Sanguinity
By Shu of the Wind

He wasn't sure what it was that made him notice it, other than the fact that she was obviously trying so hard for it not to be noticed.

Gaara paused in the doorway, watching the girl-woman sitting on the end of the bed in the pediatric ward. After the Akatsuki incident, Haruno Sakura had pulled him aside to offer help to Sunagakure – she would personally lead a team of Konoha medical shinobi to his village, and repair the damage that his father had caused to the profession. He had accepted, and let her work out the timeline; considering everything else that was going on, it was a miracle she'd managed to take as much time out of her busy schedule as she had to help them.

She had, essentially, taken over the running of the Sunagakure hospitals for the short time she'd been in the village, and revolutionized treatment. She lectured and cajoled those who were reticent to go in for treatment; she teased and befriended; she had even convinced Kankurou to take a sleeping pill when the nightmares had grown worse. She took care of everyone.

And now she was wincing as she walked and refusing to have medics called on herself.

"Oh." Haruno turned and bit back a small smile. "Mari-chan, it's the Kazekage. He came to say hello."

Mariko shrank back a little, but bobbed her head. She was so small under the blankets, missing a leg after the disastrous Akatsuki attack on the village. Her eyes were wide at the sight of him.

"Good afternoon, Kazekage-sama." Haruno stood, bowed a bit. "What brings you to the hospital?"

Wordlessly, he held out the communication from the Hokage, still studying her. She either didn't notice – a miracle in and of itself – or ignored his gaze as she took the note and read through it. It was a summons, back to Konohagakure; there was something the Hokage wanted help with.

Probably paperwork, he mused, watching as Haruno scowled a bit and folded the paper into quarters. He'd encountered the Hokage's reticence to do any sort of paperwork during the first, tentative peace meeting when he'd been Kazekage. He supposed the word he would have chosen for the event would be 'amusing', though he hadn't been aware of that at the time.

"I apologize for this, Kazekage-sama." She blew a strand of hair out of her face, one that stubbornly refused to stay in the ponytail she had hoisted. "Tsunade-shishou needs me to return. I will be back in a week?"

He inclined his head. But he couldn't help but ask: "Are you certain that is wise?"

"What?" She frowned. "Everyone in the hospital is stable, and the other Konoha medics will remain here for the time that I'm gone. It should all work out quite well."

"I see." Gaara mulled that over for a moment.

"Is there a problem with me going, Kazekage-sama? If so I can send a letter to Tsunade-shishou and inform her that I can't."

"There is no problem."

"Then why the question?"

Could it be possible she truly wasn't aware of the situation? He considered this option. It was possible, he supposed. He had seen Temari walk around with blood trailing down her shoulder after a particularly difficult fight and not be aware of it at all. Kankurou as well. Naruto…definitely. Naruto seemed incapable of knowing when he was wounded, and his teammate might be similar. He turned the idea over in his mind, studying it. And why would it matter if she was bleeding, anyway? It wasn't that much blood. He could smell that much.

He said it anyway.

"You are ill, are you not?"

Haruno's eyes widened. "What? No."

"But you are bleeding."

Her reaction was like nothing he'd expected. She turned white, then crimson, and then before he realized it she'd seized his elbow and dragged him out of the pediatrics ward, slamming the door behind her. And then he had a little over five feet and one hundred pounds of angry medic on his hands, and he couldn't help but remember the one time he'd seen her spar and knock Naruto through three walls.

"That is absolutely none of your business!" Her voice was even more high-pitched than it normally was, and her face was still the same color of a strawberry. "What the hell are you playing at, Gaara?"

Gaara. Not Kazekage. He shifted back into a fighting stance, automatically, wondering if he would have to use sand on her. "…Excuse me?"

"Just because I might be bleeding a little doesn't mean I'm useless, it doesn't mean I'm weak and it most certainly doesn't mean that anyone, let alone you, have the right to question whether or not I can function as a fully-working human being!" She jabbed her finger in his face. "So don't you dare pull that Kazekage crap on me! I'm going back to Konoha, and that is the end of it!"

He let his voice chill. "Whether or not you leave is and has always been at my discretion, Haruno, and if you are injured then you will be treated before you attend to your Hokage."

She might have even turned redder. But she didn't respond. That was definitely an improvement. Gaara crossed his arms over his chest. "Where are you bleeding?"

A muffled sound came from her throat. It might have been a snarl. He also (might) have been impressed; she was now redder than any human being he had ever seen before. "Oh my God!"

"It is a perfectly natural question."

"No it's not. It's nothing, okay? I'm fine."

"You are clearly not fine if I can smell blood. You are also wincing. I suspect a stomach injury." He tilted his head to the side. "It would be best if you went to be checked by the preliminary medics."

"I am not going to get checked, because I am fine! Okay? God!"

"What's going on here?" Temari poked her head out of the last room, where one of her friends was recovering from a mission. "Are you two arguing?"

Sakura sputtered a bit, flung her hands in the air, and bolted, her neck, collarbone, ears, and face all the brightest red. It was strangely intriguing.

Temari stepped up to stand next to him, raising an eyebrow in a question. "What did you say to her?"

Gaara bit back a flare of impatience. "She is injured and she will not get herself checked."

One eyebrow joined the first. "And how, exactly, was she injured?"

"I am not sure. However, she is moving like her abdomen is in pain. And I can smell blood."

To his surprise, Temari turned pink. Temari turned pink. The only other time he had seen Temari blush was when Nara had whispered something in her ear back at the Chuunin Exams they had helped put together. After a moment, she collected herself.

"…Oh."

"She refuses to admit that anything is wrong. I suggested that she rest before returning to Konoha."

"She doesn't need rest." Temari put an arm around his shoulders. Gaara nearly pulled away, going stiff at the touch – he still wasn't used to it – but she seemed to need it more than he did; there was the slightest quiver in her voice, as though she was holding back laughter. "I'm thinking there's…something I need to explain to you."