Chapter 7

Her heart was thrumming in her chest, beating out an erratic rhythm better suited for hard metal music. Her breaths came out in silent gasps, and her body shook. The side of her face where he had trailed his skin against hers to her ear, burned. Her thighs, were his knees had rested, tingled in such a way that she couldn't decide if it caused irratation or a strange sense of satisfaction and pleasure. All of this he had caused her. She hated him for it.

Their session would be soon, and she had been in this state since she had stepped out of his room and into the hall. No matter how hard she tried to get over it, a mild hinderance in her path, she couldn't. It was like it was forever stained in her mind, everpresent. She could almost feel him against her still, and she didn't know what to do.

She tapped her fingers on the folder that was resting on the surface of the table of the room. Sitting in the 'therapy' room, she had tried her best to compose herself. It wasn't really going the way she tought. She shouldn't feel like this, she knew, and she couldn't figure out why she did. She just. . .did. It was there, and she didn't know how to handle it. Hell, how would she handle feeling like this when a mental patient had caused it.

'What if i'm the sane one, and your sanity was lost the moment you stepped into this place.'

His voice rang clear in her head, over and over like a broken record. The pinkette's body stilled, for the first time in forty minutes, and she gazed blankly at her hand resting on the folder. Her mind slowly wrapped around his words, twisting them and turning them over. Shaking them, trying to find a hidden meaning, though she knew there wasn't one.

He could be right, she thought, I could be insane. We could all be insane, and him be the only one with his sanity in check and balanced. We could all be the mentally ill, while he is the sanest one in this facility.

A bewildered laugh escaped her lips, and she glanced out the window. The rain that hadn't stopped all day, was now a steady drizzle and misted onto the glass panes. She wasn't insane. She wasn't crazy. If she was, she would be here in this prison. This hell. Instead he was. Though he wouldn't be for long, she confirmed in her head. She was going to help him.

She could hear his padded footsteps coming down the hall, and she did her best to compose herself. The last thing she needed was to give him the satisfaction of seeing her so flustered...because of him. And maybe that was what he was looking for. It was plausible that he wanted her to brake under him. Arrogant bastard. She would not give in. She refused.

Forcing a grin on her face, Sakura watched as the red-head stepped into the room. He had his hands stuffed into the pockets of the black hoodie he wore, and his jeans were slightly faded at the knees. His dark shoes made no noise as he walked quietly to the table and took a seat across from the pinkette.

"Well," she started in a serious voice. "Would you like to talk today, or should I start?"

"I have nothing to say." he sneered at her.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh I have no doubt." she muttered.

He merely smirked.

Sighing, she folded her arms on the tabletop and lowered her head to rest on them. "Fine, I'll start. Feel free to jump in at anytime." she said sarcastically.

Snorting at her, he leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs out under the table. He stared expectantly at her, waiting for her to begin her inane chatter that didn't do anything but fill up their thirty minute session.

"I was thinking about your file." she started. The truth was, she really hadn't thought about his file. Though she was curious. Maybe if she said the right things, he would answer her questions. "I read up on the little bit of information they have of your family."

"I have no family." he intercepted. His voice bitter.

She gave no indication she heard him, and continued. "From what I read, it says your siblings will be visiting in two weeks. For your birthday. I thought maybe we could take them out for lunch, and get Tsunade to agree on letting you out of the facility for a few hours."

He didn't speak, but continued to glare at her.

"Alright, we won't talk about Temari and Kankurou. How about we talk about Shukaku?"

When he didn't speak, she sighed and spoke in a irritated tone. "Why do you believe that he reminded you of yourself? Is it because he was abandoned? Or that he was a feral beast that no one wanted."

The reaction she recieved was odd to say the least. He barked out a laugh, one that shook her to the core and gave her a feral grin.

"Think about that Haruno. Link together what you just said about Shukaku to myself, and what do you get?" his voice was amused and menacing.

The pinkette in question thought for a moment. The dog was abandoned, and unwanted. Gaara was left at the institute as a child, and then never saw any family members until his siblings were old enough to visit him on their own. Abandoned, neglected, unloved, ignored.

"Oh." she breathed as she understood his implications. Of course he believed they were alike. The dog was a mutt that no one cared if it lived or died. Gaara was dumped at an instution without a second thought. "Oh." she said again with sympathy in her voice.

"I'm guessing you want to know also why I came back here covered in blood my first day, am I right?" his grin stretched.

Sakura gulped, but nodded at him. Of course she wanted to know that. It had been her number one question, but she didn't want to upset the small set of balance she had so far. Would he really answer that though? What if it was something dark? Something that he had done?

He stood from his chair, and Sakura immediatly followed after, not really sure why. He crossed over to her side of the table and leaned down into her personal space. She froze, unable to move again. Her heart raced in her chest, and the blood running through her viens turned to ice. Her frame trembled as he pressed himself against her, his mouth by her ear.

"Because I'm unstable." he whispered hotly in her ear.

His voice caused many responses. The urge to bolt. The want to cower away. The curiousness behind his words. The itch to hear him say those words again. The need to run her fingers over his face. The ache to feel his warm breath on her skin once more. And the sensation of a tingling anticapation in the pit of her stomach.

Why? She didn't know. It was odd the way he did this. Completely different from before in his room where these feelings were muddled, but now were clearer and more demanding. Her body's immediate reaction to these feelings were to press herself closer and let instinct take over. But her mind knew that she couldn't. Couldn't because of what he said. Unstable. Couldn't because he was her patient. Couldn't because it was wrong. Couldn't because she was confused about feeling this way.

His low chuckle vibrated through her, and brought her back to the present. He leaned away from her and turned to leave for the door.

"Good-bye Sakura."

She remained frozen for a few more seconds before she finally was able to move. Automatically, she reached for the folder on her desk, and walked to the door still in a daze. Normally, she would leave after the session, but today she was starting Gaara on the medicine.

Heading toward Tsunade's office for the supplies, she slowly came out of her shock and became the determind doctor working to cure her patient. Though this doctor was confused and startled, she still had a job to do.