A/N: Still do not own Naruto. Gah, so sorry about the tremendously long wait. I've been so busy this week. Anyways, here you go. Oh and by the way, Kyo is okay looking. Not hot.

Red Sand

"Sakura! Your back!" a loud shriek of happiness erupted from the blonde girl, who latched herself onto her friend's arm. At this, Sakura chuckled and nodded. Before setting the fallen boy down.

"Ooh…who's this?" Ino asked her, bending down to examine the boy. Before seeing the headband. "Hey… he was that ninja…the one who raided out like eight shops." She said, once she had seen the headband and the boy's face.

"Yeah. The lil bugger tried to kill me." Sakura said before picking him up again. "C'mon, we have to get him to Tsunade-sama. She'll know what to do."

Ino nodded and helped the girl carry the body. Stares from the villagers didn't bother them at all. Upon arriving in the Hokage's office, Sakura was quickly welcomed back, before she took in the boy. Tsunade glanced and shrugged.

"He was no one important. A low thief. However, we can't take chances. Send him to the specialists. They'll extract the information. " She ordered, Sakura nodded with a quick "Hai", before she went off with Kyo's body.

Once she had left him with them, Sakura yawned and made her way to the ramen stand, where she met up with Naruto.

Meanwhile…

"Kazekage…" A voice called out, disrupting the boy whom was simply sitting on the roof, not doing much of anything, sitting and staring into emptiness.

"What?" He hissed out, turning his head slightly, so that he could see who was talking. The messenger gulped, and stepped forward with a scroll.

Gaara moved his hand, the sand taking it away from the boy, before he dismissed him. Reading it, Gaara's eyes narrowed.

" They want what…" He said out loud, with a vein forming on his forehead. Crumpling the paper, Gaara stood and made his way back into his office.

" I hate this job." He muttered before three ladies walked in, the entire giggling sort. They won a contest? Why was he not informed of this? Like hell, he was going to let them spend a day with him.

"Morning, Gaara-san…" One confident girl said out loud, with a deep blush and giggle. Gaara rolled his eyes. Fan girls. Ew.

"It's Kazekage to you." He told her in turn before taking out paperwork. The girl backed off after that. They seemed bored by his actions, and kept making little irrated sounds, such as a sigh, a groan, or tapping their feet on his floor.

Gaara stopped working. "Stop making noise, or I'll make sure you can't." He hissed out, silence following the phrase easily.

Around noon, he finally stopped and decided to leave for a lunch break, when surprised that they followed him. Damn.

As he approached the roof to eat his sandwich, the three girls giggled constantly and made comments about how cute he was when he was eating. This annoyed him to no doubt. So, he fled. Disappearing into a cloud of dust, he left the three confused girls standing on the roof.

Finding some peace to himself at last, Gaara finished his lunch and decided to go spar for a bit. Where was that Temari?

Back to…

"You did what? Oooh. Then you were all like 'Bam bam bam', then he was all like 'ahhhhhhhh!'" Naruto said imitating what the girl had told him. Sakura giggled and slurped up her noodles.

"Yeah. I guess you could say that. How was your week?" She asked him with a smile, drinking her water. Naruto grumbled. Sakura glanced and smiled.

"What was that?" She asked him.

"I said, I'm taking Hinata to the festival…" He grumbled out once more. Sakura would have cheered but noted his face. "What's wrong? You don't want to go or something?" She asked him.

"No…I do. I just wanted to take someone else." He said, almost stuttering, turning an awful shade of scarlet. Sakura grinned.

"Who? Why didn't you ask her then?" She asked him. Naruto sighed,

"I wasn't sure if she would be here. She was on a mission." He told her. Sakura thought…Ten Ten? No, her and Neji are going…Lord knows how she pulled that off; the boy was like a stone when it came to these things, he must really like her. The fan girls were baffled as well.

Ino? No, Shikamaru had gotten there first, for once, not being lazy.

That was about it…what other girl was in their class? None she could think of.

"Who was it?" She asked him. Naruto gulped.

"You."

Sakura felt herself get warm. Oh no. She had always thought of Naruto as a friend. Only a friend, but then again, she was positive that she had Sasuke were meant to be.

Smiling slightly, she held his hand with hers,

"I'd love to go with you, but as a friend. Next year's festival no?" She said with a smile. Naruto blinked and grinned.

"All right!"

"This year, I'm flying solo, …" Sakura said. As if on cue, a shout was heard. "Sakura! The flower of my heart! Come to the festival with me!" Sakura sweat dropped. Rock lee.

"Sure…" Sakura said with a slight smile. He was sweet. It might be fun.

Again with…

"I'm beat! No more!" Temari whined out, the gashes on her body pouring out blood. Gaara nodded and left, muttering a small "Weakling."

Temari growled out before limping away to see a medic.

Gaara sighed. The Konoha festival. He knew it was approaching, and he knew that undoubting, someone would ask his Sakura.

His. Yeah…he liked that. However, a different beast overtook his body. Envy. He had to make sure she wasn't going to have too good of a time.

Sighing, he headed back for the office, they had to be gone by now. It was nearly evening. To his disappointment, they were there.

"Why did you leave Kazekage?" One whined, following him like a puppy. The others nodded and agreed.

"I had to spar." He said simply. They shrieked in awe. So dedicated, they thought.

"Ladies, I wish I could say it was a pleasure, but it was not. Good evening. Bother me again, and I will kill you." He said to them before closing the door on their faces.

The girls blinked and left, crying.

Gaara sighed, leaning against his door. Her scent was everywhere. She was the only thing he wanted right now. That was exactly like Him .To want what he couldn't have.

Walking to his room, Gaara decided to go to sleep.

