Standard disclaimers apply. I'm just borrowing these characters for a little while.
Author's note: Kishimoto-sensei's plan is to fit the entire 4th Shinobi War Arc into a matter of days in the Naruto timeline, but I'm taking the liberty of extending it since war is never so quick and clean-cut. Events from the manga will be added, removed or shifted around. Please pardon my impudence.
Fluff isn't my specialty, so here goes nothing! And remember, long reviews = LOVE.
The medic base was in a centralised location behind all five Divisions, so it was a fairly short trek to the campgrounds of the Fourth Division. Sakura knew that she could have saved herself time by using a transportation jutsu to arrive directly in the camp, but protocols dictated that she arrive on foot and let herself be cross-checked by sensor shinobi as a precaution against enemy infiltration through a henge.
Besides, she was running low on chakra from using her super-human strength repeatedly while erecting the medic base; she lacked the precise control needed and didn't want to end up transporting herself right into a river or onto Gaara's desk.
The sensor shinobi took one look at Sakura and practically swept through their inspection before sending her on her way. She was baffled and somewhat concerned that they were so quick to deem her an ally, but decided to let it pass for now.
It probably had something to do with the way the sand-cat was growling the entire time the sensor shinobi were checking her chakra signature.
Once past the camp perimeters, Sakura was greeted by the sight of a sea of tents. Under normal (well, war-time normal) circumstances, she would have gone straight for the largest tent, knowing that it would be Gaara's. However, for every fifty or so standard-sized tents, a larger one stood among them.
How was she going to locate Gaara's tent – by poking her head into every single of the larger tents? A chakra-probe would not work, because Gaara had told her beforehand that his tent was warded against it and would simply relay back false information to fool enemy shinobi.
"May I help you, Sakura-san?" A male hand was placed on her shoulder gently.
Sakura turned around just as Baki withdrew his hand.
"Actually, Baki-san, I do need help locating the Kazekage. Why are there so many similar tents to his in this camp?"
"They are precautionary measures – decoy tents to deter any enemies from assuming that the largest tent belongs to the Regimental Commander. They will not risk attacking every single large tent in the camp just to root the Kazekage out." Then Baki added, "It's a necessity – Kazekage-sama still needs a place to hold meetings with his Commanders, and we've added a host of other protection to his tents such as an enhanced chakra-detection field, a sound barrier to prevent others from listening in to the tent from the outside and of course, a trigger-alarm that will alert every shinobi in the vicinity if malicious chakra is detected within the tent."
Sakura nodded and smiled politely, both overwhelmed and impressed by the amount of work that had gone into securing Gaara's sleeping quarters. She knew that Gaara must be fuming on the inside about all the special treatment and had probably at one point or another asked for a standard-sized tent, only to be refused yet again.
"Can you point me to Kazekage-sama's tent then, Baki-san?"
"Certainly, Sakura-san. Your tent is that one," Baki turned his head as he pointed to one of the large tents in the eastern side of the encampment.
Sakura did not miss how he had referred to Gaara's tent as theirs, but she decided to let it slide. After all, there could be no arguing against the truth that she was bunking with Gaara.
"But you will not find the Kazekage in his tent right now. Or in the camp, for that matter."
Sakura raised an eyebrow, "Why not? The hour is late – Kazekage-sama should be resting in preparation for tomorrow's battle."
"It's a full moon," replied Baki, as if it was all the explanation she needed.
And that… was completely cryptic. At least to Sakura.
"Thank you, Baki-san," Sakura decided that she would try to figure out where Gaara was herself – Baki probably had more important matters to attend to.
First things first: she decided to take a look at the inside of their tent. It was remarkably similar to the tent they slept in only last night, except for a chest that was absolutely overflowing with storage scrolls near the foot of her bed. It was too late to do any unpacking, so Sakura settled Katsuyu and Mr. Fluffy-kins on her bed before taking her leave.
Since Baki had told her that Gaara was not in the camp, Sakura decided to take her search to the surrounding area instead. It did not take her long to pinpoint that familiar chakra signature emitting from a cliff ledge. Deftly, she made her way up the small mountain, and at the same time deliberately kicked a stone or two on her way so as to alert Gaara to her presence.
She did not want to be smothered in sand just because her arrival was unannounced.
Just as she poked her head to peer over the ledge, Gaara said monotonously, "There is a herd of stampeding elephants approaching from five o'clock."
