Release

After that night Sakura found Gaara seemed to be around more. His presence was a silent one but she was thankful he made no mention of her breakdown. Instead he did small things to help keep her mind from wandering too far. He kept her busy with various tasks and helped in the garden when he could. It was on such an occasion when she finally breached the subject. They both sat in the dirt yanking at the offending weeds that never seemed to give ground.

"Can we talk?" She queried quietly across a row of planters where he sat digging into the soil.

His head lifted and he looked over to her from beneath his large hat. He blinked waiting for her to continue unsure what exactly she was asking. Did she want small talk from him or was this pertaining to a specific subject. Being unsure he took the safe route of simply remaining silent, as always.

"Or not..." Her voice broke off sounding dejected.

"We can...talk."

Sakura sighed knowing that was as much to expect from him. She wiped her sweat building upon her forehead with the back of her hand before continuing.

"We need to work on your Insomnia. It is not helping with your recovery." She met his eyes with a firm look. She added "Mine too."

He simply nodded.

Sakura could not help but think how infuriating this man could be sometimes. She clenched her teeth and returned to viciously ripping up weeds. Gaara raised a brow at this but made no comment. When he did speak it was an acceptance.

"Fine. In the evenings after my treatments if you are unable to sleep come find me in my study. I am always there."

After that the two fell back into silence as they worked under the merciless sun.

Gaara laid in relative comfort as he waited on Sakura that evening. His head and upper torso propped up on pillows as he practiced his fake sleeping. With eyes closed and steady breath he felt he could fool anyone. Though it was not long before the hands clasped on his bare abdomen began to give him away. He could not stop the nervous tick of lightly tapping a finger or picking at the callouses on his hands.

The man was not shy and as socially inept as he was even he understood how precarious the situation was. With each night Sakura made even more progress which left Gaara with far more work of his own. Each session he had to fight harder against natural instinct. He told himself it was not Sakura, that any woman, would elicit such a response from his body. That is was the return of sudden feeling to those areas that aroused him not the woman healing him.

Still for someone who prided himself on control that momentary lapse of it disconcerted him.

"Kazekaga-Sama." Sakura announced her presence as she entered his chambers.

Gaara's eyes cracked open and he watched her approach. She smiled lightly at him before gently taking a wrist with her chilled fingers and taking his pulse. Sakura brow pinched lightly as she recorded the results and she continued his initial exam. He knew his pulse was slightly erratic. Hell he thought his heart might pound out of his chest at any moment.

"Just relax."

He let out an irritated sigh and tried to follow her orders.

"I will begin now."

His eyes followed hers as they left his face, drifted past his bared chest and abdomen, and settled upon the sheet pooling around his hips. Her careful hands pulled it back to his mid thigh. Her expression never changed and without a moment to spare she hovered her glowing palms over him. Not wanting to make it anymore difficult on her he closed his eyes and waited.

Sakura's gaze briefly flicked upwards to see that he had once more averted his eyes. She knew he was not sleeping but appreciated the act anyways. He was restless and she could not blame him. Over the past few nights she had noticed the slight elevation of his heartbeat, how his jaw would clench or his knuckles go bone white as she restored feeling to a sensitive area causing his normally flaccid penis to twitch. The first time it happened Sakura nearly jumped out of shock herself. Gaara certainly did. His eyes shot open and caught Sakura's for the briefest of moments as she flushed in embarrassment. She was a medical professional and had this been a life or death procedure startling like that could have cost someone their life. So she had immediately returned to work and tried to not look up to see Gaara's reaction to her healing.

Sakura cleared her throat suddenly to gain his attention after spending an hour on his treatment. She patiently waited for him to acknowledge her before speaking. He made a questioning noise apparently not wanting to give up his ruse of sleep.

"I'm done. Before I leave for the evening though I am going to have to ask you to think whatever it is you would to get hard. I know its...awkward but I need to ensure proper blood flow has been restored. I can leave and come back if that is needed. Just tell me if anything feels off."

Gaara took a moment to respond. His tone revealing how uncomfortable it was for him to admit such a thing.

"I don't know what would feel normal."

Sakura eyes widened slightly before she narrowed them. "Are you...saying that you have never masturbated before. Not even once?" She found this entirely hard to believe as men were so driven by their sexual urges that most began masturbating at an early age.

"That is what I said."

She could hear the anger in his tone. The humiliation of having to discuss such a thing with her. Of admitting to something else that would mark him as different from society.

"Okay..."

Sakura took a deep breath trying to think how to handle this. Her feet brought her back to his bedside and without too much though she reached down and grasped his cock in her hand.

"Sakura!" Gaara gasped out as he sat up suddenly. Pupils dialating, nostrils flaring in response as he stared at her in utter shock as she gently squeezed.

"There...everything seems to be working." Sakura said distantly as she removed her hand after feeling his penis harden beneath it. The rush of blood causing it to grow.

She would not meet his gaze as she removed her gloves. In fact she all but power walked out of the room afterwards.

"I will leave the rest to you. If it is not fully hard or refuses to soften afterwards then let me know."

Gaara just sat there still too stunned to form a response. After she left he let out a groan and collapsed back onto the pillows trying to remove the image of her standing there holding his penis from his mind. It was not going to happen anytime soon though and as his penis continued to grow he slid a hand downwards. If I don't check she will only force it on me again. That woman...how could she...ugh.

His rough hand found his penis easy enough as it had grown thicker already. He took the semi hard member into his hand and with a gulp he squeezed it himself. With a hitch of his breath he immediately compared it how her hand had felt and the image of it flashed in his mind causing it jump in his grip. Gaara closed his eyes and tried his best to think of anything but Sakura as he stroked himself slowly for the first time.

When he finished it was with a deep guttural moan that shocked even him. His eyes grew heavy and for the first time in many years he almost fell asleep.

Sakura stood outside the doors to his room, her back pressed into the wood, as she tried to compose herself. She was in disbelief herself that she had done such a thing. Though maybe deep inside she knew it was for the best. The man was so uptight and she had to ensure everything was restored properly. It was her duty.

She seriously doubted he would have ever taken the necessary actions himself. His sense of control over his body far too strong to allow such things. As she began to calm down she heard something from within the room. A muffled noise she could not quite pin point. Beginning to worry something might be wrong she prepared to enter when another noise echoed out to the hall.

A deep moan.

Sakura released her grip on the doors handle like it was on fire. With that she turned and all but ran off to her own room not wanting to hear anything more.