"SAKURA-CHAN" Temari yelled. Sakura stirred and sat up in the bed. She looked at the alarm clock next to her. "Damn it" she cursed, hurrying into her usual attire; black tights and a short lavender dress without sleeves. She slipped in the necklace from Hatzuko and ran into the kitchen. "We had a difficult patient last night, she reacted badly to some medicine and we had to put her in an artificial coma for a while" she explained to the spikey-haired blonde as she fuzzed around the kitchen, making a breakfast-to-go. "Do you want me to postpone your first classes for a couple more days?" Inumi asked from the couch. "Thank you, but the sooner we start these lessons, the fewer mishaps we'll have at the hospital" Sakura said through a bite of toast, as she waved and headed out. A week and a half had been more than enough time to assess the abilities of the Suna medics, and it was certainly true that they needed some external help. Their methods weren't wrong, just outdated.
Outside the academy, Hatzuko was waiting for her. He gave her a quick tour of the building and led her to her classroom, where he introduced her to her first class. The medics in front of her were older than her. All of them. By the looks of it they weren't very fond of Hatzuko, and definitely not her. She had figured she'd be teaching students, so she hadn't thought of the older generations, who had already worked ass medics for years. "Any questions?" Hatzuko asked the class. Sakura realised she hadn't been paying attention to him as he spoke, and her stomach curled. An older man rose from where he was seated. "Are you really asking professional medics to be students to a little girl? You may be talented Hatzuko-san, but your arrogance has gone too far".
"You were ordered here by your Kazekage, were you not?" Sakura snapped at the man, taking him by surprise. "I am here on the request from your leader, to aid and educate you in a time of need, and this is how you treat your allies? I was sent by the Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade-hime, one of the legendary sanin, and the greatest medic and healer of our time. She appointed me, her apprentice, after I proved my worth as head medic at Konoha hospital. If you believe that I have nothing to teach you, sir, it is you who are ignorant. If so, leave, I have no desire to gain your approval". The silence was deafening, as Sakura stared down the older man. He finally seated himself with a scowl on his face. "Prove me wrong" he challenged. Sakura turned to Hatzuko, who was smiling brightly at her. "Thank you for the introduction, Hatzuko-san, I think we better get started" she smiled at him. "I'll be looking forward to joining one of your classes, but I must tend to the hospital for now" He said, and left her to it.
~This is going to be fun~ Sakura thought, as an assistant brought in an injured dessert fox, that had been found outside the village.
In the Kazekage office Gaara smirked. He had been curious about her first lesson, so he made sure that his sand-eye-jutsu was there so observe. And nothing humoured him more than seeing entitled old people being put in their place. He admired her as she made her speech. He had found himself very curious about the girl since her arrival, but wouldn't use excuses to learn more about the konoichi. A knock on the door brought him back to his office, as Inumi entered. "I've asked Sakura-san to join us for lunch, so she can report on her first lessons. I'm quite curious to hear how it went, aren't you?" she asked with a wink. Gaara dismissed his sister with a quick affirmation and wondered if she knew what he had been doing and if so, how? The girl still seemed alien to him at times, but he had to admit, it felt like she'd been missing, he just never realised.
They walked along the main street to the academy at lunchtime. Finding her in the last minutes of the class, the Kazekage and his secretary entered. The medics rose to pay their respects to their leader and Inumi went to talk to Sakura, who were finishing up the dessert fox, no injuries left. As the girls made to leave, Gaara spoke to the class; "I trust you have welcomed our honoured guest befittingly" he said as he cast an icy glance at the old man who had been rude. The man shrunk visibly and mumbled "one is never too old to learn from a colleague". With a satisfied smirk, Gaara left the room, followed by Inumi and a slightly blushing Sakura. Even though he was young, they certainly held their Kazekage in high respect. She blushed at being referred to as 'our honoured guest'. He had certainly learned some courtesies, although they didn't seem rehearsed or fake.
He was walking a couple of steps ahead of her, nodding to people paying him respects. She wondered if the kiss on her hand when she'd first arrived was just a simple courtesy. She blushed again and looked at him, as he greeted a family, asking if their house had been repaired after one of the attacks. He was quite handsome. He smiled politely as he wished them good fortune and continued down the street. She couldn't help but stare. ~What is up with this girl? ~ Gaara thought to himself as they went along. She had been staring at him for the longest time now, and it was becoming quite unnerving. He glanced at her shortly and saw her red cheeks and soft smile. What the hell was her deal?
