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Chapter 2

To Sakura's surprise, Gaara didn't lead her to some inn or such outside of the tower, simply leading her down one floor from where his office was to be found. The hallway he led her down was long, a few doors leading off of it. It was to one of these that the red-haired man stopped, sending a tendril of sand into the keyhole to unlock it. "You may stay here for the entirety of your stay, or until you find your own accommodations if you feel uncomfortable here."

The woman made no move to step past him and to the door, causing him to frown internally, so he pushed open the door with one hand himself. She waited till he stepped back before sliding into the room, giving a respectful cursorary look before returning her attention to the Kazekage. In truth, the room was beautifully made and finely furnished. Much more so then a common guest room should be. Still, the kunoichi could look around more when she was alone and had placed seals of protection up around the door and windows. Gaara watched her, arms crossed and face impassive. "It is satisfactory."

A slight widening of one eye was all the indication of him giving his equivalent to a raised eyebrow. This girl has changed since we last met. A brief nod was given to her. "Good. Come see me in the afternoon tomorrow and we shall discuss how you may assist me with my medics."

"Hai."

Jade eyes narrowed briefly at her before the redhead turned away, walking down the hallway towards his own rooms. Until a deep growl made him turn around again, a smirk quickly appearing at what was surely a mortified ninja. Sakura's stomach gave another grumble of displeasure, drawing her attention to the fact she hadn't eaten since the morning, and even then it had been a light on-the-go breakfast as she hurried to her mission. Kuso! I didn't bring any money with me either, I was expecting to be on my return trip home by now. Heat flooded her face as Gaara continued to observe her with that infuriating smile. To his credit though, he didn't laugh or express his amusement at her in any other form and pulled out some coins from a hidden pocket, lightly tossing them to her.

"I'm sure you'll find a way to pay me back."

A trickle of familiar rage coiled deep inside her at his arrogant attitude, growing larger as he sauntered down the hall to a door two doors down from hers, stepping in and shutting the door. Still, he was right, there was no way Sakura would allow herself to remain indebted to Gaara, not even a dinner's worth of debt. Well if he expects me to train his medics, I'll be damned if I do it for free for him. A belly grumbled again, takingher mind firmly away from thoughts of tomorrow and back to her present need of food. She sighed heavily, taking off the small pack tied around her waist and setting it beside the door. At least I brought a change of clothes. Maybe I can talk Gaara into givng me an advance on payment so I can get more.

Pricking her finger neatly on a kunai, she quickly wrote symbols in her blood along the doorway before preforming several hand sign. As the blood glowed and faded into the door, she gave a quick nod in satisfaction before closing the door and heading towards the exit of the tower. It may not keep someone as powerful as the Kazekage out, but the seal would effectively guard against most intruders. Tallying the coins she had been tossed, a wide grin broke over her face at seeing there was likely enough for a real meal, not one of ramen or fast-food.

Humming happily, she let some of her rigidness leave her muscles, nearly skipping down the hallway. It wasn't often she was able to enjoy a real meal, usually having to eat on the run. Between the hospital at Konoha and the increase in ANBU missions the last year, the woman was lucky to get a decent meal in once a week. Once outside, Sakura slipped the mask off her face, placing it into a pouch dangling on her hip. No one knew her here except for the three sand siblings and wearing a Konoha ANBU mask would only bring more attention to her then if she went without it. Even more so then her pink hair. The night had cooled the air pleasantly and it appeared most of Suna had turned out to enjoy the clear night. Emerald eyes scanned the crowds with faint interest, noting how many wore pale earthen tones, where her home villagers preferred bright colors. The two countries were neighbors, but their cultures were already apparently vastly different.

Light spilled onto the street from the open doors of a restaurant, beckoning to her as tantalizing scents escaped from within. With singular purpose, Sakura walked straight into the place. It was packed, one of the more popular places to dine at it appeared. There were still a few open tables though and the only people waiting in front of her was a couple. She tapped her fingers against her arms as she waited for a waitress, shifting her weight from one foot to the next. Hunger always wrecked havoc on her patience.

"How many?"

She snapped back to herself, coming face-to-face with a waitor, waiting patiently for her to answer. "Oh. One please."

He waved her to follow him as he wound his way through crowded tables. "You're new to Suna, aren't you?"

