"I don't have time for this..." Gaara muttered under his breath as he unfolded his mesh shirt to put back on. Yue immediately halted his actions by grabbing his arm.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going back to the deck." He tried to shake her arm to free himself and stand up, but her grip only tightened.

"Yumi said you should stay in bed. You're too sick." she reminded him, his disproving behavior causing her to become more troubled by the second. How could he be so stubborn?

Ignoring her, he attempted to stand again, to which caused a fine nerve to split her mind. That was the last straw. With all the strength she could muster, she yanked his body back on the cot and quickly pushed him hard until his body fell completely flat. She wasn't going to take any chances of him getting up again, and took the liberty of crawling on top, leaving him pinned down with her own body weight. Shock unfurled Gaara at her unexpected actions; he didn't know what to think. She took him off-guard, that's for sure, but he never thought that she would have this kind of hidden strength. Perhaps he was too weak from hunger and thirst. No, that wasn't it. He couldn't hurt her even if he tried to. Curiously, he submitted and allowed this. Her snowy white hair dangled to the side of her pale face, still slightly wet from the water. The look in her eyes was no longer soft and endearing, but instead read more along the lines of vicious, daring him to move. She positioned herself directly above him, being sure to keep all the pressure on his hips and shoulders to cage him in. This, she had never done before, or so he assumed, and it was incredibly bold. What was it that spiked her?

"Yue?" he quietly spoke aloud. Her chest began to rise and fall from the small amount of exertion. She may have had nourishment, but she was still very tired from the chakra depletion and the swim. Whatever amount of energy she had built up, she didn't want to waste it on this, but Gaara just wouldn't let up. She kept her dominant gaze at him and gripped his shoulders tight.

"What's it going to take to get you to actually listen for once?" she asked, to which Gaara cocked his head.

"What are you-?"

"How can the Kazekage ignore the advice of a Combative Medic?" She paused briefly, but Gaara felt a bit timid to answer her. "Yumi is your friend. We are only looking out for your well-being... What is so important that you just have to do?"

The two sailors instantly appeared in his mind, answering her question, but he bit his tongue to keep it from spilling out. The sign of a possible threat wasn't something he could simply ignore, especially when it came to involve her. She had already underwent such violent sexual abuse before, and he will be damned if he were to ignore it possibly happening again. This issue he felt lay entirely in his jurisdiction. If he couldn't handle this, how could he ensure that he will stay true to his word that he will keep her safe? Shamefully, he looked away from her to the wooden wrinkles in the wall, hoping that just maybe there was another answer he could give her, one that wouldn't cause her to freak out. How would she react if she knew about those two men? He already admitted that he was afraid of not providing her adequate protection, but what could he do in this state? The dizziness from the nausea was torturing him, and it was only going to become progressively worse with the storm to come. Him being incapacitated, that would be the perfect opportunity for those two men to capture Yue. The gestures they made were too much for him to bear, and he could only imagine the terrible things they could do once they've got her. He couldn't allow that.

"Gaara!" his eyes flicked back to her cold angry stare. His silence, he could tell was making her even more angry. That's not good. He had to say something, anything to calm her down. If he didn't, it would just end up like last time, where he ordered Shiro to escort her home against her wishes, and her hateful sulking attitude towards him afterwards. That night, he would never forgive himself. He should have stayed with her. If he did, she wouldn't have gotten kidnapped. Right now, there were too many risks surrounding them. What could he say to her? She was his responsibility after all. If she got mad, she could choose to become distant from him and act impulsively. Who knows what could happen to her then?

"You don't get it... This is something I have to do."

"Then explain it to me." she demanded, her nails starting to dig into his shoulder. His indirect response was just agitating her more. He had been this way ever since the festival ended, and Yue didn't know what to do about it. He had always shown himself to be quite mysterious, but this was on a whole different level. Why was he doing this to her? They made a promise to talk things out with each other. Tsuki Ona's accusations were starting to look plausible, that he was definitely hiding something. After putting so much effort and trust into the person she loved, he still chose to put up his walls. Why? "Do you not trust me?"

