Characters Ages:

Sakura – 19
Naruto – 19
Gaara – 19
Temari – 22
Kankuro – 24
Haruhi – 17

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sakura would run away with Gaara.

Sakura tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear. The day was sweltering. She could feel the sticky perspiration on her back and legs.

"Good thing I wore black," she muttered, swiping her forehead. After hearing from Tsunade about the mission in Sand, which would last for several months if not longer, she had completely redone her wardrobe, along with everyone else on her team.

Currently, Sakura was wearing a black tank top, which only reached to a few inches below her breasts, and dipped dangerously low in a v-neck. Her green shorts had been replaced with black ones, with a black skirt over them. In the front, the skirt only hung down to her mid thighs, in a v-shape, and then split all the way up the her hips at the sides. In the back, it reached down to her knees, and stayed in a square form.

The Haruno symbol rested starkly against her back. Her knee high black boots had been left, but upgraded for the high temperatures, so her legs and feet stayed cool.

Her headbands cloth had been changed to black as well, and now hung low on her hips like a belt. She had decided not to cut her hair short – it had grown out to a few inches above her hips -, but instead kept it held up in a ponytail, with the exception of her bangs. They were short and choppy, and therefore hung loosely around her face.

Sakura sighed, and turned down another street. She was headed to the Kazekage's office to check on Temari, who had just returned from a mission. She had been sliced up pretty bad, and had several broken bones, but nothing life threatening. So Sakura wasn't in any particular rush to start running through the dyer heat.

Sakura's ivory skin was taking a beating in the suns harsh rays, and she constantly had to heal her sunburn every night. Getting a tan was impossible for someone with such fair skin as hers. And running, even walking, outside, made her now pink body ache.

"Sakura!" she turned around lazily, thumbs tucked into the hem of her skirt.

"Ne, Naruto? What is it?" she called, squinting to try and see him running towards her. He stumbled to a halt right before colliding with her, and grinned madly. His face was getting darker every day. She grimaced in slight jealousy.

"Kankuro-San wanted me to come and find you. He said something about Gaara needing a medic as soon as possible," her ears perked.

"What happened?" she demanded, going into her serious medic mode. Naruto smiled at her new found attentiveness, and continued.

"He went on that mission with Temari, ya know? And she came back before him to get back up, but when they got to the fight, the enemy had already fled. But Gaara wasn't doing to well. Apparently his sand was lacking its usual speed due to the humid air where they were, so he got hit several times.

"According to the amateur medics that tried to look at him, his ribs are a total mess, and one of his legs has been damaged to the point where he can't walk on it. There were some other things, but that's all I remember," Naruto called out, increasing his pace to keep up with Sakura. They had almost gotten to the hospital while Naruto had been explaining. Sakura's eyes were hard, fists clenched as she tried to ignore the tightening in her stomach.

Gaara was in critical condition. He was hurt, and she had been taking a leisurely stroll. Sakura felt sick with herself. She should have noticed his disrupted chakra, which was now so obvious that it hurt.

Even from where she had been before Naruto found her, she could detect it. There was so much, and it was spiking like crazy. She felt it suddenly fluxuate rapidly, and cringed. His chakra was so powerful it was as if it were a physical being. She could feel it seethe, and react every few seconds.

Finally, they reached the hospital, and Sakura threw open the front doors. The woman behind the desk looked petrified, and was sporting a few scrapes. The blood running down her body was accompanied by clumps of sand. Sakura practically sprinted up to her.

"Where's Gaara-San?!" she demanded, eyes searching the woman for any life threatening wounds. She found none.

"H-he's in the very last r-room on the h-hall," she cried, clearly afraid of the pink haired girl. Sakura felt minutely bad, but pushed the feeling aside, and instead raced down the hall. Naruto looked to the woman apologetically before taking off after Sakura.

