Whirlwind

Chapter Fourteen

-Operation Day Ten: Medical School-

She and Gaara got up early the next day. He had a lot of work to catch up on, and, oddly enough, it was her first day teaching the nurses at the hospital. They didn't have any food at the house, since it all went bad, so they stopped by a fruit stand and a bakery on their way, putting together a small breakfast.

Luckily, Yoko was nowhere to be seen when Sakura was shown the classroom that she would be using. She didn't want to ruin her morning by talking with the rude brunette. Shortly after eight, people began to file in and take their assigned seats. The first student to enter was a boy, probably around seventeen. He had strawberry blonde hair, honey brown eyes, and a smile that was a little too friendly. When he entered the room he held his hand out to her, shaking hers vigorously as he introduced himself.

"Hello Sakura-sama! My name is Uchohi Sosuke. I'm a big fan of yours. I heard about what you did for the Kazekage's brother five years ago, and then what you did for his sister. So courageous! I am honored to be your student!" he said excitedly.

Sakura herself had to keep fro, rolling her eyes. What a kiss up. She disliked him immediately. Pasting a fake smile on her face, she returned the greeting. "It's nice to meet you. I merely did what anyone else in my position would have done. No need to make it into a big deal."

He gave her an incredulous look, still holding her hand in his. "And modest too. How is it you are single Sakura-sama?"

The question made her uncomfortable for some reason, but thankfully she didn't have to answer it, since another group of people entered and greeted her. She slowly pulled her hand from his, and turned to welcome the newcomers.

At eight fifteen, it was time to begin. She would not accept tardiness, so she shut and locked the classroom door. Hopefully there wouldn't be any emergencies that required her skills today. She turned to face the group of people, clapping her hands together to get their attention. "Hello class, if you don't already know, my name is Haruno Sakura. I'm not going to give you a background about me, because it would take up precious time, and most of you already know about my skills. I will tell you, however, that I do know what I'm doing, so you needn't worry." She smiled.

She placed an injured fish on her desk then. "One by one, I want you to come up here and heal the fish. This way I can assess your skill level, so I know what you need to be taught." She instructed.

It took an hour to get through everyone, because some were faster healers than others, and a few who couldn't heal the fish kept trying, unsuccessfully. Sakura sighed. Well, at least they persevered, she thought. She stood from her seat and began to address them once more when they were finished.

"Today I'm going to teach you a few ways to heal minor wounds, which are faster and more efficient to your chakra reserves." She put a diagram up on the board that explained what she would be doing in great detail. After having them copy it down for notes, she demonstrated what to do on the fish. Once she finished, she placed a fish on everyone's desk, and asked them to try. She walked around the room and observed their work, pleased that they were all quick learners.

"Sakura-sama! I don't understand how you do this. Can you show me where to place my hands on the fish?" Sosuke asked her, feigning innocence as he raised his hand straight up in the air. She knew what he was up to, it was one of the oldest tricks in the book. Heck, she had even tried it a few times on Sasuke when they were younger. She walked over to his table and looked down at the fish she had given him. Unmoving, she said, "Put your hands over the wound Sosuke. It won't heal unless you do."

"Oh! I see now. Like this?" he asked, failing to hide his disappointment.

"Exactly." She turned and walked back to the front, ready to show them the second method.

Things proceeded in a similar fashion all day. She would lecture a bit about a new technique, then have them try it on their own. While she was walking around the room offering helpful tips, Sosuke would call her over to ask her a question, usually having to do with trying to get her to lean over him or touch him in some way, which always failed.

When four thirty finally came around, she dismissed everyone, thankful that the day was now over. She wanted to have some time to collect her thoughts before seeing Gaara. He would expect her to inform him of how the class went, and what his nurses would need to learn in order to compete with the other village's hospitals. Noticing Sosuke make his way towards her, she fled the room, dashing down the stairs and effectively losing him.

