Naruto had gone away with Jirayah, off on a training journey. Sasuke was still in the hands of Orochimaru. Sakura was requested for a mission, joining with the Sand to capture rogue ninja spotted near by

The medic had recently mastered many poisons and antidotes. She pushed herself hard to become a better, more equip ninja. Taking things to the extreme, she even injected poisons into herself in order to recognized them by feel.

It was because of her mastery that Tsunade thought it was fit to send her off to assist the Sand siblings in there mission. The rogues used poison attacks, and if Sakura didn't know the poison, she could make an antidote with the knowledge, tools, and herbs she brought with her.

When she arrived at the meeting point, she greeted the three siblings. Temari. Kankuro.

Gaara.

They left in the direction of the known hideaway, planning on an attack to wipe them out. They informed Sakura on the short trip. There were two of them. They wielded poison type weapons, used poison style jutsu, and were otherwise not very strong. What made them problematic was the potency of their toxins. This team was designed to deal with the rogues swiftly.

Ninja wearing gas masks emerged from a decrepit old house, throwing down canisters of poison gas. Acting quickly, Temari waved her fan, dispersing the toxic fog and revealing them. Gaara lifted his hands and sent his sand to attack.

Kankuro brought Crow onto the field, working with Gaara to catch one off guard as a ninja dodged sand and ended up sealed within the puppet. The puppeteer used his iron maiden jutsu, killing the man inside. Sakura had no place in this battle yet, being primarily a close range fighter. She was here for the poison itself, so she just remained on her guard.

Suddenly Sakura saw another ninja at the corner of her eye, just behind them. A third rogue they didn't know about. He was fast. Faster most ninjas she had seen. Moving as quickly as she could, she jumped.

Right into his blade.

Gaara turned sharply, noticing his sand shield begin to activate. Sakura crashed down to her knees behind him struck by a man wielding a dagger. "Kankuro!" He shouted, and chakra threads grabbed them both, pulling them somewhere safer while his sister and brother kept them at bay.

"Why?" He questioned, creating a shell of sand around them.

"You were going to be poisoned. I couldn't let it happen." She said weakly, grimacing. "Quick. Blue labeled syringe and a stitch kit in my bag."

Listening, he retrieved the tools and set them in her hands, but she couldn't grip them. She shook her head. "You have to do it. I can't feel my hands, it's spreading."

He nodded, uncapping the needle and sticking it in her arm hard. Sakura gasped, then clenched her jaw to stifle herself. The plunger pushed down and the antidote entered her body. "Stitches. I can't do it, but it has to be done now."

Gaara nodded, tearing away the bloody fabric that had been sliced at her side. Looking at it, Sakura knew it was as bad as she thought.

"This isn't going to be gentle." He warned, grabbing the needle and thread.

"I can take it." She replied, prepared for him to begin. His palm rest on her ribs as he closed the skin with his fingers as best he could, piercing her skin without hesitation.

Sakura hissed, wanting to shout in pain, but closing the sound in her throat. His sewing was rough as he laced the skin back together, but it was done and over in no time.

"Done. I'm going back out. Will you be alright?" He asked her, and she sat back up. She nodded and forced herself up.

"I'm going too." Sakura stated. Gaara opened his mouth to protest until he heard his sister shriek. "She needs medical help. I can still do this."

He nodded and dropped the barrier. Temari was tugged through the air as Sakura had been and placed on the ground close by. Gaara fought back with vengeance, grabbing the remaining two when Kankuro's puppet had them distracted. It all ended with a crunch, his signature sand burial.

Sakura managed to pull out another antidote with her hands slowly regaining feeling. She pressed the plunger down and delivered the serum into Temari's bloodstream. She didn't suffer any major damage. It seemed there was a booby trap that was triggered during battle.

The brothers walked over to join them on the ground. Gaara stopped right next to her. "How did you know which antidote to administer?" He inquired calmly.

Sakura placed her hand on her own side and tended to her wound. "I've injected myself with over twenty poisons in order to gain better information that texts couldn't give me. I wanted personal knowledge of how they work."

The three looked taken aback and Sakura blushed. She wasn't used to recognition of her work, it didn't seem like a big thing to her. Hearing herself out loud, maybe it was a little bit of an intense of a thing to do.

