A note: I wanted to fit the birthday party in, but it just would have been too long. This chapter is kind of a filler, leading up to the party. It's not as long as usual, but I figured getting something out now was better than making you wait.

Thanks so much for all the reviews! Hope you enjoy!

Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.

Chapter 6

The setting sun shone through the window behind Gaara's desk, lighting the room with a deep orange glow. Gaara scrubbed his hands over his face; it had been a long week and he was just finishing up the paperwork to send off to the other hidden villages concerning the deaths of several shinobi in the maze trial.

Unlike Konoha, who employed a "Forest of Death" approach to the maze, Suna simply dropped off groups of genin at a strategic distance both from the village and each other and instructed them to make it back in one piece. It wasn't a maze, per se, but when one considered how easy it was to get lost in the middle of the desert, it qualified for the task.

As usual, each team was given one scroll (heaven and earth) and they needed two scrolls, one of each type, to pass the test. The genin participants had three days to make it back to the village without dying and with two scrolls. Not only had some candidates managed to kill the others (always to be expected in the exams—shinobi knew going in that it was a bloody and dangerous profession), two entire groups had managed to die without any help from other genin.

When it was discovered that several scrolls had gone unrecovered, a search party was sent to find the missing teams. They were found buried in sand dunes several miles from the village and their starting points. There had been a nasty sandstorm on the second day of the test; likely they had not prepared for desert conditions, gotten lost, and died of suffocation or heat stroke.

Unfortunately for Gaara, each death meant a ridiculous amount of paperwork for him, since he was in charge of the village hosting the exams. He wondered if he had known as a child how troublesome it was for the kages to report shinobi deaths that he might have restrained himself a bit. He doubted it.

And this is what I get for being such a little piss ant as a kid, he thought. Now I have to deal with all the other morons and their messes.

He sighed and finished his last report, sealing the scroll and setting it aside to be sent to the Mizukage. Mei would likely not be thrilled, but she would just have to suck it up.

In the end, one team from Suna, two teams from Konoha, one team from Kiri, and three from Kumo had passed. Thankfully, no one from Konoha was killed (they had all been young this year), but two shinobi from Suna had died in combat and a third was seriously injured, as well as one of Hinata's students.

Shikamaru's team had been one of the two from Konoha that passed (the other was Sasuke's), which was good news for Gaara. That meant his sister was one step closer to getting to stay the month given to prepare for the final matches. One of Shikamaru's kids just had to beat up another kid and they'd be set.

They were currently participating in the initial one-on-one trials and Gaara had no idea who had moved on in each round. No one who was informed had been in his office since the last team returned from the maze that morning. He assumed they must be almost finished by now, but he wasn't really supposed to interrupt to find out.

Gaara stood and stretched, his joints cracking, and made for the door. It was possible that Sakura was in the hospital wing with Hinata and her team; maybe she knew how things were progressing. As he made his way down the deserted hallway, Gaara tried to convince himself that he only wanted to know what was happening with the exams and that this was not simply an excuse to see Sakura.

He supposed he should take it as a sign that he couldn't even make himself believe otherwise.

Sakura leaned over Shuu's bed, adjusting his IV before checking off something on his chart. Hinata sat on a chair at the foot of the bed, worrying her lip and closely watching her teammate Hana, who gripped Shuu's hand with white-knuckled fingers. Tears slipped down the teen's face, but Hinata refrained from saying anything, opting instead to watch the scene in nervous silence. Their other teammate, Chie, was nowhere to be found.

"Hana-chan," Shuu whispered, weakly squeezing her hand back. Hana's head jerked up and a fresh stream of tears coursed down her cheeks.

"Hana-chan," he said again, "It'll be alright. Sakura-sensei says I'm going to be fine."

Hana nodded, but didn't look any happier. Sakura decided it was time to butt in.

"Hana-chan," she scolded, not unkindly, "Shuu-kun just got a bit of a nasty cut, that's all. I patched him right up with my chakra, and now he'll be good as new with a little rest."

Hana nodded again and stared into her lap. She didn't speak for some moments, but then all of a sudden she blurted, "I know you're a good healer, Haruno-sensei. Really good. But… but what if something goes wrong? A complication, or something we missed…"

"Hana…" Hinata warned, her tone chastising.

"I didn't miss anything," Sakura said, starting to lose patience. She must have reassured the girl half a dozen times that her friend would be fine.

