AN: It's weird...even though this was a one shot, it took me almost two years to stop procrastinating enough to finish this...Actually, now that I think about it, I was hardly aware of its existence until I decided what things I had left over in my Documents. I guess it's kinda obvious what inspired me to write this: SKITTLES! It was (and still is) a popular candy within my circle of friends. We never get tired of the stuff! Anyway, on to the horrible disclaims...

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...and I definitely do not own Skittles because if I did, I assure you I would have either died of high blood sugar or fallen into a diabetic coma (And I think it would be bloody brilliant to create a Skittles IV line!).

Skittles

'Five…six…seven…eight…nine…TEN BAGS?'

The figure stood outside on the balcony of a window slowly letting his eyes wander over the scene before him. He started wondering how she could possibly have already emptied ten bags of the 'sweet medicine' she had started to take a liking for. He had first seen her with it a week ago wondering how she could eat such a thing. He pointed out to her that all the little half spheres contained were glucose and fructose with artificial flavoring and food coloring. Because of that, she had pouted and insisted that a little candy once and a while wouldn't kill anyone.

After hearing her say that, he was going to point out that people who believed that end up with Type 2 Diabetes 91 of the time. But before he could have his say in the matter, she just kissed him on the cheek and walked away saying that she had paperwork to fill out.

Staring at his girlfriend, he just watched curiously. Having been a spoiled child when he was younger, he had gotten all the toys and candy any child at the age of five could dream of. But then after the incident with his uncle, Yashamaru, he had started to dislike the sweetness of all and anything sweet. After going through fourteen years without candy, eating anything sweet was something that Sabaku no Gaara could not get used to (except for his little blossom of course!).

Looking at her desk, he could see that she had all the colors split into their correct color groups. There were mostly red and yellow ones, and fewer purples, greens, and oranges. She idly rearranged the red and yellow ones as she ate the other colors, occasionally popping one into her mouth.

As she was lifting her hand to eat a green one, she closed her mouth slowly before she ate it and smiled. Looking to her side, her smile became a grin as she waved to her boyfriend to come in. Raising an eyebrow, Gaara stared at her a little wondering how she could have noticed his presence. He had deliberately masked his chakra so that he could watch over her as she did her work. But without missing a beat, he stepped forward and transported himself inside the small office.

When his sand cleared up, he saw Sakura sitting in her chair pouting slightly.

"What?"

"Couldn't you be like other normal people and use the door?"

"I am the Kazekage of Suna, a lethal shinobi when need be, owner of knowledge to all Justus of this land that pertain to sand, and I somehow managed to land myself in a relationship with one of Konoha's strongest kunoichi. Not exactly normal."

-Giggle-

"True, true, and I wouldn't have it any other way…"

There was a comfortable silence in the room as she smiled to herself and played around with the candy before her. Before he could ask what she was doing, she turned to him with a teasing gaze.

"So…why is it that the great Sabaku no Gaara has to spy on his employees; and his girlfriend no less?"

"Just as you said, I am Sabaku no Gaara and I can do whatever I want. That includes spying on my employees and my girlfriend."

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"And they say I'm possessive-eek!"

Gaara pulled her rolling chair towards him so that the tips of their noses touched. Smirking, he gave her a chaste kiss. Pulling back, he brought his mouth to her ear and whispered in it.

"Just as long as you're only possessive with me…"

Shivering slightly, Sakura bit back the huge grin that was threatening to spread onto her face. He had no idea how much she enjoyed his presence around her. Originally, she had come to Suna in an exchange program so that the bonds between the two allies could strengthen further. When she had first seen Gaara again after his revival, she had hesitated at first when becoming friends with him. But one thing led to another, and they were instant friends. (With the help of his meddling siblings though). Eventually, they decided to see how well their relationship would be if they started dating. At first, he wasn't very responsive to them holding hands or her giving him pecks on the cheek in public. But after a while, he warmed up to it and started giving her kisses of his own, and hugging her in public. Gaara pushed it even further when he requested that her stay be extended so that she could help train the new medic-nins.

It had taken her by surprise when she found out that his request was granted. But then again, Tsunade had guessed that Sakura would've made the request herself if Gaara hadn't asked first. Gaara loved her more than he could describe. He had long forgotten about his saying, "I love only myself," and saw everything in Technicolor instead of black and red. He knew that he loved her, but wasn't too sure if Sakura felt the same way. Then again, they had only been a couple for two months. It made him doubt his feelings sometime because he thought that he was just telling himself that he loved her because he craved for the feeling everyday.

But then all those thoughts would be thrown away whenever they were together, especially when she would squeeze his hand and smile a special smile just for him.

