of us this time.”

Sakura laughed. “Indeed, it’s less stressful.” She rubbed at her belly, a soft smile on her face. “But, I’m afraid you’re wrong about the last part.”

Gaara’s face went blank, his eyes widened as his gaze swept to where her hand rested. Then he pulled Sakura into his lap and kissed her until they were both breathless.
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