"Ugh, these idiots are useless," Sakura griped, groaning as she cast another folder aside on the desk. Gaara looked up from his place in the armchair, reading a book. She turned to him and sighed, gripping her hair in her hands. This was frustrating. And annoying. And it was really beginning to grate on her nerves.
"I know. That's why you're working with them," Gaara said pointedly, though he put his book down after marking his page. Sakura hadn't said anything all night and he figured she was ready to talk now. They were in his study, though a room barely used in his house, and he had sat with her while she worked, keeping her silent company.
"Yeah, but it's been two weeks, Gaara, and half the male medics can't even tell me where the ovaries are located!" Sakura sighed. "Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating," she shot a glare at his chuckle, "but they're pretty bad. It's bad enough I've already had to start going over basic medical knowledge with them, you'd think they'd know where the appendix is, what it does, which is basically nothing, we can live without it, and what to do if it bursts and how to respond to the symptoms. That's easy stuff, too."
"True, they've never been very good with anything other than physicals. That's why our people often travel to Konoha for surgeries. Didn't you know?" Gaara asked, though he thought she should have. She was an active medic and worked often in the hospital. She had to have performed surgeries on people outside of her own village before.
"Well I thought it was because Tsunade lives there and everyone wants to be treated by Tsunade," Sakura said, though the irritation had gone from her voice. Talking with Gaara often calmed her, no matter how she was feeling. "Anyways I wish that one woman—what was her name?"
"Sachi."
"Yeah, her. I wish she would cool her attitude." The woman had been giving her issues from the very start and it was starting to get on Sakura's nerves. Gaara had instated Sakura as head of the hospital until this whole ordeal was over and done with and Sachi didn't take too kindly to it, as far as Sakura knew. She had read the file and knew Sachi was head medic before she came along, but the woman barely knew what she was doing in the first place, how was that Sakura's fault?
"You know some people don't like it when power is taken from them," Gaara said, though his voice was disinterested. He didn't care much for the head medic, though she often only allowed herself to treat him, if he ever needed it, though it was only a cough or a cold. Gaara would be damned if any physical injury ever ailed him. She would often want to do his physicals as well.
"Well, yeah I know that, but she knows it's only temporary so she can calm the hell down," Sakura turned red after she finished talking. She and Gaara both knew that she hadn't made a decision whether or not she was going to return to her home. The position she held may be permanent, as Gaara would never dream of putting her below anyone else save for Tsunade.
"Some people don't know how to," he said simply. He looked up at the clock and stood, putting his book away. "Come, it's late, time for bed," he held his hand to her. Sakura bit her lip and looked to the folders spread across the desk. "It'll be in the same place tomorrow, Sakura," Gaara said, his voice stern. He found her work ethic was much like his. She would work far into the night and sleep for maybe five hours before getting up and repeating. He often had to find her in the middle of the night and bring her to bed himself.
"Fine," she sighed, allowing him to pull her out of her seat. She followed him slowly, sluggishly and he looked back at her for a moment. She was tired, he knew. He had to keep her home from the hospital the next day, that was for sure. She hadn't taken a day off since the day she had started with the medics two weeks prior. It was starting to get to her, he could see that.
"Sakura," he said, pulling her into their bedroom. She sat beside him on the bed and was on her way to laying down, but Gaara wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back up, signaling that he wasn't finished talking with her. She let out a soft groan and sat back up, though she leaned on him, her eyes slowly closing. "Sakura," he tried again.
"Hm?"
"You're staying home tomorrow. And probably the day after that."
"But, Gaara, there's so much work to do! I can't possibly take a day off, not now," she was awake again, fighting with him now. A fight always seemed to wake her right up and he felt slightly irritated with her. She was questioning his decisions now, not blindly following his words anymore like she used to. He was no longer making the choices for her, telling her what was best and what wasn't. Though he was happy she was coming out more and more, he wasn't happy that she kept questioning his words.
"Sakura, you're working yourself too hard. Just take a couple days off with me," Gaara said, pulling her down now to lay with him. He knew she didn't want to feel close to him, she felt a sense of betrayal because he gave her this job and he was telling her not to do it. It was difficult for her to understand. Gaara pulled her on top of him and hugged her, thinking of something else to say. "Anyways I miss you," something he would never say, not in a thousand years, but he couldn't think of anything else to say in lieu of getting her to agree with him.
"You do?" she popped her head up and looked him in the eyes, quite surprised. She didn't think he would say that, he figured from the surprise in her voice. He wanted to laugh. He leaned forwards and kissed her, hugging her close to him.
"Yeah. Spend the next couple of days with me. I hardly see you with all this hospital work you're doing." That, at least, was easy to say. It was true. He would usually visit her and bring her lunch in her makeshift office at the hospital. She would stay there far past dinner and he often had to drag her home around midnight or so. Tonight was one of the very few nights she chose to work in his spacious study and he had joined her, merely to offer her company and be in her presence.
"Fine," she relented, dropping her head to his chest. He smirked in victory and let his head fall to the pillow. In truth he was quite tired as well. He had been putting endless hours into trying to figure out what had happened to the hospital funds and why no one had been keeping up with them since his father had been Kazekage. It wasn't exactly his job to find out what had to be brought up at council meetings.
"Anyways, we have some things to talk about," Gaara said, suddenly remembering. He had met with the council, the meeting having come much later than he had expected, and everyone had more or less agreed that Suna needed a new hospital.
"Alright, alright, I already said I would. Would you shut up now and let me sleep?" Gaara couldn't help the chuckle that resounded from his chest. She sounded so grumpy now that he had managed to pull her away from work and get her to lay down. It was like she didn't know how tired she was until she was laying down in his arms.
"Fine, goodnight," she nodded back in response, sluggishly. Gaara let himself relax as well, drifting off into his own slumber.
The next morning, Sakura woke to find herself alone. She moved around groggily, blindly reaching for Gaara. She came up empty handed and finally opened her eyes. Bright sunlight filtered into the room and she stretched, yawning, and pulling herself into a sitting position. She looked around blearily, vaguely wondering where Gaara had gone off to and why. She stretched once more before getting out of bed.