They spent a good 40 minutes at a restaurant, before Sakura thanked them and went back to the hospital. Inumi excused herself to pay her foster family a visit and left Gaara to return to his office alone. Good thing too, his mind was fully occupied with deciphering this weird girl who kept stealing his attention and looking at him like that. He shrugged it off and returned to his duties.
When Sakura returned to the mansion late in the afternoon, the only one there was Kiba. "Oi, Sakura-chan, how was your first day of teaching?" he asked, and she told him about the rude old man, and how she'd made him eat his words by the end of the first day. "As expected, I guess he didn't know better… Akamaru and I have been joining Kankuros team and tracking down bandits. There was a few tough ones, but so far we haven't found any who could've dealt the damage to the city. Lee has been helping Temari-san with the city defence. You know Lee, he thinks the only answer to everything is more training" He chuckled.
"But actually I was waiting for you" he admitted, "I've been looking around the city for a good restaurant, so I had a nice place to take you when I asked you out, and I think I found the perfect one" he added with a wink. Suddenly dumbstruck, the only response she could form was a big question mark, written across her face. "I absolutely insist" he continued, "I promise I'll show you a good time. I'll be back to pick you up around 7". He rose from the couch, but stopped halfway, smirked, and planted a light kiss on her cheek, right by the corner of her mouth. Then he waved and left, as Sakura turned crimson from head to toe.
It was only a couple of minutes before Temari came home, finding Sakura completely flustered on the couch. "What happened, did you walk in on someone in the shower?" she asked kiddingly as Sakura almost started steaming. Sakura then told her of the events of a couple of minutes before, after which Temari grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the entrance under confused protests from Sakura. "Apparently you have a date tonight and nothing fit to wear for the occasion. We're going shopping" The blonde smirked at her, dragging her towards the inner city.
As they made their way from the Kazekage tower towards the mansion, Kankuro was reporting to Gaara about the bandits they'd found, and how none of them were the ones they were looking for. "I'll talk to Temari about increasing the village security further. I have a bad feeling about the attacks" Kankuro told him. Gaara agreed, there was something ominous about the whole thing. All of a sudden someone grabbed Kankuros arm. "You have to see this" Inumi said with the biggest grin. They gave each other a puzzled look and followed the giggling girl. She took them to a female clothes store and told them to stand behind a rack with some flowery dresses.
"Come on, let me see!" Temari ordered. Sakura reluctantly stepped out of the changing room in a short black skirt and a red top with a little too much cleavage showing. "I'm really not comfortable in this Temari" Sakura said as she looked in the mirror and tried to cover up her cleavage. Kankuro spluttered and Gaara shot Inumi a look that said 'What the hell'! "I thought you'd like to know" she grinned and joined the girls, leaving the guys still hidden. "Ah, there you are, Sakura has a date and we have to find something for her to wear" Temari informed her with a big smile. Kankuro, who'd been ogling at Sakura, suddenly had chills racing through his body. He slowly glanced at Gaara, only to find that he'd vanished. "Did he say where he was taking you?" Temari asked. "No" Sakura admitted. "He said that he'd been looking for the perfect place to take me, and now he found it". The crimson colour in her cheeks hadn't subsided since they left the mansion.
Gaaras room in the mansion was simple. A large bed with a nightstand, a desk with some official papers lying around, a wardrobe with his clothes, and a small table, couch and matching chair, placed by the glass door which lead to a balcony. He was sitting in the chair, leaning back, legs crossed, elbows on the armrests and his hands folded in front of his face. He was smouldering. Did this girls think she was on a vacation? She was in Suna for a purpose, not to enjoy that kind of frivolous activities. If she had that kind of time she should use it at the hospital, where she was useful. He grabbed an ornamental vase from the table and threw it against a wall, breaking it into a million tiny pieces. He strode over to the desk. He had more important things to worry about.
Kankuro sat on the couch downstairs when he heard the smash. ~Geez, he could at least try to be less obvious~ he thought to himself as he sat on the couch, waiting for the girls. He worried about the village, and what seemed like a calm before the storm, but now he had to deal with this too. At the same time he was a little proud of his kid brother. ~It's going to be great when he figures it out~ he thought with a grin across his face. Noises from the east wing grabbed his attention. Temari and Inumi came strolling out of the hallway with Sakura behind them.
Her hair was in a tall ponytail, with a few locks of hair framing her face. She wore a knee-length, dark blue cheongsam, with a pink embroidered flower pattern from her left shoulder to the right hip. A pair of sandals with a bit of heel finished it off nicely. She looked stunning.
