Gaara sat at his desk. He had dressed down, wearing loose, black clothes for the funeral they just attended. Sakura's group crowded around, tying up the mission and preparing to leave. As their conversation drew to a close, they all turned to leave, except for Gaara, who had told them he would see them off.

"Wait." He said, and they all stopped moving. "I would like to speak to Sakura first. There are some things I wish to ask. Please give us a moment."

Sakura traded glances with her teammates, then nodded. She stepped back in front of Gaara's desk as the others filed out of the room, the door closing behind them.

Looking at Gaara, Sakura could see how much he had changed. He was handsome, his features stronger. His hair was longer and he was taller than her now by a few inches, more if she didn't gain a little height from her sandals. Most woman's foot ware had extra lift. It wasn't necessary, but it was popular.

He stared back at her for some time, not speaking right away, but when he did, it wasn't what she had expected.

"I'm sorry for your loss... I promise you, I won't take Chiyo's sacrifice lightly." He said softly.

Sakura smile slightly. "I didn't think you would, Gaara. I know you are a good man, Chiyo believed it in the end too. She leaves the world in our care. She believes in us."

Gaara nodded. "How are you fairing?"

This wasn't the conversation she thought she would be having. "Didn't you want to hear about the Akatsuki I fought?" She was confused, not upset.

The red head in front of her shook his head. "I can request your statement from your Hokage. You'll have to report it to her anyway. I wanted to talk to you about you."

Sakura placed a hand on her shoulder awkwardly. "I'm okay. I'm going to stay strong... But why do you ask?"

He sat back in his chair. "I haven't seen you in years. You left me with questions. Now that you're here I was hoping to get answers to them before I die again."

So that was it. He still want to know the meaning behind her actions years ago. She frowned "I don't know if I can answer them."

"Please, Sakura. Just tell me. You and countless others believe in me now, give me a chance to believe your word." Sakura had never seen Gaara plead. But what could she do?

She sighed. "It's complicated. It only becomes more complicated as time goes on..." Thinking about it, Sakura came up with a question of her own. "Gaara... What are your thoughts of life? Do you have any theories or beliefs?"

Her question seemed to confuse him back. "What do you mean? Beliefs on life?"
Sakura nodded. "I mean about the way the world works. Has anything ever happened that made you believe something wild? Like you coming back to life... Does it make you question why you're here?"

Gaara blinked. "I don't know. I haven't had the time yet to think such thoughts... What's your theory?" He leaned forward and folded his arms on his desk, waiting for her to speak.

The pinkette placed her hand on her heart and turned her head from side to side. "I can't tell you. I only have bits and pieces that wouldn't make sense right now. I can tell you... only this... I experienced something when I was little. I'm still trying to figure it out."

Gaara closed his eyes, thinking for a long time. "Something when you were little..." He seemed to come up with something then. "I'd like to make a request of you, Sakura."

Sakura straightened up. "What is it?"

He removed parchment from his desk and began writing something down. "A rank D mission for me to be completed at your leisure, but within reasonable time. It's not important, but maybe it will help me understand."

"What is the mission?" She inquired, watching him finish what he had been writing, folding it and sealing it with his wax emblem. A letter of request that she would show her Kage.

"Bring me a sakura tree. I'll plant it in the green house." He said calmly.

"Sakura tree? How will that help?" She asked, scratching her forehead.

Gaara shrugged. "I don't know if it will. It probably won't. It's just something I thought of."

"But why me? Shouldn't you send your own ninja?" Not a lot was making sense to her.

Then he smiled. "I like you, Sakura. You're very capable and strong... And you are a mystery to me. I want to figure this out and I need you to do that."

Sakura almost blushed. She had thought her ties to him were one way. She was the only one who had that dream. He didn't show any sign that he had anything similar to what she experienced. So why was he so intent on following it? Could it really be as simple as he wanted to know why she would die for him? Or was there something more?

Pushing her thoughts to the side, Sakura nodded. "I'll accept your mission. I'll return with your tree when my Hokage's plans for me clear up."

Gaara held up the mission document he had quickly scrawled out and Sakura walked to the side of his deck to receive it. When she went to take it, she felt it pass through her fingers, missing the hand off and letting it drop to the ground.

The pinkette knelt down and picked it up, but felt a tug. Then she noticed his hand on the other end of it. She looked up just as he had, locking eyes with him only inches from his face. Wide-eyed, Sakura froze and so did he.