She looked throughout the entire house, but couldn't seem to find him anywhere. Her mouth set in a scowl, she padded to the study to get some more work done. If Gaara was going to ditch her, that was just fine. He could just go and screw himself if that's what he wanted. He wanted her to take a couple days off and he didn't even want to spend the time with her!
Sighing, she picked up a random folder and flicked through it, trying to find anything useful in it. She had been sorting through patients' folders for days, organizing them into a filing system so she could find the files she was looking for instead of rooting through boxes she couldn't seem to find the bottom of. Many of the files were disgusting and moldy, those ones she threw away. If they were that disgusting, those people were probably long gone. The newer files were on the top of the stack of haphazard boxes anyways.
"Deceased," she sighed and tossed the folder on the ground in front of the desk, already littered with files. She didn't care for the deceased files, especially if they were civilians or not to do with crime. She had a very small stack for homicidal death. They sat in a corner of this room. She was mostly going through all the files and alphabetizing them.
"Alive," she tossed it beside her, a sizable stack already there. She picked up another and flicked through it, glancing idly over at the boxes she still had to go through. There were so many and she had barely made a dent. She had possibly gotten through three or four of the boxes and there were at least four more to go. She rubbed her temples.
"Alive," she tossed it to the side again. And so she went like that for a while, picking up folders where she had spread them across her desk. Most were easy. She really only had to look at the last page to figure out if they were alive or dead. She placed active shinobi in a separate pile from civilians. She had to have access to those first and foremost.
"Sakura?" she heard Gaara's call from another room. She tossed the last folder on her desk to the side and blearily looked around, as if someone had just jerked her from a daydream. She had managed to get through an entire box without realizing. "Sakura, where are you?" she became alert at the repeated summons and she picked herself up, following the sound of Gaara's voice, completely forgetting that she was angry with him.
"Sorry, I woke up and you weren't here so I got back to sorting the files," Sakura said as she came into the kitchen, catching Gaara putting away the last of the groceries. She instantly felt terrible at her irate feelings from a couple hours ago. He was just out getting breakfast for her and she had the audacity to jump to the worst conclusions.
"You needed sleep," he said simply. "I left a note for you on the nightstand, you didn't see it?"
"I didn't think to look," Sakura said sheepishly, taking a seat at the bar. Gaara turned to her and began to cut some watermelon. After a moment, he handed her some and she gladly began to eat it. "So, anything on the agenda for today?" she asked in between bites, staring up at him as he sliced.
"Nothing really, I was just planning to spend the day with you. Would you like to do something?" Gaara had thought she would have liked some rest and relaxation after the past half a month. It was exhausting her, he could tell. Sakura sighed, biting her lip and looking away from him. She was obviously thinking. Gaara could tell when she was thinking now because she never looked at him when she did.
"Well, I really do need to get those files sorted through. Before Monday, I might add," Sakura sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "How about we get Temari and Kankorou over here? If I promise to go shopping with Temari tomorrow she'll help me with the files and Kankorou can keep you company." Gaara scoffed and pulled a face, causing Sakura to laugh. "Oh come on, he's your brother, he really can't be that bad."
"That's what you think."
"Or you could help Temari and I with the files," Sakura taunted, knowing that Gaara would rather spend time with his brother than sort through more paperwork. He already had that daunting task to deal with at the office, going through all the hospital fund records and such. It was starting to annoy him to be honest.
"Speaking of files, I remember I had something to talk to you about," Gaara said, stopping his work. Sakura perked up at the change of subject, though he was sure she was going to bring up bringing his siblings over sooner or later and he still couldn't say no to her.
"What's up?" she asked, grabbing another piece of watermelon and biting into it.
"It's about the hospital funds. I've sorted through most of it. You were right. A lot of the salaries are still being granted to dead people. I have to look into the bank accounts and seize the money back." Gaara sighed. "The hospital budget is going to be a harder concept to tackle though. Someone's been underspending and taking the rest for themselves."
"Not going to say it!" Sakura said as she bit into her snack. Gaara stared at her, speechless for a moment. She met his eyes and quickly shook her head. He was interested to say the least.
"Who do you think it is?"
"It isn't obvious?"
"Sakura."
"Sachi!" Sakura gave him a look that said 'duh.' Gaara fell silent for a long minute, thinking over what she had said.
"Possibly. That is actually a good idea. If this is true she'll be fired and I know you'll be happy about that," Gaara said, watching Sakura carefully. She only shrugged, sucking on a particularly juicy part of her fruit. Gaara only chuckled, watching her, before getting back on track. "Anyways, I addressed the council and they agreed that we need a new hospital. With the salary issue coming to light, we have more than enough money to build it."
"Oh, that's good."
"However, I want you to oversee it."
"What? Why me?"
"Because you know how best a hospital should be laid out so it will run efficiently. I'm not saying be an architecture, Sakura, we have artisans for that, but the general floorplan would be nice." Sakura stared at him, her snack long forgotten in her hands. After a few moments he grew unnerved as he watched her. "What?"
"Are you serious?" Gaara was taken aback. Of course he was serious. He gently probed the sand on her wrist, as she still wouldn't allow him to take back that piece of himself, and found that she was more surprised than anything else. A great surge of happiness hit him and his eyes flew up at her to catch her lifting herself over the bar and launching herself at him. He caught her easily in his arms and was relieved to see there wasn't any food on the floor.
"What was that about?" he asked, not sure what to make of it.
"It's such a great honor and I really don't know what to say!" Sakura hiccuped and Gaara pulled back from her to find she was crying. Fear surged through him and he wiped the tears away hurriedly, afraid he had done something wrong and had to comfort her now.
"Don't cry, Sakura," he said softly, shooting her a worried look. She smiled at him and he stopped, thoroughly confused. Why was she smiling? She was crying and smiling at the same time. Did that mean she wasn't sad? If she wasn't sad then why was she crying.
