Naruto Shippuden Fan Fiction ❯ Healing a pained heart ❯ Council meeting ( Chapter 14 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Even before the break of dawn a hawk hit the window with its beak repeatedly waking Gaara and Sakura in the process. Sakura shook Gaara’s shoulder with her eyes closed:

“Gaara, shoo that rooster away. I want to sleep.”

Gaara was dumfounded.

“What rooster?”

“The one that keeps knocking on the window. Stop pretending you don’t know.”

Gaara looked from under the roof of his hand and saw the hawk. A part of him was laughing because there were no roosters in Suna. Messages must be delivered in some other way in Konoha, not through birds. Another part of him was uneasy because the message of the bird couldn’t bring good news at this hour.

“There is no rooster, my flower. Don’t worry about it.”

“Hm? ” She fell asleep again.

Gaara got up from the bed and combed his hand with his fingers. He opened the window and let the bird rest on his forearm because there were no window sills in Suna. He sighed heavily after reading the message and sent the bird back where it came from. He was only wearing underwear when he slowly but hastily went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. The sound of water squirting in the bathroom woke Sakura. He was very fast because she only had time to rest her back against the wall on the bed and rub her eyes with the back of her hands when he was already back. She didn’t have the chance to notice last night, but his ass looked muscular and round. She liked the view. She waited to see what he was doing. When she realized he is getting ready to leave, she opened her mouth to talk:

“Would you leave because you wish something to drink? Here, take my breasts. They are full and overflowing, and all for you.”

He turned slightly to the side and saw her touching one of her breasts in her hand and it made him smile. He bit his lip and undressed her in his mind.

“I will take your offer soon, my flower. I have to go to a council meeting right now. I would have preferred to lay with you in bed all day, but what can I do?” Gaara said while fixing the layers of his robes.

To Sakura it looked like clothes liked being on his body because they started shining and got a structure they didn’t manifest on the hangers. Golden particles of sand mixed with dust and danced together around her lover’s body. He is so handsome.

He took his Kazekage hat and his sand gourd into his hands and got closer to the bed where Sakura still sat. She took his face in her palms and kissed him on the lips.

A swirl of sand engulfed him whole and transported him to the council room.

Sakura went back to sleep with the taste of his lips in her mind. A few hours later, someone knocked on the door and woke her up again. Somebody was very impatient. She got up to open the door and saw a very ashamed Shinki. He would have preferred to ask his father, what could he do now?

“I am sorry, but my bathroom isn’t working. Can I use this one?”

“Sure.” Sakura moved out of the way and saw him running to the bathroom. She laughed quietly while shaking her head. It was indeed funny to live with a kid in the same house. She closed the door to Gaara’s room and waited for Shinki to get out of the bathroom.

“Did you wash your hands?”

“Yes.”

“Let me see your hands.”

Her hands rested on her hips and she bent forward to take a look at his extended hands.

“Go and wash again.”

Shinki was staring at her, but complied. Sakura leaned on the door frame while looking at him. He was on his tiptoes trying to reach the sink.

“After you finish, we need to hurry so you won’t be late for school. Your father had to leave early today, so I will take you to school. Go, faster. “

Shinki didn’t have time to register what was happening, so he ran to his room to change clothes. Sakura showered really fast and put on a long coffee-colored dress with many crinkles, long sleeves and tights underneath. She tied her hair in a ponytail and wrapped a ribbon around it. She got out of Gaara’s room and a few seconds later she saw Shinki get out of his room. He was dressed nicely in a brown tunic and black trousers.

“Come on. I have been waiting for you for over an hour.” She joked.

Shinki laughed

“It only took me 10 minutes.”

“Judging by what clock? The one on the moon?”

Shinki laughed again.

“No.”

“Stop commenting and let’s go eat quickly.” She kept joking with him making him hurry in a funny manner.

They were close to school when Shinki took her hand and prayed in his head that Sakura wouldn’t shove him away. He wanted his colleagues to see that he has a mother, like all of them. He fisted his other hand in joy when he felt her fingers curl around his small hand.

“Don’t give your teachers a headache. Be careful with your sand, keep it next to you and be nice to the other kids and you will make lots of friends.”

Shinki listened carefully or so it seemed. Who knows what was on his mind? Sakura offered him a pen when they reached the gate.

“For me?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure this is for me?”

“Put it in your backpack before I change my mind.”

Shinki thanked her many times before saying his goodbye. He ran to his classmates and school started.

On her way back Sakura thought: Of, Gaara said he will show me the greenhouse to start the project, but he didn’t have a chance to since he was called to work so early. Who knows when he will finish work today? What should I do? An idea popped into her mind: I’ll go to the lab to collect my things. No sooner said than done.

*At the council meeting*

“Kazekage-sama, we have some disturbing news from our spies in Konohagakure. They reported the existence of a machinery of large proportions built on the field outside the village, where civilians aren’t allowed.

“Can we trust these reports?” Gaara asked.

“Kazekage-sama, how could we doubt them? They have been our spies for over 20 years.”

“Go on.” A crease of worry graced Gaara’s features.

“They took notes on the activity of this machinery in order to determine its purpose. Tomohisa-san wrote in his report (and he handed the scroll to Gaara) that an electromagnetic activity 100 times stronger than normal was detected. Once activated, it warded off all clouds in the sky and the sky started turning green in color. Tomohisa-san’s colleague fell to the ground almost instantly for no apparent reason and started talking nonsense. He arrived at our hospital a few hours ago. The doctors could barely make him stand on his feet. We informed you as soon as we collected information from him.”