Sakura giggled, then hoisted herself up and onto the flat ledge. Dusting her hands off on her skirt, she walked to Gaara's side, careful not to invade his personal space.
"I trust that everything has been settled at the medic base, Sakura?"
He was using her given name, which meant that they were alone.
"Just about everything important has been dealt with, Gaara. There are a few odds and ends, but the medic tents are battle-ready," Sakura replied in a professional tone; just because they were alone, it didn't mean that she could ignore the importance of the assignments given to her.
Gaara nodded once to acknowledge her words, and promptly returned to looking at the moon.
Sakura gave him the once-over, noting the tension in his shoulders. The veins on his knuckles were showing as he crossed his arms. His skin, bathed in the moonlight, somehow had taken on a paler pallor than normal. He did not look like he was enjoying his moon-gazing at all, which begged the question of why he was doing it to begin with.
"The moon is really beautiful tonight, isn't it?" Those were the first words that Sakura could come up with in an attempt to break the silence. She silently cursed herself the moment the words slipped from her tongue, knowing just how dreadfully cliché it sounded.
"That depends on your perspective. To most people, it is a thing of beauty and mystery, but to me, it once meant a time of seclusion."
Sakura gave him a quizzical look, and Gaara mentally debated with himself if he should let her further into his past; to let her see the monster that he was.
He might scare her away, and he found that thought oddly distasteful.
"You don't have to say anything, Gaara, if you don't want to."
Sakura could see that he was trying to decide if he should explain his previous words, but seeing his knuckles whiten only confirmed her suspicions that he was reliving unpleasant memories.
It was one way of looking at things; though, 'unpleasant' really was too mild a term, as Sakura was about to find out.
"I was born with Shukaku already inside of me – my father made the decision to implant the One-tailed Demon within my mother's womb when I was nothing more than a bundle of cells. No one talked very much about my actual birth, but it was no secret that by birthing me, my mother died, damning my very existence as she breathed her last.
"No one has ever tried to seal the Ichibi in an unborn child before me. I was their Grand Experiment, and they had hoped that my birth would also herald that of the Ultimate Weapon for Suna.
"It was not a successful experiment," Gaara's arms tightened around himself unconsciously.
Sakura took a step closer, just enough to rest her hand over his gently, concern furrowing over her brows. Gaara's skin was cold to the touch – chilled by the night wind. She knew that internally, he was warring with himself with every single word he spoke; he was divulging secrets that he had probably never told anyone else before. It was taking all of his mental strength for him to speak up now, and she knew that she had to let him, or risk shutting him out forever.
"The Ichibi, as my father soon discovered, could not be controlled by a mere infant. During the first full moon from my birth, Shukaku broke free from my feeble control and wrecked havoc upon Sunagakure. It soon became obvious that my hold on the Ichibi was weakest during the full moon, and for a while, my father ordered that I be kept under control with paralysing drugs – drugs that left me unable to move, but left my mind exposed to Shukaku's taunts and rage. It was not until I was around five that I was finally taken off the drugs, when I finally had some semblance of control over Shukaku during the full moons.
"Every full moon since, I learnt to meditate, to ignore the Ichibi inside my mind. But every now and again, Shukaku wanted to come out to play, or else it would not be satisfied, and it would make sure I suffered for it. Unfortunately, the tanuki demon's idea of play involved an excessive amount of blood and decapitation. I deliberately let it take over on some full moon nights; less often as I grew older and more capable of controlling it.
"Even after Shukaku was finally taken from me, I couldn't shake the feeling of unease that would wash through me whenever the full moon drew close. So I force myself to watch the full moon every month since, to remind myself that those days of uncontrolled violence were gone."
Gaara's soft exhale signalled the end of his revelations. When Sakura looked towards her hand, she was surprised to see that Gaara's hand had covered over hers in a fierce grasp, nails unconsciously scraping against her skin.
Perhaps the idea of physical contact was no longer so foreign to him, seeing how he was actively seeking it. Albeit painfully.
She could not find it in her heart to voice her discomfort nor pull away, so she simply gave his hand a reassuring squeeze back.
"Gaara," she said quietly, "All those killings, all those deaths… They were done by Shukaku. You cannot blame yourself for what the Ichibi did."
"And why not? Shukaku used my body to commit murder most foul – I am as guilty as it was."
