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.

We shall return to the war shortly. In the meantime, please enjoy this filler :D

By the time Sakura returned from her day's work alongside Baki, the hour was late. She figured that they must have covered the entire Fourth Division camp twice, and the medic base thrice. And that was in addition to their meeting with the War Council to plan their next moves.

She wished that Shikamaru had been with them for the meeting at least – he had a way of compartmentalising information that seemed positively effortless.

What did Gaara want to speak to Shikamaru about, anyway?

Sakura had barely noticed her arrival at the entrance of their tent, tired as she was; she almost walked right in without signalling her approach before she snapped to her senses and quickly flared her chakra, then waited for Gaara to acknowledge her presence before stepping into the tent.

What she did not expect was for the tent flap to be lifted by Gaara himself, when he should still be resting in bed. Swallowing the reprimand on her tongue, she slipped into the tent and waited for Gaara to close the flap behind them.

When she turned to face Gaara, his appearance still seemed haggard and sluggish. Although his skin had taken on a healthier pallor, he had thrown another set of robe over his own and was holding it around himself with one hand.

"Gaara, are you feeling alright?" There was no way she could outright scold him when he looked this haggard.

"That tea, when consumed in large doses, is enough to make the strongest man ill."

Sakura quickly covered her mouth to prevent Gaara from seeing her grin, but his furrowed forehead indicated that he did, nonetheless.

Composing herself, she snapped into medic-mode and gestured to Gaara's bed, saying, "Gaara, if you can lie down for a while so I can assess your condition?"

Gaara removed his spare robe and placed them over his chair, instantly drawing Sakura's attention to the stacks of scrolls that had almost buried his desk. She held up a finger, ready to speak, but Gaara beat her to the punch.

"The war efforts over the past week had forced me to push aside my duties to Sunagakure in the meantime. I have to make up for the lost time," explained Gaara.

"Gaara," Sakura raised an eyebrow, "Paperwork is not bed rest. I am going to insist that you turn in after my assessment; let me do the work for you instead. After all, we've been doing your Kage paperwork together for all these months already."

"On one condition."

"I won't touch the politically-sensitive scrolls."

They exchanged knowing smiles, and with a soft sigh of resignation, Gaara laid down on his bed and watched as Sakura stood over him, her hands starting to take on a greenish glow before she placed them just over the top of his head. Her face took on a look of deep concentration as her hands skimmed downwards over his body, carefully probing his chakra system and watching for any signs of blockage or a slower-than-expected recovery.

Gaara's face felt warmer than usual, though he was not certain as to why it was so.

Finally satisfied with her checkup, Sakura clapped her hands together and addressed Gaara, "You're well on your way to full chakra restoration, Gaara. By tomorrow evening, you should be back to your old self once more."

Gaara released the breath that he did not even realise he was holding until now, and turned his head in Sakura's direction to nod his thanks.

"Before I start on the scrolls, do I need to brew mor…"

"No."

Stifling a smile, Sakura turned on her heels and made herself comfortable on her chair at the desk, and promptly began perusing the mountain of scrolls with infinite patience. Gaara watched her for a few more minutes before turning away, his back against her as he stared unblinkingly at the side of the tent; he was not tired enough to sleep, and lying down with nothing to occupy his time left him with too much nervous energy. However, if he did not at least pretend to rest, Sakura was going to give him an earful.

For what seemed like hours, the only sounds in the tent was the soft unfurling of the scrolls and Sakura's occasional tap of the brush handle against the desk – a habit that she had picked up to give herself something else to do whenever she came across an especially wordy (and pointlessly so) scroll.

The sound of falling paper stirred Gaara from his meditation, and he had to resist turning around to find out the reason for the noise. Sakura mumbled softly under her breath, sounding frustrated as she shuffled around the table to pick up a pile of assorted scrolls and papers that she had accidentally toppled over while reaching blindly for the next one.

Just as she was replacing the scrolls and papers, Sakura caught sight of a thin, well-worn book. Having rarely seen Gaara reading anything besides his Kage-related paperwork, she was intrigued by the presence of the book and began to flip through it, the rapid turning of the pages sending a buzzing-like sound through the tent.

Sakura was engrossed enough to not notice Gaara's form tensing on his bed; he had a very good idea what book it was that Sakura was currently leafing through, and he mentally cursed himself for not putting it away.

