Chapter 17 – It's Decided

"So you're the girl who's supposedly on her way to surpassing me, eh?"

All Sakura was capable of doing was staring at the blonde.

It wasn't her father like she had been expecting it to be. Instead, it was the last person Sakura expected: Senju Tsunade. The legend of the medicine world. Somebody who was known to be greatly skilled.

She was a lot younger than Sakura was expecting her to be. Well, appearance-wise she was. There was no telling how old Tsunade truly was and it would be incredibly rude of her to ask. However, going off of her looks, Sakura would guess that she was around thirty.

Her blonde hair was long, reaching her waist and was pulled back into two loose ponytails that fell against her neck. It framed her sharp, yet beautiful features and somehow seemed to make her honey brown eyes more stunning than what they already appeared to be. It was clear that Tsunade was wearing quite a bit of makeup, too.

Sakura had given up on wearing her makeup in Suna unless it was at night (which there was no point, since she never went out) because she always ended up sweating too much and making it run. On her first day, she had had to wash it all off because she'd looked so ridiculous. The only benefit of not being able to wear any was that she was saving so much money. Not only that, but her skin was much clearer now. Constantly drinking water helped with that, too.

"Um…"

"Tsunade," Chiyo muttered and shut the door behind them with a harsh bang. "You're being too intimidating with her."

"Too intimidating?" she repeated, her honey brown eyes narrowing. "This girl is apparently on her way to surpassing me, Chiyo-baasama. If that's true, then she needs to toughen up."

After reading and hearing many stories about Senju Tsunade, Sakura had discovered that she was a strict woman who took absolutely no shit. She'd reduced seemingly unbreakable, tough guys to tears with her bad temper and harsh, blunt words. But still… Sakura found her presence to be suffocating. There was something about her that warned Sakura not to piss Tsunade off. Was this how others felt around herself? Sakura hoped not. The last thing she wanted was to make anybody feel this inferior and weak!

Just when Chiyo was about to speak, Tsunade silenced her by simply raising her hand and looking at Sakura expectantly. "What's your name?"

"Haruno Sakura."

"Oh, so you can speak."

She blushed. "Yes, Tsunade-sama."

Chiyo burst into laughter. "There is no need to add that suffix to a woman like her, Sakura."

Oh no. Was she about to be caught up in an argument? Was Tsunade going to rise to the bait that was dangling in front of her? Sakura seriously hoped not. If she disagreed with Tsunade, then she would offend and disappoint one of her greatest idols and role models. And if she disagreed with Chiyo, there was the chance of pissing her boss off, which could either make working with her unpleasant, or could lead to her firing her. Not that Sakura thought Chiyo was that kind of person, but there was no true way of knowing, was there?

Much to her relief, Tsunade did not take the bait and instead kept her eyes on Sakura, watching her curiously. The fact that she was ignoring Chiyo was a bigger insult than anything she could have possibly said to the old woman, in Sakura's eyes. It meant that the blonde classed her as unimportant, that she wasn't even worth the time of thinking of a reply.

"You're here until the end of summer."

Not to look like an idiot like she had earlier, Sakura quickly responded, "Yes, Tsunade-sama."

"It looks like I am, too, then."

What?

"What?" Chiyo demanded.

"Well I can't let the girl who's supposedly surpassing me slip through my fingers, can I?" Tsunade rolled her eyes and sat back down, ignoring Chiyo's angered expression when she kicked her feet up onto the desk. "I want to keep an eye on you, Haruno Sakura. To make sure you receive the correct lessons, if nothing else. But I also want to guide you."

Sakura found herself holding her breath, her heart swelling with an insane amount of hope in her chest. It felt like she was about to explode with happiness, with excitement. Did this mean what she thought it meant? Was Tsunade really…?

The blonde narrowed her eyes, giving Sakura a confident smirk. "I want to make you my apprentice."

She was surprised she didn't pull a Hinata and faint right there.

When she had met Sasuke's family, Sakura had told them that she would ask Tsunade to become her shishou, to teach her everything she knew and to guide her. But… She hadn't even asked. Tsunade had been the one to make the request. There were no words to describe how ecstatic that made her.

