Sakura closed her eyes and relaxed as the warm water from the shower head flowed over her. She had spent many moments crying here during the last couple of months while confronting her precarious emotional state. But this time, there was a sense of peace. She was certain that this sense was merely fleeting, but she'd gladly accept it for now. A part of her was hoping that maybe she was wrong. Maybe, just maybe, she was ready to move on with her life and discover a new "normal."

As she rinsed the lavender-scented shampoo from her hair, she watched the suds travel down her body and into the drain. She had always found the smell of lavender to be therapeutic. She reached for her facial cleanser and began applying it, truly at her most vulnerable now that she couldn't see. It was at this moment that her shower curtains were suddenly wrenched open and a gust of cold air hit her like a truck. Startled, she shrieked and flailed her arms until she felt the shower curtain. When she tried to pull it back, she slipped and fell, ripping it down and tangling herself up.

"Who's there!?" Sakura shouted, still blinded by the facial cleanser. She heard the sound of the shower knob being turned off and vigorously rubbed her face with the curtain to get the cleanser out of her eyes. She tried to open her eyes. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out a slim figure in dark clothing standing before her. She screamed.

"Stop screaming," a calm, familiar voice commanded.

Sakura rubbed her eyes again. "...Gaara?" she gasped. "Wha… how did you get in here?!" She was sure she locked the front door.

"The window," he replied.

"But my apartment is on the 4th floor?" she stated, yet it sounded like a question.

"I climbed the tree," he explained.

'How convenient that my window is the only one with a tree right outside,' her inner voice said with heavy sarcasm. Sakura carefully rose to her feet and wrapped her naked body in the shower curtain. She visually inspected him up and down. He looked disheveled, covered in blood with a ripped shirt that exposed his lower abdomen.

"What happened to you?"

"You said you were a nurse?" he asked, dismissing her question.

"Y-yeah…? Are you hurt?"

"Get dressed," he said as he walked out of the bathroom, "I need your help with something. If you have any medical supplies here, bring them all."

Sakura blinked and remained stationary. 'What the hell is going on right now?'

"Hurry," he demanded, looking over his shoulder at her, "there's no time to waste."

"Okay," she obliged. She traded the shower curtain for a towel and raced to her bedroom to get dressed. After throwing together whatever articles of clothing caught her eye first, she dug around in her storage closet for a couple of large medical bags and met Gaara at the door.

"Let's go," she said.

xxx

Sakura cautiously followed Gaara into Temari's house. It was eerily quiet, aside from the soft sobs coming from the kitchen. When they got to the room, Sakura, unfazed by the violent scene before her, wasted no time in rushing over to Kankuro, who appeared to be unresponsive and was still being cradled by his older sister. All the color had drained from his face. Gaara leaned against the door frame and watched.

"Who are you?" Temari asked

"I'm here to help," Sakura said as she opened up both of the medical bags, "is he still breathing?"

"I think so," Temari said, wiping the tears off her face, "I tried to keep him talking, but he's so tired and out of it."

"How long has he been like this?"

"Nearly two minutes now,"

"What's his name?"

"Kankuro,"

Sakura pulled a stethoscope out of one of the bags and began listening to Kankuro's heart and lungs. He was still breathing. She placed a pulse oximeter on one of his index fingers.

"Lay him down flat," said Sakura. Temari moved slowly and carefully and gently laid him down. Sakura bunched up the bloody sheet Temari had used earlier and placed it under his amputated leg to elevate it. "Where is the rest of his leg?"

"They took it,"

"They took it?" Sakura exclaimed. Temari just nodded in response. Sakura cleaned the blood from around Kankuro's wound with disinfectant wipes. She then began wrapping his leg in gauze and added a splint. "He's lost a lot of blood. He's going to need a blood transfusion."

"If we take him to the hospital, they might call the police," said Gaara, "...and the police are going to start asking questions that we can't afford to answer."

Sakura was quiet for a moment as her mind scattered for a potential solution. She understood their dilemma. How do you explain how a man's leg has been cut off? Even if they chose not to answer questions from the authorities, the authorities would surely target them harder than they already were.

