A/N: Okay. Let's just face it. I'll never be on time again. -.- Just expect my updates to be one or two days after my "deadlines". I'm officially giving up on updating on Saturdays or even Sundays. –eye roll- We all know that unless I get divine intervention it's just not gonna happen. –fights back tears of frustration- At least this chapter has teasers. That's a plus. So my excuse this time is that school has been kicking my butt (honors classes are hell. I actually have to do stuff now instead of sit back and read or write like I used to do –rolls eyes-) and I actually have "challenging" work now. Not really but it does require that I drop my old bad habits of not doing homework and not paying attention in class so that I can actually pass my classes this year. As Shika would say, "What a drag."

Sakura sighed tiredly as she trudged into the infirmary. She checked various charts with blurry eyes and Mikomi walked over to her silently, taking the one she was holding and hanging it back on the end of the cot. "Go to bed. Makoto and I can pull the night shift." Though she knew she should, Sakura didn't argue and dragged her feet to her quarters, stripping off her blood splattered shirt tiredly. One would think that since she was such a devoted medic that the blood would be from treating the massive influx of patients she and the girls had been swamped with in the past two days but in reality it turned out that medics were the best interrogators you could find. She was one of the best medics in Konoha, second only to the Slug Princess herself and even that was debatable these days, and Ibiki wasn't above exploiting her abilities in the most gruesome ways.

She only wished she could get the mans screams out of her head now. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to get rid of the headache that had formed nearly twenty-seven hours ago. She stopped dead when she zipped the flap to her room and turned to find a half dressed Gaara lounging on her cot. She'd gotten her wish. The only thing in her head now were dazed wow's as she tried to pull her gutter clinging mind from where it had promptly dived at the sight of his defined chest and abs. He cracked one aqua eye open to look at her then shifted fluidly to a sitting position before standing up. He was barefoot and his feet glided noiselessly across the fluffy dark blue rug she had placed on her wood planked floor. She backpedaled at an angle, some part of her mind functioning well enough to tell her feet not to let her go crashing into the zipper that she was sure wouldn't hold her weight.

Her eyes dropped unconsciously downward and saw that his black pants were riding low on his slim hips, his pelvic grooves visible. Her thumbs ached to fit themselves to the hollows and she curled her hands into fists to keep from reaching for him. Sakura squeaked when she backed into the edge of her desk, momentarily tearing her eyes from his toned body to see what she had bumped into before flashing them back in his direction. Not her wisest decision ever. She gasped when her eyes registered his sudden closeness, his hands resting on either side of her hips on the desk as he leaned into her. She knew she was gaping but couldn't quite seem to keep her eyes on his…or close her mouth. Those wayward jade eyes drifted downward again and her heartbeat picked up rapidly, her breathing becoming more than slightly labored, as he moved his hips closer to her own, not quite touching.

Heat radiated off him in waves and the cold numbness that came with her interrogation work was rapidly lifting, leaving her hot and more than a little achy in quite a few places. Was that a bulge she saw in the front of his pants? Her heart lurched at the thought and she licked her suddenly dry lips. There suddenly didn't seem to be enough air in the room for the both of them. "Like what you see?" She jumped, his voice was slightly husky and his breath fanned her ear causing her to shiver since she hadn't noticed he had moved again, his head was next to hers, again not quite touching. Her mouth worked silently for a few seconds before her vocal cords decided to function.

"G-garra," she stuttered her voice little more than a squeak. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Gaara." She could feel him smirking but her eyes drifted to the flexing muscles in his chest and shoulders and that was all her mind could string together at the moment. "Garra."

"Now that we've established that you know my name let's see if you can scream it," his voice oozed sex and she gasped at the answering rush of wetness between her legs.

"W-what?" Her voice was breathless and she was about two seconds from slamming his sexy butt down on the desk and having her way with him. He lifted his head to look at her questioningly.

"I said, now that we've established that you know my name let's see if you can string a sentence together." His invisible eyebrows lifted. "What did you think I said?" Sakura blinked rapidly, confused, stuttering as she tried to explain.

