Standard disclaimers apply. I'm just borrowing these characters for a little while.
Author's note: Kishimoto-sensei's plan is to fit the entire 4th Shinobi War Arc into a matter of days in the Naruto timeline, but I'm taking the liberty of extending it since war is never so quick and clean-cut. Events from the manga will be added, removed or shifted around. Please pardon my impudence.
I apologise for the slow updates. I wish to extend my thanks to all reviewers, especially those who take the time to write long, thoughtful reviews that remind me that there are still people reading this fanfic.
Without them, I probably would have stopped updating :)
Their situation could only be referred to as an impasse.
Since the elimination of the Four Resurrected Kages, the Allied Shinobi Forces have been trying to make a push towards the Akatsuki headquarters. The only problem was, their north-western movements were constantly held up by a seemingly endless wave of White Zetsu clones.
Several smaller units of shinobis were deployed in hopes that they might be able to break past the wall of clones, under the assumption that they would be able to move with more stealth.
Not a single report came back from any of the units sent.
Kankurou volunteered to lead his Ambush Squad into enemy territory, but the idea was immediately dismissed by both Gaara and Shikamaru – it was simply too risky a move to take. Upon hearing the rejection of his plan, Kankurou had put on his biggest Bambi eyes and cooed to Gaara about how wonderful it felt to be fussed over by the Regimental Leader.
Kankurou shortly re-appeared in a cloud of sand right in the middle of the crowded mess hall and landed face-first onto a full table.
Each day of the stalemate made Gaara's scowls a little deeper and his temper a little shorter. Unwilling to let his frustrations affect Sakura, Gaara re-assigned her back to the medic base. Sakura in turn understood the gesture and did not broach any war-related topics during their nightly chats thereafter.
It was on one partially cloudy day of no particular consequences when Sakura received her first private summons from the War Council. She was in the medic base, attending to some shinobis fresh from the frontlines when the tiny version of Katsuyu suddenly popped out of her collar and whispered the orders into her ear.
Surprised by this summons that seemed to have came out of nowhere, Sakura excused herself from her medic-nin colleagues and teleported herself to the entrance of the War Council building; there was no urgency in Katsuyu's voice, but to be called away by the Tsunade herself had to mean something, especially since Tsunade knew how thin Sakura had been spreading herself.
Being a familiar face to the guards, Sakura was promptly escorted towards some waiting sensor shinobis, all of whom deemed her acceptable for entrance into the building equally quickly.
Escorted by another two guards, Sakura passed along the dark corridors, emerged into the light of the main hall, and saw three completely unexpected but friendly faces.
"Hey, Sakura-chan," Kakashi gave her his close-eyed smile and a wave of his hand, as if they had only just parted a few days ago when in reality, Sakura had not seen her former teacher since the war began.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura could barely hide the tone of surprise in her voice, and then she turned to the other two familiar faces as her brows furrowed, "Gai-sensei, Lee-kun. Why are you all here?"
"Don't you miss us, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi clutched at his chest and sighed as if physically wounded, "Have you completely forgotten about us fighting on the frontli…"
Sakura quickly closed the distance between them and glared at Kakashi defiantly, her voice dropping low as she replied, "I would have been on the frontlines as a field medic, Kakashi-sensei, if it weren't for my last-minute reassignment. I would never choose to stay behind when I could be saving more lives on the battlefield."
Completely nonplussed, Kakashi looked at the glowering kunoichi and patted her softly on her head, nodding as he said, "Of course, Sakura. I trust that you are enjo… I mean, managing your new assignment well?"
"Ah, Sakura-san!" Lee spoke up, unknowingly saving Kakashi from a chakra-infused punch, "I've heard that you're now Gaara-san's personal medic. And on top of that, you were in the Ambush Squad and you pull shifts at the medic base. Please, please don't overwork yourself! You have enough on your plate as it is!"
Sakura nodded her thanks, blushing slightly.
"Is everyone here?"
The four shinobis turned towards the direction of the approaching figure – the imposing Fifth Hokage herself as she made a beeline for their small group.
"Tsunade-sama."
"Tsunade-shishou."