"I–" Sakura cut herself off and shook her head. "I don't know what to say."

"Say 'yes'." Her cocky smirk widened. "If you do, you will complete your summer programme here and Chiyo-baasama will still be your mentor. However, once the summer is over, you will be returning to Konoha with me and you will study under me."

Returning to Konoha. She could be with her friends and family again. With Sasuke. "College–"

The older woman cut her off with a dismissive wave. "If I told them that I want to teach a few classes here and there, they're hardly going to decline, are they? They would be thrilled to have me teaching their students. However." Honey brown eyes narrowed a fraction and Tsunade leaned forward. "Just know that I'm going to push you much harder than you've ever been pushed before. Not only will you be in college, but you will also shadow me from time to time at the hospital. If I was informed correctly, then you're already on your way to surpassing me. I want to make sure that does happen and I want to be the one in charge of teaching you everything I know and more."

"B-But why? Why do you want me to surpass you?"

The serious look left her features and Tsunade offered her a gentle smile. "I'm not going to be around forever, unlike that old hag over there. And when I die, I want to make sure I've passed on all of my knowledge to somebody who has a great amount of potential, somebody who can be even greater than I am."

A hand was suddenly on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. "You have a friend in Suna, don't you? That red haired boy?"

Gaara had walked her to and from the hospital several times, so Chiyo had caught sight of him more than once. "Yeah."

"Go and spend the day with him and think all of this over carefully. I'm sure Tsunade will understand if you don't want to accept her apprenticeship. It will be very stressful and demanding, just like she is."

Oh, that was a sly dig, Sakura thought with an inward smirk. It was also payback for the 'old hag' comment, she realised.

So not only was she going to become Tsunade's apprentice (because there wasn't a chance in hell that she would turn an offer like that down), but she also had the day off. Sakura could hardly believe her luck. It was like as soon as she hung up the phone last night, everything had suddenly gone back to going right for her. Maybe Sasuke was her good luck charm? Sakura bit back her grin. She couldn't wait to tell everyone!

"Oh, and another thing, Sakura." She quickly looked up at Tsunade, listening intently. "Under my apprenticeship, you will be paid for all hours you work in the hospital. This does not include time spent at college."

Things were just getting better and better. "Yes, Tsunade-sama."

"Yes?"

"I accept your apprenticeship!"

The blonde returned her smile, looking very proud. "Good. Now, go and do as Chiyo-baasama requested and take the day off. Go out and act like a kid for a while."

That sounded perfect.

She wasn't the only one in high spirits.

"We're celebrating!"

Did they already know? Sakura opened her mouth to question her as Temari dragged her into the living room, but just as they entered the room, she saw a large envelope sitting on the coffee table and she easily recognised it.

"Gaara–"

He smirked at her. "I'm coming back to Konoha."

She made a mental note to speak with Sasuke every night now, because clearly, he was definitely her good luck charm. "So am I!"

"You are? What about the hospital here?"

"Tsunade-sama…"

Sakura shook her head, still unable to believe everything that happened and once she managed to calm herself, she told the three siblings everything that had just happened back at the hospital. She told them about her apprenticeship and how Tsunade wished to pass on all of her knowledge. And by the end of it, Temari was grabbing drinks out of the refrigerator, despite it only being noon, and passing them along to them all.

Things were looking so much better for them, but Sakura found herself feeling even happier for Gaara. He was smiling, truly smiling and for the first time since she arrived in Suna, he looked hopeful and excited and just… So happy. And what made it all better was that they'd both be in Konoha in the fall, along with Naruto and Hinata and Lee and–

Sasuke.

He still had to make his own choice.

Clinking her glass with the others, Sakura bit the inside of her cheek and did her best to continue smiling. What would Sasuke choose to do? She didn't want to change his mind in any way, but at the same time, she was hoping that he would stay in Konoha with her. Was that selfish? Oto and Kumo were both so much further from Konoha than Suna was.

But… She sighed. If Sasuke decided to go to Kumo or Oto, then they would find a way to make it work. That was what she kept telling herself. However, all Sakura could really think about was how she felt being away from him for so long – and it had only been a month and a half. They would go even longer without seeing each other if he went to the colleges in Kumo or Oto.

