Title: Sweetheart

Author: paws_bells

Beta-ed by: MelissaRose85

Characters/Pairing: Haruno Sakura and Sabaku no Gaara

Type: Continuous (Complete)

Genre: Romance/Humor

Word Count: 4829

Rating: T (Contains content not suitable for children)

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-san.

Summary: REPOST. Canon-verse AU. Non-compliant with Fourth Shinobi War arc. Chi ama me, ama il mio cane. For Gaara and Sakura, that particular Italian proverb had never been more apt.

Previous Summary: Love was a bitch sometimes, though for Gaara and Sakura, it certainly started out that way. Literally.

Completion on: 19/07/08

Chapter Last Revised on: 15/04/13

Chapter 4

True enough, when Gaara finally, politely, worded his request to her, the kunoichi damn near froze over in stunned surprise.

She could only gawk at the powerful redhead as he remained on his seat by the kotatsu, calm as you please.

"I'm sorry?!" the pink-haired medic-nin yelped in disbelief, her voice pitched a tad higher than usual due to her astonishment. Had he just asked her to—

His gaze was as composed as ever, almost as if he asked the most outrageous of requests from people all the time. Judging by his imposing status, it wouldn't be that big a surprise if he actually did that, and as Sakura's frazzled mind began to veer off tangent, he very placidly repeated his request again, almost as if he thought that she was hard of hearing and needed to hear his expectations twice.

"I want you to touch me."

Good god, he wasn't joking.

Sakura's mind went blank for a brief moment, and then she quickly recovered from her dazed shock.

It was quickly replaced by indignation. What did he mean by 'touch' him? Was he trying to imply something? Was he a pervert after all? Good grief! She should have known that he was just like most men, always thinking with their other head—

Well, actually, Gaara wasn't being a pervert like Sakura thought he was. The man was just as blunt as they come, possessing no tact or subtlety whatsoever when it came to personal matters—one could almost say that he was completely defective when it came to the subject of being sensitive. After all, when he wanted something, he would go straight to the point and get it. Once upon a time, with the backing of Shukaku, no one would dare say no to him, and he usually got what he wanted. Now, even without Shukaku, he was still a damn scary son of a bitch and a tough, bullheaded Kazekage to boot, and so he still pretty much got what he wanted. Not much of a difference there, and although Gaara currently had no idea what he was going to do once he had Sakura's attention, he was just as determined to get it all the same.

He could always worry about what to do later.

And he figured that the easiest way to achieve his means was to have her notice him physically.

While the kunoichi was still shocked by his casual remark, his sand went into action. Tendrils of the tensile, versatile limestone material crept out from the gourd sitting innocently by the corner, and Sweetheart, who had been lying blissfully on her owner's lap, didn't even have the time to issue a yelp of protest when a thin finger of sand wrapped itself around her middle and lifted her away from Sakura. Then, another larger portion of sand curled itself gently around Sakura's waist and began to tug the astounded female towards Gaara.

The kunoichi finally began to react when she neared him, her form stiffening and obviously becoming more and more agitated, when it finally occurred to her stunned self that he was manhandling, or rather, sandhandling her as if she was a puppet.

However, her rising ire turned quickly into a huge dose of bewilderment when the Kazekage placed her carefully beside him, and then, proceeded to casually lower himself before her.

Her confused emerald gaze widened in shock when he actually laid his head on her lap. She froze, not entirely sure of what was going on. Had someone henge into him to infiltrate her house? There was simply no way that the Sabaku no Gaara was behaving thusly with her right now.

But he was.

The sand nudged her into action, moving her right hand until it rested among his dusty red hair. He stared straight up at her expectantly, looking as if he was perfectly comfortable with lying on her thighs like he was doing now.

Well, she certainly wasn't feeling half as relaxed as he was. In fact, she was feeling downright awkward.

His charcoal-rimmed jade eyes gazed compellingly into her baffled ones.

"Touch me," he repeated his request softly, calmly.