She skidded to a stop outside of the room, and took a deep breath. The presence behind the door was suffocating, and more than a little intimidating. Sakura reached out with shaky hands, and disabled the holding seals for a moment. She quickly stepped inside, and shut the door after nodding to Naruto.

Naruto knew he wasn't allowed to be inside the room, for his own safety, but he wasn't happy with it. He flung himself into a chair directly across from the door, and crossed his arms. He would wait here until they allowed him inside. That was a promise.

Sakura turned around slowly. She wasn't sure how to react to what she saw. Temari and Kankuro were both holding one of Gaara's hands, restraining him from hitting one of the numerous medics, while several nurses were scurrying around, trying to calm him down. His head thrashed from side to side, and his body convulsed angrily.

Gaara's eyes were wild, filled with a blood lust Sakura hadn't seen since the Chunin exams, nearly seven years ago. After a moment of standing at the doorway stunned, she stepped forward, asserting her authority as the village's most skilled medic, and snapped her fingers. Everyone looked to her with pleading eyes, begging for her help. She was going to give it gladly.

"You!" she barked at the nurses who had clustered together nervously at her appearance, "I want you all out! No one disturb us until I give the okay…move!" she demanded, not bothering to be nice. This was a matter of life and death. No time for being polite. The nurses all scurried out of the room, reactivating the seals as they went.

Sakura slung a white coat over her shoulders, buttoning the front up hurriedly as she made her way to the bed across the spacious room. Her eyes were set with determination.

"Sakura-Chan…please, help him," Temari asked, lip trembling with the pain from her injuries, and the fear of losing her brother.

"Hai," was all she said as she looked over Gaara's damaged body.

After a moment of quick inspection and calculation, she looked to the siblings.

"I need you to continue restraining his hands and arms, no matter what. If you let go, we all die. Understand?" she asked, tightening the straps holding down his feet, legs, and torso. They nodded quickly, and tightened their grips. Sakura inhaled softly, and then began.

She placed her hand over his stomach first. His ribs were completely destroyed. Some weren't even there anymore. She summoned her chakra to her fingertips and let them graze his skin softly. Gaara roared in anger and pain, his body jerking away from her. Temari let out a choked sob, a single tear sliding down her dirty face.

Sakura regrettably tightened the belt holding down his abdomen again, knowing it would cause him pain. She was right. Gaara thrashed about wildly, only accomplishing in hurting himself further. Sakura threw her hands over him again, forcing her chakra to move along with his flailing form. They would all have to bear with it for now.

Sakura sighed, allowing her chakra to stop. The green glow around her hands dissolved slowly, and then disappeared. Gaara was breathing regularly now, the blood that had been running down his chin stopped flowing, and began drying. Temari was using her unoccupied hand to stroke Gaara's head, while her eyes ever left his face. Kankuro was watching Gaara's chest rise and fall easily, silently praying.

It had taken over an hour, but Sakura had finally put all Gaara's ribs back together, and had repaired his damaged organs. They would be incredibly sore for the next few weeks, but with regular checkups, he would be fine.

All that was left was to heal his leg, and the numerous cuts along his body. The good thing was that the worst was over, and he would be a bit more relaxed now. The bad thing was that Temari and Kankuro needed to leave for her to concentrate, and they wouldn't like that one bit. When other people were around, Sakura tended to get nervous and use more chakra than necessary, and if she were really unlucky, she would sometimes slip up.

Sakura turned to the siblings reluctantly, and frowned. Kankuro noticed her gaze first and looked up.

"What is it, Sakura-San?" he asked gruffly. Temari looked up as well, hand still playing in Gaara's hair.

"For the rest of the healing, I'll need you two to wait outside," she murmured, eyes softening for the first time, "Sorry, but it's hard to concentrate with others in the room, and when working on his leg, I need complete concentration, or there might be everlasting damage," she explained, hoping the two wouldn't make a scene. Kankuro watched her a moment longer, then nodded stiffly. Temari was a bit more reluctant.

