Hey everyone, sorry for the late update! I'm back at work now, so it might take me a while to upload chapters. Sorry in advance.

Nanami, thank you so much for all your comments, they really mean a lot! I know what you mean about wishing you had a Gaara, I ended up with him tattooed on my arm! It means a lot to know that you've been enjoying the chapter, I hope you enjoy this one too XxxXxxXxxXxxX

TheBloodyLoveOfSakuraHaruno, thank you again for your review! They are very close to getting some time to themselves! Hope you enjoy this chapter XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX


Sakura groaned as her alarm went off, waking her from a wonderful dream. She sat up in her bed and rubbed at her face. For a while she sat there, slowly drifting off, until her alarm went off again, making her groan again. She turned off the alarms and kicked off the duvet, getting out of bed.

She was showered and dressed within twenty minutes and downstairs in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal and drinking the greatest drink of all, a sugared cappuccino. With breakfast over, she washed the dishes and brushed her teeth, before grabbing her bag, throwing in her phone and making her way out of the house and towards her car.

By the time she reached the hospital, it was already bustling with people. She smiled at several of the staff members as she walked towards her office, unlocking it and walking in. She looked at her desk and groaned, there were several files there, waiting for her attention. She dragged herself further into her office and slumped down in the chair, placing her bag next to her. "Guess it's back to work," she muttered to herself as she picked up the first file and fired up her computer.

An hour later, she was due to make her rounds, checking on patients that were already admitted in, giving them their medication and where needed, discharging a few. By lunch time, she was finally back in her office. She sat down just as the door was pushed open and Sasori walked in, smiling at her.

"I want all the gossip," he said as he placed her lunch in front of her and sat down opposite her with his own.

"Hello, how are you? How was your time in Konoha? I missed you so much," Sakura said before pulling her sandwich towards her and opening it up.

Sasori rolled his eyes at her, "fine, hi, how are you? How was Konoha? I missed you so much," he smiled at her, "happy now?"

Sakura laughed, "I missed you."

"I know you did," he winked at her, "so, how was it?"

"The party was amazing," she fished her phone out of her bag and found pictures from the party. She handed over her phone to Sasori, letting him go through the pictures.

Sasori whistled low, "damn girl, you look amazing in that dress."

"Thank you," Sakura beamed at him.

"So, the blonde guy is Naruto?" he asked as he moved onto the next picture.

"Yeah," Sakura smiled, "and the lady with the purple dress is his fiancé, Hinata."

"They are cute together," he moved to the next picture.

"They really are, I'm just glad he's finally proposed to her now." Sakura took a bite of her sandwich.

While Sasori went through the pictures, her phone buzzed in his hand, alerting him to a message that was displayed on the top of the screen. He smiled when he saw Gaara's name. "Loverboy is texting you," he handed her phone back.

Sakura took it and opened the message, smiling at it.

Hope you have a good day at work, and that it isn't too busy X

She quickly replied back.

It's nice to be back, but there is too much to do! Hope you're having a good day too X

"You have got it so bad for him," Sasori said, smiling wide at her.

Sakura locked her phone and placed it on her desk, she looked over at Sasori, "no I don't."

"Sweetheart, you were beaming when you saw the message," he pointed out.

Sakura blushed at his words.

"Also, Granny Chiyo mentioned that Gaara, Kankuro and Temari were in Konoha for Naruto's party," he took a bite of his food, eyeing Sakura closely.

She nodded, "yeah, they were." She forced her face to stay neutral, but her mind was filling with images of them on her bed, her pinned under him as he kissed her so fully.

"Did you tell him?"

"Tell him what?" Sakura took another bite of her sandwich, taking her time chewing on it.

"That you like him, that you want him," Sasori said in a sing song voice.

Sakura blushed at his words, still forcing herself not to give anything away.

"You know you can't hide anything from me, so just spill the beans."

Sakura swallowed and took a long sip of her drink. "Fine, I'll tell you. We met at the party and I got him to sort of pretend to be my boyfriend-

"You what?!" Sasori interrupted; his eyes wide.

