I told you, Inner Sakura said.

Shut up, Sakura snipped at herself. Just because he doesn't have any experience with this kind of thing doesn't mean he won't come up with something insightful. Sometime. Maybe.

Naruto looked like he was pondering something insightful at that very moment. Settling an elbow on the counter at his favorite ramen shop, his forehead wrinkled, eyes scrunched, and lower lip stuck out. He scratched his chin with a thoughtful "Hmm." Then he turned to her. "Sakura . . ."

"Yeah?"

"You're weird."

"Oooh!"

He dodged a punch that, had it connected, probably would have broken his jaw.

"Hey! You told me to be honest!"

"In a helpful way, you short little . . . you . . . Gah!"

At least he's easier to hit than Lee.

At least you two will be warmed up for sparring later on, too, Inner Sakura added.

On their walk to the training area, Naruto did indeed come up with something insightful.

"Hey, hey, why didn't you tell a girl about this? Like Ino?"

"Because I already know what Ino would have said. She would have told me I was crazy for the first part, told me that Gaara was a jackass for the second part, and finally told me to stick with Lee because he's the good guy."

"Well . . . Do you want to stick with Lee?"

See, she told Inner Sakura. He can make me think, so it's worth it.

I refuse to comment, was the reply.

"Lee's a great guy, and he deserves to be happy."

"You didn't answer the question."

The corner of her mouth twitched up as she watched the ground in front of her. "Yeah, I guess I didn't."

"Well?"

"I don't know."

"And . . . You know, it's really weird to talk about Gaara having any kind of love life, let alone with you, let alone it involving you."

"Tell me about it," she grumbled.

"But he said he just wants to be friends with you."

"Yeah."

"But you . . . You know, this really is weird."

"You told me that already," she growled.

"You still like him."

The growl, and her slouch, both deepened. "Unfortunately."

"Well . . . um." He pondered further, then straightened with a grin. "Maybe this'll work. Good points on his side, versus Lee."

He's fucking hot, Inner Sakura cheered. Those hands . . . That tummy . . . His voice . . . And you know how when he gets kinda pissed but still amused, he gets that look . . . You know, that one.

That was it; her conscience was a lech.

Sakura blushed. Something clean, you.

Damn!

"Well, it seems like he tries to put my best interests in mind. Even if he isn't very good about doing it nicely. It's kind of a different level than Lee helping bandage my knuckles last week, too. Not physical courtesy so much as . . . I don't know."

"Eh, it's Gaara. We'll probably need more than a few years to work on 'nice.' Anything else?"

Her purely mental counterpart picked up again. I like to look at him, how's that for clean?

She smushed Inner Sakura down. "He's honest – well, Lee is too. He apologizes after he upsets me, or after that time he popped up and had me thinking he was going to kill me a few months ago. Lee . . . doesn't really do anything upsetting."

"At all?"

"No, actually. Why do you ask?"

Naruto blinked. "Because everyone does something upsetting. If they don't, they have to be holding something back."

Lee, holding back?

I never thought of that. What if he was so determined to be accepted that he's not really being himself?

Well . . . "The posing. The abject devotion to Gai-sensei is kind of upsetting too, I guess."

"You think so? I think it's kinda funny, most of the time."

So do I . . . "The eyebrows."

Naruto choked, laughed. "Don't tell me you're still stuck on the eyebrows!"

"If you knock him out, I'll get some scissors and we can trim them."

She hadn't seen an expression that evil on Naruto's face since their failed Operation De-mask Kakashi. "Really?"

ooo

"Man, that's weird."

Sakura gaped at their handiwork, the late afternoon sun distinctly illuminating two careful arches where what looked like two blocky caterpillars once were. "Who knew?"

"Under all that fluff, there's a real person!" Naruto jumped up from beside their prone teammate and danced around, cackling. "Wait 'til Gai sees this!"

Lee stirred, groaned.

Inner Sakura stirred also. You two knocked him out . . . So you could change him. Naruto did it because he thought it was funny. But you did it because you weren't happy with him before. What about now?

