Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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Sakura wasn't exactly sure how she got roped into accompanying the Hokage on a diplomatic mission to Suna. Usually Naruto, as the hopeful incumbent to the position, joined Kakashi on any trips abroad. But for one reason or another Sakura had been volun-told for the position.

Not only was she assigned as Kakashi's guard detail, she was the only shinobi assigned. No Genma or one of her teammates to entertain her, she was going it alone under the unforgiving sun. The other unfortunate result of her solo guardianship was zero male buffer from the many young, shinobi who hit on her.

Sakura had become a bit of a legend because of the war but her status as a female downplayed her contributions while simultaneously inviting half the shinobi population to ask her out. They considered her a worthy a target to bed and didn't realize how dangerous she was when aggravated.

Sakura bowed in apology to Gaara outside the Suna hospital.

"I apologize for my subordinate's actions." Kakashi managed to say with a straight face. He was deeply amused by the two men Sakura had hospitalized after their aggressive advances. Three broken ribs and a cracked shoulder later.

Gaara was not happy but couldn't blame Sakura for her violent response towards his unquestionably dishonorable men. "Fractures are better than breaks in the future, Haruno. I can't afford for you to handicap all my able-bodied men."

Sakura straightened and beamed at Gaara. "Hai, Kazekage-sama!"

She smacked Kakashi on the arm and glared when his attempts to hold in his laughter failed. "Shut it." She warned.

Gaara hid his eye roll and straightened his robes. "We still have documents to go over and sign, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi grimaced. He hated signing paperwork almost as much as he hated creating paperwork. Sakura took pity on him just a little. She may have been forced to come but Kakashi was required to attend. They were only three days into a seven-day stint in Suna culminating in the annual Chunin exam.

"Where is your nearest training ground?" Sakura asked Gaara.

"Half a kilometer west of here. But they are currently being used by the visiting genin teams." He replied automatically.

"I'm sure they'll make an exception for you, Gaara-kun." She teased.

Both Kages looked at her skeptically. "What do you have in mind, Sakura?" Kakashi asked uneasily.

Sakura didn't answer right away. She pulled the gloves from her weapons pouch and tied up her shoulder length hair into a tight ponytail. She shot Gaara a challenging smirk. "Before I left Naruto told me and I quote 'Make sure to challenge Gaara to a spar. He's getting lazy in his office.'"

The Kazekage had the decency to look offended before the blaze in his eyes won out. "That can be arranged."

-X-

Her chakra laden fist collided with the sand shield, reducing the solid wall into its granules. She eyed Gaara from behind the disintegrating shield and raced forward to aim a foot at his side. He twisted out of the way and jumped back to put distance between them.

Sakura buzzed with adrenaline and exhilaration. Beads of sweat rolled down her neck and her skin would surely have a sun burn by the end of the day but there was nothing better than facing someone who knew she was incredibly dangerous and would keep her on her toes.

The right arm she fractured earlier dangled uselessly at his side. He had managed to cut her between the shoulder blades with a kunai after using her momentary victory to his advantage.

Gaara was panting harshly from their spar but couldn't keep the smile from his face. He was getting rusty. No one, save his siblings, would fight him. The Suna shinobi force feared him and could never think to lift a hand against him even in friendly challenge. He missed the unknown.

"Tired yet, Gaara-kun?" Sakura called. They dropped formalities with the first thrown shuriken.

"Not remotely." He responded.

Sakura wiped the sweat from her forehead and noticed they were gathering quite a crowd. Kakashi was safely lounging under one of the few artificial trees in Suna watching the match. The rest of the onlookers consisted of various genin teams from the different nations and Sand-nin milling about the village.

They would need to finish up soon or people would start to think the leader of Suna had too much time on his hands. That would reflect poorly on the Hokage as well.

Sakura darted forward with chakra enhanced feet to keep from sliding on the sand. Gaara threw up another sand shield to buy time. She planned for as much. Her hands moved like lightning to complete the sequence of hand signs.

She arched back and punched once more through his sand with her fist. She charged him and he attempted to retreat but couldn't move. Gaara looked down and saw two hands piercing through the sand clasping his ankles.

He cursed.

The real Sakura barreled into him and they both fell hard to the ground. Sakura landed on Gaara, straddling his waist and managed to brace herself with her hands on either side of his head.

Instinctively, his hands came up to her hips to steady her.

"Gotcha." Sakura declared.