It would do no good to ask why she was summoned to the War Council building for now – Tsunade would tell her in time. Said woman swept her eyes over the group, then tilted her head towards a door on the other side of the huge room.
"Kakashi, Sakura, I want to speak to the both of you privately," came the cryptic command.
Sakura turned to Kakashi in askance, but the man simply shrugged and followed after Tsunade into the adjoining room. She turned to nod her departure to Lee and Gai, then trotted after her former teacher.
The room which they had entered was minimalistic in both its design and furnishings. Aside from a table and a single chair tucked under it, there was little else that caught Sakura's eye. What did catch her attention, however, was the slight hum of chakra enveloping the room.
Sakura looked to Tsunade, whom knew what she was wondering about and gave her the answer directly – "Chakra-based sound barrier, Sakura. This is far more advanced than what the Kazekage has around his tent."
Which meant she was about to learn something that she would not like; Sakura knew that much.
She was, in fact, reminded of an interrogations room for some reason.
"This is a lot of secrecy, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura said at last, "You have summoned me for what I assume will be a covert mission; there are enough of us to make a four-man team with me as the compulsory medic-nin. And if that is the case, shouldn't Gai-sensei and Lee-kun be in here as well?"
Tsunade and Kakashi traded slightly uncomfortable looks, and it was almost as if they didn't know how to broach the topic with Sakura at all.
"Shishou…"
"Sakura," Tsunade's solemn expression gave Sakura pause, "What I am about to tell you will be secrets about Konohagakure that only a handful of people know of. This is going to change your perspective of the Uchiha Massacre and Sasuke's abandonment."
Blazing green eyes turned toward the oddly calm, silver-haired man – "And Kakashi-sensei knew about this already?"
"It's not what you think, Sakura. Kakashi, Yamato and Naruto knew about before the Fourth Shinobi War was even considered a possibility, but they had no way of verifying the truth in what they had learnt until only yesterday," said Tsunade.
"What happened yesterday that changed everything?" Sakura had trouble keeping the anger out of her voice.
"Uchiha Itachi is alive, and is back to fighting on our side – as he always had been."
Sakura opened her mouth, paused, then promptly clamped it shut. Tsunade could only sigh at the look of utter confusion on her apprentice's face.
"Naruto and Killer Bee ran into Nagato and Itachi several hours ago. Without going into too many unnecessary details, Itachi was restored to his former self mentally through a trigger that he had implanted in Naruto before his death at the hands of Sasuke. Itachi had intel that the jinchuurikis killed by Akatsuki have been resurrected and are going to try and capture the Kyuubi.
"This is why we are organising this four-man team to follow Naruto's trail and provide any assistance possible. Naruto and Killer Bee may be a force to be reckoned with by themselves, but against six former jinchuurikis, we want to give them all the advantage they can get.
"As you know, sending an army after them is impossible because of the White Zetsus currently holding us back, so I have decided to put together this team to aid Naruto."
Sakura's hands were clenched together when she finally spoke, head hung and her voice barely above a whisper – "Tell me about the Uchiha Massacre. Tell me everything about Uchiha Itachi's side of the story. Tell me why… we should trust him. Most importantly, tell me why you have waited until now to give me this information."
"Sakura," Tsunade's voice softened, "I didn't want to believe Kakashi at first when he told me about it, but I sent a message back to Konohagakure and had an elite ANBU team retrieve some highly-classified village documents and then had them sent to me. I needed to be absolutely certain of the atrocities our own senior council has ordered Itachi to perform."
Sakura could feel the bile rising in her throat. She covered her mouth and mentally told herself not to throw up; any documents sealed with such high secrecy that only the best ANBU team could retrieve meant a massive political outfall if it should be exposed.
"The Uchiha Massacre… was masterminded by the senior council members, and chiefly by Danzo. Uchiha Itachi was given a direct order to kill his entire clan because his clan was planning a rebellion. He failed in his mission when he could not bring himself to kill his only brother, so with the Third Hokage's knowledge, he went undercover as a double agent for Konohagakure to get information on the then newly-formed organisation Akatsuki. It was both to get him out of the village, as well as to ensure the safety of Sasuke – to let the senior council know that Itachi was now among the most dangerous internationally-wanted criminals and could move against them if they were to harm Sasuke."
