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.
There weren't many things that Sakura hated, but feeling useless was one of them.
Once the first twenty-four hours were up, she heaved herself off her cot, pulled on her flak jacket, and marched over to Shizune's tent to politely but firmly request for placement as a base medic.
Shizune had little basis to argue with her, given that Sakura had observed the rest period stipulated by her medic. Besides, in the recent clashes with the White Zetsu clones and resurrected shinobi, the number of casualties being brought in was becoming unmanageable; she really could use the extra help.
"Sakura, I'm assigning you to tent number five. There will be civilian doctors working alongside you, and they are unused to certain types of injuries, especially those caused by jutsu's, so you will have your work cut out for you.
"There are far more casualties than we had initially estimated, so you cannot heal everyone with chakra – you'll be completely drained before noon. Instead, we are going to use old-fashioned first aid together with standard surgical and medical equipment. Chakra-based healing is reserved only for situations where physical treatments are not possible, or in life-or-death situations."
Sakura nodded, somewhat expecting the latter situation. Even on a manageable day back when she pulled shifts at the Konoha Hospital, chakra exhaustion was a constant bugbear that she fought. From the noise level in the medic base, Sakura had a pretty good idea of the number of injured being brought in.
They were going to need to expand the medic base if this kept up.
"Sakura?"
Sakura turned her attention back to Shizune, who was now gesturing at something near her feet. Sakura looked down and saw the sand-cat pressed close to her, purring.
"We cannot have a cat running around the medic base and getting underfoot at every opportunity."
Sakura frowned, "Shizune nee-san, if animal allies aren't allowed here, then why is Tonton allowed to stay?"
"Tonton is assisting in the transportation of medical supplies."
"Mr. Fluffy-kins can do that, too!"
Shizune blinked, silently mouthed the cat's name, and plainly shuddered. The sand-cat glared at the brunette, tail waving slowly and deliberately.
"Then consider it from this perspective, Sakura – I understand that your cat is being coveted by a group of Suna kunoichi," began Shizune.
"Understatement of the year," muttered Sakura, remembering the looks that several Suna kunoichi's shot her way just a few days ago.
"Well, what if they decide to try to kidnap your cat here in the medic base, where it is full of injured shinobi, breakable medical equipment and…"
Sakura held up a hand and sighed in defeat, "Okay, Shizune nee-san, you've made your point. I'm going to send Mr. Fluffy-kins back to Kazekage-sama."
Shizune smiled, "Besides, you have Katsuyu-sama if you get lonely."
"It's not the same," then Sakura turned her neck to peer at the slug summon inside her collar, "No offence, Katsuyu-sama, but I can't really cuddle you to sleep."
Katsuyu did what Sakura assumed to be the slug equivalent of a shoulder shrug.
"Come on, Mr. Fluffy-kins," Sakura beckoned the cat to leave the tent with her.
Once Shizune was certain that both kunoichi and cat were out of earshot, she sighed aloud.
Sakura might be a formidable kunoichi and an amazingly talented medic, but she could not name anyone or anything sensibly to save her life.
Whoever that was going to father future mini Haruno's should ideally be the parent naming them.
The unexpected had happened again.
Gaara was with the ranking officers of the Fourth Division just outside his tent where they were having a rundown of the battles that transpired yesterday, when a cloud of sand started to materialise over his head.
The sand-cat appeared just as suddenly, and landed neatly on Gaara's shoulders.
As if on cue, everyone in the vicinity tilted their head backwards, waiting for the sight of a pink-haired kunoichi falling from the sky.
When a solid minute had passed, and it became clear that Sakura was not going to pay them a surprise visit like the last time, Gaara turned his attention to the purring feline that was rubbing the top of its sandy head against his ear. He gently pulled the sand-cat off his shoulders and held it in front of himself.
"Why are you here, Mun?"
The sand-cat lifted its head slightly, showing off a purple bow tied around its neck with a piece of paper tucked under it. Gaara put the sand-cat on the ground before reaching to undo the ribbon and retrieve the note.
"Kazekage-sama,
Shizune-san has prohibited Mr. Fluffy-kins from the medic base, so I'm sending him back to you for now.
PS: Please keep him safe from any scheming kunoichi.
Sincerely,
Haruno Sakura."
"Is there a matter of concern, Kazekage-sama?" asked one of his officers.
Gaara – 'Regimental Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces', 'Fifth Kazekage' and now 'Sakura's Designated Pet-Sitter' – simply shook his head and resumed where they left off before the sand-cat appeared, taking care to tuck the note deep inside his pocket where it would not accidentally fall out.
