Hi! This is my second time writing a fanfic. My first was erased, deleted and forgotten. I was incredibly embarrassed by it. I will try one more time after many year of being a passive reader, I hope you like it. This is a Gaara Matsuri fic because there are few fanfics with this couple and I really like them. It takes place after the war and contains a lot of romance and some slight smut to follow the guidelines.

Naruto belong to his rightful owner. No copyrights are being infringed. This is just a figment of my imagination.

Fear and Curiosity

Curiosity. That's what it was, what it always had been. Since she first met him, since she decided to take the leap and become his first and only student.

Fear. Fear drove her to him in a masochistic and crazy embrace. Yes, she feared him, but she had this weird notion that in order to overcome fear you had to take it head on.

That's what drove Matsuri to choose him, to stand behind him, and now stand by him. She never expected anything from him - Really.

Gaara was a mystery, a quiet man with a very dark past, she had no right to pry into his life or try to take more than was given to her. She admired and respected

her former sensei, she saw him change and become the man that everyone looks up to, the protector and Kazekage of Suna.

Gaara had many responsibilities upon his shoulders, being a leader was not something he expected. However he indulged in every single aspect of it. He never

thought that the people of Suna would someday admire him, that he had the ability to protect and love. Gaara loved his village and would do anything in his power to

change all the negative, hurt and hate he brought upon his village and himself. Every day he worked hard for them, for their benefit and safety.

Suna had improved greatly after the war, it was a prosperous and peaceful place. The markets are filled with merchants buying, selling and trading the most exquisite

rugs, beautiful hand painted paper fans and fine furniture and dolls, all manufactured and sold by the locals.

The sun rises early at 5:45am, orange hues taint the skies and the wind is blowing free. In a small apartment complex, on the fourth and last floor, a young brunette

woman is taking a warm shower. She washes her chin length hair with care, massaging her scalp and enjoying how the soapy water travels from her head to her long

neck, caressing her small but firm chest, her narrow waist and lean legs. Matsuri rinsed out the shampoo and soap from her body and turned off the shower. She

grabbed a green towel from the shelf and dried herself before stepping out. Her feet touched the soft rug, she loved the feeling of stepping on the rug after the

shower, its texture so soft beneath her feat. Matsuri stretched and looked at herself in the mirror. Now a woman in her mid-twenties with big brown almond-shaped

eyes, turned up nose, thin lips and heart shaped face. Perhaps she was not a beauty like Temari but she was confident of her appearance. Her eyes were big and

expressive and you could always read her easily, she carried her heart on her sleeve as the saying goes. She dabbed some drops of vanilla essence on her wrists,

behind her ears and on her neck, she put on her deodorant, brushed her teeth and combed her hair.

She rushed to her bedroom. A very small but cozy room with plain coral walls, full sized wooden bed with a white comforter and two coral and teal cushions. She had

a beautiful painting of Suna's desert at night over her bed, one night table with a simple lamp shade, her favorite vanilla scent candle, a wooden box where she kept

a journal and some old photographs of her teammates, friends and family. She walked to the ivory and coral accent chair she kept on the corner of her room and

picked up her underwear. She wore navy blue panties and matching bra, a simple but comfortable set for her everyday activities. She zipped her navy mid-thigh skirt

and quickly put on her plain black shirt, over the knee black tights and black ninja sandals. She grabbed her forehead protector and walked to the living room while

she placed it on her neck.

Matsuri picked up a magazine that she was reading last night from her coffee table , she blushed at the handsome man on the cover. He was standing on the Hokage

Tower balcony dressed in his Hokage robes, hands crossed, gazing down at the town. The title read "Sandman: an exclusive interview with the man behind the sand".

The magazine photographer captured him, all his essence, everything that made her shiver. His haunting gaze, pale creamy skin that seemed to shine all the time,

unruly red hair, strong lean body. The interviewer clearly tried to pry into his innermost secrets and private desires with no avail. Gaara was not an open book and

mostly kept to himself, however he did his best to respond and cooperate. Matsuri recalled when the magazine staff called requesting the interview. She answered

the phone herself.

"Hello, Hokage's Office, this is Matsuri, how may I assist you?" she said.

A woman with a deep and hoarse voice replied, "This is Keiko Mihara from Sunapolitan Magazine, we would like to schedule an interview with the Hokage" she said.

"Certainly Mrs. Mihara, I'll take your contact information and call you back as soon as possible." Matsuri replies.

Temari told her earlier that week that the elders were expecting Gaara to find a bride soon, he was 26 and single and obviously one of the most eligible bachelors so

this was the first advertising schemes used to promote his image amongst the single ladies of Suna.

