TheBloodyLoveOfSakuraHaruno, wishing you a happy belated birthday (depending on where you are and the time it is...) hope you have had an amazing day and that you got spoilt by your nearest and dearest!

Hope you enjoy this chapter! Lots of love XxxXxxXxx


Sakura made her way into work early morning. She made herself a large coffee and added two heaped teaspoons into it. She blew on the surface and took a small sip, sighing at the heavenly taste. With coffee in hand, she made her way to her office and turned on her computer and watched as it started up. She sat down and clicked on the email icon and noticed the several hundred emails she had to go through. Groaning, she placed her coffee down and clicked on the first email. She read through it, replied and moved onto the next one.

By the time she had made a dent in reading the emails, it was time for her first appointment. She grabbed the files and made her way to the consultant room, greeting her patient. For the next few hours, she spoke to several patients, checking them over and where needed, prescribed them medicine.

With her patients seen, she walked back to her office and grabbed her purse, heading for the onsite café, ordering herself a cappuccino, chicken wrap and a pot of fruit. She sat down and tucked into her food, and scrolled through her phone, replying to messages and checking her social media profiles.

Lunch over, she went back to work and lost herself in the many emails she still had to read and reply to, and go through the new patient files. She'd ended up staying longer than usual, it was almost dark outside. She glanced at the clock and groaned; it was almost eight in the evening. She turned off her computer and grabbed her bag, making sure she had her phone and keys in there before making her way to her car. Once home, she was too tired to want to cook anything, she opted for some instant ramen and an evening in front of mindless television before calling it a night and falling asleep from exhaustion.

The rest of the week followed in the same pattern. Wake up. Go to work. Come home. Sleep. Repeat. On Friday, she was sat in her office when her phone rang. She pulled it out of her bag and groaned at the display. Mum. She wanted to send the call to voicemail, if she did, she'd never hear the end of it. Sighing deeply, she accepted the call.

"Hi mum, how are you?"

"I'll tell you how I am," her shrill voice sounded, making Sakura grind her teeth, regretting answering the call.

"I haven't heard from you in a week! Do you have any idea how I feel?"

"Mum, I've been busy at work, plus I'm sure Ino relayed my messages to you," Sakura tried to calm Mebuki down.

"Oh, and that makes it fine does it? Ino isn't my daughter, you are!"

"Mum, I'm sorry but I've been really busy," Sakura placated gently.

"This is why I didn't want you to move so far away from me, now I never know when I'll hear from you, if you're looking after yourself, and whether you'll ever meet-

Just then, Sasori walked in, he looked at Sakura and mouthed, "are you busy?"

Sakura shook her head, "mum, I have to go, something has come up, bye." Before Mebuki could protest or say anything, Sakura hung up and put her phone down, "what's up?" she asked Sasori.

"Did I interrupt an important call?" He looked at her apologetically.

"No, you didn't. In fact, you came right on time," Sakura sighed with relief. When she saw the questioning look Sasori gave her, she explained. "That was my mother, she was calling to have a go at me for not updating her on my life. What time I woke up, what I had for breakfast, what I'm doing, who I'm with," Sakura rolled her eyes.

"She sounds like a delight," Sasori gave her a tight smile.

"That's putting it lightly. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

"Can you help me, please?" Sasori moved closer to her table.

"Sure, what's up?" she gave him her full attention.

"Granny has sprung a last minute appointment on me and I can't attend it, I'm already behind schedule as it is," he gave her a tight smile, "could you please attend the appointment on my behalf?"

Sakura checked her diary, she was due in a meeting in an hour's time, until then, she was free, well free to go through emails and charts and files. She locked her computer and stood up, "what room is the appointment in and where are the patient's charts?"

"Consultant room four and I don't have the charts or files, like I said last minutes appointment and all that," he chuckled nervously, "I think all the notes are in the room."

Sakura nodded, "okay, I'll go over now."

"You're seriously a life saver and I owe you big time," Sasori hugged her tightly, "thank you so much for this."

"You're welcome, and you're right, you owe me," she hugged him back.

Together they made their way out of her office and towards the consulting rooms.

