A/N: Don't own Naruto.

Chapter 2: The Waiting Game

Gaara turned his back on his friends, unable to watch them with the ones they loved when the one he loved was battling for her life. He shook his head and sat on the sofa, which happened to be closest to the door. He looked out the window and watched as the storm dwindled down and started dispersing. He stared for what seemed like days, until the sky started turning purple and then pink, as the sun started to rise. He could hear the soft snores of his friends, the slight whimper Ino made in her sleep.

Gaara ran his hand over his face and looked at the ceiling. He then did something he hadn't done in over twelve years…he prayed. He prayed Sakura would recover, would live so that he could live as well. He was sure that if anything happened to her it would kill him. He sighed again, wishing they had some answers. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a soft knock. He rushed to the door and was out of it before the person could knock again. The doctor seemed startled and Gaara held a finger to his lips and pointed into the room. The doctor looked in and saw the two sleeping couples. He nodded and led Gaara a bit down the hallway. It was there he began to speak.

"We've done all we can for her, now it's up to her. I don't know what happened to her, but I've never seen such a small woman have so much damage and live as long as she did. Whatever happened to her, she's lucky to be alive. She had extensive head trauma, there were busted bones in her face, both her collarbones were broken, her sternum was fractured, several of her ribs were broken, her right humerus was broken, her left had several fractures, her left ulna and radius were broken and there were signs of fractures in the right ulna and radius. I don't mean to pry, but was she beaten? Those are sure signs of a struggle. She fought her attacker pretty hard…if that's what happened." The doctor noticed Gaara's smoldering eyes.

"Her boyfriend beat her up. We don't know why…yet." the doctor shivered at the way this young man added that 'yet'. However, he continued with his assessment of the damage.

"Well, her arms and chest aren't the only things damaged. Her pelvis was severely out of line, like she had tried to run and had been slammed against a wall. There are several hairline fractures in both her femurs and a lot of bruising from her knees to her ankles. She has one collapsed lung, her heart is working overtime to keep her alive. We had to remove her appendix, her liver is bruised and several blood vessels in her eyes burst. She shouldn't be alive from all this damage, but somehow, she is hanging on." the doctor was shaking his head and he looked at Gaara.

"The only other damage is the bruising. She'll be sore for a long time, but topical muscle relaxers will help. She'll be bruised for a while, as well. This kind of damage goes away, but she should really seek therapeutic counseling when she's in better shape. I can heal her body, young man, but I can not heal her mind." Gaara nodded and shook the doctors hand.

"Thank you for you help, doctor. Thank you so much…" the doctor clapped him on the shoulder and walked away. Gaara walked back to the room and stood there, staring at the door. He wanted to see Sakura…it was an insane need that he had to see her face, even if it was bruised. Gaara flagged down the nurse that had led them to the private room. "Haruno Sakura is out of surgery now, I just talked to the doctor. Is there any way I can see her, even if it's just through a glass window?" he knew he sounded pathetic, but it was a miracle she was alive. He just wanted to see with his own eyes that she was indeed breathing.

The nurse smiled kindly and nodded. Gaara followed her down a long corridor and into the I.C.U. Gaara cringed at the sight of so many sick people. He hated hospitals…always had, ever since his mother died. Gaara shook his head. This was about Sakura, not about him. Gaara followed the nurse in a sort of daze. He finally reached the room and the nurse stood aside. He stood in the door and gasped. His little cherry blossom was lying on a large bed, machines surrounding her. She looked so small lying there. He took a step towards her and had to catch himself.

"It's alright, you can go to her. Doctor Mali says that contact with her loved ones may speed her recovery. Just let me know when you're ready to go back." Gaara nodded slightly, not even really listening to the nurse anymore. He walked over to Sakura's bed and touched the blanket that covered her. He noticed that she wore an oxygen mask, meaning that despite her collapsed lung, she was breathing on her own. That was a good sign. He also noticed the sluggish beat of her heart. It was working with everything it had to keep her alive. Gaara gently took her hand into his and brought it to his face.

He kissed her knuckles and reminisced about their past. All the times he had teased her about her forehead, all the times she had punched him in the face, or in the shoulder. How he had always looked out for her when it came to boys, especially now that they were in college. He sighed and looked at her. "What I wouldn't give to hear that indignant shriek and feel the stinging sensation of one of your slaps. Even one of your manly punches would be welcomed at this point…" he murmured to her. He pulled a stool close and sat down, his cheek against her hand.

