In The Nick Of Time

Gaara was in a bad mood. Scratch that, a foul mood. He had spent an entire week with his brother, which normally he wouldn't mind, only the week was full of advice and conversation that both found rather irritating, and shopping. Gaara hated shopping. Still, it needed to be done in preparation for the evening, which would be filled with meetings and get-togethers of all sorts. And the only thing he needed to bring with him for these meetings, funnily enough, was a small item that he had somehow managed to misplace.
"Any luck?" Kankurou called from the other room as he assisted in searching.
"It isn't here." Gaara insisted.
"How could you lose it?"
"I left it in the desk drawer. Nobody should have access to that drawer."
"Are you absolutely sure you left it in the drawer?"
Kankurou stepped into the room as Gaara paused to think about it. "No." The Kazekage answered eventually. "I'm not sure where I left it, but I thought it was the drawer."
"Well, you'd better remember where you left it fast, or you're pretty screwed for this evening."
"Saying that is not helping." He turned a slow circle, taking in the now messy room around him. He and Kankurou had unsettled a fair few things in their search, and had looked anywhere and everywhere they could in their home. "Clean this up. If you find it while I'm out, call me, and we can arrange for you to hand it over to me before my final meeting." He checked the nearest clock and sighed. "I have to go."
"Clean up the office? By myself?"
"Clean up the house by yourself. No-one else is to know I lost it." He swept out, leaving the elder sibling to splutter an unheeded objection.

Gaara was a little bit late to his first meeting, and apologised sincerely. The meeting itself was primarily focused on economical issues, building plans and the state of the academies. Additionally, Gaara had something he himself needed to discuss with the council members, and naturally there were disagreements. He left the first meeting in a slightly worse mood, and it was around that point that his phone rang. Normally, he didn't carry the blasted thing. It was only ever around and on if he knew he would need to contact someone or someone would need to contact him, and even then the contraption irritated him. The screen stated it was his brother calling him, though.
"Did you find it?" Gaara asked the moment he'd answered.
"Eh, no...I found a plastic ring, I think Temari used to own it, some old magazines from before we were born...that cough sweet I dropped down the sofa a few months ago aaaand...spiders. Lots of spiders. I'm not coming back until there are no spiders."
"...Why did you call?"
"Oh, right. What am I supposed to be getting?"
"For dinner?"
"Yeah, I forgot."
"...Sashimi..."
"Okay...what kind?"
Gaara paused. He was having dinner with Matsuri that evening, and she had at one point mentioned that sashimi was her favourite food, but she hadn't specified what kind.
"I'm not going to know this, ototo, I'm not her boyfriend."
He thought it over, reminding himself of the tastes his girlfriend had. "Sea urchin." He decided eventually.
"Seriously? That has got to be the most disgusting-looking thing in the world. You sure?"
"I'm sure. She likes sea urchins and she likes sashimi."
"And you're sure you'll eat that?" Kankurou asked skeptically.
"I'm sure. Just make sure it's there."
"You can pick it up from me, the house is crawling with spiders, I am not going in there!"
"Kankurou, please, this is important. I can't afford to waste time tonight, I have a lot of places to be."
"Fine, fine, I'll leave it in your office. I'd better get some kind of compensation for being put through the meat grinder though." And he hung up. Gaara heaved a deep sigh. Two more meetings, dinner with Matsuri, and a third meeting. And little time in between, of course. Thankfully, Kankurou had plenty of time to find what had been lost.

Only too soon, the meetings were over and he was heading to his office. This would be his last chance to pick things up, so if Kankurou hadn't found what he needed by this point, he was just a little bit screwed. Alas, as he reached his desk, all that sat there was a box of food and a note.
'Gaara,
Haven't found it yet, but I'll keep looking. If I find it, I'll deliver it to you ASAP. If you want to cancel, you'd best do that now for everyone's sake. Good luck.'
Well, it wasn't the most encouraging of things to read. He would have to cancel, he decided as he grabbed the box and went to leave, or else his date would be interrupted. He would have dinner with Matsuri, a nice evening under the setting sun, and forget about all the little details and things he had lost, and never mind that last meeting. It was slowly becoming irrelevant. He checked his phone and found it was later than he'd thought. He turned to the clock on the wall to double check, and confirmed he was late. Again. The last meeting must have overrun. He set off at a quick walk, making a call, canceling plans that he could no longer take part in, only for the other side to not answer. He tried a few more times as he wandered to Matsuri's home, but by the time he'd arrived, there was still no answer on the phone.