"I wont leave my brother," she stated, voice cold. Sakura sighed in frustration.

"You have to go now Temari. I don't want to fight with you about this, but you can't stay," Gaara shifted, but no one looked at him. The air was tense, and the two girls gazes were locked. Each was set to do what she wanted, and neither would give up their demands without a fight.

"Temari…" Kankuro began, voice weary, but was cut off by her sharp gaze.

"I won't give in to this mediocre healers demands so easily as you, Kankuro! I refuse to leave her, a stranger, alone with Gaara in his weakened state. Who knows what she might do?!" Temari was obviously loosing it, and Sakura was getting tired. Gaara had lost too much blood, and the bandages on his leg were already dripping with red. Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but never got the chance.

"Temari, leave us," Gaara commanded, eyes narrowed at his sister. Her mouth fell open in surprise as she turned to look at him.

"B-but, Gaara!" she spluttered, stunned that he had calmed down enough to actually talk coherently.

"Now." His voice was cold, and filled with malice. Temari hesitated a moment before standing in defeat. Kankuro squeezed his brother's hand one last time before standing and leading Temari out of the room. The door slid open and shut with a 'clack'. Sakura let out a breath she had been holding, and glanced at Gaara.

His blue gaze was on her, eyes looking her up and down. She had removed her white coat earlier when the sleeves kept getting in her way. Feeling a bit uncomfortable under his scrutinizing gaze, she turned to gather more supplies for continuing to heal him. After rummaging through the cabinet and pulling out what she needed, Sakura turned back around.

Gaara had watched her every move, taking in everything about her as if for the first time. She moved with a fluid kind of grace that he highly doubted she knew about. Her body curved nicely, and swelled in all the right places. Eve being a kunoichi, she had somehow maintained her natural feminine beauty. It wasn't marred at all, and only heightened by her toned arms, legs, and stomach.

Sakura drug Kankuro's chair down to where Gaara's left leg was lying. The bed sheets were soaked with blood, and red clumps of sand.

"How are you feeling?" she asked softly, beginning to unwind the soiled bandages.

"Like I'm recovering from a near death," he replied tonelessly, eyes watching her hands warily. She was being surprisingly gentle, a green glow was emanating form her fingertips to help numb his leg while she worked.

A small smile played on Sakura's face at lips answer.

"Well, I suppose that's appropriate. Can you tell me what happened to your leg? It will help when I start healing it," she tossed the old bandages behind her, and began to wipe the blood away from his undamaged skin.

"While I was focusing my sand on his puppet's body, it's arm that had been broken off behind me started moving again. It rose into the air, and broke in half to reveal a short sword. My sand was already slow from the wet climate, and since I was preoccupied, it got to me before I could respond. It first hit at my thigh, and continued down, getting deeper the farther it went. Finally, it hit my bone, and kept going through until it split. I couldn't pull away, since it was lodged in my leg, so I let it stay there.

"I would have been poisoned if it hadn't been for that special antidote you gave all of us before we left. I used it right before the battle began, and it had only been around two minutes, so it was still in effect.

"The only other thing I remember about the blade was that every time I moved, it felt like it was trying to push through the rest of my leg to get out, and when I arrived here, they pulled it out for me." He finished, grimacing at the memory. That alone was enough to make him want to kill someone. That on top of having his stomach looking like it went through a meat grinder, Shabaku had very nearly been released.

"I see," she murmured before beginning to chew on her lip. The wound was clean now, and she had stopped the bleeding momentarily, but it still looked really bad. His bone had indeed been split, and the muscles and skin looked like a dog had been chewing on them. She hardened her gaze, and began the long, tiring task.

First she numbed it as best as she could, then began to gently prod the bone back into place. It hadn't moved much, but she could still only imagine the immense pain it was causing Gaara.

After healing the bone completely, she began mending the muscles and tendons. This took a little longer, considering how complicated the process was. Not to mention that she had to be very precise, for even one tiny mistake could mean his leg never being used again.

