A/N: So, I barely managed to finish editing this in time and the only reason it was possible is because of TipsyRaconteur ;o; Thank you for being so awesome.

Sakura darted to the left, her breath coming out in harsh pants as she fell to the sand to avoid Gaara's fist. Her eyes followed Gaara's movements to try and figure out where he would attack from next. The muscles in his right shoulder tensed slightly, so she quickly stood and moved to escape the incoming blow, her eyes widening when she found herself unable to move.

She glanced down, realizing that even with a dose of the chakra-blocking poison in his system, he'd managed to manipulate just enough sand to grab her arm and hold her in place. By the time she looked back to face him, he'd stepped forward and reached his arm out.

Shit, Sakura inwardly cursed as Gaara grabbed her shirt. She shifted her body, trying desperately to keep her balance, but it was almost impossible to keep her footing on the sandy terrain. Gaara's eyes flicked down to her feet, obviously noticing her struggle, and then he quickly lifted his left foot to her hip and pulled on her shirt. Sakura's body tensed in resistance as Gaara fell back to the sand, his leg kicking her up and using her own momentum to send her body flying over his head. Sand flew into the air as Sakura landed hard on her back, the impact strong enough to cause the breath to leave her lungs.

A moment later she gasped, instinctively drawing in as much air as she could. That was a bad idea though, and she bolted into a sitting position and began coughing as the sand that had been in the air scratched at her throat, her eyes watering as it became harder to breathe.

"Are you alright?" Gaara asked from somewhere beside her. She couldn't see him, but she felt him place one hand on her shoulder, so he must have been close.

Sakura tried to speak, but just ended up coughing even harder, her hands moving to grab at her throat. She wasn't sure if it was because of the coughing, but she felt the sand begin to slowly move up her throat until it became easier to breathe again. Her eyes squeezed shut, the tears leaking down her cheeks as she tried to keep her breathing slow and even.

When Sakura opened her eyes again, she blinked slowly, noticing that Gaara's hand was hovering just in front of her mouth. There was sweat on his forehead and his face was screwed in concentration as she watched sand slowly move from her parted lips to his hand. Gaara let out a heavy sigh when her breathing finally returned to normal, his hand dropping and letting the rest of the sand return to the training ground.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice still rough from coughing so much. She took in a few shaky breaths and laid back gently against the sand, being careful to make sure that no more sand flew into the air. Beside her, Gaara shifted so that his legs were stretched out, then he too laid down. "How long have you been able to use chakra even with the poison in your system?"

"Not very long," Gaara replied. "I felt it begin to return about an hour ago, but was unable to use it until the last ten minutes or so."

"So the poison only blocks your chakra for about an hour now?" Sakura asked, humming thoughtfully when Gaara nodded in response. "What about the sedative effects?"

"They only seemed to affect me for the first five minutes, but it's much easier to fight off now."

"I'm glad." Sakura smiled, shifting her eyes to the night sky, a soft sigh escaping her lips.

Silence fell around them as they watched the stars together. They were both exhausted; after training all day in the basement of the Kazekage residence, they'd waited until nightfall to move to the training grounds on the other side of the village. Gaara's ANBU had watched over them as they sparred with the chakra-blocking poison in both of their systems, even though all of the villagers had already gone to sleep for the night.

Sakura watched the way the stars twinkled in the inky black sky, shifting in the sand until she was more comfortable. There were no trees to obscure her vision, and the air was perfectly crisp and dry. She breathed in deeply, slowly, letting her eyes close as her entire body relaxed. When she opened them again a few moments later though, she frowned.

"Are those... clouds?" she asked, her brows knitting together.

"Yes," Gaara replied simply, and Sakura could hear the smile in his voice. She shifted her gaze to watch him as he stared up at the sky.

"How often does it rain in Suna?"

"Only about once a year, twice if we're lucky." Gaara shifted his eyes to her, and Sakura felt her stomach flip at the soft and intimate expression on his face. "We should get going if we don't want to be caught in it."

Sakura let the image of a wet Gaara float in her mind for a moment before quickly snapping herself out of it and nodding her head. She was kind of curious about how the rain would change the already beautiful scenery of Suna, but she could always watch it from her room.

With a sigh, Sakura stood and began to brush the sand from her pants. Gaara had already stood, and when Sakura glanced at him, she noticed that he was discreetly making hand signals. She immediately recognized them as the signals that called for his ANBU-she'd been taught those signals in case of an emergency-and shortly after, one of his ANBU appeared in front of them.

