Chapter Three

"Kiba,"

"Yes, Sakura?"

"No."

"What? Why?"

"You know exactly why. I am not going to commit myself to a relationship that may just be entirely physical."

"So? What's wrong with that?"

"Get the hell out of my house!"

"Take a joke Sakura. I just confessed to you."

"I already have four, no, five men to take care of, I have no time for a relationship. I'm sorry Kiba."

"You know I'm not giving up. And I can always share."

"Kiba, do you wanna leave here with that pretty face of yours, or do you want me to have to kick you out with your face rearranged?"

Sakura sighed as she took a seat on her living room couch. She was alone and more than happy that she was. It was at this time that she could finally think all to herself without worrying about another person. Come to think of it, she could be enjoying the warm sun during her break, if Kiba was not so blunt and teasing during his rather stupid confession.

The kid was crazy—at least in her opinion—who jokes around like that during a confession? Although they did have had sex before, he obviously held no respect for her or whatsoever. But that was Kiba, and a part of her felt guilty that he had to be part of a game and became utterly attached to her. It was Ino's fault. It must be. Because Sakura would never have played the game had Ino not been so incredibly, frustratingly annoying in the first place.

Then there was her other problem. The red-haired, used to be, kind of still is sociopath. Him and his arrogance and silence, constantly—no— always secluding and isolating himself from the rest of the world. He continued to avoid her, especially when they ate together, and said not a single word. The nerve of him to come home to her place, injured, just because Sai, had once again accomplished his hobby of making fun of people's sexuality. And to think, he did not even thank her for healing him!

The kunoichi did give Sai props for having the guts to say that to the Kazekage. She almost—but because it was the Kazekage, she did not—laughed when Gaara told her the reason why he got into a brawl in the first place. Insulting Gaara called for a death wish, especially because he was so powerful and ill-tempered.

Although, she had to admit, the times when she actually did see the Kazekage in her home, she thought that the physical changes in him were pretty darn impressive. Sakura was a naturally observant person, which was one of the reasons why she always won Ino's little games. She found it easy to read certain people, but as for the Kazekage, he was just too difficult to read. She was not a creep either. It was all involuntary action when her eyes would scan his form as he walked passed her, or when he sat across from her in the dining table, and she would notice the changes in his appearance.

She was not going to deny that she was attracted. When she would catch his jade eyes watching her, but she would immediately look away. Or when he came out of the bathroom, shamelessly topless, and she would act like it did not affect her in any or whatsoever way; the way the muscles on his back and shoulders would ripple while he moved around in the kitchen, afterwards. And all she could do was sit on her couch, reading a medical book, and peek over its pages and drool over what skin he showed.

It was embarrassing. She knew that he knew, she was staring him down like he was a piece of meat. And she would sometimes catch him smirking, but was not entirely sure, because his expression would return to its uncaring, stoic form. It was almost like he was purposely trying to tempt her, but that was just a ridiculous notion. The two would never get along, especially after their argument the day before.

But that was beside the point. Sakura had to find a way to kiss Gaara without making it awkward afterwards. Then she wondered just how great of a kisser Gaara might be. Are his lips as soft as they look? Would it be his first kiss? Sakura shook her head, face flushed.

Ino was currently frantically searching for his whereabouts, still oblivious to the fact that the Kazekage was staying with Sakura. Because she was currently taking a break, the Yamanaka was bound to be sent out on a mission, giving Sakura less competition.

The pink haired kunoichi frowned. At some point during her thoughts, she was actually thinking about how attractive her new housemate was and how it might just be like to kiss him. It was frustrating, something that Shikamaru might just label as "troublesome." To think she was actually tempted to jump the Kazekage and... Ino has definitely turned her mind into a perverse one.

The medic nin stood up, the faint sound of footsteps just outside her door, followed by two lazy knocks. She already knew who it was, and was rather surprised that he did not just enter like he always did. Opening the door, Sakura smiled, "Kakashi."

He gave her a small salute as he leaned onto the door frame, "Yo," then proceeded to enter and take a seat on her couch.

Sakura raised an eyebrow and shook her head as a small smile curled on her lips. She closed the door behind her and took a seat beside him, leaning against his muscled torso, and curled her legs against her chest, "Do I have to ask why you're here, or do I already know why."