She stood. "Naruto, let's go before he wakes up."

"Great idea! That way it'll be a surprise for him! And if he doesn't like it, we won't be in trouble!"

"Yeah."

You're a horrible person, Inner Sakura gloated. You really don't deserve someone like him.

I didn't ask you.

Don't take that tone with me, was the replied threat, or I'll replay how Gaara tasted on your lips until you blush for the rest of the day.

It's only that way because he was my first kiss, she thought, even as her hand reached towards her mouth.

Keep telling yourself that.

ooo

Lee didn't come out of hiding for two days, even sending Gai away with an incoherent comment about getting used to something he couldn't fix. Sakura and Naruto helped their instructor speculate on what could cause their friend to miss training, succeeding in working Gai up to the point that he broke down Lee's door to find out if he really had been overrun by a flood of Shino's escaped insects.

Lee blinked at him, at the pair behind him, and smiled. "Hey, guys. I was just about to come looking for you."

Gai's bellow was deafening. "Lee!"

"Gai-sensei?"

"You're all right! You're . . . Lee! You're even more beautiful than you were before!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Bawling, the two fell into each other's arms. Sakura and Naruto exchanged a look.

"Hey," Naruto said. "Think we should go now?"

"Yeah." She looked one last look at the twitching, blubbering green mass and shook her head. "Let's run more laps."

"Let's."

ooo

Weeks passed. Lee's eyebrows tried to reclaim their normal shape, but he trimmed them down again.

You might have made him vain, Inner Sakura commented.

Gai approved, and that's why, she responded.

You don't mind kissing him as much now.

I didn't mind to begin with.

Which is why you didn't do it a second time for a week, and that's only when he initiated things.

I was thinking.

Having a crisis or two, you mean.

I want to make it work. Can I make it work?

You've been asking yourself that every morning for the past few weeks now.

I want to be with him.

Which one?

Sakura shook her head. Arguing with herself . . . she was going as crazy as –

He's contagious, you said.

Shut up!

Lee smiled and sat beside her at the edge of the training field, fingers seeking hers. She smiled back, sighed quietly.

He's comfortable to be around . . . but comfort isn't everything.

"Sakura?"

"Hm?"

"Do I make you happy?"

The response was automatic. "Of course." She smiled faintly at him. "Why do you ask?"

"I want to be sure."

She shifted, confused. "Well, yeah."

"Why?"

The hell? "That's like asking you why you like me, Lee."

"Well, that's simple. You're a girl. You squish." He let go of her hand and poked her side for emphasis.

Sakura dropped an elbow on his hand, feigning outrage. "There's plenty of other girls that go squish out there."

He smiled shyly. "Yeah, but you're you." Reaching up, he tucked a stray pink strand behind her ear. "Your hair, and eyes, and your attitude, and your smile, and the way you hit Naruto, and how you get your back up when something upsets you. Things like that. That's why."

She smiled, looked away. Lee was silent for long enough for her to realize that it was her turn.

"You've got a good heart," she tried. "You're a kind person, a forgiving person. You're noble in that way. And you're fun to laugh with, and beat up training posts with at night."

When she looked at him, he was smiling, so she continued. "You're accepting, and understanding. You're a wonderful guy, you know?"

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. You're a great friend."

Shit.

"And . . . and that's great too, you know?"

That was an awful cover. That was . . . oh no.

Lee gave no outward indication that he'd caught the slip, but he didn't look at her either. An arm went around her shoulders hesitantly.

"You know I just want you to be happy, Sakura."

"And I want to make you happy. You deserve to be happy."

"You do too, though." He finally turned back to her. "Gai-sensei said that if you're interested, he can find some training weights for you, too. Not ones as heavy as mine, of course, but enough to make your workouts a bit harder."

"I'd like that, I think."

"You'll be more sore than you know for the longest time."

"That's okay."

Friends.

I said that.

And I meant it.

Don't you dare kiss him goodnight, Inner Sakura snarled.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," she said.