“Kazekage-sama, forgive my boldness, but is it possible that this machinery is a war weapon? “

“Ishikawa-san, are you aware of your accusations?” Gaara asked. “Me and the Hokage have been at peace for many years now. He would have nothing to gain from a war with Suna. “

Ishikawa lowered his head, but continued to speak:

“Your Majesty, forgive me. I am only concerned because it hasn’t been heard of this machinery until now. That man from the hospital had paranoid visions like nightmares, upset bowels and anxiety. It isn’t just him, but we received the same reports from our other spies, too. As soon as they got close to this weapon, their health rapidly deteriorated with the same symptoms. This can’t be a coincidence. I beg your Excellency to decide on what is to be done regarding this matter.”

Gaara let out a long sigh.

“One more thing, Kazekage-sama. About that shinobi from Konoha may I ask what is the purpose of her staying here?” The man noticed Gaara was irked and angry, so he quickly added “I am not questioning your Majesty’s decisions, but since there are some suspicions regarding her country, she could be a spy.”

“I assure you she is not a spy. I specifically asked for her to come here. I need her to analyze the quality of the air and water and to make the environment better for our citizens. As you know, she is the most competent doctor and researcher, second only to Tsunade. She made important discoveries and proposed a new project for the productive and economical use of our water resources.” Gaara briefed them on Sakura’s aquaponics system and the meeting lasted until night.

*At the lab*

Sakura explained to the personnel the reason she will have to stop her research there and thanked everybody for their hard work. She gathered her things. Kankurou offered to take her to the greenhouse. It seemed like neither Midori nor Tanaka were in the mood for talking, while Kankurou seemed eager to get Sakura out of there. She thought it was weird, but there couldn’t be anything bad or urgent, so she let it slide. She thought Kankurou will let her know if there is something important going on. She couldn't wait to see the greenhouse, so she didn’t ask any questions.

On the way there, Kankurou told her about his new pupil, Araya. He was a boy of Shinki’s age, slim and tall. He had brown hair and brown eyes, just like Shinki. Kankurou was happy when he talked about him because the boy was shy and always clung to his leg when in public, trying to hide from others. If you let him work alone, it was perfect: Araya was very determined, hardworking and serious. However, he kept blushing in public; he stuttered and even forgot his own name.

Sakura thought: How touching.

“How did he become your pupil?”

Kankurou scratched his head and continued:

“Well, he started following me. Everywhere I went, he was there, too. Everything I did, he did, too.” He laughed at the memory. “I don’t know why, but one day I thought of making a dustpan. I grabbed a piece of metal and I used my chakra to cut it smoothly and bent it to make it in that shape. I made sure it had no sharp edges so I don’t cut myself in it and went to eat after I finished working. When I came back, I found another dustpan next to the one I made. It was identical.”

“No way.” Sakura said.

“Yes, I was surprised, too. I looked around and saw him hiding behind a pole. I gestured for him to come closer. He got scared at first, but soon decided to come to me.”

“Awww, that must be when he asked you to teach him.”

“What? No. He didn’t say anything. I took him by the shoulders and showed him to my lab.”

“You’re such a show off.”

“Eee? I am the greatest puppet user in the entire shinobi world.”

“I thought that title belongs to Sasori of the red sand.” Sakura teased him.

“The same as Tsunade is the best doctor?”

Sakura felt the sting and laughed. She dropped the topic.

They were in front of the greenhouse, when Sakura’s eyes became as big as onions because the silhouette of a girl with short brown hair and brown eyes caught Sakura’s eye. She was the same girl from the tea house Sakura visited a while ago, Bohemia Tea House. Sakura wanted to ask Gaara about her, but she forgot. Sakura had a good first impression of her.

Sakura arrived home and took her shoes off when she bumped her nose into Shinki’s and that was when she noticed he didn’t have any eyebrows anymore. He said hello and left to eat. Sakura followed him with her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find her words. She was dumbfounded. She went to wash and change clothes, then joined the boy and they ate together.

Sakura felt Gaara’s chakra approach the house and she waited for him at the entrance. She took his sand gourd from his shoulders. She kissed him on the nose when she took off his hat and set them aside so he could take off his shoes. He seemed exhausted. She pushed him to his room from behind him, massaging his shoulders at the same time to make him relax. Gaara’s steps were heavy and a headache was bothering him, so he let her do the talking.

Sakura waited by the door of his bathroom while he cleaned and she talked to him about her day. Gaara was relaxed whenever he heard anything coming out of her mouth. She was sweet like honey. He closed his eyes and all his worries went away. He smiled happily at the thought that there is somebody waiting for him at home every night.

He got out of the bathroom and kissed her before he buried his nose in her hair to inhale deeply. He wanted to get drunk on her smell. She held him by the elbows and grinned, before taking a step back:

“Shinki shaved his eyebrows today.”

Gaara grunted and narrowed his eyes.

“I am not surprised. He always makes some blunder on my salary day. It’s the only day I don’t punish him.”

Sakura laughed wholeheartedly at his comment while Gaara brushed his hair with his fingers.

Sakura took his cheeks in her palms and kissed his lips before she continued:

“Don’t scold him. I asked him why he did this and he said the kids from school told him he doesn’t look like any of us.” She said this while tracing Gaara’s hairless eyebrow with her finger.

She kissed him again and looked into his eyes. Gaara's eyes softened and he rested his forehead against hers. Her healing hands took care of his migraine and he held his breath before asking with a little bit of fear:

“Do you mind if I go stay with him tonight?”

“No, of course not.” She wished they could stay together, the 3 of them, but she was also aware sometimes people need some distance.

Thus she slept in her room while Shinki slept with his father.