When Sakura first stepped foot into the campgrounds of the Fourth Division, she knew immediately that her presence would not be a welcomed one, if the killing intent radiating from the nearby groups of kunoichi was anything to go by.
"I cannot believe they are assigning a Konoha kunoichi to watch over Gaara-sama!"
"Are they implying that our medics are not up to scratch?"
"Did you hear? She's going to be sleeping with the Kagekaze."
Sakura stumbled rather gracelessly over a rock upon hearing those last words. Fortunately, she caught herself before she could make any more of a fool of herself. Oh, she knew exactly what that last kunoichi meant, but she could have picked a better choice of words. Really, she could.
Certainly, she considered Gaara a friend, if by proxy through Naruto. He had grown into his role as leader of an entire hidden village, and despite being the youngest of the Kages, was chosen as the field general to direct this war against the Akatsuki. He commanded respect and deserved every ounce of it.
But respected or not, it did not mean that she was willing to bunk with him!
Gaara, who was walking a few steps ahead, heard every single one of those whispers. He stopped and turned around so suddenly that Sakura had to jerk herself backwards to avoid walking right into his chest.
"Let me make myself clear on several issues," he addressed the nearby shinobi at large, "Firstly, Haruno-san here is one of the most capable medics of our times, trained by the legendary Sannin Tsunade-sama herself. Her skills cannot be matched as easily as one thinks. Secondly, in this war, our allegiances are not to our individual villages, but to the entire shinobi world."
"And lastly, Haruno-san has her own tent," he cast a glance at Sakura as he spoke.
The relief that flinted across her face was almost amusing to watch. Almost.
Then he turned and continued walking as if nothing had happened. Sakura's brain took a second to kick back into gear before she caught up and fell into step behind him once more.
Gaara had led them to what Sakura considered the largest tent she had ever seen on the field. She was about to make a quip about the privileges of being the commanding officer when she heard a soft sigh escape Gaara's lips.
"I told them I wanted a standard-issue tent, but they still gave me this."
You are the Regimental Commander, so be prepared for an over-exposure to Little Acts of 'Kindness', Sakura thought to herself. As Tsunade's apprentice, she had seen her share of grovelling sycophants offering her free meals - "it's on the house, Hokage-sama!" - or outright briberies of excellent sake that Tsunade had pretended to throw out while feigning outrage, only for the bottles to reappear under her desk later the same day.
Gaara gestured to his left, drawing her attention to a comparatively smaller tent pitched just a little too close to his own.
"I see that they have your tent ready for you, Haruno-san. It should be adequately furnished, but should you find anything lacking, you may speak to Baki about it."
She shook her head rapidly, hands raised in protest as she squeaked out, "No, no – it's perfectly fine! I don't want to make any trouble!"
Did he think that I was going to throw my weight around as his personal medic?
"Good. Now if you'll follow me into my tent, we can discuss our… or shall I say, the Hokage's arrangements."
Ah, yes. The source of all her headaches.
Gaara lifted the flap of his tent, but stood back to let Sakura pass first. She was about to protest the gesture, that he was ranked far above her, but realised that it was more a gentlemanly move than anything else. So she practically scurried into the tent as quickly as she could before someone could accuse her of forcing a Kage into performing acts of servitude.
Once inside, the first thing that came to her mind was how nicely furnished Gaara's tent was. Sakura was certain that no one else had a proper bed inside their tent. Or a personal pantry and a tiny but serviceable kitchenette. And the size of the wardrobe… wait, was it bigger than her own wardrobe in Konoha?
While Sakura amused herself with inspecting the interior of the tent from where she stood, Gaara walked up to a large work desk and sat down behind it. That snapped Sakura's attention back to him immediately, and Gaara found himself suppressing the urge to smile at her obvious discomfort at being caught… admiring his sleeping quarters of all things.
"Haruno-sa…"
"Stop."
Gaara's gaze did not falter at the sudden disruption, having been used to being shut off or cut off mid-sentence by his councilmen who see him as little more than a child playing at being the Kazekage. Still, he found his interest piqued by Sakura interrupting him - she was a bold kunoichi, at the least.
"Kagekaze-sama, we have known each other for years, and if we are to be working so closely in the coming months, I must insist that you call me by my given name."
Gaara's soft smile surprised her. He had expected nothing less from someone trained by a Sannin, and was in fact about to broach the very same subject.
"It seems we are of like mind on this matter, Har… Sakura. I will agree to your request if you will agree to two of mine."
"Wait, two for one isn't fair!" Sakura blurted out before she could stop herself.
Gaara raised two fingers, "The first request is that you will, in turn, call me by my given name, if we are to apply your logic to the argument." Then he lowered one finger. "The second request is that while we may both address each other by our first names, we cannot do so in the presence of other shinobi. It will not be proper given our respective standings."
"Agreed," Sakura grinned, then lifted her hand up to seal the deal.
Gaara pondered the meaning of the gesture for a moment, then extended his own hand out to clasp hers. The handshake was brief and professional, but Sakura could not help but notice how her own hand seemed to disappear into Gaara's much larger one.
The separation between the sexes rarely registered for her as a medic-nin - man or woman, they could be hurt and healed in pretty much the same way. Now, here was a man whose physical well-being she would be solely responsible for, and she could not help realising the growing chasm of their bodily differences.
She was the first to pull away, and Gaara looked down at his hand as if still unused to the idea of human contact. The sound of Sakura clapping her hands together roused him and made him lift his gaze to hers at once.
"Right. Now that we have that out of the way, let's take a look at your daily workload and make sure your dietary needs are met, shall we?" Sakura smiled brightly.
Oh, yes, she was definitely trained by Tsunade.
"By the way, Gaara, why do I feel a constant hum of chakra surrounding your tent?"
Gaara's eyes widened slightly in surprise. The chakra-detecting barrier was supposed to be a secret, known only by those who erected it for him.
Perhaps Tsunade was not exaggerating when she boasted about her apprentice's fine chakra control.
Seeing that Sakura was already aware of the barrier, Gaara saw no reason to continue keeping her in the dark, "It's a chakra-detecting barrier. It has been configured to recognise those who will have frequent access to my tent, and will alert me if there is a foreign chakra present."
He looked at her, smiling almost slyly, "It seems like the barrier did not recognise your chakra signature, so it was sending me an alert just now. I will need to talk to my specialists about adding your signature to the barrier so I will not get false alarms every time you come into my tent."
Sakura rested her hands on her hips, scowling, "This is only going to fuel the rumours about us, you realise?"
"Or will you prefer that I enter your tent whenever I require medical attention?"
Ok, even the image was wrong in her head. The male commanding officer, entering the cramped, tiny tent of a female subordinate. And the funny noises that her patients sometimes made when she was treating them…
Just… no way. No. Way.
"Ok, ok – we'll do any medical treatments in your tent if the need arises. After all, it is perfectly normal for a Kage's personal medic to attend to him in his personal quarters, right? I mean, how can a Kage be made to go to his medic – someone who is supposed to be at his side at all times to begin with?"
She was desperately trying to convince herself, and they both knew it.
"Of course, Sakura."
Briefly, Sakura considered if it would be possible for her to smack the smile off Gaara's face without leaving a mark.