CHAPTER NINE

"Sakura!"

"HuH!… what" Sakura jumped in her seat before focusing her attention back to her friend who was watching her clearly exasperated.

"You didn't hear a word I just said did you?" she let out a quiet sigh "okay that's it, what's wrong, you've been off for the past few days, are you still mad at me"-

"Temari" -

"for leaving you at the party?" …she continued

"What , no! Of-course not…I'm just…" she took a sip of her coffee she had barely touched , it was now cold.

"Is this about Gaara?"

Sakura choked on the coffee she had just ingested as her eyes widened considerably "wha..what" cough "why w-would you even t-think that" She sputtered.

"Why would you think that" She repeated more clearly.

"Damn it's nothing to fuss about" she said as she handed Sakura a glass of water which Sakura happily took "If he's stressing you out that much at the hospital, you know you can just talk to him right"- "he gave me so much shit for leaving you at the party that day… how crazy is that…" she muttered the last part more to herself.

Sakura let a sigh of relief go through her , Temari obviously didn't know the reason for her state of anxiety, she deeply wished she could confide in her but she didn't know how to go about this, this was her brother for god's sake, it's not like she could just go-

"Hey temari I sucked face with your brother on his bed" She needed to talk with someone, god she missed Ino, even though the girl was a big mouthed gossip, they told each other everything and Ino was experienced with guys meanwhile it was the opposite with her. Regardless, she needed to get a hold of her emotions but this was all his fault, if he hadn't done what he did, she wouldn't be so agitated and confused right now. None of that was supposed to happen, she still couldn't believe it happened , it was like some kind of fever dream.

Temari's voice speaking softly dragged her out of her reverie "My brother… he really respects you, you know"

"You think?" honestly the only person she thinks Gaara actually respects is Naruto…maybe Tsunade as well.

"I know".

Temari wasn't stupid she knew something must have happened between Sakura and Gaara, she couldn't quite classify it though but Sakura wasn't very good at hiding her emotions, she'd get all jumpy at the mention of Gaara's name which didn't happen before, not to mention trying to avoid him at any cost, Gaara was an expert at hiding his emotions so it was harder to know from him. Well, her interest was piqued and she will find out the gist very soon infact Sakura was going to give it up herself.

They talked a little more, mostly about Temari's love life , Sakura didn't mind at all, she liked that Temari could talk to her about her personal life, she felt bad wishing she could confide in her in the same way , maybe she should , she suddenly thought , what's there to hide anyways , so Gaara kissed her , not a big deal. He's probably kissed lot of girls even more experienced than her. That didn't make her feel good at all.

"More like steamy make-out session" inner panned out

Sakura picked up her glass of water and took a huge gulp, she was going to do it

"Listen uhmm Temari…" she started to say

Just then Sakura's personal alarm went off, indicating that lunch time was over. Whatever she had wanted to say was forgotten, the moment was gone, some other suitable time to tell her will show itself she was sure of it.

From the back of her head she could hear inner mumbling out 'excuses … excuses'

Sakura stretched as she stood up, Temari followed suit and they walked out the restaurant together to the part of the restaurant that was set up as an outdoor seating for those that would prefer to eat outside.

"You wanted to tell me something?" Temari asked watching Sakura

Sakura smiled softly, shaking her head "It's nothing, Thanks for lunch?"

"Whatever, you're paying next time" Temari deadpanned before walking off to the right. Sakura giggled after her, shaking her head as she herself took her left towards the direction of the hospital to continue the second half of her class.


Sakura watched with a smile on her face as the last of the students filtered out of the class. She was pleased with the progress that was being made so far, the students were learning very fast and in no time Suna would have a good amount of formidable medic-nins.

The class was empty now so she packed up her books and made to leave the class, it was just crossed 6pm so she figured she'd stay back in the hospital and help out a bit before going home. The hospital was getting a lot busier especially at night, of-course she was only staying back to help the staff not because she was avoiding a certain someone and with that thought she left the classroom, walking briskly to her office.

Dropping the books on her table she sunk into her office chair, her eyes glanced at the huge file on her table so she picked it up and tried to read it but it was of no use, her mind was clouded with Gaara and his perfect face and perfect body and it just kept getting worse as the days passed, you would think it would be the opposite, she groaned deeply as the memory re-surfaced again

Gaara holding her face in place, locking her in with those cold blue-green eyes, telling her how much he wanted her. The pounding of her heart, all rational thought leaving her as he had kissed her, the kiss had been demanding, sensual as if trying to memorize the feel of her …. The uncontrollable desire and heat that pooled at the pit of her stomach as she had kissed him back, the feel of his hair as she ran her hands through it, she hadn't expected his hair to feel that soft. And then somehow she ended under him and his hands were under her shirt, she could still feel the ghost of his lips where he trailed heated kisses down her neck, she would have certainly had to answer some embarrassing questions if she hadn't figured out the hickeys early on and healed them. She had only come to her senses when she had felt his hands cup her bare breast. She pushed him away so fast and practically fled with what dignity she had left.