The rumour mill would spontaneously combust if it ever found out that he was having a sort of joint-custody with Sakura in regards to the sand-cat.
Shizune was not exaggerating when she said that the number of incoming casualties was overwhelming, as Sakura found out; she had her suspicions already when Shizune relented too easily to her request to be put on active duty. Due to her position as senior medic, Sakura found herself being constantly consulted by the civilian doctors, most of whom had no idea on how to deal with genjutsu and more severe shinobi weapon-inflicted wounds.
She did not even realise that she was well into her second concurrent shift until a sudden hush spread throughout the base, causing her to look up from the stack of medical files she was perusing.
There was a flare of chakra from outside her tent, and Sakura glanced at the nearby clock in dread – it was well over eleven o'clock.
Lifting the tent flap, Gaara walked in. Just before the flap fell back into place, Sakura could see that a group of doctors and shinobi alike had gathered around, obviously wondering why the Regimental Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces was visiting the medic base at such an hour. A few heads were ducked low, trying to peer into the tent to see whom the Kazekage was meeting.
Inwardly, Sakura groaned – both at her own carelessness for missing her ten o'clock with Gaara, and also at Gaara for, well, just being here. Now even the medic base was going to be rife with rumours about her relationship to the Kazekage.
"Haruno-san, you're…"
"Late. I know, Kazekage-sama, and I apologise. I've been completely caught up with my work, but that is no excuse for me to neglect my promise. Is it possible that you give me half an hour to brew you the chakra tea so you can take it back to your camp in a thermos flask?" Sakura started to put away the files to clear a space for the task ahead.
"I'm afraid I'll have to reject that proposal, Haruno-san."
Sakura turned her head slowly to face Gaara, uncertain if she had heard him correctly. Her hands had stilled in their task, leaving her clutching onto a stack of files with seemingly no plan to put them down.
"Kazekage-sama?"
"We shall have the tea together at our tent, Haruno-san," Gaara began, and quickly held up a hand to stop Sakura from voicing any protests, "You have been working the entire day away, and I am sure your chakra can use some replenishing as well."
Sakura baulked, then came back to herself just as quickly, "Kazekage-sama, we are not allowed to perform chakra-based healing unless it is a life-or-death situation. I've been performing my duties with standard medical equipment all day long, so I'm not in danger of chakra exhaustion."
Gaara snorted, walked over to Sakura, and bent down to whisper in her ear, "Then tell me how you have been able to remove genjutsu this entire time without using any chakra; and how you closed open wounds more neatly than even the most experienced surgeons could. Or shall I tell Shizune-san that you've been disobeying her orders? She is the commanding officer of the medic corps, after all."
Gaara smirked as he drew back, and Sakura shivered. Whether it was because of his previous proximity or his 'little' threat to tell on her, she was not sure.
"It… gets the job done?" She offered up with a meek smile.
"And puts you at a risk that can be easily avoided," he was unimpressed with her answer, "The fact remains that you've used your chak…"
Gaara was just as surprised as Sakura when the latter jumped up and clamped her hand over Gaara's mouth. Gaara, at Sakura's boldness and his sand's lack of response to what it would normally have perceived as a threat; Sakura, at Gaara's blatant attempt to get her into trouble.
"Are you trying to get Shizune nee-san on my case, Kazekage-sama?" She hissed.
Gaara reached up to gently pull his hand away from her mouth, but did not let go of it when he spoke again, "If that is what it takes to get you to spare more concern towards your health, then the answer is yes."
They glared at each other for a moment before Sakura heaved a sign and conceded defeat, "Okay, okay – you win, Kazekage-sama. Just give me a minute to put these files away properly."
Gaara waved his hand, commanding his sand to neatly stack the medical files into a pile before carrying them off into the filing cabinet.
Sakura could only stare at him.
"Done. Shall we go now?" Gaara gestured towards the tent flap.
Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling the beginnings of a throbbing headache. If there was one thing that she knew for sure about Gaara, it was that once he wanted something, he would have it one way or another.
He was probably even more stubborn than she was – a cosmic impossibility.
"Are we travelling by sand, or on foot?" She asked, barely managing to mask the irritation in her voice.
"There is quite a gathering outside of this tent. I presume you'd want to avoid fuelling the rumours by walking out hand-in-hand."
Sakura looked down at their joined hands, and promptly yanked hers away as if burnt, then rubbed it for good measure. If Gaara was offended by the gesture, he said nothing.