If I don't, she thought, I have to explain why, and I can't. Not now. He won't ask. He's understanding . . . But I'll feel bad for letting him down.

Like leading him on is any better? This time the argument wasn't from Inner Sakura. You think of him as a friend. A friend. Friend. Don't you dare fucking do it.

Lee smiled at her, then looked confused as she covered his new eyebrows with one hand. "They're different," she shrugged.

"You liked them before?"

"I don't know. They seemed more like you. But maybe I just have to get used to seeing you with these, you know?"

If he's your friend, that's why kissing him was like that. It's kissing a friend. Don't you fucking –

"Oh." His hand ran past her ear to cup the back of her head, draw her in – and at the gesture, Inner Sakura popped back up.

Oh hell no if he's your friend and Naruto's your friend then kissing him would be what it feels like to be –

Shut up!

His lips were wet, gentle, but brief.

Kissing Naruto kissing Naruto kissing NarutoOhshiteeewww!

Inner Sakura finished the mental shriek, gave a few spasmodic twitches, and collapsed.

For once, Sakura completely agreed with her. This is not good . . .

ooo

Her first day of training with weighted arms and legs was awkward, as she tried to move suddenly heavier limbs at the usual speed, but wasn't that bad. The next day, though, she was less than happy with herself.

At their normal meeting place for their morning run, Naruto grinned at her expression. "You look like you don't like the weight training idea anymore."

"I still like the idea of the end results." She grimaced. "It'd be easier if I couldn't feel my legs anymore, though."

"If it works out for you, and you don't die, maybe I'll try them too."

"As long as you remember that I'll make you as miserable about it as you make me."

Naruto took the hint and tried to sound less gleeful. "At least you only have to wear them while you're training?"

"To think that I was upset by that, at first."

"Heh. Think you can keep up?"

"Of course."

They passed Sasuke and his guard occasionally, but said nothing to him, receiving smirks in return for their silence. Eventually the newness of the weights became less of a hassle, and she found herself moving at closer to her old speed. Inspired by her progress, Gai had them try out new, horrible workouts.

"Lee, get in a pushup position. Now, Naruto, get in a pushup position at a right angle to Lee, with your shins across Lee's shoulders, so he's holding your feet off the ground. Sakura, you do the same with Naruto. No, so you're parallel to Lee, just facing the opposite direction."

Her instructor's shins settled across her shoulders, Lee's across his. By the time everyone was properly arranged, they had formed a square.

"Ready? Great! For starters, one hundred pushups!"

By the end of that day, Gai was the only one that seemed unfazed, and she was pretty sure he was faking. But she soaked herself in the bathtub that night until she was sure the hot water had done all it could, and was out to meet an also unhappy Naruto for their run the next day.

"Do you think this is what it feels like to get old?" he asked.

"I really hope not."

Gai was ready for them with something else awful. "Three-point pushups! Hands together, do a pushup. Then hands shoulder width apart, another pushup. Then hands double shoulder width, another pushup. That's one. Do two hundred . . . from a handstand!"

Lee walked away from that day as if nothing of any consequence had happened. Sakura and Naruto staggered after him, glaring.

"I say we knock him out again, but shave his head this time," Naruto growled quietly.

The mental picture made her cringe. "Nooo!"

Lee turned back to them, moving entirely too fluidly for her complaining joints and muscles to comprehend. "Sakura, did you have any plans for tonight?"

If she shut him down with honesty, it wouldn't make her feel bad. "Just to go home, probably take another bath, and hope I can move in the morning."

He smiled and nodded at her as he approached, hands reaching for hers. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah." She saw him start to lean in and shifted to the side so his lips hit her cheek, then returned the gesture as if she thought that's what he intended.

Pretend he doesn't look confused. He'll be gone soon enough.

Lee blinked at her, then turned to Naruto. "See you tomorrow, too."

"Later, Lee."

Once the green outfit was out of sight, Naruto turned to her slowly and carefully, trying not to wrench anything. "You two are . . ."

She mentally cringed. "I think of him as a friend. I just . . . haven't figured out how to tell him yet."

