Sakura woke to a dull ache in her head and a chill so bad her body felt almost completely numb. Groggily, she sat up and rubbed at her eyes. She could feel the sand beneath her still, rough and cold underneath her palm. She must have fallen asleep on the dune.

When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Gaara's face peering at her. She shrieked and recoiled.

"You're an idiot."

Sakura blinked, still a little disoriented. Gaara was crouched down in front of her, far too close to her face for comfort. The sky was still dark behind him and the night's air had dropped down to freezing. Sakura shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"How did you know I was out here?" she asked, choosing to ignore the insult.

He made a small noise of disapproval and sat back on his heels. "I didn't," he said, shrugging off his Kage robe and handing it to her. "I came out here for a walk and I just happened to find you. You're really lucky, you know. It could have been another of those beasts, or an enemy shinobi. And if neither of those had gotten you, you might have frozen to death."

Sakura held his robe in her hand, wondering whether it was appropriate for her to wear such a thing. She looked up at Gaara's face, and seeing his stern glare and the way his jaw was clenched, she decided it would be best to put it on.

It was still warm from his body heat and Sakura nearly melted into it, grateful for the reprieve from the cold.

"What were you even doing out here, Sakura?" he demanded, moving to sit beside her on the dune.

She shrugged and looked back up at the sky. The sliver of the moon was still visible in the sky, bright against the navy backdrop that covered them. "I don't know," she answered. "Just thinking, I guess."

"You must have a death wish."

She gave him a furtive glance, a little annoyed by his reprimanding. He looked younger without the Kage robes on and again Sakura remembered that he was her age – too young for this kind of responsibility, even if he was well suited for it. His eyes seemed too sunken, his skin too sallow. Sakura fought the urge to reach out and touch him with healing hand, to fix whatever small headache or muscle pain might be bothering him.

But she kept both of her hands carefully tucked into her lap, wrapped in the length of Gaara's sleeves.

"What does a girl like you think about, Sakura?"

If it had been someone else asking that question, or if he had asked it with a different inflection, Sakura might have been inclined to lie. But he seemed sincere enough.

"I was thinking about Sasuke."

She snuck another glance at him, trying to gauge a reaction underneath his stoicism. Gaara was likely not overly fond of Sasuke. She couldn't help but feel curious about what Gaara thought of her missing teammate.

"Sasuke Uchiha," he mumbled just loud enough for her to hear. "His whereabouts are still unknown?"

Sakura nodded.

"You must really love him," he continued, "to come out into the wilderness and risk certain death just to think about him."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, unimpressed by his dry tone. "I didn't come out here with the intentions of falling asleep," she pointed out.

"I should hope not," he said. "In any case, it seems making sure you remain alive is a full time job. Your Hokage should have warned me before she sent you off."

"Don't be so dramatic." She spared another glance in his direction and was a little stunned to see an amused grin on his face.

"I'd hardly call myself dramatic, Sakura," he said. "In fact, I'd argue Sasuke is far more dramatic than I am." Sakura rolled her eyes. She was used to having to constantly defend Sasuke, so she was easily able to let Gaara's words roll off her back.

"Sasuke is definitely dramatic," she said, giving Gaara a bright, fake smile. "It's not always a bad thing." Perhaps this little appeasement wouldn't be taken as an insult, she thought.

But he glared at her again, his eyes darkening. "Don't look at me like that," he said.

"Like what?" she asked, bemused.

"With that fake smile," he said, his voice minutely softer. "People used to look at me like that all the time. With pity."

Sakura scoffed. "You think I pity you, Kazekage-sama?"

She looked at his face again and saw the stony, irritable look he was giving her. He seemed harmless enough right now, and even though Sakura still felt a microscopic amount of fear of him, she realized that he had no intentions of hurting her. In fact, he had expressed his desire to make sure she returned to Konoha in one piece. This knowledge gave Sakura the confidence to laugh at the somber expression that sullied his features.

"Why are you laughing?" he demanded with a scowl.

"You look so grumpy," she said, her laughter dying down to a giggle. "It's unfitting for the Kazekage, don't you think?"