Matsuri, by contrast, answered the door almost immediately. It was almost as though she had been waiting right by the front door. She offered a kind smile, the kind that could evaporate stress in an instant. Before, Gaara had been able to look at Matsuri objectively, as an uninterested party, and say that she was pretty. There had been no affection with the thought, no wish to get to know her or get closer to her, just the plain fact that her features and genetics mixed well and formed a face that was pleasant to look at. And that was without the warm smile that radiated comfort, trust and love. It was a smile that said 'it's okay, I'm here to help' and a smile that made others want to smile. Even back then, it had a slight effect on Gaara. A smile, full of hope despite the pain, and full of understanding for all that had happened before and for what she had been taught. Through the years, they had taught each other and helped each other grow, and over time, Gaara viewed Matsuri's smile with less objective indifference. He noticed the details. The slight blush that seemed to accompany every upturn of her lips, the dimple to the left, the slight crinkling of her nose...it was cute. As they grew closer, affection was able to invade his thoughts, warp them. He was in turn able to see the almost unending affection in her eyes, the trust and attraction and admiration. And now, he almost craved that smile when he saw her, as though her features were more addictive than any drug. Apparently, that was a normal side effect of the kind of love between a man and woman, boyfriend and girlfriend, man and wife, that sort of thing. And her smile had helped to wipe away some of that unholy stress baring down upon his shoulders relentlessly. It almost lost him, embarrassingly enough, before Matsuri reached out and touched his shoulder, bringing him back to earth.
"Gaara?"
"I'm not too late, am I?"
She seemed surprised by this, as though she hadn't noticed he had failed to be punctual, a very rare occurrence as it happened. "No, not at all. don't worry about it! Actually, I'd say it's perfect timing. I just finished talking to Sari. She's just had her twins. Boys, both of them. I bet they're super cute!"
He nodded. Matsuri loved little kids. "The next time you speak to her, give her my congratulations."
"I will." She reached out, took hold of his hand gently, and he closed his fingers around hers obediently. "I can't imagine what it must be like to look after twins, though. Like, when you calm one down, the other might start crying. They'll be really tired." He gave a slight nod as he led her to the edge of the village, up an incline that slowly steepened. He wasn't sure what to say in regards to this conversation. "Have you heard much from Temari-san recently?"
"Not much, no. She's been very busy with Shikadai lately. They're all well, though. We might see them when the new year comes around. It isn't easy to travel with a baby, though."
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to make a big journey with a baby." She paused, glancing around. "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere we've never been together." Vague enough to work, he decided. Hopefully it would sound romantic, or something. Surprisingly enough, she shrugged and didn't press it.