Sakura sighed, placing her other hand over his to clasp it, then said, "But you never asked to be born with Shukaku within you. You never wanted to be a part of Suna's secret military inner workings. You were thrust into a position that you could not reject."
Gaara looked down at their joined hands.
"How do you do it?" He asked.
"Do what?" It was not Sakura's most articulate moment.
"Be so accepting of everyone, no matter what they have done?"
Gaara sounded genuinely curious, so Sakura gave him the most honest reply she could, "Because everyone has the propensity for good. You have shown yours by working hard to change yourself from a weapon to a respected Kage."
Gaara's eyes were downcast when he finally spoke again, "I never apologised for hurting you."
Sakura blinked, and then lifted her free hand to make a dismissive gesture even as she internally winced at the scratches now dotting her other hand, "Oh, it's quite alright – these marks will heal by themselves."
"I was referring to that time after the Chunin Examinations five years ago," Gaara relaxed his fingers but did not let go of her hand still, "When I trapped you in that sand prison."
She could see the guilt in his eyes as he lowered his head; it was not a look befitting of the Kazekage.
"Gaara," she said, "You just said it yourself – you trapped me. You never intended to kill me. So you were in fact trying to keep me out of harm's way."
Sakura hoped her assumptions were correct.
Gaara promptly dropped a bombshell on her, "Only because at that instant, you reminded me of someone very precious to me once."
Sakura looked so stunned that Gaara knew that clarification was in order.
"You reminded me then of my maternal uncle. He used to be my primary caregiver and protector – mostly of others against my uncontrolled sand. It was the way you stood so determinedly over Sasuke that woke my memories of him."
Sakura wasn't sure if she should be insulted that her twelve year-old self was just compared to a grown man.
"Of course, like most of my childhood, his love for me was a lie. He had always resented me for killing his sister, and even tried to assassinate me under my father's orders," Gaara's eyes turned cold and distant, "I walked away that night with my uncle's blood in my sand."
"Gaara, I would never…" Sakura began, but was stopped by Gaara's finger hovering just over her lips.
"I know you will not betray me like my uncle did. Naruto trusts and loves you, and he is most fortunate to have someone like you to call a friend."
Consumed with guilt, Sakura could only blurt out her confessions of how as a twelve year-old girl, she had done the very things that Gaara loathed – she had belittled Naruto time and again, besotted as she was with Sasuke. She barely took notice of Naruto except for the fact that he was a teammate, and an exasperating one at that.
"But you matured," Gaara replied, "And it was because Naruto loved you so much that he managed to defeat Shukaku in order to save you. He had someone precious to protect, so he became stronger."
Again, she was being referred to as something of Naruto's. Sakura could only sigh internally and concede that it was probably the only way Gaara could ever see her – as someone that he now had to protect in the interest of his friendship with Naruto.
Did that count as being objectified as a woman?
"Do you forgive me, Sakura?"
Sakura's eyes widened in surprise at the about-turn in their conversation topic.
"Gaara, there is nothing to forgive. Everything that happened that day happened because of Shukaku and not you."
"But do you forgive me?" Gaara insisted.
Sakura looked down at their linked hands, then whispered, "I forgive you, if that is what you want. However, I want you to know that I have never blamed you in all these years, Gaara."
"Thank you," he gave her hand a little squeeze, and finally released his hold to resume gazing at the moon.
Sakura couldn't help but notice how the tension had faded from his posture. After a moment, she too, turned to look up at the moon.
Gaara startled her by speaking up out of the blue.
"How is Yamanaka-san?"
Her heart must have leapt right into her throat in that instant, but Sakura quickly calmed herself down and feigned ignorance, "I've not seen Inoichi-san lately, Gaara."
Gaara turned to face her, amusement gracing his features.
"I was referring to his daughter and your good friend, Yamanaka Ino."
Well, it certainly was no use hiding it from him now.
"Ok, I admit it – I abused my power and took Ino away from the Fifth Division to help establish the medic base," once Sakura started, there was no stopping her, "I know you saw right through it the moment I gave you the list of personnel I enlisted for the task because you know the Yamanaka's are mind-reading specialists and not construction specialists, but I did it anyway. I really, really needed someone to talk to after our talk about Sasuke, and Ino was the obvious choice because we grew up together and she had a mad crush on him and…"
Gaara stopped her from blabbering on any further by holding up a hand.