Perhaps the reason this girl annoys me so much is that she reminds me a bit of myself at that age… Presumptuous but lacking confidence, talented but lacking direction, and totally besotted with her teammate.

She sighed, glancing back at the bedridden Shuu, who was still gripping her hand. At least he seems to reciprocate her feelings.

She smiled then, and turned back to the still-panicky Hana. "Look, Hana, I know you're worried. I went through much the same thing during my chunin exams. If you want, when we both have some time, I can show you some basic healing techniques. You have the compassion and heart for a medic."

The girl's eyes widened and Sakura winked at her before turning to Shuu.

"Now, Shuu-kun, if you don't think you need anything else right now, I'm going to go check on those Suna shinobi."

"Sure, Sakura-sensei. I'm fine now. Hana-chan and Hinata-sensei will make sure I have anything else I need."

"Good," Sakura said. "I'll see you later, Hina-chan. I'll let Naruto know—"

She was cut off by a yelp and the sound of ungainly feet stomping down the hall. Suddenly, a face that matched Shuu's exactly—with the exception of a large purple bruise marring his left eye—barreled into the room, knocking Sakura aside and careening into the bed.

"Shuu!" the boy wailed, burying his face in his brother's hospital gown. Hana squealed and yanked her hand away, glaring at the interloper and looking as if she was about to blacken his other eye. Shuu, who didn't look the least bit distressed, began patting his back in a slow, soothing circle.

"It's ok, Shin. I'm fine now. Sakura-sensei patched me up in a jif. She always takes care of us."

Shin looked up tearfully and she smiled at him indulgently. Shin and Shuu were her favorite boys in the world (excepting her boys, of course). She had watched them grow since diapers, so she knew how strong their bond was and how Shin worried about his reckless twin.

"Don't you trust me, Shin-kun?" she pouted. He swiped at his eyes and grinned at her.

"Sure, Sakura-sensei! If you say he's fine, then he's fine!"

"See Hana?" Shuu gloated. Hana's lips turned in a pretty pout and she turned up her nose at the pair of them.

"You're hopeless!" she sniped. The boys merely laughed. They were still giggling, heads together, when Sasuke appeared in the doorway, a dark frown marring his face.

"You look more taciturn than usual," Sakura joked. "What's up?"

Sasuke simply nodded at his student before stalking over to the bed and yanking Shin back by the collar of his shirt.

"What did I tell you about leaving after your match?" he glowered. Shin's face scrunched into an expression of concern; Sakura thought he might cry again at any second.

"Oh, Sasuke, stop. He was just worried about Shuu."

"And I told him you were taking care of it. You didn't even wait to see how Nami's match turned out."

"Aww, sensei," Shin whined, "I know she won it."

Sasuke scowled more deeply.

"Of course she won, idiot! But her team was supposed to see her win. Now I've got a sniveling girl out there, who's all worked up because Shin-kun didn't see her win!" he snapped, pitching Shin's name high, affecting a teenage girl's voice. Sakura winced.

It wasn't that Shin shouldn't have been reprimanded for disobeying; he should have waited until dismissed to come see his brother. But Sasuke was always a little harsh on his kids, and to top it off, she had been that teenage girl pining after her teammate. Did every girl form a crush on the boys in their squad?

A new tear squeezed out of the corner of Shin's eye, though Sakura could tell he was trying to hold it together. Sasuke shook the front of his shirt, shouting, "And what did I tell you about crying?"

Sakura stepped up and brushed Sasuke's hand away, wrapping a hand around Shin's shoulders. At 14, he still had some growing to do, though his height almost matched Sakura's.

"Knock it off, Sasuke. Everyone's had a rough day. He was worried about his brother."

Sasuke looked about to argue with her, but Sakura cut him off.

"Just leave it," she said in her most menacing voice. Sasuke pondered that for a moment, and then shrugged, turning to leave.

"Whatever," he sulked. "It's getting crowded in here anyway."

As he walked out the door, Gaara appeared. Instead of waiting for the Kazekage to enter before leaving, as would have been proper, he moved swiftly past without even so much as a hello. Sakura was embarrassed that her former teammate couldn't even manage to observe protocol or affect politeness around heads of state, but Gaara didn't seem bothered by it.

"Everyone feeling alright in here?" he asked kindly, nodding to the students gathered around the bed.