When she finished that, she allowed the blood to begin flowing a little more, and then began to sow his skin back together with her chakra. Slowly, he regained feeling in his leg, which included the slight tickly feeling of Sakura's chakra kneading his skin gently.

Gaara sighed in contentment at having the huge pain removed, and the feeling of pure ecstasy her chakra was ensuing upon him. His eyes closed slowly, allowing him to relax for the first time since he had left a week ago. The girl had a calming effect on him whenever she was in the room.

Even when they were younger, - unbeknownst to her – she had made him feel more at peace with himself. Her ridiculous pink hair and intelligent eyes always made his chest flutter in a way he didn't quite understand. Gaara shifted slightly, moving his arms into a more comfortable position.

He had never really talked to her until they were fifteen, and she had helped to kill Sasori. He frowned softly, then smoothed his face again. It was still amazing to him that she had ever been able to hold her own against that monster. Even though in the end they had all been fooled by his artificial death jutsu, for her to force him to use that meant he was very near losing the battle. Gaara's thoughts floated on, remembering his previous battle, and-

His eyes flew open, arm shooting up to grasp her wrist. Sakura's eyes widened, her body becoming rigid. She had been checking Gaara's temperature by placing her palm on his forehead, while her own forehead was pressed against the back of the same hand. It was the new way Tsunade had instructed them to check for fevers, since it was apparently more accurate.

Gaara assessed the situation slowly, and after a moment of neither person moving, he relented his grip on her. Sakura exhaled softly, her breath fanning his face. It smelled nice…like candy. His powder blue eyes watched hers flutter closed as she estimated his temperature. Her face was very pretty. She had large eyes, framed with long thick lashes. They were black, instead of pink, like would have been expected. Her nose was little, and pixie like, while her lips were soft and full. Her teeth were pressed against her bottom lip currently, worrying it. He frowned.

Sakura's eyes opened slowly, clearly surprised. Two of Gaara's fingers were placed very lightly on her bottom lip, effectively stopping her from chewing on it. She allowed her teeth to release it, and his fingers pressed to her mouth more firmly.

"You shouldn't do that. You'll make it bleed," he murmured, eyes boring into hers. Sakura's breath hitched under his intense gaze. She had never really noticed how delicate his facial features were. With a tiny nose, and slim lips, he could even be called beautiful. His pale skin complimented his eyes, though you couldn't really make that conclusion unless you were very close, like she was. The dark rings around his eyes were nice too.

Suddenly the situation rose in her head, making her cheeks flush under her slight sunburn.

"Gaara…" her voice was soft, barely audible. His lips parted, and before she realized what was happening, they were pressed chastely against hers, then removed just as quickly.

Sakura blinked. Then blinked again, eyes glazed. He had…kissed her? She pulled back from him slowly, fingers leaving his forehead to press lightly against her lips. He chuckled, bringing her out of her daze. Sakura's eyes darted down to see him watching her, giving a pained smile almost to small to be seen.

"Sorry. I just wanted to se what you would do," he reprimanded, eyes dancing with amusement. Sakura felt herself bristle slightly, and then smiled.

"What I would…do? Hmm, well…I think I would do something like this…" and then she kissed him. Gaara felt his eyes widen as her lips pressed firmly against his. She let her tongue sweep softly against his closed mouth before nipping his bottom lip playfully. Gaara parted his lips without thinking of the consequences, and teased her mouth right back.

Before either could really fathom how it had happened, Gaara was sitting up on his elbow, opposite hand wound into her hair, while one of Sakura's hands danced across his back sensually, and the other braced her against the edge of the bed.

Gaara's tongue dominated her mouth, leading hers into a little dance that excited and aroused each. Sakura let her fingers find their way into his soft maroon hair, and massage his scalp gently. Gaara growled into her mouth, loving that she had found his weakness so fast. He loved when people played with his hair, which was why Temari had been doing it earlier.

