Konoha Hospital was large and filled with people, nurses rushing everywhere to see to patients, doctors arguing with each other, cleaners pushing trolleys full of strong-smelling disinfectant, bloodied patients being led to rooms, unconscious people being wheeled to surgery…

All in all, not a good place for a disoriented, angry Gaara to be brought.

"Can't you find a private room for him?" Temari muttered to the Hokage, her eyes fixed on her little brother's thrashing form.

"Yes, just give me second to build one." Was the curt reply from Tsunade, "How long has he been like this?" She asked.

Gaara's eyes were wide and rolling about in his head, his hand was clutching his chest as though it pained him. He was currently tied down to a hospital bed, his gourd confiscated whilst they tried to find a suitable place for him without people in the way.

"Ever since that Uzumaki kid fought him in the invasion." Kankuro explained, "He's been getting weirder and weirder. We think he's losing control over the sand."

"As our new allies, we were hoping you would help him…" Temari trailed off, miserably aware of Suna's fragile state with their ally Konoha, having only just betrayed them. However, after they had saved a few of their genin, Temari had hoped their transgressions would be forgiven…

Tsunade smirked knowingly. Ah, how the tables had turned. Suna had merrily betrayed them; even helped Oto to invade Konoha, helped Orochimaru kill Sarutobi-sensei…

"Well, I can't fix his mind," Tsunade said bluntly, "He'll need psychological help. But my student might be able to help you with that. She's been in need of a project for a while. If she agrees, she can sit with him and talk to him. Hopefully, over time, he'll get better. But it means he stays in Konoha for now. Is that OK with Suna? Can you spare him?"

Kankuro and Temari exchanged glances, "I thought you could just heal his mind," Kankuro grumbled, "But I guess Gaara should stay here for a while. How long for?"

Tsunade looked thoughtful, "A few months, maybe?"

Temari looked at her little brother, "I guess he's been overdue a little help for a long time. A few months should be alright. But Suna's weak at the moment. We have no Kazekage and we lost a lot of shinobi when we invaded Konoha. Gaara's needed to protect the village."

"Can he do that in this state? What makes you think he even wants to?" Tsunade wrinkled her nose, gesturing to the wild-eyed Gaara.

Temari was silent for a while, her eyes on the floor, "He apologised to us. I never thought I'd ever hear him say sorry and mean it. I didn't think he even knew how. He's changed, somehow."

Tsunade sighed. "Fine, I'll send a few ninja to help protect Suna," She thought about it. Who could she send? "I'll send Nara Shikamaru and a small team that he can lead. He needs a confidence boost."

Temari had previously looked upset but at the Hokage's words she smiled slightly, the worry in her eyes lessening, her shoulders losing their tenseness.

"Who's your assistant? That Shizune woman?" Kankuro asked gruffly, also looking relieved.

Tsunade looked thoughtful. "No. Sakura is more of an apprentice. She's very kind and considerate, and I believe she would be careful in her interactions with your brother. She's fought him before."

"I don't care about careful," Kankuro growled, "I want to know we can trust her."

"What Kankuro means is," Temari interjected, glaring at her brother, "we want to know that this Sakura girl would be discreet if Gaara ever told her anything important."

Tsunade gave a smile, "Sakura's a good girl. She's been through a lot lately and, like Shikamaru, her confidence has taken a bit of a knock. Gaara will have members of Konoha's intelligence corp. talking to him as well – whatever they find out will be reported to Suna."

Gaara's eyes were fixed on the ceiling, his chest was rising and falling quickly as his breathing became more rapid.

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Sakura sat on the stone bench, her head in her hands. Depression was a heavy burden. When it was mingled with guilt and anger it was tortuous.

It was oppressively hot, unseasonably so, the leaves on the trees were still in the absence of the normally constant breeze Konoha enjoyed this time of year.

It was Autumn. The trees would soon be stripped bare and left naked in the harsh winter wind. Leaves curled up on the floor, strewn about by careless feet and rare gusts of wind.

