Gaara woke up dazed that morning. He remembered walking Sakura to her room. He felt something stir next to him. Sakura, still in her red dress, was next to him. He checked and found himself intact, except for his undone shirt buttons. He held Sakura close and inhaled her scent.

The mini-Gaara in his mind held up a sign that said, ‘Phase Two: Engagement.’ Gaara ignored the mini-him at first, and then he gave it a big thumbs-up. He felt Sakura snuggle up against him. He felt his heart was so much lighter this morning. He kissed her forehead.

He realized that if they had children, they would inherit their parents’ broad foreheads. And, hopefully, their intelligence as well. Sakura was very intelligent and capable. Gaara himself wasn’t too far behind either. He was not Kazekage simply because he was powerful; he was also extremely smart as well.

Gaara snuggled up close to her, it was well before sunrise. By about two hours. Gaara closed his eyes. He and Sakura had come closer as the night wore on. He had moved his chair and plate closer to her as she moved the candle further from the center of the table. Soon, they were laughing and she was singing.

Gaara cut a piece from his quail and fed it to her and she did the same. The two of them had a wonderful night. He had begun to feel a different kind of high as he drank a bit more. Sakura hadn’t drunk as much as he had, probably because she was of the fairer sex. He had picked her up and spun her around-- then what?

He had taken her to her room of course. That’s where he was now. The room didn’t smell like his at all. Gaara looked up and he smelled a faint whiff of roses. He closed his eyes again.

Sakura began to move against him. She sat up and rubbed her head. She looked down to see him and she laid back down next to him. She began to hum. Gaara opened his eyes to see her. Her eyes met his. He smiled at her and she smiled back. She scooted down and burrowed herself next to his chest. She had the most blankets of anyone in the mansion. The shifts in desert weather didn’t agree with her as much as they did with him. He was used to walking around in his robes in the middle of the night though.

He wrapped his arms around her instinctively and exhaled a deep breath. Sakura was the first girl he had done this with. Temari was different. They were brother and sister. He remembered that they huddled up one night a while after the Exams. It was the first night they had done that. This was different. He never wanted to let Sakura go.

She stopped humming and her breathing fell into a pattern. He turned his head to look out her window. The sky was just beginning to lighten around at the horizon. He closed his eyes. He just wanted to sleep in today. Last night was planned by his sister and Kankuro. He knew that the moment he saw the gazebo and table. He had originally planned to take Sakura to Suna’s brand new hotel. It was an exquisite hotel. But those two meddlers had made it the best night of his life to date.

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep here. He simply had not wanted to leave her. So she invited him to lay down with her. He did. He was holding her when she began to shiver. He picked her up and peeled back the covers. They had cuddled from there.

He was nervous. He was still a little nervous. He didn’t know what to do so he decided to just go with the flow. And this is where the flow led them. He made a mental note to treat Temari and Kankuro to something nice as soon as he could think of it. Temari was fond of roses. She even said, in passing, that those were the most beautiful flowers Konoha had.

Maybe an indoor rose garden, he thought. Roses needed plenty of water and moist air to grow. You could only get that indoors in Suna. Maybe an indoor butterfly garden. Yes. With one wing just for Temari. Not only would it be wonderful for Temari to have her own place for reprieve, but Suna would have another tourist attraction and a place for everyone to get a hint of nature and other types of landscapes that existed outside their harsh little desert. Suna was isolated, but he would not let it become a backwards place.

Besides, that would also allow for Sakura to get some green and good air when she needed it. Gaara decided that this idea was a stroke of pure genius. Now, for Kankuro. Maybe a new puppet. One of those old fashioned dolls that look like real people to add to his collection. Maybe two dolls. Gaara considered having three figures of his family made. He thought about his father, uncle, and mother. Maybe one of them too. Dad’s replica would be great for target practice--for everyone.

Gaara decided this was also a very good surprise. He could bring more job opportunities to the people of Suna, make Suna prosperous and bolster their status as the place to vacation, give great gifts to his family, and do something nice for Sakura. He ran this over again in his mind.

He remembered about yesterday’s trees. He hadn’t been able to check up on that last night. Which meant, if it wasn’t done today, he would raise hell until it was. What’s so hard about planting trees? You go to the bazaar, buy the seeds, grab the shinobi that did tricks with water, dig a hole, toss a seed in, have those water dancers bring up the water, then add chakra to make the trees grow. Nothing could be easier. He had hoped he wasn’t completely surrounded by imbeciles. If he was, every one of them were about o be out of a job.

Sakura was sleeping so soundly and his mind became foggy with that same desire. He let his mind rest as he held her as close to him as possible as he found sleep.