I hadn't put much thought to the epilogue (if you can call it that) to this, so it might seem a little brief. I wanted to leave it vague and not cement any absolute future on this.

-----------

The next few days were a little hectic. Sakura had to balance running the hospital and helping Gaara. Since he couldn't be sure who to trust, he had little options on who could help him weed out the unloyal statesmen. While he was picking them out, Sakura was busy helping Izumi make preparations, figuring out what to do with people proven unloyal, and sort the massive paperwork that was coming in because of this huge mess.

Also, she somehow got included into the Suna council with all their meetings and such (along with Temari and Kankuro, the former's return to Konoha being delayed because of this event). Apparently, her standing up to Hue and her handling of the situation had impressed them and earned their respect. They asked her opinion, asked her to check their work, had her included in talks and had her working alongside them to fix this problem.

For a while, Sakura forgot that she had announced she and Gaara were having a relationship with all the work to do, but then she started to notice the analyzing looks she was getting from the other members. When Lady Sole kept staring at her, Sakura finally asked her what was wrong. The old woman cracked a smile. "I'm just happy that our Kazekage has finally found someone to share his life with."

Sakura blushed and fumbled with the papers she was holding. "What?"

"I'm sure you and the Kazekage will be together for a very long time," she said.

Sakura just pursed her lips and looked down at the papers in her hands.

Lady Sole cocked her head, watching her with that wise look most elders had. "Do you not like the idea?"

"No, it isn't that!" Sakura said quickly. "It's just…" she was unsure about opening up to this woman, but there was no one else around, and it wasn't going to cause any harm. "It's just we've already had so many things come between us…I can't imagine what is going to get in our way if we become serious. And I don't like thinking about the future too much."

The old woman chuckled. "You better get used to it, sweetie, because a lot of things are changing. And you're going to be very involved in most of it."

Sakura wasn't sure if she liked the idea.

-----------------

"I've missed you," Sakura murmured as she hugged Gaara's shoulders, maneuvering around his chair. Gaara rubbed her hand and turned his attention away from his paperwork.

"I would hope so," he said quietly. "Considering we haven't gotten to talk in four days with all this chaos going on."

"Are things getting any better?"

Gaara sighed. "Many of the men who Hue claimed were helping him say he—or some of his followers—was threatening them to get their support. Their claims seem legit, so hopefully I won't have to completely scrap our government staff."

"Was it really that bad?" Sakura asked, releasing him and moving to sit on the desk in front of him.

"Statistically, no. I still had—have?—the majority of the members loyalty. But Hue targeted the more powerful members. If this had gone on for longer and gotten out of hand, we could have had a civil war going on over power."

Sakura shivered. Power was a scary thing. So was greed. "I'm just glad the worse if over with."

Gaara's eyes shadowed. "Now all I have to do is keep word of this from getting out so other villages don't know, find out what exactly was going on, who were the ones that truly supported Hue, and what to do with them. Like that isn't going to be hard."

Sakura frowned at Gaara. The circles around his eyes were even more pronounced than usual, and if she guessed right, he probably had been sleeping worse than she did—which was still pretty bad. Actually, he probably wasn't sleeping at all. Concerned for his health, and his attentiveness to his job, Sakura said, "Gaara, you don't look so good. Why don't you rest? I could get Izumi to do this for you, or I could take a stab at it."

Gaara shook his head tiredly. "No, it's alright. I need to get this done."

"Gaara," she huffed. Placing her hands on either side of his head, she made him look at her. "When was the last time you slept?"

He scowled, unable to lie to her. "Since the last night we spent together."

"Gaara!" Sakura cried. "That was eight days ago. Get some sleep, right now!"

"Sakura, I don't need that much sleep. "I can handle it."

She glared at him. "Don't make me humiliate you by carrying you home and forcing you to go to sleep."

Gaara narrowed his eyes. He quickly realized that she did have the strength to technically do that. "You wouldn't dare."

Sakura rose an eyebrow. "You're risking doing a bad job from sleep deprivation. I'm a doctor, I know what I'm talking about. And yes, I would, if that's what it took for you to get some rest."

Gaara figured that a test of wills wouldn't end well for him right now. Being thrown over the shoulder of a woman and paraded around the streets wasn't quite something the Kazekage wanted to be seen doing. "Fine, you win," he admitted. Sakura smiled and they stood at the same time, bringing them close together.

Quickly the light friction evaporated, and all either of them could think about was how long it had been since they'd been alone together. Feeling uncomfortable, Sakura moved to the side to give Gaara room—room he didn't want.

He moved closer and rubbed her cheek with his hand, making her look at her. "You know, you're not looking to chipper yourself."