"Hn," Kakashi placed an arm around her shoulder, "You probably already know why. Judging by Kiba's reaction when he passed by Ichiraku's, you rejected him."

"I already told him why," Sakura frowned.

"Of course, but, I want to know what you and Ino have planned next?"

Sakura turned her head to face him and sent him an annoyed glare, "Ugh. I hate how you know everything that's going on." In turn, Kakashi chuckled, gently tracing her arm up and down with his gloved fingers. "But, what Ino and I do, are solely our own business, which, may I add, have nothing to do with you. Therefore, I cannot understand why you are attempting to meddle into this matter. Just be happy you were never part of our games."

"Sakura-chan, I'm hurt. Why is it that Choji and I are the only ones not on your list?"

The kunoichi already knew that the copy ninja knew the answer to his question, but answered anyways, "Ex boyfriends are no-no's. Besides, If you were on the list, it wouldn't be fair to Ino."

Kakashi leaned back, "What makes you think it wouldn't be fair. For all you know I might have just do—." The copy ninja grunted as he felt Sakura elbow him below his rib cage. "I was kidding, Sakura. I would never so much as touch my ex girlfriend's best friend. Have I ever told you, I hate the word ex?"

Sakura continued to playfully glare at him, but could not help the grin forming on her face, "Oh Kakashi, you know exactly why that "ex" is there. You are a very important person in my life. You know I love you."

"Hn," Kakashi looked up at the white wall of the ceiling, "I have a feeling Ino might just win this bet."

Sakura jumped from his hold and gave him a look of absolute disbelief, "You honestly think that Ino will get to Gaara before I do?! Hah! You— hey! You tricked me!"

Kakashi laughed, "It's always been so easy to get what I want from you," but his tone took a turn for the serious. "Sakura, you do understand that you're dealing with the Kazekage. Any mistake on either of your parts might just cause political disruption."

"Is that your way of saying you're jealous?" Sakura gave him a knowing smirk. She stood up, and teasingly pulled at her shorts. Leaning towards him and giving him a quick peck on his masked lips, Sakura whispered in his ear, "You have nothing to worry about, Kakashi. No one can compare to you in bed." Leaning back away from him she gave him a playful wink.

Kakashi lazily looked at her, "Is that your way of saying let's have sex?"

"If you two are going to have sexual intercourse please refrain from doing it in my presence. It would not only be disturbing, but I would prefer some peace and quiet right now."

Sakura turned from the copy ninja to glare at the Kazekage now leaning against her doorway. "Excuse me?"

Sensing the tension between the two, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"You can't tell me what to do in my own home!" The kunoichi yelled as she marched towards Gaara, her cheeks red from embarrassment.

Gaara remained stoic and unfazed, "Your Hokage can tell you differently." He took one last look at her before walking past her and into his room.

Sakura growled and stomped after him, slamming his door open and shut, only to find him already half naked. She blushed, swallowed dryly as he turned to meet her gaze, which was slowly taking in what naked flesh he showed.

"You do know it's rude to barge into someone's room like that," Gaara tossed his robe on the bed and crossed his arms, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

Sakura opened her mouth to retort, but couldn't seem to get her mind working because, holy shit! He's freaking hot! We're not just going to kiss him, let's jump him! Sakura's inner was keeping her from thinking straight."I–uh, I'm sorry!" She walked out of the room and slammed his door shut once again.

The kunoichi ran into her own room, and jumped on her bed, placing a pillow over her head. She groaned into the pillow in frustration, her anger rising with every second she thought about just what a dick Gaara was. Not that he did anything wrong... Sakura groaned again. Why exactly was she so upset? She never really let a guy faze her that way before. She was always the one that caught their attention, so why should it be any different when it comes to the kazekage?

Because he's dark, mysterious, and so freaking hot! Just like how Sasuke was isolated, and just as mysterious as Kakashi. He's your type and you can't deny it! Sakura frowned. There was no arguing with her inner self, especially because she had hit the mark with her statements.

Resigning, the kunoichi took a deep breath, her breathing gradually becoming even until sleep had taken over.