"Yes Kazekage-sama," they chorused. He nodded once to them before turning to Sakura.

"Haruno-san," he addressed her formally, "I wondered if I might have a word." Sakura bit back a grin. This from the same man she saw stumble through basic yoga poses on a daily basis.

"Certainly, Kazekage-sama," she replied just as courteously. "I was about to go check on some of the Suna patients; will you walk with me?"

Instead of answering, he simply moved to the door. Sakura followed, turning once more to Hinata.

"I'll let Naruto know you're here if I see him. Take care guys."

Hinata thanked her and Sakura led Gaara down the hall to the next room on her rounds.

"What's up?" she asked, turning into a door several rooms away.

Ignoring her question, Gaara commented, "How is it that you get lost in the mansion, which I and most people find to be fairly navigable, but you can spend a couple hours in this maze and be fine?"

"I spend a lot of time in hospitals, Gaara," she explained, checking her patient's chart before moving up to feel his vitals.

"How are you feeling, Gin?" she asked him, examining his heavily-bandaged forearm.

"Better, Sakura-senpai," he told her, bowing as best he could to the Kazekage while lying in a hospital bed.

Gaara waved him off, choosing to wait by the door until Sakura finished. Once she had questioned Gin on some particulars, she moved on, listing instructions as she walked out the door. Once they were partway down the hall, Sakura stopped and faced Gaara.

"Are you going to talk to me as I go, or do you not deign to speak in front of normal people?" she questioned crossly. Gaara grinned inwardly; it wasn't that he thought himself above anyone, he just wasn't comfortable conversing in front of… well, almost everyone.

"I'll wait," he smirked, refusing to say anything further until he had her undivided attention. What had started as a simple quest for information was turning into casual time with Sakura. He couldn't be more pleased. His day had been long and filled with boring paperwork, but he meant to make the most of his evening.

Sakura heaved an exasperated sigh, but grinned at Gaara all the same. She couldn't really stay mad at him; not when he had that indulgent smile on his face, the one he only ever seemed to give her. It made her heart melt and her pulse flutter. "Alright, then, Kazekage-kun," she teased, "you wait here for me. I'll come back and get you when I'm done. I know how easy it is to get lost in hospitals."

He chuckled lowly—the equivalent of a hearty laugh for Gaara—and Sakura beamed at him, her whole face lighting up. "Wait here," she said urgently, turning to walk the rest of the way to her patient's room, when Ino walked out of it.

"Forehead, I just finished your rounds. I know you were with Shuu…" Ino trailed off, spotting Gaara.

"Well, well, well," Ino smirked, and Sakura inwardly groaned. "Kazekage-sama. How goes things?" she asked politely, grinning as if she had just been handed an unexpected treat.

Gaara wasn't sure how to react. He knew Ino in passing. She was not close to Naruto, and therefore not close to Gaara. He knew she was friends with Sakura, so he supposed he should make an effort to be personable, but she was acting strange, like she knew something he didn't. That set him on edge.

"Things are fine," he responded warily. She smiled more brightly at him, which only succeeded in confusing him further.

"Good, good," she said airily, walking closer and slinging an arm around Sakura. Sakura rolled her eyes but didn't move away. She was curious to see where Ino was going with this.

"So, you two, I didn't know you hung out outside of office hours."

Sakura blushed. Apparently she wasn't going to like the direction Ino wanted to take the conversation.

"You know very well that I've been showing the Kazekage some of Konoha's yoga moves for training, Pig," she hissed.

"Pig?" Gaara asked, gaze bouncing back and forth between the two kunoichi.

Ino laughed airily. "Oh, just nicknames we've had for each other as long as I can remember, right Forehead?" Sakura's face flushed deep red with anger and she glared at Ino, mentally promising her a world of pain and weeks of bedpan duty for this torture.

Gaara's eyebrows shot up. "Forehead?" Sakura could practically see him straining to make the connection, his eyes lifting minutely to rest on her brow, which was probably oily and gross from working all day. Not to mention as enormous as ever. She self-consciously smoothed her bangs.

"Our girl Sakura here just has a tiny bit bigger forehead than everyone else," Ino explained, pinching her thumb and forefinger close to demonstrate just how "tiny" the difference was.

