Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I was mulling over what to do with this for some time. I'm actually satisfied about how it ended up, which is unusual for me. Enjoy.

When Sakura cracked open an eye the following morning, the first thing she took note of was that she was using the chest of someone as a pillow. A very well-defined, attractive chest. She may not be fully conscious yet but she was still capable of appreciating it, while inwardly congratulating herself for finding this catch.

Her mind muzzy with sleep, she idly tried to piece together the previous night while gently running her fingers up and down this mysterious stranger's arm.

These muscles must belong to a ninja, she figured. No average villager would have them developed like this. She eyed the muscles, her medical knowledge kicking in (if in a more aware state, Sakura would have found it amusing that textbook knowledge would come back to her faster than her own memory, but at least Tsunade would be proud). Definitely a ninja…but strangely, no scars that she could see. That was a rarity, but Sakura shrugged it away—perhaps he simply healed fast.

She couldn't tell anymore about him from just looking, and she didn't have the willpower to move from where she lay to see his face; she was simply too comfortable. Racking her memory, she thought back.

Brief flashes from the social function the previous night flitted through her mind. Music, chatter, food…still no face came to mind. She remembered holding a man's jacket around her shoulders, an arm around her waist…similar to the one holding her now, she thought with a smile, glancing down at it. She moved her fingers to trail up his skin, trying to remember.

Her hand came to a sudden halt as an image came to mind.

Red hair. Dark eyes. Kanji tattoo.

Sakura's breath caught in her throat. No. No. She wouldn't have…

She quickly sat up and looked at his face. Sakura felt her stomach drop.

Oh, god. She had slept with Sabaku no Gaara.

Gaara nodded his head, not paying attention but hoping his advisor wouldn't notice. He was too busy trying to figure out what happened this morning.

When he had woken up, Sakura was gone.

Gaara scowled and leaned back in his chair as his advisor rifled through a few files, still unaware Gaara wasn't giving him the slightest attention. Why had she left? It was early when he awoke, so it wasn't as if she had to rush off to work at the hospital. Had she just wanted to leave before he woke up? Snuck out?

Gaara didn't like that idea. Not one bit. It irritated him. She was that quick to be rid of him? Quite flattering, that.

If Gaara was more in tune with his feelings, he would have realized what else was bothering him. But, as it is well known, the Kazekage wasn't the type of man to pay attention to such things. So all those unnerving feelings he had when he was around Sakura were ignored. So what if she made him feel different compared to other women? So what if he enjoyed talking with her, found conversations with her captivating? There was no substance behind those facts, and Gaara immediately filed them under 'useless' and never processed them.

There were some things, however, that Gaara obviously knew. While he might not be an expert at feelings, he certainly knew what his bodywas telling him. Signals that his body gave off Gaara picked up quite well, rather than what his mind was telling him.

He knew that his body found nothing wrong with Sakura. Nothing at all. Sure, he was thinking about herbody, but there were other things too. Never in his life could Gaara remember being attracted to a woman's smell, but last night Sakura had done that for him. Most women he encountered had a bizarre habit of drowning their bodies in perfume, but not Sakura. She smelled natural. Good. Appealing. And the image of her face, flushed, with half lidded eyes as she lay below him was probably burned into his memory forever (whether he wanted it or not). He even liked the way she said his name—she had been murmuring it as she fell asleep, curled up against him. And she fit against him perfectly, all soft and warm as she pressed her face into his shoulder and slid her arms around him.

Gaara wanted to experience it again. All of it. He wasn't sure how to go about it, but he didn't care. He wanted her, and that was all that mattered.

"Sakura, could you bring these to the Kazekage's office?"

Sakura blinked and picked up her head, disturbed from her thoughts. "Sorry, what?"

The chief doctor waved a stack at her. "These reports. They need to be seen by the Kazekage for confirmation. Could you bring them to him?"

Sakura stared at her for a moment, her face heating. "Can't you get someone else to do it?" she asked.

Kyoko rose an eyebrow at her. "I'm asking you. Is there a problem?"

"Um, well—yes, actually." Sakura cleared her thoughts and looked down, pushing her hair away from her face. "I'm busy. With stuff."

Kyoko's other eyebrow also rose. "Stuff? I know you don't have any patients to see for the rest of the day."

"Yeah, well, I have…this," Sakura flustered, glancing down at the paper in her hands, which she had been doodling on. Hastily Sakura flipped it over. "And other things."

Kyoko shoved the stack at her. "Just do it," she sighed, and walked off. Sakura tried to argue, but the chief doctor was gone. Looking down at the reports in her arms, Sakura felt her stomach drop.

Was this really happening? She had to see Gaara again so soon? But…she planned on never seeing him again, if she could arrange it. She wanted to live this down, not drudge it back up!

There was no underling in the hallway that Sakura could see that she could pass these off to, and with an air of defeat, Sakura headed outside into the heat. Looked like she'd have to do it herself.

Sakura tried to steel herself as she walked down the streets. Okay. She could do this. And she only had to drop these off, maybe she wouldn't even cross Gaara's path! But if she did…Sakura sighed. What could she do? Act like nothing happened? Should she tell him that she was humiliated about what happened and never wanted to bring this up again?

And how was he going to react when he saw her? Was he annoyed she had snuck out in the early hours of the day? Or—would he be all cuddly? The thought made Sakura shiver. (Gaara, cuddly? Sakura couldn't even imagine.)

She entered the Kazekage building and her face fell as she saw that the secretary wasn't sitting at her desk. Well, there was her last hope. Looked like she would have to deliver these personally.

She felt like she was infiltrating an enemy camp as she climbed the stairs to Gaara's office, praying that he wasn't going to see her. In fact, she didn't want anyone to see her. She wanted to be in and out, just like that.