There was something about the way he spoke that made her turn progressively pink in a mixture of embarrassment and shyness. Then, she gave herself a mental smack for thinking such thoughts, and she quickly decided, professionally, that all Gaara wanted was a massage from her. Yes, a massage. She was a qualified medic-nin after all, and he was highly stressed from his Kazekage duties as well as from the ridiculous expectations of his council and that of Konoha's. She could do this.

But first…

"Put down Sweetheart," she commanded. Her poor, wriggling puppy was still being suspended in the air by his sand, and when he finally let her dog down, she began to fulfill her end of the bargain.

Hesitantly at first, she ran her fingers lightly through his hair. The crimson texture was surprisingly soft, and intrigued, the kunoichi continued her gentle ministration on his scalp, using her fingers to rub lazy circles around his temples, firmly but slowly pressing the tips of her fingers down the length of his hairline and behind his ears. Her movements were unhurried and pronounced, so as not to startle him, and eventually, she was surprised to see him close his eyes and actually relax completely into her touch, a small hum of contentment escaping his throat.

Emboldened by her success, she did not let up her hold on him. Scratching his scalp lightly, she continued to rub and caress his hair, moving occasionally to the base of his head, working to loosen the tight knots at the back of his neck in as comforting a manner as she could manage. The resulting rumble that came from his chest startled her so much that she nearly stopped what she was doing.

This was almost unbelievable; she had the Godaime Kazekage draped across her lap and purring like a large, lazy cat. If he had a tail, it would have been twitching back and forth in a languorous, feline-like manner.

Part of Sakura really did not understand how she had come to be in this position. Not that she absolutely detested being so near Gaara, but the fact that he was behaving in such a manner around her made her feel…odd.

It was the same feeling that had been steadily accumulating ever since she had started to make him dinner, and now, it was only emphasized thanks to his proximity.

Sakura didn't know what to make of this sense of growing...affection towards the Kazekage.

Then, taking advantage of the current lull and distracted air around the two humans, Sweetheart slunk over as discreetly as she could, trying to quietly compete for her owner's attention.

As much as she liked Gaara, the line between adoration and displeasure ended between the beautiful pink-haired kunoichi known as Sakura. Sweetheart wasn't too keen on watching the redhead monopolize her mistress' attention, and not surprisingly, Gaara wasn't all too keen on sharing said mistress either.

Had he known that she was this talented with her hands, he would have insisted that she attend to him from the very beginning. He had been feeling so very tense for as long as he could remember, but the way her fingers moved over his skin were enough to relax him and make him languidly sleepy instead, a state of mind that was so very rare for him.

It was rather apparent that Gaara would most definitely object to her attention being put anywhere else but solely on him. At least for the moment…and maybe even more.

The little puppy could only give a small whine before jade eyes cracked open and gave Sweetheart an unblinking stare. His eyes were imperceptibly narrowed, and the little nin-ken had been on the receiving end of that particular stare often enough to know what it meant. Her tail drooped, and so did those huge bat-like ears of hers. With a tiny sigh, the animal could only settle down reluctantly beside her mistress and put her head on her paws in canine dismay.

This had better not be the norm from now on.

Unfortunately for Sweetheart, that had been only the beginning.

Not unlike every evening, the esteemed Kazekage would arrive at her mistress's doorstep right after fulfilling his duties with the village council, Sweetheart trotting quickly at his heels as the redhead moved with purpose towards Sakura's apartment. Then, to the little dog's distress, her frazzled owner would open the door, scoop her up and give her a distracted hug, before giving her entire attention to the man whom she had come with.

Sweetheart really did not like where this situation was heading.

Not that Sakura was neglecting her, per se; the pink-haired female still fed and played with her precocious nin-ken, but Sweetheart would rather have her mistress's undivided attention than share it with someone else. Namely, the Sabaku no Gaara, the fearsome Godaime Kazekage.

Unfortunately for the little dog, the powerful redhead did not seem to care one way or another what Sweetheart felt.

According to Gaara, the fact that he was willing to tolerate and occasionally indulge the pup's antics during his time in the office was already considered a concession in itself. He simply had no intention of fighting a dog for Sakura's attention during the short couple of hours that he had with her, especially since it was known to him that said dog was fortunate enough to sleep on the same bed with the kunoichi every night.