Back to his desire…

"Night Naruto!" Sakura said to him, before leaving for her house. Man it felt good to be back home. However, she did miss one thing about Suna. Him.

Ignoring the feeling, she climbed into her bathtub, and turned on the water. After the festival, she'd be back to him. Yeah. Nothing would stop it. That's what she thought at least.

The next morning, she was awoken rather rudely by her alarm clock. Glaring and rolling over, Sakura groaned as she sighted the time. It was seven in the morning!

Getting up, she yawned and threw on her normal outfit, looking in the mirror, Sakura realized that she really should buy some new clothes. Ah well, not today.

Stepping lightly downstairs, her slender hand pulled the fridge door open as she glanced into the fridge at its contents. Milk. Bread. Bread. Shrugging, she pulled all of it out.

Grabbing a china bowl, she poured the milk, along with cereal that she pulled out of the cupboard, Sakura crunched down on the breakfast, as the toast was being made. Finally finishing off the piece of bread, she put the dishes into the sink and left. What a great daughter, doesn't even bother to clean anything, not that her parents even lived with her anymore. She had moved out a year ago.

Slipping her headband on, Sakura dashed out of the house and into the Hokage's building. Where, as she entered her office, she saw around three or four ANBU members surrounding Tsunade.

"What's going on?" She asked them. Tsunade turned around and looked relieved.

"Thank God you're here. It's about that boy you found. " She explained to her. Sakura frowned. "What about him? I thought you said he was just a thief." She asked her, sitting down in a chair.

"He is. However, as the squad was extracting his memories, we came up upon a plot he was involved in. It has to do with the missing medics in Suna." An ANBU member explained to her.

Sakura frowned. " What did you find out?" She asked them, now highly interested.

" There is a plot behind the disappearances. Each of the missions that had a Suna Medic with them has been foiled, the strange thing is, the shinobi are fine. They just do not remember where they were when the attack happened. The medics however, were left with no record of ever being a medic. They've forgotten everything." Another ANBU told her.

Sakura held in a gasp. " When did you find news of this?" She asked them, tightening her grip on the sofa.

"Yesterday. This was all revealed in his memories. He was the one to have taken down each and every one of the medics. He brought them to a cave, where there were several people performing jutsu's. His memories were blacked out there. A technique to prevent too much information from leaking out in the event that he dies. " The same ANBU told her.

Sakura was now puzzled. "I don't understand. Why had they not blacked out everything then?" She asked. Tsunade gulped.

"Because…they want us to know that Suna is in Danger." She finished. Writing on a scroll, she called in her messenger.

"Send this to Suna immediately." She told her, handing the coded scroll to the girl, who started for the message tower with a dash.

"If all the medics are wiped out, then they will have no means of recovery. Sakura, I know you plan on being here for the Konoha Festival but I am sending you to Suna again. This time, you're A-class mission is to be with the Kazekage at all times. I am sending more medic Nin to Suna, they will handle the city's duties and train more people. You will guard the Kazekage. IF he is hurt, you will heal him. Understand?" Tsunade asked her. Sakura nodded.

"But what of Konoha?" She asked her. Tsunade smiled. " We will be fine. We have plenty medic Nin. I am only sending 3 to Suna. They will be more then enough."

Sakura nodded and left to gather her stuff. Well…Gaara…I'll be back sooner then I thought, Sakura thought.

She only had time to say goodbye to Naruto before she left.

The trip this time was full of adrenaline, no stopping. Sakura had a goal; she would take less time then needed to reach the desert city. Exactly two days ago, she was going back to Konoha, however, it seemed that lately, she belonged in Suna.

Making it in through the gates with her papers, she rushed to the Kazekage's office, burst in, only to find it empty. She sweat dropped. What a waste of a good entrance. Waiting there patiently, she soon found Gaara whom strolled in rather casually.

"Hey…" She said out of breath. It wasn't that she was tired. But the minute he walked in, it was as if all the air in her lungs were gone.

"Sakura…what are you doing here?" He asked her. He really should listen to that secretary outside his office. She was telling him she was there. But being Gaara, he ignored her.

"I have a new mission. I' m to ensure your safety." She said with a smile. Gaara growled.

"I don't need protection." He said out, Sakura sighed. Stupid male egos…

"Fine. I missed you then." She told him, with a slight blush. This caught Gaara's attention. He smiled suddenly.

"You should." Sakura glared and pounced on him.

"GAARA!" She shouted. Gaara chuckled, and put his arms around her waist. Whatever would happen to them in the future, they would always have that moment together.

Sakura closed her eyes. She was suddenly reminded of her exhaustion. Gaara sighed, and put her down on his couch, sitting on a chair, he watched her. Feeling at peace.

It was then that he decided, whoever was stupid enough to walk in and ruin the peace…he would personally murder.

A/N: Should I end it here? Nah…

Sakura woke up in the evening, yawning slightly, surprised to see Gaara watching her like a hawk.

"Were you there the whole time?" She asked him, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. Gaara nodded.

"Should I be freaked out?" She asked with a giggle. Gaara shrugged. He was protective of his property.

"Thanks Gaara…"she mumbled, getting up to sit in his lap. Embracing him in a hug. Gaara's hands slid to her back once more.

"Gaara?" She asked him, staring at a body behind them.

"Yes?" He answered, eyes closed.

"Who's that laying on the ground?" She asked him, pointing to the body.

Gaara's eyes opened and he grinned.

"No one important. He interrupted a moment. He'll wake up in a few hours." He said.

Sakura sweat dropped once more.

"All right then." She mumbled lazily. She was used to his temper tantrums now.

A/N: There! I know it's still short, but I only had an hour to spare. I have to go clean again. Ew. Read and review!