"Are you telling me that the Third Hokage authorized these… atrocities?" Sakura had to struggle to find the right word to use, but it was the best her overworked nerves could come up with for now.
Tsunade was quick to shake her head, "On the contrary, it seems the documents only bore the stamps of Danzo, Homura and Koharu."
Conspiracies within conspiracies.
"We know that Madara had told Sasuke about Itachi's work as a double-agent, and he somehow manipulated Sasuke into thinking that eliminating the key political figures of Konohagakure was the best way to avenge his brother," added Kakashi, "Sasuke's attack on Danzo during the Kage Summit was mostly like pre-mediated by Madara, and given the tight timeframe between then and Itachi's death, Sasuke might not have considered his course of action as much as he should have."
It would explain Sasuke's reckless attempt on Danzo's life in the presence of no less than the five strongest shinobis of the land. That the other four Kages were caught in the crossfire, was the one surefire way to start a war among the Shinobi Nations. It was the spark Madara needed to begin his Eye of the Moon plan.
What Akatsuki and Kabuto did not account for was a strategic alliance among the Five Shinobi Nations. That was the only miscalculation in their plan.
But that was not what Sakura was preoccupied with currently.
The Konohagakure senior council manipulated Uchiha Itachi into becoming an internationally-wanted criminal, orphaning Sasuke in the process.
Itachi manipulated Sasuke – goaded him into seeking limitless power – so that Sasuke might be the one to restore the Uchiha name to its former glory by letting Sasuke take his life.
Orochimaru manipulated Sasuke into almost killing his own former teammates by convincing him that he only needed his own power to defeat Itachi.
Itachi manipulated Sasuke into killing him, so that Sasuke may finally find peace, except that Madara had to tell Sasuke the truth about the Uchiha Massacre and destroy all of Itachi's planning.
Madara manipulated Sasuke into joining Akatsuki and had him attack the Hachibi – thereby causing an international incident and the calling for a Kage Summit.
Sasuke was further manipulated into thinking that the Kage Summit was his best chance to avenge Itachi by killing Danzo, only to end up dragging the other Shinobi Nations into what would have been a quarrel between just Kumogakure and Konohagakure.
Manipulations, manipulations, manipulations!
And that was when Sakura's knees buckled and she fell onto all fours on the ground, alternating between dry-heaving and choked coughs. Kakashi was ready to bend down to comfort her, but Tsunade held him back, shaking her head subtly.
When Sakura finally spoke up, her voice was a mere whisper, "Sasuke lost his entire clan, Naruto lost his best friend, and now the entire world is at war… all because of a scheme within our own Nation?"
"Yes," Tsunade's reply was straight to the point and utterly professional; she did not want to inject any more emotions into an already volatile situation.
"Why are you telling me all these now, shishou?" The anger in Sakura's voice would have been more impressive if it had not been interrupted by her coughs.
Tsunade heaved a sigh, "Because I know you will find out eventually that Itachi was Naruto's informant, and I don't want you to go into battle with any doubts. Even if you are no longer interested in a future with Sasuke, I know you well enough to know that you still bear a grudge against Itachi for having taken your teammate away from you."
Sakura only had half a mind to notice the slightly raised eyebrows that Kakashi sent her way over the "future" comment that Tsunade made as he finally decided to ignore the Hokage's orders and help Sakura up anyway.
She was not quite a dead weight, but Sakura's limbs felt heavy and unresponsive when Kakashi helped her to her feet. Noticing this, Kakashi quietly moved her towards the chair and settled her down on it.
Tsunade took one look at Sakura's blank expression and said to no one in particular, "We should go brief Gai and Lee on the mission."
Sakura barely registered the soft click of the door as Kakashi and Tsunade left the room; left her mind to try and process everything she had learnt in the past ten minutes.
Gaara had been bothered by a sense of discomfort in his stomach since early that afternoon; he was quite certain that it was not a case of indigestion, as he had not consumed anything particularly out of the ordinary.
Still, he found his mind preoccupied by the unsettling feeling, and he had to force himself to finish his troops review with his ranking officers. If his men had noticed anything off about his demeanor, none of them mentioned it out loud.
