Gaara of the Desert × Reader (Complete)

Chapter 3

"So," I began, "What can I do for you?" I smiled. It made me feel nice on the inside to treat her like a princess, like my princess.
She made a list of the tasks that we needed to make.
"So? What do you think? Have a better plan?" She asked me in the end. This baffled me.
"You're the boss. Why are you asking for my opinion?" I asked her. I genuinely wanted to understand what this thinking was.
"Just because I'm the boss doesn't mean I give random orders!" She laughed. She explained to me about how the boss's job is to take responsibility and pressure for his subordinates, not the reverse.
"We don't need to invest an entire person. I'll just have my eye around for cheating and we can get some work done here as well." I have a suggestive tone. I have NEVER had a suggestive tone. I was always the boss.
I suggested we have dinner first since, we hadn't had dinner from her fainting incident. This made Temari, Kankuro and Shikamaru wait for me as well. The nurses and doctors had dinner about this time. So, she accompanied them.
"Why so late for dinner, Gaara? I thought Shikamaru was helping you with the paperwork." Temari commented.
"Our little brother was having a little adventure of his own." Kankuro was sarcastic. He's only sarcastic when he finds something very important to be angry about.
"Really?" Temari asked him.
"Isn't that true, Gaara?" Kankuro asked angrily.
"Oi! Oi! Let him atleast explain his perspective and what happened." Shikamaru pacified.
"What happened, Gaara?" Temari asked him.
"I turned on the lights in designer girl's room and she was about to fall. I noticed her leg tangled into the net which were to be sewn on your dress. I caught her, so the nets won't tear and used my sand to untangle it. That's when Kankuro saw me holding her." I explained the situation.
"So, you're telling me that you did everything for Temari's dress? You had absolutely no feeling for her?" Kankuro slammed the table.
"Oi! Oi! What are you doing, Kankuro? Calm down." Shikamaru stopped him.
"Gaara," I looked over to Temari, "listen, if you feel something tell us. We'll help you." And she looked over to Shikamaru.
"I'm done. Thank you for the food." I said getting up from the table.
I checked her room to find her already there, working on Temari's dress.
"Back to work already?" I said as I entered the room.
She smiled at me as I reached her table.
"Ofcourse! We have to do so many clothes. I think we might need to hire a team of atleast 8 to make sure we can make it in time, but just to be on the safer side 10 would be great."
"Okay. We'll have the team by afternoon of the day after tomorrow." I told her.
"Well, that means I'll have to finish designs by tomorrow morning then, which in turn means no-" she paused, thought for a moment and
"No sleeping early tonight!" She continued.
"Let's get to work then." I smiled calculating the sleep that I would get considering all the work.
She showed me designs she had drawn for Kankuro and me.
We were going to do the jackets first. According to the measurements, she drew an outline on the cloth.
She held it out for me. I used the sand to take the scissors and cut it in a nice, clean and uniform cut.  We did all the jackets within 2 hours.
"That was faster than I expected" she commented and muttered something under her breath after that.
"Now we have to sew them!" She exclaimed. She told me about her sewing matching which we didn't have and was at her workshop.
She grabbed my wrist and we went ahead jumping from roof to roof. She looked beautiful as the moonlight gleamed on her skin and wind blew in her air.
We reached her workshop and she greeted her house? It was really weird for me. Maybe the loneliness was taking a toll on her. I thought which sounded like the most logical explanation. She kissed her sewing machine, thanked it for working and out the cloth in it.
"When I say 'Start', step on the pedal and when I say 'Stop' get off of it, okay?" She explained.
I nodded and walked over to the pedal.
"Start" she said and I stepped on it. The sewing machine started sewing and when she said stop, I stepped off and the machine stopped.
It was done but there weren't any buttons or cuffs but she asked me to try it on.
"It's your measurements" she cleared and gestured me to try it on. I tried it and it fit perfectly. She asked me to stretch my back and other things to make sure it was comfortable.
"Your nose is bleeding" I pointed when I noticed. I had usually heard that this happened when they found someone attractive.
I took a piece of a coat and gently dabber her nose with it.
"This is what people mean when they say kill yourself with work." I told her sternly so she would listen to me.
We did some more stitching and she took me to her small balcony.
"I come here to feel powerful" she said as she started at the clear sky that was visible.
"Powerful?" I asked her.
"Powerful not as in terms of how much money I have or how many people I command. Powerful in terms of how many people I can make happy." She smiled brightly at me. I could see her face glow at the thought.