In fact, was that a little quirk of his lips right there?
Sakura decided that she was better off not noticing certain things. "Well, we better get going, Kazekage-sama. The tea doesn't brew itself, you know."
"If it did, I wouldn't be here."
How could a man be so infuriating one moment, and so facetious the next?
Gaara turned around and walked out of the tent first, with Sakura close behind; she was his subordinate after all, and had to follow his lead.
Except for a few civilian doctors, the group of nosey parkers had mostly dispersed by the time they both emerged from the tent. Sakura was grateful that at least the shinobi's had enough common sense to not be caught blatantly eavesdropping – not that there was anything incriminating to be overheard in the first place.
Someone was walking towards them at a quick pace, and Sakura immediately recognised the person as Shizune. There was a knot of displeasure in the woman's brows, and Sakura knew that she was in for a scolding of some sort.
Someone must have overheard them, and went to squeal on her use of chakra-based healing.
Gaara turned to check what had caught Sakura's attention, then looked over to the pink-haired woman. Shizune's presence was obviously distressing her.
"We will travel by sand – it is much faster," decided Gaara spontaneously.
Sakura barely even had time to blink before Gaara drew her closer by taking her wrist, and summoned up a cloud of enveloping sand. By the time she did actually finish blinking, Sakura found herself back inside their dimly-lit shared tent.
Poor Shizune was left standing open-mouthed at the spot where Gaara and Sakura stood only a second ago.
Did the Kazekage just openly aid Sakura in escaping her wrath…?
Back at the tent, Gaara was giving Sakura a moment to orient herself; transportation by sand can be a disconcerting experience, and her rapid blinking and wide-eyed expression could be construed as such a sign.
When Sakura finally looked up, she was greeted by the sight of Gaara's table, empty except for a tea set and some brown-wrapped packages which she assumed to contain herbs. The sand-cat, which hovered in and out of Sakura's thoughts throughout the day, was discreetly licking at the rim of the honey jar; this was an oddity in itself, since the cat was made of chakra-infused sand and did not require actual sustenance.
Sakura detected warmth from within the carpeted tent – something she was not expecting in the desert. When she searched for the source of the heat, she saw a small stove placed in the centre of the tent with a fire already roaring away inside of it. The kitchenette did not survive Gaara's insistence on it not being part of his furnishings in the field, but a little portable stove was acceptable to him, it seemed.
The only thing missing from this scene was Sakura herself, brewing the tea.
"Gaara." There was a sound barrier – they would be free to address each other without the formalities. "You have every single item in place here. I really hope I'm not just here to make the tea and be sent off straight away."
And back to the medic base where Shizune nee-san is going to double my punishment for… whatever I did combined with Gaara's quick getaway.
"I have mentioned that I wanted you to join me, didn't I, Sakura?" Gaara replied.
Oh. Right.
Sakura picked up the tea set and packages, knelt down next to the stove, and began unwrapping the herbs. To her surprise, Gaara walked to the space across her and sat down, his eyes trained on her working hands.
Sakura gave him a pointed look which eventually gave way to a grin, "It's good that you are taking an interest in learning how to brew the chakra-replenishing tea yourself, Gaara; it will save me the trouble of having to personally brew it for you."
Gaara pondered her words for a moment. "You are correct, Sakura. In fact, I can quite easily skip consuming this aromatic tea without you badgering me about it from now onwards, if you don't come by every night henceforth."
"Gaara, did you just… threaten me?" Sakura gaped.
She was not about to fail in her duties as a personal medic, and yet here was her charge stating that he would be quite happy to undo all her hard work up till now, dammit!
The redhead gave her an affronted look, "Of course not, Sakura. I do not threaten people; you have known about my feelings towards this drink from the very first time you gave it to me."
"Just man-up and drink it, Gaara!"
Oh, stars – did she just tell the Kazekage, a leader of one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, to "man-up"?
Sakura waited with bated breath for the scolding that was sure to come for her insolence, but a rather different sound emerged from Gaara's throat.
He was… laughing?
Sakura looked up from her work, taken aback to see a pleasant flush on Gaara's face as he laughed at her antics.
"I've never had someone speak so boldly to me before," Gaara managed between bouts of laughter, "It is… different."
"Gaara, I meant no disrespect, I was…"
"… You were just speaking your mind," finished Gaara for her, "Don't ever apologise for your honesty, Sakura."