"Well well well, if it isn't little Miss I Can Do Everything. Tell me Sakura, that is your name right? Did you make a complete fool of yourself attempting to teach my nursing staff?" Sakura stiffened and turned towards the cause of the voice slowly. As if her day couldn't get any worse, Yoko just had to show up, that same self-righteous smirk on her face. Walking over to the older woman, she tilted her head in contemplation.

"Not really Yoko. They were all perfect students, ready and willing to learn when there was a real teacher to teach them." She replied.

The brunette merely raised her brow in contempt. "What is that supposed to mean?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh you know. It's been proven that people learn better when the one teaching them actually knows what they're talking about."

Yoko forced a smile. "Interesting. Tell me, Sakura, did you enjoy your presents? I couldn't help but notice you didn't receive one from Gaara-sama, but then again, I wouldn't expect my Kazekage to buy anything for a floozy like you."

Sakura was more than angry now. Gaara didn't belong to anybody, especially not Yoko. He was her friend, and she would not stand for that talk. On top of that, the older medic actually dared to call her a whore to her face, even after what Gaara had said to her last night. It was time to show the older woman that she, Haruno Sakura, had learned more from her shishou than just healing skills.

She grabbed Yoko by the collar, similar to the way in which Naruto had done. Without a word, she threw the brunette through the wall of the hospital, leaving a large hole in her wake.

At this point Gaara had been walking up to the hospital. He watched as Yoko flew by him and into a food stall, not really interested. It was about time that cougar got thrown through a wall. Then he saw Sakura walk up to the hole in the wall, glaring. "Gaara waited to give me his present in the confines of my room. And I loved it!" she yelled, as she began to walk back into the hospital. She turned around, another thought coming to mind. "Not that it's any of your business what we do when we are alone." She said, before stomping away.

Gaara stifled a laugh, stepping through the hole in the wall instead of using the door. "Hello Sakura, are you ready for dinner? It's finally just the two of us tonight," he gave her a true smile as he approached her, taking her hands in his and bringing her closer. "None of those…annoying distractions."

Nearly every nurse within earshot gave a swooning sigh as they looked at the two, completely enveloped in what they saw. "Oh Kazekage-sama! You're so sweet to take your love on a date!" one smiled and bowed to the two.

The redhead blinked and watched the nurse hurry away to help with the patients, just as happy as can be. "Um, it's not a…" he began, before he was rudely interrupted.

Yoko burst through the hole and gasped, "A date?"

Sakura peered around the redhead and raised a brow at her. "Well, seeing as I'm Gaara's whore, it's only natural for him to repay me in some way. That's how it works isn't it?" She turned back to Gaara and held out some papers to him. "By the way, I need you to sign these termination papers. Some of the staff here is incompetent, and will only bring the hospital to ruin."

Gaara took the papers from her and turned around, letting his glare fall on the poor woman. "My what?" he dared Yoko to even speak. Though, if she didn't try to defend herself, something worse might happen.

"K-Kazekage-sama. I…I didn't mean a lady of the evening…I only meant…" she froze up, fear striking through her entire body. "I was only saying that you two weren't married and yet…you…." She gulped.

Gaara walked up to her, and the closer he got, the smaller Yoko shrunk into herself. "What in the world made you think Sakura and I would do such a thing before we were married? Hm?" he seethed, forcing himself to remain calm and not strangle her.

"W-well, I didn't know t-that you w-were planning on m-m-marrying Sakura-sama, K-Kazekage-sama." The woman stammered out. She could barely even say it.

Upon hearing his own proclamation he stopped, trying to think of what to say. Did he want to marry Sakura? "Look…I, uh…" he stopped, glancing over at Sakura.

Her eyes were the size of saucers, and a light blush was decorating her cheeks. Marry Gaara? She had never thought of it before, since Sasuke was the only one she had ever pictured growing old with. But she knew that he didn't mean what he said, probably just saying it to get Yoko off her back for good. So she decided to help him out. She grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to her, trying to get a reign on her emotions.