Shikamaru, however, did give him a quizzical look as Gaara left for his tent. Gaara would not put it past his second-in-command to notice something amiss, given the amount of time that they had spent together discussing the war; he was the Regimental Leader, and he felt guilty for being distracted from his duties – it probably showed in his body language.
Still, he forced himself to walk on as if the only weight on his shoulders was that of the war; no more, no less.
What bothered Gaara more was how the sand cat dashed up to him the moment he entered the tent and began winding itself around his legs, purring a little too loudly for it to be calming – Mun usually ignored him and only ran to Sakura for attention.
This oddity, coupled with the uneasiness he felt, led to one immediate train of thought:
I need to see Sakura.
Gaara looked down at the sand cat just as it lifted its head, and he was startled by the brilliant green eyes that were gazing back at him.
They looked just like Sakura's eyes.
Gaara knew there and then what he had to do. Nodding to the sand cat, he lifted his hand to summon a cloud of sand and transported them both to the medic base. He tried to pinpoint his arrival to the source of Sakura's chakra signature, but it somehow eluded him.
So Gaara did the next best thing – he decided to look for someone who would know where Sakura was.
Abruptly, he transported them directly to the location of Shizune's chakra signature, which would explain why the frazzled brunette had shrieked in surprise and knocked over two piles of medical records when she suddenly found a redhead and a cat standing in front of her.
"Kazekage-sama!" Shizune took a moment to compose herself, "Can you please go through the proper clearance when you visit the medic base? We still have to worry about a possibility of enemy infiltration!"
"I apologise, Shizune-san, but I was trying to locate Haruno-san on the medic base and I could not find her chakra signature at all. Can you tell me where she is?" Gaara's tone was calm and professional to avoid further agitating the already angry head medic.
Which was probably why Shizune was still too undignified by the sudden intrusion to notice that Gaara's folded arms were held just a little too tightly.
"Sakura was called away to the War Council," came the clipped reply as Shizune began to pick up the files.
Gaara quickly moved over and started helping her as well – a gesture that was demeaning for a Kage – and Shizune would have protested if Gaara did not interrupt her by asking why Sakura was summoned.
"I'm afraid I'm not privy to that information, Kazekage-sama. She was summoned through Katsuyu-sama, and naturally I had to let her leave."
Gaara's hand paused and hovered over a file for a fraction of a second, then he picked up the file and stood up. He replaced it on the table and said his thanks to Shizune before walking out of her tent, the sand-cat close behind.
In itself, there was nothing unusual for Sakura to receive private summons from the War Council; she was one of the higher-ranking shinobis in the war, given her position as the Regimental Leader's personal medic.
What was unusual was the channel through which the summons came – a summon through Tsunade's slug meant that it was a direct order from the Hokage herself rather than a summons by the War Council members. That implied that Sakura had been called up for Konohagakure-related matters.
Or a secret mission.
This was a war – Sakura getting called away for a mission by her own Kage was not unheard of.
But it did not mean that Gaara liked the idea of it.
He was gone in another cloud of sand before more than a dozen shinobis had registered his presence at the medic base that day.
If it was not for the fact that the War Council building was fortified against all teleportation jutsus, Gaara would have chosen to arrive in the main hall. He arrived a short walking distance away from the building, and his sudden appearance startled the nearby patrolling shinobis – mostly because one moment they were looking at a stretch of empty road, and the next, there was a single man standing in front of them.
Well, one man and a cat.
"K… Kazekage-sama!" One shinobi recovered first, "We were not informed of your arrival!"
Gaara nodded to them, then said, "I'm here on my own accord. I understand my personal medic has been summoned by the War Council, and I wish to speak to her."
Unable to (and not stupid enough to) refuse the Kazekage, the patrolling shinobis ushered him towards the building, where some equally surprised sensor shinobis cleared him in a timeframe that Gaara deemed far too long.
He brisk-walked confidently towards the main hall, and the accompanying shinobis did their best to not appear to be struggling to keep up.
Tsunade was the first to recognise the approaching footfalls.
"Kazekage-sama?" Tsunade said aloud, and a moment later, said man appeared at the entrance of the main hall.
The accompanying shinobis bowed and discreetly slipped away to catch their breath.