Inwardly, Sakura sighed with relief. She would have to thank Naruto sometime; his brashness of words and actions probably played a part in rendering Gaara immune to them, given the amount of visits that Naruto made to Sunagakure since they rescued Gaara.
"Actually, I would like to apologise, Sakura."
Sakura looked up so quickly that she nearly knocked over the kettle, not believing what she just heard.
"Our interactions have been casual as of late, and I fear that I might have offended you in our exchanges," there was really nothing else to call what they had been doing, "I'm not used to being able to speak so freely with another woman, and I might have overstepped certain boundaries. If I have, I must ask for your forgiveness."
Sakura blinked in surprise, still not quite believing her ears. Was Gaara apologising for the element of coquettishness in their conversations?
"Gaara, it takes two hands to clap; or in this case, it takes two voices to have a conversation," Sakura smiled kindly at him, "I enjoy being able to verbally match wits with someone, and not worry about setting off a political disaster with the wrong choice of words. You should be the one telling me if I have overstepped any boundaries."
It was the truth – under normal circumstances, she would have been in hot soup by now for her directness when speaking to the Kazekage. Tsunade had drilled in her time and again the need to be respectful, especially in the political arena. But with Gaara so close to her own age, and with his lack of airs as a Kage, she saw him more as a friend than a political figure.
"I'm glad to hear that," said Gaara.
Neither one of them spoke again until the tea was ready, which Sakura set on the tray and carried over to Gaara's table. Gaara stood up and took his seat, gesturing for her to do so as well.
Up until now, Sakura only ever had to prepare one cup of tea, so there was no question about who gets the first (and only) cup. However, now that Gaara had invited her to drink with him as well, she decided that she should serve him first out of respect for his position.
Gaara chose to wait, however, until she had poured a cup for herself before raising his slightly in a toast.
And downed it with his usual speed and grimace.
Sakura, though, having worked with these herbs on a regular basis, drank hers as if she was leisurely enjoying a cup of afternoon tea. Except for the fact that it was past midnight already.
Just as she finished her tea, the sand-cat leapt deftly onto her lap and crowded up against her chest, purring and rubbing itself against her vigorously. Sakura put down her cup and cuddled the sand-cat, smiling.
"I guess you missed me, didn't you, Mr. Fluffy-kins?" She teased.
The sand-cat purred harder and looked up at Sakura. Then Sakura did something Gaara did not expect.
She bent her head down and kissed the sand-cat smack on its muzzle.
Gaara managed not to drop his own cup in surprise, but he did fumble with it for a few moments, almost letting it slip through his fingers in the process, before he finally regained his composure and placed the cup on the wooden table with a firm "thunk".
Sakura, however, did not notice that. In fact, she was still giggling at the purring creature on her lap.
"Was that why you were licking the honey? Did you want a kiss from me, Mr. Fluffy-kins?"
Gaara cleared his throat. Clearly, Sakura had completely forgotten that she was not alone in the tent.
Sakura blushed slightly at having been caught baby-talking to the sand-cat, and by the Kazekage, of all people. But she mustered up the courage to give him a grin; she was not going to hide her quirks just because they were… well, quirky.
"Sorry – I like to think of my pets as more than mere animal companions." She sounded anything but apologetic.
Gaara's memories flashback to the time when Temari brought a pet ferret home. His sister practically adopted the creature as a human child, carrying it everywhere she went, singing to it when she thought no one was around, giving it a new nickname every other day, and rubbing noses with it just to make Kankurou gag. At one point, the ferret was eating human-grade food, causing Kankurou to grouse that a rodent was getting better meals than he was. In turn, Temari scolded him for disrespecting her "precious little snookums" and deliberately not serving her brother dinner for an entire week.
It must be a female thing to treat pets like babies, Gaara concluded.
"How does it feel to kiss a creature covered in sand?" he asked.
Sakura looked down at the sand-cat, then back at Gaara, commenting, "Well, it tastes sweet because of the honey, but it feels slightly coarse and gritty at the same time."
Answered like a professional medic; and it was not the answer Gaara was looking for, but he decided to let it slide for now – there were more pressing matters to address.
"Sakura," she looked up as her name was called, "I've read the reports from yesterday's clashes, as have the war council. You probably already know that the Third Division encountered the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
Sakura nodded; When she first heard the news from the injured coming into the medic base, she had rather embarrassingly lost her head for a moment and went rushing about to find out if Kakashi was alright. Once her fears of Kakashi being injured (or worse) proved unfounded, she heaved a sigh of relief and went straight back to work.