He narrowed his eyes again, but Sakura could see that he was faintly amused. "I'm not grumpy," he replied. "And you should know better than to tease the Kazekage. It's not proper for a foreign diplomat."

"Excuse me," she said with exaggeration. "But I am the Kazekage and you can't talk to me like that." She flounced the hem of the Kage robe still wrapped around her shoulders, flicking it into Gaara's face.

"Sakura."

"Kazekage-sama."

Sakura was startled to see a grin break out on his face. He brought his hands to the back of his head and leaned back against the dune, resting his head on his palms. "You know, Sakura, I think you're the first person other than my siblings to ever tease me," he said.

She bit her lip, unable to take her eyes away from him for a moment. He seemed so relaxed, which was so unusual that he looked like an entirely different person.

"You're the first Kazekage I've ever teased," she replied, still watching him as he gazed at the sky. He caught her gaze and gave her a look she didn't quite understand. A strong gust of wind blew past them, casting a cloud of sand into Sakura's face. She winced and began finger combing it out of her hair.

"You seem very comfortable right now, Kazekage-sama," she said

He didn't respond, but he continued to watch as she raked the sand out of her hair.

"You trust me," she said.

Gaara sat up, resting his weight on his palms as he gave her a scrutinizing look. "You've given me no reason not to," he said defensively. "Should I distrust you?"

She shook her head vehemently. "No, of course not," she said. "I only meant that given your… your past, I assumed trust wouldn't come quite so easily to you. I assumed I'd have to do more to earn that."

"Oh?" he asked with a raised brow. "Were you going to try to earn it then?"

She smiled as she flipped her hair, now free of sand around her shoulders. "If it gets me more missions in Suna, sure," she replied. "This place is growing on me."

"Enough for you to want to move here?" he asked. "We could certainly use a medic of your caliber."

"Kazekage-sama, are you trying to steal me away from Konoha?" she asked. "I don't think Tsunade-sama will like that."

"Yes, I suppose that was rather selfish of me," he said.

Silence settled over them, but it was a comfortable one. They both turned their attention back to the sky, the moon that still hung precariously enough that it looked as though it might fall at any second.

"Do you like being the Kazekage?"

Gaara turned to look at her again. "Do you like waiting for Sasuke to come home?"

Sakura made a noise of surprise with the back of throat, thrown for a loop that he would ask such a thing. She felt a surge of anger rise up in her chest, but she pushed it down until it ebbed away.

"That was a rude thing to ask, Kazekage-sama," she said, careful to keep her tone as non-offensive as possible.

"I get a certain amount of gratification from being the Kazekage," he said, ignoring her reprimand. "I'm respected. The villagers love me. So, yes, I like it, even if it can be grating sometimes."

"That's why you like it? You like being loved and respected?"

Gaara shrugged. "Who doesn't?"

Sakura gave him a skeptical glance. She knew firsthand how difficult being a Kage could be. She watched Tsunade struggle with it all the time. "I guess the pros outweigh the cons, then," she said.

"Do the pros of loving Sasuke outweigh the cons?"

With a groan, Sakura got to her feet. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to this, Kazekage-sama," she said. "Disparage Sasuke all you want, but I won't listen." She took one step back toward Suna before a wall of sand shot up from the ground to stop her. She cast a dark look over her shoulder to Gaara, who was watching her with darkened eyes of his own.

"Sit back down, Sakura."

Sakura gave a huff and crossed her arms, but she did as she was told and took her seat next to him again.

"I wasn't trying to offend you," he said. "It's a genuine question."

"You want me to list the pros and cons of loving Sasuke?"

"The only person who loved me betrayed me," Gaara said. His voice had taken on an edge, a gravel that reminded Sakura of the boy he was back during the chuunin exams all those years ago. "He had to. He had no choice. I wonder sometimes if he had made a list of the pros and cons of loving me, would he have chosen not to. It would have been in his own best interest."

"Gaara…"

He looked over at her. She saw him suppress a shiver, though whether that was from the cold or the nature of their conversation Sakura couldn't be sure.

"I don't know how a person could take for granted when they are loved," he continued, ignoring the dropped honorific. "It seems the amount of love a person deserves is never the amount they receive."