Gaara had his arms folded behind him, and he held himself with all the nobility of a Kage. The effect was ruined, however, by the sight of the sand-cat circling Gaara while purring and brushing against his leg ever so often.
"Hokage-sama," Gaara bowed slightly to the woman, then turned to Lee, "Lee-san."
Lee snapped to attention and looked on the verge of saluting to Gaara when he replied, "Gaar… Kazekage-sama! This is most unexpected!"
Tsunade had earlier made it clear that no one else was likely to interrupt their mission briefing, as the Raikage was away in one of the other rooms going over some documents. The Intelligence Division was secluded away in another wing of the building, which should have given them sufficient privacy.
Clearly, Gaara's arrival was never accounted for, nor expected.
Squaring his shoulders, Gaara uttered almost tonelessly, "Where may I find Haruno-san?"
Everyone exchanged looks; Tsunade and Kakashi in particular were not keen on telling Gaara where Sakura was, as she might still be trying to cope with all the new information they had given her. To send Gaara to see a distraught Sakura would only make the situation messier than it already was.
Gaara, though, had already cast out his chakra to locate Sakura's unique signature, and within moment, he was marching towards the room where Kakakshi and Tsunade had left her.
Kakashi stepped in front of Gaara, a strange glint in his eyes as he looked down at the younger man. Oh, he had heard all the rumours about the Regimental Leader and his personal medic, and Kakashi was not someone to listen to idle gossip. But witnessing now the fierce determination in Gaara's eyes to reach Sakura, and noting the absence of his stony political mask, Kakashi had no trouble putting two-and-two together.
"Kazekage-sama," Kakashi said, "Sakura is indeed in that room, but I should tell you first that she might not want to receive any visitors now."
"I will take my chances, Hatake-san."
Seeing that there was no dissuading Gaara, Kakashi smoothly stepped aside to let him pass.
Gaara opened the door slightly and held onto the doorknob, just in case Sakura really did not want any visitors as Kakashi had implied. When no one yelled at him from inside or hurled any furniture at him, he decided that it was alright to enter the room.
Sakura's bright pink hair stood out against the stark dullness of the room, but that was not that only thing that caught Gaara's attention – her posture was somewhat slumped, and from her lack of reaction to his presence, he was wondering if she even knew that she was no longer alone in the room.
Gaara decided to test his assumptions by clearing his throat softly; Sakura practically leapt off her chair and onto her feet as if stung by a dozen hornets.
"Kazekage-sama! Forgive me for not noticing you sooner."
Of course she had to address him formally while the door was still open, so Gaara closed the door, and sealed it shut with his sand for good measure. It was a subtle gesture that did not escape Sakura's notice.
"There is a sound barrier, Gaara," Sakura felt as if she was stating the obvious.
"Is everything alright, Sakura?" Gaara asked a little too casually.
It was a calculated move on his part – Gaara knew that if his tone of voice did not match his words, it would always throw Sakura for a loop (more than it did to others, for some reason). He could clearly see that she was troubled by something, and the last thing he wanted was for her to try to hide it or worse, brush it off.
Sakura's eyes widened before she regained her calm, "I… What makes you say that, Gaara? Don't I look fine to you?"
Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow at her appearance – Sakura still had a haunted look in her eyes that betrayed whatever confidence she was trying to exude.
Knowing that their privacy was guarded, Gaara walked over to Sakura, slipped an arm around her waist, and in one deft move, sat down on the chair with Sakura now cradled on his lap.
It took Sakura a moment longer to realise what had just happened, but when she felt Gaara's hand curling around the back of her head and pressing her forehead against the crook of his neck, she did the one thing she did best: she turned as pink as the colour of her hair.
He was holding her like she was his most precious possession, and it scared Sakura a little.
"Sakura," Gaara's voice seemed to rumble from his chest, which Sakura had been subconsciously clinging onto, "I am scared."
Completely caught off guard by his words, Sakura pushed herself backwards so she could look at his face, and she was surprised by the knot of worry above the bridge of his nose.
"Why?" She whispered.