Sakura felt the soft papery feel of a leaf curving around her foot.

She opened her eyes, inwardly amazed to find she was not crying, and picked up the leaf.

She held it up to the sun, studying the way it shone bright green in her hand, so infinitely fragile and doomed now that it had left the shelter of its tree.

The leaf shivered in the breeze that suddenly tore through the village, ripping the leaf from Sakura's fingers and carrying it off.

She watched it go, her face impassive.

Naruto was gone.

Sasuke was gone.

She was still here.

When she walked through the streets of Konoha, she saw passers-by giving her sympathetic looks. Tsunade hadn't given her a mission in three weeks. The rest of Rookie Nine diligently avoided her the best they could.

Kakashi was too busy to visit.

Sakura had childishly, fervently believed that Naruto would bring Sasuke back. It was not a question of if, it was when Sasuke would come back. She remembered briefly worrying that Naruto would be stuck looking for Sasuke for a few days, as she knew the other boy would have forgotten to take extra provisions. She had never even considered the mission could be a failure.

And then the harsh reality of ninja life had made itself known through the bandages on Naruto's face, the scratched hitae-ate in his hand, the friends she had known from birth lying with healing seals etched into their skin, inches from death, and the fact that Sasuke was not there.

Tsunade had taken her on as her apprentice, and Sakura had brutally pushed herself, harder and harder, wanting nothing more than to be strong enough to help save Sasuke with Naruto. But it seemed as though that day would never come. Naruto and Sasuke were off learning dangerous new jutsu under their Sannin masters, and she was stuck back at home, reviving dead fish.

Sakura's hand clenched into a fist, and she thumped it onto the stone bench she sat on. It cracked in two underneath her strength.

Tsunade's legendary strength had been passed onto Sakura, but it was difficult to control.

Sakura felt guilty for a second, for breaking public property, and then remembered what this bench was.

If you leave, to me, it will be the same as being alone!

Tears spurted from her eyes as she remembered her heartfelt plea to Sasuke.

He had thanked her, for what, she did not know, and then he had knocked her out and (carefully, considerately) left her on a cold stone bench in the middle of the night.

Sakura glared at the bench. She recalled Naruto's face as he coated his fingers in Hinata's blood and swore to defeat Neji.

She stepped forward and lightly touched the cracked stone.

"I swear," She murmured, "To bring Sasuke back with my own hands."

A light footstep alerted her to another's presence. She whirled around, embarrassed, tears still in her eyes.

Kakashi stood before her, hands in his pockets, his posture relaxed.

"That's a difficult task to undertake by yourself." He said lightly.

"I'm always by myself these days, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said, not unkindly, just matter-of-factly. Kakashi still flinched, "And Sasuke was my teammate too."

"He meant a lot to you." Kakashi said, his eye perceptive as always, "But he isn't a genin of Konoha anymore, Sakura. He has betrayed his own village, abandoned and hurt his comrades. I've said it once before: Those that abandon their comrades are worse than trash. It's something I believe in, anyway. Something to think about. Sasuke was your teammate, and maybe your first love, but he made his choice. I don't want you to get swallowed up by hatred as he was. Live your own life, follow your own path. You are your own person, Sakura, and you shouldn't work hard just for Sasuke's sake."

Sakura blinked, her hand slipping from the stone.

The breeze was returning to Konoha steadily, the leaves began to rustle once more, a familiar sound to any Leaf nin.

"You sound very shrewd, all of a sudden, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura smiled, trying to turn it into a joke.

Kakashi shrugged, "I'm just repeating what I've heard in the past. I grew up believing I'd been abandoned by the person who meant the most to me. I worked hard for all the wrong reasons. I regret that now. I lost sight of who I was. Luckily for me, I met a few people who taught me to think differently."

Sakura looked at him carefully, "Are you telling me to give up on saving Sasuke?"

He laughed one of his irritatingly mirthless, faked chuckles. "Give up on 'saving' him, Sakura. Concentrate on 'bringing him back.' He doesn't want to be saved. He needs to be brought back."