"Gaara, it made me so happy I started crying. People don't cry just because they're sad, you know," she gave him a glorious, glowing smile, the one that always made him want to kiss her. Without realizing it, he was kissing her. It was that damned smile, he told himself as he pulled away. He seriously couldn't hold back from kissing her when she wore that damn smile.
"Well that's good," he said after he gave her another kiss. He held her for a few more long moments, savoring the way she felt in his arms, cradled against his body. He always savored these moments; he didn't know how many of them he would be able to have with her.
"We should go get Temari and Kankorou," Sakura giggled, finally pulling away from him.
"Well, go change. We can't go get them when you look like that," he smirked at her when she looked down. She was in panties and a large shirt of his. He definitely liked it when she wore that to bed, but she couldn't really go out in public like that.
"Fine, but I'm taking a shower first." Sakura giggled and went for the stairs, knowing Gaara would be behind her sooner or later. True to her thoughts, he quickly joined her for a shower. No matter how many times she washed his body, she couldn't get enough. There was barely a scar on his smooth chest and he often shuddered when she touched his stomach. Gaara wasn't a rough person, though he wasn't overly muscular either, but he was smooth and blemish free, which was quite hard to find in a shinobi.
"Why do you always tease me?" Gaara asked, watching her wash lower and lower, though never touching his length. The inappropriate thoughts during their showers had come back ever since that night more than two weeks ago and he couldn't seem to get it out of his head. They both had been too busy to intimately interact with one another again, but it was mostly on his mind, and from the flashes of emotions he still got from his sand, it was mostly on her mind as well.
"I'm trying not to tease you, that's why I'm staying away from that area," Sakura said, though her eyes were focused on his stomach. She was blushing, he knew, and he thought it endearing. He stopped for a moment, then. Did he really just think that a girl was endearing? Well if it had to be someone, at least it was Sakura, who seemed to reciprocate his feelings. At least to the point that she wasn't pushing him away now as he pushed his arms around her form and pulled her roughly against him, pressing his mouth against hers in an insistence he hadn't quite ever felt before.
Sakura let out a soft squeak as he pushed her against the wall, his mouth still on hers in a feverish flurry of kisses and soft bites to her lip. Then her hands were in his hair and she was pressing back just as insistently. It seemed as though she had lost her bearings and had finally caught up to what was happening. Gaara trailed his hands down her body and lifted her up, pressing her back to the cool wall of the shower, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist to stabilize herself. Her lips were still on his and he was getting lost in the feeling.
"How long has it been?" her breathless voice was in his ear the moment he pulled away, trailing soft, hurried kisses from her mouth to her neck, attacking her there with the same ferocity as he had her mouth. Her hands, now on his shoulders, tightened perceptibly and she leaned into him, letting out a soft gasp.
"More than two weeks," he mumbled quickly before harshly biting her neck, smoothing his tongue over the mark to soothe it. Her hips rolled against his and he had to stop for a moment to groan, a low and deep guttural noise. She was enticing, that was true, and he wasn't about to walk away from her teasing this time. His hands were back on her hips as he pushed up and fluidly into her, causing her to toss her head back and moan, granting him the perfect opportunity to bury his head in her neck.
He didn't let her reprieve last long before he began pumping into her with a ferocity he didn't quite know he had with this position. Her hands on his shoulders tightened into a death grip, digging into his skin, surely to leave marks. He didn't care. She felt amazing and the sounds she made were driving him closer and closer to the edge of insanity they both desperately craved.
Her moans were driving him to move harder, faster, and she was gaining volume. His hold on her body tightened as he drove into her and she let out an ear-piercing shriek as her walls contracted around him, though he managed a few more thrusts before he joined her. He let her slide down the wall and enveloped her in a hug as they came down from their high.
"I, um, you needed that, huh?" she let out a shaky laugh and carefully disconnected herself from him, pulling his length out of her. Her legs gave out and he caught her within the next moment, holding her up, a smirk on his face.
"Did I do that?" he feigned innocence, though the smirk still present ruined it. Sakura only whacked at his shoulder. She leaned against him for a minute before she carefully put her weight back on her own legs.
"I'm fine now," she turned away from him and grabbed the soap. Gaara pulled the shampoo down from above her head and began to wash her hair, thinking it was the least he could do after giving her such a sensory overload. He spun her around so he was sure she didn't get soap in her eyes. After he rinsed out her hair for her and applied conditioner, he let her lean against the wall for a moment.
"You okay?" he was worried now. He was worried that he had gone too roughly for her and she was broken in some way.
"I'm fine, Gaara, she gave him a smile and a breathy giggle. "You just went a little hard. Don't give me that look it's normal. Haven't you ever been around after you fucked a girl?" At the look on Gaara's face, she turned red and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—" she sputtered.
"Don't worry," Gaara pulled her back under the warm spray of the water and rinsed the conditioner out of her hair. "Go on and get dressed, I've got to finish," he leaned forward to kiss her, unknowing of how else to let her know she hadn't hurt his feelings. She only smiled at him and nodded, picking her way carefully out of the tub.
When Gaara got out of the shower and back into the bedroom, Sakura was just putting on a skirt. He had to say he was really enjoying the civilian clothes she had taken to wearing while in Suna. Her training outfit really had done her no justice and he quite liked looking at her curves. She sat on the bed while he dried himself and dressed.
"What are we doing now?" Gaara asked, sitting beside her.
"Going to get your siblings so Temari can help me with all those folders," Sakura giggled and Gaara sighed. It was just like Sakura to do work while she was supposed to be relaxing, but Gaara could see why she did it. She needed to get everything in order first before she could work on making the actual hospital better.
"Fine," he stood and pulled her up beside him. Sakura laughed and pulled away from him, making her way down the stairs. Gaara was curious and followed her, only to find she was walking down the street and he wondered why. It would be much faster if they just went to his siblings' houses rather than walked.
