A/N: Sorry this one took a little longer to get out. For some reason my open office documents wont load on my computer so I had to use my husband's computer to do this chapter.
Chapter 3
The next morning Sakura awoke to the sight of fresh white cala lilies sitting next to her bed. She wondered about how long she would survive as a ninja if she continued to sleep so deeply but decided that could be worried about another day.
Calla lilies were her absolute favorite flower but only a very few people knew that. Most people thought that because of her hair she would like cherry blosoms, which she did, but no flower was more beautiful than the simple clean lines that made a calla lily.
There was no card with the flowers so she assumed that they were a gift left by one of the maids. If she had known that a certain sand wielding Kage had remembered from years ago that they were her favorite, tracked down the only person in Sand who grew them, and placed them beside her while she was sleeping, she might have thought differently of him upon waking. As it was when her thoughts turned to the redhead she almost grimaced at the fact that he had brought an old part of her that she had long thought gone out into the open.
He made her remember what it had been like to be madly in love, or so she thought, with one Sasuke Uchiha. She had felt so stupid all those years ago when she realized that not only did Sasuke not love her, but he thought that she was worthless as a shinobi. "Thank goodness what I feel for Gaara is just a silly little crush. I mean at least I'm not in love with him!" For some reason the words didn't exactly ring true in her head and she didn't know what to think about the thought.
Luckily she didn't have time to think because at that very moment Kankuro bust through the door. "Good morning beautiful." He said with a lazy smile.
"Kankuro you are incorrigible! I distinctly remember asking you to knock before barging in my room…" She couldn't help but smile. She liked Kankuro. Not in a romantic way at all, but something about him made her feel like she didn't grow up as an only child.
He gave her a lazy smile that would rival one of Kakashi's half lidded gazes and tossed something at her. "Here is your uniform for the hospital. Me personally I would like to see a bit shorter of a skirt, but these things can't be helped. Get dressed and I will walk you to work."
"Thank you for bringing this. I hate not looking professional so this will be perfect." She grabbed the bundle and strode off into the bathroom.
Kankuro walked over to the bed and looked closely at the flowers. The very first thing he noticed was that the vase they were sitting in was one that his mother use to use to place flowers in her bedroom. "Damn he is good. I didn't even know anyone grew flowers around here. Guess I will just have to be on my toes." Just then the room seemed to take on a slightly chilly feeling and Kankuro turned to see black rimmed, seafoam green eyes staring at him from the doorway.
"What are you doing in Sakura's room Kankuro?" Gaara felt his heart jump into his lungs at seeing his brother in Sakura's bed. "What if? What if they slept together?" Gaara didn't like the idea that something like that would affect him so strongly. He was starting to suspect that the unnameable feelings he was getting was actually jealousy. "If the thought of the two of them sharing a bed makes me jealous than logically that can only mean one thing. I have feelings of the romantic nature for Sakura." Saying that he had a crush made him feel childish and girly but he was starting to think that's exactly what it was.
Kankuro knew exactly what his position would look like to an outsider. It looked like he had just woken in Sakura's bed. By the way the sheets looked scattered about (courtesy of Sakura's tossing and turning into the wee hours of the morning) it looked like they had shared a night of passion. Kankuro knew exactly the emotion that had played on his brothers face and it made him want to laugh. Gaara had never been one to fall prey to something as petty as jealousy. "Oh how the mighty have fallen dear brother!"
"Well. As much as I would like to confirm the thoughts you obviously have regarding why I am here. I actually just came by to walk Sakura to work." Kankuro wanted to tease his brother a bit more, but at that point Sakura had come out of the bathroom.
"Kankuro thank you again for bringing me- oh… my apologies Kazekage-sama." Without another word she performed the hinge that would hide the color of her hair. Eyes downcast in shame she waited for Gaara to say whatever he had come to say.
Gaara saw her perform the henge and his heart felt sad. "Did I hurt her so much?" He felt awful for how much his callous words had affected her, but why? Why did she care so much what he thought? "Could she possibly have some sort of feelings for me as well?" Gaara knew that if he was going to find out then he would have to do some serious damage control.
"Miss Haruno, please don't take to heart what I said last night. Those words were spoken at out of annoyance that was not your fault and to be honest I didn't mean them. I apologize for the unwanted stressed this might have caused you but please don't feel the need to cover your natural hair color from me. While I will admit that pink is an odd color for hair I could not imagine you with any other color. It suits you in the perfect way."
Sakura could feel a blush forming on her cheeks as she released the henge. "As you wish Kazekage-sama."
Kankuro knew he was treading on thin ice with his brother but he couldn't help it. He wanted Sakura to end up with a man who would love her, who could take care of her while recognizing that she would also take care of that person.
His plan was working perfectly and now that he had Temari on his side there would be no doubt of his success. He never knew when he had decided to make Gaara fall in love with the kunoichi how easy it would be. He guessed it would only be a matter of time before Gaara's feelings of lust turned into something deeper if they hadn't already.
Kankuro briefly felt bad about meddling in his brother's love life, but he had decided almost from the minute he awoke from his poison induced coma all those years ago that the beautiful pink haired woman might be the only woman on the planet who could love Gaara the way he deserved. He has thought out his plan long ago to make Gaara jealous so that he would fall for the woman, but because of the war he had had to wait longer than he had anticipated to put his plan into action.
When he had told Temari of his plans last night he could see how relieved she was. She had thought that her brothers where both falling for the same woman and she would have to bury the loser. Her relief at the news of Kankuro's schemes had been nearly palpable. Now that he had her on his side he knew it was only a matter of time before Gaara made his move. He just hoped it was sooner rather than later so he could resume his own love life. Having a long distance girlfriend was hard enough, and having it be a secret was even harder, but when that woman was as opinionated and obstinate as Ino Yamanaka things could get sticky fast.
Getting up and crossing the large bedroom Kankuro leaned down and kissed Sakura on the cheek briefly and asked if she was ready to go.
To say that the exchange surprised Sakura would be an understatement. She knew that Kankuro was a flirt but he had never really paid her any attention before. She wondered what had come over him but before she could ask she found that he was no longer standing in front of her. Her eyes searched and when she finally located the puppet master she almost gasped. He was currently pinned to the wall by a cloud of sand and the wielder of said sand was standing in the doorway growling. Sakura knew that some of the animalistic tendencies that Gaara exhibited were from his long relationship with his former demon, but it still unnerved her to see it displayed.
Sakura didn't have time to react before she too was pressed against a wall, but it wasn't sand holding her in place, it was Gaara. His eyes were angry as his mouth covered hers and his kissed the breath from her lips.
"Mine." Gaara could hardly think and before he knew it he had pulled Sakura's shirt aside at the neck and bit into the soft flesh where her neck met her shoulder. He felt her wince beneath him and it snapped him back to reality.
"Oh my God Sakura, I am so sorry. I have no idea what came over me." Gaara was panting so hard from the lust he was barely able to control and it was made harder by the sight of blood coming from the small wound he had left on her neck. "Please forgive me." He started to turn from the room to leave her but a small hand snaked up to catch his wrist before he could make his exit.
"Oh no, where do you think you're going?" Sakura didn't care that Kankuro was still in the room, she didn't care that Gaara had just torn her flesh with his teeth because at that moment she knew what she had to, no needed to do. She pulled his body flush with her own and reached her free hand up to tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck. "I don't know what that was about, but I intend to find out."
Without another word she kissed him.
A/N: Hopefully you liked this one. To everyone who though Kankuro was in love with Sakura, GOTCHA! Don't forget to review so I know how I am doing! Thanks for reading!