His eyes shined with amusement. "When did you learn Hatake's jutsu?"

"Years ago. Has come in handy several times. Do you concede?" She pressed a chakra scalpel to his throat and waited.

"I concede." He said in defeat. "Do you mind?" He indicated her legs on either side of his hips.

Sakura's lips morphed into a slow smile. "Why, are you uncomfortable?"

He looked at her without a trace of unease and a little softness. "No."

She started to shake and then the first tiny laugh escaped and soon she was bowled over with laughter, falling on to the sand beside him. Gaara let out his own chuckle. Sakura stood up and offered him a hand.

He graciously accepted and she hauled him to his feet. They both shook the sand loose from their clothing. Sakura reached for his arm and healed the bone with glowing hands.

An aide nervously approached the pair. "Kazekage-sama, you're late for a meeting." The man said meekly to the ground. Gaara nodded sharply.

"Tell Naruto what transpired here."

She nodded and patted some of the lingering dust from her ANBU uniform. "I will. No one will doubt your scariness for at least a decade." Sakura promised and waved goodbye.

Gaara was quickly swallowed by the mass of people waiting on him. She was sure he had never arrived late to a meeting in his career, so unlike her leader. Her grin grew at that thought and Kakashi popped up next to her.

"Having fun?" He mused.

Sakura glanced at him and flushed. "Not a bad way to spend a babysitting mission anyways."

Kakashi knew she was annoyed with him for assigning her as his protective detail and he was purposefully avoided her questions about why he chose her this time instead of his usual ANBU guard.

He did what he always did and redirected the conversation. "Let's go clean your cut."

She frowned at his obvious change of subject but nodded. Sakura followed a respectable distance behind Kakashi back to their accommodations. He led them to his quarters and closed the door behind them.

"Shirt." He ordered and disappeared into the bathroom.

Sakura glared at his tone but striped down to her chest bindings to allow better access to the cut between her shoulder blades. Kakashi rejoined her with a first aid kit in his hand. He gestured to the bed and she sat down with her back facing him.

He pulled out a bottle of peroxide and doused a cloth. "This will sting." He warned and carefully dabbed the loose grains of sand out of her wound.

Sakura winced and tried to distract herself by reciting the shinobi rule book in her head until Kakashi cleared his throat. She waited for him to speak.

He did not disappoint. "I didn't realize you were involved with the Kazekage."

"He was my first." Sakura didn't bother denying it.

"After the war?"

"Mhm."

She wasn't the only person to have relations following the war. In fact, a significant number of babies born nine months later were proof that life followed on the heels of death. Sakura had been confused and lonely once the fires died down. She had lost friends and patients and for a while it felt like she lost Naruto too. He practically buzzed around Sasuke in the weeks after. Without the lingering threat of death, she couldn't fake her happiness about Sasuke's return.

She turned to a kindred spirit of sorts and sought out Gaara. She trusted him and that was the most important in the moment. Sakura wanted something gentle, to temper the rage that fuelled the fighting. Gaara was kind and considerate and sleeping with him didn't dramatically change their dynamic.

As first times went it was remarkably warm and she never regretted it.

Kakashi finished cleaning the wound and worked on bandaging it. Silence stretched between them until Sakura couldn't stand it anymore.

"Why did you want me to come to Suna with you?"

Kakashi didn't bother lying to her. She would know eventually. "To observe you."

He finished with the bandage and turned away so she could pull her shirt on. He sighed. "Yamato and Sai are concerned. So is Naruto and Sasuke and a few other people who have spoken to me."

Sakura's mouth fell open in shock as she finally turned to face him. "Why?"

His gaze was unreadable. "They say you work too much. On missions, Yamato and Sai report that you take extra watches and volunteer as bait."

"That's because I have less to lose if something goes south. I don't have someone waiting back home. And I take extra watches because I'm an insomniac." She reasoned.

Kakashi turned on her with a serious expression. "That's Naruto's and Sasuke's complaint. They worry that you don't date or have relationships or anything outside of missions."

Sakura jumped up from the bed and walked over to the desk across the room. She was not liking where the conversation was headed. "That's none of their business."

He also stood and continued, "When you're not on missions you're training genin in the academy or helping at the hospital. It's only a matter of time before you burn out or make a mistake in the field."

Sakura snorted derisively. "All that you're describing sounds a lot like you Hokage-sama." She headed for the door before her patience wore down. "If you'll excuse me."