"We never just walk somewhere, Gaara!" Sakura called over her shoulder, like she knew he was lagging behind her and that he was questioning her actions. "Come on, slowpoke, or else we won't get your siblings here before nightfall!" Gaara only smirked and shook his head, walking to catch up to her where she stopped.
"Why would you want to walk somewhere, Sakura. I thought it was too hot out here for you." Gaara was poking fun at her, back from when she had complained that it was too damned hot to go anywhere half the time. It had come after she had held class for the medics and he had a feeling she had simply been tired, but he never let her forget it now.
"Shut up, Gaara." Sakura didn't have a much better comeback other than that. Gaara only chuckled. He walked with his hands in his pockets, though when Sakura looped her arm around his he didn't pull away. Several villagers pointed and whispered, several girls looking crestfallen. Gaara cast a glance at Sakura to see if she noticed, but she walked happily along, blissfully unaware of the curious whispers and death glares from jealous girls who had hoped to be hanging from Gaara's arm.
"Sakura!"
Sakura turned quickly and smiled at the approaching man. He seemed subdued for a moment after catching a look at Gaara, but didn't back away. He nervously walked slowly the rest of the way towards Sakura. Gaara judged her emotions. She didn't seem uncomfortable or mildly terrified. Those feelings had all but gone away since the Gala, but she was still wary around the villagers she didn't know. From her calm posture, Gaara assumed this man had to be from one of her classes.
"Hey, Satoru," Sakura shook his hand. "What did you need?"
"Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt your outing with the Kazekage," he began shakily, nervously laughing after he dropped her hand rather quickly to scratch the back of his head. Gaara sized him up, an emotion he wasn't familiar with bubbling in his stomach. He didn't like him. He didn't like the fact Satoru thought he could just walk to Sakura in the street. He swept his long brown hair out of his blue eyes, an open but nervous smile on his face.
"It's fine, we were just going to visit his brother and sister, that's all." Gaara placed a hand on the small of her back, his stance slightly offensive. He didn't like this. "What did you need?" Sakura bit her lip, like she knew Gaara was getting antsy and protective. Or was it possessive? She really couldn't tell because the two seemed much the same with the quiet red-head.
"Oh, I heard that you took all the files from the hospital," he said, his voice still nervous. He periodically glanced at Gaara, as though he was rethinking what he was going to say. "I was wondering if you needed any help with them."
Sakura smiled, though she couldn't possibly take him up on his offer. Gaara was growing increasingly antsy and she felt that if she had the man around Gaara might just kill him out of jealousy. "It's okay, I'm almost done sorting through it all anyways. Just go enjoy your day off," she nodded to him and began to turn away.
"O-oh, uh, okay, bye," he sort of half-waved and turned quickly, almost running back down the street. Sakura began walking with Gaara again.
"You didn't have to be so mean to him, he just wanted to help," Gaara could almost hear the pout in her voice. He didn't look down at her, merely continued on his way to his sister's house. Sakura hadn't returned her arm to its previous position, though his hand hadn't fallen from the small of her back. She really couldn't tell what he was being or what he was feeling, but she wasn't so sure she really liked it.
"I don't like him," Gaara said finally after several moments of silence. Sakura looked up at him, her eyes fierce and he knew he just picked a fight with her.
"You don't like anyone," she countered, pulling away from his hand. They walked side by side now, not touching, and it frustrated Gaara. He just wanted to keep Sakura to himself and out of any other's males vision, where they could fall in love with her and take her away from him. His anger diluted his conscious, he didn't even find himself surprised at that train of thought and at that moment he wasn't even resentful of thinking it.
"He just wanted to get alone with you," he said gruffly, glaring at the distance instead of chancing a look down at Sakura and betraying his emotions. Temari's place was coming into view and he couldn't be more grateful. Hopefully his sister could distract Sakura and make her forget about this whole thing. He certainly just wanted to leave Sakura with her and find someplace to cool off so he didn't have to deal with these thoughts or emotions.
"Oh, so other guys can't be interested in me?" Sakura was becoming more heated, her tongue more pointed, and she wasn't thinking anymore. When someone riled her up, she punched first and asked questions later, even if that punch were her words. "Last I knew, Gaara, you weren't dating me and if I left to go back to Konoha, you probably wouldn't even miss me!" Sakura began moving faster, leaving Gaara behind. His eyes narrowed in anger and he held himself from throwing his sand to halt her and bring her back so he could unleash his anger. Instead he turned on the spot and walked away from her.
"Hey, what's up?" Temari answered the door after the first knock and she was smiling brightly, until she got a look at the expression on Sakura's face. She opened the door wider, her face falling, and let Sakura in silently. She could tell Sakura was quite upset, though only visibly angry. Who knew what other emotions were laying beneath the surface, getting ready to explode out of her? "Alright, what he'd do this time?" she had a feeling it had to do with her silly little brother.
"He got jealous of one of the medics I was training because the guy asked if he could help me! I said no, which I really shouldn't have because he was just trying to be nice, but Gaara started acting all weird and just shoved off and made me angry!" Sakura vented the moment Temari shut the door. "The one day where I just want to take a walk to go and get you and Kankorou and Gaara pulls this! You'd think he just wants to keep me locked away and all to himself, to the point that you guys are the only ones in my life."
"Sakura, that's how its been for almost three months," Temari laughed, flopping on the couch. "Gaara forced himself out of his comfort zone for you and then he protected you from everything and everyone, keeping you safe with him. For a while it was only us and him for you. He isn't too used to change, so being able to go out and able to make friends without his pushing and guidance is probably hard for him." Temari never thought she would have to psychoanalyze her little brother for Sakura, as Sakura was quite good at doing that on her own. Gaara didn't like change. That's why he holed himself up in the office for days on end and didn't go out or meet new people. He hated new people. That's probably why he had gotten along with Sakura so well. She had hated everyone new for a while.