Gaara continued, "Hatake-san's report came back to say that the swordsman Momochi Zabuza, and his ally, Haku, had displayed more than just the signs of recognition that we expected the resurrected shinobi to have. Their emotions and thoughts seemed to be that of their own, rather than Kabuto's or Orochimaru's; although Hatake-san reported that later on, Kabuto appeared to have wiped their memories clean to make them more efficient killing machines.
"Now, why do you suppose that is? Why should Kabuto risk sending out shinobi that might hesitate to kill because of emotional attachments to the living?"
"I have been bothered by that question as well, Gaara. When Kankurou and I fought against Sasori, we didn't defeat with our own hands. In the end, it was Sasori who chose to end his own existence," Sakura watched as Gaara nodded, having read that part of Kankurou's report as well, "It is not likely to be an error on Kabuto's part, so I had suspected that something else might be afoot."
"Go on."
Briefly, Sakura wondered if Gaara should be discussing these questions with Shikamaru instead – Shikamaru was a far better strategist than she was, and would probably have at least three different deductions for Gaara to ponder over by now.
"What if the emotions of the resurrected shinobi were not intended for themselves, but for their opponents? It will be one thing to kill a nameless enemy, and another to kill someone whom you loved or respected. How can a sane man bring himself to kill someone with human emotions and thoughts, even if he logically knows that the other person is nothing more than a puppet?"
Gaara's lips thinned, and his expression was grim. He reached for a scroll inside one of his table drawers and held it out to Sakura.
"This is the list of known resurrected shinobi, based on field intelligence."
Sakura took it, her hands trembling slightly. Slowly unfurling the scroll, she scanned the long list of names with a glazed look in her eyes.
Suddenly, her eyes settled on one name, and she muttered a soft, "Oh, no."
"Sakura?" Gaara reached for her trembling hand, clasping his fingers over hers gently.
"Sarutobi Asuma… he is Team Ten's former teacher. That is Shikamaru's team," she sounded stunned.
"Nara-san left to assist in the coastal defence yesterday," said Gaara, "I believe he must have encountered his former teacher by now."
Sakura's heart was racing. She never forgot the haunted look in Shikamaru's eyes during the weeks following Asuma's death. She had tried talking to him, but Shikamaru simply smiled and told her that he had everything under control.
Apparently, Shikamaru's idea of 'under control' meant blowing his teacher's killer to bits and burying him alive for the rest of eternity.
She was glad that she had parted with Shikamaru on good terms.
Gaara took one look at Sakura and knew at once that Sakura was contemplating rushing to Shikamaru's aid – a thought that did not sit well with him.
"Sakura, we must all deal with our own demons in this unholy war."
Then she remembered – Gaara would probably have to fight and kill his own father. Even if Gaara proclaimed to hate the man who damned his existence from the minute he was born, the fact remains unchanged: the Fourth Kazekage was still his father.
And did she not just fight the puppet master who once almost succeeded in killing her? It was only her rage towards his crimes against Chiyo and Gaara that overrode her instinctive fear of Sasori and gave her the courage to battle him.
"I…" Sakura's limply placed the scroll onto the table and held the sand-cat closer, her eyes downcast, "I feel so helpless, just sitting back at the medic base and waiting for casualties to be brought in. I am a combat medic – I should be out there fighting with all my friends and teachers."
Gaara squeezed her hand, causing her to look up at him.
"Sakura, we all have our duties in this war. Yours is to heal, just as mine is to lead and fight when the time comes," Gaara saw no change in her expression, and so continued, "If making you a field medic will give you a greater sense of contribution towards this war, I shall assign you to the frontline in a few days' time. But I want you to understand that your true value as a medic shines when you are at the medic base, treating those who would have otherwise died in less skilled hands."
"Gaara, I am treating them with salves and scalpels! Any doctor can do that!" Sakura shouted in frustration.
"But not with the same care and dedication."
Then Gaara did the most astonishing thing: he lifted her hand to his face and quietly brushed his lips over her knuckles, the kiss lingering just a moment longer on the back of her hand before he looked back up.
Sakura was so stunned, she simply froze solid on the spot.
"These hands were made to heal, just as you saved my brother's life and mine," Sakura wanted to protest that it was Chiyo who healed him, but for some reason, she couldn't find her voice, "Sakura, you are a capable medic and kunoichi, and I am certain you will feel perfectly at ease whether you are on the battle field or in a medic tent. However, I do not wish to lose anyone precious to me, not when there are so few that I would give my life for and know that they would do the same."