He grabbed her arm to keep her from leaving. "Wait, Sakura. I'm also worried about you."

"Just because other kunoichi settle down doesn't mean there is something wrong with me. Do you chastise Sasuke or Genma?" She angrily shook him off. "Your concern is not welcome." She bit out.

Sakura stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

For the next four days, Sakura seethed. She was pissed off but was required to escort Kakashi everywhere and she took her job seriously. Apparently, her team had some problem with that. She spent that time dutifully ignoring him and glaring at everyone who came close. It did wonders to dissuade the male population.

The Chunin exam couldn't come soon enough and Sakura found herself standing behind Kakashi and the other Kages as they watched the Finals from the center balcony.

She watched the kids fight back and forth and smiled despite herself when she saw one genin from Konoha try to replicate Naruto's rasengan. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Gaara motioning her over.

She discreetly backed away from Kakashi and walked over to him. Kankuro nodded once and stepped back so she could kneel at the side of Gaara's chair.

He leaned over to whisper, "Is everything alright?" The wide brim of the Kage hat he wore obscured both their faces and she appreciated the small amount of privacy.

Her expression soured. "It's nothing. Just have a long list of men to kill when I get home."

"Ah. Good." He responded with a small smile.

Sakura found herself grinning in response. "I should get back."

She braced her hand on his armrest before standing and returning to her post behind Kakashi. He turned around in his chair to stare at her and she quickly resumed her simmering annoyance and purposefully ignored his questioning gaze.

She focused back on the match.

The genin match had come to a head and without warning one of the boys produced a sword and stabbed the other boy in the stomach then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

A confused and scared audience jumped to their feet just as the multitude of shinobi flashed into the ring. Sakura felt her heart pound in her chest and the fine hairs on her arms rose.

Since her very first bell test she would never forget the signs of genjustu no matter how carefully crafted. She raised her hands and made the symbol for release.

"Kai."

Sakura looked around suspiciously and spotted the assailant on the side wall of the Kage's seating canopy. She didn't hesitate and lunged forward just as the enemy ran towards an unaware Kakashi.

Kunai clashed against kunai and she met the eyes of the assassin. He growled at her interference. Sakura sent a blast of chakra into the surrounding area, breaking the Kages and guards out of the genjustu.

"An assassination at a Chunin exam? How unoriginal." She growled in annoyance.

The shinobi smiled knowingly at her.

He tore off his jacket to expose dozens of paper bombs stuck to his person. Sakura's eyes widened and she was jerked back by the vest right as the explosion went off.

Her heart beat wildly in her chest and her ears wrung with the force of the blast. One eardrum was ruptured and she coughed past an ache in her chest from her organs slamming against her ribs. Sakura forced her eyes open and saw a shock of silver hair.

Slabs of cement that were once the ceiling had landed around them, cutting them off from the rest of the balcony. She could hear the screaming and cries to help coming from the audience stands but her attention was solely on the man above her.

She placed hands on either side of his face. "Kakashi?" She brokenly called.

When he didn't stir, Sakura carefully slid out from under him and assessed the damage. A piece of rebar from the stone jutted out and impacted his lower abdomen close to the spine. She swore at the position of the metal rod and the difficulty she would have removing it.

She pressed a green hand to his back and mapped out the internal damage. The rod had nicked an artery but the pressure was keeping him from bleeding out. With limited space to work, she quickly ruled out using her summons. It was up to her alone to save him.

"Idiot. Stupid, stupid bloody Hokage." She cursed loudly and didn't care who heard.

If he hadn't shielded her with his body he wouldn't be hurt. She was there to protect him, not the other way around.

From her weapon's pouch, she pulled out an emergency supply of narcotics and a rubber tourniquet. "Administer sedatives, cut the rod, stabilize the wound, and don't even think about letting him die." She recited to herself.

Sakura worked fast to tie off his arm and inject the sedative. She made a chakra scalpel and cut through the rod in two places. With a firm hand, she worked away the metal without jostling the piece still imbedded in him.

When it was free she chucked the thing behind her and tore a strip of fabric from his jacket. She took a shaky breath and apologized for the damage she was about to do. Sakura wrapped a hand around the bar and placed the other as a brace against his stomach. She counted to three and pulled.

The rebar came free and pulled some questionable bodily chunks out with it. She grimaced and watched the blood start pouring free from the wound. Sakura pressed both hands to the cavity and channeled her chakra.