"I don't think love works that way," Sakura said, though at this point she was sure Gaara was merely thinking out loud. His eyes seemed to have glazed over and his lips were pressed together in a thin line.

"No, I suppose it doesn't," he said. "Perhaps that's why you haven't given up on Sasuke yet."

"Sasuke lost his entire family," Sakura said defensively. "He was just a boy. He has the same capacity to love as anyone else, but those he loved the most were taken away from him. It's no surprise he would be afraid to have those bonds again. Can you imagine losing everything twice over? I don't love Sasuke because I expect something in return. I love him because I want him to know he won't lose everything twice. He will always have me. And Naruto."

"He doesn't deserve that kind of unconditional love."

"Nobody does."

Gaara had no response for that, but she saw the corners of his mouth quirk up in the tiniest of smiles. He did seem comfortable now, resting against the dune while he watched the sky. Again, Sakura was struck by how at ease he seemed around her. Surely her proximity to Naruto didn't garner that level of trust, did it?

"It's a wonder that people like you exist to give that kind of love, Sakura," he said after a few moments of silence. "I hope it doesn't take too much out of you to be able to do that."

"It will all be worth it once Sasuke returns."

Gaara scoffed. "Let's hope he returns with some love for you, because you need a full time keeper, Sakura-san."

Sakura growled, a low but inoffensive sound. "I don't need a keeper," she said.

"Says the girl who'd be frozen to death if I hadn't found her."

"It's not that cold."

He gave her a wry look. "You're still shivering, Sakura-san. You should see your cheeks, too. Pinker than your hair." He grabbed her wrist and lifted it off the sand. "And look at this. Goosebumps."

Sakura jerked her hand away and pushed the sleeve of his robe back down over the length of her arm.

"How do you think your Hokage will feel when I send her apprentice back to her frozen solid?" he asked teasingly.

"I'll thaw out before I get back."

"And you won't tell Tsunade that you came close to death several times?"

"I was never close to death!" she screeched.

"Calm down, Sakura, I'm just teasing you."

"Well knock it off," she snapped, "because if I recall correctly, one of the times I was, in fact, near death was your fault."

Gaara recoiled, his brow furrowing as he cast his eyes away from her. She didn't know what possessed her to say such a thing to him. She could feel the blood rushing in her ears, drowning out the sound of her heartbeat, which was wildly out of control now. It was one thing to say things like that to Naruto or Sasuke, but it was wholly different to accuse the Kazekage of almost killing her, even if it had happened years ago.

"Kazekage-sama—"

"We need to get back to the village," he said. Sakura paused, her mouth open as she tried to figure out some way to take back what she had said. None of the words she could come up with seemed adequate. "It will be morning soon."

He stood up, brushing the sand from his tunic.

"Gaara-sama, wait."

He brushed past her, pausing for only a moment to make sure she was following him. She jogged the few steps he had taken around to step in his path. "Wait," she said, bringing her palm up to his chest to stop him. His sand was instantly around her wrist, halting her hand a scant inch away from his chest.

"I shouldn't have said that," she said, ignoring the way his sand swirled around her arm.

"I shouldn't have nearly killed you." He was staring into her eyes now, and it was the closest she had ever been to his face. She could feel his breath on her face as much as she could see it, and she felt inclined to give him back his robe.

"I can't rightly give Sasuke a pass where I condemn you," she argued. "You've done far more to right your wrongs than he has. You deserve better."

He took a step back away from her, letting his sand retreat back into the dune beneath them. "From you?" he asked with disdain. "You're not a Suna shinobi. I've made my amends to them. But you…" He watched her rub her wrist where the sand had irritated it. "I don't know how to make amends, Sakura."

"I'm not asking you to do that," she said.

"Then what are you asking of me? Why did you bring that up?"

"I'm sorry—"

"Do you hold a grudge? Do you want an apology?"

"No, I just don't want to be that girl I was when you nearly killed me," she said fiercely. "I don't need to be protected anymore. I don't need you to make sure I return to Naruto unscathed, because I can do that myself."

Gaara crossed his arms over his chest. "If you don't want protection, you shouldn't put yourself in positions where it's necessary."

