TITLE: The Little Things
AUTHOR: littlexwillow
WRITTEN ON: 180319
CHARACTERS: Gaara/Haruno Sakura
FANDOM: Naruto
PROMPT: "It just… hurts."
GENRE: romance, angst, modern!au, fluff
DISCLAIMER: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sensei.

A/N: I have broken my challenge and I am annoyed. I have not written anything for the four days, and so I will be catching up. I had my Math B exam today, and am frustrated with my inability to complete the papers. On the bright side, I have tried my best and I have not cried yet. I refuse to cry as when I do, it is a sign of giving up and I cannot do that as I am in my last year of highschool. Every subject counts toward my OP and if I want to do well, I need to try. I hope you all have a wonderful week and if you are struggling, I am proud of you for getting out of bed today. Enjoy!

Silence. The incredibly loud silence hung down on the two sitting across each other from the table. Gaara sat proper in his chair, his hands rested on his knees and his lover sat directly in front of him, her tired eyes that once radiated with life, was dull and sorrowful.

"I'm trying Gaara. Why are you doing this?" her voice hoarsely croaked, barely able to conceal her upset. She bit her lip hard, trying to stop the tremors of her sobs escaping. Her chest felt an uncomfortable constricting feeling, almost as if someone were grabbing her heart and squeezing to the point it was going to explode.

Again, they were fighting. The pair was so perfect for each other, yet so toxic. It was slowly becoming a volatile relationship.

"It does not concern you, my problems," he responded brusquely, "it will only place unnecessary on you, in which will be more harmful to you than anything."

This time, Sakura couldn't hold back her sobs. Her eyes shut close as she lowered her head, her hands clutched her skirt with anguish. The petite woman had forgotten the amount of times she had been belittled by her beloved boyfriend. She knew he had good intentions behind it, but it hurt nonetheless knowing that he wouldn't even trust her enough to share his real feelings with her. He was trying to make her as happy as he could, treat her well, but at the same time, he was hurting her so much.

Every fight they had always started with Gaara being stressed out by his job. He was the CEO of a enormous corporation that was left to him by his late father. His older brother did not want to step up as he felt that was not what he wanted to do in life, and so Gaara took it upon himself to inherit his father's multi-billion dollar company.

The two had met formally through Kankuro, when he had gotten into an accident and Sakura was assigned as his doctor. Gaara had heard of the her before, through his good friend Naruto. She and Naruto had grown up together, along with Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto considered Sakura his best friend and sister.

Gaara had never felt more attracted to any woman in his life before Sakura, and he made it his responsibility to treat her right and protect her. Oh, the irony.

Sakura shook her head, "you can't keep shutting me out. I'm here for you. You can tell me what's wrong Gaara, I'm someone you can lean on." her tone was bordering desperation and begging. How she hated that he never revealed anything about himself or even showed emotion to her. He was always concerned about how she felt. He would always get angry when she would try to shoulder her burdens alone and demand that she share the weight with him. It was downright hypocritical of him to not do the same with her.

"You do not need to know," the redhead reaffirmed, his jade eyes watched the fragile woman in front of him. He too, had his hands fisted. He wanted her to be ignorant to the worries and issues he had to deal with.

Tears blurred her vision and Sakura felt helpless. She hated feeling like she wasn't worth anything to Gaara.

"I… I'm going to go home," Sakura whispered, hands resting on the edge of the table and pushing the chair backwards. She stood up, her eyes trained on the clean floor, "we'll talk about this tomorrow."

Gaara followed in suit, "I will take you home."

The pinkette objected, "no. I can go home myself." she began walking to the front door.

The taller redhead followed her and grabbed her wrist as she took hold of the doorknob. He tugged her to face him, his free hand tenderly lifted her chin up and felt his chest squeeze lightly as he was met with pained emerald eyes.

"Please, don't leave." he stated, wanting nothing more than to pull the shorter woman into his arms and comfort her. He knew from previous experiences that she would shy away and not allow him to touch her. The fact that she didn't pull away from his touch that moment, told him that she didn't want to go. "Do not misunderstand, Sakura. I do not want you to burdened with this."

"And that's why I can't be here right now," she laughed bitterly, "look, I want to go home. Please don't contact me for a couple of days. Please give me a while, and I'll be back to normal. I'm not leaving you, Gaara. I just need time. Please."

If Gaara felt like he had been doused with cold water, he didn't show it. This was the first time she had said that to him. Whenever they fought, he would wait for a couple of hours before she came back, smiling and a bag of groceries so she could make dinner. Everything was forgiven and forgotten. He didn't understand why this time, she had said the things she did.