"Can you identify the poison's source?" Gaara asked.

Sakura let up on her healing and frowned. "In the Leaf, we have a clan of bug users. It's thanks to them that we have acquired some of our venoms. We use them to make counteracting antidotes. This poison was derived from a beetle. It isn't likely that you have an antidote in your village for this, since it's indigenous to the area of my village."

Everyone was silent for a minute, soaking the information in. Sakura knew what they figured out. If it hadn't been her there as the specialist, it was likely that they wouldn't have made it.

"That concludes this mission. Good work everyone." Gaara commended.

Everyone bowed respectfully, before taking off in different directions. As Sakura made to jump off towards a tree limb, her hand was caught by another. She turned back and saw Gaara on the other end of it, his siblings leaping away in the distance.

"After I tried to kill you in the past, why? You could have died, and for my sake. " Sakura could tell he wasn't just confused. He was determined to understand the meaning of her action.

Sakura faced him and he let go of her. She thought of what she could tell him. Clearly her answer before wasn't enough. He seemed to know it wasn't that simple, or maybe he just couldn't accept that someone would do that for him.

"Gaara..." He waited patiently for her to continue but she cast her eyes away from his "You would never believe me if I told you."

The red haired ninja crossed his arms. "Try me."

Sakura looked back into his face, then sighed. "I can't. I haven't figured it out yet myself. Just know that I'll be there whenever you need me again. I'll do my best."

After that, Gaara didn't push for answers. He only nodded with an expression that told her it wasn't what he wanted to hear. Sakura bowed again. "Until then." She said to her silent friend, then jumped into the trees.

Sakura made it half a mile away before doubling over in pain, grasping her side and bracing herself on the trunk of a tree she stood in. She lifted her hand to her face. Blood. Her side was bleeding again.

The medic sat down and took out a few supplies. She patched up her side. Gaara's stitched were still intact, so she simply cleaned and bandaged herself up. Breathing through her gritted teeth, she straighten up and jumped to the next limp. And the next before she felt her arm being pulled.

Gaara was there again, this time with his shoulder under her arm, holding one of her arms around his neck and his other supporting her side. "Gaara!" She said his name in surprise. She had thought she was far enough away that he couldn't see how her injury hurt her. He obviously felt bad enough about it without her making a big deal about it.

He jumped to the next limb for her, her weight on his shoulders. Then the next and the next with increasing ease and speed. "What are you doing?" She asked, although it was obvious. What she meant was why.

"The wound you bear was meant for me, so I'll bear you instead." His statement left her silent. She looked at his face while he looked forward, wind rustling his hair. He was stronger in body than she had expected. His frame was hard and sturdy and she could feel his muscles as he half carried her. She also noticed that he had grown a little taller, probably matching her height. With her body higher up on his right now, her feet didn't make useful contact with the surfaces of the thick branches he leaped from.

"It's another day and a half from here." Sakura said, finding her voice. "I can't ask you to do this. I'll just walk if traveling like this is too much for me. I'll be fine."

He shook his head. "You aren't in any condition to go home alone. If you come under attack, you could be killed. I won't let that happen; I'll take you to Konoha myself."

Sakura dropped it. It was pointless to try and convince him otherwise. She turn her attention back to his movement. The way he moved was fluid. It was as if his use of sand translated into the way he moved about. Maybe it was the other way around. Maybe it was his own fluid way of moving that influenced the way he controlled his sand.

They continued on in silence. Day turned to night and Sakura noticed that he hadn't even slowed down his pace. She would have taken the cover of darkness as a good time to rest.

"Gaara." She spoke his name and clutched the material of cloth covering his chest. He looked back at her for a second, acknowledging her voice before looking ahead at where he was going. "We should probably rest for the night soon."

Her grip on him tightened as he shifted her midair, collecting her body in front of him in his arms. "I don't sleep. If you need to, go ahead. I'm going to keep moving... This detour turned my trip back to Suna from a one an a half day point B to point A, into a four and a half day trip from point B to C, back to A."

