AN: The madness continues. See part one for disclaimer.

He was ridiculous, no, wait… infuriating! Ridiculously infuriating! She couldn't decide and in her rage she found that the only thing she could think to do was slam both fists down on the steering wheel like twin hammers. This display of temper in the hospital parking lot only resulted in a loud honk and the windshield wipers starting a streaky track across the glass in front of her. She had been tricked and trapped and there was little, if anything, she could do about it.

Sakura would never back down once her word was given. As much as she hated it, this was a matter of personal integrity.

Damn that man.

She would have liked to think this was a day like any other, but really it was stress compounded onto irritation. Sakura wasn't mad at anything she could confront, just the generalized sense of injustice that Sasuke would actually refuse to come out and see her. It was silly, of course, because the reason itself seemed so flimsy and yet plausible at the same time.

Bad haircut indeed.

His vanity had always been remarkable, having been blessed with genetic gifts such as full lips, clear skin, a strong jaw line, and exotic looking eyes. Sasuke's hair had always been a weak spot with him, coarse and prone to jutting into the air unless it was ruthlessly managed on a fairly regular basis. There was little enough for him to do at the hospital other than obsess over things and it seemed like his amazing talent for concentration allowed him to develop some formidable mental and physical skills. His ability to concentrate ran afoul of his vanity at times, and this was one.

The hair thing was unbelievable. Apparently, something had happened to necessitate him getting some sort of buzz cut and he was so mortified he refused to be seen by anyone at the moment.

Sakura waited in the familiar off-white common room for the nurse to once again take Sakura's message to her friend's room. It was senseless to give up easily, and she wondered if she could get permission to go back and tell him he was being a ninny in person. It wouldn't be phrased just like that, naturally, since that would only wound the man's pride further and cause him to turtle up for good.

The day was too hot for this, the humidity in the building remarkable despite air conditioning and fans circulating the air. Her mind felt fuzzy. In a building this large, it wasn't surprising that there would be maintenance issues, but it was more Sakura's oversensitivity to environmental changes. The humidity outside was so oppressive, she couldn't bear to wait anywhere else and she dreaded even the walk to her car. No, she'd rather wait out Sasuke for a bit longer before heading back home.

When an oddly familiar face popped into her view she considered if maybe hellish heat and humidity was preferable. The coppery-red hair was distinctive and the green eyes intense as they locked in on hers, forcing his name back into the forefront of her mind. Anger washed over her, tinged with fear. Maybe she could just ignore him.

"He's a lost cause… today." The long pause before he delivered the final word goaded her into speaking despite her efforts not to even acknowledge his presence.

Without looking at him she replied. "Shouldn't you be somewhere else right now?"

He sat down at the table she was at, directly across from her, forcing Sakura to twist herself awkwardly away. This was childish, but she wasn't thinking straight. Gaara leaned over to try to enter her periphery, and she twisted the other way. He gave a snort, which might have been a laugh, but she tried to carefully school herself in an expression that was utterly uncaring. Where was that nurse with Sasuke's reply?

"Why do you keep coming? All of you."

The question was so sincere, almost wistful, and it actually surprised her into facing him. There was a flash of something vulnerable on his face but it might have been a mirage as she only saw the blank, even stare of the man who had been a splinter in her mind's eye for weeks now.

She was going to say something clever back, but in the end she found her voice more tired than angry. "That's none of your business."

"We started badly."

"Humph."

"I just want to know some things."

Sakura favored him with a grimace. "That's not how this works."

"Then tell me how this works."

"Well," she groped around for terms for a moment. "You can't just force your way into someone's thoughts."

"I disagree." Gaara didn't elaborate and Sakura couldn't help herself, needing to have the last word even with this man she hardly knew.

Sakura made an impatient gesture. "You can't just say you disagree without giving a reason for it."

"You didn't give me a reason."

He was right, damn him. "Humph. Well, fine. The reason you can't force your way into people's thoughts is because everyone has a right to privacy and you should respect me when I don't want to share something personal."

Gaara didn't say anything and for a moment she wondered if he had even heard her talk.

"Do you understand?" She wondered if it sounded as patronizing as she thought it might when the words passed her lips.

He caught her off balance with his next comment. "I'm not allowed private thoughts within these walls, so why would I have any precedent or expectation that others would be treated differently?"

Something sharp hit her then, possibly pity but more likely guilt. Privacy was not a luxury in Sakura's world, it was a given. Sasuke and Gaara lived under the eye of people who, while they were trying to help them, didn't exactly give them free reign. It was out of an honest desire to help them but what he said was true, and so long as he was under this roof he would always be questioned and examined.

"Even so, when someone asks you a question you aren't obliged to answer them." Sakura didn't like this conversation, even if Gaara was being wholly benign otherwise. He had, in a very short time, made her feel like a bad person.

"You don't trust me." He stated it flatly. "You're smarter than your friends."

This was familiar, the anger. She saw what he was doing now, he was trying to get a reaction from her. It was silly to let him do that, so she remained calm when she answered him. "My friends are good people. They trust others to be good people as well."

"Are you implying that I'm not 'good people'?"

"I didn't say that at all. Don't put words into my mouth."

"So what am I then?"

"How should I know?" Sakura was getting flustered. He hadn't blinked this whole time, and it was making her eyes water when she thought about it. Gaara's words were fast, Sakura's mind muzzy with heat and complex emotions.

"Either I'm good and you can trust me or I'm bad and you can't. Which is it?"

"It's not that simple! It takes time to know someone like that."

"Then I guess we'll have to talk more."

"I guess."

"Promise me." The rapid fire progression of their conversation halted with his harsh tone hissing through his teeth.

Sakura leaned back, her mind catching up with her mouth. "What?"

"Promise me we'll talk more next time you visit." If she had been forced to put a name to his expression it would have been greed. Her stomach flopped. The 'no' was riding on the tip of her tongue when another flash crossed over Gaara's face. It reminded her of Sasuke then: sadness, longing, loneliness. It was too potent an emotional connection and before she knew it the yes was out of her mouth and into the air.

Gaara sighed, possibly in relief, and drew a hand through messy bangs to expose the most amazing scar tissue Sakura had ever laid eyes on. A complicated character had been carved into his forehead, and whether it had been by his hand or another she knew it would have had to be slow and deliberate to seem that clean and raised. The pain must have been amazing.

Love…

"Until next time." Gaara removed himself, leaving Sakura flushed and agitated.

The nurse told her Sasuke simply wasn't seeing anyone and tried to convey her embarrassed sympathy for the denied visitation. There was always tomorrow, she helpfully supplied.

Sakura groaned.