"Gaara… I…" Sakura's speech stop-started a few times before she swallowed hard and looked Gaara in the eye; her hand was starting to feel clammy, "I won't die so easily. As you've just said yourself – I am a capable kunoichi. I will not take undue risks, and I promise I won't go rushing into a fight like Naruto always does."
Naruto was a safe topic; Naruto was their common link.
Also, there was the fact that Gaara was very much aware of Naruto's crush on her.
Oh, it was not that she had not considered Gaara as a potential partner – he had planted those thoughts into her head yesterday, and she could scarcely get rid of them now. Since the first day of her assignment to him as his personal medic, he had been nothing less than a perfect gentleman with her. He was easy to talk to, and definitely easy on the eye, if she had to force herself to admit it.
And most importantly, he had never seen her as anything less than an equal.
Perhaps except for when his male protective instincts kick in; but Sakura supposed it would be asking too much to expect evolution to undo several million years of work.
"Sakura, does this bother you?" Gaara spoke up, and used his free hand to gesture between them.
She swallowed once more, and replied, "It's too fast, Gaara. I… the circumstances…"
Sakura really, really wished that she was more eloquent under present conditions.
"We are shinobi, Sakura. Tomorrow is a luxury we cannot afford," Gaara took note of her widened eyes and decided to clarify himself, "I am not asking for your hand right now, so you need not look so terrified. I just want you to know that I am fond of you, and our time spent together."
Sakura was still too tongue-tied to say anything, and her silence only served to convince Gaara that he had messed up somehow.
Gaara lowered his forehead into his free hand, muttering, "I… forgive me. I am completely new at this."
His frankness was refreshing and comforting to hear; to know that she was not alone in this murky, uncharted world of emotional entanglements.
Sakura curled her hands around his, causing Gaara to look up. There was a look of mild confusion in his eyes as he looked from their joined hands and back to her face.
"We should get to know each other better as friends first," Sakura surprised herself with the decisiveness in her tone, "Whatever happens next, we'll let nature take its own course."
It made her heart clench ever so slightly, seeing the manner in which a smile slowly spread across Gaara's face.
"Of course, Sakura."
They continued to hold hands in comfortable silence.
Until Sakura's body betrayed her once more and she turned away to yawn.
She was just so terribly jealous of how Gaara could go without sleep for days on end, if he so wished.
"It is late, Sakura. Go to bed – you will be covering the morning and night shifts at the medic base tomorrow, if I am not mistaken," said Gaara.
"Have you been peeking at my schedule?" Sakura asked.
"Maybe."
"That could be classified as a stalker's behaviour, Gaara, if you weren't the Regimental Commander who naturally has access to all the field information."
They rose from their seats in tandem, still joined at the hands. No one was sure who was supposed to let go first.
The sand-cat which had been sitting on Sakura's bed and watching the entire proceedings made a half-purr, half-huff sort of noise, causing Sakura to jump slightly; she had practically forgotten about Mr. Fluffy-kins!
Gaara, on the other hand, was starting to ponder the wisdom of creating a sand-cat in the first place.
Sakura pulled her hands away first.
"Goodnight, Gaara."
She reached up to cup his cheek, and went on tip-toes to press a soft kiss to his cheek. Gaara's only reaction was to turn into a statue.
"Sweet, but sandy," grinned Sakura, as she pulled back.
Ah, his Sand Armour.
Gaara finally came back to himself as Sakura headed behind the screen, quickly making himself scarce by leaving the tent to give her some privacy to prepare for bed.
Once outside, he transported himself away to the cliff ledge where he had conversed with Sakura several days ago.
When he was certain that he was alone, he touched his hand to the cheek that Sakura kissed moments ago.
Did that mean that she was receptive to his courtship?
Friends for now.
He had not missed how Sakura made reference to Naruto shortly after he kissed her. Naruto was his dearest friend; of this there was no doubt. And Naruto had spoken too admiringly about Sakura to have viewed her as merely a teammate.
Gaara felt like the worst traitor ever, to fall for the woman that his best friend had loved for so long.
On the other hand, there was a tiny part of him that silently rejoiced at the fact that Naruto did not fit what Sakura considered her ideal, if what she had told him was the truth in her heart.
Still, he could not set aside the guilt gnawing away at his insides; Naruto and Killer Bee were being protected by the Allied Shinobi Forces, and here he was taking away Naruto's most important person.
Could he be called a thief, if he took what Naruto never had a chance to possess?
At the very least, Gaara was certain of one thing – nothing would be the same from now onwards.