Sakura shrank into herself and peered up nervously, "You're going to punish me for so blatantly abusing my position, aren't you?"
Sakura looked so guilty with her lips quivering like a child caught stealing from the cookie jar, that Gaara had to stifle a smile of bemusement.
"No, Sakura, I'm not going to rebuke you for what you did. On the contrary, I am glad that you took the chance to speak to Ino-san."
Sakura could only blink at the unexpected response.
"I am glad, because you needed to sort out your feelings towards Sasuke before the battle. I don't want you to face him in battle and hesitate because you are confused about what he means to you. If you truly love him, then it is even more important that you do not encounter him on the front, because you don't want to have the guilt of killing someone you cherish."
"Gaara," Sakura spoke his name, their eyes meeting, "I have sorted out my feelings towards Sasuke. I don't love him."
Gaara tilted his head quizzically.
Sakura suddenly felt very emotionally drained, as if the weight of everything she had spoken to Ino about had all come crashing down on her shoulders at once. She forced herself to look away from Gaara when she spoke again, "The Sasuke that I had always thought I loved was just an idealised image of him – someone that the current Sasuke could never be. All those fantasies I had about a future with him weren't with him at all, but with someone who embodied a completely different set of traits that Sasuke never had to begin with. He was just someone that I projected those ideals upon."
When Sakura stopped speaking, Gaara paused just in case she had more to add. Once it became clear that she had nothing more to say, Gaara took a step closer.
"So, you were never in love with Sasuke."
Sakura nodded.
"You have never been in love, not ever."
Another nod.
"But you have an ideal – that's why you know Sasuke isn't the one. Is my assumption correct?"
Tenacious – that was the only word she could use to describe Gaara then.
"Are you really going to lose this war because you cannot live without the knowledge of my ideal man?" Sakura raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"It would make for an interesting historical footnote," quipped Gaara.
And really, "Haruno Sakura, the medic-nin who single-handedly caused the defeat of the Allied Shinobi Forces in the Fourth Shinobi War because she withheld information about her personal life from the Regimental Commander, thus distracting him from his duties" was much, much worse than being possibly remembered as a "medic-nin who sat on her thumbs while the Regimental Commander choked to death on breakfast".
"I am sensing an abuse of power here, Kazekage-sama," Sakura frowned.
Gaara continued looking at her, awaiting her answer with infinite patience; Sakura knew it was a losing battle when she saw one.
Sighing dramatically, she closed her eyes and began counting off mentally, "Fine – first, he has to be sensitive to my needs and responsibilities, so that means I am a kunoichi first, a woman second. Second, I don't want to be treated like some damsel in distress all the time. He must let me explore my own strengths and weaknesses, and not come rushing to my rescue the instant I get so much as a papercut. Third, and this sounds frivolous but I am going to say it anyway – I want someone who knows when to take a breather and enjoy a quiet moment gazing at the stars. There is life beyond that of a shinobi's."
It took Sakura a moment to realise that she was doing the exact last thing with Gaara, of all people.
She hoped that Gaara would not take things the wrong way.
"It is true. Sometimes we get so caught up in our daily lives that we need to be reminded that there is more beyond paperwork and training." Then Gaara gestured to the skies, "As you consider the stars, it makes you realise that there are bigger and more important things in life. It is something I quite enjoy doing on the nights that sleep eludes me."
Sakura was about to start grilling Gaara over his sleeping habits when Gaara continued speaking as if he had not noticed the change in her facial expression, "You ask for interesting things in an ideal, Sakura. From what I gather, the quality you seek most in an individual is his regard for you as an equal. It is quite different from some of the other qualities I've heard my kunoichi's list."
"Oh?"
"Tall, dark and handsome."
"It's a biological drive, Gaara. I'm sure everyone wants a good-looking partner. Genetically speaking, such a pairing will increase the chance of producing offspring that will have several advantages in life. Research has shown that tall people are more respected, for example, and are more likely to ace job interviews by merit of their height alone" Sakura offered up as an explanation, "Have you noticed how your Senior Council members are mostly on the tall side?"
"It makes me glad that height is not a requirement for a Kage, I suppose," said Gaara, his mouth quirking into a smile.
Sakura grinned back at him. It was different talking to someone who was not afraid to air their physical insecurities – a good sort of different.
"You're not short, Gaara."
"Just vertically-challenged?"
