Hello again, and thank you for reading! Also thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review. I do read the reviews and I appreciate the feedback!

I apologize for the delays in getting these chapters out. I'm excited to say I've already mapped out the next few chapters and I'm looking forward to getting them posted up for your enjoyment. Please excuse the minor errors in grammar/tense- I will go back through and refine things once the story is complete. Right now I'm concentrating on getting all my ideas typed out so that I don't miss any of the juicy details.

Please continue to read and review! - Lovely Wrath

Competition

Kankuro's day had been long. He started his day by avoiding as much of Temari in the office as possible while he checked for potential missions. She had some choice things to say, but he wasn't in the mood to be prodded for information. Having eavesdropped on Temari's conversation with Sakura, he already had an idea of what she'd say about him going to see Sakura on his own- she'd be against it. Kankuro didn't need rules dictated to him about his social life, so as soon as the conversation turned from professional to personal, Kankuro made an excuse to be in a rush to leave and made his escape, leaving a confused and perturbed Temari to pout and complain about him to whoever would listen.

It was late in the afternoon when Kankuro had completed his daily tasks and finally arrived at the hospital, popping in on Sakura as per his usual personal directive. Taking the normal path to her designated office, he quickly realized something was different about the hospital. The halls were shining, clean, and the front receptionist's desk had several fancy potted plants arranged upon it- some blossoming cacti and a few native green plants. The atmosphere was more inviting than normal. The receptionist was busy shuffling paperwork, but stopped to eye him curiously, then beam happily at Kankuro as he passed, offering him even a verbal greeting. She seemed to be surprised to see him there, even though he'd shown up frequently as of late. Her smile and greeting came only after she seemed to remember her place.

Taken aback, Kankuro hesitated, then nodded to the young woman before continuing down the hall. He casually glanced in a few of the offices and patient rooms in passing- he could hear patients, family members, and medics alike chatting quietly, friendly. Suna's hospital was generally quiet, and a bit dark, somewhat depressing. It was for that reason that Kankuro had never stayed there for very long in the past, despite his injuries, preferring the comfort of his own home to the smell of chemically treated floors and walls, and the general creepy vibe that he always got from the place of healing.

As he entered Sakura's office, he knocked thrice on the door frame to announce his presence- it was more of a formality rather than a device to announce his presence, one of the many little behaviors drilled into him since Gaara became the Kazekage.

Sakura was standing by the office's narrow window, leaning against the wall and enjoying what was likely the first bit of sunlight she'd gotten all day. She smiled over at Kankuro, who grinned stupidly in return, completely stricken by how lovely she looked. Kankuro tried not to think too hard about why he kept showing up to see her- friendship, enjoying her company, and she was pretty damn good looking. There was a severe lack of beautiful and interesting women in Suna, and Sakura was a definite breath of fresh air in that department.

"Good afternoon.." Sakura offered, a bit surprised to see him, and he could tell.

"Hey, Miss Haruno," Sakura pouted as he neglected to use her first name.

"I'm surprised to see you here, today. After last night." She was quick to bring up the subject. It saddened Kankuro, because he didn't want to spoil the mood talking about his little brother's behavior during the day when they'd likely face him again at home in the evenings.

"Aw. That's just Gaara. He can be pretty prickly.." Kankuro's voice faded as his eyes shifted from Sakura to her desk, where a particularly fabulous collection of flowers in an expensive looking vase rested. Kankuro was traveled enough to know that those particular flowers were indeed not native to the dry desert lands around Suna, but were very likely from a much cooler, moist climate- somewhere like Konoha. He sauntered over to her desk to inspect the magnificent arrangement more closely. It was colorful, gorgeous, and also it took up almost ΒΌ of her desk space with it's magnificence. There was a little clip where a card had been, which made it apparent that she'd not ordered the flowers herself, but they were sent to her.

"You've gotten popular..." Kankuro thought aloud.

