Author's Note: Sorry about where I placed the lemon guys! It's really crucial because it brings them closer together. T-T. I hope you guys like this chapter.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT STORY: I am skipping ahead one year, the first four chapters was just a filler. LOL. Everyone is 18 except Temari and Itachi who are 20.

Disclaimer: Caring for someone and loving them are two different things. Never hold in your words cause tomorrow you might not have a chance to say them. (I own nothing.)

Ch. 5: Turn Of Events

Sakura was at the doctor's office with Gaara. He said that he just had the flu, but he couldn't seem to shake it.

"I don't see why you made me come here." he said.

"I'm worried. What if it's something more?"

"You know I'm perfectly healthy…"

"Excuse me, the doctor is ready to see you." said a smiling nurse.

'At least she's smiling. That's a good sign.'

Gaara and Sakura sat down and looked at the doctor, who was frowning.

"We found something in your CAT scan Gaara."

"What?"

"You have a cancerous tumor. It's been getting bigger, that's why you've been having seizures."

"W-what?! You're lying! I don't believe you!" he screamed.

"Would you like to see for yourself?"

Gaara sat down and stared at the doctor in shock. Sakura had her head in her hands and was sobbing uncontrollably. Gaara grabbed her hand and she looked up.

"It's okay, it's going to be okay Sakura. Is there anything you can do?"

"Well, chemo treatment, radiation treatment, and a surgery to remove the growth is all that we offer here."

"I don't want the radiation treatment."

"Then we'll start you on chemo."

"Fine."

Sakura sobbed into his chest.

'Chemo…oh god no…please don't take him from me…please.'

At her thoughts, Sakura cried even harder. Over the next few weeks, Gaara went to the hospital for his chemo treatment. Slowly, his hair fell out and his body looked emaciated, but Sakura stood by him. He try to eat, but just threw it back up. It seemed the only thing he could hold down was chocolate. Sakura would bring his chocolate everyday. One weekend, he was staying with her and there was a knock at her door. As she opened it, she looked at Kiba, Itachi, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Neji, and Naruto. She invited them in and when they walked into the living room, they took off their hats. Every one of them had shaved their head. Sakura started to cry and hug them all and even Gaara's eyes misted a little bit as he saw what his friend's had done for him. Over the next month, the chemo took a toll on his body and wore him down. Sakura finally went to the doctor with him to see if this was working.

"The tumor isn't getting smaller." the doctor said.

"Then the only thing left to do is the surgery." said Sakura.

"Yes, but it's very dangerous."

"I don't care! I want this tumor out of me!" said Gaara.

The scheduled the surgery for a week from that day at six in the morning. Sakura's favorite flowers were Lilies. She loved Lilies and Gaara often bought them for her. They spent their week before the surgery together and with their friends. Finally, the day of the surgery came and all his friends were crowded into the hospital room, wishing him good luck and hoping that he made it back alive. It had been a long winter and soon it would turn to spring. Gaara loved the spring, it was when he met Sakura. They would sit by there favorite Sakura tree in her yard and talk for hours.

"Gaara." Sakura whispered and kissed him.

"Sakura, you look beautiful." Sakura knew how she really looked; dark circles under her bloodshot eyes, no make-up, and crumpled clothes. "I look better once you come down from recovery."

"Sakura, I want to tell you something before they operate."

"What things?"

"I want you to know that I'm okay with this and I want you to be too. No matter what the outcome is." It felt as if a hand had reached into her chest and clutched her heart.

"The outcome is that you'll be alright." she said stubbornly.

"I've also been thinking about the things we talked about under our tree. About the hereafter and all. I don't know what happens when you die, and if I can't wait for you at the end of an aisle on our wedding day, I'll wait for you…out there."

"Gaara, you're scaring me…"

"Please, let me finish. I don't want to scare you. I only want you to know that either way this surgery turns out, I'll be fine. I-I just want you to be fine."

"I can't think about losing you. Don't make me."

"You're the best part of my life and I'll always love you." she heard her friends come back into the room.

"I'll see you in a few hours."

She dropped her hand and let everyone have a few more minutes with him. Before the nurse had a chance to get him into the elevator, he grabbed Sakura's hand.

"If it's possible to send a message from heaven," he whispered, his eyes drooping from the sedation, "I'll get one to you."

As the elevator closed, Sakura looked at the piece of paper he had set in her hands. She put it in her pocket and looked at the others.

"Let's go down to the surgical waiting room."

