Chapter 3
From what Sakura had been able to discern from her first twenty minutes alone with her patient in his dingy room was that he was unbelievablely stubborn. And rude.
She had tried her best to be polite, even going so far as to knock on his door before entering and extending her hand for a greeting shake as she introduced herself. He had stared at it like a deathly disease was swarming her fingers and threatening to infect him just by being in his presence. After letting her hand fall back to her side, she had moved a step closer to talk to him. He had immediatly jerked back, his moves sluggish due to the after effects of the Mercital.
Apologizing, she moved away from him and took a seat in a cold chair across the room. Sakura had hoped that she would be able to get to know him a little better, considering he was her patient now. As his doctor, she was entitled to knowing a few things about him. He didn't seem to see it quite that way. His responses to her questions were short and mocking considering if he even answered at all. Mostly he would just grunt or roll his eyes while refusing to give any type of coherent response.
To her credit, Sakura's patience seemed endless - on the outside that is. On the inside she was boiling and cursing words that would make her mother blush. His stubborn nature was clashing with her own and it wasn't exactly how she wished her first day to go. Was it so much to ask that he cooperate with her? Her eyes scanned his laid-back posture and fumed. He seemed so at ease when she felt like she was walking on eggshells.
"Can you at least tell me a hobby of yours? Reading? Drawing?" she ventured, biting the inside of her cheek to keep back what she really wanted to ask. Can you tell me why you have such a big stick shoved up your ass?
Gaara's eyes flicked to her before staring at the wall behind her in an uncaring manner. "No." he said simply. Sakura fought back a stricken look.
"No, you don't like reading or drawing? Or, no, you are not going to tell me a hobby."
He only shrugged in response.
Her eyes must have reflected her desperate annoyance however, because when he glanced back down at her reflexively, his eyes locked on hers and his lips twitched into a mocking smirk. He even sat up straighter on his mattress and leaned forward, like a little kid discovering a wicked new game to play. Sakura's back stiffened at his intense stare and her lips formed a thin line. The following minutes were filled with a choking silence hovering between them. Neither would conform to speaking, though Sakura began contemplating breaking the silence herself if only to get his calculating jaded eyes off of her.
Just as she was about to shatter the quiet, she stopped herself and swallowed her words. She couldn't give in to him. Letting him think that he could pressure her into things would only give him the illusion that he ran the show in this doctor-patient relationship and that couldn't be allowed. She wouldn't let it be permitted.
As Sakura took a deep breath and relaxed back into her seat, she saw amusement flash over his features and his smirk grew into a full out grin. It was as if he could hear her thoughts and it unsettled her greatly. Did he find her so easy to read? Sakura glared.
He looked exceptionally devilish sitting across from her like that, bent over as if in a crouch, eyes sharp like a predator's and body taught on the edge of his bed. His crimson locks enhanced the dangerous image, falling around his face like a messy, bloody aura and sticking out like multiple horns or open cuts in flesh. At the same time, though, his features gave him a ruggedly handsome appeal. If it wasn't for his cold eyes and cruel smile, he would be a rather nice looking man.
Sakura swallowed thickly, trying to get rid of the rising anxiety creeping up her spine. She knew he couldn't attack her, not with the drug still in his bloodstream, but as he continued to stare openly at her Sakura found it increasingly difficult to not turn away immediately. Her skin itched and her the back of her skull prickeled in warning. Still, her stubborn nature refused to give in. But his eyes....
Sakura snapped. "Alright, alright! Fine! See? I'm talking, you win. Now you would you stop looking at me like you're going to kill me, please?"
Gaara blinked and his mocking grin slipped away. For an instant, Sakura thought she saw disappointment flicker in his pale eyes before it was gone. She shook her head and rebuked herself for imagining things.
"How do you know I won't kill you." Gaara demanded, his voice sharp and authoritve. Sakura stared with wide eyes. Was he threatening to kill her or just speaking hypothetically? Either way, it wasn't a good sign. Speaking of murder period was a horrible, horrible way to start a conversation in her book. Especially with a mental patient.
"I was just, I mean...I was only....It wasn't meant - " Sakura stammered, her heart beating fiercely against her ribcage.
The devilish man before her barked a cruel laugh. "You're not worth the effort."
She knew she should have felt relief at that statement, and she did, but there was also anger at him for thinking she wasn't worth the time to kill. Upon realizing that she was indeed being annoyed that he wouldn't murder her, Sakura shook her head, appalled at herself. She hadn't been with him for even an entire day yet and already she was letting him get under her skin.
Sakura's eyes sharpened on him like daggers, letting her feelings get the best of her. His eyes clashed with hers and for a fleeting moment she saw the wild animal snarling in their depths. His mouth stretched into a feral smile. Sakura didn't let cowardice creep over her this time, she embraced the annoyance and anger simmering inside her and gritted her teeth.
"Apparently our personalities are going to clash now and again." she muttered.
Quiet laughter resonated from somewhere deep within his chest, a mocking, sexy type of sound, and Sakura suppressed the urge to blush and slap the smirk from his face as a dreaded tingle slid down her spine.