"I need to go and call my mom," Sakura told them with a smile, placing down her glass and going upstairs.

It was true that she wanted to tell her mother about the news, but she wasn't the only person. And Sakura found herself rushing the conversation with her mother over video chat, excitedly telling her about meeting Tsunade and the woman's generous offer, to which Mebuki began squealing and crying, telling her over and over again that she was so happy for her and had never felt more proud of her daughter. Not only that, but she was glad Sakura would be returning to Konoha and studying there, because it got so lonely at the apartment without her. Smiling sadly, she ended the video chat and looked for the next name, surprised to already find him online.

"Hey."

When his camera connected, Sakura couldn't help but smirk at his tired expression. It looked as though Sasuke had stayed up all night, most likely playing the game that had come out recently. That would also explain why he was online when it would be quite early in the morning in Konoha.

"Sakura."

She chuckled. "Did you stay up all night?" He nodded tiredly, rubbing his eyes. "You look exhausted."

"I am." Then, Sasuke glanced away, checking the clock before looking back to her. "Aren't you supposed to be at the hospital?"

"About that…"

And as Sakura shared the news with Sasuke, she watched as the tiredness slipped away from him like sand in an hourglass. He sat up slowly and placed his laptop down in front of him, watching her features with wide eyes and when Sakura finished her story, Sasuke was smirking at her.

"I'm proud of you, Sakura."

The words had her grinning. "I'm still in shock."

"At least you'll be coming home and staying here," he murmured, looking genuinely happy about the news. "I–"

"I don't want my choice to change yours, Sasuke," Sakura told him seriously as she cut him off. "I don't want you to throw away any opportunities for me. You've been… so supportive about Suna and the hospital and… I want to do the same for you. Which is why… If you do decide to go to Kumo or Oto, I… I understand." It hurt so much to say the words, but Sakura knew that they needed to be said. "I don't want to hold you back–"

"You could never hold me back," Sasuke muttered in reply, his voice low and slow in a clear show of his exhaustion returning. "And I was just about to tell you that I won't be attending the college in Oto. My father did some more research and made me sit through an hour long lecture last night. There's some pretty disgusting crimes going on in Oto and he doesn't want me to get caught up in them."

So Oto was scratched off the list. Secretly, Sakura released a sigh of relief. All that was left was to decide between Konoha and Kumo, then. It was kind of annoying that Fugaku was making the decision for him, but she knew that Sasuke didn't mind entirely. His father was only looking out for him and wanted to make sure he would be safe. If Oto was too dangerous to be in? Then Sasuke would understand that and for the sake of not only keeping himself safe, but to make sure he didn't upset his family or cause them any pain, he would not go to Oto.

"Well, whatever you choose, I'm going to support you just like you've supported me. And if you go to Kumo, then I'm sure we can try a long distance relationship, right?"

There was reluctance in his eyes and she understood it so clearly that it hurt. Neither of them wanted to have a long distance relationship, they wanted to be by each other's side. Eventually, however, Sasuke nodded.

"I'm going to look more into it and if I haven't made the decision within a week, my father will be taking me to the college to have a look around."

That sounded fair. That way, Sasuke would be able to decide whether or not he wanted to be there. Speaking of a week's time…

"It's your birthday next week." She gave him a small smile. "I wish I was there with you."

He returned her smile. "I know."

"I'll make it up to you when I come home," she told him earnestly, trying her best to smile.

In response to her words, Sasuke smirked and raised an eyebrow. "How would you do that?"

Sakura couldn't help but laugh. "You need to sleep, pervert. I'll be online again tonight, so we can talk then."

Again, there was reluctance in his eyes, but his exhaustion won him over and Sasuke nodded, muttering his goodbyes and promises to speak again later that day. Shutting down her laptop, Sakura sighed and fell backwards so that she was laying on her back and staring up at the ceiling.

"You're upset."

