If it seemed like it has been a while since my update, sorry about that…to be honest, I kinda forgot with all the school projects that have been going on. Anyway, it just pumped this out in about an hour…hope you like it (I really had fun writing it)!

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It wasn't long before they stopped for a quick lunch. Sakura just realized that Kakashi hadn't told her anything about their mission and asked him about it.

"My sources say that there's a small fort of ninjas just a day's north of here. They have been identified as the ones that attacked you. But I don't know whether or not they are acting alone or with another force, and I still don't know why they were trying to kill Gaara. Our main priority is to find out what they are up to, and to get the both of you separated."

That was all he would say on the subject, and Sakura let her mind wander as they started to travel again. Why would Gaara be attacked? Or Temari, for that matter?

The day passed surprisingly quickly and it seemed as if only a few hours had passed by the time they were setting up their tents. Anko told Sakura to wait for a little bit as she watched Kakashi and Gaara begin to construct theirs, then turned to her and asked her to get a fire started. Confused, Sakura did so, wondering what Anko was planning. When she looked back at the woman, she realized what was going on—Anko had waited until it would be foolish to move the men's tent and had set up hers well beyond the distance that the jutsu on Sakura and Gaara would permit.

Blushing, Sakura returned to her task. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful that Anko was giving her a chance to stay with Gaara, it was just that she was embarrassed that Anko wanted them to be together so much that she would do something like this. Either that, or she just wanted to sleep next to Kakashi…

When the others came to eat, Sakura forced those thoughts out of her head. Stop being weird, she told herself sternly.

Gaara made a point to sit beside Sakura, ignoring Kakashi's frown, trying to make sure that she wasn't feeling ignored. The fight they had had the previous night wasn't exactly big, but he didn't it. He had made her worried, and he hated himself for it. As he ate, his thoughts returned to what he had been thinking about earlier that day.

Love…he mused, eyeing Sakura. It was one complicated emotion, which came with a lot of baggage. Jealously, joy, fury, comfort, restlessness…and maybe even…fear. He had never been scared for someone, but every time there was danger around his priorities shifted directly to Sakura. He knew he wouldn't be able to bear it if Sakura got hurt because of him—or injured in any way, even it be from tripping down a set of stairs (which, hopefully, a trained nin wouldn't do).

He looked at Kakashi and Anko. Surely both of them had felt it before, if not for long. And they were fine, weren't they? They were alive and well (if a little strange). So what if…?

Gaara sighed and leaned his head back, looking up at the dark sky. A faint smile crossed his lips when he realized that if he had never been bound to Sakura on that fateful day, his life would no where near as interesting. He had learned a lot during their time together. Surely not enough to start a family or any such thing, he forcefully thought, but he had definitely matured.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Sakura. Acting on impulse, he suddenly leaned over and gently kissed her on the cheek, then returned to his former position.

Sakura, bewildered, just turned to look at him, cocking her head. He just pursed his lip to keep from smiling, acting as if he had a secret, and got up, dusting himself off and walking into his tent.

Three sets of eyes followed him—one confused but happy, another annoyed, the other looking proud.

Sakura blinked and looked away. What on earth was that? He—he never did anything as sweet as that. He had kissed her countless number of times (which was a bit of an accomplishment, given the short period of their complicated relationship), but he always was forceful, using his kisses as a distraction as he tried to do…other things. And in front of Kakashi and Anko like that…!

Glancing over at them, she realized that both of them were watching her. Her cheeks reddened and she hurriedly looked down. The smirk that Anko had given her was enough to make her flustered—as if Gaara had just claimed he be waiting to take her once she stepped into their tent. Was it possible that she was just as perverted as Kakashi?

Scolding herself for thinking that, she quickly stood and made for the opposite tent, too preoccupied to remember what she had realized before—and thus smacked into the barrier, nearly falling over. Quickly regaining her balance, she screwed up her face as she heard Anko try to muffle her chuckles. She clenched her eyes shut, embarrassed and wondering what else she was going to do to draw attention to herself.