"Once again, our personal lives are none of your business Yoko. Now if you don't mind, I think Gaara was going to take me out to dinner. Alone." She began to lead him to the hole in the wall, and, once they reached it, she turned back to the brunette. "By the way, you should pack up all of your personal belongings. I don't want to see you at this hospital unless you're seriously wounded, and dying."

"What? You can't fire me!" the older woman yelled in indignation.

"Oh I believe I can, since I'm your superior." She replied.

"But Kazekage-sama needs me! He knows I'm a valuable asset to the survival of this village!" Yoko exclaimed, giving Gaara a pleading look.

"We'll see. Unless, Sakura can convince me otherwise." He informed her, thankful for the save. He knew that Sakura understood he meant nothing with those words. With that he let Sakura pull him with her without another word. They made their way down the streets, completely at peace with their proximity. Stopping at a nice restaurant, one on the other side of the village than the one they destroyed, the two went in and were immediately shown to their seats.

Gaara pulled out Sakura's chair for her and she sat quickly with a bright smile. "Thank you Gaara."

He sat across from her and took the folded napkin from the top of his plate and set it in his lap. He laced his fingers and rested his chin on his hands, keeping his gaze on her. "So other than the obvious mayhem I witnessed, how was your day?"

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but slammed it shut, going wide eyed as Sosuke popped up behind the redhead.

"Sakura-sama!" he exclaimed, nearly making Gaara fall out of his chair. The annoying student grabbed a chair from a nearby table and dragged it to theirs. "How are you?" he sighed dreamily, focusing on only her.

Gaara's eye visibly twitched as he eyed the kid interrupting their supposed quiet dinner. Sakura noticed this, and decided to try and get rid of the little pest. "I'm doing the same as I was when class was over, Sosuke. Now if you don't mind, Gaara and I were trying to have a meeting about class today."

Not taking the hint, Sosuke scooted his chair closer to Sakura's. "Oh, but that's why I came to talk to you. I had a few questions about what we went over today." Gaara eyed him suspiciously but said nothing, of course because he did not know of the whole situation.

She scooted away from him, giving him a confused look. "What questions could you possibly have that you didn't ask while we were there?"

Before she could hear his answer, the waitress came to take their order. "What can I get for you?"

"I'll have the special please, with extra sauce." Sosuke chimed in. Sakura's eyes widened. She couldn't believe that Sosuke had the nerve to invite himself to dinner. He didn't even seem to be intimidated by the killing aura coming off of the redhead.

"Excuse me miss." Gaara began, his voice strained, his glare never leaving the boy. "This…child is not joining us."

"Oh you wouldn't deprive a young mind the chance to gain more knowledge would you Kazekage-sama?" Sosuke asked, raising an arrogant brow. He turned back to the waitress. "Continue with your work."

The waitress, miffed now, turned to Gaara, taking his order. When they finished she briefly took Sakura's order and left. The redhead stared angrily at the intruder. Of course he could say nothing, because the class was supposed to teach the people of Suna. But this kid's arrogance was starting to piss him off.

Trying to steer clear of destruction, Sakura went back to their earlier conversation. "So, what do you need exactly?"

He scooted towards her again. "Well I just wanted to know if you could give me private lessons. You know, so I can get ahead in the class?" Gaara's gaze shifted from Sosuke to Sakura, watching her reaction.

Scooting away from him again, she made a nervous sound. "Um, well I haven't discussed doing private lessons with Gaara. He's the one who is really running everything."

Dismissing the redhead with a wave of his hand, Sosuke continued to dig his grave. "I'm sure whatever you want to do is fine. I mean, you're a genius. The Kazekage would be stupid not to do as you say. If I was him, I would never question you."

