Whirlwind

Chapter Ten

-Operation Day Six: Announcement-

Once again, she was walking down the streets of Suna. She barely registered the looks that she was receiving from the villagers, instead deciding to focus on the man holding her hand. She marveled in the warmth radiating from his palm.

Then she remembered that this was the same dream she had had before. Knowing that she was about to wake up, she brought her gaze upwards, but was only able to see his lean shoulder, before the image washed away, and she was left with darkness.

Sakura awoke with a start, hating the way that cursed dream made her feel. But instead of feeling cold, as she had the previous time, she felt really warm. She gazed into Gaara's sleeping face and sighed in contentment.

Mind still fogged with sleep, she shifted slightly, and froze at the feel of the soft sheets. She recognized the way they felt. Instantly realizing whose bed she was in, her mind was bombarded with thoughts of what had happened last night.

Oh God. Did they…? Not even finishing the thought, she immediately lifted up the sheets, only to give a relieved sigh. They were both dressed. She snuggled back into the covers, and scooted closer to the source of warmth that was next to her. She froze again, and trailed her eyes up the figure that wasn't even half a foot away, landing on the slumbering face of Gaara.

She instantly jerked away from him, screaming. Not realizing how close to the edge of bed she actually was, she fell off, sheets tangled around her legs. As Sakura dragged the sheets off the bed Gaara jolted awake, and looked around, alert. "What's happening?" he demanded, his sand flowing through the air, agitated and ready to attack.

Sakura sat up in the mess of sheets, wrapped around her various body parts. "What is going on?" she asked. "Why am I in your bed?"

Gaara leaned over to look at her, an annoyed expression coming across his face. "What do you mean? You were depressed, so I brought you in here, and you fell asleep. What was I supposed to do?"

"I dunno!" she huffed and crossed her arms stubbornly. "You could've slept in another room! Or on the couch downstairs!"

"Excuse me?" he glared. "This is my bed. I sleep here no matter what. It was you who decided to fall asleep in my arms."

His words made a dark blush spread across her face. "I-in your…arms? Really?" she covered her face as her blush became even redder. "Oh God. This is so embarrassing!" Jerking her arms down, she looked back at Gaara. "I'm sorry. It seems I'm always causing you trouble of some sort." She began an attempt at untangling her legs from the mass of sheets. Having no success, she gave the redhead a pleading look. "Will you help me? I don't want to tear them."

With a sigh he got down from the bed and kneeled beside her, working the sheets from their tangles. "Sakura, you don't cause me trouble. I don't mind taking care of you when you need to be taken care of." He said simply, freeing her legs from the trap. Once her body was free from the silk, he tossed the sheets back onto his bed and helped her to her feet.

"I just don't like when you freak out about it later," he chuckled, giving her a small smile to reassure her.

She couldn't help but return his contagious smile. "Well, maybe if you went about helping me in more orthodox ways, I wouldn't have to freak out about it later." Stretching she gave him a mischievous glance.

"Well if you want me to stop then I will." He avowed, moving away from her. She crossed her arms, face forming into a pout.

"Now don't go putting words in my mouth Gaara. That's not what I meant and you know it." Walking up beside him she peered into the jade depths of his eyes, the humor still present in hers. "So….do you still feel like taking care of me and making some breakfast? I'm starving."

Gaara looked back at her and sighed, "Of course. As long as you require my assistance and presence, I will gladly be here for you." He told her, and the two went down the steps. They went into the kitchen and Sakura picked a chair to sit in as she watched Gaara work around the stove, preparing their breakfast. She looked down at herself, and it finally dawned on her that all she was wearing only her tight shorts and shirt. Another blush spread across her face as she tried to inconspicuously cover her un-showing self with the hem of her shirt.

Without even turning around Gaara let out a laugh, "Sakura, I can assure you that you do not look indecent, so stop worrying. I was simply trying to make you more comfortable last night." He placed some meat into the frying pans and a loud sizzling filled the room.

She immediately stopped fidgeting with her clothes and sat up straight, like a child caught breaking the rules. "Who said I was worrying? I'm not worrying about anything." She began to laugh awkwardly, and, wanting to save face before she did anything else embarrassing, she stood up and announced, "I'm going to go get a shower." And hastily dashed back up the stairs.

"Hurry up," he told her as she walked out of the kitchen. "It'll be ready in about ten minutes." When she was gone Gaara felt another presence join him in the kitchen. "What do you want Temari?" the redhead sighed, continuing his cooking without sparing her a second glance.