"Is something wrong, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

"The, um, jutsu is…"

"What?" There was a pause as Kakashi looked back and forth between the two tents, and then he turned to the woman beside him, what was visible of his face angry. "Anko…" he growled.

"What?" she asked innocently. Anko was silently laughing to herself. Who knew that this mission would give her so much practice on her acting?

"You set the tents too far apart—on purpose."

"I didn't even know they were that far apart, honestly! I didn't do it on purpose."

"There is thirty feet between the tents!" Kakashi hissed. "That's easily more than having them normally far apart!"

"Are you unhappy about having to sleep with me?" Anko asked worriedly, cocking her head and playing the hurt girlfriend card. "I was looking forward to it, since its been a while since we've been together, save last night, and I was hoping that we could just…you know…be together." She frowned and looked at him, then said angrily, "What, only wanting to be around me when I in the mood? Jerk!"

Kakashi sighed, knowing what she was trying to do. "Anko, that isn't true, and you know it. Let's get back to the subject—"

"Sakura's already in tent," Anko said smartly, smirking and biting down on a hunk of bread in front of her.

Kakashi whipped his head around and saw the flap close. "Dammit, Anko, not again—!"

She just laughed and rolled her eyes. "You're too easily distracted. You need to work on it…but for now…" she trailed off, putting her plate down.

"No."

Put out, Anko glared at him. "Oh, don't pout. So what if Sakura's going to be with Gaara?"

"I'm not pouting," he said stubbornly.

"Lair," she huffed.

"And I don't see why you're supporting them."

"I don't see why you're against them, you don't have any reason," she shot back, shrugging.

"I don't need a reason, he's a teenage boy!" Kakashi replied.

Anko made a 'pft' noise, snorting into her shoulder. "Kakashi, you sound like her father. And so what if he's a teen, you were once too…and now that I think about it, you weren't exactly the most innocent guy." She wagged her eyebrows jokingly.

Kakashi shifted uncomfortably. "Hey, I was a kid, and I—this is not about me," he said quickly.

"Oh? Flustered, are you? My my, Kakashi, is that a crack in your armor I see?"

"Shut up and stop trying to turn this around!" he said quickly, hoping she would bring up some of his teenage romps.

"You just don't want me to mention that time when I caught you and Akane—"

"Anko, stop—"

She laughed. "Aw, it wasn't your fault! You were a handsome little kid, and it's a waste that you cover it up." She suddenly pulled his mask down and kissed him, ignoring his scowl. "Now come on, you can yell at me later."

Sakura slinked into the tent—just in time to see Gaara stripping off his shirt, his back to her. She blushed as she saw his muscles shift as he pulled it over his head, bending over a bit, then looked away. Why was she embarrassed? She had seen him shirtless plenty of times—

He reached down and began to fiddle with the buttons on his pants. Sakura froze, letting out a little squeak.

Gaara looked over his shoulder and stiffened a bit when he saw her. An awkward moment passed, Sakura noticed that his hands didn't move from his hemline. "I thought for sure that Kakashi would make sure you slept with Anko," he said finally, wondering why she was blushing.

Sakura watched as he ran a hand through his hair, wishing that her hormones hadn't just kicked in. "Um…what was that kiss about during dinner?"

"Huh? Oh…" Gaara shrugged, just now realizing how out of character that was for him. "I dunno. Just wanted to."

"It…it was nice."

Gaara gave her a questioning look. "You're welcome…?"

"Oh, nevermind." Sakura wished that she stop talking and quickly shut her mouth. Gaara shrugged and stretched out under the sleeping bag. Sakura had a feeling that she would only embarrass herself more if she moved any closer to him, so she looked around for Kakashi's pack, eyes locking onto the sleeping bag that was strapped to the top of it.

When Gaara heard her shuffling around, he turned around and saw her flapping out Kakashi's sleeping bag. Gaara pushed himself up on his hands, not sure what to say. What the hell was she doing?

