Thank you so much for your comments, TheBloodyLoveOfSakuraHaruno and CinderRoses. I hope you enjoy this chapter too! I've made some changes to it since I first wrote it.
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Sakura had spent most of Monday out in town, she met up with several of her friends, catching up with them. For lunch, Sakura decided to go to the small café, that not only sold the best chicken croquet sandwiches, but amazing Anmitsu too. She ordered her food and sat down. She grabbed her phone and went through it, checking her messages and social media profiles.
"Sakura, how nice to see you again."
Sakura looked up from her phone at Genma, who had his hands tucked in his pockets, a toothpick in his mouth. "Hi Genma."
He smiled at her and pulled out the spare chair, sitting down. "How are you?"
"Good, thanks. You?"
"You know me, always good," he smirked at her, before winking.
Sakura nodded and turned her attention back to her phone, wondering how long it would take until her food would arrive.
"So, you have a boyfriend?" Genma asked, leaving back in the chair.
Sakura nodded, "yes, I do."
"How long has that been going on?" He tilted his head slightly, watching her carefully.
"A few weeks." Sakura put down her phone and looked at Genma, "why?"
"Oh, you know, just wondering," he shrugged a shoulder.
Sakura waited for him to carry on, when he didn't say anything, she asked, "why do you really want to know Genma?"
He smirked at her, "sharp as ever. Well, seeing as you left without a goodbye I thought that maybe there was a chance we would carry on where we left of."
Sakura rolled her eyes at him, "seriously Genma? We were never official, we only ever met when we didn't have someone else to be with. You made it clear you didn't want any kind of relationship."
Genma chewed on the toothpick, "I know, but that doesn't mean I don't like you. I enjoyed our times together, and I know you did too," he smirked again. He sat up and placed a hand on her leg, gently caressing it, the way he knew she liked.
Sakura grit her teeth hard, not letting herself react to him or his touch. She grabbed his hand and pushed it away, "I have a boyfriend."
Genma chuckled, "well, it was worth the shot." He stood up and winked at her, "if it doesn't work out between you and him, you can always come back to me." He winked at her and walked off.
"Like I'll ever come back to you," Sakura said under her breath. Her food was placed in front of her finally. She threw her phone in her bag and picked up the sandwich, taking a large angry bite out of it, followed by another and another, until it was all finished. Next, she attacked her bowl of anmitsu, too annoyed to enjoy it.
With lunch over, she made her way back to her apartment and spent the afternoon alone, stewing over Genma's words.
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On Tuesday, Sakura decided to visit her parents, hoping that her mother would either have forgotten what had happened at Naruto's party, or that she wouldn't bring it up. Sakura walked into the family house, "hello," she called as she took off her shoes and placed them neatly on the shoe rack and walked into the house.
Both her parents were at in the living room. Kizashi was busy reading a newspaper, while Mebuki was peeling vegetables.
"How are you two doing?" Sakura smiled at them, making her way to her dad and hugging him.
"Sakura," Kizashi smiled at her, "it's good to see you again. I'm good, as always," he winked at her, "how are you?"
Sakura sat down next to him, "I'm good too." She looked over at her mother, "hi mum."
"Oh, now you want to talk to me?" She shot out, staring Sakura down with an unkind look.
Sakura clenched her teeth tightly and forced the smile to stay in place, "I didn't not want to talk to you at the party mum, but you can't expect me to be civil when you were trying to shove some guy down my throat."
"I was only looking out for you," Mebuki raised her voice slightly, her eyes filling with annoyance, "I don't see why you can't see that."
"I see it," Sakura said, the smile falling off her face, "but what I also see is you trying to control me, control every aspect of my life. I don't see why you can't see that I don't need you to try and find someone for me."
Kizashi looked between the women, placing the newspaper down, "Sakura," he started, "you know your mother means well."
"I know dad-
"Do you?" Mebuki interrupted, "because as far as I could tell on Saturday, you couldn't wait to have a go at me."
"You see?" Sakura threw her hands in the air, "this is what I mean," she turned to face her dad, "surely you can see how unreasonable she is being."
He looked over at his wife, giving her a small smile, "darling, you should take Sakura's words into consideration. She isn't a little child anymore that we need to keep an eye on."
"And what is she doing with her life? She left her home, her family and friends to go to some other place. She works all the time and we barely hear from her. All I am trying to do is look out for her, to make sure that she has someone who can look after her."
"I can look after myself just fine," Sakura shot out. "And as for Saturday, you were out of line. I told you that I didn't need you fixing me up with anyone before, but you still went off and did exactly what I said I didn't need, not only that, you didn't once think how it would make me feel."
