Chapter Text
The party is everything it needed to be, and yet Sakura still finds herself longing for something that she can’t quite put her finger on.
Naruto’s wedding is marvelous, nothing less is expected from the blonde-haired ninja who she has known her entire life. she knows the connections he fosters are more important than anything else in world to him, hence why he ended up inviting nearly the whole village.
The lonely Kunoichi sighs, taking in the harmonious nature of everyone around her.
Glancing to her side, she eyes the appearance of her best friend and former teammate beside each other.
Everyone knows about Ino and Sai by now, and while she has known about the underlying romantic themes between them since her 16 year old days, she smiles, taking in relationship between her loud mouthed best friend and quieter teammate who opts for listening.
“Shikamaru, stop it!”
The medics green eyes turn to her other side, finding Temari shifting awkwardly with a red blush spreading over her face. A smile marks itself onto Sakuras face, looking down to her folded hands. In a bittersweet moment, she compares the relationships around her with her own complicated one with Sasuke, causing the smile to fade quickly.
…On a more positive note, when was the last time she’d seen Temari flustered?
She knows the feeling all too well, she too becomes a completely different person when Sasuke is around, he brings out a range of emotions that not everyone sees from the regular Sakura.
Next time.. Next time I’ll make him wait for me.
To her disappointment, his presence is lacking at the function. The pink haired ninja reminisces on the last interaction she shared with him, and subconsciously holds her fingers to her forehead as a warmth creeps up her neck in remembrance. But, all too quickly a feeling of dread and sadness clutches at her heart, because if he’d truly shared her feelings as vehemently as she did,
why was she going to be alone tonight?
“Sakura!”
A voice she knows all too well rang from behind, she sees Lee, the bowlcut capturing her attention above everything else.
The ninja comes to a stop right in front of her, obviously running to her a few seconds prior.
“Lee! How are you?”
“Perfect! You enjoying the party?” He asks, eyes as wide as ever with Tenten trailing behind him.
“Yeah,” Sakura takes a moment to appreciate her surroundings, “Naruto sure outdid himself with this one.” She says, her voice not as excited as her statement implies.
“Truly! I admire Naruto’s ability to bring people together, I must say he exceeded my standards” Lee states, then whips his head around as if looking for something before he parts his lips,
“I see your other teammate hasn’t made his appearance, where is Sasuke anyways?”
Sakuras body tenses at the name, obviously not expecting him to come up in the conversation,
“Oh.. uhm” she starts, looking down at her feet.
“Lee, what are you saying bringing him up right now, obviously he’s busy doing something at the moment!” Tenten sputters all too quickly before elbowing him.
Sakuras voice suddenly cuts in, “While I appreciate your efforts Tenten, it’s alright” Sakura says as she waves her hand.
“The truth is, he’s.. on a journey right now. He wasn’t able to make it, but-” she fidgets with the paper she hasn’t noticed was clutched in her left hand this whole time,
“He sent a congratulatory note” She finishes with a positive voice and tight smile. Though, anyone studying Sakura Haruno would notice her knuckles as they begin to whiten by her side, if they just looked for it.
The conversation passes, and as time has too, the paper in Sakura’s hands has been discarded. As the sky darkens, the conversations of the guests shift from coherent conversations to slurring and clumsy movements, wine close by the scene.
With a happy sigh, Sakura sits at a table with her girlfriends sipping on her sake. Drowning out her feelings from earlier, she resorts to gulping down her drink while pulling her attention toward her friends conversation.
“And you KNOW you should’ve told us earlier about you two.” Ino points at Temari accusingly.
“What exactly did you want me to say? It’s not like we’re official or anything yet.” She mumbles off to the side.
“Temmy, I have so much to talk to you about now that we can both discuss boyfriends” Ino slurs drunkenly.
“Temmy?” The other blonde crosses her arms, clearly not as drunk as her friend.
“Have you two had-“ Ion motions with her hands until it dawns on Temari, “Yet?”
This time, a deep red blush spreads across all the girls faces.
“No!” Temari says bashfully, grabbing the attention of a few people around them.
A few seconds pass, Temari suddenly becomes self conscious.
“Wait. You have?”
The question warrants an immediate answer from Ino. “Many times” she says boastfully. “It’s the best especially when we haven’t seen each other for a long time and then-“
“Oookay. Girls, how about me and Ino go to grab a dessert real quick?” Sakura butts in quickly, freeing the people around them from disturbing details.
As Sakura grabs the blonde aside she releases a heavy sigh.
“Ino you can’t be saying things like that or asking things like that so.. so loudly!”
“Whatt?” The blonde drawls. “It’s not my fault you get flustered because you haven’t experienced being on top of someone yet” she pauses in thought, “Or the other way around.”
Sakuras eyebrow quirks and she begins to say something in comeback before Ino continues loudly.
“Well would you look at that, seems we have a fair contender” Ino looks past Sakuras shoulders.
Sakura turns her head curiously to Inos line of view and spots a familiar redhead standing alone to the side. Before Sakura can say anything to her best friend, she suddenly gets a push to her back.