"Well, yeah, but it isn't like he's got this claim over me that he can keep each and every male approaching me! This guy was just trying to be nice and friendly, he's married, and Gaara's just freaking out like he wants to take me back to the classroom and have his way with me on my desk. What is with him?!" Sakura threw her head in her hands. She had never had these problems with Gaara before and it was probably because she had never pushed back against him before. She had simply gone along with whatever he wanted and now it was that she found her own free will again and found things that annoyed her about him that definitely hadn't before.
"Gaara's never had a girlfriend." Sakura looked up and a small gasp escaped her throat. "He's had girls in his bed, but nothing serious," Temari continued, idly playing with the television remote, as if she was wondering if she should turn it on or not. "He's been with you night and day for three months. He's probably had sex with you, not that I want to know. That's Gaara's claim I suppose. He doesn't like to label things."
"So because he's gotten attached to me, I'm his...significant other or something?!" Sakura groaned. She wished Gaara would have just said something before she had screamed that faux pas at him only minutes ago.
"Yeah, pretty much. He gets attached, he doesn't particularly like sharing after that. He got attached to my cat once. I haven't seen it since and I think it died about a year ago," Temari said thoughtfully before tossing the remote on the couch and bouncing up. "Alright, since the psychoanalyzing of my little brother is over, what were you coming here for anyways? That little altercation must have happened on the way here because I'm sure you would have just destroyed his house if you got into a fight there."
"You know me too well," Sakura said, a smile on her face as she raised herself. She was still fuming, that was for sure, but Temari managed to quell most of the anger, especially with that story about her cat lost to an amorous Gaara. The thought put another smile on her face. "I just need help sorting through the hospital files at my house. I'll take you shopping tomorrow if you help," the last part was a sing-song, and Temari's displeased face turned into one of thoughtfulness.
"Shopping spree that you'll pay for? Deal," she laughed and looked around her house. "Eh, anything here is at your house, let's go." They began towards the door. Temari opened it and stepped back. "Well, okay, I'll be waiting at you're house," she gave Sakura a fleeting apologetic look and then was gone very, very quickly. Sakura, curious, looked around the door to find Gaara, his face still twisted in anger. At seeing him, Sakura felt some remnants of anger rise up within herself as well.
"What do you want?" she muttered, stepping away from the door and back into Temari's house. She leaned up against the far wall, away from him so she could keep her distance and look him in the eye. In case he decided a murderous rampage was the way to go, she would keep her chances at living and getting out of the house in a higher percentile.
Gaara grumbled, refusing to meet her eyes. He didn't know what to say. Often he didn't, he just chose to let things lie. He didn't want to do that. Sakura was still in the center of everything and something within him couldn't bear to be angry with her or push her away like he had been. He wanted to hold her and hug her, let her know he was sorry that way. The words just weren't coming out and she was so far away.
"That doesn't qualify as words," Sakura said, looking away. Gaara glared at the floor. He crossed the room in two long strides and pulled her to his body, crushing her to his chest, and hugging her with all his might. He may not have the words, but he could try and show her by holding her like she was the only thing in the world right now.
"Sorry," he finally mumbled into her ear, comforted now that she was close and wasn't pushing away from him. Her anger seemed to have abated somewhat and she allowed him to hold her, though made no move to wrap her arms around him. Gaara didn't let her go for long minutes, holding her tightly to his body, almost to the point she was having a hard time breathing, trying to make her forgive him in an act of intimacy.
"Gaara, you didn't have to be so mean to him," her voice came out hard and she flinched. She didn't mean to be so harsh, but the anger was still there, fueling her, and she couldn't help it. She felt him sigh,
"I don't know why," his voice was strained. "It was odd. I shouldn't have. I apologize," his voice was still strained, like he was struggling to find the words to make it okay and make her forgive him. He still hadn't let her go, his face buried in her neck, refusing to look at her. "No one else should have you," his voice was clear and confident this time, like he was okay with saying it to her and he firmly believed his words.
"I'm not yours, Gaara, you can't make those decisions for me," she said, trying to draw away from him, but his hold only tightened and he pulled her back to him, holding her tightly, securely, like he was afraid that she would drop off the face of the earth and cease to exist if he let her go.
"Then be mine," his voice came out quickly, harshly, as though the words weren't thought through before they jumped off his tongue. Sakura stopped trying to fight him and stood still, unable to understand what he had just said. Did he just say that? Did he mean that? "No one else should have you. You should be mine," he said into her neck, still afraid to look at her. It wasn't often that he was afraid of anything, but he couldn't bear to look at her only to find rejection in her eyes. He didn't think he could deal with Sakura's rejection. He felt like he would cease to exist if she did.
"That's all you had to say," her voice was still hard, but he didn't pull her back to him when she tried to draw away form him this time. "Come on, let's go get your brother and go home," she offered him her hand and a timid smile. Gaara nodded to her and grasped her hand tightly. He had realized when he was in the training area, working out his frustrations, that he had taken Sakura's affection for granted and he just expected her to think she was his. He had never said it or expressed it in any way that what they had was serious and he found he made a major error there. He had decided to go back then, hoping she would understand and he wouldn't have to say it.
"We're doing it my way," before Sakura could open the door. Sakura looked at him, but only nodded, locking the door, and turned to him, holding onto his hand still. He took them to the front door of his brother's house, knocking sharply on the door. He answered quickly and Gaara figured there wasn't a girl in there to distract him like there so often was.
"What's up, little brother," Kankorou smiled widely and leaned against the doorframe.
"Come, Temari's already at my house." Kankorou only laughed and nodded, locking and shutting his door. Gaara only placed his hand on his brother's shoulder and brought them all to his kitchen, where Temari was eating the watermelon Gaara had left on the bar earlier. She sighed in relief, though Gaara couldn't dream of why.
"My living room isn't destroyed is it?" she asked and Sakura burst out laughing, shaking her head from side to side. It was certainly entertaining that would be the first thing Temari would say and Gaara couldn't help but smirk himself. He looked around the kitchen to Kankorou.
"Okay, Temari and I are going to go and sort through files. You and Gaara," she pointed to Kankorou, "can have some brother time." She and Temari snickered as they left the room. Kankorou only looked at Gaara for several moments.