She sat on one of the stools of her kitchenette and poured herself a cup of jazmine tea as she flipped one of the pages of the magazine.

"Hokage sama, what are your dreams for the future?" it read.

"I am mostly inclined on fortifying our relations with other villages. We have developed exchange programs to promote cultural diversity and education. My goal is for

Suna to continue to prosper, we are developing almond farms and producing many products like almond soap and almond milk."

"You are Suna's most eligible bachelor, your sister has wed a shinobi from Konoha and your brother Kankuro is quite popular amongst the ladies. Our readers want to

know, is our Hokage looking for a bride in the near future?"

"I believe that this will be something expected of me."

"What do you find sexiest in a woman?"

"Self-confidence."

"Is there someone like that close to our Hokage?"

Clearly the reporter wanted a straight answer, Matsuri thought. And what about me? What was I expecting as I read this? Tips on how to get the Hokage to fall in love with me?

She kept on reading.

"Shinobi women are trained to be self-confident, if they don't believe in themselves the enemy will have the upper hand. It is part of their survival training, they need

to be sure of what they are, who they are and believe in their strength."

Matsuri put the magazine down and sighed. At least he's being honest. Poor reporter.

She looked at the clock, it was almost 7 and she had to get to the Hokage's Tower quickly.

She brushed her teeth again, grabbed her keys and ran downstairs.

At the Hokage tower

Matsuri dashed inside her office hoping that the Hokage had not arrived. She always arrived earlier even though he resided a few floors up. Last night they stayed

working late and there were papers scrambled all over his desk. Matsuri started to quickly accommodate everything, a file fell to the floor and she bent over to pick it

up. She failed to notice the man standing on the doorway clearly enjoying the view. He felt heat. If someone were to walk in they would clearly see the evidence in

Gaara's pants. As she was getting up he quickly walked to his desk and sat down.

"Matsuri"

"Kazekage sama you startled me" she was blushing and noticed a faint blush on his face also.

"I was putting these away and didn't hear you."

"It's fine. Please give this report to Baki and tell Kankuro I have arrived"

"Sure!" she smiled at him and as she took the file from his hand she gazed at his eyes. They locked eyes and stayed looking deep into each other's eyes.

Gaara was mesmerized by her, since they started training together. At first he didn't think much of it, he was far more preoccupied by other matters like being

Shukaku's container and not falling asleep to avoid being possessed. Still he focused on helping her, this average and shy girl who believed in him, who chose him as

his sensei. It was then that he decided to protect her and make her stronger. To give her the tools necessary to believe in herself, become a self-confident

independent woman. As the years passed, after Shukaku's removal, after the fourth shinobi war, they kept training together. It was during one of their sparring

sessions a couple of months ago when things started to get steamy between them.

"Get up Matsuri, hit me again" he said

"Hai!" Matsuri stood from the ground where his sand had smashed her. Her skirt was torn badly. You could see her tiny red underwear peeking under the ripped

fabric. Gaara was kneeling and as he raised his head he saw legs, white, lean and creamy, beautiful thighs and the entrance to her most private and enticing cavern.

Her panties left nothing to the imagination as they were tight. Matsuri felt him staring at her and immediately noticed how uncovered she was. She blushed deeply

and closed her legs covering her nether regions with her small hands. Gaara built a sand wall between them to prevent her from looking at how hard he got.

"Cover yourself, Matsuri. Use my Hokage robe"

Matsuri stretched her hand and took the robe he was handing to her from the other side of the wall. Their fingers touched and she could swear she felt him caress

her. It was a soft and sensuous caress and all the tiny hairs on her arms stood up. She retrieved her hand and quickly put the robe on. She could smell him, his

manly fragrance. Her nipples got hard as pebbles and she could feel some wetness below.

Gaara was also having a hard time recovering. He didn't expect to see so much of her, and to feel desire for her. Yes, he cared for her, a lot. He respected her and

thought she was very kind and brave. But now, he had seen her, and he wanted more, so much more. When their fingers accidently brushed he wanted to feel how

soft her skin was. But she quickly retrieved her hand. They walked in silence that day, both ignoring the stares they were getting from the villagers.

Matsuri snapped out of it, she frowned and walked out.

Gaara sighed. It was getting harder each day to ignore the hard thumping of his heart when he was near her.

Alright! So that's it for my first chapter. There will be more awkward and romantic moments. Please bear with me. I hope you enjoyed reading and well I'd like to read your comments good and bad but please refrain from offense. It was really hard for me to decide to take the leap and write. It has not been easy, I've been writing this first chapter all day and I have many ideas outlined for this story. Hopefully you encourage me to keep writing. Also please notice that my first language is not English so it might not be perfect. Thank you for reading!