"There's something we can try." Sakura dug into one of the medical bags again and took out two needles and a long rubber tube. "Oh…wait…"

"What?" Temari asked.

"I was going to give him my blood directly, but… I'm pregnant. I can't do it without putting the baby at risk."

"Doesn't your blood need to match his for you to give it to him?" Temari asked.

"My blood is type O. It's a universal donor," Sakura explained.

Temari perked up and extended one of her arms. "Use me," she said, "I'm type O, too."

"Let me know if you start to feel dizzy,"

Sakura reached for Temari's arm and gently held it while she searched for a good location to stick the needle. Once she did, she linked Temari to her brother and the transfusion began. They watched as the blood slowly moved through the tube from Temari's arm to Kankuro's. They anxiously awaited some type of reaction from him.

"So…" Temari spoke, breaking the silence after a few minutes, "...how far along are you? If you don't mind me asking…" Sakura's face flushed at the question. "I'm sorry- you don't need to answer that. I'm just… trying to distract myself with something positive right now."

'Positive, huh,' Sakura's thoughts mocked.

Sakura's eye's met Temari's and she forced a smile. "Almost two months," she said. Temari returned a forced, uncomfortable smile.

Overhearing this conversation from the doorway, Gaara's eyes widened. Even though they weren't looking at him, he turned his head away from them.

A few more moments of deafening silence went by before the color began to return to Kankuro's face. With his eyes still closed, he squirmed and moaned from the pain. Sakura leaned over him with a flashlight and forced one of his eyes open.

"Hi, I'm Sakura," she spoke softly to him and checked his other eye, "can you tell me your name?"

"K-Ka-" he choked on a sob trying to speak.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" she asked.

He couldn't speak or even respond physically. The pain was all he could focus on. Sakura dug through the medical bag once more and retrieved a bottle of pills.

"Gaara, can you please get a glass of water?"

"What are those?" Temari asked.

"Pain medication," said Sakura, "left over from when I fractured my arm a while ago. They're not very strong… but they're better than nothing." She opened the bottle and held one in her palm. Gaara handed her the glass of water. "Can you lift his head?"

Temari gently lifted Kankuro's head from the floor. Sakura popped the pill into his mouth and held the cup of water up to his lips as he took a few sips. Once she was sure he had swallowed it, Temari lowered his head again and Sakura checked his bandages.

"The bleeding has slowed," she announced.

"Don't you have to stitch up his leg?"

"The wound is too large and this is a complete amputation," Sakura explained, "in a lot of cases, the cut blood vessels pull back and shrink, which slows the bleeding down. As long as we keep his leg elevated and his pain under control, he'll be alright tonight."

"And tomorrow?" Temari asked, looking more concerned.

"I… I don't know," admitted Sakura. She mirrored Temari and Gaara's expressions before looking back down at Kankuro. "I have to work tomorrow. I can see if I can get my hands on more supplies for him. It will be risky, but I can try."

"We can get pain medication for him tomorrow," said Gaara, "I'm sure that was part of what the Akatsuki wanted me to get from the club today."

"If you can, that will take away a lot of the risk for me," Sakura said. "I know that I can get more bandages and disinfectant wipes without an issue, even if I have to get them from a store. But we should get him some antibiotics just to be safe… prescription medications are heavily monitored. I might be able to convince one of the doctors to write me a script."

Sakura removed the needle from Temari and Kankuro's arms and applied a band-aid to the injection sites.

"If we can get him what he needs… will he be okay?" Temari asked.

"He'll have a better chance," said Sakura. "I'm sure he's not going to be able to sleep, but let's get him somewhere more comfortable."

As gently as they could, the three of them lifted Kankuro up and started carrying him toward his bedroom. Fortunately, his bedroom was on the first floor, so they didn't need to go far. Half-conscious, Kankuro grumbled something unintelligible and winced in pain with each step they took. When they reached his bed, they slowly lowered him onto it. Sakura grabbed an extra pillow and put it under Kankuro's leg to keep it elevated.