"Ehh. It's not nice to lead him on, you know?"

"I'm trying."

Naruto sighed. "Does the bath thing help at all?"

"I don't know. I think it does, though."

"I may need one, then."

ooo

Daybreak found the muscles in her back and arms locked so tightly she was almost unable to move.

If I don't go, I won't progress.

There's Sasuke to think about, too. Who's to say that he won't try to take out a few troublesome people on the way, if he decides to run to Orochimaru again? Sakura squared her shoulders with determination, cringed, and winced when even cringing hurt. I have to be able to hold my own. And to do that, I have to be stronger.

She strapped her weights on and headed out to meet Naruto.

For the first time, the blond was late. He finally jogged up to her, talking before she could even start to ask.

"Gaara's back. He's meeting with the Fifth right now."

"What happened?"

"Sand thinks they're closing in on Orochimaru. Gaara killed Kabuto last night."

The one that helped us with the first chuunin exam. The one that turned on all of us. "What's that got to do with the Hokage? They want to know if she has any other special requests?"

"They already know what she would like done. He's here to help trail Sasuke. With Kabuto dead and Sound mostly demolished, in all likelihood, Orochimaru's gonna try to call him in any day now. And Sand would like one of their guys on the team that will follow him from here."

"So they really do intend to follow him to Orochimaru."

"And keep Orochimaru from stealing his body, too. By all accounts Sand's gotten, he's about due for another. And if he gets the Sharingan . . ."

"Yeah." All of unholy hell would pale in comparison.

"Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"Gaara's coming to train with us after he's done with the meeting. He shouldn't get seen by Sasuke while he's on his walk this afternoon, because . . . well, it would be bad, you know? And we all understand that. And Old Lady Tsunade will want him to stay somewhat close, and somewhere he can be found as soon as possible. Somewhere he won't terrify everyone around him. And that's reasonable too. I'd agree with that idea."

What's he getting at?

"So after training he's going to go home with you."

Uh-oh. "Me?"

"Well, it's the logical choice. And that's where he usually goes, anyway." Naruto continued as they started their run. "He wanted me to tell you, but to tell you that he'd change things if you wanted. If it imposed too much, he said."

He doesn't know if you're still upset with him. He's still thinking of your happiness.

He's still damned scary at times. But there's no point in breaking habit now.

"If you want," Naruto offered, "I'll come too. So it's not too much."

That would make things easier, give me a human buffer. Make it not as tense to be around him, because I know that things will be tense. For at least the first while. She gave him her most grateful smile. "Thanks, Naruto. I'd be glad to have you come have dinner with us."

ooo

Gaara wasn't long after them to the practice field. He went up to Lee first, forehead wrinkling in puzzlement, and grabbed the other boy's face in his hands. "What happened to you?"

"I'm trying out a new look," Lee grinned.

"It's weird."

"Who asked you, anyway?" Cheeks squished by the other's grip, Lee pressed his tongue between his lips and blew.

Gaara snorted before letting go and turning to them and nodding a greeting. Naruto nodded back; Sakura's response was a silly, shy smile as she mouthed the word "Hi."

Green eyes met hers. "About tonight . . ."

"It's okay," she heard herself say. "I don't see why not."

She saw the smallest touch of relief in his faint smile. "Thank you." Before anyone could ask any questions, he faced Gai. "Did Naruto tell you anything yet?"

"He just got here, less than a minute before you."

"All right. Orochimaru is on the run. We at Sand can't find him, but we believe Sasuke will, and that Sasuke will try to reach him within the next few days. I'm Sand's contribution to the team that will track him. My siblings are in with Sand's forces."

"The rest of the team here?"

"At least two members that haven't been decided yet, and them." He gestured to the three around him.

Lee's jaw dropped a fraction of a second before Gai's. Sakura almost choked. The word came out of three throats at the same time. "What?"

Naruto cackled.

Gaara gave them all a look of exasperation bordering on annoyance. "It's logical. Who else do I work well with from this village? Who else do I even get along with for any length of time?"