His brow slightly furrowed in response to such a question. Just like before, she was taking this the wrong way. "It's not that..."

She waited for him to continue on, but he said nothing more. This was getting nowhere. Finally, she gave in to defeat, released her grip on his shoulders, and sunk her head low. A dark cloud was slowly forming inside her head while at the same time, one was forming in Gaara's chest. "Why won't you tell me?" she muttered, her words full of hurt. "I fought against Tsuki to be more trusting in you, and this is only proving her accusations to be right... We promised that we would be open and honest with each other, no matter how brutal, but you're not telling me what's really going on... We've become so separated that I have to force myself on you just to get your attention. Just what is it that's bothering you so much? I know there's more than what you've said."

So this is the direction he was unintentionally misleading her to. Taking a deep breath, he sighed, unsure if his actions were really for her own good or not. At this point, his brother was dearly missed, for he could sure make use of his advice, even if it was bad. Temari's would suffice more, but he was on his own right now. This, he had to learn the hard way. "Yue, let me up..."

"So you can leave?" Yue felt the irritation rise in her voice.

"No." He responded, immediately feeling her tension start to rub off on him.

"Then why?" Her voice was starting to crack in anguish.

Just then, for a split second, Gaara's emotions took power over his body and he forcefully grabbed behind her waist to shift her off of him. Quickly, he turned until he was on top. With her back on the cot, he pinned her arms above her head, showing the same amount of dominance as she did to him, to be more direct. The rest of the world faded away along with his diplomatic filter, the filter he used to show manners by choosing words carefully instead of saying what he truly wanted. The stress from everything up to this point was reaching its final limit. Yue looked to him with surprise and still with sadness at what he was trying to do. She didn't mean to get a rise out of him, but it would seem that pushing for him to speak his mind must have struck an unwanted nerve. He had a different way of showing his true feelings, as if he had been bottling them up all this time, and she was the one unknowingly detonating it. Her icy blue eyes pleaded for the truth, which caused him to stop and realize what he was doing. The faint shimmer of moisture caused her pale skin to glow, highlighting her pink lips. The feel of her soft breath fanning his bare chest and having her lay directly below him caused even more heat to flush in his face. She was so terribly close that at any moment, he was sure the rising temperature would cause him to pass out. How could he possibly keep focus? How could he tell a face like that all the dark things he had to see? It was so hard.

"Do you know how you look right now?" he asked sternly, out of the blue. Yue didn't understand. "You are my responsibility by Kazekage order. Understand that when I see a threat, I deal with it... I've told you that traveling by sea flaws my abilities. With Tsuki Ona away and this seasickness, our plans can potentially fall apart... and the crew has been taking notice of your appearance... which has only escalated my protectiveness over you."

"My appearance?" she questioned.

"You call too much attention to yourself..."

"What?" She had heard what he said clear as day, but just couldn't believe that that was why he had been so distant. She knew Yumi's plan was dumb from the start, but she couldn't hold that against her since she was dumb enough to go through with it. Was it really her fault? 'I knew it was a bad idea...' she thought.

He paused for a minute to calm himself from saying anything worse. It wasn't exactly that, but taking off her shirt didn't help the situation either. How could he word this correctly? "You didn't see how they looked at you... I didn't say because I didn't want you to panic."

"I'm not going to freak out over that." she replied calmly, which confused Gaara even more.

"After the events leading up to this, that doesn't concern you?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I have you, Yumi, and Naruto looking out for me. The only thing that concerns me is you."

"They could be Korishi members... Regardless of their past with Yumi or her family, they could turn on us." he explained. He knew all too well that not everyone could be trusted. Deception can affect anyone, even close friends.

"Is this a cover up from hidden jealousy?" she asked, her lip curling a tiny smirk. That only caused his grip on her arms to be tighter.