"I…I thought…you said…" She shook her head roughly. "Never mind," she snapped, frustrated with herself now. "What are you doing here anyway?" He gave her a bland questioning look but didn't move from his position.

"You told me to find a medic." Sakura's eyes widened.

"When? For what?" As far as she knew, Garra was still one of the healthiest people she knew even without Shukaku to protect him anymore. A ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, so small she was almost sure it wasn't there.

"Chaffing." She paled then flushed a bright red. They had stolen his underwear.

"You…they…" her mouth worked again and this time he smirked openly. "They didn't?" Her expression was pained. She hadn't thought they would actually be bold enough to steal their Kazekage's unmentionables.

"They did," he said solemnly. "And I owe all of my…discomfort to you." She winced. "Now what do you plan to do about it." Sakura choked.

"Me?" Her voice was panicky and he fought a smile.

"It is your fault that I'm in this condition after all." Sakura gulped.

Gaara gasped as his eyes snapped open. He sat up in his bed more than slightly winded from the effort he had expended to form a life-like sand clone at this great a distance. He roughly whipped away the beads of sweat that had formed on his brow, irritated at how much chakra it had taken to pull off his little performance. Sand slithered across his thick crimson carpet to open the large French doors that led to his balcony. He sighed in pleasure as the cool desert air glided across his skin, ruffling his scarlet hair. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the moment before focusing on transporting the small jar of medicine Sakura had given "him" just moments before to his room. He grunted quietly with the effort but the small container was before him in a flurry of sand in a heartbeat.

Gaara braced one hand against his ebony sheets as a feeling of vertigo engulfed him, knowing he had depleted his chakra reserves for the night. He growled his irritation but flopped back onto his bed in resignation. Closing his eyes he replayed the information his Third Eye's had gathered while imbedded in his clone's head. By the gods he would have given anything to have actually been there. To have heard her breathing hitch as her heartbeat sped up. To have breathed her scent, felt her softness cushion him- Gaara jerked upward when he realized where his thoughts were going. "Gods," he breathed in shock and flopped back onto his bed. He threw one arm over his eyes and took slow deep breaths. Once he was calm he analyzed his response. He flipped over on his stomach and sighed as he closed his eyes.

Sakura was a desirable young woman. She had ample curves in all the right places. Any normal red-blooded man would be interested he told himself silently. He snorted derisively. When had he ever been a normal person? Shukaku had always been around to remind him he wasn't and now he was only left with echoes of his demon. He froze when he heard a raspy chuckle form in his mind, "I miss you too, Boy." Gaara groaned when he realized that the voice was actually in his head and not just a memory. Not just his imagination but confirmation of his last thought. He buried his head under his pillow.

It had been a week since her Gaara encounter and Sakura still found her nerves on edge. She had tried to burn off her excess energy by sparring with Kakashi, Naruto, Lee, and Neji but had quickly discovered, the first time that she was thrown to the ground, that the slide of dirt against her skin reminded her of him so much to the point that she had actually started fanaticizing about him then and there. Kakashi, the only one to realize that her mind had left the fight, had had to pull her out of the way of Naruto's Rasengan before the hyperactive nin could blow her apart. After which she had cut the session short and declined any others that had been thrown her way.

Irritated by the memory she signed her last patient out with a flourish and forced a smile for him. "Good to go," she said as brightly as she could manage, "Change the patch on your cheek tomorrow and come see me in two weeks to see if we can remove your brace." He red head smiled at her and hopped down from the cot, waving behind him with his uninjured arm as he left the infirmary. Sakura sat back with a sigh and rubbed her eyes. She swore viciously when she realized that the grit that she hadn't bothered to whipped from her eyes this morning felt like sand. Sand made her think of him.

Mikomi, Hinata, and Ino looked up sharply at her, each surprised to hear that kind of language from her. Ino frowned darkly and planted her fists on her slim hips. Sakura suppressed a groan. She knew that her friend was ready to dig her claws into an argument. "Well if this isn't the loveliest bevy of beauties I've ever found myself among," the girls, with the exception of Mikomi who appeared to have heard him coming whirled towards the tent opening. Hinata squeaked in surprise and blushed madly before she had even gotten the chance to see who had entered, Ino snarled in irritation at having her plans thwarted, Mikomi finished restocking the cabinets with antibiotics and bandages and walked past him out the door with a small smile, and Sakura blinked in surprise when she saw Kankuro standing near the entrance with a huge smile plastered on his painted face.