He let his hand fall from her hair, sliding it down her body until he reached her hip. His arm slid around her lower back, gripping her roughly and pulling her closer. Sakura complied with his demands willingly, her body pressing into his.

Gaara's mouth left hers, allowing each to catch their breath, before starting down her neck. He sucked and licked her flesh, making Sakura shiver in delight. Her fingers tightened in his hair when he let his teeth graze her pulse point. A whimper escaped her lips as he sat up further, using his now free hand to toy with her exposed stomach. His fingers flittered harmlessly over the albino skin, rising with every passing second.

Sakura released his hair and raked her nails down his back. Gaara hissed in pleasure at the feeling. He didn't mind the pain as long as she was the one dealing it.

He lowered his head further, teeth nibbling on her collar bone. His right hand continued rising up her abdomen until he reached her shirt. He fingered the material there lazily, fingertips brushing against the bottom of her breasts. Sakura moaned in anticipation, pressing her body more firmly against his. Gaara allowed his mouth to continue downward, brushing the top of her breasts, before they both froze.

A knock resounded around the room. After a moment of silence the person outside the door knocked again, clearly annoyed. Sakura snapped up, while Gaara let himself drop down onto the bed with a growl. Sakura's face flushed red as the realization of what she had just done hit her. And then the color deepened as she realized she had liked it. No, she had loved it. She wanted it to happen again, and was more than a little annoyed at whoever was still knocking.

She adjusted her clothes, and pat her hair back down before glancing at Gaara. He was watching her with an amused smirk on his face. She glared at him, then walked to the door and threw it open.

"What?!" she snapped, throwing her anger at the person standing there. And her heart dropped. It was Haruhi. Temari's friend. Practically Kankuro's little sister. Gaara's soon to be wife.

She had long blue hair that flipped out at the ends, with large golden eyes. They looked almost hawk-like. Even though Sakura wasn't the tallest girl around, being only five-foot-five, Haruhi was even smaller, and only reached exactly five feet. Her face was round, and soft. Obviously pretty, but also childish, and young.

Even though she was only a year or so younger than Sakura, Haruhi looked like she was twelve. Sakura suddenly appreciated Tsunade's vigorous training, which had been designed – without Sakura' knowledge – to make Sakura's breasts bigger, and waist curvier.

It was an absolute bonus that Sakura's face had matured so beautifully, and before most of her friends, as well. She had enjoyed the look on Ino's face immensely when she had come back from a 6-month mission looking like a woman, instead of the girl she had left as. Haruhi's taping foot brought Sakura's out of her thoughts.

Sakura inhaled sharply, then frowned in annoyance.

"Gaara's not ready for guests yet. You'll have to come back later when I deem him fit for people to visit, not when you feel the need to interrupt my healing session," Sakura snarled, eyes narrowed. Haruhi glared right back.

"Ill see my fiancé whenever I deem fit. You may be healing him, but you have no rights in this village, especially when it comes to the Kazekage's personal affairs. Now move aside, medic," she said the word like it was an insult.

"This is my turf, little girl, now run along home and play with your toys," Sakura sneered, raising to her full height. Haruhi's face flushed in embarrassment, and then anger.

"Who the hell do you think you are!?" she screeched, drawing everyone's attention. Temari opened her eyes from where she was lying on a couch, and then jumped up at the sight.

"Haruhi, what are you doing?" she cried, undecided who she should be mad at. Haruhi turned her large yellow eyes on Temari, the anger dissolving to quick for any one else to see it.

"I just want to see my Gaara-Kun, b-but she won't l-let me!" the short girl wailed, eyes brimming with oh-so-fake tears. Sakura rolled her eyes, leaning against the door frame.

Temari looked at both girls before frowning.

"Haruhi, you know how important it is for Gaara to get healed, and interrupting Sakura-San in the middle of helping him is inexcusable," she reprimanded, looking gently down at the girl. Temari's mother hen attitude was new to Sakura.