"You're one to talk!"

"That's where we differ, Sakura-san," he said smoothly, his tone bordering on haughty. "You don't want to be protected because it makes you feel weak. I know I'm not weak so the idea that I sometimes need protection isn't quite so offensive to me."

Sakura scowled. "I'm not weak."

"I didn't say you were."

She narrowed her eyes, but she had nothing else to say. Their conversation had gone too far off track and there was no way to save it. Instead, she turned her back to him and began making her way back to Suna.

Gaara followed and she could feel his eyes drilling into her back the entire way back to the village.

After managing a few hours of sleep, Sakura found herself back in her cubicle again, peering through the glass test tubes at the binds inside. It was with immense relief that she noted that the binds were successful and she would be able to create a solid antidote with what she had discovered.

She set to work immediately, spending the better part of the morning manufacturing as many syringes of her antidote as she could. She was able to recruit some of the Suna medics to help her with this task, so by mid afternoon she had finished with her portion of the mission.

With the medical wing fully stocked, Sakura was ready to wrap it all up and go home. She cleaned up her cubicle, disposing of the hazardous egg and its contents. When she had finished, she set out in search of Temari to let her know the good news.

She found Temari in the courtyard with Gaara, both engaged in a heated spar by the looks of it. Sakura found a perch near the perimeter of the courtyard and watched them, curious to see how it would end.

Gaara was untouchable, it seemed. He was mostly defensive as Temari launched different wind attacks at him using her large fan. Gaara's sand prevented anything from touching him, moving to block attacks before Sakura had even realized they'd been launched. It was fascinating to watch – this ultimate defense. Sakura was no stranger to extraordinarily powerful shinobi, but she still felt admiration for Gaara and his sand.

And Temari, too, was able to hold her own in spite of her brother's rather unfair advantage. She was able to deflect the few attacks Gaara sent in his direction, redirecting them with her winds. As she did so, she included a few kunai in those gusts of wind – ones Gaara was only just able to deflect.

Sakura realized that what was needed to best Gaara was speed. Strength aside, the only thing that could get past his ultimate defense was a combination of agility and speed. Sasuke had shown her that during the chuunin exams.

Temari probably knew this as well, but their sparring session definitely seemed more geared toward the kunoichi than the Kazekage. He was letting her test out her moves on him. What a nice brother he was, Sakura thought with a wry smirk.

A kunai struck the tree trunk beside her head with a sharp thud. Sakura followed its trajectory to Gaara who was now watching her watch them.

"This is a closed session, Sakura-san," he said, his voice tight and authoritative. Temari relaxed her stance, folding her fan and re-sheathing it on her back.

"Don't be rude, Gaara," she said.

"I only came to let you know I've finished my antidote," she said. "I've left a crateful of them in your medical wing should you need to use them. Shikamaru and I can be on our way by tomorrow morning."

"Finished already?" Temari asked. "We should try to get in one last bath before you leave."

Sakura gave Temari a confused look, taking in her grin and the casual way she leaned against the stone pillar beside her. She seemed to be in a better mood than usual – especially to suggest a bath.

"Oh, sure," Sakura agreed with a smile of her own. "I also kind of wanted to get a tour before I left. I've only been here and handful of times – none of which ever seemed like appropriate times to ask for a tour."

"I'd be happy to give you a—"

"She can show herself around," Gaara said, interrupted his sister.

"Pardon?" Temari asked.

"Sakura-san is perfectly capable of showing herself around," Gaara said. "She doesn't need anyone to give her a tour."

Sakura gave him an incredulous look, unable to keep her hip from jutting out and her hand from finding a sassy place on it. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"You heard me, Sakura-san."

"Now hold on, Gaara, what's gotten into you?" Temari asked. "Sakura-san, I can give you a tour. It's no problem."

"What would Naruto think?" Sakura asked, her eyes boring into Gaara's. "If I got lost on this tour and there was no one there to help me find my way? I'd never be able to find my way back to Konoha."

Gaara narrowed his eyes. Their conversation from the night before had clearly not been forgotten or forgiven, but Sakura wasn't going to take his taunting sitting down.