Sakura blushed lightly at this unneeded reminder of Gaara and rose to greet the puppet master. "To what do we owe the honor Kankuro?"

He shrugged, "Meeting with the Hokage about us sending aid to your troops." Sakura frowned.

"Isn't that Temari's job? Intervillage negotiations I mean. I thought you were head of ANBU." Kankuro gave her a wry smile.

"I am. Temari's on leave in Konoha. Went to visit the Nara kid, what's his face, and she hasn't been answering any return summons Gaara's been sending out so here I am."

Sakura blinked in surprise. "Shikamaru's here."

"We know that now. We just don't know why she hasn't been answering her summons." Sakura nodded her understanding. "I'm just stopping by to say hello."

"Good timing I guess," Sakura said with a shrug. "I needed to talk to someone from Suna about the Kazekage anyway." Kankuro's brow furrowed in question and Sakura could almost see Ino's gossip gears turning. "If you don't mind ladies…" Sakura let her words trail off suggestively and Hinata, taking the hint to get lost, invited Makoto to have lunch with her. The two left with the latter chattering noisily to her shy companion. Sakura looked at Ino expectantly when the blonde sat down on a cot and smoothed her short skirt. "Ino?" Her friend looked up and smiled widely at her.

"Oh I don't mind. Go right ahead and talk. I'll be right here."

"The hell you will," Inner Sakura said dryly.

"This is a confidential meeting about a patient Ino. Please leave."

"There's something wrong with the Kazekage?" Ino's words oozed fascination and Sakura knew she would have to affect her friend with a genjutsu once she had gotten her out of the room.

"Ino. Leave. Now." Her friend got up with a huff and flounced out of the building. Sakura quickly secured the genjutsu and turned to Kankuro. "How's Gaara's condition?"

Kankuro's frown deepened to one of worry. "I didn't know there was anything wrong with him."

"Well that's probably normal. Who really wants to discuss these kinds of problems anyway and the circumstances that led up to it are a bit embarrassing…" Sakura shook her head to clear it when she realized that she was rambling.

"What's wrong with Gaara, Sakura?"

"Nothing too serious," she said quickly when she noticed the increasing panic in Kankuro's eyes. "Just some chaffing." The puppet master looked at her blankly.

"Chaffing?"

"Yeah. You know, like from not wearing underwear." Sakura's voice dwindled to little more than a whisper at his confused expression. Kankuro shook his head.

"I get all that but he couldn't have chaffing, or else he's had it for years and didn't say anything." It was Sakura's turn to look confused but the implications of Kankuro's words were slowly clicking in her mind. She stilled, her confusion was rapidly turning to rage.

"He's screwing with us," Inner Sakura screamed, her eyes blazing as she spit fire with every word. "He came here all hot and half naked to SCREW WITH US! Probably laughed his ass off all the way home!"

"I don't understand," Sakura said calmly despite her silent implosion. Kankuro gave her a searching look before speaking cautiously as if he could sense her newfound bloodlust.

"Gaara doesn't wear underwear. Hasn't for years."

A/N: So…can you tell I'm just rambling now? Writers block sucks. This whole chapter (with the exception of the Gaara/Sakura hotness in the beginning) sucked. I know where I wanna take this, just not how to get there. It'll be good when I do though. Promise. Sorry again for extreme lateness. Everyone and their mother has decided to die in the past four weeks for some reason. -.- I'm posting this early –cough late cough- because I'm off to Florida today as soon as my parents get home for my uncle's funeral. Not sure when the next chapter will be up but I'll try to make it longer than most to make up for it or at least fill it with Gaara/Sakura hotness. Hopefully I'll have a weekend home for once and be able to at least have the illusion of posting on time.Thanks for reading, even if the chapters seem to be going down the toilet.

Black Rose