"And you…" she turned to Sakura now, "You should know better than to stoop to such low means. Yelling at a concerned visitor is completely unprofessional. If I'm having to tell you this, then I'm not really sure if you should be the one to heal my brother," Temari growled, eyes turning to slits.

"Enough." A voice came form behind Sakura, and everyone turned to look. Gaara was standing behind her, hand pressed against Sakura's shoulder to keep his balance.

"Gaara-Kun, you shouldn't be up yet! You're going to reopen your wounds," Sakura cried, turning to help steady him. Gaara looked into her green eyes, his blue ones slightly confused. He had been cared for by his brother and sister, and even Haruhi had tried to comfort him every once in awhile, but never like this. Never had a look of such pure concern shown on any of their faces like it was on hers now.

"Sakur-ah!" he grunted in pain as he put to much weight on his hurt leg.

"Gaara-Kun!" Haruhi cried in her high pitched, childish voice. She tried to rush forward, but Sakura threw a chakra infused hand in front of the unsuspecting girl. Haruhi merely touched the hand with her abdomen and was sent flying backwards.

"Would you just stay the fuck back?!" Sakura screeched at the girl, eyes blazing with hatred. Haruhi flinched and didn't make any motion to get up again. Sakura turned back to Gaara, ignoring the stunned look on his face and used her superhuman strength to half drag, half carry him back to the bed.

He sat down, and then let her move his legs up. His black shorts were hanging a bit lower on his hips, and his injuries were aching, but otherwise he was alright.

"Sorry, Sakura-San. I didn't mean to cause you any more trouble," he murmured, sounding terribly sincere. Sakura glanced up from where she was checking his leg and smiled softly.

"I know. It's alright," her hand smoothed over his leg, soothing the inflamed flesh. Temari, Haruhi, Kankuro, and Naruto were all looking through the doorway, not daring to enter Sakura's 'den'.

"…Did you hear?" Kankuro asked Temari softly, so no one else could hear.

"'Gaara-Kun', you mean? Yea," she replied, eyes never leaving the two. Gaara was watching Sakura with something like wonder etched into his usually stoic features. Sakura's hands were tenderly tending his wounds. She couldn't describe how the scene made her feel, but she knew it wasn't a bad feeling. Not bad at all. Temari smirked to herself, wondering what would come of this blooming relationship.

Kankuro had had a feeling something like this would happen ever since he had caught Gaara watching Sakura at the Chunin exams seven years ago. Sakura and Gaara had been twelve, and neither had any inkling of what love truly was. Gaara was to blood thirsty, and Sakura was to infatuated with the Uchiha brat to see what was obvious to Kankuro. He sniffed in annoyance at how ignorant two incredibly intelligent people could be.

Haruhi was about to explode. How dare Gaara, her Gaara, allow that skank to touch him so intimately? How dare she even attempt it!? And the way Gaara was watching the pink haired medic…he had never looked at her like that. In fact, he hardly ever looked at the golden eyed girl at all. She furrowed her brow in anger. How did this girl get so close to Gaara without her notice? She didn't even think they new each other. Haruhi knew, somewhere deep down, she had just begun fighting a battle she was sure to loose, but pushed the knowledge away. She would not give up. She would marry Gaara like the elders had planned, and no one would mess up her plan. She'd make sure of it.

Shwow, I hope I didn't let that lime scene go to far to soon .

Anyhow, I hope you liked this. It's my first fanfiction not on DeiSaku, plus I don't usually use Gaara, Temari, or Kankuro for any of my stories. I hope I didn't get to out of character for any of them.

Oh, and I decided to put on OC (Haruhi) in there to give the drama a kick-start ^^

Would love some creative criticism (flamers-be-gone)~

Sorry for any spelling and grammar mistakes!

-Disaster

How far east can you go before you're heading west?

Why do doctors leave the room when you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.

Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn't zigzag?