"Look, whether you like it or not, I'm your doctor now and I need to know a bit more of your story before I start properly taking care of you. If you don't cooperate then it's only going to be harder on yourself." Sakura snapped. She knew she was going about this all wrong. A doctor never lost composure, but she found that almost impossible with this man and his unnerving gaze.
He snorted. "It's none of your business."
"That's where you're wrong." she stated and held up the photocopied notebook of rules Tsunade had given her. "This is your file, complete with your entire history before entering the facility up until this point." A lie, yes, but necessary if she was going to get anywhere with him. "We both know that the files on a patient are strictly factual and don't give the entire depth of said patient. As you can see, it's in my possession, therefore giving me access to you yourself. Either you tell me in your own words about yourself or I can read this and diagnos you accordingly."
She raised a brow when he didn't answer her, just continued to stare like he hadn't heard a word she said. Setting her jaw, she flipped the notebook open and pretended to scan the page like it was an important document of a patient's back story. At one point she clicked her tongue disapprovingly and eyed him carefully. He still gave no reaction. After a few minutes of faux reading, Sakura snapped the notebook shut and stared expectantly at him.
He blinked and looked bored.
"Well," she began. "from what I gather out of this," she gestured to the notebook in her lap. "your dosage of Mercital needs to be increased."
The reaction to her statement was instantaneous. His pale eyes snapped, sparking dangerously as his body sat riggedly on the bed. His hands clenched into frightening fists and he glared at her like she was something disgusting rotting in his room. "You don't have the authority." he spat, though she could see the doubt flicker in his stone eyes.
She mentally calmed herself before speaking in a steady tone. "But I do. I'm your doctor now and I can do whatever I think is right for my patient."
"What you think is right," he scoffed and stood abruptly from the bed, causing her to flinch the slightest. If he noticed, he didn't care. "You wouldn't know 'right' if it smacked you in the face. That much is obvious since you are sitting in my room like some mighty do-gooder. You can't fool me. You are just some pathetic girl wearing a mask, trying to be one of the adults. Face it, no matter how hard you try, you can't be good enough."
Sakura's face flushed red in anger and she stood from the cold chair, letting the rules smack to the floor. In moments she was in front of him, voice seething. "I won't let you speak to me like that, Gaara Sabaku. I'm not like the others, I won't give you permission to walk all over me like they did."
His eyes narrowed and she knew he was uncomfortable with her proximity. She refused to back off. "I don't need permission. I do what I want, when I want, and how I want. Get used to it, Haruno. That's how it's always been."
"Then I guess things are due for a change."
"You can't make a difference."
"Watch me."
His eyes seemed to reflect blue-ish green flames as his mouth twisted into a snarl. He stepped toward her so quick and with the intent of harm that it startled her and she stumbled backward. Immediately, she knew it was the wrong thing to do and regretted her actions sorely. She should've just stayed still because that gave him power. By forcing her to back down like that, she had admitted defeat in silence and they both knew it.
Cursing internally, she watched with narrowed eyes as he smiled malicously at her and stepped back, heading for the door. "It was nice talking to you, Haruno. But I think I will cut this visit short since I will be seeing you again soon for our afternoon session." he said sarcastically, reveling in the annoyance washing off her in waves.
"Fine, Gaara. I will see you soon."
Gaara caught the promise in her words as she had intended and he smirked devishly at her as he turned to swing open the door. Stepping out, he paused and inclined his head toward her. Sakura saw the dark humor glint deep in his eyes and knew that whatever he was about to say would only irk her more. It was obvious that she would have to stock up on Excedrin if she was to keep this job.
"Just a tip, Haruno." he said, mockery lacing his voice as he said her name. "the rules of the facility prove to be poor imitations of a patients' file." Sakura's jaw dropped. "The files are manila folders, not notebooks, and are kept in Tsunade's file cabinet in her office."
As he left the room with an air of superiority, Sakura sat, deflated, on the metal chair behind her. He had known all along that she didn't have his file, that it was a fluke from the beginning. A part of her argued that she should have known. From what she deduced from her short span of time with him, he was sly and cunning. Like a fox, but dangerous like a snake. Just when she thought she had him, it turned out that he had her.
Sakura sighed and knocked the back of her head on the wall. This was going to be a very trying job and she only wished, almost desperately, that she woulde be able to keep up with the bustle of the hospital. She needed to adjust, and quick, or else Gaara would speed ahead of her in this race of wits and trick her endlessly. She had to match him step for step. It seemed to her the only way to help him and herself.
He was the patient and she the doctor. Therefore, she would help him in any way shape or form and along the way, hopefully, be helping herself. They both needed, she knew. Him more than her, and her stubborn nature would not let him slip past her fingers. She vowed right then as she stared up at the water stained ceiling that she would do anything and everything to help Gaara. It was her duty.
And the first step would be to go straight to Tsunade and get the file from her possession. The one that Gaara was already aware of.
Okay so that is the end of the rewritten versions, I hope you liked them better than what they were! Please let me know! So that means please please please review with sugar and sweets and Gaara on top?!?!