Sakura had to cover her mouth to stop her laughter from spilling over, but it came out as an unlady-like snort anyway.
Gaara lifted a non-existent eyebrow at her, "Speaking of biological drive, Sakura, I think you are aware that asking for a man to always treat you as an equal is not possible. After all, it is a male instinct to protect what is theirs, just as Naruto protects you."
"Oh stars," Sakura groaned, "I think we need to get this straight, Gaara – I. Do. Not. Belong. To. Naruto."
"I don't think that's how he views it."
She didn't want to discuss Naruto's crush on her. Not now, not ever.
"Gaara, did I sate your curiosity already?" asked Sakura, making it quite clear that she wanted to move off the topic at hand.
"I suppose."
"Then can we stop talking about what I want in a man, or discussing my love life or lack of it?" Sakura placed her hands on her hips, trying to look displeased, "You need to get some rest if you want to be in top fighting condition tomorrow."
However, whatever result Sakura was trying to achieve with Gaara proved fruitless when she failed to stifle her own yawn.
Gaara gave her one look and promptly began to undo the vest that held his gourd.
Sakura watched in disbelief as Gaara removed his gourd and set it down on its side on the ground, then laid his vest half on the gourd, and half on the ground, turning it into a strange zaisu of sorts.
"Sakura, you are the tired one, so I think you should take a seat," Gaara gestured to his gourd.
Sakura, though, looked as if she had just been asked to run a kunai through the Kazekage.
"Gaara, are you crazy? There is no way I am going to lean on the Kazekage's gourd, or sit on the Kazekage's vest! That is just disrespectful!"
Gaara rolled his eyes at her panicked expression, "These are not the Kazekage's gourd or vest – they are my gourd and vest."
"It's still the same thing!"
Gaara walked over to the gourd and sat right down on the vest without hesitation, occupying half the available space.
"Will you sit now?" He lifted a hand out to her.
"But…"
"I'm going to start pulling rank soon, Sakura," Gaara threatened mildly.
"Fine!"
Sakura strode right over and dropped herself onto the vest with a huff, careful not to bump into Gaara while doing so.
"Now, lean back."
Sakura did as Gaara said, sliding a little lower to rest her head in the dip of the gourd. As she looked up, she was surprised by the clear, uncluttered view of the stars above. The cloudless night and endless desert made them seem all the more brighter. She would never have gotten such a view in Konoha – the city lights obscured much of the beauty of the stars.
"I am star-gazing under protest, Gaara," she added in a last-ditch effort to save her dignity.
"Of course, Sakura."
All too soon, though, the day's work and her talk with Ino finally took their toll on Sakura. She tried her best to fight the sleep threatening to overcome her, telling herself repeatedly that she would try to get Gaara back to the tent and back in bed after five more minutes.
Five more minutes.
Just five more mi…
She was out like a light before even a minute was up. Gaara noted with interest that because Sakura was trying to maintain a respectful distance between them, she was now in danger of sliding off his gourd.
In fact, if she kept leaning away from him, she was going to fall flat onto her side in the next minute or…
… Make that right now. Gaara's lips thinned into a grim smile, his fingers curled around her arm as he saved her from falling flat on her face in her sleep. He pulled her back into a sitting position smoothly, but noted that Sakura was still sound asleep.
Today's events must have taken more out of her than she allowed herself to show.
Sighing softly, he released his hold on her and watched in muted fascination as she once again started toppling away from him.
Timber.
This could go on for the whole night, Gaara mused to himself, one hand firmly locked on Sakura's upper arm to stop her from tilting over any further.
The way Gaara saw it, he had two options:
One – pull Sakura right up against himself so she will fall onto him instead of the hard ground. The downside to this option was that he might end up with a much larger ring of black around one of his already black-rimmed eyes once the sleeping kunoichi stirred. Naruto had mentioned that Sakura did not take kindly to unexpected physical contact.
Two – take Sakura back to their tent and let her sleep properly. Probably no downside.
Until Gaara had to consider how he was going to carry Sakura without risking an accidental, indecent touch.
Somehow, it seemed ungentlemanly to use his sand to carry Sakura, even if it was the most practical method currently available to him. Plus, it was simply disrespectful to carry her around as if she had some transmittable disease or something.
The redhead looked Sakura once over, noting with distress that she was wearing very tiny shorts under the skirt that she favoured – that meant a lot of exposed skin that he was in danger of touching.