Sakura jumped when she felt Gaara's hands gently flit over her hips and pull her to him. "U-um…."

"Now, Sakura, you don't want me to think you're giving me the cold shoulder, do you?" he asked jokingly, deciding to take a light attitude about the fact she had tried to avoid sleeping next to him, even though it stung a little.

Sakura bit her lip. What on earth was wrong with her? She never got so jumpy before when Gaara touched her—well, at least not in a while. So why were her skin burning where his hands were? "Ah…"

But then Gaara was nipping her earlobe, having waited all day long to do this, and Sakura melted. She leaned against him, and he wrapped his arms farther around her, nose brushing against her skin. Her hands timidly covered his, tightening a bit when he his lips sneaked over her collarbone…and Gaara pulled away, replacing his lips on her neck.

Sakura blinked, feeling as if he had just pushed her away. Gaara never did that—he had actually stopped when she hinted she was uncomfortable. Nervously she turned around, tilting her head up to meet his eyes. Her hands went to either side of his neck, and she bit her lip. "Gaara? Are you feeling alright?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, not letting his minor irritation show. She needed to stop interrupting him during their private time.

"You're acting really weird."

"Weird how?"

"You just…pulled away, and before, you just kissed me out of the blue, and didn't even follow up on it."

"Kakashi and Anko were right there, Sakura," he said slowly, wondering how alike to Anko Sakura really was.

She blushed. "I—I didn't mean it like that! It's not like I wanted you to, its just that you always…"

"You didn't want me to?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" she repeated, getting flustered. Why on earth was she acting so…spazzy? Maybe she was thinking too much…

"Then what…"

"Never mind," she grumbled, going up on her tip-toes to kiss him. If she kept talking, it would kill the mood (which just might be impossible with Gaara, so long as Sakura was still in the same room), and she would just end up feeling stupid and embarrassed. It wasn't fair that Gaara didn't get all tongue-tied and muddled during times like this!

She took her vengeance by pushing Gaara down do the ground, taking control for once. Gaara was a little surprised, but in no position to complain—in fact, he rather liked this position, a lot—and just propped himself up on his elbows as Sakura settled on his waist, on hand bracing herself up and the other in Gaara's hair.

Ignoring the fact that she was pretty much in foreign territory, she was a felt a bit empowered to have Gaara under her control. With just a gentle tug on his hair, Gaara tilted his head back, along with letting out a sharp intake of breath…maybe a gasp? Moan?

Shocked, Sakura sat back, blinking at him. Did she just make him make that noise? But…it was so…un-Gaara-ish…

He didn't understand why she stopped, and wasn't having any of it. There was a sudden twist, and then Sakura was pressed against the slippery canvas of the tent floor. Gaara's hands roamed as he ran his nose down her neck, but suddenly Sakura said, "No."

Confused, he looked up at her. "Huh? No at wha—"

Sakura smirked, and swiftly flipped both of them. She practically laughed at Gaara's expression, and, ridding on the sudden rush of power she felt, bit Gaara's collarbone, kissing her way up his neck to his mouth, tugging his hair to tilt his head back again.

Gaara was completely stunned. She had just actually forced him into submission—and it was quite possibly the hottest thing she had ever done. He wondered how much more force she would use if he flipped them again, and his pulse quickened at the possibilities.

Sakura smirked when she felt Gaara shift under her—there was no way he was flipping her again, at least not until he made that little noise again.

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Heh-heh…I couldn't help myself. I was having a bit of writer's block, so I fell back on what I usually do—just have them make out. It makes most of you happy, anyway. But, don't worry if you think that's all the rest of the stories going to be (I'm trying to cut down on my habit of random make-out sessions). Anyway…I was looking back on some chapters and a little annoyed at how I was always having Sakura be so timid and shy, so I thought this would be a good change of pace…and plus, I think its about time Gaara got put in his place. I actually like how it turned out (even though I completely flopped at creating a plot in this chapter).

As always, please review.