Sorry it took so long. Its the heat. Makes me lazier...
If i owned them, GaaSaku would be canon. Maybe.
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The next morning, Sakura awoke with an ache in her stomach. Her pillow was spotted with damp patches, and her arms were sore from clutching it to her face. She couldn't work out why, for a few seconds, then she remembered the events of the pervious day. A wave of misery swept over her, and she felt her throat tightening as she fought off tears.
She struggled with herself for a moment, trying to do what a proper kunochi would do and not cry. She had almost given in to tears when she noticed something odd, something that distracted her from the thought of death. Several something's, actually.
One, she was still in her training clothes from the day before.
Two, she was wearing neither her shoes, nor her bag of equipment, which was odd, as she could not remember taking them off.
And three, she could smell food cooking in her kitchen. Or rather, burning.
She got out of be, grimacing at the stiffness of her limbs. From her wardrobe, she shoved on her proper pajama's, and dragged on a sleeping gown. She shuffled over to the door and opened it, blinking furiously at the light in the lounge.
After the few moments it took for her eyes to adjust to the brightness, she saw Gaara in the kitchen, struggling with a spatula to get a substance that looked like egg from a pan. He hadn't seen her yet.
"Good morning," Sakura's voice was slightly croaky.
Gaara twitched, and look around, a very slight smile on his lips.
"Good morning, Sakura-chan. How are you? Are you hungry?"
"Better. And, yes, I am hungry."
"That's good. I made breakfast." He gestured at the contents of the pan, which showed clearly how little he cooked. Sakura smiled faintly and sat at the breakfast bar, pulling over a plate that he had just dished up.
He seems talkative today. She thought, taking a bite of whatever was on her plate.
It was surprisingly good, even though it looked… disgusting. When she glanced at Gaaras plate though, she saw he had kept the burnt food to himself.
"Its really good," she smiled slightly.
Gaara blushed lightly, and swallowed a large mouthful all at once, then suddenly began to choke. Coughing and spluttering, he motioned for a drink, but Sakura was already forcing one into his hand. He drank quickly, and the coughing soon subsided.
"Thanks," he smiled sheepishly and Sakura gave a quiet giggle.
They ate again in silence for a while longer, then Gaara's curiosity got the better of him.
"Um… Sakura-chan… May I ask…"
"Why I was crying?" Sakura finished for him. He is VERY talkative today. That's the first time he's started a conversation the whole time he's been here.
"Yeah, that."
"The Sasuke retrieval team returned. They didn't bring him back. Kyuubi almost broke free. Sasuke is dead." She spoke with no emotion in her voice, then suddenly burst into tears.
Putting down the piece of toast she was holding, she tried to wipe away her tears, but only succeeded in putting a trail of crumbs and butter across her cheeks, while the tears kept coming.
Unsure of what to do, Gaara began to rub her back hesitantly, slightly astonished by this sudden outburst of emotion. He was even more astonished when she turned towards him and leant on his shoulder, still crying. He put his arm around her awkwardly, his heart pounding nervously at how close they were. He held her as she cried, until her sobs became pathetic sounding hiccups.
"I…I'm sorry. I-I'm a kunochi, we a-aren't meant to sh-show emotion. I'm s-sorry." She sniffed, pulling away from Gaara and wiping her eyes, spreading more butter and crumbs on her face.
"You don't need to apologize." He reached across the breakfast bar and grabbed some tissues. "It's okay to mourn a lost teammate." He handed her the tissues, and she wiped her face with a grateful smile.
"Do you want to come see Naruto in the hospital with me today?" Sakura asked suddenly.
Gaara nodded, wanting to see how is first and closest friend was.
Sakura stood, swayed a little bit, regained her balance and looked at the clock. 10:50. Visiting hours began in 10 minutes.
"Let's go then." Sakura strode quickly to the door and threw it wide, walking out without a backwards glance. Gaara quickly followed, stepping out the door as she began down the steps.
"Sakura-chan, wait!" he called out, making her pause and look back. "Your, um, attire is, um, well…"
Sakura looked down and her eyes widened when she remembered she was still in her pajamas, with her hair all messy and a lot of crumbs still on her tear-streaked face.
"Yes, right then." She hurried back inside, shutting the door in Gaara's face as he began to follow. He opened it cautiously, in time to see her walk into the door frame as she tried to go into her room. She span dizzily away from the door, and tried a second time, with more success.
Now very anxious, Gaara walked to the door and stood just outside it, peering in to the dark interior. Sakura was grabbing things out of her wardrobe, and as she turned around, arms full, she tripped over the hem of her dressing gown, falling face-first into the wooden side of her bed with a sickening crunch.
Swearing, Gaara rushed over to her and crouched down beside her. Sakura began to cry as she tried to sit up, a trembling hand reaching to her face and pulling away covered in blood. Gaara expected her to scream, or cry harder at the sight of blood, like most girls he knew, even ninja's, would have. But Sakura stopped crying and shaking, calmly observing the blood on her hand. She stood suddenly, and walked from the room on steadier feet than before, Gaara trailing behind her.
Sakura went into her bathroom, and washed the blood off her hands. She observed her face in the mirror, covered in blood, and touched her nose tentatively, making her wince.
"Broken nose," she muttered.
Gaara hovered in the door way, not sure if she was muttering to herself, or for his benefit.
