Obligation

Chapter Seven

-Happiness-

Sakura hummed happily to herself as she catalogued and arranged the new shipments of supplies the hospital had received. Things were actually pretty slow today, and so she had volunteered to do this, wanting something to do and knowing that nobody else would. She let out a content sigh as she moved on to another box and opened it. Today was a good day, and she was scheduled to go on another date with Gaara soon.

They had been dating for a little over five months now, and she had to admit that things were going well, especially now that they kissed more often. And boy was he a great kisser. She smiled at the thought. Surprisingly enough, sometimes she forgot that the only reason they were even dating was because she was repaying her father's debt to him. She liked him well enough, and she knew that he liked her, but she didn't want to like him. She didn't want to like someone who did bad things for a living and manipulated her into seeing them. It just wasn't what she believed in.

But, he was really nice, and he made her happy. So not all of his qualities were bad. It was actually hard to believe that he did run the mob, since he just seemed like a regular guy most of the time.

"Well, you've been happier lately." A woman's voice came from the doorway.

Sakura let out a startled scream and quickly turned around, seeing the smiling face of her supervisor and head of the hospital. "Tsunade, you scared me." Sakura said, smiling at the blonde woman.

She chuckled. "Sorry Sakura. I had come to see how you were doing. You seem to be perkier than usual today. Do you have another date with that boy?"

"Yes. Tomorrow night." Sakura blushed slightly. "But it's nothing. We probably won't be together for very long." She said, trying to brush it off.

"Oh I doubt that." Tsunade walked forward. "Over the past few months or so you've just been getting bubblier. It's like there's a glow about you, and when you have a date coming up soon you smile like an idiot."

The pink haired woman crossed her arms. "I do not smile like an idiot." She pouted.

"Yes you do. The entire nursing staff talks about it all the time." The blonde nodded. "But it's not a bad thing. We're all really happy that so soon after the loss of your father you found someone that makes you happy."

"He does make me happy." She said softly, the corner of her mouth lifting in a smile.

"Is he hot?"

"Oh yes. Really hot." Sakura nodded.

"Is he a good kisser?"

"An excellent kisser."

A mischievous look came to Tsunade's face and she leaned closer to her student. "And, how good is he in bed?" she raised a brow.

Sakura blushed furiously. "Um, well, we haven't had sex yet." She said.

"You haven't slept with him yet?" Tsunade exclaimed, looking surprised. "But you've been dating for so long, how is he still with you if you won't put out?"

"Tsunade!" Sakura scorned, the embarrassed blush still on her cheeks. "Why do we have to have sex for the relationship to work out?"

The older woman blinked. "You don't. It's just a really, really nice perk. And if he's so good with his mouth, imagine what he could do with it on other parts of your body, and what he's capable of with the rest of his equipment." She said conspiratorially. The thought made Sakura shiver slightly.

"Yes, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, I'm fine with the way things are." Sakura said firmly.

"Uh huh. You keep telling yourself that girly." Tsunade picked up a package of latex gloves and turned to leave the storage room. "Tell me how your date goes Sakura. It's nice to know that at least one of my interns has a life." She said, turning the corner.

Sakura let out a sigh and shook her head, returning to her previous task. For a head medic, Tsunade was pretty strange. But the blonde did have a point. Sakura didn't feel so lonely anymore with Gaara in her life. She still missed her father, but there wasn't a sense of longing and sadness whenever she thought of him. Instead, she was almost grateful that his death had brought her to Gaara. It was as if he wanted her to be able to move past his death and remember that she could still live her life just fine on her own. Even though technically she wasn't alone.

She thought about the other things Tsunade had said, about sleeping with Gaara. She knew it would be a pleasurable experience, after all, he just screamed masculinity. But she was afraid of what would happen if she did. If she gave him herself completely, she would forever be tied to him through that bond. And she didn't know if that was what she wanted. What if he was only seeing her so that he could sleep with her? Or, what if she disappointed him in the bedroom? What if she wasn't good enough?

Shaking her head, she decided to turn her thoughts to their upcoming date. Tomorrow was Friday, and since she had Monday and Tuesday off, he said they were going to fly somewhere. She didn't know exactly where it was, since all he had told her was what to pack and which airstrip to meet him at, but she was really excited. He always came up with something new for them to do, and she liked the sense of delight and anticipation she felt when she knew she was going to see him. Smiling once more, she pulled out her phone and decided to text him, telling him about how excited she was for tomorrow.

"Gaara."

The redhead just stared out the window of his office, oblivious to the annoyed dark haired man in his presence. "Gaara." He said again, but this time louder. "Gaara!" he snapped, breaking him from his daydream. He glanced back over to his friend, looking slightly confused.

"Huh? You say something Sasuke?" he asked.

Sasuke sighed and sat down in one of the plush chairs. "What is wrong with you, you've been drifting in and out of the conversation the whole time I've been here. Not to mention you've been acting weird as of late."

Gaara let out a deep breath and gave the man an apologetic smile. "Sorry Sasuke. It's just this woman-"

The Uchiha head held up his hand to stop him there. "A woman." He rolled his eyes. "You mean that pink haired doctor?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm just…I dunno. I feel so…"

"Happy?"

"Yeah." Gaara sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Everything seems so…right around Sakura. I can't help how I act. I feel like a high school boy all over again and it royally sucks. I'm the head of the mob, I shouldn't be so…"

"Fluffy?" Sasuke smirked.

Gaara shot him a glare. "Not exactly the word I would have used to describe it, but basically."

The ebony haired man sat forward, shifting in his seat as he placed his elbows on his knees. "Listen here Gaara. A man of your profession when you are looking for a woman…she's got to be right. She needs to know all aspects of you before you think you have fallen for her. I mean, I know she knows you are part of the darker side, but she's never really experienced what you do…has she?"

"Well no…"

"So you can't really let yourself fall for this temptress until you know for sure she wants to be with you, just because she loves you and I do mean all of you. Leading a double life is very difficult my friend, not even the strongest man can do it forever." He tried to explain.

Gaara grimaced and glanced off, "I know. But it's not like I can just…kill someone in front of her. That would be horrible and she doesn't need to see that."

"Well then…" Sasuke trailed off, appearing deep in though. "Why don't you introduce her to me? After all, Naruto and I are really the only people who know both sides of you. And then you can invite her to that party you're hosting. A lot of your clients will be there and by having her interact with your business life, you can find out if she's really here to stay."

"That's a great idea." The redhead sat forward as well, rubbing his chin as he thought about it. "Yeah…yeah. That's perfect."

Sasuke stood then, pulling on his jacket to straighten it. "Well, look over those briefs I gave you and then give my office a call. I'll have your merchandise shipped within the next few days."

Gaara rose from his seat as well and nodded, organizing the papers on his desk. "Thanks Sasuke, I'll make sure it's retrieved."

The Uchiha headed for the door and button his jacket, glancing back as he took hold of the door knob. "And by the way…if it's any consolation…you really do seem happier…and it's nice." He smirked, waving as he walked out.

Gaara let out a small laugh and sat back down, his own smirk adorning his features. "Ah, Sasuke." He sighed, turning around in his chair and looking back out his window at the wonderful ocean view, his thoughts returning back to his lovely pink haired lady. He felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out and saw it was a text from Sakura. He couldn't help but smile as he replied. He knew she'd be excited and she had no idea that he was taking her to Paris for a wonderful weekend.