"Hello baby brother," Temari said happily, walking over to the counter and lifting herself up to sit on it. "I've got some big news from the elders to deliver." She leaned against the cabinets and looked over at the delicious meal that was being prepared.

"What?"

Temari took out a piece of parchment and waved it in Gaara's face. "Here you go. It's a banquet that you must attend. And…read the bottom." She couldn't stop the evil smirk from forming on her face. Gaara skimmed through the words and focused on the bottom of the announcement.

"You must have…an accompaniment. What? Why is that mandatory?" he practically yelled, growling and trying to focus on cooking.

"Hey! You know who you should take? You should go with Sakura. You like her, and she's the only one you're comfortable around. I'm sure she'd love to attend a formal political party. And I can get her the most beautiful dress, to make up for yesterday." She squealed and hopped off the counter. Gaara looked as if he were considering the thought. If he did have to go with anyone, she was the only he would actually want to be with.

"Fine." He agreed.

Temari twirled around and took a seat at the table. Gaara gave her a look, but her only reply was sticking her tongue out at him. "Breakfast please baby brother." She smiled and leaned back in the chair. Gaara rolled his eyes and tossed another sausage in.

By the time Gaara was finished cooking Sakura had rejoined them in the kitchen, her hair still wet from her shower. "Hello Temari," she smiled and waved, taking a seat next to her. "I didn't know you were coming over for breakfast."

"I was just coming over to tell Gaara about the Suna banquet that he must attend." The blonde woman said, the pleased smile still on her face.

"Oh? When?" Sakura blinked as Gaara set her plate in front of her and practically threw Temari's at her.

Temari picked up a fork and dug into the steaming waffles. "It's in two days."

The date made Sakura have a revelation, "Wow! What a coincidence, that's my twentieth birthday." This seemed to spark Gaara's interest. He hadn't really considered Sakura's birthday. Of course, he knew she had one, but he never knew it was so soon.

"Oh that's right. I totally forgot about that," Temari laughed. "What an awful friend I am to have forgotten my own best friend's birthday."

"I didn't know it was your birthday." Gaara inputted, focusing back on his breakfast.

"Eh, it's not something I like to broadcast. It's not that I have a problem getting older, but I don't want people to randomly sing to me or anything. It's annoying." She began to cut her waffles, making sure that she didn't break the plate this time.

"Well anyways, Sakura, Gaara has to bring a date to the banquet." Temari blurted out, making Gaara spit out his water onto the table.

Gaara wiped his mouth with his hand and coughed from some of the water going down the wrong pipe. "What she means is that I need an accompaniment and I was wondering if you would like to go…with me?"

At the moment she had waffles in her mouth and was happily chewing away. When she heard Gaara ask her to go with him to the occasion, she paused mid-chew, and unknowingly, wound up looking like a chipmunk caught with its cheeks full.

Temari began to roar with laughter. "Oh gosh, I think I've done enough here. I'll tell the council members you're coming and who with, just so they're informed. See you guys later." She said as she left the mansion.

Gaara turned his head from the direction of the door and back to Sakura, who still looked like a chipmunk. Was she ever going to answer him?

Sakura sat there, wide eyed. What to do, what to do? This was so sudden, she didn't know how to respond. But she saw the look of uncertainty and impatience on Gaara's face, so shoving some of the food in her mouth aside, she said, "I would lub to go wid you."

"What?"

She swallowed quickly and nodded, hoping the blush on her face wasn't as bad as she thought. "Yes, yes! I would love to." She blurted out, and then stuffed more of her waffle in her mouth so she wouldn't say anything else stupid.

Gaara nodded then and continued to eat his own breakfast in silence. Though he could do little to quail his now churning stomach. He wouldn't admit it, but he was…happy.

When they finished breakfast, Gaara got up to leave for work, and was surprised to see that Sakura had followed him. "Sakura, you can take the day off if you want to. Nobody expects you to go to work after what happened yesterday."

She gave him a fierce look, determination flashing in her emerald eyes. "And that's exactly why I'm going. Besides, I have a feeling that Yoko has a need to be put back in her place."

The redhead simply smirked. "Oh I have a feeling that something similar to that happened to her yesterday."

She gave him a curious look. "What did you do?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Looking up to see that they had already arrived at the hospital, he turned and said, "I'll see you at five." He waved and walked off in the direction of the Kazekage tower.