"Yes I know, but, it was because my ex-fling was making his way to me and I didn't want anything to do with him. Gaara pretended to be my boyfriend, saving me from embarrassing myself," Sakura huffed out.

"How come I'm only just hearing about an ex-fling?" Sasori questioned; eyebrows raised.

"Friends with benefit relationship," Sakura said as a way of explanation.

"Oh," Sasori nodded, "still, you could have mentioned it. Anyway, what happened after?"

Sakura told him about the argument with her mother, followed by her leaving and Gaara following her back to her place.

"You did it, didn't you? You finally got the D!" Sasori exclaimed.

Sakura shook her head, "no, nothing like that happened."

"Seriously?" Sasori frowned slightly, "how is it that you two have been alone not once, not twice but three times and you still haven't managed to get laid."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "not everyone is after getting laid."

"So, you're telling me you don't want to have hot, steamy sex with Gaara?" Sasori looked at her.

Sakura refused to answer the question, instead, her face answered it, turning red at the intrusive thoughts that took over.

"See, everyone wants to get laid," Sasori said victoriously. "If you two didn't bang, what did you do?"

"We spoke and we kissed," Sakura smiled before biting down on her bottom lip.

Sasori smiled at her, "now you're talking, anything else happen?" he prised.

"He stayed the night and before you ask, no, nothing happened," Sakura told him, stopping him from interrupting her. "The next morning, we kissed again before he had to leave to come back."

"And here I thought I'd get some juicy story," Sasori sighed out. "So… are you two going to see one another again?"

Sakura smiled and nodded, "yeah, we're going out on Saturday. We haven't decided what we're going to do. We'll work it out tomorrow."

"And you can finally get laid by him," Sasori grinned at her, making her blush more.

With their lunch over, Sakura got stuck in with the files on her desk. By the time she was done with half of them, it was already dark outside, the time on the clock showing half past nine. Sakura sighed and picked up another file, going through it before deciding to call it a night, the workload would still be there tomorrow, so long as it doesn't double over night.

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Friday followed the same pattern as the day before. Sakura was rushed off her feet all day. If she wasn't busy reading emails and sorting files, she was checking on patients and attending emergency consultations.

By the time she had finally gotten off her feet, it was pushing half past four. She sat down in her chair and sighed, her eyes closing on their own accord. It was only when she heard her phone ping that she opened them. She reached for her bag on the floor and pulled out her phone, unlocking it and finding a message from Gaara. She smiled as she opened it up.

Hello Sakura, how are you? How's work been today? Are you still up for tomorrow? X

Her fingers flew across the keypad and she typed her reply.

Hey Gaara, I'm good, thanks. What about you? Work has been the same as yesterday, if not busier! I am still up for tomorrow; I'm looking forward to it. Do you know what you'd like to do? X

His reply displayed on the screen within a few seconds.

I'm well, thank you for asking. I can only imagine how busy you are. I am looking forward to tomorrow as well. If you're up for it, I would like to show you a few places around Suna. X

Sakura smiled at his words; her own reply sent within seconds.

I'd like that :). What time would you like to meet up? I am free all day. X

I can pick you up from your house at eight? Or is that too early? X

Sakura's insides felt as though they'd turned into thousands of butterflies, frittering around. She couldn't stop the smile that stretched across her lips as she replied back.

Eight is perfect, can't wait! X

Sakura placed her phone back in her bag and turned her attention to her work. Until there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," she called not looking away from the computer.

Sasori walked in and shook his head, "woman, do you even know what it means to take a break?"

Sakura looked towards him and raised an eyebrow at him, "what are you on about?"

Sasori rolled his eyes at her, "check the time."

Sakura turned her gaze to the clock and was surprised by the time. 7.45pm. She looked out of the window, darkness slowly taking over the light. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh," Sasori laughed. "It's time to go home."

Sakura looked at him and gave him a small smile. She turned off her computer and tidied up her files and charts before standing up and grabbing her bag off the floor.

"Come on, I'll walk you out," Sasori walked to the door, waiting on Sakura.

"I can walk out by myself," she gave him a pointed look.

"I'm just making sure you get out of the door," Sasori winked at her.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. She walked out of her office, Sasori following her out.