"I know you are going on a secret mission – Hokage-sama has assembled quite a team outside, and you are obviously going to join them as the compulsory medic-nin; that you are a kunoichi capable enough to be entrusted with a stealth mission only makes me more afraid for your safety," he looked into her eyes as he spoke, baring his soul through his words, "But I know I cannot hold you back from your duty to your Nation, so just promise me you will be safe."
Her duty to Konohagakure… her homeland which she had just learnt terrible secrets about…
It was all Sakura could do to not open the floodgates and tell Gaara everything that she had just learnt about her village and how her own people started the chain of events that had led to the Fourth Shinobi War – she was a Konohagakure kunoichi, and she had to guard the secrets of her village with her life. Tsunade had trusted her – a mere apprentice – with such terrible information that it could destroy the Alliance.
Sakura really did not want to think about that now – she needed all her wits around her for the upcoming mission.
"Gaara, you don't need to be afraid for me. I will be with my genin teacher, and I know my duty as a medic is to avoid harm to myself so I can provide ample assistance to my team," Sakura smiled gently, "I'm grateful for your concern, though. Very much so."
He pressed a kiss against her cheek, and whispered in her ear, "If the Kazekage does not care for his future Kazehime, then what sort of a man is he?"
There was no teasing tone in his voice at all – just pure, voracious honesty.
Sakura was the one to make the first move – her eyelids fluttered close as she angled her head towards Gaara's, and he understood the gesture immediately.
His lips were so warm against her own, as were his arms wrapped around her, holding her impossibly close. Sakura tried to suppress a gasp when Gaara's teeth grazed against her lower lip, but failed miserably. The sound she made was enough to give Gaara pause as he pulled back to study her, watchful for any signs of having hurt her.
"I… It's okay, Gaara," Sakura muttered, blushing, "I liked that."
It was all the encouragement he needed to dive back in and kiss her senseless; it was exactly what she needed.
When they finally stopped to calm their bodies down, Sakura pressed herself close to Gaara's chest once more, her fingers spread over his heart and letting the steady drumming soothe her. Gaara's long fingers were smoothing out Sakura's slightly messy hair, the gesture reassuring her along with his masculine presence.
"Sakura," Gaara looked down at her other hand that was clinging onto his sleeve, "Is something else bothering you?"
The answer was right there in the blazing green of her eyes, but Sakura could only look away after a heartbeat, shaking her head as she did so.
"I learnt something about our village today. Something terrible. I…"
Gaara quickly pressed a finger to her lips.
"Sakura, every shinobi village has its secrets and inner workings. That is the reason why the politically-sensitive scrolls are seen only by the eyes of a Kage. You do not have to tell me anything that you're not comfortable with sharing."
Shame filled Sakura's face – she had almost let slip the secrets that her Hokage had deemed her worthy of being entrusted with. But at the same time, she so very desperately wanted to talk to someone about them.
As if reading her mind, Gaara said, "You have many people who care for you, Sakura. Surely at least one of them knows of these matters and you can speak to them freely about it.
"I wish I could share your burden, but you know as well as I do that the secrets of a Hidden Village must be protected even at the cost of one's life. That is the pitfall of our relationship – we will always have some secrets we can never share with each other."
Sakura muttered against his clothes, "I wish it didn't have to be like that – holding secrets from each other. I want to tell you all my thoughts and let you make me forget everything."
Gaara was so surprised by her words that he almost let go of her, and Sakura would have landed in an ungainly heap on the floor. Fortunately, he quickly tightened his hold around her waist instead.
"I beg your pardon?" Gaara could feel heat rising in his cheeks.
Sakura was confused by his puzzlement, wore out as she was with her information overload, so it did not occur to her how suggestive her choice of words were until she had said them out loud.
"Oh, OH!" Sakura clapped her hands to her own cheeks and leaned backwards in horror, "Oh, stars, I didn't mean it that way! I meant, I wish I could un-learn what Tsunade-shishou had told me! I wasn't implying that I wanted… I mean, Gaara, you're attractive, but right now… oh, stars. Oh, stars!"
Gaara supposed an embarrassed, panicking Sakura was better than a gloomy one. His almost cocky smirk had Sakura's attention, and she was suddenly filled with a strange urge to smack it off his face.
"It's not funny, Gaara," she pouted.