"Oh, those... yes. I guess they are supposed to serve as an apology for last night, courtesy of your brother. Aren't they the most excessive thing you've ever seen?" Sakura didn't really know what to think of the flowers, or the sealed letter that was delivered with them. It was a simple enough apology, but Sakura had been informed that the Kazekage rarely hand wrote messages to anyone outside of his family. Every scroll she'd ever seen from the man had been dictated, typed, and stamped. It struck her as being extra personal, besides the fact that he'd apparently sent someone out to locate flowers from Konoha's region.

Kankuro marveled at the fact that Gaara had sent flowers to Sakura- he couldn't wrap his head around it. It even made him start to feel a little guilty for coming to see her, but only for a moment. "So.. I take it he's responsible for the arrangements up front as well?" Sakura stepped over close to the desk as Kankuro fished for more details, evaluating the depth of the situation.

She blushed. Excessive wasn't even the word for it- Gaara's action was in a league of it's own. To send flowers as an apology was one thing, to fill every room in her work environment with arrangements was something else entirely, and it wasn't lost on Sakura or Kankuro. "Yes, I guess so. They were delivered several hours ago, all at the same time." Sakura had signed her name on the dotted line to accept she thought was one small vase of flowers, only for the delivery boys to start hauling in flowers and cactus arrangements by the armload- every patient room had it's own unique decoration. Sakura didn't have the chance to hide the letter with the Kazekage's seal from the receptionist, so rumors were already flying around the hospital- everyone knew the flowers were from the Kazekage, and the staff had easily surmised by the arrangement on Sakura's desk that it was all for her.

Kankuro watched as Sakura blushed deeply, then he burst into laughter, unable to stop himself. This made Sakura grimace at him, and he waved his hand in the air, "Ah, I'm sorry, Sakura. I'm not laughing at you, really." Kankuro lowered his voice, leaning toward her, "I'm laughing because with Gaara, it's always in extremes. He's just that socially awkward." She continually frowned at him, "Don't get me wrong, Sakura. He's my bro, and I care, but I like to face the facts." Kankuro grew serious, suddenly, "It seems he's serious about you."

Sakura turned away from Kankuro, "Don't be ridiculous. Really, he wasn't pleasant last night. Clearly he wants to repair that before I send a report back to the Hokage this week." She nodded firmly, and Kankuro shrugged.

"If you say so." Kankuro continued to grin at Sakura, which made her nervous.

Kankuro lounged against Sakura's desk, reaching out to touch the most brilliant and central flower in the arrangement. It reminded him that though the flora of warm seasons could be beautiful, they were fleeting. Always with the change of season came the fall festival, a last hoo-rah as they departed from summer. It was a celebration that Kankuro enjoyed, but always ended up alone during most of the festivities, regardless of whether he brought a date.

Kankuro stroked a single pink flower petal before plucking it. He idly recalled for a moment a mission his team had undertaken during his teen years. Temari was always a fan of beautiful flowers. He'd once caught his sister plucking the petals from a flower, one by one, and reciting to herself 'he loves me, he loves me not,' until she'd plucked the flower bare, blushing and giggling at the silly girl tradition. Of course, he'd made the critical mistake of later teasing her about it, but only the one time- Temari was not one to screw around with, and delivered her point wrapped in a fist.

"... what's on your mind, Kankuro?" Her voice brought him back from his thoughts. Kankuro lifted his gaze to Sakura, who was studying him as he'd gotten lost in his thoughts.

"Sakura. Would you like to go to the fall festival with me?" He hadn't planned it, and he would admit to himself later that it was downright scary. The words simply came out of his mouth before he really thought about it. Caught in a moment staring over at Sakura, Kankuro began to blush himself- Sakura had never seen such from him before. There was a long silence as Sakura slowly processed his request, and Kankuro waited, staring at what he only just realized might be the most beautiful woman to ever give him the time of day.