"I haven't been sleeping well lately, with all this work to do."

"Hypocrite," he accused. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I'm going up to bed right now," she told him.

Gaara shook his head. "Sleep with me tonight." Sakura didn't answer, unsure, and Gaara prodded, "Come on, it will help. Both of us." Moving over to the couch, he made her sit down with him and stretched out on the couch. Pulling her to his chest, he resettled, getting comfortable. "There."

Sakura rolled her eyes, though couldn't complain.

Just before Izumi went home, he paused before the Kazekage's office door. The light was still on, he could see. Positive that Gaara would have gone home by now, he opened the door to hit the light switch.

He stopped when he saw the couple sleeping on the office couch, curled up and holding each other. A light smile crossed his face and he watched them for a moment, pleased that his Kazekage had finally found someone. Turning off the light, he carefully closed the door, still smiling.

------

It was Christmas Eve, and the hospital was holding a party for the staff and patients who would have to stay over the holiday. Sakura had promised Gaara she'd leave before it ended, but right now she was wound up in talking with the nurses and doctors, laughing and having fun. Kyoko had even shown up, not many days from her due date and firmly settled in a chair. When Sakura expressed her surprise in seeing her, Kyoko just waved her hand and asked, what better place to be when you're expecting that to be surrounded by a hospital staff?

Gaara grumbled as he climbed the stairs in the hospital, heading for the lounge where they would be hosting the party. Sakura was late. She had promised to be at his home by now, and she had forgotten to show up! He had gone through all the trouble of having Temari help him decorate the place and cook a meal, and kick Kankuro out, and she wasn't even going to come.

He followed the sound of laughter and walked through the open door of the lounge, seeing doctors and patients holding presents and looking around. It was time for the secret Santa, and presents were going all around. He managed to weave his way through the crowd when he spotted Sakura, in the corner and talking to Kyoko, just as she received a gift and Kyoko got hers. Urging Kyoko to open hers first, Sakura watched her unwrap a baby blanket and baby suit. Kyoko smiled wryly and muttered, "Original," before announcing her thanks to the room, unsure of who gave this to her. Sakura laughed and opened hers. She rose her eyebrows and held up massage oil, body lotion, and fizzing bubble bath. "Why do I have a feeling this isn't meant to be used all by myself?" she asked, earning a laugh from the room. When she looked up, her smile faltered when she saw Gaara smirking and quickly tried to hide the box from his view. Kyoko laughed and waved Gaara over, asking him what he was doing here.

"Sakura was supposed to be at my home by now," he answered.

"I had to stay for the Secret Santa," she replied sheepishly, stuffing the box under her feet. "I'm ready to leave now, though."

"Wait a minute," Kyoko argued. "You still haven't told me yet."

"Told you what?" Sakura asked.

"When the baby's due," she answered.

Gaara choked. "What?" Gaara demanded. "What baby?"

The two women laughed. "It was a joke," Sakura told him, picking up her gift and standing. She took Gaara's hand, said goodbye to everyone, and steered him from the room, walking out into the brisk night air outside the hospital.

"That wasn't very funny," he grumbled.

"What, scared you?" Sakura asked with a laugh. "Kyoko thought that was hilarious. And besides, I'm surprised you didn't realize it wasn't true."

Gaara just kept grumbling under his breath and Sakura squeezed his hand. Playfully she turned around and asked, "So, what'd you get me?"

"You won't find out until tomorrow," he said back. After a pause, he added, "Unless you tell me what you got for me."

Here Sakura blushed and refused to say more, making Gaara's curiosity peak. A sly smirk on his face, he asked, "Come on, what is it?"

"You won't find out until tomorrow," she told him, turning away.

Gaara eyed her, still smirking. "Uh-huh. We'll see about that."

Sakura rolled her eyes. She thought back to what Lady Sole had told her, that she could see them staying together for a very long time. She wasn't sure if that would prove to be true, but she wouldn't mind getting through their first Christmas together.

If they didn't, all that time she spent on finding that just perfect gift would have gone to waste. She squeezed Gaara's hand again and picked up the pace, eager to get out of the cold night air—and maybe spend the night snuggled up to Gaara.

----------

Ack! When I finished this, I realized I still hadn't included the big "I love you" Discussion. (beats self over the head). But maybe it's better this way. I do not plan on making a sequel, and certainly not something as long as this. A few connected oneshots maybe. But I want to try writing about other things.

And for my readers, thank you so much for hanging around for so long. This wasn't one of my most exciting fanfictions. Please, you guys who don't usually review, I'd love to hear what you have to say. That goes for all of you! I live for the long review! Thanks for reading.