Gaara's POV

Temari: "Are you ready?"

Gaara: "Right away. How is my hair?"

I don't think Temari understood what I said at first because I had to turn to the side to look at her.

"Your hair looks fine."

"I don't like the way it sits here. Can you fix it?"

"Sure. This hasn't interested you before."

While she was combing my hair with her fingers, I felt her smelling me. She didn't say anything, so it must be a good sign. I turned to face the mirror again and I was happy with the result. Temari did a good job. This sister of mine is skilled.

"Thank you!"

"You don't have to thank me. I would do anything for you and Kankurou."

Temari started fixing the collar of my jacket, but the mirror in front of me reflected the red shadow that spread on her tanned cheek. I hate when it happens because I never know what to do. What does she expect me to do? I pretended to look at my cuffs am left the room without looking into her eyes. I always hope that, if I don't say anything, she won't get mad. She is 16 now and I don't know why or if somebody upsets her, but she gets emotional too easily.

I was relieved when I got out of the hotel where we were staying in Konoha because the weather was cool enough to not make me sweat. I don't want to look bad in Sakura's eyes. I was strolling on the street with my eyes closed, face directed to the sky to make the best of the breeze. Although my arms were slightly parted from my body, I was holding my palms upwards to make sure the wind dries them in case I succeeded to hold Sakura's hand. I didn't want her to feel my sweaty palms.

The wind carried a flower smell, more precisely, cherry blossom smell that made me smile. My girlfriend is here. I opened my eyes and straightened my back while I was searching for her with my eyes. She was sitting on a branch with her feet dangling. Her right hand was holding onto the tree trunk. What a beautiful face! I screamed from the ground so she could hear me:

"How did you climb up there? It doesn't matter. Do you need help to get down?"

Sly girl. She showed me her teeth through a bright grin.

"What are you saying down there? I can't hear you."

I knew she was defying me because she climbed down the tree and was in front of me on the ground without any difficulty.

"You were supposed to wait for me. I was going to take you from home."

Sakura clasped her hands behind her back. She stood next to me and we started walking.

"I couldn't wait. You were too slow. I wanted to see what's holding you back."

I knew it wasn't true, but I shut up because I didn't want to make her feel bad. In fact, she came here because she was afraid her parents would throw a tantrum if they saw me.

"I see your technique has improved since we last met. You climbed up and down that tree easily."

"Thank you. I have trained. I don't want to lose face to you."

I knew I was so far ahead of her, that she could never catch up with me, but I shut up again and I smiled instead.

"Where will you take me today?" I looked at her from the corner of my eye and I saw how she was getting nervous. I have always liked her reactions to me. I looked at them and tried to memorize them so I could relive the experience again at home, without her knowledge.

"I was thinking...to go to...but I don't know if you want to..."

"It's enough. I don't have to know. Lead the way."

"Really? Do you trust me?"

I nodded. She squeaked, jumped a little from the ground and then she started walking faster.

"Hey, wait for me!" I sped up to walk next to her again.

"What did you do today? How was your day?"

"Full of revelations."

I frowned trying to understand. Sakura started gesturing while she was talking:

"I went to the hospital to visit Naruto this morning. He lost control of his tailed beast and red chakra emerged from his body. Luckily for him, Jiraya-sama was there to save him. Don't worry, Naruto is fine now."

"That's good." I was genuinely happy because I considered Naruto my best friend. "It was nice of you that you visited him."

"Yes. He is my colleague. I had to go. Anyway, his doctor is Tsunade-sama, one of the legendary sannin."

"I've heard about them. They're just as famous as my uncle, Sasori."

"Yes. We've heard rumors that he joined the Akatsuki. Is it true?"

"Yes."

"I see. Anyway, what I wanted to say was that Naruto decided to train with Jiraya-sama, Sasuke is training with Kakashi-sensei and I made up my mind to ask Tsunade-sama if she wants to be my teacher."

I admit I wasn't happy to hear this because I knew Tsunade is a tough woman who fights using taijutsu. Sakura wouldn't last one day training with that woman. Any of Sakura's broken bones will hurt me too. I didn't want to know what pain feels like, not even before I met Sakura.

"Don't worry, Gaara-kun. I am a girl and I am aware of my limits. I could never win a battle against a man using taijutsu and I know how to fight with women without using my fists."

I laughed. She read my mind.

"I want Tsunade-sama to teach me how to be a doctor."

"That's a good idea."

"Naruto and Sasuke are already very strong. I can't surpass them, but I could heal them on the battlefield. And..." I want to be able to protect Gaara-kun in the future, too.

Her thoughts brought a smile to my face.