"...Yes."

The young man laughed at her suspicious tone. "Your clothes give you away."

The waitor stopped beside a table next to one of the windows overlooking the street, setting down a menu. "I'll be back when you're ready."

She raised an eyebrow at being given a four-person table to herself before sitting down and picking up the menu. Hungrily her eyes skimmed over the menu, only recognizing a few of the items on it. She frowned, unable to decide what to get when she didn't know what any of the stuff was. I could just pick one and hope its good I suppose. With how hungry I am, I'm sure even Naruto's cooking would taste good right about now anyway. Eyes scanned the items once more before picking something that looked appetizing, in name at least, and the woman looked around for her waitor. A flash of red by the door instead drew her eyes, causing them to widen considerably as the three sand siblings stepped into the same place she was dining at. What are they doing here? The blonde looked her way, starting at seeing the pink-haired kunoichi.

Sakura squirmed as Temari tapped on her youngest brother's shoulder, motioning to the Konoha ninja. He nodded and Temari was quite abruptly bouncing over to her, anger and joy flashing in her eyes, the two men lazily following. "Sakura-chan!! You didn't tell me you were in town!"

In a very Naruto-like gesture, Sakura scratched the back of her neck nervously. "I know, I know. I meant to, really I did. But I just got in and well, I had a mission before the one that brought me here and well...I was hungry." She explained sheepishly.

The Sand kunoichi quickly slid into the seat across the table from the other woman. "Ah, I can understand that. Well, judging by the lack of wounds and signs of any sort of scuffle, am I correct in assuming you were sent to retrieve the two dobes again? Oi, hurry your asses over here." The blonde barked at her brothers. "You don't mind if we sit with you do you?"

Sakura shook her head. Truth be told, she liked having company with her for dinner. And it was true that every mission she had gotten to Suna, Sakura had found some way to visit with Temari, even if it was only for an hour. "And yes, it was those two again. I swear, I'm their eternal babysitter." A clunk sounded beside her as Gaara dropped his gourd down next to the table, sitting next to her. "So what are you three doing out?"

"Oh, I decided we needed to spend more time together as a family." Temari grinned, ignoring her brothers' looks of suffering.

Kankuro sighed heavily. "Once a week she drags us out somewhere." He looked Sakura over. "Although, I must say this has probably been her best choice yet. Ow!" The pained shinobi rubbed the back of his head, shrinking away from his sister as she raised her fist in a threatening gesture.

"Kankuro, I'd rather not you scare away our new medic teacher." Gaara said quietly, reaching over to pluck the menu away from Sakura.

"Sakura's staying?!"

Gaara grunted his assent, flagging down the waiter, who gave a surprised look to find four, not one, people at his table. "Hey, Temari. What's good?" Sakura asked as the two boys gave their orders.

"Don't worry, I'll order for you."

The pink-haired woman nodded, trusting her friend to know about her distaste of strong spices and really hot foods. Instead she settled for quietly listening to the three sibling's conversation, answering when she was required to. When the food arrived, she was surprised with how good her's was, a variety of meats and vegetables sauteed with several sauces. She was plowing through the meal, keeping half an ear on the other's talking when a pair of chopsticks darted in to steal the piece of chicken she had been going for. Her eyes darkened in anger as the woman looked for the culprit, but the other three kept chatting, really though it was only Temari and Kakuro. With an unnoticeable shrug, she went back to her meal, until again the chopsticks stole from her. This time though, she caught the smug look on the other woman's face.

So, being a ninja and naturally doing what a ninja should do when something has been stolen from her, and started attacking the blonde's plate. It was a game, who could get away with stealing from the other without being caught by the one they were stealing from. And it was only natural that any ninja watching the game should join in the training game. Of course, when it is one male going up against two females, said male shinobi should really know better then to try. Gaara sighed inwardly as he watched the two women thoroughly beat his brother at their game, leaving Kankuro to whine about needing seconds. Of course, when a set of indigo and a set of emerald eyes turned viciously on him, he had the good sense of setting up a wall of sand between him and the rest of the table to finish his meal in peace.

"Spoilsport." Temari growled.

Experimentally Sakura prodded the sand wall with the ends of her own chopsticks, causing Gaara to lean back and tap the back of her hand with his set. "Mine." He said simply. He watched impassively as she growled at him. Perhaps she hasn't changed so much as I thought.