"Thank you again," Sasori said as he made his way over to the other rooms.

Sakura smiled at him and entered the room. "Hi, how are you- she stopped and stared at the patient, not believing her eyes. Gaara.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXo

Over the week, Gaara had been working nonstop, he'd barely taken time for breaks, let alone eat regular meals or sleep. They were due to have a meeting with the clients and the board members regarding the contract. He had taken it upon himself to go through all the work that had been carried out so far. Check in with the clients and find out how they were progressing, where they needed help and what support Sabaku Inc could provide them. Most nights, he'd spent in the office, sleeping either in his desk chair or on the sofa.

By early Friday morning, he had managed to get everything prepared for the meeting. He grabbed the files and placed them on top of his laptop, before making his way to the small shower enclosed in his office. Once showered, he dressed in his black suit, and red tie. He made himself a strong black coffee.

He grabbed his laptop and the files and made his way to the meeting, finding Temari, Kankuro and some of the board members already sat down. He pulled out his chair and sat down, setting the laptop and files in front of him.

Temari watched Gaara closely, she could see the fatigue he was under, the circles around his eyes were darker than before, his eyes bloodshot. "Gaara," she waited until he looked at her, "go home and rest," she gave him a small smile, hoping that he would listen to her.

"Later Temari. We need to get this meeting sorted first," he opened the files and went through them, checking and rechecking to make sure he had everything covered.

"Kankuro and I can take care of the meeting, you need to rest, you don't look well," she mothered him.

"I said later," he looked at her out of the corner of his eye, making it clear that he didn't want to have this conversation anymore.

With everyone in the room, the meeting began. Several hours later, with everything sorted and agreed upon, the meeting ended and Gaara sagged with relief in the chair. He was glad that everything had gone smoothly. He went to stand up, but everything wasn't where it was supposed to be. The last thing he saw was the ground coming up to meet him.

When he opened his eyes, he squinted as the bright light blinded him. He blinked several times, getting used to the light and slowly looked around, trying to find out where he was. He was surprised to find himself sat on the floor of the board room, and had no memory of how he got there. "What happened?"

"You fainted, that's what," Temari shrieked and sat down next to him, placing her hand across his forehead.

Gaara winced at her tone, "Temari, please don't shout," he gently moved her hand and closed his eyes, pressing his own hand against his face, trying to get rid of the pain that started to pound in and around his head. Temari's words slowly registered in his mind and he looked at her, "did you say I fainted?"

"Yes, you did," Temari wiped at her eyes, "Gaara, you really gave us a scare."

"Temari, I'm fine," he assured her and went to stand up, but once again, everything started to move and he slid back down the wall, back to where he was sat and groaned.

"No, you are not," Temari crossed her arms, "I've called Granny Chiyo and she has managed to get you an appointment at the hospital and we are going," she looked over at Kankuro, "help me get him up."

Together, they helped Gaara up and led him towards Temari's car.

"I don't need to go to the hospital," Gaara protested weakly, not having the energy to deal with this.

"I don't care what you think you need," Temari spoke through clenched teeth, "you are going." She buckled him in and got into the driver seat, "if you had listened to me all week, you wouldn't be in this situation now. But nooo, you know what is best," she bit out and buckled herself in and started the car, driving to the hospital as fast as possible.

Gaara closed his eyes and pressed his head against the cool window, he didn't have it in him to argue back with Temari, so he let her carry on with her rant, barely listening to what she was saying.

They arrived at the hospital and Temari and Kankuro helped Gaara out of the car. They made their way to the reception.

"We have an appointment, Chiyo knows about it," Temari told the lady behind the desk, "where do we go?"

The woman looked between the three of them with wide, unsure eyes.

"Where. Do. We. Go?" Temari demanded, biting each word out, making the woman jump.

"Sorry," she squeaked and tapped at the keyboard quickly. "C-c-consultant room four," she stammered and gave them the directions.

Temari and Kankuro made their way to the room, holding Gaara between them. Once in the room, Temari got Gaara to sit on the bed as she paced around the room, "where is the doctor?" she bit out, glaring towards the door.