Sakura gathered healing chakra into her hand, and, gritting her teeth, wrenched her nose back into place, before properly healing it there. She checked her appearance in the mirror again before turning to Gaara, who was staring at her in awe.
"Just give me a minute, and I'll be ready."
Gaara nodded absentmindedly, still amazed by the skill and minimal fear of pain that Sakura had. Then he started, realizing something.
"You shouldn't be going anywhere, not in the state you're in at the moment." He reached his hand out to her in a motion to stop her.
Sakura walked towards the door, batting his hand away.
"Nonsense, I'm fine. It's just early."
Sakura stopped before him, and motioned for him to move from the doorway he was blocking. He stayed there, and Sakura stared up at him defiantly, lip sticking out stubbornly, until he gave in and moved aside. She walked past him, head held high, then stumbled forward a bit, and fell backwards.
Gaara caught her as she fell, by pure chance as he had began to follow her at just that moment. Her weight made him fall back, landing roughly against the doorframe, and slide down to sitting, Sakura unconscious in his lap.
Cursing loudly, he gently slid Sakura off his lap, and stood. He bent down, picked her up bridal-style, and hurried her to her room.
x-x-x-x-x
Sakura awoke, her head throbbing viciously. Opening her eyes seemed too difficult, as was moving any part of her body. She could tell she was on her own bed, but she could not remember how she had gotten there. All she could remember was walking out of her bathroom, then… nothing.
She could feel a wet weight on her forehead, and something else wet wiping her face gently. She opened her eyes slowly, allowing them to focus themselves.
Gaara was wiping the blood from her face, which Sakura had forgotten to wipe off earlier, but he withdrew his hand when she opened her eyes.
"Gaara." She sat up shakily, with Gaara supporting her.
"Are you okay?"
"I think so. But, I think you're right, I shouldn't be going anywhere." She smiled vaguely. "Can you go see Naruto for me and tell him why I can't visit him?"
"Of course," Gaara smiled agreeingly, (AN: I don't think agreeingly is even a word, but whatever.) glad she was seeing sense. He stood to go, and was about to walk into the lounge when Sakura called out,
"Gaara." He turned to her. "Thanks. For looking after me, even through my stubbornness."
"No problem." He smiled, his first proper smile for a few years.
x-x-x-x-x
Gaara stepped apprehensively through the door of Naruto's ward into the dim light, thinking about the nurses warning of his condition. Apparently, Naruto was refusing to speak, or even look at anyone, though Gaara was hoping that he would be a different story. Naruto was currently lying on his bed, blankets pulled up to his chin, his back to the door.
"Naruto."
The blonde didn't respond.
"Naruto." Gaara spoke more firmly this time.
Nothing.
Sighing, Gaara walked over to the window at Naruto's bedside, and peered at him through the darkness. His eyes were closed, his breathing slow and his face peaceful. Naruto appeared for all the world to be asleep. However, Gaara knew better.
"Naruto, you're not fooling me."
Still no reply.
"You know I can tell when you're not asleep. Remember that time, when you visited Suna to resolve that issue involving those Mist nin? And you were going to try to prank me in the middle of the night, so you pretended to be asleep. It was so obvious that you weren't. You're easy to read. Like a book, really."
More silence.
"Fine then. You rude, worthless ninja."
"Go away." Gaara knew exactly how to get a response from Naruto.
"Ah. That's more like it."
"What do you want? Can't you just leave me alone? It's all I want." The blonde turned away from his friend.
Gaara sat on the end of Naruto's bed, looking thoughfully at the roof.
"Now, why would you want that?"
"Like you don't know. Sakura would have told you. You're staying with her, aren't you? Where is she, anyway? "
"She wasn't feeling well enough to come. I mean, you can only expect that after she broke her nose and fainted."
"She did WHAT?"
"Broke her nose and fainted. She also walked into her doorframe." Gaara said offhandedly. "But she's alright now. And stop changing the subject. I want you to say it."
"Say what?"
"Why you don't want to talk to anyone."
"Why does it matter?"
"Because it does. Now say it." Gaara spoke in a final tone, which sounded vaguely reminiscent of his old maniacal do-what-I-say-or-I-will-crush-you voice.
"I killed Sasuke," he murmured. "I fucking killed him! I should never have gone on that mission. I knew my anger would get the best of me, and I knew Kyuubi was getting stronger, but no, I was so prideful, I wanted to prove I could bring him back. To show I could control myself. And now, he won't come back. He can't. Ever."
A long silence followed this outburst. Gaara opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't think of anything to say.
"Naruto, I…"
"Don't say anything. Just leave me alone."
Gaara stood and walked to the door, knowing he had pushed Naruto further than he should have. With a last glance at his friend, he closed the door and stepped into the hallway.
x-x-x-x-x
Sakura stared at the roof, trying to sleep, trying to do anything but think. It wasn't working very well.
The room was stifling, as any room would be with the curtains closed in the middle of the day.
Her throat felt like sandpaper, and her stomach was beginning to complain.
Gaara wasn't back yet.
And Sasuke was dead.
No matter how hard she tried, her thoughts always returned to Sasuke.
Naruto had said that there was no way that Sasuke could come back. That there couldn't be a next time. Tomorrow, Sakura intended to prove him wrong.
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DUN DUN DUN
What do you think'll happen now?
Yea.. Please review!! It makes me happy!
I'll try write the next chapter when i'm away camping, but i may not get it up until after the 10th, due to school restarting and such.