As quickly as the thought had come, it vanished as the anger was suddenly wiped off her face, leaving it blank and calm as it had been before. It was a look that reminded him of something, something personal. He tilted his head to the side slightly, staring at her. It reminded him of...Me. That's the same look I use. He looked away, dropping a few coins on the table. He stood up, reaching for the strap of his gourd.

"Done already, Gaara?" Kankuro asked.

"Hn."

"We all are, except for you. You take too long, you know that." With that said, the blonde shoved her chair back to stand up, slinging her fan to its resting place on her back. "Come on, Kankuro. You're fat enough as is." She looked up to Sakura as the Konoha ninja stood up as well. "Hey, Sakura! Wanna help me talk these two into sparring for a bit?"

"Sorry, Temari. I'd really rather just go to sleep, I had a work-out this morning with Neji. Tomorrow perhaps?" Sakura offered, tugging her cloak on and flipping the hood up.

"See you then. Prepare to get your ass handed to you though."

"That's what you said last time, and I recall I was the one who won."

The two girls continued their playful bickering as they left, standing outside the restaurant for a moment to reaffirm their vow of a sparring session the next night. The three siblings parted with the ANBU woman, Gaara hanging back for a moment. "10am in my office tomorrow."

"Hai, hai Kazekage-sama."

"Gaara." Sakura paused, looking back at the man in confusion. "Just Gaara." The sand-user reaffirmed.

She nodded once. "Alright. Goodnight, Gaara-kun." With a flicker, she had disappeared from sight, racing towards the promise of a comfortable bed and a decent night's sleep. He stared at the spot she had been in for a moment longer, before turning to follow his more eccentric siblings.

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The bed had been everything she had wanted and more, complete with a feather comforter and pillows. The alarm clock had been a nice, and cruel, addition to her room. And while she had been glad to have one to make sure she wouldn't oversleep, the annoying blaring coming from it was making her want to stick a kunai through the machine and gut it. Hazy eyes glared at the squawking thing as she smacked the button to turn it off, reading the numbers. 4:00am. Just fucking great. Sakura grumbled to herself, yawning and stretching within the warm confines of the blanket.

A glance out the bedroom window showed the sky still pitch-black, some hours away from dawn, the village outside dark and silent. Slipping out of the warm bed, she padded her way into the bathroom. A brief look around the night before had shown her that the apartment was quite extensive and above and ordinary guest lodging. It was complete with bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and living room area.

Turning the shower on, she hopped in the moment the water had heated enough and scrubbed fiercely at the dirt on her skin and streaked through her bubblegum hair. The woman didn't allow herself the luxury of relaxing under the hot stream, shutting it off and towelling dry as soon as she was clean. Wrapping a towel around her body, Sakura walked back to her room to pull on her spare set of clothes after tightly binding her chest.

I still have that money Gaara-kun gave me. Maybe its enough to get a new shirt. Ahe hummed a tuneless song to herself, padding into the kitchen on the off-chance that there would be food in it. She sighed after opening all the cabinets and fridge though. The food fairy had conveniently by-passed her apartment. Maybe that shirt I wanted will have to wait afterall.

A glance at the clock on the stove showed the time at 4:24. I get up too damn early. Leaving the depressingly bare kitchen, Sakura instead proceeded to strap on her various weapons and weapon holders. Still, it does gaurantee me enough time for a good training session and enough time for another quick shower. Adjusting her katana to its resting place on her back between her two shoulderblades, she slipped her leopard mask into place and exited the apartment. It was almost like being back in Konoha, her routine the same every morning, never changing.

The hair along her arms rose in alarm and muscles tensed in preparation of flight or fight. An immense chakra was flucuating wildly to her left, spasmadically flickering in time to the sounds of soft whimpers and hushed, broken words. Emerald eyes slowly looked towards the source, narrowing in the darkness to see. A figure was pressed against the wall, hands cradling thier head. A distinct trembling would sweep through the figure at regular intervals. She crept forward silently until she was able to make out the wild, jade eyes gleaming with a feverish glow and the russet hair tightly gripped in his hands.

"Gaara-kun?" She called softly.