As gently and quietly as possible, Gaara shifted Sakura enough to retrieve both his vest and gourd, attaching them back onto himself before he bent back down to lift the sleeping kunoichi bridal-style.
Her thighs were smooth and warm. Soothingly so.
That last time he had been voluntarily close to another female was not as pleasant an experience. It happened during his inauguration as the Fifth Kazekage: he was required to dance with a shinobi of the opposite sex – a symbolic gesture of the trust between a Kage and his shinobi – and he chose Temari.
It was either that, or one of his swooning, screaming kunoichi.
Kankurou called it "the lesser of two evils"; Temari called him a big doofus and slapped him with her fan.
The entire experience of dancing with one's elder sister could be summed up in a single word: gross.
Holding Sakura so close in his arms was anything but that, he noted.
Sakura muttered something and furrowed her brows, and Gaara stopped breathing for one irrational second.
When the tension on her face eased, Sakura seemed to find the presence of another warm body familiar, and promptly snuggled a little closer, rubbing her cheek against the very vest that she was so terrified of desecrating just minutes ago.
"Harumi…"
Was he just mistaken for a small, household cat?
Sakura pressed her face into his sash and mumbled, "… if I find you chewing on my hair again, you're only getting dried food tomorrow."
Yes, he had just been mistaken for a small, mischievous, household cat.
Gaara decided to reassure her that he was not going to eat her hair by uttering a single word:
"Meow."
Later that night, Gaara would wonder what insanity possessed him to meow like a cat.
But for now, the slight curling of Sakura's lips was reason enough.
It was a good thing that he commanded his sand mentally rather than needing to use hand seals, seeing how he had no free hands at that moment. Gaara deftly transported both of them back into the tent, a little disoriented by the sudden darkness inside.
A wisp of sand reached out to twist on a kerosene lamp, lighting up the interior of the tent almost instantly. It gave Gaara the visibility he needed to locate Sakura's bed, which the sand-cat and Katsuyu were both occupying. Gaara shot both creatures a look that told them to move off Sakura's bed, and the sand-cat was off in an instant. Katsuyu, however, appeared to be taking her own sweet time in slithering off, tentacles waving leisurely as it did so.
Katsuyu, it seemed, was not quite ready to forgive Gaara's mistaking of her for food yet.
With the slug finally off the bed, Gaara walked over and placed Sakura down as gently as he could so as not to wake her. Sakura might be physically exhausted, but she was a kunoichi, and her fighting instincts might kick in when he least wanted them to.
Fortunately, Sakura did not stir, not even when he retrieved his spare robe and tucked her in.
"Gaara…" Sakura muttered, eyes still closed, "… Don't forget to replenish your chakra."
Gaara blinked, wondering if she was feigning sleep. She had been unfaltering in her task of ensuring that he replenished his chakra every single night, but tonight she had arrived too late to brew the herbs into a tea.
Which meant…
Gaara turned to look at his desk, trying to will the pills inside the drawer into disappearing.
There was a strange purring sound, followed by the sand-cat changing into a whip-like shape as it hooked itself onto the drawer handle, pulled it open, and drew out the cloth-wrapped packet of pills. It then returned to its feline form and sat daintily on the table, the pills right in front of it.
When Gaara did not look as if he was going to be downing the pills anytime soon, the sand-cat gave a loud, rumbling purr that threatened to stir Sakura from her slumber.
Eyes widening in panic, Gaara quickly crossed over to the table and picked up the packet of pills, upon which the sand-cat ceased its noise-making immediately. He reluctantly peeled back the swatch of cloth, holding his breath as he plucked out a single pill. He glared at the sand-cat out of a corner of his eye as he popped the round pill into his mouth and tilted his head back to visibly swallow.
Gaara wondered why medicine always looked so manageable in one's palm, but seemed to triple its size once inside his mouth.
"Are you happy now, Mun?" He said to the sand-cat.
The sand-cat did not answer him – not that Gaara expected it to anyway. It leapt off the table and made its way back to Sakura's side.
Gaara tried to command the cat mentally, trying to find out how far along it had evolved, but all the cat did was turn around and give him a warning hiss that sounded like pouring sand. With what he presumed to be a huff, the cat flicked its tail at him and settled against Sakura's neck.
Gaara frowned, "Whose side are you on, anyway?"
The sand-cat purred softly, its hindquarters presented firmly in Gaara's direction.