"Don't worry," Sakura said coldly, ignoring the fact that her cheeks were wet from tears, "I will bring him back."

Kakashi just studied her for a second before sighing. He placed his hand on her shoulder and bent down to look her fully in the eye, "You have three years," He said slowly, "Before Orochimaru can steal Sasuke's body. Use those years well. Sasuke will be training every day and, knowing him, every night too. Maybe I'm as crazy as you and Naruto evidently are, but I believe in you two. Remember what I said today. You are your own person. It's good to have a goal, but don't forget yourself along the way."

"Don't forget myself?" Sakura said, eyes narrowing, "But I don't know who I am anymore."

This time his laugh was real, "So melodramatic. You'll get along with that Gaara kid better than I thought."

"What?"

"The Hokage has a mission for you, Sakura. Do me proud." Kakashi patted her on the head, as she'd seen him do with Naruto so many times before.

Sakura grabbed the hand on her head and grinned, "Really? A mission? Finally!"

When she smiled she was suddenly the cheerful student he had known not so long ago, not this depressed shadow of a girl, the girl with hatred and anger weighing her down.

Kakashi couldn't help worrying that his last student would push herself too hard in her attempt to catch up with the others. Unlike Sasuke, Sakura had no kekkei genkai to rely on, and unlike Naruto, there was no monster lurking inside her.

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Sakura knocked on the Hokage's door, feeling faint stirrings of excitement. Maybe she had been chosen to complete an important mission on her own. Kakashi had seemed proud when he mentioned the mission. Tsunade had been letting her tackle bigger and harder subjects to heal lately – she had already advanced past fish, thank goodness – so perhaps there was a lord who required healing and Sakura's name had come up?

Sakura opened the door when Tsunade called for her to enter, feeling her excitement bubble up.

"Oh, good, it's you." Tsunade said, looking pleased when Sakura entered the room.

To Sakura's surprise, Kankuro and Temari, two of the Sand Siblings sent to rescue the genin sent after Sasuke, were both standing next to the Hokage's desk.

Temari was signing something.

Remembering her manners, Sakura immediately bowed deeply, "Thank you very much for saving Kiba, Shikamaru and Lee, I was so relieved to hear they were alright!"

Kankuro raised an eyebrow at her, nodding back in acknowledgment of her gratitude.

"What do you know about psychology?" Temari suddenly demanded.

Sakura blinked, surprised, "Next to nothing, why?"

The Hokage groaned.

"You see? She can't help Gaara at all!" Temari protested.

"Gaara-san?" Sakura frowned, looking at Tsunade in confusion.

"This is your mission." Tsunade made a steeple of her fingers and looked at them all, "Sakura, Sabaku no Gaara's sanity is slipping. Our new ally, Suna, needs him healthy and sane to protect their village. We've agreed to attempt to help him regain his sanity, and I volunteered you to be the one to do it."

Sakura's eyes widened, "But – but, I'm not qualified!"

"Exactly!" Temari threw her hands up in disgust.

"Sakura is perceptive and popular. I've heard she has no trouble making friends. I'm sure –" Tsunade began.

"She's not supposed to be befriending Gaara, she's supposed to be helping him get fucking better!" Kankuro shouted. He stopped short and looked surprised at himself, as though his concern was new to him.

"I'll thank you not to shout in my office," Tsunade said, her eyes growing cold. Sakura remembered exactly why the soft-voiced blonde woman had been made Hokage in the first place, "Sakura won't be the only one talking to Gaara. I only chose Sakura because I wanted someone his roughly his own age, vaguely familiar and friendly. Do you think he would trust and open up to a professional?"

Temari glared at her brother again.

"No, he wouldn't," Temari admitted, "But what makes you think he'd open up to Sakura instead?"

"Listen up," Tsunade said with a smile, "I don't know this Shukaku brat, and I have no idea who would be best to help him. But I do know Sakura, and I trust that she could do it."

Temari and Kankuro both looked at Sakura then, their expressions a mixture of disbelief and confusion.