Sakura realized she was having a staring contest with the handle of the door to Gaara's office. Shaking her head, Sakura opened the door.

Relief washed over her when she saw that the room was empty. Scurrying over to the desk, Sakura set down the reports and turned to leave when she saw the reports start to slip. Spinning around, Sakura tried to catch them—and succeeded at keeping them from flying to the floor, but in the process she knocked over a container for pens, and it seemingly exploded, writing utensils and desk paraphernalia spilling everywhere.

Sakura cursed as she scrambled around, trying to shove pens and the other things back into the damned container. She must look like an idiot! Damn it, damn it, damn it! Sakura spotted a bunch of paperclips on the floor on the other side of the desk and got down on her knees, quickly scooping them up. Now from this vantage point she could see some things had bounced under his desk and she crawled after them, gathering all the miscellaneous objects in her hands.

Just then Sakura heard the door open, and she moved to jump up—expertly cracking her head on the underside of the desk and almost knocking herself out. Stifling a whimper, Sakura rubbed her head and cleared the desk, standing to face the newcomer.

Gaara, needless to say, was pretty alarmed when he realized someone was crawling around under his desk, but was even more surprised when Sakura suddenly popped to her feet. Usually more tactful, his hand slipped from the doorknob and he dumbly said, "Sakura?"

"Hey," Sakura said weakly, face burning.

A silent moment stretched between them, neither of them moving. Then, "What were you doing?"

"Uh—these," she hurried supplied, dumping all the objects unceremoniously on his desk. "Fell. I was picking them up." Sakura clasped her hands in front of her, feeling like an idiot. Kill me now, please.

"Oh."

She cleared her throat. "Right. Well, I just dropped off these from the hospital," she patted the reports, "so I'll just go now."

She started to walk to the door, but Gaara stepped in her way. "Is your head alright?" he asked. "Sounded like you hurt yourself." He raised a hand to touch the back of her head, but Sakura quickly stepped out of his range.

"I'm fine. Honest. I really have to get back from the hospital—"

"Sakura." Gaara grabbed her wrist as she made another attempt at the door. Sakura stared at his feet as his other hand reached up and ran over her head. "You made quite the bump."

Thanks, Captain Obvious, Sakura thought vehemently, her pain and embarrassment getting the better of her. She didn't need him to confirm that for her.

Sakura stiffened as the touch on her head became less processing and more of a caress. "Gaara…" she muttered, not daring to look up at him.

"Yes?" He moved closer, his hand trailing down to her jaw line and across her chin.

Sakura pointedly ignored the fluttering in her belly. No. She was not going to let this continue. "Gaara," she said more firmly, looking up at him. Which, as it turned out, was a mistake. She hadn't realized he had leaned in, and now his face was mere inches from hers. She found herself staring into his eyes, transfixed. Her mouth was half open from a scathing sentence that was on the tip of her tongue, but it quickly died and it didn't occur to her to close her mouth.

"Are you busy tonight?" Gaara asked her, his voice quiet and soft. His thumb brushed her cheek. "I'm almost done here, so I thought we could…"

His words clicked into her mind, and Sakura blinked. Her jaw clenched as she realized what he was insinuating. Like she was just—willing to put out whenever he wanted? As if she was his beck and call?

A cold anger grew in Sakura, and that fluttery anticipation immediately died. She stepped cleanly out of his grip and said shortly, "No. I have other things to do."

Gaara frowned at her sudden coolness. "Other things?"

"Yes, other things." Sakura grabbed the doorknob, even as Gaara tried to stop her.

"But—" Gaara didn't know what he was going to say, but he didn't want her to leave.

Sakura threw a glare at him over her shoulder. "Let me make this clear. Last night was a mistake. And it will never happen again."

Gaara stopped, baffled, and Sakura walked out and slammed the door in his face. He stared at where she had left. Where had that come from?

Sakura sighed as she exited the Kazekage building, feeling both relieved and concerned. This was just turning into a giant mess, and what she had just done certainly hadn't helped it any. But he had just made her so angry when he just assumed she would sleep with him again.

She couldn't believe him. Arrogant little…

Sakura calmed herself. No. This wasn't all his fault. She hadn't objected last night, of course he wouldn't think that she was ashamed of what she did. The fact that she had slept with someone she didn't have much of a relationship with was embarrassing enough, but for her to choose Gaara…that was the worst thing of this whole situation.

She was ambassador of Konoha, she should be acting responsibly. Not getting drunk at social functions, and certainly not hitting on Suna's leader and jumping into bed with him. How could he take her seriously now, after what they had done together?

Before, they had a strict business-like relationship. She and him met to talk about the relations between their villages, and she had been trying to help him with his insomnia. That was the extent of their interactions before. Now, after all this…

Sakura shoved that thought away. She had to put this behind her. People made mistakes all the time, and they continued on perfectly fine. So could she.

She returned to the hospital, but her mind wouldn't drop it. As she went though the rest of her duties, Sakura just couldn't stop thinking about it. She had said this was a mistake. But if it had happened differently, would she think that? It was only because of their positions Sakura was against this. If she wasn't the ambassador to Konoha, would she have minded? If Gaara wasn't the Kazekage, would she be so embarrassed?

She realized she was twisting a sheet between her hands and dropped it, but it was already wrinkled. Sakura sighed and tried to smooth it out on the hospital bed; she should be cleaning up this room, not wondering about her romantic life. If she didn't put this out of her head, she wouldn't get anything done.

Next chapter I plan to have Gaara scheme on how to win Sakura over, but it may take a while (again, sorry) for me to put it up. Let me know what you think of this one.