Summary: A collection of drabbles written for GaaSaku Month, a prompt for every day of the month.

Day: 1

Prompt: Holiday

Phrase: "…spending such times of celebration with his siblings was something to which he had gradually grown accustomed, familiar even, but this was something entirely different…"

Genre: Friendship/Romance

Length: 1,290 words

Rating: K

Edit: 1/2/13 - I really need to proof read these better...

31 Ways to Love

By: Socially Suicidal

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

It was a well-known fact in the Sabaku household, hell, a well-known fact in all of Suna and possibly the entire country of Wind, that the elder two of the renowned Sand Siblings enjoyed their fair share of partying. It wasn't to say that the two powerful shinobi shirked in any way from their respective duties in favor of over-indulging in their festivities, but the grape vine seemed to buzz with renewed ardor whenever the Kazekage's household was rumored to be planning a get-together.

So, when the invitation had arrived to Konoha by messenger hawk, hardly any of the shinobi cordially invited to the "Kazekage's" (as if everyone didn't know Gaara had probably lifted less than a finger in way of anything party related) New Year's festival and corresponding party were surprised. Tsunade, being one to party moderately herself (ha, Sakura had scoffed at that one), had hardly been in a position to deny Naruto's enthusiastic plea for time off from his Hokage-training duties to attend the event in Sand.

And such was the event that had found the group of Konoha shinobi - made up namely of Rock Lee, Sakura, Naruto, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Ino, Tenten, and Sai (the last three of whom just tagged along for a vacation of sorts) - standing at attention before the desk of one youthful Godiame Kazekage. They had arrived the morning of the day set to begin the three day long festival, a rather attractive commodity Suna acquired some years before, which was reinstated annually by a begrudging Kage who simply could not rationalize losing all of the profit it gained for the village just because the ruckus distracted him from his paperwork or sleep at all hours of the night.

Gaara had stood from his seat as he greeted his guests, imploring them to drop the respectful guise and treat him as their friend - a regard from which, he had expressed, the many years and missions they had all spent in correspondence with one another had justly been earned. They were all happy to do so, in their own ways, and Gaara had not failed to notice, as the group filtered out of his office on their way to wash up at the guest housing he had provided for them, as the pink haired medic who had saved the lives of both him and his brother, on separate occasions, fixed him with an odd sort of smile before departing.

He had spent many hours since then replaying the image in his head, analyzing it, noting with curiosity the way in which the tilt of her pale pink lips seemed to continue to her feather lashed eyes, causing them to crinkle subtly. Gaara had found himself having to shake it from his mind many times in order to continue his work throughout the day, and that had not changed as he sat some hours later at the long table surrounded by the group of chatting Konoha nin and his siblings.

Finishing the last bits of their meal, the visiting shinobi had begun to slowly filter onto the street where his villagers were dancing, drinking, and celebrating the coming of the New Year. Gaara didn't know for how long he had his chin nestled into his palm as he stared blankly at the hanging, festive lights, before he was once again shaken from his thoughts by a tugging of his robes near his shoulder.

"Ano… Kazekage-sama?" The small, honey eyed girl stared up at him shyly through wisps of blonde bangs, her voice barely audible above the sounds of his native music. He shifted back, leaning into his chair as he recognized the girl as one of the genin Kankuro sometimes helped train, and nodded for her to continue.

"Do you know who that lady is dancing with Kyboko-kun?" Blinking, Gaara redirected his gaze to where the girl was pointing to find Sakura dancing with a brunette genin. He couldn't have been more than twelve.

"She's a medic-nin from Leaf," he replied softly, not seeing the sour expression that crossed the now silent girl's face as he continued watching as the kunoichi in question laughed and twirled her young dance partner. And then, as if she heard them, Sakura lifted her gaze and met his. The girl beside him noticed him tense and followed his eyes to find the foreign lady who had the audacity to dance with Kyboko-kun staring back at them.

Then, a knowing smile (unlike the one she had given him in his office, he noted subconsciously) crossed her visage and she leaned down to say something into the brunette's ear. He looked back up at her, surprise evident in his expression, before nodding and running off.

Gaara flicked his eyes back toward the blonde youth at his side momentarily, watching as she frowned, bowed to him in more thanks than respect, and stalked off as indignantly as she could manage. When he looked back toward the street, the pink haired female was nowhere in sight. Frowning, he began to lean back onto the table until he felt a soft tap on his other shoulder. Fully expecting the girl to have returned, and slightly irritated by such notion after her evident display of disdain for Sakura, Gaara turned his gaze only to find a maroon clothed torso in his line of vision.

Visibly surprised, his gaze flickered up to find a smiling Sakura standing before him, her gloved hand extended down to him. "Care to dance?" She offered laughingly after a moment of silence passed.

When he didn't respond after another moment, she sighed and reached to grab a hold of his wrist, pulling him gently out of his seat, "Now, come on, you can't expect me to let you sit there all night like your puppy died, can you?"

He surprised himself by allowing her to pull him until she had found an opening in the mass of people dancing in the street, where she turned to him and guided one of his hands, probably figuring he wouldn't have done so himself, to her waist. When Sakura reached her own hand to settle on his shoulder and clasped his other hand with hers, he could only watch with widened eyes, his body stiff and not responding to his internal demands that it move, now.

Finally, with a barely concealed laugh, she knocked into him with her hip, a motion which finally caused him to move as they began gently swaying to the music. He wasn't sure for how long they danced, but when the band stopped to take a break, it took him a moment to notice before he stopped moving and released her hand. His noticeable hesitation in doing so was entirely unintended but it gained him that odd sort of smile for the second time that day just the same.

When the band started to play sometime later, Sakura made it seem like the most natural thing in the world that she sought him out again and offered her hand to him once more.

Spending such times of celebration with his siblings was something to which he had gradually grown accustomed, familiar even, but this was something entirely different and the Kazekage wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

Sakura distracted him by giggling and pointing discreetly to their left. Following her signal, he turned to find the brunette boy she had been dancing with earlier offering a flower to that shy honey eyed girl before he took her hand and they began dancing clumsily, the picture of youthful bliss.

Looking back down at the smiling face of the outgoing Konoha kunoichi, Gaara decided that perhaps this was a change that he, for once, could get used to quite easily. A rebellious, sinful corner of his mind whispered that he'd enjoy the next days of this holiday more than he had originally figured.