"Because as far as I can see, you're not doing a very good job of looking out for yourself," Mebuki shouted.
"You know what, I am seeing someone," Sakura shouted back.
Mebuki barked out a laugh, "sure, you are."
"I am. I met him in Suna several weeks ago. And just so you know, things are great between us."
Mebuki narrowed her eyes, "why didn't you say something then?"
"Because you never give me the chance to say anything," Sakura shouted. She stood up, "you know what, I made a mistake coming here," she pushed away from the table and walked into the hallway, slipping into her shoes and walking out of the house. She heard her mother call her name several times, but she didn't stop to hear what she had to say, instead, she got into her car and driving off.
She drove back to her apartment and stayed in her car, annoyance pouring out of her. She grabbed her bag and threw open the car door, getting out and slamming it shut, before stomping into her apartment. In her room, she grabbed the small suitcase and packed some of her clothes, toiletries and anything else she could get her hand on.
With the packing over with, she grabbed her suitcase and left the apartment, locking it and making her way back to her car, throwing her suitcase and bag in the car and drove to the hospital. She made her way towards Tsunade's office and walked in, sitting in the vacant chair.
The blonde looked over the file in her hand at the pinkette, and she knew that she'd had another argument with her mother. "What happened between you and you mum?" she asked as she looked back at the file.
"The usual," Sakura huffed out. She told Tsunade about what had happened at the party, followed by the argument half an hour ago. "I just don't know what to do with her."
"She's your mum and she worries about you."
"I know that," Sakura folded her arms, "but I just wish she would listen to me once in a while."
Tsunade put the file down and looked at her, "when do you fly back to Suna?"
"Tomorrow morning," Sakura informed her.
Tsuande looked over at the files, they'd still be there tomorrow. She turned to face Sakura, "let's go out tonight, dinner and anmitsu, my treat."
Sakura smiled at her mentor, "sounds great."
Tsunade returned the smile. She stood up, pushing away from her desk and grabbed her bag. Sakura following suit. Together, the women made their way to the Tonkatsu shop, ordering chicken tonkatsu with rice and salad. With dinner over, they made their way to the Dango Shop, Sakura and Tsunade's favourite place.
With the order placed, they took their seat in a booth, Sakura looking around with a smile, "I found a dessert shop in Suna, and they sell cream anmitsu."
"Sounds delicious."
"It is," Sakura smiled wide, "when you come to Suna, I'll treat you to it."
Their desserts were placed in front of them, Sakura's anmitsu and Tsuande's mitarashi dango, both thanking the server. They tucked in, enjoying the delicious sweetness. With their desserts over, Tsuande faced Sakura, "I think that you need to sort this out with your mum, for both your sakes."
"I know," Sakura mumbled, "it's just hard to talk to her, especially when all we do is argue."
Tsuande shook her head, both Sakura and Mebuki were very alike, which caused them to butt heads over and over. "Isn't that what mothers and daughters do," she gave her a kind smile.
Sakura returned the smile, "I guess," she mumbled and looked down at her empty bowl.
"Right, I need to go, I'll speak to you tomorrow, if not, safe flight back to Suna," Tsunade stood up.
Sakura followed suit and walked with Tsuande out of the shop. She turned to the woman and hugged her tightly, "thank you."
"For what?" Tsunade hugged her back.
"For always being here for me," Sakura smiled at her. She pulled away from the hug and waved goodbye as she got into her car. Instead of going back to her apartment, she grabbed her phone and called Ino, asking her if she could stay the night at her place.
"You know you're always welcome here. I'll get the guest room ready."
"Thanks, Ino," Sakura smiled. She hung up the call and started the car, driving to her best friend's house.
Once there, Sakura grabbed her suitcase and bag and knocked on the door, which opened before she'd even moved her hand away from the door.
"What happened?"
Sakura sighed and walked into the house. Ino's house was beautiful and homely. Everything had a place, from the candles, to the flowers and pictures. The furniture was in shades of cream with lilac pillows placed on them. "I argued with my mum."
"Again? What about this time?" Ino shut the door and walked into the kitchen, making them both her special hot chocolate, with lots of whipped cream and mini marshmallows.
Sakura walked down to the guest room and placed her suitcase and bag by the bed, and walked back into the living room, where Ino had placed a mug down on the table. "The same thing," she sat down on the sofa. She picked up her drink and the spoon, scooping some of the cream and marshmallows and placing it into her mouth, followed by taking a sip of the hot chocolate. "This is delicious."