"How can I envy them when they haven't taken you yet?"

"They won't take me."

"The Korishi took you twice, and I was in decent health then... The sea and this sickness, there's no better opportunity for them to strike me down than right now. And Tsuki-"

"You think that just because she's gone that I'm not willing to fight?" Yue interrupted.

"You've never trained for combat." he pointed out. Although it was true, it wasn't enough to stop Yue.

"Then teach me." she began "Let's continue training just like we did before, only this time, it'll be without any jutsu."

That didn't even cross his mind. He took a moment to think it all over. It was just like what Naruto said earlier, that if he couldn't use his sand, there was always guts, which translated to basic hand to hand fighting. With both of them very limited on their own kekkei genkai, it seemed like a more considerable approach in her protection. Elemental or not, learning to fight is essential. "Alright." He agreed as he released her to sit up straight. Yue followed his actions and sat up, but decided to lean on his shoulder in comfort. Gaara didn't mind this. Even beyond his worries, she took the information rather well. That was not expected. For the time being, he decided to find solace in the fact that she was this trusting of him.

"Gaara, was that also the reason for you pushing me away earlier? The time that I was awake?" She asked, seeking clarity.

"It's like I've said before, I don't want to see you in pain..."

"I don't want that for you either. So please, would you lay down for a bit and do what Yumi said?" She began, once again showing her nurturing qualities. "Sitting sideways with the rocking of the ship should ease some of the nausea. If you lay completely flat on your back, it relieves it faster. Trust me, I would know." He took a second to consider it, and obliged. She remained sitting on the edge of the cot next to him to be sure he was actually going to follow through with this. The ship continued to jerk back and forth, a bit more aggressively this time. To combat the sloshing around in his stomach, Gaara shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Nausea was all in his head, he knew this, so he figured that by forcing himself to relax, it would disappear more quickly. Sadly, that was easier said than done.

There was a long pause of silence as she observed him. He was still shirtless, which instantly brought back the memories of the embarrassing hotel incident. It had been a long time since she saw him this way, and it still managed to bring a light redness to her pale cheeks. Even while laying down, his core was very well toned. His chest rose and then collapsed, to which she took notice of a very large scar sitting on the top of his heart. It was massive compared to the others and it looked very angry. Yue wondered what kind of a battle he had to undergo to obtain such a wound. Glancing across the rest of his body, she started to notice more scars. It was then that she remembered all that he told her regarding his past. With how challenging it was, a majority of it was either do or die, nothing but fighting with others and Shukaku's possession. His life must have been so hard compared to hers. It made her wonder just how many fond memories did he have in his life? Probably not many.

The seawater slapped the outside of the ship in sync with the movement of the waves. Gaara's breathing increased to make up for the harsh movements, which she could tell was getting difficult. That could only mean that the storm was starting to roll in, just as Yumi said. It won't be long before he get's too sick to even sit up. Glancing to the floor, she saw her backpack, the pack that her friend brought her earlier, the pack which contained the special items she needed in order to finally be intimate with Gaara. Time was of the essence. A rush of nervousness cascaded down her spine at the thought of grabbing it. For comfort, she looked back to her beloved. His eyes were still closed, but he was in no way at peace, trying to fight the sickness. Perhaps a good distraction would help ease it, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Was he really thinking of her injuries then? Or was it a ploy to mask the fact that he didn't want to actually follow through? Was taking off her shirt to swim too forward? Or too slutty? Unfortunately, the self-doubt did not go away, making her hesitant. Should she tell him? How would he respond? Would he be upset that she kept this hidden instead of telling him straight out the get-go? She forced herself to take a deep breath to try and calm down. It always managed to clear her mind when she did so.

"Ummm, Gaara?" she called quietly. His eyes flicked open as he turned to her. She knew that if she told him, there was no turning back. She got his attention now, so she had to say something. For some reason, the confidence she had when he first woke her up had disappeared. The fear of him pushing her away again repeatedly played over in her mind. Yue opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't get a single word out.