The ensuing silence, save for the flipping of pages, created an overbearing tension in the tent that Gaara could not shake.

Say something, Sakura, he found himself mentally shouting.

Sakura did one better: she softly closed the book and promptly turned tail, the only tell-tale sign being the swishing of the tent flap as it fell back into place.

Gaara did not want to jump to undue conclusions, and so used his chakra to probe the tent for Sakura's unique chakra signature. The moment it became clear that Sakura was no longer in the tent, he leapt clear out of bed, throwing off all covers and haphazardly slipped on his footwear before dashing out of the tent, all sense of decorum forgotten.

Once outside, Gaara's sudden appearance startled a few night guards, all of whom quickly bowed and greeted him.

He gave a group of shinobi an acknowledging nod, then asked calmly, "Have you seen Haruno-san?"

The night guards looked to one another, as if wondering who should be the one to answer the Regimental Commander.

Gaara deepened his scowl, and one shinobi hurriedly replied, "She was headed towards the southern camp entrance, Kazekage-sama. She seemed to be in a hurry to get there."

"Thank you." Gaara was already at least two tents away from the group before his words reached them.

He wove his way through the sea of tents and guards, automatically returning their greetings while his mind was preoccupied with the thoughts of only one kunoichi in the world.

When he finally spotted a flash of pink against the darkness of the night, he had to fight against the urge to call out to her. Instead, Gaara quickened his pace and rapidly closed the distance between them.

Sakura spun around at Gaara's unashamedly noisy approach, and the first thing Gaara noticed was the obvious shine of wetness in her eyes.

His chest constricted painfully in that instant.

"Come with me, Haruno-san."

Before Sakura even had the chance to open her mouth to speak, Gaara took her by her waist, lifted a hand, and they both vanished from the campsite in a cloud of sand.

It was no surprise to Sakura that he chose to take her to the cliff ledge where they had returned on several occasions to star-gaze and talk about everything and nothing in particular.

What surprised her was how miserable Gaara looked as he gazed down at her; her eyes betrayed her astonishment, but she quickly willed away the emotion and forced herself to focus on her thoughts.

Still, it almost made her reconsider smacking him for wasting his barely-restored chakra reserves so blatantly.

Almost.

Gaara's sand shield rose in front of him automatically, deflecting Sakura's purposeful but non-aggressive punch. She hissed in annoyance as some of the sand scattered, both at her thwarted efforts and the abrasiveness now burning her knuckles. One part of her wanted to continue punching the shield, if just for the sake of having something to hit; the other part of her wanted desperately for the barrier between them to come falling down, in every sense of the word.

The redhead dropped his sand shield and reached for her hand the moment he felt her hesitation, his brows knitted in annoyance.

"You're hurt," he stated, although it was no more than a slight pinking of her skin.

As he dipped his hand to plant soft kisses on her knuckles, Sakura's temper rose once more; she lifted her other hand in preparation to hit him, but Gaara own hand stretched forward and snatched hers in a possessive grasp, his eyes still closed in concentration as he continued to soothe her stinging hand with his lips.

"Gaara, let go of me!" Sakura did not like how her voice was starting to crack, and she made several half-hearted efforts to break away from his hold. She knew that she could easily do so with a chakra-enhanced punch, but her heart was simply not in it. What kind of personal medic would she be, if she healed her charge one moment and knocked him out the next?

Then Gaara drew back, studied her face quietly, and finally leaned in to kiss away the tears forming at the corner of her eyes. But each firm kiss only made her tears flow faster, and finally, Gaara pulled her against his chest in their tightest embrace yet. He gently stroked the back of her head, whispering what Sakura assumed were words meant to comfort while she proceeded to soak his robe with her sobbing.

This is so stupid. We have barely even dated… There is no reason for me to feel so upset over a future that is so far away… or one that might not even happen..

Gaara held her for the longest time, waiting for her to stop trembling and her sobs to subside into the occasional hiccup before he gently pushed her back before leaning down to press a kiss to one corner of her mouth.

"Tell me what is upsetting you," he asked, though he knew very well what was bothering her.

Sakura blinked, and a spark of fury shone in her eyes as she lifted her gaze to meet him, "You knew… you knew all along that we'd have no future together, that we would have to eventually part because you have the obligation to marry from within your village. But you still allowed me to fall for you. This is cruelty, Gaara."