Gaara and the ANBU agent each made a flurry of hand signals that she didn't recognize, communicating silently in case anyone was watching them before the ANBU darted away and disappeared into the night. As she ruffled her hair to get the sand out of it, she watched Gaara begin to move toward where his overcoat and gourd lay in the sand.

"They're going to quickly check the perimeter one more time before leaving us for the night," Gaara said, as if sensing Sakura's curiosity.

Sakura nodded her head even though she knew that Gaara couldn't see it, before moving to where she'd left her items just a few paces away from where Gaara stood. She picked up her flak jacket and shook the sand away, her eyes following Gaara as he pulled his leather vest over his long overcoat. He then crouched, moving the leather straps attached to his gourd through the loops on his vest, his fingers deftly locking them into place.

She wasn't sure why, but she was entranced. Her gaze followed his every move, and when he looked up to see her staring at him as if he'd sensed eyes on him, she quickly looked away and back to the sky. The clouds had grown darker and thicker in the short span of time since she'd last seen them, and she wondered if they'd make it back to the residence in time to avoid the rain.

Before she could think about it too much, the ANBU agent reappeared by Gaara's side. She watched them make a few hand signals back and forth, only managing to recognize when Gaara motioned the sign for 'thank you' before the ANBU disappeared again.

"The coast is clear for us to return home," Gaara said quietly, a subtle smile playing on his lips. Sakura felt a small thrill run along her spine as she returned his smile, her mind lingering on the last word and wondering when the idea of the Kazekage residence being 'home' had started feeling... right.

"So they've all left for the night?" she asked, moving closer to Gaara. He finally stood from his crouching position and nodded. "Good."

Sakura reached her hand out, waiting for Gaara to return the gesture to lace their fingers together. The sand began to swirl around their hands, just as it had every time they'd walked back to the residence after Gaara dismissed his ANBU for the night for the last two weeks. Without another word, they began to leave the training grounds.

As they walked through the streets silently, Sakura tightened her fingers around Gaara's, her smile from earlier widening when he did the same. There was something about Gaara's presence that was so soothing, and yet it did nothing to stop the butterflies from fluttering in her stomach. If anything, the fact that he was always so calm made her react more easily to him.

They moved through the district with the ninja school until they reached the business district. There were only two more areas to pass before they reached the residence, but the wind had begun to pick up some time ago and was now swirling around them so hard that Sakura's hair whipped around.

"It's going to start soon," Gaara murmured, and Sakura shifted her gaze to him, only to see that he was looking around the streets of the business district. "We may want to find shelter."

"It hasn't even started raining yet, though," Sakura said, but just as the words were out of her mouth, she felt the first few drops of rain land on her.

"The rain always picks up fast. We need to find somewhere to hide if we don't want to get drenched."

Sakura nodded her head, looking around at the buildings surrounding them to try and find somewhere they could stay until the rain passed. All of the businesses had already closed a long time ago, and she had no doubt that the doors were locked. She was wondering if it'd make more sense to just run to the residence when the light rainfall suddenly turned into a downpour. Within moments, the water began covering the streets around them as the ground struggled to absorb all of it at once.

"This way," Gaara said suddenly, his voice louder than normal to be heard over the rain. Sakura felt him tug on her hand and glanced down, noticing that the sand that had been swirling around their hands was now damp and heavy, its movements slow.

Gaara began moving forward and Sakura followed, running through the rain storm until she finally saw where Gaara was running to. There was an empty building at the very end of the street, if the lack of things in the windows was anything to judge by. The door to the building was open and swinging with the gusts of wind.

Once they'd run into the store, Sakura shut the door behind her. After taking a quick glance around the already dark room for a light switch, she quickly made a few hand signs and pressed her palms into the ground. She concentrated and drew some of the dirt from the streets under the door and then lifted it to form walls in front of the windows that were rattling dangerously, and then in front of the door to keep it from swinging open again.

After listening to make sure she hadn't missed any windows, Sakura stood and flipped the light switch, grateful that the electricity was still working. When she turned to take a look at the shop, the first thing she noticed was that the walls had been painted a pretty coral color with a dark brown, almost black, carpet. It stood out against the usual muted yellows and deep reds she'd come to associate with Suna.

The only things in the room besides the light fixtures was a large counter attached to one of the walls, which must have been where the store had kept their cash register. There was an open doorway at the very back of the room, and through it she could see a simple sink. That must have been the bathroom.

