"Temari, do you think I could talk with Sakura alone for a moment?" Gaara asked calmly, not taking his eyes off Sakura. Temari stood up, stared from one to the other, and quickly nodded and left the room. Sakura didn't blame her for making her escape; she'd have liked to do the same.

As soon as Temari left Sakura jumped to her feet and tried to explain. "It's not what it sounds like-" She started to lie, but Gaara held up his hand.

"I don't know how it can be anything other than what it sounds like." He said. "It sounded pretty obvious to me." When Sakura stared at him with an anguished expression he crossed the room to stand close to her. "Please sit down. I think we need to talk."

Sakura sat. She was nervously wringing her hands, so Gaara took them in his own to hold her still. "When did this happen?" He asked. He wanted to hear her say it again because even though he had said it was obvious, it still didn't quite make sense to him.

"When you came back to Konoha after the seals had been removed – I found out I was pregnant then." She said.

"Pregnant with my child." Gaara said, trying to confirm the fact to himself.

"Of course." Sakura answered, trying to smile. "Who's else would it be? Do you think I'm a floozy or something? I'd hoped you thought better of me."

Gaara squeezed her hand. He was pretty sure she was joking, but he wanted to be sure she didn't believe what she said. "I don't think you're a floozy, whatever that is. It's just... pretty unbelievable."

Sakura smiled. "I know." She said. She felt tears building up behind her eyes, but she refused to cry. She was already over the loss of the child; she had cried all the tears she needed to cry for it. "I had a hard time believing it myself."

Gaara frowned. "But then... what happened? Why didn't you tell me then? I would have... I don't know. I wouldn't have left."

Sakura frowned. "I found out the day you left. I saw you driving away just as I was returning from the doctor. And then I thought, I shouldn't burden you with it, with me... And then I lost it, and you weren't there, and I thought – well, I was relieved really. It was stupid; all these plans I had made. I would become a single mother, and raise the child alone... Stupid."

Gaara frowned. "Raise it alone? Why would you be alone?"

Sakura sighed. She wondered if Gaara could tell how hard she was trying not to cry. He certainly wasn't making it any easier. "Because you wouldn't be there. You were off in Suna, looking after a country. You wouldn't have time to look after a child with me."

Gaara let go of her hands and turned away slightly, staring at his hands, now resting in his lap. Sakura watched him, trying to figure out his thoughts, but to no avail; she couldn't read his face.

He was thinking how much he wished Sakura would just realize that he was now dependent on her, to an extent, for his happiness. That he... well, that he loved her. She didn't seem to be getting it; at this rate he might have to say it out loud. He didn't know if he could do that; he wouldn't know how. He was thinking that Sakura had almost had a child, and that child would have been his as well. What would that have been like, he wondered. He couldn't quite get his head around the idea. If they had had a child, he would hope it was like Sakura. The world didn't need another one of him.

He looked up again, and was dismayed to see that Sakura was crying. When she saw he was looking she quickly wiped her cheeks. "Shit! I'm sorry." She muttered. "I wasn't going to cry. I mean... Sorry. Sorry."

"I'm sorry. I love you." Gaara blurted out. For a moment Sakura stared at him, before she finally smiled again.

"You're sorry that you love me?" She asked. "Or did that just come out wrong?"

Gaara nodded. "That came out wrong. I am sorry, and I do... you know."

Sakura couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. Gaara was blushing! She felt so much love for him at that moment, seeing him so nervous, unable to even repeat the words. It was so unlike any confession she would have imagined; it was so Gaara. She reached out and pulled him towards him to kiss her, but before their lips touched he spoke.

"What should I do then?" He asked.

Sakura pulled back and raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean, what should you do?"

"I mean, I got you pregnant, and then... What am I supposed to do about that?"

Sakura smiled as comfortingly as she could. "There's nothing to be done about it now. Just as long as you know, and you're not mad-"

"I'm not mad. Why would I be mad?"

"-then we just have to move on." Sakura went on as though she hadn't been interrupted. She appreciated that he was trying to clear up the situation and make her feel better, but right now, she just wanted to kiss Gaara. Why did he always pick the wrong moments to be chatty?

"Oh. Ok." He finally agreed, and Sakura finally got her kiss.