The voice startled her, though she didn't sit up and instead only looked at Gaara as he pushed her door open and entered the room, laying down beside her on the bed. There was silence for a few minutes as they watched the ceiling together, like it was the most fascinating thing they'd ever seen, before Sakura finally replied, murmuring, "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy. Really, I am. It's just…" She sighed again. "I miss them all so much."

There was no vocal reply but she could see out of the corner of her eye that Gaara was listening and that he agreed with a single nod.

"I feel like I'm missing out."

"Why?" He frowned and turned his head to the side, watching the side of her face even though she continued to stare at the ceiling.

Sakura shook her head. "Most girls my age go to parties and hang out all the time with friends. They go to the cinema, to the park or to the mall! They go camping during the summer and they go on holidays with their families. What am I doing? I'm throwing away my childhood, my teenage years, to dive head first into adulthood."

That was the first thing Gaara had thought when Sakura told him the news of coming to Suna: she was throwing away her teenage years to become an adult. However, because it was something she'd truly wanted and he knew how important it was to her, Gaara had supported her. He'd told her what to expect of Suna, what their traditions were. Perhaps that was a mistake? Perhaps he should have told her to stay in Konoha? He shook his head and sighed. "Don't see it that way, Sakura. What you're doing, it… It's something you've always wanted to do."

"It's Sasuke's birthday next week."

Well, that was random.

"It's my boyfriend's birthday and I'm not even going to be there to wish him a happy birthday. I'm not going to be there to give him his gift. For my birthday, he went above and beyond to make it a great day since it was my eighteenth." Sakura looked over at him and there was a crease between her eyebrows, one that made her pain obvious. "It makes me feel so selfish."

Again, Gaara sighed. What could he possibly say in reply? No, she wasn't being selfish. It just went to prove how much the Uchiha had changed since he last met him. "Is that what all of this is about?" he questioned with a frown. "You don't want to be at Suna's hospital anymore because you're going to miss Uchiha's birthday?"

She shook her head. "No, it's–"

"He wouldn't care about that," Gaara muttered, facing the ceiling once more. "Despite the fact I don't like him, I know Uchiha – or at least, I know part of him. He is a proud person, Sakura and in a way, I suppose he is honourable. Uchiha would want you to stay here and complete the summer programme because he knows how much it means to you. So what if you miss his birthday? There will be plenty in the future." Unless he managed to piss Gaara off, of course. With another sigh, he reached out and took Sakura's hand, giving it a soft squeeze. "So far in your relationship, you said that he's gone out of his way to make you happy. This is just another thing he will sacrifice."

Tears filled her eyes and Sakura tightened her hold on his hand. "Sasuke shouldn't be the only one sacrificing things."

"Perhaps not," he agreed. "You just have to find a balance."

He always knew how to cheer her up or how to comfort her. Sakura smiled tiredly and felt extremely grateful for Gaara's presence. Whereas it intimidated others, it comforted her greatly and made Sakura feel like she could be herself around him. It made her feel like it was an honour to be his friend, because Gaara accepted very few people. Just knowing that he'd accepted her…

She smiled again. "What would I do without you?"

Unsurprisingly, Gaara smirked. "Nothing. You would be too devastated and hopeless to function without me."

That was probably true, in a way. Whenever she was down, he picked her up. Whenever she needed a friend, even though he was miles away, he was there. "I'm so glad you're coming back to Konoha."

"Me too."

"No fighting with Sasuke."

There was a pause, one that he dragged out deliberately and when Sakura glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow, he smirked once more. "I suppose I can restrain myself."

"If not, I'll be more than happy to help."

Another pause. The last time she had restrained him, Sakura had almost broken his wrist as well as his nose. He would rather that didn't happen again. "…I can restrain myself."

She grinned wickedly.

A week flew by quicker than Sakura even thought possible, but that was probably because she just wasn't looking forward to Sasuke's birthday. How could she when she wasn't there to celebrate it with him? Everyone tried their best to cheer her up and when Sakura spoke with Sasuke, he tried to cheer her up, too. The only good thing about being so far away from him was that Sasuke couldn't tell when her smiles were fake.

It broke her heart.