The silverware that Gaara had picked up was now bent in half in his hand. Gaara's eye was twitching so badly that it almost looked as if he was having a seizure. Just remain calm, he told himself, taking deep breaths and counting backwards from ten. He was the one in charge, as Sakura had said, and there was no way in hell he would ever allow his Sakura to give this…lovesick punk private lessons. Unless of course he were present the entire time. Gaara stopped his thoughts and pondered back on what he had thought. He had just referred to Sakura as his again. He shook his head and let the thoughts disperse. It was only because he was protecting a friend from an annoying pest, he assured himself.

Looking really uncomfortable, Sakura tried to get rid of the blonde boy once again. "Well, I don't really think there's anything I can teach you that you won't already learn in class."

"Oh I'm sure a woman your age knows plenty of things to teach a strapping young man such as myself. It doesn't even have to be medical related." He said, giving her a suggestive look, scooting even closer to her.

She scooted away once again, getting closer and closer to Gaara's side of the table. "Um, I don't think you have enough chakra control to learn how to use chakra to enhance your strength so….I wouldn't really be able to teach you anything else."

He moved his chair next to hers, and leaned towards her. "Oh, I wasn't talking about any types of jutsu. I was talking about other activities….that are usually done in a bedroom."

Gaara stood abruptly, pulling Sakura with him and pushing her protectively behind him. "Alright! That is ENOUGH!" he ordered, the look on his face more murderous than Sakura had ever seen. "If I ever hear another word like that come out of your perverted mouth about my Sakura," he began, sand already crawling up Sosuke's legs, gripping them painfully. "Do you understand me boy? Or do I need to demonstrate how, if you don't keep your mouth shut, I will shut it for you?"

Ignoring the fact that his life was in danger, Sosuke looked at Sakura, who was peeking around the temperamental redhead. "How can you hang around with such a mean person Sakura-chan? If you were my woman, I would treat you differently. With gentle words and soft caresses on your beautiful skin."

The young medic's face began to turn green at the thought of having that perverted thing touch her. She could only picture one person doing things like that to her and it certainly wasn't him. Sakura blinked at the images in her head. Wait, did she just picture Gaara caressing her gently and whispering sweet nothings in her ear? She mentally slapped herself. Never in a million years would Gaara do a thing like that with anybody, least of all her.

Gaara had tried counting backwards once again, but this time it had no effect on him. He lurched forward, his hand wrapping around Sosuke's throat and pinning him to the ground as the chair smacked the floor on its side. The Kazekage held him there, cutting off his air and leaning closer so the boy could hear every hate-filled word dripping from his mouth. "Alright brat. I've had just about enough of you. Let's get the facts straightened out, she is not your woman. You will never, ever touch her in that way or so help me, I will rip off every appendage you have." He finally released the boy, who immediately began gasping for air, and stood once more.

He grabbed Sakura by the wrist and pulled her with him and out of the restaurant. It was then that he decided they were never eating out again, too many weird and annoying things happened.

Tripping over her feet at the pace with which Gaara was dragging her away, Sakura couldn't help but feel relieved. Sosuke was really starting to freak her out. "Gaara, I'm sorry about that. I should have known he would become even creepier. He just didn't give away any indications in class today that he was that much of a weirdo."

"It's alright Sakura," he replied simply. "I just…" he stopped, slowing his pace a bit and glancing back at her. "I don't like when anyone speaks to you that way."

She gave him a warm smile. "That makes two of us. Are you still hungry? I kinda lost my appetite back there."

"Only a little," he admitted. In truth the whole event had made him lose his appetite as well. "Well there is a nice little place that sells ice cream on the way home. It's a Suna specialty, if you would like to try it." He offered, walking up to a small stand and talking to the man. The ice cream vendor was more than happy to give away two cones to his Kazekage.

Gaara flashed him a smile, gracious to the man's kindness. It was definitely a side of him Sakura had never seen before. He came back to her and held the white frozen treat to her. He took a bite out of his and winced from the brain freeze that shot through his head.