The place they had never been together was a cliff-like structure with a view of some of the village and a little beyond, where sand swirled in a soft wind. The sun was beginning to set, bathing the area in an amber glow, a waterfall of gold. It was a lovely view, and Gaara was sure Matsuri would appreciate it. Judging by the soft gasp beside him and the tightened grip around his hand, he was right.
"Wow! I can see the Northern Oasis from here! It looks like it's glittering!" He looked where she was pointing and smiled. It did. His eyes drifted back to her face for a moment and found her smile had widened to one of adoration. "It's beautiful!"
Gaara sat, opening the box containing their dinner, and after a moment, she sat beside him.
"What did you get?"
"Sea urchin sashimi."
"That's my favourite!"
"I know, I thought I might treat you." He gave her a small smile, and she leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you." She rested her head against his shoulder. He let his arm sling around her shoulders, keeping her at his side. "This is...really nice...is something up?"
"Can I not just be nice?" He asked in response, frowning slightly.
"Well, it's not that I don't expect you to be nice. It's just it would be hard to top this." She pointed out, pulling away to gesture at the gorgeous landscape. Not to mention, it was obvious to her that Gaara was nervous. She knew him well, after all. They had been together, sort of in a coupley datey way, for three years or so, and she had of course known him as her Sensei and friend for nine or so years. She knew him fairly well.
"Nothing's up." He assured her in his usual, stoic fashion. He turned to watch her in the fading light. The wind picked up a little, blowing her hair back gently, lifting it away from her face as she turned to look at the view again. She had let her hair grow a little in recent years, and it almost reached her shoulders now. He liked to run his fingers through it. It was soft, and smelled of raspberries, and she liked it when he played with her hair. He gave in to instinct, reaching over and winding a section of hair around his finger, and she smiled. The light faded fully and she ate in silence.
"Someone's lighting fires up down there." She stated after a moment, placing her food container to the side. He looked, and indeed, several torches were being lit down below, just outside the village. Illuminating letters written in the sand. Gaara's hand moved from Matsuri's hair to her cheek, gently trying to coax her to turn her head. She did so. "Gaara, that tickles!"
"Sorry, I just...need to talk to you. Need to look at your face, look you in the eye."
"Gaara? Is...is something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. You're beautiful."
"I..." She blushed deeply, averting her eyes as though embarrassed, and tried not to smile too widely. "I'm hardly the prettiest girl in Suna...you...you're perfect."
"You shouldn't compare yourself to others." He scolded gently, caressing her cheek and insisting. "You're beautiful."
She placed her hand over his, keeping it there. "I love you so much."
"I...I love you too."
Seeing that as a good sign, Matsuri leaned in, eyes shut, kissing him, not exactly gentle, but not rough either, wrapping her arms around him tightly and drawing him close. A second later, he had embraced her in return. And then she pulled back, giggling, and he was strangely disappointed by the separation. The lights below caught her eye again. She turned to look below and the message jumped out at her in an instant. Gaara grabbed her arm, trying to turn her back.
"Wait-!"
"Gaara..."
"You're not supposed to-"
"Is that...is that what I think it is?"
As, below them, illuminated by several torches, sat the words 'MARRY ME MATSURI'.
Gaara sighed in defeat. "It is." He took her hand in both of his and she turned back to him, surprise and wonder etched across her face. "You are a very important person to me, Matsuri. I want to keep you close to me as long as I possibly can. You mean a lot to me."
"And you...you want me to...to marry you?" She stuttered. To her, this was like every little fantasy she had had in her youth leaping out of her silly fangirl mind and solidifying before her. She took a deep, shuddering breath before throwing her arms around him. "Yes. Yes! I'll marry you, of course I'll marry you! I love you so, so, so much!"
And then, they both felt something land on their heads, in their hair, on their necks and shoulders and backs. They looked like sakura petals, but were made of paper, and beside them stood a figure. Matsuri blushed, realising her voice would have carried fairly far with a shout that loud. The figure knelt and held out a hand, opening it to show a ring. A beautiful ring with a flower-like design. After the initial shock, Gaara took the ring and slipped it onto Matsuri's finger.
"It's beautiful." She breathed.
"Like you." He mused, glancing down as the message below changed. "An Arabian Jasmine." And with that, he gestured below, to the message.
'SHE SAID YES!'
Her voice certainly had carried, and she found herself laughing as Gaara, curious, looked up to examine the figure that had joined them.

A puppet.

Looked like Kankurou had found it after all. And he almost thought that it went better than the original plan. Maybe. Now, he still had that last meeting. That would likely involve him having to announce his engagement to the council there and then. Still, at least this part of the day had been wonderful, and irritation and stress the likes of which had plagued him most of the week was almost worth that beautiful smile that simply couldn't get any wider. She couldn't be any happier, it was clear. And it was perfect.