Sakura waved in return, before turning towards the large building. When she entered the hospital, she was met with the domineering form of none other than Yoko. "So, the failure returns. Tell me, who are you going to let die today?" the brunette asked, sneering at her.

She simply ignored the jab and smiled at the older woman. "Is that what you think?" She pointed a finger at her chest. "I did everything I could for that boy and you know it Yoko. On top of that, I healed everyone else on the team. Where were you when all this was happening? Oh that's right, you fainted at the sight of his wounds. At least I tried to help him."

She walked over to the front desk and grabbed a stack of files. Flipping through them she said, "Now if you don't mind, some people actually have work to do around here. I want to get as much done as possible before Gaara takes me to the banquet in a few days."

The other medic sputtered at her statement. "You mean…Kazekage-sama asked you to go with him?"

She looked at Yoko as if she were dumb. "Of course he asked me. Who else would he ask? Some cougar that is completely useless at her job? No, Gaara has much more class than that." Then she walked away, not wanting to hear Yoko's squeaky voice for the rest of the day.

The rest of her shift was pretty uneventful. The nurses had given her their condolences, and she accepted them as gracefully as she could. She spoke with the deceased boy's parents, who were surprisingly very understanding, and grateful to her for trying so hard to save their son.

When the clock struck five, she made her way to the lobby, eager to see Gaara. She paused in the doorway and tried to stifle a laugh. It seemed Yoko didn't believe her about the banquet, and had gone to Gaara for confirmation. Currently she was grasping his arm, completely oblivious of the murderous intent being sent her way.

"Gaara-sama! Is it true that you're taking that foreigner to the banquet? Wouldn't it be better to take a native? Someone who knows about Suna's traditions and beliefs?" she whined, giving him a pleading look.

Gaara's disgusted look only intensified. He wrenched his arm from the woman and glared hatefully at her. "Woman! I am tired of you invading my personal space. And yes I am taking Sakura. How about you say her name for once, since she is your superior at the moment."

Yoko looked like she was about to burst into tears. "Well, if you have a problem with the way I invade your personal space, I can make it more enjoyable for you." In a daring move, the brunette leaned towards his face.

Having seen enough, Sakura stomped into the lobby and wrenched Yoko away from the redhead, saving him from the near fatal contact of Yoko's dry, pasty lips. Pulling the ex-head medic towards her by the collar of her uniform, she seethed. "Don't you ever think of touching my Kazekage ever again. If I so much as hear of you attempting to get close to Gaara, I will send you through the nearest wall. Is that clear, native?" Without waiting for a response, Sakura tossed the woman out of the way, before escorting Gaara out of the hospital. "Come on Gaara let's go! We are supposed to meet the gang for dinner, and we don't want to be late!"

"Well that was interesting." Gaara laughed as he looked down at Sakura.

"Yes, well," she gave the redhead a mischievous smile. "Don't worry Gaara, I will protect you from any and all cougars."

"Is that so? It's good to know that I need protecting," he teased a bit, poking her arm. "So we have to go out to dinner with those morons again?"

She punched him in the arm playfully. "Yes, we have to go to dinner with those morons. Besides, it's good for you to be seen in public, socially interacting with other people. It shows everybody that you're semi-normal." She finished with a grin.

"But…I hate them…" he frowned, letting out a deep sigh. Sakura led him to a very nice restaurant, which was at least a five star one. "Really?" he looked over at Sakura with skepticism. "We're going to dinner with two of the most destructive people in the world, and you pick this place? You do realize Naruto will get us kicked out in about fifteen minutes."

"Try to have a little faith in him. He promised he would behave. And I know he will, because I told him too shortly after the Kiba incident." She assured him, smirking.

"I see, well then I have faith in him as well," he laughed and held the door open for her. The two walked in and looked around the nice place to find their friends sitting at a large dinner set up on the other side of the room. The only two seats that were available were across from one another, so Gaara sat beside Naruto, and Sakura took a seat beside Ino, flashing a smile.

"Sorry we're late. I had to deal with some…issues…at the hospital." Sakura told the group, trying to give Kiba a reassuring look that she was no longer angry with him.

Naruto laughed and nudged Gaara, "So how was your day? Get all your work done? I did my best to avoid disturbing you."

"Yes actually, I had a very productive day, thank you." Gaara replied, giving the waiter his drink order.

Since the waiter this time was a boy, and a gentleman, he had asked for the ladies' drinks first. Sakura was relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with another waiter like Kiki. After everything that had happened that day with Yoko, she didn't think she'd be able to restrain herself to just verbal jabs.