Unfortunately, the plucky little animal was unwilling to submit to the cantankerous Kazekage gracefully, and since wringing the neck of the dog would most definitely upset Sakura, Gaara had taken to distracting the pampered pooch by entertaining it with his sand, with 'entertain' being a relative word. But it was certainly an effective puppy-deterrence. Poor Sweetheart was often kept too preoccupied evading the quick tendrils of sand trying to capture her that she hardly had the time to try to attract attention to herself, which suited Gaara's purposes just fine, much to Sakura's disbelieving exasperation.

The kunoichi certainly wasn't sure what had happened to her life lately, just as she wasn't exactly quite sure how on earth she had somehow become the personal chef and masseuse of the Godaime Kazekage. It was as if one thing led naturally to another, and before she knew it, Gaara was invading her home, invading her dining table, invading her…lap.

The kunoichi knew that she should put up some sort of token resistance to the way the redhead was so slowly but surely taking up her time, living space, and attention, but she had never been one to indulge in denial, at least not too much of it. Besides, it was rather hard to remain unaffected and distant when the man in question happened to be lying across her thighs, his normally tense and guarded form openly relaxed in a show of trust in her.

Sakura really did not know what to make of her current situation with Gaara; she was certain that they were friends, but the way he behaved sometimes seemed to hint that there might be more to their simple relationship than she thought, and that clearly confused her. Damn his ambiguous behaviors! How was she supposed to react to him if he was sending out mixed signals all the damn time?

That very thought made Sakura twitch with displeasure, and the redhead in question grunted in reaction. His eyes opened, looking up at her disgruntled gaze.

"You are yanking on my hair, Sakura."

Sakura frowned at his placid tone, but she did stop agitatedly pulling at his dusty red hair. In fact, she ceased her soothing ministrations altogether, much to the Sand-nin's inward displeasure.

Emerald stared hard into charcoal-rimmed jade.

"You do know that what I'm doing now goes well beyond the boundaries of friendship, right?" she asked at last. For that past week or so, the pink-haired female had been feeding and dispensing massage services to the esteemed Kazekage, all done without even a peep of complaint. It made her wonder if he was aware of all the time and effort that she was investing in him.

The redhead in question looked unblinkingly at her, wondering what she was trying to get at. The fact that he appeared totally clueless as to what she was talking about made her sigh out loud. She narrowed her eyes slightly and then removed her hands completely from his scalp.

"For example," she stared irritably down at him, "do you think that Naruto is going to willingly do this for you?"

The kunoichi gestured around her. "Well yes, Naruto would probably feed you, but this?"

The redhead continued to eye the agitated woman oddly. Why was she asking such a ridiculous question? Why on earth would he want Naruto when he could have her?

"I don't think that Naruto has the skills to be a masseuse," he commented at last, deciding to humor the somewhat irritated kunoichi.

Sakura twitched.

"That was not what I meant!" she nearly yelled down at him. Then the frazzled female quickly made herself calm down. He was so…impossible! "What I'm trying to say is; what if I decided to uh…massage someone else instead?"

Gaara did not take the news well.

He frowned.

"Who?"

His voice was flat, and Sakura was taken aback by the irritation in his tone.

"Who is- what? I was just stating an example," she told him quickly, growing irritated herself. Was he trying to make her stupid?

Unfortunately, it was as if he suffered from selective hearing.

"If you are talking about Naruto-"

"It's not Naruto!" she cut him off before he could start. "Naruto is already with Hinata-chan-"

This time it was he who interrupted her.

"Then who is he?"

Sakura actually growled.

"For the last time, there is no 'he!'" she threw her hands up in frustration. "At least not yet! What I'm trying to say is if I have someone I like-"

"Do you?" he pressed on relentlessly.

Sakura faltered.

"Well, not at the moment-"

Gaara looked at the beautiful pink-haired female.

"Then I see no point in this conversation."

Sakura scowled at the completely dense Kazekage.

"Do you have any idea what we were talking about at all?" she asked at last.

To her surprise, he nodded.

"You asked if I was aware of how your treatment towards me so far may be perceived as overly friendly, as well as how I should react in the face of an imaginary love interest."

Sakura gasped at that, completely affronted by his brusque wording.

