Dinner with Naruto went better than she had foreseen. When Naruto showed up Gaara was in an unexpected good mood, despite the little spat they had had earlier that day. He was surprisingly talkative with Naruto around; Sakura was a little jealous. She wished Gaara was so talkative all the time; he would make for much better company. She supposed if Gaara liked her as much as he liked Naruto then it wouldn't be a problem.
She sighed. Most likely, he would never like her so much, even though she was practically solely responsible for his recovery now. She frowned suddenly – that's right! She was the one he had to depend on now! It wasn't the other way around; Gaara was the one who needed her! He really should show more appreciation for her efforts after all; she was practically saving his life.
She turned to Gaara and grinned, thinking of how she might torment him with the fact later. Gaara was deep in conversation with Naruto, and she was surprised suddenly to see him laugh. Any malicious thought fled her mind at that point.
He never laughed with her. He might snicker at her, but he never laughed. She turned to look at Naruto, who was also laughing, though much louder than Gaara. It wasn't fair. Of course, she knew what effect Naruto had on people, and she knew she didn't have that effect, but still, it wasn't fair.
"Sakura? You okay?" Naruto asked.
Sakura shook herself, trying to return to reality. She nodded. "Uh, yeah." She stood and went to the kitchen. "Tea anyone?"