Sakura took her arm back from around his neck and checked her bandaged side. It had been soaked through from all the movement, bleeding now into Gaara's shirt. Changing her dressings would have to wait. She would ask in the morning to stop. This new position might give her body enough time to finish closing up.

It was a little strange, thinking of it now. Gaara was considered an enemy not too long ago, fearful even to her. Now he was carrying her in his arms. Should she be scared? How much better had he gotten at suppressing his demon? She felt she should ask herself these questions. She was a ninja after all. It was important that she not put herself in peril. Yet, she felt fine. There were no doubts or worries. In fact, somewhere inside, she felt happy to be carried by him. It just sat right with her, like he was an old friend she had known for a long time.

Settling her hands in her lap, she closed her eyes and leaned into Gaara's body. She wasn't tired until she relaxed. It was just more comfortable than she expected. Not long after, she felt herself sinking into sleep.

Sakura had fallen asleep as he carried her. When he told her she could sleep, he hadn't thought she would so easily. How could she be so calm around him?

It was a fact that he was becoming more and more accepted by people, but it wasn't anything significant. It was subtle, things only he would notice.

Naruto was a different story. It was because of Naruto that he had undergone a change. The blonde had looked into him and told him he understood. They shared a bond, both hosts to demons and subjected to the cruelty of those who were different. People who called them monsters and shunned them.

But what about this girl? She who he always caught watching him. This ninja, who he tried to kill, who treated him when he couldn't fight. And not more than 6 hours ago, stood in the way of an attack faster than his own sand armor could keep up.

She could have died for him. He could have died with all his goals incomplete without her. Now he carried her home, the least he could do to repay her.
His feet made contact with the ground, changing things up by running on an even dirt path, perhaps a trade route. The details didn't matter, it was the same direction he was traveling. Already he felt like he was faster this way.

His thoughts turned back to the Leaf ninja as he ran softly in an attempt not to wake her. It appeared to be working.

She said she had her own reasons for risking her life for him that she didn't understand and he wouldn't believe. He wondered about that. He felt sure her intentions were good, though he shouldn't assume such things. Reapplying her principles, Gaara thought he would have believed her, but not understood her.

The night chill was something he was used to from his desert life, but this was a nice temperature. The road cleared out of the forest, riding along the forest and a cliff edge. There were a lot more geographical sights in this part of the land. His nation was surrounded by sand and while he liked it, it lacked interesting landscapes.

Mountains dipped down and up like waves far off on the horizon line. A canyon sunk low on his left, sweeping harshly and back up to to the other side of the split in the earth, widening out and allowing plant life to flourish defiantly at bottom, insisting upon their existence.
When the path broke back into the woods, he passed by a gentle river, reflecting the crescent moon's light. Night time insects chirped and when a breeze rolled in, the shuffle of leaves sounded like running water.

The dessert had a hard time supporting life, but here, the ground was so fertile that it was probably difficult to stop growth. There was a great amount of diversity in all the plants that grew in the area. If it were lighter, he would be able to see all the different and vibrant colors of the flowers and herbs. Even the trees were different varieties.

Up ahead, Gaara could see the sun begin to brighten the starry sky. Soon it would be sunrise. The terrain opened up again and he was running through a grassy feild, following the road he was on. Peeking higher in the sky, orange light spilled out slowly over the green expanse, reflecting off of the moisture on blades of grass.

Sakura stirred, probably caused by the brightening sky. Gaara looked at her at the corner of his eye and saw her open her's. She said nothing as her eyes widened at the sight all around them. Her eyes were like mirrors, displaying the sunrise nearly perfectly. Orange streaks, dark and slightly lighter blues , white clouds and own emerald colored eyes, which only added to the beauty of it, mixed with a look of wonder.
Gaara snapped his attention back to looking dead ahead. He felt like he had seen something he shouldn't have. In that moment, he could swear he saw flower petals float across her eyes. It had to be a figment of his imagination, but the feeling he experienced was familiar. There had only ever been one other thing he found truly beautiful, and it shared her name.

Sakura. How could he forget the only dream he had ever had? It had come to him like a beacon in the night, a light at the end of the darkness. It gave him a feeling of hope, that one day he might find peace at a sakura tree like in his dream.

