Bathed in sweat, Gaara wakes up from sleep. For a moment he closes his eyes to collect himself before he allows the memories of the dream. Sometimes he misses the times when he hadn't slept, so no dreams could haunt him. But by now he had got used to it, the first few times after such an experience he had stood completely beside himself. Just about every shinobi caught up with their deeds during the night, it was nothing special. For the young Kazekagen, who had enjoyed killing for a long time, and whose subconscious had never been able to hold him accountable in his sleep, it was hell.
In the meantime the whole thing had calmed down, only now and then these dreams disturbed his peace.
As always after such an event, the young man crawls out of bed and gets dressed. As much as he could do without the nightmares, he loved the night walks, which he always allowed himself afterwards to calm his mind. Yawning, the redhead looks into the mirror of the small bathroom and runs through the ruined hairstyle. For a moment he thinks about repairing it, on the other hand, who would he meet in Konoha at half past three?
The village welcomes him dark and calm. Much has happened since Pain laid the village to rubble. Gaara had to leave one thing to the villagers, they hadn't persisted in self-pity for long, but immediately began to rebuild everything. For that they had his deepest respect. Perhaps, the Kazekage considers, had this attitude something to do with Naruto, Konoha's blonde whirlwind? He too had been able to experience his positive strength of character more than once.
The young man has been enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the strange ninja village for a few days. Naruto had suggested that he come and see him after the greatest post-war tasks were over. Gaara didn't say it openly, but he had sorely needed this break from the commitment. And Konoha gave him a feeling of security, calm and normality. A small, sociable place.
The youngest of the Kage takes a breath of pure enjoyment, the clear air. He could smell it, the scent of the leaves, very different than in his home country. The cool night quickly displaced the unwelcome images in his mind and relaxed his muscles. However, the redhead does not feel any urge to return to the apartment that was made available to him. Instead, he takes the path towards the woods on the edge of the village. He closes his eyes in irritation. But when he opens it, this strange spot on the tree near the village boundary has still not disappeared. "A big animal? But what would it do so close to an inhabited place?" As Gaara got closer, he frowns. It is a person who sits high up there, leaning against the treetop. What on earth was a person doing in a tree at this time of day?
“Kakashi?” The addressee directs his gaze to the younger man. "Oh, hello Kazekage-sama." The Jonin grins slightly behind his mask. "I really wouldn't have expected them. On the other hand," For a moment the Sensei of Team 7 looks up at the sky. “That works out quite well.” Gaara, irritated, can watch how the ninja stows the little book he had read in his hip pocket. “I was just finished reading anyway and looking for something new to do.” With a swing, Kakashi lands in front of the tree and puts a hand on the Kazekagen's shoulder. The grin widens as far as Gaara can see it, while an unknown glow creeps into the older man's eye."You are just right for me. How about it?"
The young man swallows hard and tries to back away. He is not at all comfortable with the person opposite him. The whole scene is shrouded in ominous twilight, caused by the bright moon behind the trees. The silver hair of the copier ninjas seems to shine in its shine.
"Actually it is not appropriate to ask a Kazekage about it. And then also a young one." The hairs on Gaara's arms stand up. What was going on here? Kakashi was acting so strangely, he had never seen him like this before. "But I've had a desire for so long."
Slowly the darkness of the night begins to recede, the black firmament fades to a calming midnight blue. Reassurance, exactly what Gaara needs right now. He can feel his heart racing in his chest, his blood rushing in his ears. It had been exhausting and long. The intensity of the act surprises the Kazekagen, he would never have thought it possible to feel something like that, and then also through Kakashi. Of course he knows the rumors, the hatake's reputation is well known.
Admittedly, what impressed Gaara the most was the variety of techniques, not a few of which required a lot of manual dexterity, but the older one had practice in something like that. After all, he wasn't doing this for the first time. Gradually the adrenaline in the redhead's body subsides, leaving nothing but slight satisfaction. Apparently that was something his mind needed as well.