"I do not have imaginary love interests!" the kunoichi protested immediately. Gaara merely looked at her, calm and completely unaffected by her embarrassment, and she huffed.

"I was just stating an example," she grumbled.

The redhead gave the annoyed female a quick, accessing look.

"What do you think I would do?" he asked her.

She looked at him with slight bemusement. Then she snorted lightly.

"I don't think you'd even notice, to be honest," she admitted at last, "You are returning to Suna very soon, anyway."

Sakura shook her head inwardly, trying her best to push away the twinge of distress that quickly formed in the vicinity of her chest at the mention of his departure. Of course he would leave soon; he was the Kazekage and he needed to return to Sand to watch over his beloved village, and then life would go back to normal and there would be no more redheads knocking on her door in the middle of the night, returning her silly little puppy and asking to be fed and massaged.

Sakura stiffened, but again she forcibly quelled her upset, her features clearing to form one of exaggerated nonchalance.

"It doesn't matter," Sakura muttered, almost as if trying to convince herself. "Sweetheart will probably find someone else to pester after you are gone, and I should probably get to know more people, right, my little Sweetheart?"

The puppy in question was currently flopped down on the floor across the room, completely exhausted from evading the tendrils of sand that kept her away from her mistress. The dog merely heaved a loud doggy sigh, but Sakura quickly took that as an agreement. After all, Sweetheart had easily become the 'ice breaker' in most of Sakura's dealings with other people. Young or old, no one failed not to notice the ragged, homely-looking little dog, and the fact that both canine and owner were cheerful and sweet-tempered had won over more than a few citizens of Konoha. Suddenly, everyone around her neighborhood was aware of her new puppy; little children loved to play with Sweetheart, whereas the adults and even some nin would find themselves entertained by the nin-pup's unique appearance and hilarious antics.

The bottom line was that having a dog sure was great for improving one's social life. Sakura doubted that she had spoken to as many neighbors when she had just moved into her apartment as compared to now, after she had received Sweetheart. It seemed that not a lot of people could resist the charms of 'the kawaii little puppy', and all the positive attention that Sweetheart was happily soaking up like a sponge was also making her a more confident and well-adjusted animal.

All in all, everyone was happy, and Sakura was equally determined to remain that way.

That was not the case for a certain redhead, unfortunately.

Almost as if he finally realized what was going on in that head of hers, the Godaime Kazekage frowned.

"Are you implying that you would invite anyone into your house, feed them and stroke them like you did myself?" he asked slowly.

She flushed immediately.

"It's called a massage, Gaara," she answered snappily. "I don't 'stroke' you, for god's sake. You are not a dog."

Then she prodded at his shoulder insistently, wordlessly asking him to free her from his weight. "And speaking of massages, yours is over for the day. Get up."

He obliged her rude request, sitting up beside her only to stare unblinkingly at her.

"You haven't answered my question, Sakura." He was insistent.

She frowned, entirely irritated.

"And if I did?" she challenged. "What is it to you, anyway?"

She stood up and began to pace with agitation. He watched her with calm scrutiny.

At last, Sakura paused from her troubling thoughts to look at him. The darned man had the gall to look quizzically curious, almost as if he had no idea what to make of her reaction.

The fact that he didn't understand at all made the kunoichi stiffen with unhappiness.

"Look, it's getting late." She looked away from him. "Maybe you should leave now-"

She really expected for him to disappear from her apartment in a shower of sand, but that was not the case.

"No." His reply surprised her. She turned quickly to him, just in time to see him rise smoothly to his feet as well. His jade gaze was leveled on hers. "I want to know why you are so upset."

The quiet, emphatic manner in which he spoke was certainly nowhere near comforting or concerned in terms of tone, but the way he appeared genuinely interested in wanting to alleviate her unhappiness earned him some brownie points in her regard, and she sighed.

There was no choice but to tell this oblivious man everything. It would be the point of no return, but what the hell, it was not like he was going to stay in Konoha forever. Who knows, her confession might very well scare him into never stepping foot within Leaf again. Sakura was grimly humored by the thought.

