Title: Her Skin
Pairing: Gaara/Sakura
Rating: T (mild smut)
Summary: "There was something terribly odd about the feelings created by the friction of his skin against hers."
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me!

Her Skin

There was something terribly odd about the feelings created by the friction of his skin against hers. His own skin had been sandblasted, weathered down by years of exposure to the wind and sand of his homeland. Though he retained his fair complexion, the sun had toughed his skin to the point where it caught against her smoothness, scratching lightly as he stroked her bare stomach. She was asleep, curled against him and the night as he lost himself to nostalgia.

It had been one of the first things he noticed upon their initial physical interaction. She'd impulsively grabbed his hand to hold while walking; her battle scarred but smooth flesh sliding against his own as their fingers locked in an all-too-intimate embrace. Hours later, sitting in his shabby, borrowed apartment, he could still feel the silk of her hand against his own. Days later, shoving one hand into his pocket in remembrance became a poor replacement. Weeks passed, and the sensation of her warmth against his aching skin became a craving he could no longer ignore.

With the same dedication that he'd utilized in his rise to Kazekage, he'd thrown himself into capturing the affections of the woman who now lay in his bed. He'd wanted her, craved her like oxygen and blood to wet the roughness of that same skin. The more he experienced of her, the more maps of lines he memorized on her own tempered flesh, the more necessary she became. And he made certain that he became as indispensable in her life as she gradually became his entire world outside the insanity and bloodshed that surrounded their working lives.

In less than a year he'd stolen her off to Suna under the guise of an official medical training exchange. Tsunade had been informed in no uncertain terms that his intentions were nothing less than want of full possession of the roseate-haired ninja. She'd been whisked away, out from under the eyes of a pathetically obtuse Uchicha who still insisted on wallowing in his brother's shadow. He had no pity for the other ninja's loss. Two years passed in succession, and he'd made her his bride.

She was his haven. The peace that he did not deserve, but coveted dearly. He was proud of her strength, though useless against his own. Relished the weakness in her that allowed the need for his protection, the sweetness of her lips and the salt of her tears. Every argument, every screaming fit of anger against the black of night. Because in the end she would be in his bed, with his arms around her. His skin would be surrounding her, inside her, in her heart and in her life.

Chakra fluttered against his fingers, and he closed pale green eyes as he exhaled against the brush of her hair. She mewed softly, shifting backwards, further into his embrace as he smiled, softly, into the night. Her skin was changing now, stretching with the heavy swell of their child within her. Ankles fattened, breasts had grown heavy, and his kunoichi mourned the sight of her feet every morning. She had never been more radiant to him. They would travel soon to Konoha for Tsunade to attend the birth, and he'd have to make sure that the skin of her feet wouldn't touch the ground throughout the distance. His kunoichi was stubborn.

It would be morning soon, and the light of the sunrise always made her glow in the amber hues. He treasured every stolen night away from his work when he was allowed to hold her quietly as she slept, waiting for the streaks of first light to transform his pale beauty into healthful rose in the early morning sun. Tracing her curves in the dim light, he waited.

---

Author's Note: This was inspired by my experience at Anime North of looking for doujinshi and only finding ONE BOX that wasn't yaoi. My frustration of not finding my smut translated into a drabble.

On the title, "Integer": integer meaning "a whole entity", referring to the compactness of a one shot drabble.

Thanks to my readers for all of your ongoing support!

-- Okobo-chan