Right at that moment in time, she knew that her boyfriend would be in Kumo. It was because of that fact that they hadn't spoken much. The only way they could speak was through a phone call and the time difference was too great between Suna and Kumo. One time, he had tried to call Sakura and she was fast asleep. Another time, just before he went to bed, and she was at the hospital. It was beginning to stress her out, though Sakura tried her hardest not to focus on it.

At Gaara's insistence, nobody in Konoha knew about his eventual return. It shocked her (though soon brought a smile to her face), but he wanted to surprise his friends and see their reactions for himself.

He would be staying in Suna for the rest of summer with her but while Sakura was at the hospital, he was preparing and packing. There wasn't much that he wanted to take to Konoha and he was buying furniture when he was there, so all that was really needed to pack were his clothes, books and other personal items. As well as that, Gaara would be setting up a place to live.

Fortunately, there were always apartments available in her building and if he was lucky, then Gaara could possibly even have the one next to Lee's. The last tenants had to move because they grew tired of listening to him working out all of the time. At first, they thought that he'd had a lady friend over, what with all the grunting and panting and whatnot. Oh, their shock when they went by his window one morning and saw him doing upside down push ups was amazing.

All of the furniture planning would be left to Temari, who was buying the furniture online and having it delivered to his new apartment closer to the move in day. And Sakura found herself feeling so excited for Gaara, because this was exactly what he needed. He needed to get out of Suna and be around his friends once more.

Being at the hospital allowed her to partly forget her struggle with speaking to Sasuke and it took her mind off everything that was bothering her. Sure, her jobs weren't exciting and most of the time, Sakura simply watched Chiyo treating patients, but that was beside the point.

As well as that, Tsunade was working at the hospital until the summer was over and while she was working there, she was also watching over Sakura. That much, the girl was sure of. Why Tsunade felt the need to watch her watching Chiyo, she'd never know. Perhaps the blonde was watching her reactions? Seeing how she spoke to patients or treated them? Sakura hoped she was making a good impression, though not making it seem forced.

"You know," Sakura said conversationally as she and Gaara made their way back to the hospital, "it's been well over a month now and I haven't seen your friend once."

"Friend," he scoffed, like the word was a joke. "She is not my friend."

"But she does follow you around."

"Yes."

"Then where is she?"

Gaara sighed and looked behind himself, trying to see if he could spot Matsuri, but it was much too busy in the streets and most people had the same hair colour as her, so she didn't stand out like he and Sakura did. "I don't know."

Sipping her water, she glanced up at him. Since it was her lunch break, Gaara treated her to lunch like he did most days. Sometimes she tried to pay, too, but he always rolled his eyes and paid anyway, telling her to keep her money.

He knew about the financial difficulties at home and he wasn't hesitant about mentioning them. In fact, Gaara was always telling her to save her money and if she wanted to spend it that badly, then she should give it back to her mother, who could then buy something they needed. He, on the other hand, had more money than he could spend thanks to the large inheritance that he finally received after turning eighteen.

It was during childbirth that the Sabaku siblings lost their mother and fourteen years later, their father had also passed away. That was just before they moved back to Suna – it was the reason why they moved back to Suna. To take care of him until he eventually died. It was some kind of terminal illness, but she'd never really asked much about it because even though he appeared uncaring, Sakura knew it bothered Gaara. He didn't like speaking of it or his father.

After their father's death, both Temari and Kankuro wanted to stay in Suna, to feel closer to him and unfortunately, due to being under eighteen Gaara could not argue so had no choice but to stay in Suna, too. And Sakura knew that the older siblings felt bad about it now that they realised staying there affected him, which was why they were so happy about Gaara being accepted to Konoha's college. He had a life in Konoha.

"Do you think she'll miss you?" She nudged his arm with her elbow, giving him a small smile. "Or will you miss her?"

"I–"

"Gaara-sama!"

Sakura frowned at the voice and her frown only deepened at the added suffix. Sama? Really? Were they seriously going down that road again? As if it wasn't bad enough that Sasuke's fan-girls called him 'Sasuke-sama', but it seemed Gaara's admirer also called him 'Gaara-sama'. Why? What was so wrong about '–kun' nowadays? Did it not show enough affection?