"You're shaking..." He said as his brow furrowed with concern. Looking down to her hands, she realized that she was indeed doing as he said, and attempted to clench her hands into a fist to stop it. It was useless to say the least. "What's wrong?" He asked while raising a hand to cup her cheek sincerely.

"Gaara, I-" Knock! Knock! Thankful for the interruption, Yue stood up to go answer the door, but was halted by Gaara forcefully grabbing her arm. She looked back to him questionably.

"Wait." he said as he shifted his legs to reach behind his back. He presented her with a large kunai from his tool pouch and with his hands, he showed her how to grip it properly, with the pointed end of the blade facing out her palm. "Leave the door cracked and remember to get the password first. If they seem suspicious in any way, step back in the room and I'll handle it." He instructed, to which she nodded and proceeded to go open the door. It was Yumi again, only this time, her complexion read serious and direct.

Following his instructions, she left the door cracked. Clenching the blade in her hand, Yue held it up at the ready. "What speaks without a mouth?"

"An echo." she replied. "Sorry to interrupt you and Gaara's alone time, but I have something important to report."

"Yumi, we-" Yue paused, moving forward and lowering her voice so that only she could hear "We still haven't done anything."

"What? I gave you the perfect opportunity." she silently yelled. With a sigh, she shook her head and proceeded to talk with her normal volume. "Well anyways, I'm here to tell you both that the storm is closing in and it's no longer safe for me to remain in the water. The ships have to take safety precautions to avoid collision, so the Captains agreed to separate until the skies are clear again, and rendezvous in The Mist. Unfortunately, Gaara isn't the only one with seasickness. I have to go help Naruto back in his room." From her pocket she presented another canteen and a small medicine bottle. "Here. Give Gaara a food pill and make sure he keeps drinking fluids. I would give him an MRE, but he may not be able to stand the taste or the smell. They didn't have many tea options to choose from, so I picked a basic green tea. It should still help counter the nausea." She paused and leaned in to whisper to her again. "Have you told him?" Yue shook her head, no. "You should... I have to get back to Naruto. Call me if you need me." And with that, she went her separate way.

Closing the door behind her, she took her seat back next to Gaara and handed him the kunai. "It was just Yumi. She wanted to tell us that the storm is getting so bad that she can't stay in the water anymore until it clears up. The ships also have to take separate routes to avoid colliding in the water. Both Captains agreed to just meet in The Mist."

He nodded. "That would probably be best..." The end of that sentence followed another long moment of silence as Gaara was waiting for her to continue saying what was left off, but she didn't speak. Her cold blue eyes were glued to the floor, as they normally would when she was in deep thought. At this point he understood that once she got to thinking this quietly, it couldn't mean anything good. Before, she was shaking. Just what was it that she was so afraid of? Did the news of those two sailors actually get to her? Gently, he took her hand. "What were you going to tell me?"

With a huff of breath, she gathered all her bravery. "Gaara, are you still attracted to me?" She turned away, unable to look at him for his answer.

He squeezed his grip on her hand. "You think I don't?" She pursed her lip shut, but that answered his question. The lump of guilt had returned to his heart. It seemed that no matter what, he always managed to disappoint her. Was he being too overprotective as a Kage? Was resisting her touch causing him to be a bad boyfriend? He was so confused as to why she would think this way, but he couldn't find the words to explain himself. How could he? Instead, he decided to take a chance on his impulsiveness and sit up. Using his free hand, he gently held her cheek to face him directly. The look in her eyes still remained hopeful to hear something good. "I'm always attracted to you..." Slowly, he inched his face closer to her until their lips touched. To Yue, the kiss wasn't enough reassurance. Moving her body closer, she wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head on his shoulder. The new feel of their bare skin touching was warm. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before, and it made her feel so close.