When she turned away and spoke her next words, Gaara felt his heart drop into his stomach.

"We should separate, before we hurt each other further."

Sakura began to form the hand signs for a teleportation jutsu, but Gaara quickly grabbed one of her hands and pulled her around to face him.

His expression was completely, utterly blank.

His eyes, however, had a strange fire in them that Sakura had never witnessed before; she was not certain if it was a good sign or not.

"Sakura," he said, "I don't want you to go."

"But…"

"I am obligated to marry the winner of the Kazehime Trials, not a Sunagakure kunoichi," explained Gaara.

Sakura tilted her head in mild confusion, "I didn't think there was a difference between the two."

Gaara decided that his next words had to be chosen carefully, to avoid implicating his siblings and Shikamaru, or worse, getting Sakura mad at him for focusing his attention on matters besides the war at hand.

"According to Suna tradition, the candidate has to be a kunoichi," Sakura resisted rolling her eyes at his statement, "And that she has to apply to be in the Trials."

"… And those are all the requirements?" There was a note of scepticism in Sakura's voice, and Gaara found that he could not blame her; it did seem too simplistic when she put it that way.

Gaara nodded, "But you must have gleaned from the book that very few make it past even the first part of the Trials. In an environment as harsh as the desert, only the strongest bloodlines can survive, so the difficulty of the Trials reflects that."

Sakura pressed a finger to her lips, and Gaara found his eyes drawn to that simple gesture.

Finally, she looked up at him and said, "So in fact, any kunoichi, regardless of nation affiliation, can apply for the Kazehime Trials."

Gaara nodded once more, but what he did not anticipate was Sakura suddenly blushing as if she had developed a sudden severe allergic reaction, then promptly buried her face into his chest.

Her next words were muffled against his chest, "What makes you think I plan to marry you, or even move to Sunagakure?"

There was no malice in her words – just a hint of confusion, perhaps.

"You were the one trying to end our relationship before it even had a chance to develop by thinking too far ahead," chuckled Gaara, deeply aware that he was guilty of the same thoughts just hours before, "And if you do not wish to leave your home, I can always abdica…"

Sakura pressed her fingers over his lips, anger in her eyes as she hissed, "Don't even suggest giving up what you've worked all your life for, Gaara. Not for me."

Pleasantly surprised at her sudden spirit, Gaara smiled against her fingers and leaned in close to whisper, "Or, I could arrange for the complete relocation of our villages…"

And the image of Gaara transporting the entire village of Sunagakure right into the middle of Konohagakure came just a little too easily to Sakura's mind for her comfort. Or vice-versa, for that matter.

Tsunade-shishou would have kittens if Gaara did anything close to either option.

"Until the war is over – we have all the time and more to consider the future," said Gaara, "But with death at our heels every single moment, we should cherish every second we have together."

"You don't mean…" Sakura's eyes widened as her mind headed for some very… interesting places.

"Stay with me to watch the stars, Sakura."

"Oh. Of course, Gaara."

Gaara's tiny smirk was a dead giveaway of what he knew Sakura had been thinking of, and for some reason, Sakura did not find herself so ready to strike him this time.

The fact that the entire Fourth Division was abuzz with gossip about the Regimental Commander's not-so-professional relationship with his personal medic did not bother Sakura as much as she thought – she had expected it to intensify ever since the day Gaara stole her away right in front of Matsuri.

There was no denying that she was in a relationship with the Fifth Kazekage, anyway.

What bothered her, though, was the rumour that the Proxy Commander was now a third wheel in their relationship, and the looks some shinobi had shot at her over that. A few kunoichi were more indiscreet with their insults, calling Sakura some rather colourful names for playing two men at the same time.

However, the years of having her forehead size being ridiculed by others and her subsequent friendship with Ino had taught her to let these rumours slide off her back; her conscience was clear, and it was all that mattered.

With her head held high, she made for the location where Shikamaru's chakra signature was emitting from. There were certain matters she wanted to discuss with him, after learning from Gaara that he had figured out her past with Shikamaru. He had mentioned it almost as an afterthought just as she was getting used to the idea of using his chest as a pillow – a mood-killer, to say the least.

Sakura just hoped that Shikamaru's injuries were not beyond her abilities to heal.

Shikamaru's chakra signature was taking her in some rather fascinating directions. For some reason, she soon found herself walking into the kunoichi-dominated parts of the camp.