Lee grinned. "Well, if you put it that way!"

Gai frowned. "The others?"

"To relay positions. Last time Sasuke took off, he and the Sound shinobi all went in so much of a straight line from Konoha towards Orochimaru's suspected location that it was almost uncanny. And we can't have just a handful of chuunin taking on Orochimaru and Sasuke, so all of Sand's available forces will circle and convene on his position."

Worry gave Sakura words. "It'll take Sand's forces more than a few seconds to reach us once we find them, though."

"Which is why the team is as it is. If it comes down to it, my defense can keep Orochimaru from killing everyone in the time it takes Naruto to summon the Gamabunta. Anyone can see that thing from more than a kilometer away. With that, and all of us, we should be able to keep them occupied for long enough for the rest of the forces to arrive."

"And then?" As Gai's jaw set and shoulders flexed, Sakura decided that he looked impressive after all.

"The Fifth Hokage requested that I find out how long it took the Third to die. She wishes for us to take at least that long with whatever we do to him, as long as the whatever in question is both bloody and incredibly painful."

Gai's eyes closed as he nodded slowly. "Good."

The drills they worked on that day were blatantly for assassination – takedowns involving a kunai, involving fast, hard strikes to the heart, throat, femoral and brachial arteries, involving hitting and getting away as quickly as possible. She got the impression that Gai expected the techniques to be of use in the near future.

Dusk found them weary, yet more sure of themselves.

Naruto grinned, stretched, then grimaced. "That – owwww. I thought moving was supposed to loosen things up!"

"You're telling me," Sakura commiserated. "I almost couldn't get out of bed this morning."

Gaara shot her a curious expression.

"Upper body workouts," she said.

"You're hurt?"

"Just sore. It doesn't matter."

He gave her a look that said she knew better than to say that to him.

Naruto stepped between them. "Guys? Dinner?"

"Yeah," she sighed.

"Dinner?" asked Lee.

Shit. She tried to shrug it off. "A friendly thing. No big deal. Me and them."

"Sakura, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Aww, hell. "Sure, Lee."

Apparently Lee's understanding only ran so far. "What's going on?"

She glanced over to where Naruto was talking animatedly to Gaara. From the wide sweep of the shorter boy's arms, she guessed it was about something big. "Nothing's going on."

He shook his head, agitated. "Something's wrong. You don't treat me the same, act the same around me. You have to tell me. Do you still care?"

This is gonna suck. "Yes, I still care about you. I always have."

"As what."

Oh no.

"As . . . I don't know."

His mouth formed a grim line. "That's a cop-out and you know it."

Honesty, Sakura, honesty. And if he's as good a person as you believe him to be, he'll appreciate it.

She looked away. "I know . . . I definitely care about you as a friend. Other than that, I don't know."

Lee bit his lip, set his jaw. "You could have told me."

"I didn't know how. And I'm still not sure what's going on, so I don't know how I even want things to be."

Kissing Naruto, Inner Sakura hissed.

He sighed, slumped. "You like someone else, don't you."

"I don't know."

"It's not Naruto, because you've always thought of him as a brother, so . . . Oh, no."

She shook her head. "I don't know."

"You always looked at him differently than you did me."

"He doesn't like me like that."

"He's watching you now."

She glanced over. Gaara blinked, then looked back to Naruto. "That doesn't mean anything," she said.

"It does when he's been doing it for most of the day. Now it makes sense."

The ground was giving out from under her. "Lee, honestly, I don't know what's going on right now. With anything."

"Fair enough." He touched her wrist with a finger. "Let me be the first to know when you figure things out."

She exhaled, looked at the ground in front of her toes as she nodded. "I can do that." It can't be that hard.

He lifted her hand to his lips. "Please do."

"I promise."

ooo

On their walk to her home, she sighed, then spoke. "Remember when things were easier, when we were younger?"