The group sat and talked amiably for a while, until their food was placed on the table. Sakura's mouth began to water at the steaming pile of spaghetti in front of her. She waited politely for everyone else to get their food, and then dug in.

Ino and Hinata pulled apart their odd dish they had decided to split. It was most certainly a native Suna delicacy, with odd things of all sorts in it. But the two seemed to enjoy it very much. Kiba and Naruto, being 'men', had to order the biggest and most expensive steaks at the restaurant. Temari stuck with a simple salad, enjoying the crisp leaves.

The waiter set a lovely bowl of soup in front of Gaara, giving his Kazekage a friendly smile. Temari swallowed her bite and perked up, "So everyone, did you hear? Gaara is taking Sakura to the upcoming banquet."

Once again, Gaara had been drinking at the wrong time, and spit out his beverage, covering the table, and causing a bit of a scene.

"There's going to be a banquet? Can we go?" Ino piped up.

"Of course, of course. You can all come, provided you bring a date." Temari informed them.

Naruto simply gave Gaara a suggestive look. "So…you asked Sakura-chan out on a date?"

"It's not a date." Gaara snapped back at his blonde friend.

"Sounds like a date to me," Kiba snickered.

With all this talk Sakura could feel her cheeks begin to heat up. Gaara glared at the other two males with him, "It's not a date, it's mandatory, so I just asked Sakura. That's all." He crossed his arms stubbornly and looked off at the other customers.

"So what you're saying is, you only asked her because you had to?" Hinata asked, hoping the redhead would see the error in his statement. Apparently not.

"Correct." He replied.

By now Sakura was beet red, not from embarrassment, but from rage. So he didn't really want to go with her? He had only asked her because she was there, a convenient option? Now she was boiling. She would show him. Getting a large spoonful of spaghetti, and making sure that there was plenty of sauce on the spoon as well, she flung it at the unsuspecting Kazekage's face.

SPLAT!

Yup, she thought with a pleased grin, she had hit her mark.

Everyone at the table went wide eyed, not eve daring to breathe. What Sakura had just done seemed surreal. Gaara reached for his napkin and slowly wiped the sauce off his face, only to reveal a murderous glare focused on the pink haired woman. He reached up and pulled out the strings of spaghetti still stuck in his hair. "What the HELL was that for?" he yelled across the table. Naruto's eyes were like saucers and he slowly began to sink beneath the table.

She gave him a smug look. "Oh I'm sorry. It's no big deal or anything. I only did it because I had to." She said, repeating his words back to him.

Gaara felt his eye twitch. He could still feel the sauce in his hair. "If you all will excuse me for a moment." He said sharply, throwing his napkin down and rising slowly from his seat. He moved around the table quickly, heading towards the bathroom. As he was behind Sakura, he noticed a large pitcher of water on a waiter's forgotten tray. He glanced down at the pink haired devil, who was still staring away from him smugly. He grabbed the pitcher from the tray and dumped the water all over Sakura, the ice cubes sliding down her shirt and along her spine. "Oops, sorry. I guess the sauce in my eye made me bump into the waiter." He retaliated, daring her to do more. Gaara picked up her napkin and dipped it in her water, cleaning off the rest of the mess on his head.

Hinata mimicked Naruto's action of ducking under that table. She could feel the anger radiating off her friend. Sakura's eye began to twitch. She turned around slowly, and glared at Gaara. "You will regret that." She muttered. Fast as lightning she was out of her seat and attempting to strangle Gaara with the napkin he had taken from her.

"You psychotic woman! How dare you try and strangle me!" Gaara held Sakura at an arms distance, keeping her at bay. She reached for him, still trying to wrap the cloth around his neck and pull as hard as she could.

"You're you calling psychotic? You bi-polar manic depressant!" she screamed at him, attempting to scratch at his face, but to no avail. All Gaara could do was hold her back and glare at her.

The waiter ran to the back in a mad dash, scrambling around all the other tables. But all the attention of the other diners was on the fighting pair. The people in the restaurant were shocked to see their Kazekage behaving so childishly with the woman from Konoha. The manager of the establishment ran from the back and confronted Gaara and Sakura boldly. "EXCUSE ME!" he yelled, making the two stop and look at him, still in the same odd position.

"I'm sorry Kazekage-sama! But you and your…your…whatever Sakura-sama is to you, I don't know and frankly everyone, and I do mean everyone, would like to know what you two are. But aside from that! You two are causing a scene, and I am going to have to ask you both to leave!" the manager nodded and crossed his arms, trying to stand his ground to the two.