Before she had time to question herself why it was so, a figure emerged from one of the larger tents and into the twilight. The figure was distinctly male, wore his hair up in a slightly dishevelled spiky ponytail, seemed a little unsteady on his feet, and went by the name of Nara Shikamaru.

When Shikamaru looked up at her, he blinked once, then harder a second time as if not quite believing his eyes. Sakura in turn simply stood with her arms crossed, studying his form – he was definitely a little frazzled, in both mental and physical senses of the word. At the very least, he did not appear to have been mauled by a sandstorm, though.

Also, was that a lipstick smudge on his cheek?

Before she could speak, Shikamaru raised a hand and uttered solemnly, "For the record, you didn't see anything."

Noticing the beads of nervous perspiration dotting his forehead, and the way Shikamaru was swallowing the very obvious lump in his throat, Sakura could not help it – she snickered.

Oh, Sakura knew about Shikamaru's strange on-off relationship with Temari. In fact, she was a little hurt when Shikamaru started seeing Temari soon after they broke up, but once she reminded herself that she had initiated the breakup herself, she could not begrudge Shikamaru's own search for happiness.

Even if that left her moping about and hiding from Shikamaru for the next few weeks; Shikamaru had to corner her to find out why she had been avoiding him. Several hours after that, Shikamaru had thrown his arms up in the air, dramatically declared all women to be utterly confusing, and they parted ways with matching, goofy grins.

"My lips are sealed, Shika-kun," her voice was teasing as she reached up to tap at her own cheek, "But you really should try to keep your own secrets, too."

Shikamaru's eyes widened as comprehension dawned on him. Muttering a low "aw, crap", he mirrored Sakura's hand and tried to get at the lipstick smudge. The only trouble was he kept missing.

That, and he was rubbing at the wrong cheek.

Sighing softly, Sakura took him by the sleeve and tugged him towards the tent that he had come out from, saying, "We better get that cleaned up before you give the Kazekage a real reason to kill you."

Sakura flared her chakra signature on reflex, until it suddenly occurred to her that the tent's occupant might not recognise hers. She was about to turn to Shikamaru to ask him to signal his presence instead when the tent flap was lifted by a tall, blonde kunoichi.

"Sakura?" Temari seemed confused to see Sakura outside her tent, and Sakura quickly let go of Shikamaru's sleeve.

"Temari-san, I was just…"

Temari made a clicking noise with her tongue and said, "Well, are you going to stand out here talking, or do you want to come in?"

The interior of Temari's tent was a little more impoverished than what Sakura had expected as she discreetly scanned her surroundings; she was the Regimental Commander's sister and a ranking officer after all. Instead, Temari had a standard-issue cot, her weapons were piled up in a corner, and her scrolls were sticking haphazardly out of a makeshift bookcase assembled from discarded crates.

"Can I have some tissue, Temari-san?" asked Sakura.

Temari cocked an eyebrow at the strange request, but handed her a box of it from under her cot. Sakura nodded her thanks and turned to Shikamaru with the box held out.

Shikamaru only blinked at her, "I'm going to need a mirror, Sakura."

Temari looked around them and finally noticed what all the fuss was about. With a titter, she plucked a piece of tissue from the box and proceeded to wipe the lipstick mark off Shikamaru's cheek.

"You're rubbing my face off, woman!" Shikamaru tried to pull away from Temari's grip on his arm.

"Then don't be in such a hurry to run off after making out, jerk!"

Sakura had the distinct feeling that she should not be around for this conversation, and started to slip away in the direction of the tent flap. Unfortunately, Temari saw what she was attempting to do and paused in her tormenting of Shikamaru to gesture to Sakura.

"Hang on, Sakura. I want to talk to you."

And really, that statement should not have sounded as ominous as it did, but Sakura supposed Shikamaru's look of horror had something to do with it.

With no other option available to her, Sakura stayed stock-still where she stood while Temari continued to scrub away at her boyfriend's cheek.

When she was done, Shikamaru looked as if he had been scalded on one side of his face. Satisfied with her handiwork, Temari tossed the used tissue away and went to pull up two chairs hidden behind the bookcase.

"Make yourselves comfortable. I'll find us something to drink," said Temari.

Shikamaru and Sakura exchanged looks, a barrage of questions running through their heads. Was Temari about to grill them over their past relationship? How much did she know of Sakura's dating history with Shikamaru? Was she going to quietly assassinate them and bury their bodies?