He sat there for close to forty-five minutes before he looked at his watch and sighed. Naruto would be waking up soon. He'd been selfish enough…it was time to tell the others about her condition. Gaara stood, her hand still in his. He bent down so that his mouth was right beside her ear and whispered the one thing he'd longed to tell her since they were sixteen. "I love you…Sakura-chan." He stood up and brushed the hair from her face. He kissed her forehead and gently put her hand back under the covers.

He was nearly out the door when he heard a muffled noise. He turned slightly to see hazy emerald eyes peering at him. He turned on her, surprised to see her awake. He rushed to her side and cupped her face. "Sakura…Sakura-chan?" he said her name gently and she smiled up at him. That goofy, lovesick smile she'd always given Sasuke in their younger days. It made his heart flip over.

"G-gaa…r-raa…" she managed to whisper. Gaara felt a tear falling down his face, but he made no effort to hide it. She was alive, she was awake, and she was going to recover. Gaara kissed her forehead again, nuzzling so that his nose was in her hair. He was about to stand up and go get the nurse when she managed to whisper something that stopped him dead. "L-lo…v-ve…" she swallowed and tried to finish her sentence. "Y-y-yo-ou." She smiled and closed her eyes again, exhaustion overpowering her. Gaara stood there, stunned. She loved him? Gaara felt a smile slowly crawl over his face. She loved him…after all these years of unrequited love, Sakura finally loved him back.

Gaara smiled and walked over to the door. He opened it gently and closed it just as gently. He walked over to the nurse, a smug smile on his face. She looked confused until he spoke. "She told me she loves me…" he smirked at the shocked look on her face. He knew she didn't believe him, but that didn't matter. Her confession was burned into his memory. He didn't even wait for the nurse to lead him back. He took off out of the I.C.U and towards the room where his friends were.

Gaara skidded to a stop right in front of the door and opened it right as Naruto opened his eyes. Gaara was still smiling and Naruto yawned sleepily. "Hey, Gaara…what's with the goofy smile. You look like you just got a blow job from a supermodel." Naruto felt a thump against his chest and he looked down to see Hinata, red faced, lying on his chest. He blushed, remembering how he had practically pulled her on top of him. Naruto shook his head and looked back up at Gaara, who was still smiling.

"She told me she loves me." He said in a smug voice. Naruto arched a brow until he realized who he was talking about. He almost jumped off the bed, except that Hinata was still lying on him.

"YOU MEAN SHE WOKE UP AND YOU DIDN'T COME AND GET ME!?" Naruto demanded and glared at Gaara. Gaara didn't seemed bothered though. He was on cloud 9.

"The doctor came and told me her prognosis. I wanted to make sure she was alive, see her with my own eyes. I knew you'd yell if I didn't check on her. I didn't think she'd hear me, so I told her I loved her. She opened her eyes and looked at me, told me she loved me, and went right back to sleep. I was so shocked that there wasn't anything I could do but stare." Gaara's smile had toned down to a smirk. However, it disappeared as what the doctor had told him came back into focus. Gaara sat there for thirty-seven minutes telling Naruto what he'd been told about Sakura and her injuries. Several times the blond burst out into angry chatter and sometimes he even started crying. Through it all, Gaara noticed Hinata was there, rubbing the noisy blonde's back.

By this time, Kiba and Ino were awake and were being filled in by Naruto and Hinata. Gaara just basked in the glow of the knowledge that Sakura loved him. He heard Naruto telling Ino and Kiba about Sakura confessing to him and was surprised when Ino snorted and laughed. "Well duh. This isn't news to me. She's been in love with Gaara since we were in the eighth grade. Only reason she went out with Sasuke was because 1) she felt sorry for him after his parents died and figured the attention she gave him would distract him, and 2) she was afraid of screwing your friendship up. She didn't want things to end badly between you two and you never talk to each other again! And you guys think us girls are clueless!?" Ino shook her head and laid back on the bed, content now that she knew Sakura would live.

Everyone else seemed to calm down now, including Naruto. Naruto just looked at Gaara, who seemed to be in shock. The blond smiled and looked at Hinata, who blushed. Gaara shook his head and the blond male's antics and looked at the door when he heard a knock. Gaara pushed the door the rest of the way open to see a little girl with long silver hair and light brown eyes. She looked like she had been crying for some time now. A woman with black hair and brown eyes was holding her hand. The girl looked scared of him, so he knelt down so that she was slightly taller than him.