"I am sorry, but I don't think I'll need your service. I am currently the strongest ninja in the whole Ninja World and I have an impenetrable defense."

I must have said something wrong because she got upset. I made a mistake, but how should I fix it? Thankfully, I saw the hospital in the distance which meant I found something to distract her with.

"Are we here to visit Naruto?"

"No. He has definitely run away from the hospital by now."

At first I laughed, and then I asked myself what we were doing there if we weren't visiting sick people.

"We are here to eat at the hospital's canteen. They serve the most delicious fish! You're going to love it!"

"More than at a restaurant?"

"I haven't been to many restaurants, but Naruto told me this morning that it's the best fish he has ever tasted."

"Have you tasted it?"

"No, I wanted to try it with you."

I had already upset her once and I didn't want to do it again, so I refrained from telling her that eating in a hospital with all the sick people can't be a good idea. Who knows what bacteria are in the air? What if Sakura gets sick?

I regretted my decision of blindly following her as soon as we sat at a table. A man sneezed behind me without covering his mouth and I had to shield my mouth and nose from the avalanche of germs with my sleeve. Sakura was looking at me as if she didn't understand what was wrong with me. Why didn't it affect her? Does she really not care about her health at all? It's good that I hid my thoughts from her or else she would be upset again.

"Well? How is it?"

"Unsalted."

"There is salt on the table. They can't cook it with salt because some patients aren't allowed to eat salt."

"I am not a patient."

"I know."

She was biting her lip, so I had no choice, but to eat fast to make her think that I like it. It worked because as soon as I did, she started eating livelier. How can she like this fish? I have been to at least 50 restaurants that serve better fish than this.

"Gaara-kun, you were right."

"About what?"

"The doctor couldn't touch me without my mom there."

I smiled. I knew it.

"Did you fix your problem? Why did you go there alone?"

"I think my mother got bored of waiting in line, so she told me to say she is at work if the doctor asks me. And so I did."

"Did the doctor believe you?"

"I don't know. She said something about irresponsible parents and then she asked me some questions that I didn't know how to answer and she said my mother should have taught me these things."

"The doctor was right. I think it would have been better if you had told her the truth."

"I was afraid. The village is not that big and my mother would have found out had I said anything."

"I wonder how she let you go out with me today."

"I didn't tell her."

"Hm..."

"It's not because of shame, but she would have definitely found a way to prevent it and I really wanted to see you."

I wanted to hold her hand in that moment, but when my hand got closer to hers on the table, she used it to take the salt and sprinkle it on the fish, so I had to withdraw my hand. I was happy that she didn't notice.

"Sakura."

"Hm?"

"I managed to keep an important man by my side thanks to you."

"Me?"

"He was part of the mafia brigade that the higher ups had hired to poison me with ice-cream."

"Oh, God! How did he pass on your side? Are you certain he is not a double agent?"

"After he tried to poison me and failed, he was afraid I will find him and kill him, so he came to me by himself. He asked me to spare his life in return for his service. I asked for proof that I can count on his words, that he will only work for me in the future. It seems that he didn't lie. He has someone in the council that spies for me. Any plan the council has, I will be the first to know."

"That's great!"

"I said this for you to know that you have no reason to worry about me anymore."

"Gaara-kun, this is amazing news! Had I known, I would have suggested to go someplace else to eat."

"You're funny. I am happy to be with you anywhere."

"I am sorry I brought you here. I bet you didn't like the fish. The truth is I couldn't afford to pay at another place because I stole enough money from home to pay for the meal here. The hospital food is really cheap. I didn't want my mom to notice a lot of money disappeared."

"What?"

I was in shock. Sakura-chan steals?

"My mom takes away all of my money. She says she needs them to pay the bills and the rent for the new place we moved in. So I stole a part of my own money back."

I was speechless for about a minute. Many times, nothing Sakura says makes sense. Her world is so different than mine!

"Why did you insist on paying then? I offered to pay, but you declined."

"Gaara-kun comes so rarely to Konoha...I wanted to do something nice for you."

I sighed. It was endearing, but also sad. What was I supposed to do?

Sakura suddenly appeared next to me. She took my arm to make me stand up and then she hugged my arm to her chest. The air around me became so suffocating! She started pulling me towards the exit.

"Where are we going?"

"I want to buy something nice for you. I still have some money left. It won't be a great gift, but if I come back home with money, my mom will confiscate them again."

"Anything that comes from you is great. Thank you!"

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Notes: What do you think about this chapter? How unusual is it to have a date at the hospital canteen?

I am sorry for the long wait and thank you for reading. I will upload much faster now that this is the only fanfiction I am working on right now.