By the time Temari turned around with a small flask and three glasses, Sakura and Shikamaru had let their imaginations go completely feral and were frozen in terror.

Temari rolled her eyes and said, "I'm not going to commit homicide or anything, you two. So will you please relax already? I just wanted to talk about Gaara. Shikamaru already told me about the two of you, and since I know you won't be stupid enough to break my little brother's heart by trying to rekindle anything with Shikamaru, you need to stop worrying that I'll pull out my fan on you, Sakura."

Why did Temari's reassurance sounded more like a threat…?

Sakura forced herself to smile as she spoke, "Of course, Temari-san. I know Shikamaru is quite enamoured with you, and I am happy to be with Gaara."

Temari paused in her act of filling the glasses and turned to Sakura, her lips pulled down in a small scowl, "Sakura, you are dating my brother. There is no need for honourifics between us, not even when I am his elder sister."

Temari then handed them each a glass of light greenish drink. Shikamaru downed it without even blinking, so Sakura followed suit.

The next thing she knew, she was coughing up a storm while Temari guffawed and Shikamaru smirked.

"Temari-s… Temari! You didn't say it was alcohol!" Sakura squeaked out between coughs.

"Ah, but you didn't ask," grinned the blonde as she held up her own glass in a mock salute.

"I'm underage!"

"So am I."

"We all are, Sakura. But why worry about that when we may not live to be twenty?" said Shikamaru.

"Ever the pessimist, Shikamaru," Temari shook her head despite the smile on her lips, "We are going to win this war, so I'm calling this an early celebration."

"To winning the war," Shikamaru raised his glass.

"To the victory of the Allied Shinobi Forces," added Sakura.

"And… to the end of my brother's virgin days," grinned Temari, causing Sakura once more to choke on her drink.

It was hard to tell if the blush on Sakura's cheeks was due to the alcohol, or Temari's toast.

"Temari," sighed Shikamaru, "Your sense of humour leaves a lot to be desired."

"You're dating me, Shikamaru, not my sense of humour. Deal."

Sakura was able to speak up once she regained use of her vocal cords, "Temari, I… we're both not ready for that step. We have only just started dating a few days ago."

Temari's eyes widened in pure surprise.

"You have got to be kidding me. So many months under the same tent, sleeping just metres away from my brother, and you guys only just started dating? Does Gaara do something unattractive like snore or something?"

Realising the turn in the conversation, Shikamaru decisively placed his glass on a nearby table and walked out of the tent without another word.

He did not want to be anywhere near the presence of Girl Talk.

Both kunoichi had turned to watch Shikamaru's exit. When Sakura returned to meet Temari's gaze, she was surprised to see how serious Temari's expression had become.

"Sakura, I don't know if you are aware of it, but this is Gaara's first romantic relationship. We both know that Gaara is not a frivolous person, so I expect that he is courting you with the full intention of pursuing a future together with you."

Sakura settled the glass on her lap and held her head high as she replied, "Temari-san, I hope you're not implying that I am not serious about my relationship with Gaara."

"I don't know, Sakura. Are you?"

"We respect each other, and we accept each other, faults and all. I know you are worried that Gaara and I may be getting in over our heads because of our close proximity and the war hanging over our heads, just as Tsunade-shishou did," Sakura touched one hand to her chest, "But I know that what I feel here is real.

"Neither of us rushed into this. As you have said so yourself, we've only just started dating despite having lived in close quarters for so long. If this was some hormone-driven relationship, I don't think we even need more than a few days together.

"I care very deeply Gaara," there was conviction in Sakura's eyes when she uttered those words, and the steadiness of her own voice startled her a little, "I don't know what the future holds for us because of this war and our lives as shinobi, but at the very least, I can tell you that I will be by his side as long as he wants me to."

Temari continued to stare at Sakura for the longest time, then she did something completely unexpected – she made a gagging expression.

Sakura reared back a little, blinking.

"You know, Sakura, all I wanted to know is that you are serious about dating my brother, not a speech about undying devotion," Temari grinned, "At least I can rest easy now and not worry that Gaara will blow up the village in a tantrum because the two of you want different things out of this relationship."

"… Oh."

Did that mean that Gaara was being absolutely, positively serious about the Kazehime Trials? And will she be moving to Sunagakure eventually?