They stayed, staring into each other's eyes. He was familiar.

"I knew you before I knew you", Sakura thought before her mind went blank. Something greater than themselves was taking over then, as Gaara's eye lids dropped halfway and he move forward.

Their breath mingled and she could taste him. Just as his mouth was about to make contact with her's, a knock broke them apart. Gaara let go of the letter and fell back in his chair quickly, Sakura fell back onto the floor and braced herself on her hands. They stared into each other's wide eyes, startled by the sound and what they had been about to do. They seached each other for answers, before Gaara called out to the person at the door.

"Who is it?"

Sakura knew the voice on the other side. "We are getting ready to leave, if you can wrap it up. We have to go soon." It was Gai.

"I'll be out in just a minute." Sakura called back, turning to Gaara and blushing furiously when he was still looking at her. He had relaxed into his chair, no longer sitting stiffly as if he had been thrown into his seat.

Sakura stood up off the floor and cleared her throat as she looked away abashed. "So... Like I was saying... I'll see to this." She unzipped her red vest and tucked the folded paper into a side pocket. When she made to zip it up again, her hand was pushed away. Immediately she went red at the touch of his fingers on her exposed side. "What are you doing!?" Sakura swatted him a few times defensively, but he didn't even flinch.

"You have a scar." He said softly. It was true. Some of it was covered by the half shirt she wore under her vest, but he had seen it peeking out. Sakura forgot to try and hide it from him with what had just happened.

The real truth was that Sakura probably could have prevented the three inch scar with her healing jutsu. On a whim, she decided to keep it. It was a physical reminder to her, the imperfect line caused by his stitching, of their connection. If she never saw him again after that, she would always have the scar.

His fingers pulled up slightly on her shirt so he could trace it all the way up. Sakura's skin tingled and she removed his hand. "I kind of like it." She said, backing out of his reach. He frowned as she zipped up her vest. "I have to go now. Good bye, Gaara."

She left the room, feeling like a child running from something she didn't understand. She didn't even give him time to say good bye. Too many things had just happened.

He was about to kiss her! She was about to let him! She.. She wanted him to. What was going on? She loved Sasuke. Loved him. It had always been like that. Why did she want him to kiss her? Why didn't she hit Gaara harder when he touched her?

She could still feel his touch, tickling her side as she ran to catch up to the other's. Why did she let him go as far as up her shirt before stopping him? Why was she running past her comrades and the sand siblings? They were all leaving together and being seen off by all three sand siblings, including Gaara.

Shaking her head as if her thoughts were someone else's, Sakura denied what she believed in the pit of her stomach. Denied that it was something to be considered. Denied that it could have been him since the beginning. No. She wouldn't admit it could even be possible. She loved Sasuke since she looked into his sad, vengeful eyes. It had to be him. She was going to find him and prove it was Sasuke.

And that was it. He didn't care. He would have killed her and felt nothing.

Sakura, Naruto, Sai, and Yamato returned from their mission. Naruto still believed he could bring Sasuke back, but Sakura's faith was slipping.

After returning with their mission failed in their own eyes, Sakura retired to her home. Her heart was heavy and she didn't feel like seeing anyone right now.

Turning the her key to unlock the door, the defeated medic pushed through and closed the door behind her. She slid her sandals off and unzipped her thin, red vest. Discarding it on the arm of her couch, she moved further through her home and into her room. Reaching her dresser, Sakura remove the white half shirt and threw in onto her bed.

Sakura grabbed a t-shirt from one of the draws and faced the mirror to her right. The light scar on her side was visible even from the few feet distance of her reflection. She tugged the fresh, blue shirt over her head, then glance over to the surface of her dresser.

A folded letter with the wax seal sat atop it, a reminder to her that she had business to attend to when she had the time. Sakura picked it up and sat on her bed. She wouldn't open it, she already knew the mission request inside. It would read that Sakura was requested for a mission to bring a tree of her namesake to Suna.

Laying on her back, Sakura looked at the ceiling. She could use a few days alone to think, but when she got to Suna, there was a chance she would only leave with more to think about.

Cherry blossoms were due to bloom next month. This was probably a good time to complete her mission. This way Gaara's tree would be there and well adjusted to it's new home in time to bloom.

Sighing, Sakura picked herself up a decided to pay Tsunade a second visit. After what happened, she was sure to be understanding of her want to take spend some time away. Her master knew her well. Sakura would be worse off if her emotional baggage wasn't dealt with in some sort of way.