"I told you to stop calling me that."

There was no friendliness in his tone or features as Gaara spoke to the girl, completely unlike how he spoke with Sakura and she found herself feeling rather surprised. Well, she shouldn't really because that was how he spoke to everyone he didn't know well, but still.

The girl standing in front of them was short with mousy brown hair and dark eyes. It bothered Sakura how those eyes never met her own, how they stayed locked on Gaara's in an unfaltering, tender stare. Didn't she realise how creepy that looked? Oh Gods, did she stare at Sasuke like that? Sakura seriously hoped not. She didn't want to freak her own boyfriend out, after all.

"This is Sakura," Gaara told the girl before she could say anything. "Sakura, this is Matsuri."

Finally, dark eyes snapped to green and Sakura could have sworn hatred flashed in them. Why would she hate her? It wasn't like she and Gaara were dating. And Matsuri didn't even know her. Damn it. It pissed Sakura off so much when fan-girls did things like that, when they hated their idol's friends or possible love interests or whatever. Sasuke's were just as bad!

"Hey." Sakura offered her a smile.

When she returned it, Matsuri's was forced. "Hi." Then, her eyes shifted back to Gaara's. "Are you doing anything tonight, Gaara-sama?"

His hand twitched ever so slightly as she once again added the suffix. "Yes."

"What about tomorrow?"

"Busy."

"The day after?"

"Busy."

Sakura wanted nothing more than to punch her best friend and tell him to just tell Matsuri he wasn't interested, because it was beginning to annoy the hell out her simply standing around listening to their conversation. It was awkward and uncomfortable and embarrassing for all of them, but Matsuri the most and Sakura found herself feeling so sorry for her.

"Well…" Matsuri frowned but then smiled once more. "What are you doing? Maybe I could join you?"

"I am preparing for my move."

Oh no…

He wasn't going to…

"You're moving?" she questioned softly, tilting her head to the side. "Where?"

He was, wasn't he?

"Konoha."

Damn it. That boy could be so clueless and heartless at times. And her pity for Matsuri only grew as Sakura watched her heart breaking.

"Konoha…" Tears filled her eyes. "But that's… That's so far away!"

"I know."

Sakura frowned up at him. "Gaara…"

Couldn't he be just a little more sensitive? Yes, Sakura understood that he was probably sick and tired of having Matsuri following him around and yes, she understood that he probably couldn't wait to see the back of her, but… But Sakura also knew how it felt to have the one you admired turning against you. She knew what it felt like to having your heart broken.

"It is the only way to make her understand."

She shook her head. "You… You kept saying you didn't want me to go back to Sasuke because of the way he hurt me, because it was unforgivable the way he hurt me." Sakura gestured to Matsuri with a pained expression. "Look at what you're doing to her, Gaara. How is this any different?"

Her words had him tensing, had his icy blue eyes widening a fraction. That was what she had meant previously by saying she cleared his head. Gaara helped her to understand what she was doing wrong, but the same went for her, too. Sakura made him stop and listen, made him see and understand that he wasn't right, or what he was doing wasn't right.

After a long pause, Gaara shut his eyes and lowered his head a fraction. "I'm sorry, Matsuri."

The girl sobbed in response and made the mistake of reaching out to him, trying to hold him, effectively making him tense and take a half step backwards. The moment she realised she'd done the wrong thing, however, Matsuri dropped her arms to her sides. "Please don't go, Gaara-sama! We can be happy here. Together!"

His patience was slipping and he hadn't much of it in the first place. "I don't return your feelings."

"You can learn to love what's good for you!"

"Being in Suna is not good for me."

"Then I can come to Konoha with you once I've finished at the ho–"

"Enough," Sakura couldn't help but snap, suddenly realising why Gaara had been so blunt with the girl. She just didn't understand, did she? "Matsuri-san, I'm sorry, but Gaara isn't looking for any romantic attachments right now. He hasn't been himself lately and being here is partly to blame."

Matsuri shook her head, refusing to look at Sakura. "I can make it all go away!"