Gaara's expression was thoughtfully blank. Naruto, though, looked at her like she had grown horns. "Easier? Are you kidding? I couldn't do a technique as simple as a shadow clone, you were hung up on Sasuke and trying to throttle Ino for his attention, and Spanky here was on a sociopathic blitz where he tried to kill everyone and anyone that came anywhere near him!"

Said Sand-Spanky's hand connected amicably with the back of Naruto's head.

"See?" Naruto pointed. "Two and a half years ago he would have tried to kill me for that."

Gaara smiled. She chuckled and said, "Good point."

When she glanced over at Gaara, he looked away.

When it comes down to it, she realized, he still doesn't know how to deal with people properly.

He just wants to know if I'm still upset with him.

I should be. But . . . I think I'm burnt out. Sakura smiled to herself wryly, then reached out towards his hand. "Friends, still?"

His fingers caught hers, squeezed. "If you'll have me."

ooo

Dinner became an intricate dance. She and Gaara spun around each other en route from the kitchen to the extension of the living room that was her dining area, each sliding out of the other's way in an attempt to avoid contact. She blushed and looked away when he caught her watching him. He pretended to be absorbed in something else when she caught him looking at her.

Observing them, Naruto groaned. "You two are hopeless, you know that?"

Gaara answered first, cautiously. "What are you talking about?"

"You're just . . . I mean, if you're gonna do . . . Gah! Just hurry up and make out already. That'll solve things."

She yelped. "What?"

"It worked for me and Hinata. She stopped stuttering." Naruto paused, then smirked. "Well, once she was able to start talking again . . ."

Her ears had heated to the point of uncomfortability, to the point that she didn't even want to think of how they looked. To her side, Gaara's jawline seemed a little too tense. He glanced over, met her eye – and she looked away.

Is he . . .

When she looked back, he was still watching her.

I can't. I don't want to get hurt again. And I promised Lee I'd tell him first.

Naruto sighed and dug into his dinner. After a moment, they did the same. For a while, things weren't as stressful. Naruto tried to crack a few jokes, but they fell flat, which in and of itself was funny. Gaara delicately answered questions about how his battles had gone, having learned a while before that full details tended to spoil peoples' appetites. And she smiled, accepted compliments on her meal, and tried to ignore the speculative glances she kept getting from both of them.

He can't take interaction advice from Naruto!

He takes his phrases, his habits, then mimes them for you, Inner Sakura noted. And don't forget how you were ready to accept Naruto's advice, either!

Scowling, Sakura decided that she didn't want any more help from that quarter, but Inner Sakura popped up with another gem anyway. I wonder how hard he'd be to seduce.

No! I can't. I promised.

And I don't know why the hell you would do something like that, Inner Sakura griped.

I'm scared of getting hurt again, though.

Forget your fear.

When passing behind her after taking a dish to the kitchen, Gaara brushed his hand across the small of her back. She gaped, then whirled on him, voice low to not alert Naruto. "What are you doing?"

He gave her his best innocent look. "Cleaning."

"No, I mean –"

Callused fingertips brushed her hair back from her face, the tender gesture making something clench in her stomach. "Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter."

Hearing her own words thrown back in her face did nothing for a temper already wearing thin.

"Your back still hurts?"

"Yeah, but –"

"I can help."

Naruto grinned at them from the kitchen doorway. "That doesn't work for this kind of backache. I tried."

Gaara gave him a confused look, forehead wrinkling. "A backrub wouldn't work?"

"Oh, a backrub! Well, I don't know. You could try and find out?"

On second thought, maybe he'll try to seduce you first, Inner Sakura grinned.

"I don't want one."

He huffed, and she watched with dismay as his expression settled into the no-nonsense one she'd seen when he chased Lee down with a towel for his burned hand, when he'd thrown her into a scalding hot shower. "You're going to be on my team when Sasuke runs. I need you in good shape for that. You won't be in good shape or move as well as you may need to if you're all cramped up from pushing yourself too hard."

"I was not pushing myself too hard!"