Sakura had come back when she was sure he wasn't around and dropped some melatonin pills and a note on how to take them. The medic in her wouldn't quit though, she had to stop herself countless from meeting him to make sure he was taking his meds properly and if they were working, yes it was the medic in her and not for any other reason.

She realized she was trailing her lips with her fingers and stopped the act instantly. Sakura sighed deeply, maybe she shouldn't have avoided him the way she did , he was clearly not in his right senses, she was positive it was some sort of side-effect of the treatment. That explained his behavior but how could she explain hers, she had kissed him back, she had been very willing. "do you want me as much as I want you" . It kept replaying in her head over and over again since that day.

Did he really want her? No!, she didn't want to give herself that hope again, she couldn't, so she managed to convince herself it was just something he said without realizing, just a fluke, maybe he didn't even remember after-all he hadn't tried to contact her since then, she probably even heard the wrong thing, it was just like her to hold on to a flimsy rope of hope and then get hurt at the end when it fails to hold.

Ultimately, she decided she would stop avoiding Gaara like some coward, she was anything but that. If she saw him she'd just act normal like nothing happened. He was the Kazekage and she was just the volunteer medic.

And with that she shut off every thought about him and tried to focus on her task, she groaned at the bulky file on her table, she was supposed to have finished reading the files and reported back to Keita a long time ago , it seemed to be a record on patients that had been admitted to the hospital in the past month , the dates they visited and what they were treated for, she didn't know what was special about the files but he wouldn't ask her to check them out if he didn't expect her to find something. She opened the file and started to go through.

Sakura burst through the door without knocking, absolutely shocking a busy Keita.

"Kami Sakura, do you know what time it is, you almost killed me" he joked except Sakura didn't laugh or retort with a joke like she usually did, instead she threw the bulky file on his desk, it landed with a loud thud.

"Keita! what does this mean"

Keita heaved a sigh "you should probably sit for this"

Sakura took the sit opposite him as Keita began to explain what she had just saw in great detail.

When he finished Sakura sat shell shocked, this was bad, like really bad especially if it was what she thought it was. Keita waited for the news to sink in before continuing.

"My hypothesis is some kind of drug"

"Or a virus" she countered

"Now now, let's not make any assumptions" he looked around cautiously which seemed weird to Sakura considering they were they were the only ones in the office

"You're not even sure it's a drug and I'm the one making assumptions ?" she snapped in a hushed tone , why was he so laid back when this was a serious issue, he had that aloof expression like Shikamaru that made her want to punch him right now.

He ignored her outburst which pissed her off even more "There have been three cases so far, since the month I started working here at least, which is good , it means whatever it is , it's not spreading fast, bad news is the start of it all can't be pinpointed'

"Why is that" she asked, reeling in her anger

"Well it sucks but the Suna hospital didn't keep medical records till you came, the file I gave you was the one I compiled myself when I got appointed here , so of course it only shows records for a month , which is frankly not enough data to know for sure when it started."

He let a yawn which seemed to go on forever while rubbing circles to his temples and all of a sudden she could see how tired he was , the lines on his face had increased significantly and his eyes were sunken and well shadowed by dark circles, he looked like he hadn't had much rest in days, she had been so focused on herself she didn't realize how stressed out he was, she really sucked as a friend.

Sakura deflated into her chair her expression changing to that of worry "Why didn't you say anything all this while, Gaara doesn't know does he". Poor Keita had been carrying this secret alone all this while covering his stress up with humour.

He sighed, she had never seen him look so tired "No… he doesn't, I wasn't sure about it at first, they happened so far apart… it could just be a coincidence right?"

But they both knew this was far from a coincidence, that's why he had given her the file without explaining it, he had really hoped she won't see the pattern as well, he rubbed his temples again trying to soothe his migraine.

"Let me help with that"

She urged him to come closer then placing hands on both sides of his head , she began to push chakra into his head , Keita sighed as the action immediately brought reprieve to his headache.

He breathed out in relief "I really needed that, thank you Sakura chan" he flashed a toothy grin at her.

It's the least she could do for being such a shitty friend.

"You should go home and get some rest, I'll finish off here" she told him.