She removed his hand from her wrist and turned her chin away from his grasp. Before she left, she looked back at him with an unreadable expression.

And once she left, Gaara felt the dreaded feeling he had been pushing back, layer down on him and he knew this time, he really messed up.

With a sigh of frustration (at himself) and confusion, he ran a hand though his ruggard hair and stalked to his room. He needed to go to the gym.

=/=/=

It had been three days since he had last seen his girlfriend, and it took everything in him to not come by her apartment or work to check up on her. He did, however, have people update him on her well-being and it was not looking good. His informants told him of the sickly-looking Sakura, who seemed beyond exhausted, faking a smile and a good laugh with her patients, co-workers and friends.

It had been three days since the fight and he still could not understand what he had done wrong. He knew that if he were to show with flowers and an apology in hand, he would not be accepted. The past three years with Sakura told him that she needed her time, and sooner or later she would come back. She always did. But why was he feeling so unsettled and restless? Why was it that he felt that she would not come back this time?

The days went on, and it was nearing almost two weeks since he had last seen or heard from her. He was growing agitated, finding himself frequenting the gym more often, lashing out professionally at the punching bag. He missed her so much, he couldn't find the words to even describe it. He found himself missing the little things she would do, such as: running her hands comfortingly through his unruly hair after a long day of work, peppering kisses all over his face lovingly, giving him encouraging smiles and reminded him constantly of how proud she was of him.

He realised that he needed her more than he ever thought. He was having trouble sleeping, and before Sakura, he was suffering from severe insomnia. He had been losing sleep, and only Sakura could relieve him from the nightmares. He missed her homely scent, the way she would dance and sing loudly in the kitchen, holding her prized spatula in her right hand.

Then it dawned on him. He had unintentionally hurt her so much. By not wanting to share his burdens with her, he was unknowingly pushing her away. She wanted to be there for him, she was always there for him and each time, he pushed her away, thinking that she would be happier if she wasn't dealing with extra stress. The whole time, it was hurting her more than it was making her happy. She was worried for Gaara, and he felt so stupid. He felt so hypocritical, making her lean on him when she was troubled and yet he never did as he told her. No wonder she walked out on him, so upset and hurt.

He just missed her, and he was going insane without her. It was always her coming back to him after a fight, and he knew this time, if he didn't go to her, she wouldn't be coming back. The realization hit him full-force and he rushed to the front door, grabbing his suit jacket and swung the front door open. In his hurried frenzy, he looked up and by the gate, stood his dear girlfriend. She seemed so tired and broken, but her brave face was set in place. Dressed in an oversized cream turtleneck sweater and a matching long skirt with low heel strappy sandals made her look (1) so small and fragile. The next thing Sakura knew, she was in the strong, protective arms of her boyfriend and she held back her tears. She refused to cry again.

Gaara held onto her like he was scared she was going to slip away. He gripped the back of her sweated and bunched them in his large hands. He hid his face in her hair, taking in the familiar and homely scent of vanilla and cherry blossoms. "Sakura." he mumbled, tightening his hold on her.

Her limp arms lifted and found Gaara's waist and hugged back, "I missed you."

"I'm so sorry, Sakura," he ushered, his subconscious anxiety was leaking from his tone, "I'm so sorry. I was trying to protect you but I ended up hurting you."

"It's okay," the shorter woman breathed into his shoulder, "you've realised it now."

"I hurt you," his tone was remorseful, "I did the opposite of my intention; to keep you happy and smiling, but I made you cry."

Sakura pulled away and stared into her lover's guilt-filled eyes. Her small hands cupped the sides of his face and pulled him in for a chaste kiss. Gaara's breath was taken away as he felt her strawberry flavoured lips on his. His hand held the back of her head and pulled her back in for a deeper kiss. All his passion and apology was poured through the kissed.

Sakura tilted her head to allow more access to her boyfriend. The both of them had missed each other so much, and Gaara could not get enough of his girlfriend.

They drew back from each other, catching their breaths. Gaara pulled her back into his warm embrace, "I understand now, Sakura. I have no taken you lightly, I never did. I went about it the wrong way. I am sorry."

A soft, sincere smile greeted him, and he smiled back.

"It's okay, Gaara."

"I love you," he gazed lovingly down at his soul mate, and brushed her cheek with such tender care.

Sakura stood on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek, "I love you too, you silly man."

(1) link to Sakura's outfit in my bio!

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