She heaved another aggrieved sigh. Why did things like this always happen to her? Why did she always have to be attracted to the emotionally unstable, outwardly normal but inwardly insane types?

She looked at him flatly.

"I think I like you, Gaara."

There was a long silence following her firm declaration.

Then, he blinked.

"I know," he said at last, and it was so anticlimactic that she stare blankly back at him.

He knew?!

Unperturbed, he continued to speak. "I like you too, Sakura," he intoned calmly. "You are Naruto's teammate and the Hokage's student. You have saved my brother's life before and we owe you a-"

Before he could monotonously recite her entire life's accomplishments as well as all the inane and completely wrong reasons why he should like her platonically, Sakura threw her hands up in dismay.

"For the love of—that was not what I meant!" she cut him off brusquely. "That was not the type of 'like' I was referring to!"

Before he could ask just what she was referring to, she strode up edgily to him and stopped only when they were only an inch apart.

Wary jade gaze met fierce emerald.

"This," she whispered, "was what I meant."

She put her hands on his shoulders, leant up towards him, and kissed him for all she was worth.

Pressing herself close to his surprised—and stiffened—form, Sakura closed her eyes and went with her feelings, moving her lips almost shyly against his unmoving ones, and when he did not react, she took a calculated risk and drew his bottom lip carefully into her mouth, sucking and licking at his flesh gently, hoping to incite a reaction from him.

But he moved not a muscle at all, and after awhile, hurt disappointment and failure inundated her.

He clearly did not share her feelings.

The kunoichi kept her eyes firmly closed as she started to pull away from him—this was going to be awkward as hell—

Then, as if he sensed her imminent withdrawal, his hands came up so quickly that she was stunned, his arms wrapping firmly around her shoulders, pulling her completely against him as he started to return her kisses, not allowing her to disengage from him and being completely demanding as usual.

Sakura's hands fisted unconsciously into his clothes as she leaned fully against him, and he was more than willing to support her weight, kissing her hard and fervently with a sense of increasing need that stunned her.

It took awhile, but the kunoichi had to muster up all her willpower and energy to pull away from him, and when she opened her eyes to look at him, his own gaze was dark as he stared back openly—and slightly feral.

She swallowed nervously, not entirely sure now how to proceed. She had certainly not thought that far when she had decided, impulsively, to kiss him.

Then it finally hit her, that she had just boldly assaulted the Kazekage's person—without his permission.

This was disastrous, and besides, she really had no idea what to do with him after this. What the hell did she want?

She certainly had no idea.

"Gaara," she started nervously as her hands loosened their hold on him and dropped to her side, "I'm sorry; I don't know what I was thinking. Let's just forget about-"

"No," he interrupted her before she could ramble some more, his eyes narrowing slightly with abject irritation. "Let's not."

She stared at him.

"But-"

"This…liking you have for me," he drowned out her protest and asked slowly and deliberately, his steady gaze fixed completely on hers in a display of keen interest, "Does it extend to anyone else?"

She frowned.

"Of course not," she muttered immediately, insulted. What did he take her for? A flighty, bubble-brained little girl?

His eyes gleamed.

"In that case, does that mean I have special rights to your person?" he asked bluntly.

She turned red.

"Special rights?" she sputtered, "What are you talking about?"

He was not one to beat around the bush.

"Since I'm evidently your love interest-" A mildly indignant Sakura blushed harder if possible. "I'm entitled to certain…demands," he reasoned.

She regained enough composure to frown at him.

"What demands?" she asked, starting to get irritated again. What on earth was going on in that mind of his?

He merely met her gaze straight on, and stated what he wanted. "I will not share you," he announced immediately. "That means you will not be allowed to entertain any random men in the privacy of your house…ever."

She could only gape at him, and marvel over how he was suddenly in control of the entire situation again. Before she could protest that she had only planted a kiss on him and hadn't really considered the ramifications of getting in a relationship with the Kazekage of Suna, he was already happily listing all his demands of her.

Oh yes, Gaara was certainly pleased as a clam right now. The kunoichi had all but wrapped herself up in a nice little gift box and presented herself to him, and who was he to turn her away?