"What's wrong, little one?" Gaara asked her and noticed how fresh tears spilled down her face. Gaara smiled and waited for her to answer him. The little girl finally calmed enough to speak.

"I-is it t-true that…that Sakura-san is hurt?" the little girl was holding back tears and Gaara felt his heart clench. How did Sakura know this child?

"Yes…she was hurt very badly, but the doctors say she should be just fine. I talked to her this morning, if that makes you feel better." the little girl brightened, though she didn't smile. Gaara looked up the woman, who was obviously the child's mother. The woman sighed in relief and put her hand on top of her daughter's head.

"I'm one of the Physical Activities teachers at the university. Haruno-san was in my volleyball class two semesters ago. Before Haruno-san came around, there was no where for people like me and even the students to take their children. Haruno-san started a daycare on campus so that faculty and students alike could bring their kids to campus and get school provided daycare. Most of the caretakers are early childhood development students and pediatric students. Haruno-san is the head of the whole thing. When my husband called me and told me she'd been…hurt…I got here as quickly as I could." Gaara noticed the way she said 'hurt'. He wondered who her husband was that he could call her about a high profile case such as this. She seemed to read his mind, because she smiled and picked her daughter up.

"My name is Hatake Anko." Anko reached out her hand to Gaara, who took it and shook it lightly. Gaara was dazed, but that name sounded familiar. He'd never noticed how involved Sakura was with the campus activities. He looked up when Anko gave his hand a squeeze. "As soon as news that Haruno-san is in the hospital gets out, you are going to have a lot of angry parents coming to check on her. There are almost seventy kids in her program and each is attached to her, just like my Mikai. They are going to want to know what happened and the kids are going to want to see her. If she is in as bad of shape as Kakashi told me, you can't let the kids see her. It would break her heart." Gaara nodded and smiled at the little girl in Anko's arms.

"Don't worry Mikai. Sakura-san should be awake very soon. If you'd like, I could call your house and let her talk to you. But I don't think she would be happy if her students saw her in such bad shape. It would make her sad if she knew you were crying over her." Gaara admired the little girl's valiant attempt to stop crying. Gaara put his hand on her head and smiled reassuringly.

"Sakura-san is taking a little break, but I'm sure she will want to know how you guys are doing. If you have daycare tomorrow, why don't you ask one of the other teachers if you can make her cards or something. I'm sure it would help her get better faster…love can heal any wound." Gaara froze as those words left his mouth. They had been the last words Tsunade had said to him before she had died peacefully in her sleep. He had pushed them away from his mind for so long, but now they seemed to apply. He sighed and gave a slight yawn.

Mikai's eyes were wide and she nodded, a small smile finally coming to her face. Gaara smiled and looked over his shoulder at his friends. "I'm going to sit with Sakura-chan. If you guys want to go and get food or get cleaned up, go ahead. I'll call if anything happens." With that, Gaara walked out of the room. Ino, Kiba, Naruto and Hinata were shocked, to say the least.

"What just happened?" Kiba asked, his eyes wide. Ino shook her head, as did Hinata. Naruto was the only one that knew what this was all about. He shook his head and gave a small laugh. Everyone looked at him in question. He sighed and leaned back against the bed.

"Gaara has been in love with Sakura since I can remember. He told me once that he couldn't even remember when it happened, but that he just knew he loved her. He was afraid to tell her…afraid she would reject him like so many other people had. He knew that she loved him like a friend…maybe even like a brother…but he always wanted more. He's the reason we started 'GSN' nights. I wanted Gaara to be happy, and being around Sakura made him happy." Naruto frowned and sighed, looking over at them, his face serious.

"I haven't talked to Sakura-chan yet, but I know Sasuke did this to her. The officer that was here earlier, the one that rode in with us, told us they had irrefutable proof of it. You know what Gaara will do to him if he sees the teme." Kiba growled and nuzzled Ino's neck.

"Same thing I'd do to the bastard if I were in Gaara's shoes." Ino leaned back against her fiancé and shivered. Naruto nodded and looked at Hinata. She blushed when Naruto's eyes met hers and nodded in agreement to Kiba's statement. Hinata smiled and leaned against Naruto's shoulder. Naruto sighed and put his head on top of Hinata's.