"Movie?"
"Movie."
"Jesus Christ, girl, how many files do you have to go through?" Temari asked, looking around the messed study. There were files everywhere. There was a sizable stack on the desk and a smaller stack on the floor next to it, and a stack on one of the two armchairs in the room. "It looks like a filing cabinet exploded in here!"
"I know. The wonders of the hospital system in this village. I've spent a while going through a lot of these files just to see who's alive and who's dead." She pointed to a pile on one of the shelves of a bookcase. "That's all the employees. They were all at the top and any employees before that are dead." She caught the look on Temari's face. "Gaara checked." Temari only relaxed and nodded.
"Okay, well, how many boxes do we have to do?" Temari asked, looking around. There were boxes scattered around the door. Sakura only pointed to the box on the left side of the door. "What about the other ones?" There were only three in the pile Sakura pointed to and Temari pointed to a pile of five.
"Those are moldy and disgusting. I figured if they were old like that then they weren't files I wanted," Sakura shrugged and pulled one of the boxes off the pile and set it between her and Temari on the floor. She figured they could just do it down here and she could put them in the piles where they belonged when they were done.
"That's actually pretty smart. I probably would have gone through all of them only to find that they're dead and I should have thrown them out in the first place." Sakura only nodded. "What if someone is alive, though, and are in, like, a retirement home or something?" Temari asked, her voice thoughtful. Sakura only shrugged.
"I checked all the nursing homes in the village. They have all their medical files on hand so if the people were brought to the hospital, the file would be brought with them. I thought it was a good idea because most of the homes can treat the patient themselves. They keep the file in the room or house, depending on the community," she shrugged. "I'll probably order copies so the hospital staff doesn't have to worry in the future. It isn't like they're good at their jobs anyways."
"I know! I went there to get a tetanus shot and they told me they were out, so I went there everyday for like three months before I could even be cleared for missions again and they were always out. I ended up going on my mission and posing as an injured civilian in one of the towns I came across to get it. It was obnoxious," Temari huffed as she flicked through a couple files, tossing some to the left and some to the right. "The deceased are on the right," she added as an afterthought.
"Well, the medics weren't trained at all. They can heal minor cuts and bruises, surface stuff, but I asked one of them what they should do for a collapsed lung and he just broke down and couldn't answer. It was actually kind of embarrassing. They shouldn't even called medic nins, just glorified healers," Sakura griped, flicking through a few folders of her own. Temari only nodded in time with her words.
"A lot of them are pretty bad shinobi too. They aren't even on the active roster because they would never be able to hold their own in a fight, let alone heal their fallen comrades." Temari tossed a few folders to the side. Sakura only scoffed.
"I'm not going to teach them how to fight, I'm only here to teach them how to heal properly," she said, reaching into the box for more folders. "They can be put into genin teams again if Gaara wants to teach them how to fight. They sure as hell aren't getting Tsunade's secrets. That's for my own student I'll have one day," Sakura threw folders to the side. The right pile was just a mess of folders and papers, while the left was kept in a somewhat neat pile.
"Yeah, I guess I can agree," Temari said. They continued on with the folders for a while in silence. "So, what happened at my house? Did you guys really avoid destroying the living room?" Both Sakura and Gaara were not well known for leaving a place intact if they were angry, save for their own household.
"Well I was angry, but that doesn't mean I was going to break down a wall trying to hit him, especially when his sand would have just blocked me anyways," Sakura said, her voice disinterested. "He really just hugged me really tight and wouldn't let go. I'm not very sure why." Sakura had never really dealt with anyone quite like Gaara. Naruto was quite open with his feelings and the rest of her friends were mostly girls. Girls never had an issue gossiping and talking about things with other girls.
"We all know that Gaara sucks at talking, Sakura. He could never get his words out, especially when he's upset, and either holds it in or lets it out with a burst of rage. Or he avoids the person he's wronged and just never sees them again." Each instance had happened several times throughout the youngest sibling's life and Temari remembered each and every time she and Kankorou had to fix their old house when they lived together. Gaara wasn't good with feelings.
"He did manage to get it out, though," Sakura said, "it took him a couple minutes, but he finally said what was on his mind and it kind of made it a lot easier to calm down," she said simply. Temari only nodded. She had never thought Gaara would figure out how to talk about his emotions, mostly because he didn't seem to know he had them and could put them into words without breaking down a wall or breaking someone's face.
"For a long time, all Gaara felt was anger and betrayal. After the first chuunin exams way back when and he met Naruto, he calmed down and was able to come to peace with the monster inside him. After it was torn away from him, he was finally able to sleep without fear of the monster and it made way for him to feel something other than anger." Temari had never told this to anyone really, afraid Gaara would dislike her for it, but this was Sakura so she figured it was alright. "He was still cold and distant, but ever since you came along he's been substantially warmer."
"Okay, I can't really believe that." Sure Gaara was warm and comfortable with Sakura, but she didn't know how he acted around other people, though the way he acted around Satoru was how she thought he acted around everyone save for her.
"Alright maybe it's like a fraction of a minimal difference in his personality, but it's still there," Temari laughed and Sakura even managed a smile. "He's happier with you around. And you were the first person ever that he hasn't caused bodily harm to for pissing him off." Sakura made a face at her that made her burst out in laughter again. "The first person that wasn't related to him." Sakura nodded and went back to the files in her hands.
"Geez, we're already done with the first box," Sakura said after she reached in for more files. Temari broke out into a smile and rose to grab another box. "I'm glad I asked you to help me with this," Sakura admitted. "It makes it a lot faster between two people who like to talk." Gaara hadn't helped her and Sakura hadn't expected him to, only because he had more paperwork and files to go through than she did and she didn't want to ask him to do more work outside of his office.
"Yeah, no problem. The shopping tomorrow helps too," Temari sat back down and grabbed a large stack of files from the box. Sakura did the same and was struck with how very alike Temari and Ino were. She felt like she was almost back in Konoha, holed up in Ino's room and looking at the shop catalogs for the village. Sure they had mostly done it when they were younger, but it still struck her and made her stop for a moment. She slightly missed her village now.