"You should build up strength gradually. You know this. Working until you completely destroy yourself may seem like it gets you somewhere faster, but when you have other things you have to do, or may have to do – which, in a ninja village, you always will have those things to do – you have to look out for yourself. Whose bright idea was it for you to do this anyway?"

She glared evilly.

"Oh." He had the grace to look almost like he regretted the statement.

From the sink, Naruto laughed. "Hey, I think you pissed her off before. She came in and beat the shit out of Lee, and then demanded that Gai-sensei train her harder."

"Really?" He reached for her fingers.

She tugged her hand back. "Yeah."

If Naruto didn't lose that grin, she was going to smack him. "Hey, Sakura, tell you what. I do your dishes, and if he's any good with the backrub thing then I might need one after you're done, ok?"

I won't.

A corner of Gaara's mouth twitched upwards. "Lay down."

That! That's the look! Inner Sakura spun herself in circles, cackling rabidly.

She shook her head. No.

He mouthed the words I'll make you.

She glared, somewhere between angry and afraid. And entirely too eager.

It won't be so bad, she told herself. It's just . . . If he does it for Naruto too, it's okay.

Right?

Watching him cautiously, she lowered herself to an open area of the floor. He straddled her hips, touched her shoulder. "About there?"

"Most of it, actually, but that's as good a place as any to start."

His fingers dug into her flesh, and she yelped. "Ow!"

"Shh. It'll get better."

Another cackle from the kitchen. "That's what –"

"Shut up, Naruto!" she snapped.

If she stayed angry at them, it wasn't so bad.

If she relaxed, things went a little easier, and she could pretend that Gaara's weight on her wasn't so distracting.

"Ow, there."

Entirely too capable hands obliged.

Naruto had to have finished the dishes by then, but he wasn't coming out of the kitchen.

After a while the way he touched her changed: his hands on her back making a descent, sliding along her sides, before running back up along her spine to work on her other shoulder.

That was nice . . . Wait, what was that?

He unfolded one of her arms from where it supported her head and straightened it out, leaning over her to smooth the muscles there. His fingers linked with hers briefly; then he re-folded her arm and repeated the process with the other one.

Sakura looked up from the corner of her eye to note his strange expression. He glanced down at her and smiled slightly, lips parted, and brushed fingers over her cheek before sitting up and going back to work on a stubborn knot near the middle of her spine.

She was sure when he did it again, running a hand along her hip before returning to a spot halfway under her shoulder blade.

She bit the inside of her lip. I can't.

Caress down. Trace up. Fingers gently soothing a tight muscle in her neck she hadn't noticed before.

I promised.

He leaned forward again to work thumbs into her forearm, the brush of his shirt against her back and the close sound of his breathing disturbing her more than a little.

But if I sit up now, then he'll kiss me.

He went over her hips again, then along the sides of her waist, squeezing gently inward.

But I can't.

Her right hand moved out from under her head, planted by her side.

I can't.

She couldn't stop thinking about how much better his hands would feel on her skin instead of the fabric of her dress.

Just a second. And he won't, and I'll feel silly, and then I'll let Naruto have him.

She pushed, raising her upper body off of the floor, turning halfway to him.

See, nothing –

His palm skimmed over her cheek and slid down to caress her throat. Gaara's breath was warm on her face for only a second before his mouth covered hers. His lips moved, gently seeking, and she opened for him.

This is right. Dreadfully, terribly right. This is what I've been missing. This –

She whimpered. Gaara pulled back, smiled, then moved in again. This time the kiss was different, hungrier, more vicious, nothing at all like Lee's softness. And she felt herself responding in kind.

What am I doing?

From off to the side, Naruto cleared his throat. Guiltily, they broke and looked at him.

"I changed my mind, I don't want that kind of backrub." He smiled kindly, understandingly. "Thanks for the dinner, guys, but I think it's about time for me to get home."

Halfway out of the door he stopped, grinning. "And don't do anything you'll hate yourselves for in the morning!"

Gaara's hand ran up and down her spine contentedly as the door slammed. "He's really weird."

She choked.

His fingertips pressed into her back again. "Shh. I'm not done yet."