She looked uncertain and was startled by a knock on the door. Temari went to get the door, and surely enough, Kiba was waiting outside. He strolled in, and started telling Sakura how beautiful she looked, until Temari shoved them out the door. "I have no intention of being a witness to that kind of sugary babble" she said waving her hand as if to dispel some kind of annoying insect. Outside the door Kiba chuckled and took Sakuras hand "Come on my lady, I'll lead the way". They strolled out the gates, talking about people back in Konoha and some of the things she'd missed out on, while she worked at the hospital. Gaara watched from his room as they left. His sand was moving around behind him, like an angry tail, while he was perfectly still. He flipped the couch table, and sat back down at the desk.
Kiba stayed true to his word; she really had fun. The town square had a little carnival with different games, ring tossing and throwing shuriken and such. Afterwards he took her to a restaurant on top of a building, with good food and a nice atmosphere. Of course they couldn't be that lucky, so in the middle of desert, an alarm went off. It was only sandstorm warning, but they made their way back towards the mansion, as the wind started blowing the sand around.
Suddenly Sakuras chest felt hot. The necklace from Hatzuko had started glowing, not burning her, but definitely grabbing her attention. "It was a nice evening Kiba, but they need me at the hospital" she said and started heading back towards the inner city. "Wait" Kiba said and grabbed her hand and headed towards a building for some cover. "I want to know if you'll let me take you out again" he asked. Sakura looked at him, "As much as I enjoyed myself, it just wasn't in the way you wanted. I'm sorry" She looked at him apologetically. Then he held her against the wall and kissed her. Taken by surprise, she pushed him away and walked towards the hospital. "I have to go!" she yelled. The wind was strong now, ripping the air out of her mouth. She heard Kiba yell something, but couldn't make it out. She decided to deal with him later.
As she reached the hospital, Hatzuko pulled her aside behind a wall as soon as she entered. Already agitated, she was ready to yell the living hell out of him, until he covered her mouth, and with an alert look pointed at three masked ninjas coming down the stairway. They were obviously hostiles. She knew they had to contact Gaara, but she didn't know how. She'd brought a small pouch, from which she drew a couple of needles, containing anaesthetics. Throwing them at her targets, she managed to paralyse them all. "We need to see if we can find out who they are" she told Hatzuko. They ran over and started inspecting the hostiles. It didn't take long before she sensed more coming. Hatzuko gave her a worried look, "We have to make sure the patients are safe". She nodded and headed upstairs.
Gaara and Kankuro were sitting in the couch, discussing the possible motive behind the attacks, and Temari and Inumi came running when they heard the doors to the living room burst open as Lee marched in. "Has Sakura-san returned" he demanded. "Not yet, but why should she, she's out" Temari said, crossing her arms. "I did not know that she'd gone out with Kiba!" he started, "I only learned it when he came home, said he kissed her and got rejected, before she ran back into the city!" he practically yelled. Temari ran to the window, "It's not safe to be outside at this point, even for her" she fussed, getting her fan. "You're not used to the sandstorms, stay here with Inumi" Kankuro ordered as he got ready as well. Gaara was already headed out. He only stopped to hear Lee tell, that Kiba mentioned her necklace glowing. Before his siblings were ready, he's already left.
At the hospital Sakura had engaged several hostiles. She and Hatzuko had been moving around, gathering the patients in the cafeteria so no one would be taken hostage. Now she just had to defend them until someone noticed the commotion. ~It will be hard with the storm outside~ she thought. Hatzuko had erected a protective barrier around the patients, but she still couldn't use her full strength without levelling the entire hospital and endangering the people. The limitations had made her vulnerable, and she'd taken quite a few hits. As one of the assailants went for the civilians, Sakura deflected his attack, but as a result received a blow to her side with a chakra-infused katana. She punched her attacker through a wall and trapped another in a genjutsu, while engaging in hand to hand combat with three others. Barely managing to keep them at bay, she cursed under her breath when three others showed up, forcing her to the limit. Her sight was growing hazy as she lost blood from the deep gash in her side, but she refused to give up. These people were depending on her. Though she was clear in her resolve, her body was failing her. Right then the windows broke and sand was thrown in with the powerful gushes of wind. She snapped the neck of one of the hostiles as he was distracted, but lost her footing and got knocked in the ground by the guy next to him. He stood over her with a hellish grin, grabbed her injured side, making her cry out in pain. Then he took his bloody hand and smeared it across his face, before raising at katana to strike her.
And then he was gone. Through the pain and blood loss she could barely make out his red hair and pale skin. But when he picked her up, she saw his eyes and stopped fighting the pain. Before the darkness engulfed her, she placed a hand on his cheek and smiled.