Gaara's head cocked and he appeared to examine Sakura's forehead critically. "I don't see it," he said, feeling his own brow for comparison. "Unless I have a big forehead, too. I guess maybe it would have to be, for me to fit a tattoo on it." He grinned suddenly. "Besides, everyone makes fun of me for not having eyebrows, so whatever."

He shrugged casually and Sakura could have kissed him right then. He didn't think she had a big forehead! He must have been the first boy ever to say so to her, and it made Sakura feel like a schoolgirl again.

"Besides, even if you do have a big forehead," he continued, "you're so pretty that no one probably notices it anyway." He said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as if it was just a fact and anyone with half a brain ought to know it, and Sakura blushed so deeply that she clashed spectacularly with her hair.

"See that, Forehead," Ino said, giggling, "the Kazekage thinks you're pretty with your big head, just like I told you." She flicked Sakura's forehead to emphasize her point.

"Doesn't everyone?" Gaara asked. Sakura thought if she got any redder she would glow. Now would be a good time for one of those evil houseplants to crop up so she could bury herself in it and die.

"Sure, sure. But she doesn't always believe it. That doesn't matter, though, because there's really only one person Sakura wants to think she's pretty, anyway—and apparently he already does," Ino hinted. "Enough of this though. Pig is a much worse nickname than Forehead, and I don't want you to think badly of me, Kazekage-sama. So embarrassing." Ino giggled while Sakura shot daggers at her.

That's easy for you to say, inner Sakura raged. You're not the one who just got teased mercilessly—about your worst feature—by your best friend—in front of your crush! And then practically had said crush confessed to said boy without your permission!

"I actually have to get going, but I wanted to ask you something first," Ino said, smoothly changing the subject. She knew Sakura hated her for this now, but she would thank her later. "Are you both going to Kankuro's party on Saturday?"

Sakura nodded and Gaara shrugged. "He's my brother, I'm sort of obligated," he said.

"Well, then," Ino smirked, walking down the hall and talking over her shoulder, "Maybe you could just go together. See ya!" She turned the corner and was gone. Sakura could have slugged her.

Gaara turned to face her, something like hope etched onto his face. "I don't normally enjoy such functions," he explained, "but I would be more than happy to accompany you." His words didn't match his eyes, which were big and green and begging her to say yes.

Sakura wanted to scream.

"Oh, Gaara," she said, as gently as possible, "I'm going with Kankuro."

He was silent for several moments. She saw the hurt flash in his eyes before his face leveled into his usual stoic mask.

"Right. Of course. I understand. Like I said, I have to go anyway, being his brother and all, so I guess I'll just see you there." He turned to walk down the hall and Sakura reached out a hand to stop him, to make him wait, anything for him not to leave like this.

He stopped but didn't turn around, waiting for her to speak.

"Gaara… he… he asked me first," she said softly, praying he would understand what she wasn't saying, that she wished she could go with him, wished she had the nerve to go back on her promise.

He stood there, still as a statue, and time ticked by. It felt like hours to Sakura before he finally answered.

"Right," he said again, and disappeared down the hall without looking back.

A Note: It has come to my attention that the yoga scenes might be a bit confusing. For those interested, you can check out the link below (spaces removed) to see actual pictures of the poses. I practice yoga, so it was an idea I got to insert it into a fic. It's kind of hard to describe the poses without getting too technical, but I'm going to take a look and see if I can't make them easier to understand.

Chapter 2:

1. When Gaara first sees Sakura, she's doing a handstand [www (dot) yogajournal (dot) com (slash) poses (slash) 788]

2. Next, she moves into Downward-Facing Dog [www (dot) yogajournal (dot) com (slash) poses (slash) 491]

3. She then transitions into Upward-Facing Dog, Plank Pose, and then Crane pose, finally moving her legs up and over, into an extreme back bend, or… [Yoga Journal, poses 474, 470, and 468; see above links]

4. Upward-Facing Two Foot Staff Pose [Yoga Journal pose 2475]. Sakura did all of these in a vinyasa, or flow. She didn't really go into the pose correctly, but I wanted her to look cool doing it, so... basically, don't try this at home.

Chapter 5:

5. Tree pose [Yoga Journal pose 496]

6. Warrior Three [Yoga Journal pose 941]. This pose is harder than it looks, and it's fantastic for balance. If you must try it at home, stand on a non-slippery surface, take off your socks, and make sure you have your balance in check so you don't fall. Staring straight ahead or at a point on the floor can help a lot.