Ino catches her off guard, “Whoops!”
It is at that moment that Sakura’s body rams straight into the unknowing Kazekage, eyes widening before they take a tumble.
After coming to a stop, Sakuras eyes peek open hesitantly, and her heart misses a beat.
She finds herself on top the Kazekage.
After a few seconds, Gaara crinkles open his eyes, clearly surprised from the impact, as they share the same look. She uses both hands to prop herself up from the man, realizing the unfamiliar weight on her back was his arm.
“Are you okay?” He breaks the silence with a worried look, his voice smooth and noticeably more mature compared to his teenage years.
“Yes,” she answers, releasing a breath she didn’t know was held. “I’m fine.”
They both lay there for a few seconds before Sakura realizes how close they are, and more importantly their positions.
Ino’s voice suddenly rings in her head:
because you haven’t experienced being on top of someone yet
A light blush manifests on her neck, threatening to spread to her face before she moves off the man who suddenly goes extremely rigid. She opts for the grass instead behind her. Stupid Ino.
“Sorry.” She mutters, the demeanor being completely unlike her usual self.
Looking back to the man, she realizes she wasn’t the only one who has become self conscious. Gaara’s face has a light blush spreading over his own, he turns his head and away from her as he props himself up.
“It’s fine.”
She takes the moment to gaze upon the man, his fingers rub against his head like he’s in pain. Suddenly, she feels a pang of guilt, realizing the selfless move. She draws upon the memory of his arm that draped over her and how her head ended up on his chest, effectively taking the whole impact.
Looking up, a hand outstretches to her from above, and he bears an expression that doesn’t have any anger or lingering emotion.
Sakura takes the hand willingly, observing the way his gruff hands feel in her own.
“Thank you Gaar- I mean, Kazekage-Sama.”
“Gaara is fine.” He replies with a small smile as he helps to lift her up.
Sakura takes in the height difference, realizing the teenage boy that nearly used to be her height grew into a tall man, towering over her just as her two teammates have. Not only that, but the skinny and rough-faced child in her memory dulls as she sees the difference so clearly. His face shaped itself out, clearly grown into his features giving himself a more rugged and uniquely handsome face. She feels a little shameful when the first thing that comes to mind is Sasuke and how his handsomeness compares, but she finds Gaara almost as a different kind of beauty, one that’s almost enticing. His hair, however, stayed just as spiky, coming down to touch his light eyebrows.
A smile has conjured itself upon Sakuras face.
The man pauses, “Did I.. say something funny?” the sight makes Gaara raise a brow in genuine confusion.
“Ahh, sorry. It’s just that you’ve changed so much Kaze- Gaara.” She says, catching her mistake.
A silence places itself in the moment for a few seconds.
The red haired Kazekage tips his head to the side in thought, “… have I?” The man exhibits such a curious expression that makes Sakura wants to let out yet another laugh, however, her long haired friend decides to join the conversation before she could.
“Ssakura! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to push you that hard” She says in a drunken voice, swaying from side to side.
At Ino’s words, Sakura turns her gaze in front of her, Gaara exhibits a confused expression while Sakuras face reflects a knowing grimace.
“You.. meant to push her?” He asks in confusion, shifting on his foot.
Now, Sakura places a hand on her hip, eager to hear her what her friend will come up with in front of the Kazekage. Out of curiosity, she looks to the corner of her eye and notices how Gaara crosses his arms, a habit that he kept since his genin days.
Meanwhile, Sakura turns her gaze onto Ino, watching her struggle to push out a response, “Well I didn’t mean to pushpush I just-“ she looks between the both of them before spitting out a sentence so matter-of-factly that she almost makes Sakura choke on her own spit,
“Well, I was saying how she needed to end up on top of someone eventuall-“
Panic hits far too late when Sakura realizes she actually said it, slapping her hand across Inos mouth mid blabber.
Ino you idiot! Sakuras inner self cries.
“Shut it, Pig!”
Realization slowly hits that Gaara could misinterpret her friends words, she turns her head slowly. Biting the bullet, she finds that he exhibits a rather aloof expression, seemingly pondering upon Ino’s words. Sakura feels as if he either didn’t get the connotation of Ino’s words, or he stayed silent as to not embarrass Sakura, which she feels very thankful for both ways.
She chastises her friend, elbowing into her, “Gosh, Ino is really drunk right now”, her movements earn an “Ow!” from the girl.
She turns full body towards Gaara, “She was just being silly. Please excuse us and enjoy the rest of the wedding.” Instead of waiting for a response, Sakura begins to drag her friend away.
Sai come get your girl! She thinks to herself.
As Ino nonsensically complains on her shoulder, Gaara’s voice rings through the air once more.
“Sakura.”
She unexpectedly pauses in her tracks, turning halfway to meet his gaze.
“Hm?” Her green eyes meet with his of similar color.
“So have you.” He says, pausing, “Changed, I mean.” He adds, giving her a sideways glance before turning around to walk away.
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