"That means no feeding and massaging any man, and no allowing any male to enter your house—no matter who the dog brings home." His eyes were filled with masculine satisfaction now, irritating smugness that made her regain control of her shocked self.

What the hell had just happened? Wasn't he supposed to be the reluctant, oblivious Kazekage earlier?

It didn't take long for Sakura to realize that she had just been tricked.

She drew back slightly from the powerful redhead and scowled suspiciously at him.

"…this is about the massages, right? You are doing this so that you can keep all my massages to yourself, right?" Before he could reply, she shook her head. "There is no need to go to such extent if you feel threatened. Any medic-nin can do the relaxing exercises that I have been doing for you-"

"It will not be the same." He cut her off simply, instinctively aware that he was correct and he would definitely not experience the same sensation of peace and relaxation under the hands of anyone but her. He was also quite certain that he didn't want anybody else touching him, too, and so she would have to be the only one he wanted.

"I will not. Share. You," he repeated once more.

She scowled harder at him, not too pleased with how pushy he had suddenly become. Where was that mild-mannered, polite Kazekage who had stepped into her life a couple of weeks ago?

Oh right, he was just her imagination.

"I'm beginning to have second thoughts about my love interest," she muttered.

He did not look amused.

"That's tragic," he retorted rather placidly, all things considered. "But I'm sure you will survive admirably."

Sakura snorted to herself.

"I can't believe I'm about to get involved with a man who's only interested in my skills as a masseuse."

It was so unbelievable that she started to giggle.

He didn't disagree with her.

"It could have been worse," he reminded her instead. "You could have been stuck with your Uchiha teammate instead of myself."

Sakura was hard pressed not to roll her eyes. "I'm sure that too would have turned out a lot differently," she muttered sarcastically.

The Kazekage didn't seem to notice her retort.

"And I do not value you only for your skills as a masseuse," he commented mildly, almost as an afterthought.

She arched a brow at him. "Is that right?" she asked exasperatedly. "Then what else do you 'value' me for?"

"…Naruto was right. You are an excellent cook."

He sounded bemused as he made the statement, though Sakura was understandably a lot less thrilled.

"And you want me just because of my cooking?" she sounded incredulous. "Let me guess; it's the liver again, isn't it, Kazekage-sama?"

Sure enough, he was not denying it.

"That is partially so," he allowed stoically, and Sakura really did roll her eyes this time around. "But I may have found something else that is of great interest to me."

"Yes, of course." Sakura did not seem to catch his drift. She started to glance up at him. "And what is…that?"

She faltered when she finally looked into his eyes, the gorgeous jade depths darkened and dilated as he stared at her, and it was enough to make her heart skip more than a few beats. Who knew that he could look so…

Intense.

She stilled completely, and he leaned closer towards her, brushing his lips slowly against hers. She let out a shaky breath.

"This."

He kissed her.

Sakura really didn't stand much of a chance after that, and the rest, as they say, was history.

Poor Sweetheart could only watch from her doggy cushion as her mistress became reluctantly charmed by the redheaded man.

Again.

The nin-ken sighed once more.

The man had won, damn it.

And something told the little dog that he was probably going to be sticking around for quite a long time to come.

...

Sweetheart really hated men.

::owari::

Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:

And that's the end for 'Sweetheart'. Hoped you people enjoyed this short ride, I certainly enjoyed writing it. There will be no continuation for this, and even if there was, it may very well be just a short and sweet little one shot, or something like that.

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My apologies for the slight delay of the repost of this last chapter. Rocky, my beloved pooch, passed away on Friday evening after a long, hard struggle with his failing health, and even right now, I'm still terribly upset by his passing. He was a really good dog and I like to imagine that he has gone to a good place now, free from the pains and sufferings of old age that he has had during his last moments.

In essence, I'd like to dedicate this fic to my real life 'Sweetheart;' to my dear, silly, sixty pound lapdog of a Doberman, who was the sweetest pup and who had loved me with every beat of his huge canine heart. I had adored you at first sight too, Rocky.

You will never be forgotten.

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Once again, many, many thanks for all the wonderful support from the loving readers! Your reviews make me feel happy and loved, and I'm grateful for all your feedback!

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Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic, thank you.

-paws