A strong gust of wind blew outside and slipped through her dirt walls, causing a shiver to run along her skin. Night time in Suna was always cold, especially when compared to the day time, and was only worse when standing in an empty room in soaked clothing. She saw Gaara shiver out of the corner of her eye and knew that they needed to get out of their wet clothes sooner rather than later.

Sakura moved toward the bathroom, realizing once she got closer that the door hadn't just been left open, and instead there wasn't a door at all. After stepping through the doorway, she bent down, sighing with relief when she realized that the pipes to the sink were still intact.

"There's a bathroom over here," Sakura said, waving Gaara over to the bathroom before taking her shoes off. She placed them underneath the sink and began to remove her flak jacket just as she heard Gaara's sand gourd hit the floor on the other side of the wall. "We need to get as much water out of our clothes as possible."

After moving further into the bathroom to make room for Gaara, Sakura held her flak jacket over the sink and began to wring it out. To her side, Gaara had already taken off his long overcoat, and she watched the muscles in his arms shift under his skin as he began to twist the fabric above the sink. Her eyes shifted to the shirt he was wearing, frowning as she realized just how soaked Gaara was, even with his overcoat off. Clothing in Suna was designed to absorb as much moisture as possible to help with heat distribution during the day, so it had retained almost all of the rain.

Sakura slid past Gaara and walked back into the empty store, placing her damp flak jacket on the counter to dry as she heard more water hit the porcelain sink. She cleared her throat to get Gaara's attention and then leaned against the wall on the other side of the bathroom, making sure that there was no way her eyes would be able to see into it.

"Hey, Gaara..." she started, pausing to chew on her lower lip before continuing, "you should probably remove all of your clothing and wring out as much water as you can."

"Everything?" Gaara asked, and she could hear the concern in his voice. She nodded, then quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to see her.

"Everything," she confirmed. "You can put some clothing back on afterward, but you should really only wear what you feel is completely necessary."

The water being wrung into the sink stopped as Gaara hesitated before replying with a simple, "Alright."

A few moments later, the sound of wet clothing peeling off of his body hit her ears, her face flushing more and more with each item of clothing she heard being removed. Which was ridiculous. She'd seen more than her fair share of naked men in her life, given that she worked in a hospital and handled a lot of surgeries. There was no reason for her to blush at the thought of Gaara naked on the other side of the wall, especially when she couldn't even see him.

Still, that thought caused a brief image to flash through her mind of what Gaara might look like right now. Before she could think about it too much, she began to look around the room, desperate for anything that would keep her mind from following that train of thought.

Most of the lights in the store were dull, except for the one near the counter where the register had probably been. Sakura wandered over to it, holding her hands beneath it and smiling when the warmth from the bulb sent pleasant tingles along her arms. Her eyes fell to the floor as they caught sight of something colorful hidden behind the counter. She shifted to kneel, reaching into the back corner until her fingers grabbed the colorful fabric and pulled it out, realizing as she pulled that it was a blanket.

Sakura stood again, holding the brightly-patterned blanket in front of her. There was a large brown stain in the center that vaguely smelled like coffee, which she guessed was why the store had left it behind. The blanket wasn't very thick, but it was better than nothing and would help keep them warm.

"What's that?"

Sakura was only slightly surprised by Gaara's voice behind her. When she turned to face him, she kept her eyes determinedly on his face, not wanting to know how much-or how little-clothing he was wearing.

"Something the store left behind," Sakura replied, handing the blanket over to Gaara. "Wrap this around yourself and stay near the light to keep warm."

After Gaara nodded in response, Sakura moved past him until she reached the bathroom. She peeked her head around the doorway, making sure that Gaara was unable to see her before peeling off all of her clothing one by one. She wrung everything out over the sink together, and once she'd gotten as much water out of her clothes as she could, she placed the items on the sink. Her eyes skimmed over them as she tried to figure out what she actually needed to wear.

Sakura pulled on her black sports bra and panties, leaving her Suna uniform top and pants where they were. There was no way she'd be able to go out there in just her underwear, so she pulled on the shorts she'd worn under her pants as well and then left the bathroom with her top and pants in her arms.

After placing her clothing beside Gaara's to dry on the counter, she moved to the other side of the counter where Gaara was standing, his back leaning against the wall by the light. He had the blanket wrapped around his shoulders and his eyes were closed. Even like this, wrapped in a ridiculously bright blanket, he still managed to look almost serene.