Just then, the door opened, "hi, how are you-

Of all the people that could have seen him, it was Sakura. He gave her a small smile before Temari started shouting at her.

"What took you so long? My brother needs medical assistance now."

Sakura turned to face the blonde who was shouting at her, she took a deep breath and forced a smile on her face, "hi, Miss Sabaku, I'm sorry for the wait. The doctor that was meant to see you is caught up and I am here to help." She looked around the room and noticed Kankuro looking at her with wide eyes, before smirking at her.

"Hey beautiful, how are you doing?"

Sakura refrained from groaning at his words, "hello. Can I please ask both of you to wait outside while I tend to the patient?"

"You can tend to me anytime sweetheart," Kankuro winked at her, earning a slap from Temari, "what was that for?"

"Let's go wait outside," Temari grabbed Kankuro's hand and dragged him outside, she turned to face Sakura, "please help my little brother."

Sakura smiled at her, "I will," she waited as they left to close the door behind them. She stood there for a few seconds, collecting herself before she turned to face Gaara. She gave him a small smile and walked towards him. "What can I do for you today?" She grabbed the clipboard from beside the bed and started a new chart, writing his name down.

"Honestly, there is nothing wrong, I shouldn't be here," Gaara informed her. As he went to get off the bed, the room started to spin and he nearly fell down, but Sakura was there, keeping him steady.

"It looks like there is something wrong," she helped him back on the bed and grabbed his wrist and began counting his pulse while looking at her watch. She wheeled over the machine from the corner and grabbed the blood pressure band, "can you lift your sleeve up please?"

Gaara unbuttoned the sleeve and tried to roll it up, but it only went so far, before tightening around his biceps. "Is this enough?"

Sakura shook her head, "no, the tightness of the sleeve will affect your blood pressure." She worried her bottom lip before adding, "if you're comfortable, could you take off your shirt?"

Gaara looked at her for a few seconds, noticing how she was focused on the chart in her hand and not at him. He unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged out of it, placing it next to him.

Sakura grabbed the cuff and slid it up his arm and tightened it, "it may pinch a little," she pressed a button and the room was filled with the whirring sound of the machine, followed by a hiss and more whirring sound. Sakura watched the numbers carefully and wrote them down on the chart, "your blood pressure is a little high," she looked at him, her eyes slowly falling to his exposed chest and arms. Strong sculpted arms, defined chest with muscles in all the right places. She quickly looked away and cleared her throat. "Urmm," she looked down at the chart, clearing her thoughts, "what happened?"

Gaara had noticed how her eyes had taken him in, before looking away with a slight blush colouring her cheeks, "I apparently fainted," he told her quietly.

Sakura turned to face him, worry etched across her face, "fainted?"

"Yeah… Well, that's what Temari says anyway," he gave her a small smile.

Sakura grabbed the pocket torch from her pocket and walked towards him. Gently, she tilted his face up and pulled back his left eyelid and shone the torch near his eye, checking the pupil dilation. She did the same on the right side. "Did you hit your head?"

Gaara shook his head, "I don't know…" he answered truthfully, "when I came to, I was propped against the wall."

With careful fingers, Sakura prodded around Gaara's head, "tell me if it hurts anywhere." Sakura moved his hair away from his forehead and was surprised to find a tattoo on the left side, a red ai 愛. She was surprised to have not noticed it there before. She gently traced her fingers over it, before moving back to the task at hand.

This close to her, he could smell her perfume, a gentle floral scent that suited her. He looked at her, watching as she worked thoroughly. He noticed how every few seconds she'd take a deep breath, hold it and gently move her fingers across his scalp, before letting it out quietly, before doing the same again. Her green eyes moving with her fingers, her lips slightly parted. He had to admit, she was beautiful. When she touched a spot near the back of his head, he winced slightly.

"Sorry," she whispered, "can you look down for me, please?" She walked around him and stood behind him.

Gaara followed her orders and looked down. He felt her gentle fingers prod against his scalp once more. The sensation was calming, he sighed gently as his eyes closed on their own accord, loosing himself to her gentle touches.