"By the way," Temari's tone suggested that what she was about to say was anything but an afterthought, "Have you thought about what to give Gaara for his birthday? It's coming up in about two weeks."

Panic flinted across Sakura's face briefly as she replied, "I… I'm really not sure about that. It's not as if I can go shopping for a birthday present, or make him something with a war going on around us."

"Well, I have an idea."

"Please share," Sakura leaned forward unconsciously.

"We'll just wrap you up in ribbons and toss you two someplace private!" Temari clapped her hands together as if she had just formulated The Greatest Plan in the World.

Sakura looked so scandalised that Temari was now certain that Shikamaru had not lied to her when he said that he was never physically involved with Sakura.

"I was just kidding," Temari smiled, but her suggestively lifted eyebrows indicated otherwise.

It suddenly occurred to Sakura that if she did end up marrying Gaara, Temari would be her sister-in-law, and these little 'jokes' would become a part of her life.

Sakura really needed to learn how to stop blushing so much.

The hour was late by the time Sakura emerged from Temari's tent, so she was surprised to find Shikamaru still milling about. Or more accurately, he was lying on a pile of hay bales, a stalk of grass between his lips as he gazed up at the moon-lit skies.

"Shikamaru? Why are you still here?" Sakura asked.

The Nara prodigy rolled over on his side to face her, then leapt down before replying, "Just waiting for you two to finish talking, so I can walk you back."

Sakura placed both hands on her hips, annoyed as she said, "I'm a kunoichi, Shikamaru. I don't need an escort back to my tent, thank you very much."

Troublesome.

"You may not need an escort, Sakura, but as the Proxy Commander, it is only common courtesy that I escort the Regimental Commander's girlfriend back safely," Shikamaru did not sound too excited by the prospects of what he had to do; even if he and Gaara had come to some sort of an understanding of his past with Sakura, Shikamaru knew jealousy was an emotion with no logic behind it.

"Say that a little louder, won't you, Shika-kun?" Sakura hissed as she glanced about, searching for any eaves-dropping shinobi.

"Relax, Sakura. The speculations have already gone far beyond the assumption that you and Kazekage-sama are simply sleeping together."

Sakura had never been a fan of idle gossip, and she was not about to become one now; it would probably be better for her sanity if she knew less about what the other shinobi were thinking about her and Gaara's relationship.

They walked side-by-side back towards Gaara's tent – Shikamaru with his hands tucked into his pockets as he looked more at the sky than where he was walking, and Sakura casting the occasional glance at him.

Finally, she said, "You know, the rumours about you and me are getting quite obnoxious."

"Tell me about it," Shikamaru muttered around the stalk of grass, "It is going to get even messier once word gets out that I am seeing the Kazekage's sister."

Sakura paused in her footsteps, and Shikamaru ended up walking ahead of her for several paces before he turned around to shoot her a quizzical look.

"Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head to clear her thoughts, then jogged up to Shikamaru, ducking her head as she coyly asked, "So, you two are finally going to make it official?"

Was Shikamaru blushing just before he turned his head slightly…?

"Yeah, we are. Temari wanted to know exactly where she stood with me after she learnt about our past, so I told her the truth."

Ah. The Truth.

Sakura smiled sadly at his reply, and Shikamaru was quick to notice it.

"Sakura…" he began.

"It's alright, Shikamaru. I'm just sorry that I held you back from a relationship with Temari-san for so long," her reply came a little too fast, too lightly.

They continued the rest of their walk in uncomfortable silence. When they finally arrived at Gaara's tent, Sakura was the first to speak.

"Thank you for having been there for me in those six months, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru smiled, then reached out to flick her on the nose. Sakura yelped in surprise and indignation.

"We were both too young to have made it work, anyway," Shikamaru replied, then he tilted his head in the direction of the tent, "Better go back inside now. You have a long day ahead of you."

Sakura had to fight back the familiar urge to embrace Shikamaru, and settled for a wave of goodbye before ducking into the tent.

Gaara was sitting at his desk when she entered the tent, a scroll opened in front of him. Upon seeing her, he immediately rose from his seat and crossed the short distance between them.

"Welcome back."

Not "I was worried", or "where have you been" – because he trusted her to be able to look after herself; trusted her heart to lead her back to him.

"I am home."

Tucking herself into Gaara's tightening embrace, Sakura realised how right her answering reply was.