She took a tentative lick, and gasped at the flavor exploding in her mouth. It was sweet and salty, all at the same time. "This is delicious!" she exclaimed, giving him a brilliant smile. "Does it come in chocolate? Oh how I would love it if this came in chocolate!" she squealed. Then she sent Gaara an accusing glare. "Why haven't you brought me here before?"

He merely raised a brow at her. "Because every night we either go out to dinner, which is a disaster, or you make dessert, which I have to eat, or your feelings get hurt."

"Well, if you don't like my cooking, then you don't have to eat it." She huffed, crossing her arms and pouting like a child.

"Hey now, no need to get all huffy. I enjoy your cooking, alright? I just prefer salty things and you always seem to make sweets…" he admitted a bit quietly. "And they aren't bad, I like them…it's just not my favorite, and I don't want to hurt your feelings so I just eat it. Is that such a bad thing?" he explained, taking another bite of his ice cream and continuing their stroll back home.

She gave him a somewhat shocked look. "Well, if you like salty things better why didn't you just say so? I would have been happy to make something like that for you. And if I didn't know how to make anything salty, I could always learn."

He seemed surprised by her statement. "You would learn how to make new foods for me?"

"Of course. I want to make you happy, because your happiness is important to me." She said with a shrug.

She could have sworn that a soft pink color rose to Gaara's face, but when she caught another glance it was its normal pale shade. Perhaps it had just been the light from the setting sun that was making her see things. "I would like to make you happy too Sakura, it is…important to me that you are happy as well." He looked down at the treat and bit into the cone with a loud crunch. He seemed uncomfortable with his own words, but in truth it was only because he was not used to speaking about his feelings.

Now it was her turn to blush. She didn't know that he cared so much. If she were a different person, she'd make a joke about him having feelings, but knew that if she did, Gaara wouldn't open up to her again. Instead, she reached out and grasped his hand tentatively, giving it a light squeeze.

"It's nice to have a quiet evening, don't you think?" she asked, glancing up at him.

Gaara looked down at their intertwined fingers, letting his hand hold hers as well. "Well…quiet for us." He said, averting his eyes from hers now and pretending that his ice cream was the most fascinating thing in the world. They walked in silence after that, their hands still joined as they ate their ice cream. Neither knew what to say, until finally they reached their home.

They both finished their ice creams and went inside. They stopped in the living room and Gaara finally looked back down at their hands. Why was he alright with her touching him? He pulled his hand away, only because he knew that was what he would have done, if he was still his old self.

"It's been a pretty long day…" he sighed, looking away from her, almost afraid to meet her gaze.

"Yeah….." she said, grabbing her arm and looking away from him awkwardly. There was a pregnant pause, until they both began to speak at once.

"I think I'll-"

"I'm gonna go-"

They stopped and stared at each other, both embarrassed. "Look, Sakura," Gaara began, stepping towards her. He stopped only centimeters away from her, "I feel…" he looked extremely nervous. Another side of Gaara she hadn't seen before, this was sure an interesting day. "I feel like I should tell you how I feel…and it's very odd, and I'm not used to it but…" he took a deep breath and focused his eyes down on the ground between them.

Sakura simply gazed into his face, in suspense of what he was going to say. In her eagerness, she began to lean towards him.

"I think…" he took a deep breath, meeting her beautiful stare with his own pale green. The distance between them seemed to be closing as the seconds ticked on. "I think that…" he stopped once more and then pulled away. "We should probably go to bed if we want to get up on time tomorrow." He said softly. It was obvious all over his face that those were not the words he wanted to say. With that said, he turned away from her and headed towards the stairs.

She hit the ground, having leaned so far forward, only to be let down by her disappointment. Quickly getting up, she followed him up the stairs. Opening her bedroom door, she glanced down the hall.

"Goodnight Gaara." She murmured, watching as he shut his door.