With a cautious smile, he wipes some beads of sweat from his face. This time they were of more acceptable origin than the earlier ones that night. The actually imperturbable Kazekage struggles a little awkwardly to its feet, they tremble slightly from the renewed strain. “You are really not used to something like that, are you?” Kakashi's voice sounds a bit mocking. "But at least you have a good excuse. Well, thank you for this opportunity. I can't say that I am disappointed."
With these words the elite ninja disappears in a small cloud of smoke. The man who stayed behind shakes his head with a slight groan. "I really should have more training fights without my sand defense. That was almost embarrassing."
Puffing, Gaara knocks the dirt off his clothes and thinks about walking a little further through the forest. The last few minutes were definitely worth taking a closer look at. For a while the boy remains alone with his thoughts, he notices how his mind becomes lazy, the exertion slowly creeps into his bones. But the Kazekage noticed another sensation, something that had definitely not been there before the meeting with Kakashi. The feeling in the pit of his stomach was just more than inappropriate.
Where should he get something to eat at this time of day? The apartment he was given was equipped with a lot, but it didn't include a kitchen.
At that moment, the young man is annoyed that he did not pay attention to the grocery stores. Surely there are some here, just like in his homeland, that were open almost around the clock.
He is just about to return to Konoha when he notices the quiet steps moving quickly towards him. Surprisingly determined, as if the stranger knew who was to be found here. But who could have been looking for him in the middle of the night?
The tension instinctively returns to the tired muscles, driving away the exhaustion that the young man had previously complained about.
“Sakura-san?” The body slumps back in on itself, aghast.The little sand that Gaara permanently carries with him for safety loosens up again and hides under his clothes. "I didn't mean to scare you, Gaara-kun. But you were walking so lost in thought through Konoha and at such an unusual time. I feared the worst." Sighing, the young man leans against a tree trunk. "No no, just a little stroll. Apparently it's not that unusual to wander around outside at this time."
Haruno smiles a little. “I've just come from the night shift from the hospital, I usually spend my nights in bed.” For a moment, Gaara is tempted to explain that his words were not related to the doctor, but to her sensei, but he makes up his mind ultimately against it.
"Tell me," the young woman tilts her head in surprise. “You look a little bit torn, if I may put it that way. Has something happened?” Slowly the Kazekage shakes his head and sighs, meanwhile his stomach is urging for some food. "Sakura-san, you don't happen to know whether there is a 24-hour shop here where I could get some food?" Resigned, the tired eyes look into those of the Kunoichi.
Irritated, she looks at her friend for a few seconds before she decides to ignore the strange question the Kazekage asked her. Thinking about it, she taps her chin with one finger. Gaara frowns. He is sure that he has not seen this gesture with the Haruno before. He could often read about these gestures in books when a character was thinking, but in real life no one had done it when he was there. This gesture was far too big a cliché for his taste, something that you only found in stories.
That night actually has a strange effect on him, the young man discovered. Usually he didn't care about such trivialities. "Well, due to the rebuilding, the store doesn't have 24/7 service at the moment, as far as I know. But Ichiraku is open."
Gaara struggles with himself for a moment, then he and Naruto's best friend make their way back to the village. "Sakura-san, how about I invite you for a portion of ramen? As compensation for keeping you from going home." Perplexed, Haruno's eyes, shimmering in the darkness, search the Kazekagen's face as if it would they check whether this question was meant seriously.
"I think I won't say no. With the time, it almost passes as breakfast," she grins. Tsunade's student happily leads the redhead through the streets of Konoha. Neither of them is in a hurry, so they stroll more than walk. Gaara takes the opportunity to compare the rebuilt buildings with those he had noticed during his previous visits. Now most of them were made of thick wooden beams, some even using the mokuton, but some were already attached with stones. The cityscape was completely different than before.
The Kazekage enjoys these different architectural styles, in his homeland the buildings had to forego artistic freedom for obvious reasons. On days like today, he regrets this fact.
Very few buildings indicate with a light in the window that someone in there was already awake or was still working. Like in the hospital, or the Ichiraku food stand. Due to the panels of fabric attached at head height, the