"Perhaps it would be best if you avoided a tour, then," he replied coolly.

"What the hell is going on here?" Temari asked, her own hip jutting out to match Sakura's pose now.

"I probably don't deserve one anyway," Sakura said, ignoring Temari. She turned on her heel, more than ready to leave Suna and get back to Konoha now. She needed to pack and tell Shikamaru so they could get back on the road as soon as possible. But before she could take another step, a wall of sand shot up to block her path.

Slowly, she turned back around to face Gaara. "Something you need, Kazekage-sama?"

"I'll allow Temari to give you a tour if you allow her to escort you back to Konoha," he said.

"Wait, why does she need an escort back to Konoha?" Temari asked with a bemused expression.

"I don't," Sakura snapped.

"Then you don't need a tour guide, either," Gaara said.

"Seriously, what the hell is going on here?" Temari demanded. "Why are you two behaving like this?"

"Fine," Sakura said, ignoring Temari again. "If it's so important to you, she can escort me back to Konoha."

"Temari, we're finished here," Gaara said to her. "You may take Sakura on a tour now, if you wish."

Gaara's sand wall receded into the ground before he turned on his heel and left. Sakura and Temari watched him leave, both wearing similar confused expressions.

"Umm, care to explain?" Temari asked once Gaara had vanished.

Sakura sucked in a deep breath and let out a sigh. "Yeah, on the way back to my room," she said, gesturing to her medic's apron and lab coat she was wearing, both covered in all manner of fluids now. "I need to change first."

With a skeptical look, Temari followed Sakura back toward her room. "Gaara's not usually so antagonistic," she said. "What's going on with you two?"

"We had a bit of a tiff over the whole protection thing," Sakura explained as they meandered down the corridor. "He's just being an ass."

"You and Gaara had an argument?"

Sakura nodded, a little thrown off by the incredulity in her tone. "Yeah, don't you ever have arguments with him?"

"Sort of," Temari said, scratching her head. "I mean we have disagreements. I'm not sure I'd call them arguments."

"Well, you were definitely right about him being a protector," Sakura said. "I deal with that enough at home. I don't like dealing with it from him, too."

"And you told him that?"

"Yeah," Sakura laughed. "A lot of good it did, too."

"Well, now he's dragged me into, too," Temari said with a pout. "I'm going to have to escort you all the way back to Konoha for no reason."

"You don't have to do that," Sakura argued.

"Please. Of course I do. You don't know Gaara like I do," she replied. "He'll know if I don't do it. Besides, I shouldn't disobey a direct order from the Kazekage."

"Oh, I think you should," Sakura argued as she unlocked the door to her room.

Temari laughed as she followed Sakura inside. "You're a terrible influence," she said.

Sakura gave her a wicked grin over her shoulder as she rummaged through her pack to find a suitable change of clothes. It actually felt pretty nice to be discussing Gaara with someone who could understand Sakura's frustration. Gaara wasn't used to people talking back or challenging him, but if there were ever a woman to do just that, it would be his sister.

"Umm, what is that?" Temari asked, pointing toward the bed.

Sakura followed the line of her finger to the foot of her bed where Gaara's Kazekage robe was draped across the mattress.

"That's…"

"Why is Gaara's robe in your bedroom?"

"He gave it to me when I was cold."

"Cold? When were you cold?"

"Yesterday. Last night I went out for a walk and he found me," she explained, unable to pinpoint exactly why this conversation was making her nervous. "It was really cold outside."

"A walk? A walk where?"

"The dunes."

"You went out into the desert at night by yourself?" Temari demanded.

"It wasn't that late," Sakura said defensively. She certainly wasn't going to tell her that she had fallen asleep on a dune. "I was just getting some fresh air."

Temari gave a disapproving hum, but she said nothing else. Sakura saw her eyes locked onto Gaara's robe where it lay on her bed. Feeling a bit apprehensive, Sakura disappeared behind the room divider and changed into her clean clothes.

When she emerged from behind the divider, Temari was still staring at the robe. "You're going to give that back to him, right?"

"Of course," Sakura said, a little confused by the question.

"Alright, then," Temari said. "Let's get started on that tour."