Taking a dive, she turned her head to lightly kiss the crevice of his neck. A flush of arousal overcame Gaara as he held back a grunt of pleasure. His grip on her body tightened as he bit his lip to contain himself. Softly, she whispered to him. "Do you want me?"

The soft color of his teal eyes changed in that moment, as if that question somehow ignited a fire within him, releasing all the built up passions he tried so hard to contain. Swiftly, he yanked her by the shoulders and planted another kiss on her soft lips. The taste of her was as intoxicating as the feel of her bare skin lightly pressing against him. The feel of her was so smooth against his chest that he couldn't help but to press harder. Suddenly, he felt his stomach gurgle with a rough jolt. Not again! He needed to lay back down, or else he was sure to be sick, and there was absolutely no way that he was going to do that in front of her. Gaara cursed his body for being incapable of making this moment last, and broke the kiss to look at her. He caught his breath to suppress the motions. "I do want you... You don't ever have to think that I don't..."

The sheen of sweat was starting to perforate across his face. He was definitely getting worse and was in no condition to continue sitting up. She pressed onto his torso with her free hand, signaling him to lay back down. That seemed to relieve him for the time being. Instantly, she remembered the food pills. She reached into her pocket and took out the container, rationing his portion. "Here. Yumi said you should take this." She offered it to him along with the canteen of green tea. He did as told and slowly sipped the liquid in silence. "Gaara, I know what Tsuki said about us getting close could make or break this mission, but with how dangerous everything has been up until now, I realized that we could die today or tomorrow, whenever... I want to take a chance to be with you that way, but... I'm afraid that you will turn away from me again and become distant."

"Forgive me, Yue... I was only thinking of your safety."

"Sometimes I can't tell whether you are speaking to be as a Kage or as my lover." she pointed out, a bit irritated at the harsh truth she had been bottling up this entire time. "It's always about my safety, but that shouldn't justify the lack of communication between us... or the closeness."

"You're right, it shouldn't... I had my reasons for not telling you about those men."

"Like?"

"There are certain scenarios that ninja are specifically trained for in order to survive... The fact that you are not trained leaves me to protect you in every worst case scenario that you are not prepared for. I have to consider that you could act impulsively and become more endangered than you already are... Part of that is refraining information that could cause you to become upset or afraid." he explained. "I'm sorry if that's something you don't agree with."

"See, now this is you as Kazekage." she began, causing him to cock his head in confusion. "Haven't I proven that I can survive these scenarios? I've always managed to escape their clutches."

"You survived the last battle from sheer luck... If I hadn't shown up in time, they would have-"

"But I was still able to be alive until you showed up." she interrupted. "The timing may have been luck, but I knew that you would come for me when I needed you. I did what I could until the very end... Doesn't that matter at all?"

He took a moment to re-evaluate his choice of words. It's true that even without proper training, she was street-smart enough to pull through it all throughout the years. Even with Mameha, a two-man team is still half the work on a mission, and Yue was able to pull her own weight. Based off of Yumi's words, the last battle against those Korishi members, it was still impressive that she got as far as she did without dying, and with very little chakra from both her and Tsuki. Now, this time was different. She is temporarily out of power and forced to resort to hand to hand combat. Although he didn't see her perform it, could he really trust that she could survive on just that alone? Even with him incapacitated?

"You should have told me about those men." she continued "Even if you feel that you are the one who should be handling things, it would have allowed me to at least be aware of them. I could see who they are and improve my defenses, just like I have been all this time... I may not be trained, but I think I have proven to you enough that I can and will fight until the very end. If it takes everything that I've got, I will survive to the best that I can until I need you to step in... I just wish you would trust me to honor that."

Was that really what he was doing? With a sigh, he took her hand in his. "Forgive me... Even if this goes against the Kazekage code, I will try to be more trusting of your skills." She responded with a soft smile. Looking back, he realized that that didn't answer as to why she would think he didn't find her attractive. What did that have to do with this? "Do you think that because I've been so preoccupied with your safety as a Kage that I don't see you as my lover?" She nodded. "It's hard to show my affections without crossing that boundary Tsuki Ona set for us. Know that my feelings for you never strayed. I'm sorry..."