"Thanks," Ino smiled, taking a sip of her own drink. "What was said?"
"I went over to see them, and mum started to shout at me about how I didn't speak to her properly at the party, meet the guy she found for me, and how I was rude to her. I told her how I felt about her trying to control everything…" Sakura sighed, taking another sip of her drink. "Like I said, the usual."
Ino gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Oh, and I told her I am seeing someone, maybe that will get her off my back," Sakura added.
Ino raised an eyebrow at Sakura, her lips pulling to the side, "you're seeing him now, are you?"
Sakura blushed slightly, "well, I don't know, maybe? But I said that to stop her from meddling."
"Did you tell her who it is?"
"No," Sakura huffed out, "I'm not that stupid."
"You know she will find out eventually," Ino pointed out.
"She'll only find out if someone tells her anything," Sakura looked at Ino.
"I'm not getting involved in this," Ino shook her head and took a sip of her drink. "What time is your flight in the morning?"
"At seven, I have to be at the airport by at least six."
Ino nodded and grabbed her phone, "I've set the alarms, I'll take you to the airport in the morning."
"Thank you," Sakura smiled, finishing off her drink. She checked the time; it was almost half past ten. "Guess we should call it a night."
"Yup," Ino finished off her drink and took the empty mugs to the kitchen. She washed them and left them to dry and walked back in the living room. "Good night forehead."
"Good night pig," Sakura hugged her best friend, "thank you for everything you've done for me. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You'll never have to find out," Ino hugged her back tightly, "I'll always be here."
"Back at you."
"Now, off to bed," Ino let go off Sakura. With the door locked and lights turned off, they made their way to their bedrooms and did exactly that, went to bed.
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Sakura made it to the airport by six, Ino following close behind her. Checked in, luggage handed over, the women made their way to the waiting area with a cup of coffee. They watched as the flights were called, waiting for Sakura's to be called.
"Remember to text me when you land," Ino told her.
"I know," Sakura smiled, "you've already told me to do this ten times."
"Just making sure you remember to do it." She took a sip of her drink, "also, keep me updated on what happens between you and Gaara."
Sakura blushed lightly, "okay."
"I'm serious," Ino eyed Sakura.
"I know," Sakura rolled her eyes, "I'll let you know as soon as I know what is going on."
Sakura's flight was called, she stood up and hugged the blonde, "love you pig."
"Love you more forehead," Ino hugged back.
Sakura grabbed her bag and made her way to the gate, waving goodbye to Ino. Once seated and ready for take-off, Sakura quickly messaged Gaara, letting him know that she on route to Suna. She turned off her phone and put it in her bag. She dozed off as soon as the plane was in the air.
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Gaara was sat in his office, reading emails when his phone pinged. He frowned, wondering who was trying to reach him this early. He grabbed it out of his pocket and unlocked it. He clicked on the message and smiled. Sakura.
He quickly typed back a reply.
Good morning. How are you doing? Let me know when you land and if you need, I'm happy to pick you up and take you home x
He locked his phone and placed it on the table, not expecting to hear from her for several hours. He turned his attention back to his work.
Since they had arrived back home, Kankuro had made it his mission to find out exactly where Gaara had disappeared off to at Naruto's party. No matter how many times Gaara had told his brother that he was at Naruto's house, Kankuro never believed him, instead he had pointed out that Gaara couldn't have been at Naruto's house, seeing as Naruto himself hadn't left the venue until nearly one in the morning, and by then, Gaara was long gone.
Just then, his door was pushed open and in walked Kankuro, smiling wide at Gaara.
Gaara glanced at the time, half seven. He turned his attention to Kankuro, "what's the matter?"
"Dad called, he was asking about how we're all doing and the new contracts," Kankuro told him as he sat down in the chair, stretching his legs out in front of himself. "I told him you've got everything under control, as always," Kankuro winked, "and dad was asking how you are, that he hasn't spoken to you for a while."
Gaara nodded, "thanks." True, he hadn't spoken to their father for a while, but he struggled to start a conversation that wasn't related to work with him. "I'll call him later."
Kankuro nodded, "he'll like that."
"Anything else?" Gaara turned his attention back to his computer and the emails.
"Yeah, did you know that Sakura is coming back today?"
Gaara glanced at Kankuro, "yes, she told me. How do you know?"
"Naruto told us at the party," Kankuro smiled before adding, "she looked amazing at the party."
Gaara often thought about that, how breath-taking she had looked in the dress. He also thought about their kiss, the way she had tried to undress him, coax him into sleeping with her. He would have the following morning had he not gotten the calls from Temari. He groaned inwardly as his body reacted to those thoughts, how she felt pinned under him, how soft her skin was to touch, how she kissed him hungrily, desperate for more.
