Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters associated with it

A One Month Bet

As it turned out, Sakura would receive her answer only later that afternoon. In the middle of her lesson on restructuring muscle tissue, a sand village genin had arrived to bring her a message scroll from the Kazekage. Sakura instructed her unit to continue their work as long as needed but made them aware that analyzing their work the following morning would be her first priority. "Any students' cadavers that look poorly patched will be responsible for cleaning up the rest of the unit's materials the following day." She told them. Her students shared quick, nervous glances with one another and set to work. Sakura knew that task and the simple threat of her words in the air would keep them busy for at least a couple more hours. Yesterday she'd proven she was a woman of her word, what with their early dismissal. Now, they didn't question her resolve. She then gave the Genin messenger a gentle bow to accept the scroll, making the little girl blush, and made her way back to the Kage tower.

When she arrived, she found that Temari was also waiting in the entrance of the tower, apparently having received the same summons. "We'll be meeting with the Elders with Gaara," she said. "Don't speak unless spoken to and try to remain presentable. The Elders are old farts… they only see you as an extension of the Hidden Leaf and your Hokage. I wouldn't try anything with them like you did this morning."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "You don't have to remind me."

"Sure, sure, but don't let Gaara get under your skin either."

Sakura narrowed her gaze at the sand Kunoichi. Did Temari know something she didn't? "What are you implying?"

Temari shrugged while adjusting one of her four pigtails. "I'm just saying there was a lot of… energy in our meeting this morning. I'm just warning you that you'll want to keep a cool head with the elders."

Sakura didn't say anything more, but Temari's words swirled in her mind as they traversed through the mansion to the Suna Council Room. What kind of "energy" was Temari talking about? Sure, Sakura was angry in the moment, and Gaara had seemed agitated when she yelled at him, but that was all… right?

Perhaps there was something else in the air—maybe a sexual tension? Inner Sakura chimed. Flashes of dark-ringed eyes, moist lips, and pale fingers tangled in dark red hair flitted through her mind.

Sakura gritted her teeth. No! We've already established that we're done with that. Gaara has no interest in me for those kinds of reasons. I'm just a tool for him… a tool to fix his medical team…. A tool to improve his "intimate" abilities… and I will not be used and wasted like that anymore!

But as they entered the council room, there she saw him: sitting in his full Kage regalia, deep red locks against stark white robes, Subaku no Gaara. Her tummy did a flip-flop when his eyes lifted to see her entrance.

Then why do you still feel this way?

"Ah, thank you for joining us, Haruno-san of the Hidden Leaf," came a shaky woman's voice which was cracked with age but still kindly. "We understand you have been doing good work to improve our Suna medical team."

Sakura bowed deeply to the woman elder. "Thank you, ma'am. It is an honor to serve your village. The team has demonstrated excellent work ethic in our time together."

The old woman nodded approvingly. She and the rest of the elders were each seated around a long, wide table, with the Kazekage seated at the head. Kankuro was there, as well, seated to the left of his brother. "Gaara counts us as two of his chief advisors," Temari whispered proudly. "We don't normally come to elder meetings unless Gaara asks, but I guess he wants Kankuro's input." She winked at Sakura, as the elders quietly conversed amongst themselves. "I already told him about it, and he thinks it a great idea!"

Another elder spoke next, a wrinkled old man whose skin looked like tanned leather from years of living in the Suna sun. He shifted in his seat to face Sakura, and his deep, gravelly voice held an air of authority and intrigue. "Shall we get started, then?" he began, "What's this about a sparring competition you want to hold?"

X

The meeting lasted longer than Sakura expected, but at least it was an animated discussion. Many of the elders echoed some of Gaara's initial concerns, citing the possibility of hurting their own ninja as backwards reasoning for assisting the medical unit. What should they do if a fighter became seriously injured beyond the capabilities of the medical nin's current skills? How would they convincingly angle the dialogue so that the fighters knew they were able to hurt each other, just not hurt each other too much? They also expressed concern that bringing all the village's ninja into a single space would leave the city vulnerable. These were all viable and reasonable concerns Sakura had not considered, and it made her feel a little guilty that she may have been too short sighted.

The elders listened patiently as she outlined her proposal, but it was really Temari who sealed the deal. She had obviously done her homework on the preparations required, as well as the potential benefits for the whole of Suna that she believed the competition would bring. Every time a question arose that Sakura was hesitant to answer, Temari was quick to jump in and give a well-weighted, thoughtful response. It was during these moments that Sakura chanced careful glances at Gaara. He barely said anything throughout the meeting, only once or twice interacting to share his agreement or disagreement with someone else. He seemed to be fully in Kazekage mode and somehow, Sakura thought, he seemed to be a completely different man than the one that had hungrily kissed her only just last night. Last night… she waned, It feels like ages ago…

Suddenly someone else caught her eye: Kankuro. He'd shifted his position just slightly enough that her attention flitted to his movement, only to realize he was staring directly at her, his dark eyes hooded by his cap and purple face paint. He looked sternly at her, as though he could read exactly what she was thinking, and she quickly looked away.