Ino watched as Kiba kicked rocks on the dirt road rather...angrily. There was a scowl on his face, his teeth clenched tightly together. There were only three possible scenarios as to why the Inuzuka could be in the mood he currently was in.

One: He failed a mission. But that was unlikely because Kiba would not return to the village if he has yet to finish his missions, especially the high ranking missions. From what Ino heard, Kiba was recently sent to take on an S-ranked mission. With him back in the village, the probability of him failing the mission was almost zero.

Two: He was sexually frustrated. Frankly, the dog ninja was the most well known sexually active shinobi in the village. Sure he was picky when it came to who he would do one night and the next, but Kiba always had stories to tell or stories told about him. Even if he was sexually frustrated, Kiba would simply search for a girl of his liking and release what frustration he had.

But because he was more focused on grinding the inanimate object to smithereens than checking out girls, Ino went for the third option: Kiba Inuzuka was rejected by a girl. And if the rumors going around were true, he was rejected by her pink-haired best friend quite bluntly, too.

"Kiba, Kiba, Kiba," the blonde kunoichi approached the anbu member and slowly ran a finger around his tattoo on his shoulder, "To think you, of all people, would actually fall for forehead girl."

Kiba narrowed his eyes at her, "What do you want Yamanaka?"

"Oh you know, I just can't keep myself away from the gossip going around town for the last hour. It's hard to believe she rejected you."

Kiba growled in anger at the memory. He was so sure Sakura was into him. "Tch. She says no to me, but she's perfectly fine with having that red haired sand freak live under the same roof as her."

Ino stopped what she was doing, her eyes wide, and a burning anger sparked within her, "She's what?!"

"Don't tell me you actually didn't know. I assumed you of all people would have heard by now. the sand siblings have been given an arrangement to stay with members of team seven. Gaara is one lucky bastard."

The blonde's eye twitched in anger. Sakura was keeping all this information from her and was probably already on the move to seduce the Kazekage. It was even worse that her best friend was given a whole week off from the hospital, giving her plenty more time to get closer to the sand shinobi. An evil glint sparked in her eyes, "Kiba, if you want to have Sakura all to yourself, I know a perfect way to do so." The truth was, Ino was not quite certain if her plan would work, but all she needed was to keep Sakura's attention divided and in more than one place to snag Gaara and win their bet.

Kiba looked at her, hesitant, "What way?"

A smirk curled on her lips, "We're going to pay those two a visit. While you're around distracting Sakura, I can make my move on the Kazekage. After all, no one can resist me."

The dog ninja narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "You're interested in that freak? And why are you helping me?"

Ino turned to walk away but stopped, "It's simple, I'm not going to lose to Sakura, again."

Kiba's eyebrow raised in question, "I thought you've settled your differences?"

"Kiba, Sakura and I may be best friends, but we will always be rivals. And where there's rivalry, there's competition. And no one wants to be on the losing side." Or end up broke for that matter.

"Did you see their positions?! What the hell?! I'm reporting this to Grandma Tsunade!" Naruto stomped his foot on the ground, Sasuke walking silently beside him. As much as the Uchiha wanted to ignore his best friend's whining, it was rather difficult, especially because he actually cared about the topic of his rambling this time around.

Ever since his return to the village, aside from the obvious physical and status growth of his female teammate, there was something strange about her behavior. Well, not entirely strange—just distant. She no longer went up to greet him with a smile, just cold, guarded eyes. He had hurt her; the reason why she still has yet to accept his apology after all those years away from the village.

When he returned to the village it had been his goal to have her acknowledge him again. Even if it was just a little bit of attention, but from what he could see, every other male in the village has gotten her attention. All except for him.

It was bothering him to no end. Heck if Naruto was not reserved for the Hyuga, he was certain he would also have more of her attention that he was already getting. It was all so frustrating, and Sasuke hated every time she would look at him with emotionless eyes. All he wanted was to return what ties they had in the past and return things to how they used to be.

"You're still thinking about that?" Naruto's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Look, I know you think that because Sakura-chan used to like you so much that she would be the first one to accept you back, but things have changed. You have to realize that you caused her so much pain, and time can only tell when she's finally going to be able to forgive you."