"You'll be fine. You'll be fine. You'll be fine." She repeated like a mantra and the first tears splashed against his side as she hovered above him and her chakra wavered. There was a reason she wasn't supposed to work on people she knew.

His blood coated her hands and lap. She was saturated in the sticky substance but forced herself to focus on the wound and not the person. With a steadying breath, her chakra resumed its steady flow.

The rocks above her started shaking and more debris and dust shook loose. Sakura threw herself over Kakashi as the fallen ceiling was pulled back.

"Sakura, are you okay?"

She looked up and saw Kankuro's face and a dozen other Sand shinobi. "He needs to be moved to the hospital!" She called.

The next few hours passed in a blur as Kakashi was rushed into surgery. Sakura stubbornly stayed by his side and refused to let any of the Suna medics tend to the substantial injury. She allowed them to monitor vitals and sterilize the wound while her chakra repaired the damaged tissue.

They assisted until one nurse attempted to remove Kakashi's mask to attach an oxygen mask. After that, Sakura ordered they all leave until it was once again just him and her. By that time, the bleeding had stopped and Kakashi was in measurably better condition. Once he was stabilized she had him moved to the ICU for recovery.

Gaara came to check in and report what he and his shinobi had uncovered about the suicide bomber. The man, a skilled genjustu user, was on the Allied side during the war and lost a brother who was in Kakashi's division and blamed him for his brother's death.

Sakura understood the impulse for revenge but in the end the war had claimed enough lives without the man sacrificing himself and adding to the body count.

She thanked Gaara for the information and requested he let her tend to the Hokage for as long as he was in the hospital.

Sakura showered and changed into clothes not saturated with blood before checking on him. The Hokage was sleeping off the drugs, peacefully unaware, when she arrived and checked his vitals.

His mask was stubbornly in place and his chest was wrapped in white bandages. Sakura leaned over and brushed the hair out of his closed eyes and watched his steady breathing. Her hand shifted down and held his.

Sometime in the last six years she forgot that he wasn't immune from the world. Stuck in the village most of the time and specifically in his tower, Sakura thought he was safe. Her naiveté had weakened her reaction time. Then there was her anger with him that distracted her from sensing the genjustu as soon as it was cast. Her inability to keep her emotions in check when it involved him had nearly cost his life.

Her thumb grazed over his knuckles.

"I love you." She confessed softly. "I thought it was a crush and with time I would get over it. But it's not. And I'm sorry because I know it's not something you wanted but if I don't say it out loud I can't move on." She squeezed his hand.

"I'm awake." His deep, sleepy voice stated neutrally.

She chuckled humourlessly, "I know."

His eyes opened and focused on their joined hands before moving to her face.

"Since when?" He asked and Sakura knew he wasn't talking about being conscious. His hand pulled away from her and her stomach dropped.

"Years? I'm not sure. It was not at all, then all at once." She didn't flinch away when his eyes narrowed distrustfully at her words.

If there was anyone who could tell she was lying when saying 'I love you' it was him. She had once lied about her feelings when Naruto went to try to bring back Sasuke and all she wanted was to waylay the inevitable disappointment. Kakashi had seen through her then, so had Naruto. Sakura wore her heart on her sleeve but she liked to think over the years she got better at protecting it.

Her feelings were the reason she was angry with him for approaching her about her team's concerns. The reason she didn't date or have relationships was because of him, her Hokage. It was the reason she was a workaholic because taking more missions meant seeing less of the man that made her heart race and her stomach flip. Not that it mattered because as soon as she saw him sitting behind his desk waiting for her report, the pressing love she felt was nearly suffocating.

His eyes softened when he realized she was telling the truth. "Why me?"

She fought the blush that threatened to consume her face. "If you're asking if it was something you did, it wasn't. Not exactly. All the excuses you used when you were late, how in a moment of need you became the Hokage, how we stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the battlefield facing the enemy. When I think about those moments, my heart feels like it's about to burst."

Sakura met his gaze with one of determination. "I compromised your safety because of these feelings and I won't let that happen again. After today, I will never bring it up, so do me a favour and forget I mentioned it?" She asked with a wry smile.

Kakashi reached across the bed and grabbed her hand again. "Thank you, Sakura." His eyes crinkled warmly. "For saving my life."

"Anytime, Hokage-sama."

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A/N: What can I say, I totally believe Sakura and Gaara could have a fling. They would respect and trust one another and it would be an important part of development for Sakura.