"You can't," Gaara snarled, his anger rising rapidly. "I have tried to be kind to you, Matsuri. I have made it known that your feelings aren't returned. I don't feel anything for you. More than once, when you have seemed down and lonely, I have spent time with you because I know how that feels." He shook his head, looking annoyed with himself more than her. "Perhaps I was wrong for trying to comfort you because it seems I have been doing nothing but leading you on. Your fantasies will never come true, Matsuri."

Wait, fantasies? Feeling down? Why did all of this suddenly feel like so much more was going on? And her crush on Gaara was hardly healthy, was it? The girl was willing to throw everyone and everything away to be with him. She was willing to run away to another country! That–

"There she is!"

Dark eyes widened but just as she was about to run, Gaara grabbed her wrist and refused to let go, staring over her head at the three men running towards them. It terrified Sakura and she started to remember being told about kidnappings in Konoha. He wasn't helping out with that, was he? No, Gaara was a good person! Of course he wouldn't. On top of that, the men were wearing the same white uniform and behind them were two women, one of them walking much more slowly than the younger one. They were both wearing the same angered expression, however.

"Tsunade-sama?" Sakura gasped. "Chiyo-baasama? What's going on?"

"Our patient ran out of the hospital once again." Chiyo sighed, watching as Gaara kept a hold of Matsuri until the men were able to restrain her. "She–"

"You're not taking me back to The Crazies," Matsuri growled, struggling against them. "I don't belong with them. I belong with Gaara-sama! We're going to move to Konoha and be together and–"

Matsuri was mentally unstable.

Sakura felt her breath leave her like somebody had punched her in the gut. During the conversation, she'd realised that Matsuri's crush was more of an obsession and that it wasn't healthy in the slightest, but… How could she have not noticed the girl had a mental illness? She was training to be a doctor! Noticing these things would be vital. It could save lives!

"How you keep escaping from a hospital like that, I'll never know," Tsunade muttered before looking to the two teenagers. "You must be Gaara, then." When the redhead nodded, she sighed and nodded once to him. "I have been informed about you. Thank you for keeping her distracted and talking again."

Wait, she was missing something.

Whirling around, she glared up at Gaara. "What's going on?"

"You don't have time to be standing around, Sakura," stated Chiyo. "Gaara, please escort Sakura back to the hospital. Tell her what you wish."

Again, he nodded once and silently accepted the orders before he grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her away from the group who were now causing a scene. When the civilians realised who it was, however, they continued about their day, which only made Sakura's confusion grow.

"Tell me what the hell that was about," Sakura snapped at him, trying to tug her arm free but it was a wasted attempt. "Gaara–"

"I told you before that you would see her around." The struggling ceased since she knew it would do no good and instead, she sighed, agreeing. "Matsuri is a patient at the hospital and has been for many years now. I don't know what mental disorder she has, but I think it's obvious that there's one there."

"But how did you get involved? Tsunade-sama said again."

Not for the first time, Gaara sighed and loosened his hold on her arm, noticing that he must have been causing some discomfort. "When I first returned to Suna, Matsuri wasn't on the ward. They decided to see how well she coped out here, since she was seeming so much better in the hospital. But…" He shook his head and came to a stop, sitting down on a bench. "She lives in her own world, Sakura. When we met, I had just lost my father and I was sitting on a swing in the park. That is where we met for the first time."

Slowly, after a moment of thinking about it, Sakura sat down beside him and frowned. "What happened?"

He sat back, staring up at the cloudless blue sky. "We just sat there together for a while."

And then just like that, the obsession started? "Is that all?"

Again, Gaara sighed and nodded his head. "The next time I saw her was around school. Well, more like I heard her. She was telling people about how we were together and in love. Apparently, during the short time that we sat together on the swings, I told Matsuri that I wanted to spend my life with her. Get married and have children. She said we met online and I moved back here to be with her."

Turning his head in her direction, Gaara frowned. "I didn't know what was going on and as you can expect, I was losing my control on my anger. People were always staring and sneering about me, pushing my anger to its limits and–" He cut himself off with a growl, clenching his fists. "That is when Chiyo came to the school. They called her about Matsuri's problems and after speaking to her, she sat me down and explained what was going on.