"What exactly do you think of me?" she asked in almost a whisper. Had he not explained this to her time and time again before? In his mind, he could have asked her the same, for deep down, he was just as skeptical as she, but he wouldn't allow himself to show it. Opening up about himself was hard enough as it is. Perhaps he didn't make it clear enough for her.

"I think you are strong in many ways... It amazes me how you've managed to be who you are out of all the suffering you've endured, to choose to be positive in all this darkness. If I hadn't made friends, I'm certain that I would still be trapped in the dark... You are very nurturing when it comes to caring for others and..." he paused for a moment to smile to her "To me, you are perfect... How can I not love you?"

She felt her heart skip a beat at the kind sentiment, so exhilarating that she couldn't help but to smile back. Sadly, that smile did not last. "Does my appearance bother you?"

He glanced to her open torso, then back to her. "I should have chosen my words more carefully... This isn't what should be bothering me, it's those men..."

"I don't care about them, Gaara. I want to know what you think."

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"Because you matter most."

Among all his firsts, she was the only one to say that. The lump of guilt in his heart started to dissolve away and fill with warmth. "Seeing you now, I'm not sure what to say... Perfect is the word I could only give... I've only turned away from you because I know I won't be able to control my impulses. That doesn't mean that I find you repulsive... I want to give you everything you want in that experience, but I don't think this would be the ideal place and time for us. Tsuki Ona would more likely start a riot if we were to try..." he explained.

"But what if we end up dying tomorrow?" she asked.

"You asked me to trust your survival skills - prove your word to be true so that we will live another day and then another and so on... until the right time comes. I would rather us both be in a safe space before moving forward... Though I can't see how we would begin to try with Tsuki still inside you."

"Don't worry about Tsuki."

His complexion read even more confused. "Why do you say that?"

Yue took in a long deep breath. "What if I told you that I found a way for us to be intimate... without worrying about conception?"

Gaara caught a breath tightly in his chest, his brow widening his eyes in shock. Did she really-? "But how?"

"I've been speaking to Yumi, and she showed me a few options of contraceptives that prevent pregnancy." Yue gave him an awkward smile before getting up to retrieve her backpack. After a bit of digging around, she finally found the folded paper bag with the hidden items and opened it, presenting each item to him. "These pills, I take every day. I also have another set of pills to take each time after we have sex to secure protection. There are many other options to choose from, but these, to me, seemed more favorable."

"What exactly do the pills do?" he asked, his memory a bit fuzzy on female anatomy.

"It makes it so that the egg cannot be fertilized."

"Oh." That simple answer left him feeling a bit dim. "But what about Tsuki?"

"She and I have had a long talk about that. As long as I have these pills, I'm free to decide for myself to move forward or not."

"I see."

"So, do you?" she asked, shyly concealing a faint grin. The question suddenly sent a wave of nervousness across his entire body. Was she being serious? Did Tsuki actually grant her permission to be with him? Should he say yes? Before he could open his mouth, he fought against the nausea to level his mind back to normality.

"You know I want to more than anything... but I didn't picture that it would be in a place like this, or with us in these conditions..." he explained with a heavy heart

Her lovely blue eyes retreated back to the floor. "I didn't either. I just want to be close to you."

With his hand still clasping to hers, he pulled her down onto the cot and inched his body over to give her enough room to lay next to him. Yue placed her head on his chest, listening to the soft thumps of his beating heart as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. The warmth returned to the touch of their exposed skin, forming a smile across her lips.

"I won't force you to do anything you don't want to..." he repeated "I'm glad to know this, but I want to make it as memorable as it is loving for you, and it would be best if we were in a safe space where I can focus on just you... I'm not trying to turn you away. Understand?"

"Yes." She nuzzled into his neck and gave him a soft kiss. "Thank you."