He refused at first but after more aggressive persuasion from Sakura he finally gave up and went home.

Sakura stayed behind helping the nurses and attending to the last of the patients, it was well over 10pm now but her mind kept replaying the conversation with Keita.

All three cases had been women, symptoms confirmed include; fever, paranoia, insomnia, violent episodes that lead to endangerment of persons close to them and in the worst case scenario; Death.

Apparently in the first case the woman had stabbed her husband in the shoulder with a kitchen knife, she claimed he was going to kill her first. The second case was almost the same , claimed her 13years old child was evil and she had to purify him, the child had luckily gotten saved by the father when he caught her trying to strangle the child. The third woman's case was the only case with not as much violence as the first two, she briefly wondered if there was a reason the reaction was stronger in the first two women, she needed to run some tests and quickly but unfortunately according to Keita the first two women were dead and the third was admitted to the Suna Mental Facility.

She wished it could just be a coincidence of some sort but three women with similar symptoms in a month , no way that was a coincidence. Gaara would not be happy when he hears about this , if they're lucky it could be a drug being circulated , heaven's forbid it be some type of virus.

Sakura checked the time and saw that it was already 11pm so she hurriedly packed up her stuff and left for home but not before giving directives to the medics on the over night shift and bidding them goodnight. Tomorrow was going to be a long day she needed her night rest.


Sakura woke up the next day with only one thing on her mind, to find answers, she needed to do some research, maybe she'd find some answers in Grandma's Chiyo's books on herbs and poisons, which could be in the library. She had a feeling important books like that won't be in the public library, so the plan was to head out to the hospital as normal, give her lessons and return back home to the private library where she would spend the rest of the day going through Grandma Chiyo's books, she also needed to talk to Keita , there was something that needed to be done.

"We need to tell Gaara"

Keita let out a deep sigh from across Sakura in her office where he was leaning on the wall with his arms folded.

"We need to before it happens again…if it happens again"

"I understand" he smiled ruefully "He's gonna be enraged"

"Yeah he is , but this isn't your fault Keita , if you didn't keep your own records Kami knows we'd have never found out till it was too late, you did well, okay?'

Keita nodded his head he knew he didn't do anything wrong, he made the most sensible decision with a sensitive situation. He just the have the energy to deal with Gaara's anger.

"Now we just have to nip this in the bud before it spreads , I'm going to do some research at the library to see if I can find anything. We should have a meeting with Gaara tomorrow" Keita watched as she chewed on her lips while thinking.

"You already arranged for the meeting?" honestly he was amazed with how calmly she was taking this , it seemed like she was just about ready to combust last night when she heard the news and now here she was calmly strategizing, it was fascinating , he could see why Gaara was attracted to her.

"Yeah I sent a letter to Matsuri to fix us in for tomorrow no doubt his schedule will be packed today".

When did she even have time to write a letter much less send it…he wondered.

"Keita I think you should speak to some of the older nurses here, the ones that were here before you came" she suggested

"Good idea Sakura, we'll know if they remember patients with the symptoms"

"Be discreet about it okay. We don't want people panicking"

"Sure thing"

"I should get to my classes I hope we'll be able to get something today"

"Yeah same here" Keita murmured

Sakura dragged her feet along the floors as she walked, she came home as planned after her classes now all she needed was a fresh bath and some food to prep her for a long day of research in the library and she did just that, luckily the housekeeper had prepared something she liked.

Sakura tied her hair in a messy bun, dressed in a green t-shirt and cotton white shorts, she was energized, refreshed and ready to achieve her goals and so in high spirits she marched to the library, if anything was going to have some answers or clues it might be Grandma Chiyo's books.

As Sakura neared the huge double doors of the library she began to feel perturbed for some reason , scratch that she knew the reason , the library was the catalyst for what happened that day if she hadn't gone to the library to snoop around she wouldn't have met Gaara and then suck face with him later on his bed, ughh . Everything always seemed to come back to the question she had been avoiding since that day, 'did she regret it?' , 'if she could take back that day, would she?' . She violently shook her head as the questions popped into her head, now was not the time for that. She pushed open the doors and walked into the library , frankly she felt it was a bit too big for a private library , she could only imagine how big the public library was if this one was this big.

"Now where would a book as important as that be kept" she thought to herself as she scanned the library for where to start.

After searching for almost an hour Sakura was just about ready to throw the whole self imposed mission away. She could just ask Gaara, but that would mean talking to him, face to face, alone and she was just not ready for that. She had put up a strong front for Keita but she honestly didn't know how she was going to face him tomorrow. The only thing keeping her from running from the whole thing was that this was something that needed to be done and also the reassuring thought that she won't be the only one with Gaara in his office.