"I don't know, maybe we could go shopping in Konoha soon," Sakura said, though she didn't look up at Temari's face to see her reaction, keeping her eyes carefully trained on the files in her hands. She hadn't brought up a visit to Konoha to anyone, not even Gaara, but it had been on her mind for the past couple of weeks and she knew she couldn't avoid it forever, even if she could put it off for a couple more months.
"That would be fun, I think," from the tone in Temari's voice, Sakura could tell she was treading lightly, cautiously, so she wouldn't say anything out of line or wrong. She didn't want to, but Sakura was much like Gaara, and the wrong thing could set her off if caution was not applied.
"I suppose," she said softly, throwing a couple folders to the side.
"Dinner's ready." Sakura jumped about a foot in the air, scattering the neatly stacked files all towards Gaara, who watched silently. She sighed and picked them up, placing them on the desks with the others.
"Okay," she said, waiting to follow him out the door. Temari trailed behind her, knowing Gaara had been listening in on the last part of their conversation, and she couldn't tell whether he was upset or glad she was thinking about returning home for a visit. Who knows? Maybe she'd decide to stay there. That wouldn't make Gaara happy at all.
Gaara handed Sakura a plate and sat down with her on the couch. He was silent as he ate, watching whatever movie Kankorou had put in. He and Kankorou weren't close, not like his sister would like them to be. He shook his head and looked towards Sakura, checking her food like he always did. She seemed to be eating most of it.
"How far are you guys on the files?" Kankorou asked between bites.
"Almost done, actually," Sakura said, placing her mostly empty plate on the coffee table. "I only have about a box and a half left." Kankorou smiled.
"That's good. I'm very happy that the hospital is getting on the right track for once. I never go there after the whole thing with Sasori's poison. I may as well just wait for you," Kankorou laughed. "Even after this whole process is finished, I think I'll still wait for you."
"That isn't very smart, you know," Sakura laughed. "The medics will be trained well before you know it and you'll be able to trust them just as much as me!"
"I don't think so. I think I'll always have to wait for you," Kankorou winked and Gaara glared. Temari elbowed her brother in the stomach and Kankorou began coughing, trying to catch his breath around the bite of food he'd almost choked on. "What was that for, Temari?! That wasn't very nice." Sakura collapsed in laughter, leaning against Gaara for support.
"We don't think Gaara appreciated your tone," she said between giggles. Kankorou broke into understanding.
"Sorry Gaara," he laughed sheepishly. Gaara only glared at him again and he shrunk back slightly. He turned to the movie instead, keeping his attention off his little brother. Temari only shrugged and Sakura finally regained her breath.
"Should we go back to sorting?" Sakura asked Temari. Temari only sighed and nodded, getting up to join her. "See you in a bit," she gave a little half-wave to Gaara, who only nodded, watching her leave the room. He reluctantly went back to the movie, wishing her body was still next to his. He had made her take the couple of days off because he missed her, but she was out of his reach still. He sighed.
"What's up, little brother?" Kankorou asked, though he kept his attention carefully on the television instead of turning to Gaara. He didn't want to see his brother's face, in case he was still angry about his comment from earlier.
"Nothing," Gaara got up and left the room. A few moments later, Temari came out, looking slightly frustrated.
"Gaara just whisked Sakura away. Jesus, you'd think he could learn how to share someone's attention," she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. She sighed. "Well, Kanky, seems like I'm replacing Sakura with you, come on and help me finish with these boxes."
"But Temari!" Kankorou whined. "I don't want to do that stuff!"
"Do it and I'll buy you those tools you've been eying to build those new puppets you keep talking about," Temari bated him, smirking when she knew she had him. He turned a dreamy eye to her, practically salivating.
"You mean it?"
"Mhm, I'll go and get them tomorrow." Kankorou was up within a second and brushed past Temari into the study. Temari blinked. She had never thought she'd see her brother move so fast when his life wasn't in danger.
"Gaara, where are we going?" Sakura asked, her voice exasperated. Gaara was basically pulling her down the street, taking her to some unknown destination. He had just whisked her away from the study after only a few moments of looking through more files and she couldn't begin to think of why. He had been perfectly fine the few minutes before that.
"Up the wall," he said simply. She only nodded and allowed him to lead her up the defense wall. They passed several chuunin, a couple jounin, and an anbu in his mask, leaning against the railing. They all nodded to Gaara as they passed and the jounin gave Sakura a smile; they knew her from the shinobi bar. Sakura smiled back at them, but she didn't waste any time saying hello. Gaara was walking with a sense of purpose. She kept up with him rather well and he pulled her to a high point of the wall.
He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against his side in the chilly midnight air. Sakura blinked, wondering why he brought her up here.
"Gaara, what—"
"Come here," his voice was gruff as he pulled her to the edge of the wall. He sat on the edge and looked over the desert. His hand still rested on her waist, but Sakura shivered slightly when his heat left her. She stared at him for a moment and then looked up over the wall and out into the desert. She was struck by the beauty and tranquility of the scene.
Gaara had a look of peace whilst he looked out the wall and she could understand why. She slowly sat down beside him on the wall, though with a gentle tug she was in his lap, caged in his arms. She would have never thought she would be here with him in such an intimate way, much less that Gaara would hold her in such a way.
"I like the nights of the full moon," he said quietly, smoothly. Sakura understood. The full moon seemed larger in the desert sky and it shone on the sand, turning it to an eerie, milky ocean, nothing out there to mar the view. The beauty was unique to her, as she had spent most of her life within the trees and mountains of fire country.
"Is that why you brought me up here?" she asked softly, pressing her body to his to absorb his heat. His clothes kept him cool during the day and warm at night, but Sakura still wore her morning clothes, when the air was hot and hung down on her. It made going out at night a little chillier and she shivered much more. Gaara tightened his hold on her, enjoying the way she felt like this. He had never brought her here, not even during the day, but the way she shivered gave him a reason to hold her closer and tighter.