"Matsuri's parents died not too long before I arrived and it set off some kind of reaction in her head. Chiyo asked that I did my best not to lose my temper with her, but at the same time, I was to make it clear nothing would ever happen between us." Like he had the other day to comfort her, Sakura grabbed his hand. "So I avoided her. That is when the stalking began."

He squeezed her hand and the look of guilt on his face upset her greatly. "Over the years, Matsuri has been in and out of the hospital until eventually they decided it was too risky to keep her out. Maybe her disorder became more serious, or she became a danger to herself and the public, I don't know. They can't share anything with me because I'm not a relation of hers. Somehow… Matsuri always manages to break out of the hospital. Every time that happens, every time she approaches me, I know that I have to keep her talking. I have to keep her distracted and with me until they come for her again."

And it was weighing him down immensely. Gaara shouldn't have to be in charge of something like that. He shouldn't be the one to protect the girl, or to keep her distracted. It was an honourable thing, there was no denying that and Sakura was so very proud of her best friend for enduring Matsuri and her illness for so long, but it wasn't fair in the least. He shouldn't have to worry about when he would next have to stop Matsuri or anything of the sort.

"Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

"You keep things from me, too."

"That's–"

"Different? How?" When she scowled and looked away, Gaara breathed deeply in an attempt to calm himself. After a few minutes, it worked. "I thought I could handle it."

"But you can't."

Wordlessly, he shook his head.

It was much later that night when Sakura sat down beside him on the sofa, though she refused to look him in the eye and instead kept her eyes on the television.

"The thing I never told you…"

Gaara sat up and frowned, not liking the pain in her eyes. He knew not to speak, however. This was Sakura's moment to open up to him again. If he spoke now, there was a high chance of her shutting him out like she usually did. Gaara knew her too well and was too determined to know what was bothering her, to let that happen again.

"It's about my dad." Against her thighs, Sakura's fists clenched and much to his surprise, tears filled her eyes. "He… He used to hit my mom."

Anger flashed through him to the point where Gaara felt like he couldn't even breathe. Sakura's father had hit Mebuki? Why? During his time in Konoha, Gaara had never met a more selfless, caring woman and it was obvious that she adored her daughter. How the hell could somebody attack her?

"I didn't… I didn't even know until I was thirteen."

And as Sakura told him the whole story, as she told him everything she hadn't before, Gaara could feel his anger boiling dangerously. That bastard… If he ever crossed paths with Haruno Kizashi, it was safe to say that the man would not be walking away. Not only had he repeatedly beaten Mebuki, but he had also harmed Sakura.

His best friend.

Fortunately, the ringing of the doorbell distracted Gaara's anger momentarily and Sakura watched with tired eyes as he left the living room. It had taken her the rest of her shift in the hospital to come to her decision of telling him everything. And she was glad that she did, because already her shoulders felt much lighter than usual.

It had been scary, though, Sakura wasn't going to lie. She had shared that story with only one person before and even then, that had been over instant messenger. Telling Gaara in person had terrified her. But because he had shared so much with her earlier after the incident with Matsuri, Sakura knew that it was time she told him everything. They were best friends and she trusted him.

"Sakura, it's for you."

For her? Sakura frowned as she got up off the sofa and made her way to the front door. Who could possibly be at the door for her? Other than the people she was temporarily living with, Chiyo and Tsunade, she didn't know anyone in Suna. Maybe she had an admirer? Sasuke wouldn't like that too much, would he? Or maybe–

Her eyes went wide as Sakura turned the corner and saw who was standing in the doorway.

"Sasuke?"

He smirked at her, looking so very proud of himself for catching her off guard. "Sakura."

A/N - It's too hot for me to be outside, if that even makes any sense. I was outside yesterday for quite a while and today I woke up with a horrible headache and just ew. It's not like I even tan or anything, either! I don't burn and I don't tan. Must be the ginger gene.

So yeah, because I finished this chapter, I decided to post it. It was more of a filler chapter than anything else, but I hope you liked what happened in it and the ending!

Anybody got any ideas about what they want to see next chapter?