Those feral eyes snapped onto her and he snarled, sand rising to whipe aroundhim angrily. She held up her hands soothingly, humming softly as she would with a wild animal, slowly inching towards him. As an added measure, the kunoichi used one hand to begin stripping herself of weapons and mask to make herself look as non-threatening as possible. Besides, if he attacked in this state, there was really nothing she could do. His chakra alone let her know how powerful he was. But the man didn't attack, instead sliding down the wall he was pressed against to crouch on the floor.

She remembered Temari had mentioned in the past to her about Gaara. It had to have been more then a year ago now since that day, but the medic remembered the other woman mentioning her younger brother having these...'fits'. She had been asking Sakura for medical advice and help on the matter, but the Konoha ninja couldn't help or offer any knowledge on the subject. She herself had never heard or witnessed such a thing after all. The most she could assume was his mind was still fragile and shattered even after the removal of Shukaku, causing him to have these sessions. Sakura had never expected seeing Gaara inone of his episodes personally, having little to no contact with him over the last eight years. But seeing this, she wondered if it wasn't something more serious then a mind trying to re-establish itself as pure human.

Don't let him sense or see fear. Keep calm and slow. She chanted the two sentences to herself, his eyes still boring into her. She stopped when he tensed, calmly waiting until the man had relaxed to his original state before easing forward again until he re-tensed, continueing the cycle. HIs shaking had stopped for the most part, returning only when the waves of pain crashed through his frame. By her estimation, it took her nearly an hour to cross the twenty feet of space seperating the two to get within touching distance of him.

Silently, Sakura bore the pain and stings of the whirling sand striking in to her as she crouched down nect to him, balancing on the balls of her feet and bringing her eyes level with his. They were clearer then before, something faintly human and sane in them now. His eyes flickered rapidly as she brought on slim hand up to his face, teeth grinding audibly. Stay CALM! Sakura growled in her mind at herself as an unpleasant image of Gaara sinking his teeth into her hand popped up. As her fingertips just brushed his cheek, Gaara froze up, sucking in a breath harshly.

Moving quickly lest he bolt or come at her, she gently pushed her chakra into him in healing tendrils, smoothing away what felt like to her chakra, the pain of an immense migraine. She frowned as she placed her whole hand against him, palm cradling his face as she soothed away the pain. But there was something wrong inside his head, not his mind but inside itself, a physical damage. Her eyes had closed as she healed him, but she opened one eye to find the Kazekage calm and relaxed, awareness flickering in the depths of his eyes. She sent her chakra circulating through his, noticing again that there seemed to be physical damage on the inside. And the damage was done in a way she'd never seen before.

"Haruna-san?"

Sakura blinked at her name, pulling herself away from him. "Feel better now?"

Gaara blinked, looking around in confusion before memories washed back over him. He grimaced, looking away from her before he saw the pity, the disgust to be found directed at him by her. He cleared his throat, rising to lean against the wall. "I am...I apologize you had to witness that, Haruna-san. I must go."

"Wait!" He paused from where he had been walking away, but gave no other indication. "I think...I think I know what's causing it."

That caught his attention, and he slowly turned around to face her, arms crossed as he waited. All the medics in Suna had found no cause for his random episodes, saying it was simply stress and anger causing them. But none had given him a solution to the problem. "Could I do an examination on you? Just to see?"

"Hn."

"Is that a yes or a no?" Sakura asked, crossing her own arms.

Remarkably, one side of his mouth twitched upwards in a smirk at the anger that was concealed in that question. "Yes. Tonight." She started to protest that she could do it now, but he had already started to walk away again. "I shall see you in a couple of hours, Haruna-san. Don't be late."

"Sakura! Just Sakura." She blinked, recalling his words last night. Still, she hated being called by her surname, it reminded her too much that she had only herself. He gave no indication of hearing, simply vanishing in a swirl of sand. What an arrogant prick sometimes. She grumbled, before turning her thoughts to what she had discovered about the Kazekage.

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AN: Another chapter done and over with. Not too much to say, other then thanks for reading and again, I appreciate any constructive critism or praise. Hope your still enjoying it and yes, I do realize that Sakura and Gaara are both going through some massive mood swings. I'm personally loving it, switching around who's the talkative and playful one and who's the quiet loner. Anywho, ja ne! Lena