Said kunoichi merely raised a brow at the manager. "Excuse me? What did you just say?"

The man brushed her questions off. "I believe I was not talking to you woman."

Gaara transferred his glare to the manager. "What did you just say to her? You do not speak that way to Sakura."

"That's right!" Sakura nodded, "Tell him Gaara!" she yelled.

He turned to her. "Shut up woman! I have this handled."

She raised a brow at him. "Excuse me?"

"You heard what I said." As he finished that sentence, Sakura renewed her efforts in strangling the redhead. Only this time, she leapt onto his side and wound her legs around his waist.

"You wanna try saying that again?" she asked, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Gaara moved toward the wall that was half a mirror, to make the restaurant seem larger. He thrust her against the wall, shattering the glass and making her release him. When she let go, she fell onto a nearby table occupied by an innocent couple. Their dishes fell to the ground with a crash, and Gaara jumped onto the table, reaching down to grab Sakura. She kicked her feet up and caught his stomach, rolling back and throwing him off into the adjacent wall. She stood on the table and glared after him. "How dare you smash me into a wall you jerk!" she screamed at him.

Gaara grabbed onto a chair and helped himself up, mimicking Sakura's action. "You're insane Sakura!"

The manager was in tears by Ino, unable to do anything about the destruction of his restaurant. "Why me…?" he cried out.

Temari took pity on the poor man, and decided to intervene. She drew her fan, which she never traveled without, and caused a huge gust of wind to go towards the couple. The force of the wind caused them to pause in their yelling, and look at the wind master.

"If you two don't stop acting like a bunch of children right now, I will personally see to it that you are treated like a child from now on! Now get out of this restaurant before you cause any more damage! You can finish this little lover's spat outside!" And with that, she waved her fan once more, causing them to go flying out of the establishment before they could protest.

Landing on top of Gaara, who had hit the ground before her, Sakura let out a pained grunt. She rolled off of him and stood up immediately, wanting to be prepared. Gaara did the same as well, and they just stared at each other, as if they were having a battle of wills. Taking in each other's appearance, Sakura noted that Gaara's clothes and hair were mussed, and that he had blood dripping from his head and down his face. She on the other hand had blood dripping down the arm that had hit the mirror, her clothes were still soaked, and her hair was sticking up in every direction.

She could see his gaze shift from her eyes to her arm, and his expression softened instantly. He dropped his stance and almost looked pained. "Sakura…I'm…I'm sorry." He attempted to move forward and reach out for her.

"Don't! Don't touch me," she glared, moving away from him. She couldn't even explain how hurt she felt, emotionally and physically. Not thinking straight, she uttered something she immediately regretted. "Just go away."

The hurt look that flashed across Gaara's face was instantaneous. His features hardened back into his normal facade, "Fine," he breathed out. The sand from the ground picked up as if a gust had just swept through. Sakura went wide eyed and reached out to try and stop him from leaving, but she grabbed air.

He had disappeared, just like he always did, but this time she didn't blame him. She could feel the tears beginning to fall down her cheeks, and knew that it was all her fault.

She didn't even bother to look for him, knowing that he would come home eventually, like always. So she quickly got a shower and healed her arm, her guilt only increasing, because she had hurt him as well, and she didn't even know if he had a concussion or not.

How could she say that to Gaara? After all the preaching she'd done to everyone else about how sensitive he was, she went and made herself a hypocrite. She knew that he would take it the wrong way and actually listen to her for once. She knew that he would be hurt by what she had said. What she didn't know, was if he would ever talk to her again.

She went into the kitchen and began to look for something to cook. Then she remembered that they still had the cake, and the brownies, and everything else she had made stored away. So she took out the chocolate cake and a fork and went to town. She didn't get to finish her dinner anyways, and the way she thought of it, if she couldn't bake her worries away, she would eat them away.

As she ate the cake she replayed the night's events in her mind, specifically what Gaara had said to her before vanishing. He had said he was sorry. That was all she had wanted from him since the beginning. An apology about what he'd said of only asking her to go to the banquet with him as a means of convenience. And when she had finally gotten what she wanted, she was ungrateful. No wonder Sasuke had never liked her. She was selfish and mean, and completely undeserving of having such a wonderful friend in Gaara. Her last thoughts, as she drifted off to sleep later that night in front of a half eaten cake, were of all the nice things that Gaara had done for her since she arrived in Suna, and how she didn't deserve him.