And right now, she was wearing that smile.

"Now then…care to explain to me why you were spying on me?"

"Not really."

"Gaara…"

"I wasn't spying on you, just observing at a distance."

"Fine then, be that way Kazekage-sama."

Sakura immediately turned back to her desk and rearranged the candies as she tossed a few more in her mouth. Gaara glared at the back of her head knowing that she was just doing this to get him upset and to tell her his real reason for seeing her. Deciding he wouldn't fall for her little trap, he said the most random thing he could think of.

"Which one is your favorite Skittle?"

Clack

A green skittle fell from Sakura's hand as she turned to face Gaara with her eyebrows raised in surprise at his question. They both just stood/sat looking at each other until a smile broke out on her face. Her eyes looked back on to her desk and picked up a yellow Skittle. Holding it in front of his face, she smiled again.

"Mine is lemon. Wanna' try one?"

Now it was Gaara's turn to look surprised.

"Really? I was thinking that you would choose the Cherry…"

"Well, would you like to try one of the cherries?"

"…"

"Oh come one! They won't kill you I promise!"

"And this is coming from a medic-nin who should be providing medicine to her patients and wolfs down all kinds of sweets…"

"No, this is coming from your girlfriend who should-"

Sakura stopped mid-sentence when as she watched her boyfriend snatch the cherry Skittle from her fingers and pop it into his mouth. He chewed quietly and actually looked thoughtful as he took note of the texture and taste of the candy.

"Not bad, considering its candy. A little too sweet, but the slightly tangy flavor makes up for it."

"Sheesh, Gaara, do you always have to be so analytical? And with candy of all things?"

"..."

"Honestly, you should just sit back and enjoy the simple things in life. Take me for instance; instead of grading all those annoying term papers that my students turned in the other day, I am happily sitting here eating Skittles to my hearts content and-"

"Why do you like lemon Skittles?"

Gaara's question quickly cut Sakura out of her ramblings about candy and schoolwork. She looked down at one of the lemon Skittles fondly and then turned to face Gaara with a smile that made his heart flutter. Blushing, Sakura's facial expression changed making her look sheepish.

"Well...don't make fun of what I'm going to say okay Gaara? This is completely true even though it might sound a little weird and totally cheesy and all-"

"Sakura...I may have an abundance of patience at my disposal, but I'd rather you answer me now instead of continuing with your ramblings."

Pouting slightly, Sakura quickly ate the Skittle and feigned a thoughtful look as she explained placing the final touches to her pile of red and yellow skittles.

"Okay then...I guess in all honesty, the lemon Skittles remind me of you. Oh don't look at me like that-just let me finish. It reminds me of you because of the flavor...at first it's all sour and it makes you cringe a little, but then it becomes incredibly sweet and leaves behind this pleasant after taste. So to put it in a nutshell, lemon skittles remind me of you because even though you may have been a little mean and sour at first, all I had to do was be patient and wait for the sweetness to show up..."

By the time Sakura was finished, her face was a pretty shade of pink. But throughout her entire explanation she looked him straight in the eye. So everything she said was true and sincere. Gaara was about to say something but the second his lips had parted one of Sakura's teacher assistants came bursting through the door of the classroom. Both teenagers turned to see her TA panting and gasping for air as if she had ran a marathon to get to her destination. It only took her two minutes to regain some composure (at least enough to get her to stand straight and bow properly towards her Kazekage) and explained the situation quickly.

"Sakura-sama! There's a fight going on between two of the other teacher assistants in the school yard! They won't listen to reason and the younger of the two is already bleeding badly. The rest of the school staff have already left for the day and there's no one else here capable of separating them!"

Sakura slapped her hand to her forehead cursing quietly.

"Is it Tanichi-san and Karuka-san again?"

The TA nodded franticly looking to her sempai hopefully. Sakura sighed and rose from her comfortable chair heading towards the door. Before she made it passed the desk, she turned back and gave Gaara a chaste kiss on the lips before smiling and reminding him that they had dinner plans that evening. With that said and done, Sakura made her way out the door and ran down the hallway with her TA following in suit.

After seeing them leave, Gaara sighed deciding that what he was going to say to her would have to wait until tonight. He was about to take his leave when he saw the left over Skittles strewn across the desk. Deciding to take one of the cherry ones, Gaara reached out to snatch one only stopping when he noticed just how 'organized' the piles of lemon and cherry Skittles. The cherry and lemon candies were arranged in such a way that the yellow created a border around the strange shapes that the red made forming some sort of kanji. His eyes wandered until the kanji was recognized by his jade colored eyes. A light blush colored his cheeks and he felt his chest give a familiar flutter.

'Aishiteru'