"I wanted to be alone with you," he said, leaning his cheek on the side of her head. Sakura giggled.
"You're usually alone with me," she said pleasantly. Gaara sighed.
"Not for the past week," he said lowly. He had missed her. That was the reason for his acting up and he couldn't help it. He had never felt this way about another human being and it was foreign to him. He didn't know how to react when he wasn't getting her full attention anymore and he didn't know how to say he just wanted to hold her and be with her now. He didn't know how their relationship had spiraled out of control like this, but he supposed it couldn't be helped anymore.
"Gaara, this is a mission you ultimately assigned me. Problem?" she giggled.
"My problem lies with the fact I don't see you save for when we go to bed," he said, still staring out at the moonlit sand. He missed talking to her like this. For the past couple of weeks, they had been in the same room, but hadn't talked or communicated much. Sakura was much of his social interaction, even when she hadn't been much for talking.
"Sure you see me," she said, still not finding fault. "We spend dinner together and we usually stay in the study until it's time to go to bed."
"Correction, Sakura, you've been making me dinner and then you hole up in the study and expect me to sit with you. Then I either drag you off to bed, or wait for you to finish for the night, which usually isn't until five in the morning, and we go to bed for three hours." He wasn't feeling the closeness they had shared the first couple of months and he was beginning to miss it. In those first couple of months she was always in his arms, every night, and was always latched onto him during the day. He had known he'd have to give her up during the day, but he hadn't known he wouldn't have her pressed to him during the night anymore because she didn't know when to stop working.
"Well, you want me to reform the hospital, don't you? It takes a lot of work, Gaara," she sighed. She didn't want to talk about this. She hadn't found much fault with branching out on her own now and taking on the responsibility of the hospital now. She wanted to do a good job and that meant pulling sleepless nights and running low on chakra as she taught the substandard medics and attended to patients in the substandard hospital. She had only stopped for a couple days because Gaara hadn't given her a choice, otherwise she'd still be at it.
"You could pace yourself," he said grumpily. Sakura only bit her lip. Gaara pulled his arms from around her and turned her face to hers. She refused to look at him. "I need to see you," he said softly, trying to make her see that staying away from her doesn't work for him. He kissed her, harshly, and she reacted quickly, a soft yelp leaving her lips in surprise. His hold was impossibly tight around her waist and her breath was quickly leaving her. "It doesn't have to be done in a day, or a week, or a month," he said, pulling back from her, though he was still pressed too closely to her to look in her eyes.
"It won't be done that soon," Sakura said softly. "A project such as this would never be able to be done in a month, but I can at least extradite the procedure so it'll get done sooner."
"So you can go home sooner?" Sakura stopped. So he had been listening earlier. She didn't want to return home still. The subject was still sore and terrifying to her. It still didn't seem like her home, but some place she didn't know much about, somewhere nice to vacation maybe. That's what it seemed like to her for now. It was foreign now and unfamiliar territory.
"Gaara, you know where I stand on that," she said softly, turning to look out over the desert again. She understood now. He was afraid he was going to lose her and he definitely didn't want to. The fact he was pulling up that they didn't spend as much time with her now told her that. His actions and attitude was also a signal she had overlooked.
"Do I?" there was fear in his voice and she wasn't even sure that he knew it. His actions and feelings were spurred on by the ultimate fear of losing her, a fear that he had never felt before and therefore didn't know how to react to it other than to act out.
"Yes," she said, staring at him now, pulling herself away to look at him better. Gaara looked back at her with a look on his face she had never seen before. She couldn't even begin to describe it. After looking at him for long moments, she finally sighed and looked away. "Do you think it's time to go back now?" Though she certainly enjoyed the view, it was steadily becoming colder and she didn't know how much longer she could stay out in the desert night, even when she was pressed against Gaara.
"I think so," his voice was soft and calm, a tone she had only heard once before, when he had been trying to calm her the night of the Gala. She began to carefully pull herself off him, but he wouldn't allow her. She turned a curious gaze to him, but he didn't give an explanation. He stood, cradling her small body in his arms, and took them back to their bedroom.
"You didn't have to do that," her voice was soft now as he stood in the dark room, her body still cradled to his chest.
"I know," he said, crossing the bed after he kicked off his shoes. He placed her on the bed. She began to get up immediately, intent on heading towards the bathroom, but then he was on top of her, pushing her into the bed.
"Time for bed," he said, pulling her close to him and molding his body against hers. There was nothing he wanted more in this moment than to be close to her and hold her. This need to be close to her was new to him and now that he had her, after this day of ups and downs, he didn't want to let her go, even for a few moments.
"I have to change, though," Sakura sighed, trying to push herself up again. Gaara held her down still, keeping her caged and immobile. "Gaara," she was annoyed now. She wasn't comfortable in her street clothes. She just wanted to get into her pajamas, it wouldn't take that long. Gaara only scoffed and then he was on top of her, tugging the clothes off her body. "Gaara, what are you doing?!" Sakura blushed, though he couldn't see it in the darkness.
"Making you more comfortable," Gaara said simply, succeeding in tugging her tank top off and pulling her skirt off her long legs. He settled back down after he had gotten her clothes off, leaving her in her underthings. He was about to pull her back against his body when she sat up, pulling her underclothes off as well. He watched her and was captivated by her milky skin illuminated in the moonlight. Not even the moonlit desert could compare to her body lit by the open window.
"Take yours off too," her voice was soft still and he complied, sitting up and allowing her to divest him of his shirt. He pulled his pants and boxers off before laying back down. She didn't try to tease him or kiss him, merely found her place beside him. He brought her close to him, an arm wrapped tightly around her bare waist, keeping her secure in his embrace. Within moments, Sakura was asleep, his sheets and blanket wrapped around her waist. He relaxed into his bed, finally finding happiness that she was in his arms and it wasn't five in the morning. He felt himself drift off within a few moments.