"You've got your big date tomorrow," Sasori smiled at her.

Sakura smiled and nodded, "yeah." She was excited about it.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Gaara is taking me out to explore Suna." They reached her car, she unlocked her car and opened the door, getting in. She placed her bag on the passenger seat.

"Sounds like fun," Sasori smiled, "make sure you take some protection with you."

Sakura shook her head, "bye Sasori," she pulled the door closed and started the car, driving away from a laughing Sasori.

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Gaara looked down at his phone, reading the messages between him and Sakura today. He smiled at his phone, both excited and nervous about tomorrow. He turned his attention back to his work.

Gaara had managed to go through several files and documents, signing off on many of them before calling it a night. He looked out of the window, surprised to see how dark it had gotten, he glanced at the clock. 8.45pm. He turned off his computer, stood up and shrugged into his jacket, pocketing his phone and keys before leaving the office.

As he walked into the house, both Temari and Kankuro stared at him with either wide eyes and shocked expressions. He looked between them, "what?"

"You're home early," Kankuro stated, looking at the clock, 9.15pm.

"Are you okay?" Temari asked, jumping to her feet and walking towards him. She placed a hand on his head, feeling his temperature.

Gaara moved her hand away from his head, "I'm fine," he told them both. He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, finding a plate of dinner waiting for him. He pulled it out, uncovered it and heated it up, before sitting at the table and eating it, all the while having Kankuro and Temari staring at him.

"What's going on?" Temari finally asked, sitting down next to him.

"Nothing," Gaara said between mouthfuls.

Temari narrowed her eyes at him, scrutinising him, trying to pick at his brains for an answer.

"Temari," Gaara sighed out, he placed his fork down and faced her, "I told you, I'm fine."

Temari carried on looking at him, searching his face for any sign that something wasn't right, but she couldn't find anything. She sighed and sat back in the chair, "you can't blame me for worrying."

"I appreciate the gesture," Gaara picked up his fork once more, "but it gets a little annoying after a while." He took another bite of his food.

"It's only because you don't look after yourself," Temari said sniffly.

Gaara ignored her comment and finished his dinner. He washed the plate, setting it on the drying rack, followed by his fork. From a cupboard, he grabbed a glass, filling it with water and drinking it, before filling it up again.

For the next hour, he sat in the living room with his siblings, barely paying attention to whatever they were watching. His thoughts on Sakura and their outing tomorrow. He had thought about it since he had suggested they meet up on Saturday. At first, he had thought about taking her to a restaurant, they'd have dinner, then maybe go out for a drink, but after a while, he'd decided against it. They'd already gone out for dinner, sure it was with Naruto and Ino too, and they'd had several nights where they had gone out for a drink. He wanted to do something special with her.

After a few days of pondering, he came up with the idea of showing Sakura the ruins of the old castle outside of town. A castle he had come to find many, many years ago, when he would wander around by himself. It was beautiful and sad, no longer holding the beauty from eons ago, now, a crumbling building that lay forgotten by everyone. He hoped that Sakura would enjoy herself, while also worrying that he might be making a mistake, that he should find something else for them to do, but it was too late now. All he could do was hope that she enjoyed it.

After a while, he stood up, both Temari and Kankuro turned to look at him. "I'm going to go to bed, good night," he told them.

"Are you okay?" Kankuro asked him.

"Yes, why?"

"You never go to bed this early," Temari replied before Kankuro could. "What is really going on?"

"Nothing is going on," Gaara told them, "I'm just going to bed." He made his way towards the stairs, only to be stopped by Temari.

"Gaara, please, if there is anything we can do to help, tell us."

Gaara sighed and turned to face them both. "I am fine, there is nothing wrong or anything to worry about. I'm just tired and wanted to get a good night's sleep," he gave them a small smile.

Temari nodded and smiled at him, "okay. Good night."

"Good night," Gaara walked up the stairs and to his room. He placed his phone on the bedside table and changed into a pair of shorts and a shirt, and got into bed. He laid there wide awake, excited and nervous about tomorrow. It took him another two hours to finally fall asleep.