Their doubts were the irritating push Sakura needed.

"I accept this mission, Tsunade-sama, and I promise to try my best." Sakura said formally.

Tsunade smiled a secretive, smug grin.

"Good," She said, inspecting the papers Temari had signed, "I want you to start immediately. Gaara's in the hospital."

Someone knocked on the door, three quick raps.

"Come in." Tsunade waved at the door.

Shikamaru sauntered in, giving the siblings a curious look as he passed them.

Temari's light eyes fixed upon the younger boy, her grin turning into something a little more mischievous.

"Shikamaru, I'm sending you on a mission to Suna. You will lead a team and you will help protect the village whilst they recover from the invasion." The Hokage studied the boy, looking for any signs of hesitation.

There were none.

"Sure," Shikamaru said without a trace of indecision. He raised an eyebrow at Temari, who mouthed 'cry-baby' at him. Kankuro rolled his eyes in disgust, "How long for?"

"Hmm…" Tsunade tapped her chin as she mused on the question, "A few months, at least. Make sure you say goodbye to everyone before you go. I already informed your parents, and though your mother was reluctant to let you go, they both agreed. Don't let Konoha down, Shikamaru. You will also have to work on the relations between the two villages, so don't let me hear you've been sleeping through missions, OK?"

Shikamaru sighed, "Che, troublesome… whatever. I'll go pack."

"Don't forget your mission report, Shi-ka-ma-ru-kuuuuun." Temari drawled mockingly.

"I'm not related to you." Kankuro told his sister, shaking his head in shame.

She just smirked.

Shikamaru took the mission report from Tsunade and left without a backwards glance, ignoring Temari's stare.

"Oh, and Sakura?" Tsunade called as Sakura went to leave, "That bench is coming out of your wages."

Sakura froze guiltily. That damned traitor Kakashi!

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While it wasn't anything like being told you were the only person who could heal an important feudal lord – a frequent daydream of Sakura's – having the Hokage say that she trusted her to do this task that she had been entrusted with was enough to lighten Sakura's step as she headed to the hospital.

She nodded at a nurse she often worked the night shift with, giving her a sympathetic smile when she noticed the dark bags under the older woman's eyes.

"Hello again, Tatsumi-chan," Sakura gave a little wave. The older woman wiggled her fingers back at her, unable to wave properly due to the amount of medicinal bottles in her hands, "You wouldn't happen to know where Gaara-san is?"

Tatsumi frowned, "Third floor, room 312. Why?"

"I have a mission," Sakura said vaguely, "I'll see you later, Tatsumi-chan."

It was only when she had reached the third floor that doubts started to creep in.

The last time she had seen Gaara, a giant hand made out of his own, chakra-laden sand had been crushing her against a tree, her ribs cracking and breaking, a sense of darkness rushing towards her, two demonic glowing eyes floating in the dark as she fell into unconsciousness…

She'd watched him break Lee almost irreparably. She'd seen Sasuke lying on that branch, his mouth bloody and his muscles torn and ripped to shreds.

How could she possibly help this monster?

She was about to step backwards and head to the Hokage's office to refuse the mission when Kakashi's words came to mind, I believe in you two, and Tsunade's warm confidence in her, I trust that she could do it.

Sakura closed her eyes and smiled ruefully. How could she back out now?

She knocked on Gaara's door and waited. There was no sound from within the room.

Sakura assumed he was asleep and opened the door, quietly slipping into the room.

"What are you doing?" A hoarse voice said from behind her.

A shortish first chapter, I suppose.

This is set a few months after Sasuke left, when Naruto goes off with Jiraiya and Sakura is left alone.

This won't be action-filled like Desert Scar was; it should hopefully focus on the slowly building relationship between Sakura and Gaara, with more emotion than violence.

Quick poll take: Who do you wish hadn't died the most? (Beware, this poll contains SPOILERS XD)

A) Deidara

B) Jiraiya

C) Itachi

D) Other! Let me know!

P.S. For me, I wish Naruto's parents hadn't died so he could have had a happier life.