Thank you so much, TheBloodyLoveOfSakuraHaruno and Cinder Roses for your reviews, they really do mean a lot. Hope you enjoy this chapter just as much :)

Love you all XxxxX


Sakura helped Ino pack her suitcase, getting ready for their flight back to Konoha on Monday. She grabbed the clean clothes and folded them neatly, placing them in the suitcase carefully.

"You never did tell me how you knew what Gaara drinks…" Ino said, watching her best friend.

Sakura had hoped that Ino would have forgotten about it, given the amount she had drunk last night, then again when they had gotten back to Sakura's and she had almost downed a bottle of wine. "I told you," she grabbed Ino's shirt and folded it, "lucky guess."

"Hmm," Ino raised her eyebrow, "what about your reaction to him when you saw him at Shukaku's? You seemed shocked to see him, again."

Sakura turned to face the blonde, "what is it?" she crossed her arms across her front.

"That's what I want to know," Ino smiled sweetly. "You know you can't hide anything from me, I know you as well as you know yourself, so tell me whatever it is."

Sakura sighed heavily and sat on the bed, "fine, I'll tell you…" Sakura waited until Ino sat down next to her before continuing, "do you remember when I told you that I'd made out with the guy at the bar when I went out?"

Ino nodded, "yeah… What about him?"

"That was Gaara…" Sakura watched Ino carefully, waiting to see her reaction.

Ino opened her mouth in surprise, her eyes wide as saucers, before she could say anything, Sakura placed her hand over the blonde's mouth.

"You can't say anything to anyone," Sakura warned.

Ino nodded her head several times, and pushed Sakura's hand away from her mouth, "that explains a lot."

Sakura pursed her lips and nodded, "yup."

"So…" Ino nudged her shoulder.

"So, what?"

"Are you going to see him again…?" Ino smirked at her.

"What?" Sakura furrowed her brow, "no."

"Oh, come on Sakura, I saw how you were looking at him, like you couldn't get enough of him and you wanted him," Ino pointed out.

"You're seeing things," Sakura stood up and grabbed the last of the clothing, folding it up.

"Sure, I did," Ino rolled her eyes, "I could tell how much you wanted to throw yourself at-

Sakura threw the shirt at Ino's face and walked out the room, Ino's laughter following her out.

For the rest of the day, Sakura helped Naruto with his packing, making sure that he folded everything neatly, before going out for a meal and enjoying their last night together.

"Oh, Sakura, you've got Gaara's number," Naruto informed her.

Sakura gave him a puzzled look, "no, I don't."

"Yeah, you do," he nodded, "I text it to you the day you left Konoha."

Sakura grabbed her phone and opened the messages from Naruto. She scrolled through them, until she found that she did have Gaara's number. "Oh, I do…"

"Now you can keep in touch with him," he smiled at her.

"She'll more than keep in touch with him," Ino added.

Sakura elbowed her in her side, "shut up."

"What?" Ino laughed, "I didn't say anything that wasn't true."

"What?" Naruto looked between them, "what's going on…?"

"Nothing," Sakura shouted, "nothing is going on," she narrowed her eyes at Ino, daring her to say something.

"Yeah, what she said," Ino smiled at Sakura.

"You two are weird," Naruto looked between them, before shaking his head.

"Tell us something we don't know," both women said in unison, making each other laugh.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXo

Early morning, the trio made their way to the airport. Sakura ordered a cappuccino, latte and a hot chocolate while Ino and Naruto checked in. She added several sachets of sugar and stirred her coffee, before taking a sip and sighing in delight at the sweetness. She walked towards Naruto and Ino and handed over their drinks.

"Thank you," Naruto took a sip of his hot chocolate, "just what I needed this early in the morning." He rubbed his eyes.

They made their way towards the waiting area, and sat down on a vacant bench. Quietly, they listened to announcements of planes that were either arriving into Suna or departing. Several minutes later, the announcement for their flight was called.

"Well, this is it," Naruto stood up and stretched his arms over his head.

Ino grabbed her purse and stood up, throwing her arms around Sakura, "thank you for having us," she sniffed.

"Oh, pig, don't you dare start crying on me now," Sakura's eyes stung with unshed tears. "Thank you for coming over and staying. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too," Ino wiped at her eyes. She pulled away from the hug and looked at Sakura, she laughed lightly and asked, "now who's crying?"

Sakura wiped at her eyes, "it's your fault," she choked on her tears. She turned towards Naruto and hugged him, "thanks for bringing the pig with you," she laughed lightly.

"You're welcome, and thank you for letting me stay too. It was fun seeing you and you look so happy, which is great," he smiled at her and wiped at her tears, "your mum will be happy to hear that you're doing well.

"She'll probably interrogate you to find out if I've settled down or not," Sakura laughed and wiped away at her eyes.

The announcement for their flight was called again and Sakura smiled at them, "right, you better go before they leave without you."

Ino hugged her once again, squeezing her tightly, "take care of yourself forehead, I'll miss you."

"Miss you already, pig, Naruto," she smiled at them. She watched as they walked through the gates, waving at them until she could no longer see them. She sniffed sadly and made her way to her car. She got in and sat there for a while, collecting herself before driving back to her quite house.

She grabbed her phone and sent both Naruto and Ino a message.