As if sensing her gaze on him, Gaara's eyes opened, quickly moving up and down her body before looking away pointedly, his cheeks slightly red. She suddenly became aware of how little clothing she was really wearing, even though it was the same amount that she usually wore when they trained together, and ducked her head. There was something about the vibe in the room right now that made her feel like the clothes she was wearing weren't even there.

Maybe it was the soft lighting of the empty store, or the pattering of rain against the windows that she could still hear. Maybe it was the fact that they were the only ones in here, and that there was no way anyone would see them through her dirt walls or hear them through the downpour going on outside. Maybe it was all of those things, but the room was charged with energy and something felt different between them right now.

Gaara took in a deep breath and opened his arms, making space for Sakura to join him in the blanket. She couldn't help but glance down when she caught the pale expanse of skin that had been revealed, her mouth opening slightly. Gaara was more muscular than she'd expected him to be, probably from carrying a giant gourd on his back all the time, but his form still managed to be lithe and elegant. As her eyes took him in, she realized that he was shivering and quickly moved to step into the blanket, not wanting him to get sick because she made him wait.

After she was inside the blanket they slid down the wall until they were sitting side by side, legs folded against their chests. Sakura began to maneuver the blanket around her to keep as much heat inside as possible, and Gaara quickly followed suit and fixed the blanket on his side until both of them were almost completely wrapped in the fabric. Their heads were still above the blanket and exposed to the cold, something that Sakura was grateful for. The shock of cold against her face helped her to not focus on the fact that both of their barely-clothed bodies were so close to each other beneath the blanket.

Gaara shivered once more, and Sakura felt him move around under the blanket, glancing at him and frowning when she realized from his movements that he was rubbing his arms with his hands. It was a perfectly normal response to the cold, but when the temperature was this cold, it was dangerous.

"Don't do that," Sakura murmured. Gaara turned to look at her, clearly confused, and Sakura had to fight the urge to squirm at how close his face was to hers right now. "If you rub your arms, you could send cold blood to your vital organs."

Gaara nodded his head slowly and moved his hands away, but instead of putting them back where they were before, he lifted his arm, wrapping it around her shoulders. Sakura blinked in surprise when Gaara tugged her against him, flushing as her side was pressed against his.

"I've heard that body contact can help you keep warm," Gaara said quietly.

"Where did you learn that?" Sakura asked, her voice a little breathless.

"You taught me that several years ago when I visited Konoha during the winter, Sakura."

Sakura's heart beat faster against her chest as she became more aware of exactly how close they were right now. The vibe in the room was definitely affecting the way she was reacting to him, because her name on his lips sounded so incredibly intimate that it sent a shiver down her spine that definitely wasn't caused by the cold in the room.

Her eyes searched his, immediately noticing the nervousness that lingered there, but there was something deeper in them as well. Gaara's hand that wasn't around her shoulder shifted beneath the blanket, but she didn't pay it any mind until he'd moved it to rest gently against her face. Her breath caught in her throat as the butterflies in her stomach began to flutter madly, the feeling only growing more intense when she felt him take in a deep breath. They were so, so close.

"Sakura," he whispered, a question in his voice.

Sakura couldn't bring herself to say anything more than a simple, "Hmm?"

"Can I..." Gaara trailed off, his tone hesitant even as his eyes flicked down to her lips so briefly that she likely would have missed it if they weren't so close. Her heartbeat grew louder-or was that his?-as she smiled.

"Please do," Sakura said softly, pleasant tingles running along her skin as he smiled back with relief.

She leaned closer, grateful that she didn't have to wait long before their lips touched gently. Her eyes fluttered shut as Gaara pressed his lips more fully against hers, his hand that was resting against her face moving to slide into her hair, holding her there. The feeling of his fingers in her hair caused her to sigh into the kiss, her mouth parting slightly.

Sakura felt Gaara's body tense just before the tip of his tongue hesitantly touched her lower lip. For a moment she was taken by surprise, but when she shifted her hand to rest on Gaara's chest and felt his heart beating beneath her fingertips, she realized that he was just as affected as she was.

She smiled into the kiss and parted her lips further, shivering when his tongue finally met hers. Sakura shifted closer to him, gently caressing his tongue with hers and melting as he responded, still somewhat shy but more eager than before.

She wasn't sure how much time passed before the rainstorm finally let up, but she could have stayed there in his arms forever.