"Are you listening?" Kankuro asked, waving a hand in front of Gaara's face.
Gaara shook his head, clearing his thoughts, "what?"
Kankuro smirked at him, "you like her."
Gaara moved his head slightly, his eyes questioning Kankuro silently.
"I say her name, and noticed your eyes light up, the corners of your lips moved up slightly and you seemed to loose yourself in your thoughts," Kankuro answered the silent question his smirk widening.
Gaara turned his attention away from Kankuro, looking once again at his computer.
Kankuro chuckled low, "wow, impressive shutout," he stood up and walked to the door, "you should consider telling her how you feel." With that, he walked out of Gaara's office, leaving him once again on his own and in peace.
He thought about what Kankuro had said. Yes, he did like Sakura, he was attracted to her physically and sexually. He wasn't going to say anything to anyone until he'd had a chance to speak with Sakura, find out what was between them, whether she wanted there to be more or if it is all one sided.
He forced his thoughts away from Sakura once again, busying himself with his workload for the rest of the day.
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Sakura was back in Suna by late afternoon. She grabbed her luggage and checked in, before turning on her phone and hailed down a taxi. In the back of the car, Sakura ordered herself a pizza, too tired to want to cook anything. Several message notifications pinged across the display. She clicked on the app and checked them all.
She replied to Ino, letting her know that she had made it safely back in Suna and that she would let her know if anything happened between Gaara and her. She then messaged Sasori, letting him know too that she was back and would be back in work tomorrow. She sent another one to Naruto and Hinata, thanking them for inviting her and for paying for her tickets and that she had had a great time.
The last message was from Gaara. She smiled at his name and bit her bottom lip as she read the message and replied back.
Hi Gaara, I'm back! Thank you for the offer, but I got a taxi home. How are you? How's your day been? X
"We're here," the man said, stopping in front of her house.
Sakura looked up and smiled, locking her phone and placing it in her bag. She paid the fayre and got out, grabbing her luggage. Once inside, she took her suitcase upstairs and left it on the floor to deal with later and made her way back downstairs, when a knock sounded on the door. She opened it and smiled at the lady who was holding her pizza. She grabbed her purse and paid the lady and took the box into the kitchen.
She didn't bother with a plate, choosing to eat out of the box. She sat on the sofa and put on the television, watching whatever was on. Several slices down, Sakura took the box into the kitchen and placed it on the side, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. She drank half of it before refilling it and made her way back into the living. She dug out her phone from her bag and sat down on the sofa, finding a reply from Gaara. She placed the glass down and quickly unlocked her phone, clicked on the message and read it.
I'm glad you're back. I'm well, thank you. Work has been the same, busy. How was your flight? How were your days in Konoha? X
Sakura squealed at the start of the message and quickly replied back.
I'm glad to be back. The flight was okay, I slept most of the way. The last few days were good, eventful though! X
She watched as the three dots bounced on the phone, followed by his reply.
Is everything okay? X
She smiled and replied back.
As okay as can be, my mum and I had another argument, it sort of got out of hand. Other than that, everything is fine. I'm back at work tomorrow X
Another few seconds past by before his reply popped up on the screen.
I'm sorry to hear that, I'm here if you need to talk. Will you be free tomorrow afternoon or evening? X
Sakura scrunched her nose slightly as her smile spread further across her lips. Her fingers flew across the screen.
Thank you, I really appreciate it. I don't think I'll be free, sorry. I'm probably going to be busy most of tomorrow and Friday going through everything I've missed while I've been away. Sorry again. But I should be free on Saturday, if you're fee? X
You don't need to apologise; I understand how busy you'll be. Saturday works for me. We can arrange the details on Friday X
Sakura grinned at the message and replied back.
Sounds good to me! Can't wait to see you again :) X
Neither can I, speak to you later X
Sakura hugged her phone and squealed again, excited about their date on Saturday. The thought making her smile like a fool, "I've got a date with Gaara!" she shouted out into the room.
For the rest of the evening, she went through her suitcase, placing any clothes that needed washing in the basket, putting away her toiletries and hanging up the black dress she'd worn to Naruto and Hinata's party. With everything done, Sakura decided to call it a night. Face washed, teeth brushed, pyjamas on and book in hand, she got into bed and read for a while before her eyes grew heavy and she could no longer keep them open. With the lights off, she fell asleep, dreaming about green eyes that looked at her with desire and hunger.