"I agree that the circumstances for such activities isn't ideal right now," Alright, Gaara was definitely teasing her, "But these thoughts should help push aside your previous ones for the time being."
Sakura hated it when other people were right, but it was true – her mortification was so great now that she did not even want to think about Tsunade's earlier words; she simply wanted to get the idea of sex with Gaara out of her traitorous mind.
So she buried her face into Gaara's robes, and screamed with unbridled humiliation.
When she finally regained her breath, she looked up at Gaara, her face still red from her screaming fit, "Trust you to notice all my Freudian Slips."
Gaara smirked, and was about to reply when someone rapped at the door, almost too softly to be heard.
The sand jamming the door shut must have muffled the sound of the knocking, too.
"Sakura," it was Kakashi, "We are going to move out soon. Pack up and be ready to meet back here at 15:00 hour."
It was like a splash of cold reality on the two shinobis, and Gaara moved to help Sakura onto her feet.
Sakura wondered how much time had passed outside.
"I have one request, Sakura."
Sakura turned to Gaara, her head tilted in askance.
Gaara gestured to the sand-cat that was sleeping under the chair – Sakura had failed to notice Mr. Fluffly-kins all this while.
"Mr. Fluffly-kins!" She reached for the sand-cat, and it blinked sleepily at her before stretching lazily.
Cuddling the sand-cat to her chest, she prompted Gaara, "You were saying, Gaara?"
If the sand-cat was a mere animal, why was it looking so smug settled against Sakura's chest…?
Shaking that odd thought of out his head, Gaara replied, "I'd like you to take Mun with you on this mission. I understand that you and Mun have certain fighting tactics you use together, and Mun can also take the form of a shield to protect you if necessary."
Sakura wanted to protest, but she knew she was obligated to take the sand-cat with her; not only was Gaara correct about the sand-cat's ability to assist her in combat, she had also made him do the same thing when he went to battle against his father. It would give Gaara the same peace of mind that it gave her.
"Alright," she nodded, and placed the sand-cat on the floor, "I hope it's not a slight on my abilities as a kunoichi, Gaara."
The lilt, teasing tone in her voice made Gaara smile.
It was almost as if everything was alright once more.
"Mun," Gaara looked down at the sand-cat, "I am entrusting Sakura to you."
The sand-cat simply rubbed its face against Sakura's legs, purring.
Gaara supposed that was good enough an answer.
He then returned his attention to Sakura, "You should hurry back to our tent and pack."
"Of course."
What Sakura did not expect was for Gaara to close the distance between them to press a kiss to her cheek, entwining their fingers at the same time.
"Hurry back safely," he said, before moving to kiss her on her slightly parted lips.
Gaara did his best to ignore the loudly (and angrily) purring sand-cat that was trying to shove itself between Gaara and Sakura's legs.
Sakura's breathless reply was, "I will, Gaara. And please take care of yourself while I am away."
She automatically reached over to smooth our Gaara's clothes – her relentless gripping of his robes gave him a slightly disheveled look that was unbecoming of a Kazekage. Gaara in turn helped her by combing his fingers through her hair; he was not about to be accused of feeling her up, even if Sakura had been responsive to his touches so far.
"Shall we?" asked Gaara.
Sakura nodded, and stood back as Gaara withdrew the sand from the doorframe before walking out first. He was the Kazekage after all, and she ranked below him – it was only natural for her to let him leave the room first.
Tsunade took one look at the approaching duo, and her lips curled into a knowing smirk.
"Go and pack up, Sakura. As for your duties to the Regimental Leader as his personal medic, I am reassigning another medic-nin to him until your return."
Sakura could not help but feel a stab of jealousy, but she tried to keep that emotion out of her voice, "And who might that be, Tsunade-shishou?"
"You have summoned me, Hokage-sama?"
In walked a very familiar, sometimes annoying blonde medic-nin.
"Ino?" Sakura had to suppress the shudder of horror that ran through her; Ino was going to grill Gaara about their relationship – there was no doubt about that. And Gaara would simply be too polite to tell her off, although he would not share any information with Ino either.
"Hey, Forehead-girl! What are you doing here?" Ino chirpily waved.
Gaara had absolutely no clue as to why Sakura shot him such a pitying look.