Eventually, the discussion reached a brief lull, when it felt that all individual facets had been brought forward for consideration. "We need a moment to discuss," said a very, very old looking elder. His voice was little more than a raspy whisper, and it seemed he was covered all over his body in long, white hair except for the shiny, bronzed dome at the crown of his head. "Would you leave us for a moment?"

Sakura and Temari bowed, then waited outside for several minutes. They didn't talk, but Temari took the opportunity to stretch and walk around ("Ugh, I hate long meetings!") while Sakura quietly paced back and forth. What did that look from Kankuro mean? How long had he been watching her while she was watching Gaara?

As though by fate, it was Kankuro who opened the door moments later, and their eyes met again. Sakura felt horribly exposed, since Temari was some distance away doing leg stretches. Kankuro blinked at her once, and then his purple face pulled into a grin, though Sakura felt that it didn't look entirely natural for some reason. "Come on back in, you two," and he widened the doorway to let them enter.

X

Somehow, the stars must have been aligned in their favor. The council had agreed to grant their request, but some compromises would have to be made. Firstly, a four-day deadline was too brief. They would arrange for the competition to the following Saturday, so that teams could have ample time to prepare and so it would not impact workforce schedules as drastically. Sakura would've preferred something sooner, as that would be her last weekend in Suna, and she would've liked to have had more the one final week with her students after the tournament to build on whatever deficits they demonstrated. On the other hand, she now had a full week to work with her students to prepare for the competition instead. She could, in a way, frame this opportunity as a sort of final exam for the medical team. Neither option was perfect, but she accepted the compromise with grace.

Secondly, in the area of the medical ward, Sakura would be named Chief Medic and would be personally responsible for overseeing all of the injuries that came in from the battles. If she felt that the Suna team was either incapable or too slow in healing a fighter, Sakura would take responsibility for healing the combatant herself. Additionally, if any truly dangerous injuries were sustained on the battlefield, Sakura would be the one to do the healing. It was a difficult line to balance, Sakura knew, because if somehow she failed and they lost a Suna ninja due to her inability to heal them in time, then Konoha would surely be blamed and there would be a fallout to bear. Sakura considered the weight of this but felt confident that no such injury would occur under the given circumstances. Tsunade hadn't trusted her with this mission for nothing—she truly was the best medic nin on this side of the continent, aside from the Hokage herself. On behalf of her village and her involvement as planner for this event, Sakura agreed to the terms.

Lastly, per the Kazekage's request, only chunin fighters could officially compete, and only jonin fighters that were presently serving as leadership figures for those chunin teams could spar in exhibition. ("Aw, man!" Temari cuffed quietly. She'd been looking for an excuse to spar with an audience.) This would ensure that there were still plenty of jonin forces to provide security in and around the village while many of their ninja were at the sparring event. Family members of competing chunin would be allowed to attend as spectators if they wished, but the competition would otherwise be a closed event. Since only chunin would be competing, they would operate under battle time limits and compete in a tournament style schedule. Because of the fewer number of participants (Suna only had 18 chunin that were currently eligible), this allowed them to limit the event to a single day, to reduce impacted workforce schedules.

As for the matter of protocol, Temari would be named Chief Jonin Coordinator for the event ("Oh sure, I'm just chopped liver!" Kankuro grumbled) and would be in charge of scheduling, managing, and overseeing the event. Chunin fighters would be paired off and compete in a morning round of sparring, then any interested jonin team leaders could take the field in exhibition while the chunin had time to relax and recover. Then in the afternoon, the winners of the morning round would battle to the finish and claim the winning title. If there was ever a disagreement about who the winner of a match was, Temari and a panel of specialized Jonin would confer to analyze the fight and pick a victor ("Kankuro, you can be on my panel – So long as you know I'm in charge!"). When a final champion was named, the Kazekage agreed to provide his endorsement for the winning chunin if they should request or be recommended for a promotion to jonin. The elders also conceded to a small monetary prize for the winner. In a moment of excitement, Sakura also requested there be some additional incentive for the medic team, since this event was also meant to advance their skills just like the chunin that were fighting. Was it possible that they could be awarded a prize for their hard work, too? The council considered this, and the first female elder suggested, "Perhaps you will make it your role to observe their work throughout the day, and at the end you can select a new Chief medic as a reward, since you will soon be returning to Konoha." The other elders murmured their agreement at the suggestion. Sakura swallowed hard, knowing that was the only offer she would receive as an answer. Again, she accepted.

"It's settled, then." Gaara finally spoke. He stood from the table, and the rest of the attendees followed suit. "Sunagakure will host this Sparring Competition given the recommendations required of our Elder Council." He bowed low to the elders, and they each bowed back, though some of the oldest ones seemed to struggle. "Thank you, as always, for your continued wisdom and guidance for our village."

The kind, trembling voice of the female elder closed their meeting officially. With a delicate and shallow bow, she announced, "Temari-san, Haruno-san, I suggest you get to work."

I hope you are excited for things to come. Thank you for reading.

Humbly yours,

Olly