He shoved his thoughts to the side. It must have been the traveling getting to him. Even better reasoning, it must have been hormones. He was bound to be affected by them sooner or later. Of course carrying a girl would make him think strange things. In any case, it wouldn't be much longer. He had made good time and it wouldn't be more than a few hours, cutting half a day off his time.

Sakura had said nothing for the entire sunrise, but he knew she had stayed awake by the lack of dead weight slumping in his arms. The sun began it's steady climb and the orange faded away. Gaara was sure it would be safe to look at her again, but he refused, even when she spoke.

"Good morning, Gaara. How are you holding up?" Her voice was still sleepy, but not so much that she sounded silly. It was more or less that it was unused for several hours.

"Fine." Was his simple reply, pushing himself to run even fasted now that she was awake. His grip on her tightened in an effort to keep her still and secure against him as his foot falls caused her to be jostled a bit. He felt her rest her forehead on the side of his neck, probably the most sturdy place for her to lay her head at the moment.

It was harder to run with her in front him. Gaara usually leaned forward more when he ran, but doing that to the same extent now would hurt her, kneeing her as he propelled himself. Although Sakura wasn't heavy, his gourd functioned as a nice counterweight, keeping him balanced. The downside of it was that he couldn't rotate her to his back. It would have been the most efficient and, he imagined, most comfortable way for her to be carried.

The injured ninja clung to his shirt, bracing herself against his hard pace. After a while she spoke. "I feel like we are getting close already. The area is looking more familiar." She sounded like she didn't believe that was correct. Why would she? He had skimmed half a day off of the trip.

"We are." Gaara felt her whip her head to look at him, but he didn't look at her back. "We are making good time. It'll only be another hour or so."

She relaxed again. "Wow. That's incredible." Sakura said, genuinely impressed.

"Incredible." Gaara thought. Hearing her say it made him feel a little proud. He wasn't complimented often, so he took this to heart. A faint smile touched his features, but he dropped it as soon as he realized it happened.

"Will you stay at Konoha to rest for a little? You should at least eat something before heading home." Sakura was a natural caretaker. He decided it was a quality he liked about her, although it crossed the line when she jumped in to a dagger for him. Next time, he thought, he will be the one to protect her. To him, it didn't matter that she was a ninja, he wanted to step up as a man and be the one to shield her from harm. Perhaps that made him a little sexist.

"No. I have rations and they will be enough until I get home." Gaara answered. He stole a glance at her for the first time since day break. She didn't like his response. It was okay by him. He didn't like her reply the other day when he asked her why she put herself in danger to defend him.

"Fine, but you better take it easy on the way back. And I'm giving you my rations."

Gaara didn't say a word. He would take her food, he was hungry and didn't actually have a lot of food left. However, he wouldn't take it easy. He was going to try to make it back within two days.

The path they traveled on curved away from the Leaf Village, so Gaara jumped back into the trees nearby. They couldn't be far. Once more, they sailed through the air as he leaped from tree to tree. It was more work with less pay out. Thankfully it wasn't very long before the distant gates signified the end of the line.

"Home" She murmured. Half a mile from the gate, Gaara slowed to a stop, dropping out of a tree and setting Sakura on her feet.

"I'm going to let you walk from here. You don't deserve to be seen carried though your village. I don't want people to assume you were some damsel after what you did for me."

The pinkette stretched, having been in the same position for so long. Then she sat on the ground, opening her ninja bag. Gaara looked at her bloody side and understood she was changing her bandages. She made quick work of them and stood again, handing him her wrapped up food.

"Thank you for helping me. It was likely that it would have taken me double the time, instead of half the time with this." She pointed to her wound. "Anyway..." She shifted awkwardly, before stepping forward and hugging him. "Thank you."

Gaara stiffened. He had carried her all this time, but it wasn't anything personal to him. Being hugged was. She backed away, but instead of frowning that he hadn't returned it, she smiled. "Goodbye Gaara." She said, before turning around and jogging slowly away, holding her side carefully.

He watched her go until she was within Konoha, past the gates. With a little effort, he backed up and turned around in the direction of his own home. Why did she do the things she did? And why did he like them? He found he had a lot more questions to think on for the trip home than he started in on.

Like why did he wish he had hugged her back?