She felt bad for Gaara he already had his problems with the council and now to just drop this on him , she was sure they were going to find some way to blame him which was why she was desperate to find something before relaying the news tomorrow but it was proving to be mission impossible.

Sakura huffed in annoyance, she had gone through about 15 shelves but to no avail, it was just ridiculous at this point, I mean how hard could it be to find some freaking books. She was just about entering the next section of shelves when she felt it, a chakra presence, 'no no no', she wasn't ready…

She knew before turning that it was him, still didn't make her swoon any less when she saw him, he was just so astronomically handsome. It was the strangest thing she wanted to hide under a rock at the same time she wanted to kiss him? Wait what. They stood there staring at each other a moment before he finally spoke.

"What are you searching for?" he asked his voice quiet and deep

Sakura wondered how long he'd been the library to know that she was searching for something and why she hadn't notice his presence. She wasn't a sensory ninja by any means but this was absurd, none the less she replied when she realized he was watching her, waiting.

"A book"

"What book?" he asked as he stalked closer, Sakura resisted the urge to take a step back.

She could lie but she had a strong feeling against it

"Grandma Chiyo's books"

He didn't reply which frankly troubled her, she had been positive he would ask her what she needed it for but instead he didn't care or maybe he was respecting her privacy, Gaara had always been a stickler for manners. He was within arm's reach now. Her heart rate increased as her eyes finally met his and Sakura tried to measure his countenance. He seemed relaxed as always his face hardly betraying any emotion that would say otherwise. She really wished she was a mind reader, she wanted to know what was going on in his head, what he was thinking. Gaara stood in silence, watching Sakura with curiousness . Did he even remember anything? , didn't seem like he did, Sakura was relieved that the event that had been bothering her for weeks would be forgotten, right? So why didn't she feel relieved? Why did the thought of Gaara not remembering their little tryst leave her with a feeling of despondency? , Sakura was left confused by these questions running through her head.

"So uhmm what are you doing here" she tried to make small talk to distract herself and maybe Gaara but really she was curious as to why he wasn't in his office. It was highly unusual.

"Looking for something"

She wondered what he was looking for…

"Are you still having trouble sleeping" she asked, her eyebrows etched in worry

"Not anymore" he muttered his eyes still trained on her. She swallowed when he moved to stand directly in front of her, this time she took a step back before she could stop herself, her back hitting the book shelf behind her, but then he surprised her when he closed the gap created by her, they were standing so close now she could feel his body heat, her heart was thudding wildly in her chest, oh kami what was he doing and why was she still standing there but her feet wouldn't budge and her hands wouldn't move to push him away. She let a quiet gasp and shut her eyes when he dipped his head.

She waited one second , two seconds and when she didn't feel anything she opened her eyes to see him looking over her shoulder slightly crouched , he pulled out a book from the shelf behind her.

"I believe this is the book you're searching for" his breath tickled her ears as he spoke

Sakura cleared her throat in a bid to recover from her embarrassment , of course he wasn't trying to kiss her , she chided herself internally , It's not like he remembered or anything so why would he , she could feel that cloud of glum washing over her again but shook it off . It was better this way. She looked up to see the book he was holding to her.

"Yes haha , it's been in my face this whole time and I didn't see it" she took the book from him, holding it to her chest, it was quiet bigger than she thought it would be, like really big.

"Everything was compiled into this big book" Gaara said as if reading her thoughts

"Ohh" she replied, smiling sheepishly and looking everywhere but at him , he was still standing so close and she didn't know what to do .

Promptly he pulled away, stepping a pace back and Sakura hated that she instantly missed the warmth from him

"I should head back" he says

Sakura nodded "And I'll stay here going through this big book" after a moment of silence she continued "So I guess I'll uhhm see you later?" she muttered quickly and not waiting for a reply she turned to leave

"Sakura"

She stopped in her tracks, her name sounded almost foreign from his lips , it was always the formal "Haruno", "Sakura Haruno" never just Sakura , she couldn't help the weakness in her knees from hearing him call her name like that.

He leans down behind her, his lips touching her ear and she hopes he doesn't notice her shudder, her eyes widened when she hears the words he whispers-

"You still smell so good"

She turned immediately but the room is empty already, however the words echo in her eardrums repeatedly.

It takes a moment before Sakura realizes

"HE REMEMBERS" She gasps.


A/N: Finally got this out, this fic is turning out longer than I expected, ong I didn't expect this to cross ten chapters lol.