Thank you so much for coming. I really enjoyed seeing you again and getting to spend time with you! Let me know when you get home. Love you both so much. Miss you so much. Xxx

She placed her phone down on the table and sat on the sofa, turning on the television to a random channel. The rest of the day, she spent at home, either tidying up or vegetating on the sofa. Her phone pinged several hours later, a message from Ino.

Hey forehead, we made it back to Konoha in one piece! I really had fun with you, and I wish I didn't have to leave so soon :(. Thank you again. Speak to you later, love you xxx

Sakura smiled at the message, until a second message came in.

You should text Gaara and arrange to meet up… Maybe this time you can do more than kiss him xxx

Sakura rolled her eyes at the message and locked her phone, throwing it next to her on the sofa, "stupid pig," she muttered to herself. She sat there, annoyed at Ino for stirring something that wasn't there, until she remembered Saturday night at the club. How she had danced with Gaara and laughed with him, enjoyed being in his company. Then when it came to saying goodbye, how he held her hand longer than was needed, and the way his eyes lingered on hers. She shook away the thoughts, "stupid, stupid pig," she grumbled and stood up, making her way to her room and getting into bed with her book.

She tried to read it, but her mind seemed to have other ideas. She shut her book and slapped it against the bedside table. With the lights off, she laid in bed and closed her eyes, wishing for sleep to come.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXo

Gaara had managed to avoid Temari and Kankuro for majority of the day, and avoid having to answer any questions they had about how his night had been, to how come he came home so late to where his car was.

Quietly, he made his way out of the house and towards the restaurant, where he had abandoned his car. He sighed with relief, finding it still there and with no clamps or tickets on it. He unlocked the car and drove to the office, where he spent most of the day, until Kankuro walked into his office.

"Hey little brother," he smiled at him and sat down on the vacant chair.

"Kankuro, what can I do for you?" Gaara asked, not looking away from the computer.

"Oh, not much," Kankuro slouched slightly, "you can tell me how your evening was."

Gaara spared him a glance, "it was fine," before turning his attention back to his screen.

"Oh, okay," Kankuro said nonchalantly.

Gaara knew that tone, his brother was up to something and he wouldn't leave until he got what he wanted. He waited for a while for Kankuro to say something, but he just looked at Gaara. "What do you want Kankuro?" Gaara finally asked, giving him his whole attention.

"Like I said, I wanted to know how your evening went," Kankuro smiled at him.

"Why?"

"Well," Kankuro sat up straight in the chair, "I heard you sneak in just after midnight, which isn't like you at all," Kankuro feigned laughter.

"I lost track of time," Gaara sighed out. He waited for Kankuro to carry on, knowing that his brother wasn't done with his interrogation.

"Again, not like you. You're the one who always keeps track of time, the only time you ever lose track of time is when you're here, at work, being boring."

"I stayed out with Naruto and his friends, happy now?" Gaara told him.

"Nope," Kankuro smiled wider, "who were his friends?"

"No one you know," Gaara turned his attention back to the computer.

"Was the pinkette there?" Kankuro watched him like a hawk.

Gaara clenched his jaw at his brother's intrusions, he tried to ignore him.

"She was, wasn't she?" Kankuro grinned, "so, did you get her name or number? Did you go further than just kissing her?"

"Kankuro, shut up," Gaara shot out.

"You know I'm not going to leave until you tell me everything," Kankuro told him.

"Why do you want to know?" Gaara faced him again, giving up on his work.

"I'm just trying to look out for you man, and that means finding out everything that goes on with you."

"I appreciate the gesture-

"Great, now who is she?" Kankuro interrupted.

Gaara sighed heavily, his annoyance showing, "her name is Sakura, no I didn't get her number and no, nothing happened between us. She happens to be Naruto's friend and I wasn't going to do anything that affected the friendship either between her and him or me and him."

Kankuro looked at him, "seriously, you're the only guy I know that wouldn't pursue the woman who was all over you."

"She was drunk, and Sakura told me that she doesn't act like that ever, it was a mistake," Gaara told him.

"First name basis," Kankuro grinned at him, "when I looked at you two when we were in the club, it didn't look like a mistake, it looked like you two were enjoying yourselves."

Gaara closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily once more.

"I get it, I get it, I'm going," Kankuro chuckled and stood up, "seriously though, think about talking to her, you never know, the mistake might just be the best thing that happens to you," he winked as he walked out the room, leaving Gaara to his thoughts.

Gaara watched his brother leave and sighed heavily again. He stood up and walked to the small fridge and grabbed a cold bottle of water. He took several sips and forced himself to calm down, to not let Kankuro's words annoy him. Back at his desk, he went through his emails, but his thoughts turned towards Sakura. The way she had reacted when she saw him at the restaurant made him chuckle slightly, the shocked expression on her face, to how hard she tried not to let anyone see how she felt. He had enjoyed getting to know her, even just a little bit.

He shook his head, smiling to himself before losing himself to his work for the rest of the day. When he looked up from the screen, he was surprised to see how dark it had started to get. He winced slightly, knowing that when he got home, he'd have Temari breathing down his neck for working too long. Nothing can be done about it now, he shrugged and turned off his computer. Keys and phone in hand, he made his way to his car and drove home.