"I know, Naruto." Sasuke mumbled, a little annoyed at his best friend's sudden wisdom.

"Sasuke, what do you think Sakura-chan said to Kiba? You don't think she's actually going to say yes, do you? I mean, after all, if she did, then he would be her very first boyfriend."

A shadow fell over them, causing them to stop and look up at the sand shinobi blocking their path. "Would you two quit gossiping about Sakura and go buy some dinner!"

"Just because your cooking sucks ass!" Naruto yelled in response.

"What'd you say squirt?!"

"Heck, even your instant ramen was bad! And all you had to do was pour hot water in it."

Sasuke inwardly groaned, regretting that he agreed to stay with Naruto ever since his return. Then again, he disliked the feeling of loneliness that crept over him whenever he was at the Uchiha compound. There were too many dark memories that would resurface, and he never wanted to have to be blinded by the same hatred he felt before.

He looked up, past the blonde female, teeth clenching in annoyance, "Sai."

Naruto beamed at the sight of the ex ROOT member, "Hey, Sai! What's up? I heard what happened between you and Gaara. Nice." He observed the slight bruises over his pale skin, but the artist gave him a smile anyways. "So what are the details?"

"I simply stated a fact that I knew would set him off. I read in a book that the best way to warn a male from a female of importance to you is by violently exemplifying your dominance in strength. It also said that their current living situation may result with sexual advances and I thought it necessary to make it clear that Sakura is off limits."

Even though Naruto only understood half of what he said, he couldn't help the satisfied grin on his face at Sai's more than justified actions.

Temari frowned at the trio, but said nothing more. If anything, she was actually hoping her stoic brother would try to do something to Sakura, and open up a little to her. Or someone, at least. It was the reason why she had asked the Hokage for their living arrangements, and of course, Tsunade was more than happy to help, especially if it meant strengthening their alliance further.

It was too awkward, and Sakura hated every minute of it because each time their eyes would meet, the heat immediately rose to her face. It was like her vision would automatically strip his shirt off and create unwanted, perverted, and dirty images of the Kazekage that was currently sitting across from her at the dinner table.

Again, their eyes locked. Sakura did not look away, but instead opened her mouth to speak, "Look, I'm sorry okay? I never should have barged in like that or even screamed at you. You're just so freaking uptight all the time."

"Hn," was Gaara's mere reply, slightly amused at the vien beginning to pop as the kunoichi sitting across from him grew angry. It wasn't as if he did not want to talk to her. It was a force of habit that he keep his thoughts to himself, that and he was just too lazy to do so. "I suppose...I apologize as well."

Sakura's jaw grew slack. Ten syllables. She mentally counted in her head, her inner celebrating with joy that she finally managed to get the guy to speak more than two syllables without an insult added to it. Finally closing her mouth, the kunoichi leaned on the chair, "Thanks."

The Kazekage was not sure why, but the curiosity building inside him was too much of a temptation for his question not to be heard, "You and Kakashi?"

It took Sakura a while to process that Gaara was finally beginning to communicate with her, and as personal as the topic may have been, she would take the opportunity to finally get close to the kazekage. Close enough to fu— I mean kiss him! She inwardly rolled her eyes at the dirty thoughts and images of her inner.

"Uh, actually, that was a while ago. We were together for over a year, but we decided it was for the best that our relationship ends. We're still pretty close though."

She watched as Gaara thought, in a rather neutral facial expression, "What about Uchiha?"

"I realized how ridiculously childish those emotions were. But he's still my teammate. I still care about him. I just don't have any romantic feelings for him. What about you? Don't you have a secret love life or something?"

The sand shinobi took a sip from the tea Sakura prepared for them, "Or something." He then stood up, excused himself, and walked into his bedroom.

Sakura's mouth fell open. What...What the hell does that mean?!

Gomenasai Minna!

Truth be told, I've had this in my drive for a quite a while, I just never got the chance to edit it until today.

I did enjoy writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it. I love this pair, and I've recently been reading Sakuraxakatsuki and I thought maybe writing a fic about them later on would be great.

Anyways, Review! It would really be appreciated.

Thank you.