"How do you feel powerful here?" I asked her.
She touched my chin and made me look to the sky. Her delicate touch made me forget everything and stop my thoughts again.
I gazed up to the sky and saw the vastness.
"Umm... See that?" She asked.
"Mmhmm" I nodded a bit.
"Do you know why those stars shine?" She asked him.
"Well, they're energy sources that emit light, just like the sun" I looked at her giving her the correct answer.
"That is true, scientifically. But try to look at it in a more philosophical and personal way." To which I just furrowed my eyebrows. I was just confused and I didn't understand what she was trying to say. All I knew was I really enjoy being with her like this. I always wanted to be with her like this.
"What's the point?" I said, "I know it's not true."
"Ofcourse, it is not true. But personifying things, helps you feel like you have a family. Try thinking about it like this. A new star is added to the sky when you make someone happy and a star is removed when you make someone sad. So, I think it is my responsibility to make sure the sky is full of stars." She looked at me, with hope.
"But that's not how there are stars in the sky." I complained.
"Yes. Very true, but that's my reason to make others happy." She explained.
"But what if someone tells you its not true."
"I already know it's not true! It's just the way I like to look at things" she chuckled and smiled at me.
"Gaara," she suddenly got serious and took my hand in hers. My heart raced but it was still relaxed. My brain wasn't thinking and I felt like I had lost all my strength at her one touch.
She continued, "Just remember, my illusion works because I know it is one. That's why nobody can break it for me. But if you don't know it's an illusion, someone telling you it's an illusion, is devastating."
"Okay." I said carefully taking note of what she said.
"So, Gaara" she looked towards the sky and returned my hand, "Do you wanna know about another illusion? It is said that people who love you, after their death, become stars and watch over you. Who do you think looks over you?"
"Mother," I said softly, "I think my mother looks over me... And Yashamaru, I didn't mean to kill him but I did and everything happened because of my father." I was almost crying remembering the horrible times father tried to make me gain control of Shukaku. I was almost crying remembering the guilt, I felt on killing Yashamaru.
"Hey, Gaara" she held my hand in hers, "I'm so sure your mom and Yashamaru are very proud of who you have become today" she smiled at me. Just like mother would if she were here. She smiled at me being so proud of me. She smiled at me with admiration and I didn't know how to respond to that.
"I hope so" I said glancing at her once and glancing at the sky.
"Who do you think looks over you?" I asked.
"My grandparents. My parents. My best friend. My brother and my cat." She... smiled?
"You've lost so many people?"
"The. Fourth Shinobi War cost us a lot. Grandparents died of shock at the declaration of another war, parents brother, best friend died as victim of the Ten Tails. My cat, Miyu, was just collateral damage. Me sensei died a long time ago trying to protect me and said this one thing while dying, 'Everyone has a reason for their belief. Everyone has a suffering for their behaviour' and died with me in her arms." Tears flowing down her cheeks, she still gazed at me with a smile.
"You're crying. Why are you smiling?"
"To try and convince that I'm happy from the inside." She was honest. She didn't pretend she wanted to be strong or anything. She was smiling to make sure people weren't worried about her. She was smiling so she didn't have to depend on anyone.
"How do you comfort people who are crying?" I asked her.
"I don't know. Never have felt that" she said.
I offered her a chocolate flavoured energy bar.
"Kankuro always eats sweet things when he's sad." I told her.
I wiped the tears off her cheeks and held her face in my hands. She looked down and whispered, "So this is how it feels to be comforted." And smiled a little more.
"What did you say?" I asked her to get her out of her thoughts.
" I said we need to get some sleep before we the selections tomorrow!" She said.
"Yes. Let's go back" I said reaching for her hand.
"Back?" She asked surprised.
"Yeah. You'll be staying in the Kazekage building premises until the wedding" I summoned up the courage, took her hand after we had collected the jackets. We both came back to the building and said a heartfelt good night to each other before sleeping.
She went in her room with all the clothes and closed the door.
I couldn't sleep the entire night. I had to talk to Temari about this.
"Temari" I rushed to her room, knocked on the door and waited calmly.
Nobody said anything or opened the door.
I pushed the door and both of them were in their sheets doing something.
"Aaaahhhh! Gaara!" She screamed and threw a pillow at me.
"I just want to talk to you about something important." I said and turned around.
"Alright" she said after Shikamaru whispered something to her.
She got dressed and followed me to our balcony.