Sakura carefully moved her fingers over the spot again, examining it closer. She felt a small bump on the back, nothing too big that she needed to be worried. Cautious as to not hurt him, she moved his hair out the way and gently touched the area. It wasn't too hard, which was a good sign in itself and neither was the area hot to touch. She took her hands away and walked back to face him. She grabbed the chair and sat down in front of him, "how are you at the sight of blood?" she asked him.

Gaara's eyelids fluttered open, "hmm?"

Sakura smiled at him, "are you okay at the sight of blood?"

"I am," he nodded, and held out his arm for her.

From the table, Sakura grabbed the sanitised syringe and placed it next to her, followed by three empty vials. She felt around his arm for a vein, she grabbed the syringe and pulled it out of it's protective casing and pressed the needle to the vein, "it's just a little scratch," she told him and gently pushed the needle into the vein, attaching the vials to the end.

Gaara watched as droplets of his blood filled each vial in turn, until Sakura pulled the needle out and applied a small amount of cotton to his arm.

"Keep pressure on it," she informed him as she picked up the vials, "I'm going to test your bloods, I won't be too long," she smiled at him as she left the room.

Gaara nodded and applied pressure to his arm as he was instructed to do. He closed his eyes, resting them for a while. When he felt someone gently touch his arms, his eyes shot open, "what?" he looked around, finding Sakura back in the room, she had a worried expression on her face. "Is… is everything okay?"

Sakura looked at him and narrowed her eyes slightly, "when was the last time you had gotten a full nights rest or eaten a proper meal?"

Gaara furrowed his brow at her question, "what?"

"When did you last sleep and eat properly Gaara?" Sakura sat down on the bed next to him.

"I… I don't know," he answered before adding, "it's been really busy at work, and I had to deal with contracts and emails and I haven't had a chance to-

"Gaara," Sakura interrupted him, "I get that you're busy, but you have to look after yourself too," she gave him a kind smile. "Your blood tests show you have low blood sugar levels, consistent with not eating enough, which can cause spells of dizziness and in your case, fainting." She grabbed his charts and wrote something quickly, "I strongly suggest you take a few days off work, rest, eat regular meals and you'll be feeling better in no time."

She got off the bed and pushed the machine back in its corner "you can put your shirt back on now."

Gaara grabbed his shirt and shrugged into it, buttoning it up. "Sakura," he waited till she was looking at him, "thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled at him, and walked out the room, greeted by Temari and Kankuro.

"How is he? Is he okay? What's the matter?" Temari barraged her with question after question.

"He's okay," Sakura assured her, "he isn't concussed which is great, but he will need to have plenty of rest for a few days," she turned to Gaara and smiled.

"Thank you so much," Temari sighed with relief, her eyes filling with tears, "thank you so very much."

"Yeah, thanks for saving our kid brother," Kankuro winked at her.

Sakura gave him a tight smile and nodded, "you don't need to thank me."

"We do doctor," he smiled wide.

"Kankuro, leave the doctor alone," Temari warned him, "sorry about him," she looked at Sakura.

She nodded at them and walked off, leaving them on their own.

"What is wrong with you, hitting on the doctor like that?" Temari complained.

"What? I was just thanking her for saving Gaara," he looked at Gaara and smirked, "did she kiss you better?"

Gaara shook his head and clenched his jaw. He didn't want Kankuro to make a scene, "shut up."

Temari looked between them, "what is going on?"

"Do you remember the night Gaara and I went to the club and Gaara took some woman back to her house after kissing her?" Kankuro asked.

"Yeah…" Temari looked between them again, her eyes lingering on Gaara, "what about her?"

"That happened to be the doctor," Kankuro chuckled.

Gaara groaned and covered his face, "leave Sakura alone Kankuro."

Kankuro laughed whole heartedly before slapping Gaara on his shoulder, "I'm not going to say anything to her, she's all yours brother."

"Shut up."

"Yes Kankuro, do shut up," Temari added. She walked towards Gaara, "let's get you home." She smiled at him and helped him stand, "how do you feel?"

"Better, thanks," he was glad that the room had stopped spinning as much. Slowly, he followed Temari and Kankuro towards the exit and into her car.

Once home, he beelined it to his room and threw himself down on the bed, letting sleep take him under.