They trooped down to the area where family and friends waited for news from various operating rooms. A telephone linking the surgical floor with the waiting room would occasionally ring and tell people that their loved one had been taken to recovery and the surgeon would be down to talk to them soon. In the waiting room, her friends were camped out on the sofas. She tried to join them, but couldn't sit still. As the hours dragged by, the phone rang several times, always for others. Every time it rang, Sakura jumped. She felt taut and edgy. Around one o'clock, her mother tried to get her to eat something, but she refused. She stared down at the floor, listening to the thump of her heart, the whispers of those around her. Suddenly the waiting room door opened and she looked up to see Gaara's surgeon standing in front of their group. Surprised, she glanced at the phone, wondering why she hadn't heard it ring. The doctor removed his green head covering. Sakura allowed her eyes to travel the length of him and saw flecks of blood on the green paper coverings of his shoes.

'Gaara's blood.' she knew instinctively.

"The tumor was far more entrenched than we ever imagined," the surgeon began. "It was totally ingrown to the side of his brain."

Sakura heard Temari begin to sob.

"I'm sorry. We did everything we could."

Somehow, through it all, Sakura didn't lose her composure. She heard questions and answers, but the words didn't make sense. She was beyond caring what was said anyway. Slowly, she stood and removed the folded piece of paper Gaara had given her only hours before. She'd deliberately not opened it, saving it for a time when she knew she would need contact with him most.

"What's in the note?" asked a tearful Temari.

Numbly, Sakura unfolded the paper. On it Gaara had drawn a single, perfect rose.

The day of Gaara's funeral, snow blanketed the ground. Cold white drifts covered cars and fences and the sky was a shade of leaden gray. To Sakura, riding in the funeral home's limo to the cemetery, the whole world looked black and white. Void of color.

"I never thought I'd have to do this again." Temari said soundlessly, and Sakura knew she was thinking of her brother, Kankuro. Temari stared through the glass window. "Who will ride with me when it's my turn?"

No one answered and Sakura tightened her hold on the edge of the car seat. Inside, she felt as dead as the world outside the car window seemed. As empty as the stretches of snow between the headstones of the cemetery. At the burial site, her friends had gathered, all dressed in shades of black and gray. The car stopped, and the attendants helped Sakura and the others make the walk to the tarpaulin-covered pit where Gaara's casket would be placed. Because the ground was frozen, a special machine had been used to dig the hole. Sakura could still see it tracks in the packed snow. She heard the crunch of snow beneath her boots, felt the sting of frigid air on her face. Sakura watched as Shikamaru lead her friends toward them. A mantel of flowers, each one as white as the snow, cascaded down the sides of the steel-gray casket. The petals of the flower were frozen, singed by ice, brittle and stiff. Unbidden, Gaara's long-ago words came to her.

"Someday, I'll dress you in flowers."

Instead it was he who had been wrapped in blossoms. She hardly heard the brief ceremony. She felt isolated and cut off from reality, not caring what was said. No words could make a difference. Gaara was gone and nothing could bring him back. Her movements were mechanical, like an elaborate puppet's. She went through the motions, but in her heart, she was hollow and empty. And cold. So very cold. Late in the afternoon, Sakura's mother found her huddled against the barren Sakura tree.

"I am leaving for the airport." she said gently. "I have to go to some meetings."

"Good-bye." Sakura told her.

"You should come in the house, Sakura. It's cold and you'll get sick."

"So what?"

Sakura traced her fingers along the bark of the tree trunk.

"See our initials? Gaara carved them a week after we started dating. Gaara used to bring me flowers…"

"You're breaking my heart, Sakura. Please tell me you're going to be okay."

Sakura looked at her and gave a nod as her mother left. Later, after her mother had gone and Tenten was still there to keep some company, Sakura wearily climbed the stairs to her room. She stripped, dropping her clothes in a heap on the floor, pulled on one of Gaara's large shirts, and climbed into bed. After knocking lightly, Tenten opened the door and entered the room.

"Sakura…" she began. "If there's anything you want…"

"I want Gaara."

Sakura…please…I'm so sorry…so very sorry…"

"Goodnight."

She curled into a tight ball and pulled the covers over her head. Minutes later, she heard Tenten leave the room.

"Gaara," she whispered into the darkness. "Why have you left me all alone?"

A moth later, after Temari had talked her into eating again, it was spring. Gaara's favorite time of the year. Sakura slowly got up and walked onto her balcony. She got a big surprise however. Lilies were blooming in the middle of her yard.

'Lilies…who…when…Gaara.'

"If it's possible to send a message from heaven, I'll get one to you."

Sakura began to cry as she over the Lilies. Then she saw the pattern. In full bloom they would say, "I love you." Sakura sobbed hard and looked into the sky.

"You always thought that you could fix everything with flowers didn't you?"

A picture of Gaara's have smile flashed in the sky and then it was gone. Sakura looked at the silver promise ring on her hand and smiled.

Author's Note: It was hard to write without crying. I hope you guys like this. Reviews are welcome and replied to. This is the last chapter. I will have a TY note and the details of my next story up soon. Also, this part of the story is an excerpt from the book Don't Die, My Love. I do not own it, but I though I would advertise it.