Sakura went to retrieve one of her medical bags from the kitchen. "Be sure to keep the bandages clean," said Sakura, "there are enough in this bag for at least two more days. I will bring more tomorrow. Change them every four to five hours for the next few days, even if he isn't bleeding a lot. If you do notice a lot of blood… your best bet is to take him to the hospital." She set the bag down on the nightstand and placed the pain medication next to it. "The pills should be taken once every four hours, but because they're weak and isn't a minor fracture like I had, give him an extra one if he needs it-"

Temari cut her off. "Can you stay?" she asked.

"Hm? Stay?" Sakura blinked, "you mean me? Here?"

"If it weren't for you, I don't know what we would've done…" said Temari, hanging her head, "I know you don't owe us anything, but if you could at least stay until we're sure he's going to be okay…" She trailed off as her eyes began to water again, but she fought it. She lifted her head and furrowed her brow. "My brother could be dead right now if it weren't for you."

Sakura drew her lips in tightly, trying her best to let her nurse instincts kick in and not react to the fear in Temari's voice. She looked at Gaara as if she was waiting for his permission.

"I…uh…"

"She's got a point," Gaara agreed, "neither of us has any medical training. We could use the help."

Sakura hesitated to respond. Not because she didn't want to help; she wouldn't be here if she didn't want to be. Naruto told her she needed to stay away, but here she was, basically inside the belly of the beast on her own accord. She wasn't scared, yet a part of her was still telling her to get out while she still had her life. Sakura turned back to Temari. After all, a man was amputated in this same house only moments ago.

"Okay," she said, "I'll… I'll stay. For a couple of nights."

"Thank you," Temari sighed. "Sakura, was it?"

"Yes,"

"I'm Temari," she extended her hand for a shake. Sakura accepted. "The one you just saved is Kankuro. Gaara is our little brother."

"I'm glad to help, and it's nice to meet you," she said. Just then, a dizzy spell invaded Sakura's head and she took a few steps back. Gaara put his hands on her shoulders to keep her steady.

"Are you alright?" Temari asked.

"Yeah… I just… this happens, especially after a long day," she said, "this pregnancy hasn't been easy on my body so far."

"Gaara, I'm going to stay here with Kankuro for a while," said Temari, "why don't you take Sakura somewhere to lie down?"

Gaara took Sakura's hand and led her out of the room. She followed him up a flight of stairs and down a dark, narrow hallway until they reached the spare room that Gaara occupied. Feeling too weak to bother getting under them, Sakura lay on top of the sheets and closed her eyes. She could hear Gaara rummaging around in the closet nearby. Without saying anything, he left the room. She heard another door close down the hall. Eventually, the sound of running water came. She presumed he had gone to take a shower. He was, after all, still covered in blood from head to toe.

After about 15 minutes, Gaara returned to the room wearing a clean white t-shirt and a pair of black pajama pants. Sakura watched as he ruffled his hair with a towel before tossing it in the laundry basket. He flipped the light switch off, leaving the bedroom illuminated by the large full moon peering through the window, and lay down on his back on the vacant side of the bed.

Sakura's eyes widened. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Going to bed," he said.

"Hm…" Sakura stared up at the ceiling, eyes still wide. She hadn't anticipated this would be the sleeping arrangements when she agreed to stay. The awkward silence between them was almost painful. It would go on this way for at least ten minutes- and of course, Gaara decided to speak once Sakura had finally closed her eyes.

"Is it mine?" he asked.

Sakura's eyes shot open. She slowly turned her head to look at him, but his gaze did not meet hers. He remained fixated on the ceiling.

"You said you're about two months along," Gaara continued, "that time frame matches up… and I've been wondering why you stopped me from getting arrested today."

'What do I say?' she wondered. 'Do I tell him the truth?'

The silence was truly painful now. She turned her head back toward the ceiling.

"...Yes," she finally said, then bit her lip.

Gaara didn't react. They both stared straight ahead.

'This is so awkward…'