Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**This is a revamp of a poor story that was forgotten in the midst of broken computers, writers block, and time getting away from me.**

**Hopefully it turns out better than the last.**

* * *

"Sakura?" Naruto ran up to the village gate to face his longtime friend. She turned to him, eyes hardened and cold, watching him with a stare he wasn't so accustomed to and wasn't so sure he liked. "Sakura, where are you going?" He was worried about her, that was true. The first time he sees her in five days and she's leaving.

"Shut it, Naruto. I know what I'm doing. Leave me alone." Naruto wavered in taking a step closer to her, his eyes incredibly hurt. He'd never heard Sakura talk to anyone like that, especially not him. Her voice was colder and more hollow than he'd ever heard it.

"I just want to know where you're going, Sakura." His voice was soft and a soft shudder ran through him. It was like the temperature was five degrees colder around Sakura and he didn't know what to do to make it ok.

"I've got a coin," she began, pulling it out from underneath her cloak, "Heads, I'm going to Suna. Tails I'm going to Ame." She flipped the coin, not even letting Naruto say a word, not even giving him enough time to intervene.

Naruto caught the coin one-handed, staring at the face without hesitation. "Heads," he said. Then, as if he didn't quite remember it was hers, he tucked the coin into his pocket. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, but she didn't stop him and neither did she care. Just as she turned and was about to jump off into the trees, Naruto lurched forward and grabbed her wrist. She pulled away from him quickly, although his touch had burned her.

"What, Naruto?" She was becoming angry now. He had no right to stop her from doing what she wanted. She was a grown woman and he couldn't just sit around and treat her like a little kid anymore. It wasn't okay.

"You can't just leave without telling Tsunade," Naruto began, his voice rough and anger tightly reigned in. "You know she'll send someone after you to bring you back home." Naruto would love it if it would be him. He'd bring Sakura back home, where she belongs, not in some vast desert surrounded by people she barely knew. Sakura fixed him with that cold stare, and he shuddered when he detected something else in her eyes. She looked like she wanted to die.

"Tsunade knows I'm leaving Naruto. If she didn't, then I wouldn't be leaving so easily, would I?" Sakura gestured to the gates behind her, where the guards were watching Naruto warily, but didn't seem to be giving Sakura any sort of trouble. They'd went through the papers and she was ready to go. Now, if only Naruto would get through his thick head and leave her alone, that's all she needed to get away from the torturous memories that haunted her every living moment.

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto turned and ran, not even sparing a goodbye or any other word to Sakura. She shook her head, turning to leap off into the treeline. She knew that this was for the best and it would all be okay in the end. Sakura would make it okay, even if she had to find a way to end all the pain. She simply couldn't stay in her hometown any longer. The pain of the memories of someone now lost plagued her every waking moment and gave her nightmares when she tried to go to sleep.

"Granny Tsunade!" Naruto came busting into the Hokage's office. The presiding Hokage wasn't too happy about this, since she'd have to find another replacement door, mainly because the idiot ninja in front of her could barely hold himself back from breaking it down each and every time he wanted to talk to her. This time, he seemed angry.

"What, Naruto?" Tsunade shot at him, her eyes spearing him right through. Naruto stopped short of her desk, not expecting her open hostility. He had to have known that Sakura was running away from Konoha, Tsunade decided. Why else would he come bursting into her office at eleven in the morning? The idiot ninja was usually asleep by noon.

"Sakura said that you know she's leaving Konoha!" Naruto shouted, seemingly at the top of his lungs. Tsunade resisted the urge to throw her hands into her forehead to try and quell the ache he gave her. She sighed. She knew this was coming at some point, but she'd hoped Sakura could have gotten away without Naruto finding out beforehand. She didn't know what to say to him now, other than the cold, hard truth.

"Haven't you noticed anything wrong with Sakura, Naruto?" Tsunade's voice was steadily rising, her anger at the entire situation showing through. "She hasn't been eating. She looks like a skeleton in her work clothes and even her training outfit! She doesn't even leave her house unless she's needed at the hospital and she's stopped sleeping as well." Or sleeping too much, Tsunade wanted to add. Sakura had been late for several shifts at the hospital because she didn't have the motivation to get out of the bed in the morning.

"Why do you think she's acting like that?" Naruto asked, taking a seat in front of his leader. Tsunade was happy that he seemed to calm down some, at least. Tsunade sighed and shook her head.

"Having your fiance shot down in front of you and being unable to save him does that to some people, Naruto." Tsunade's voice hadn't been condescending in the least. She hadn't been sarcastic or mean about it. It was simply the truth. Sakura hadn't been able to save her fiance and she was taking his death harder than the rest of them, that was simply how it was.

"I thought she moved on from that," Naruto said softly. "It's been three months and she always said she was fine..." his soft voice trailed off and Tsunade felt for him, knowing it would be the hardest for Naruto to understand why she left. He thought himself like her brother, and the fact that he couldn't stop her from leaving would eat him from the inside out for weeks. Tsunade wished there was something she could say or do to make him feel better.

"Naruto, you know Sakura. She doesn't like other people worrying over her. Whatever she's trying to find, let's hope she finds it so she can come home and we don't have to worry anymore," Tsunade's voice was just as soft as Naruto's, trying to find a way to console him. Naruto only stared at her, that hopelessness in his eyes that she'd grown accustomed to seeing in a lot of people's eyes as of late.

"Yeah, I know. I just wish she could have found it here." Tsunade nodded, agreeing with him.

"Anyway, do you know where she went?" Tsunade didn't have an answer for that from Sakura yet, and she'd doubted she would until Sakura arrived wherever she'd been running to. Naruto shrugged, fingering the coin he'd stolen off of her.

"She's going to Suna. She flipped a coin."

"Ah." Tsunade pulled out a scrap of paper and scribbled on it, calling a messenger hawk. Placing it carefully in the compartment, she told it where it needed to go. With a high pitched shriek that broke both Tsunade's and Naruto's ears, the hawk was off and away. Tsunade hoped it would reach Suna before Sakura. She rose from her seat. "I could use some lunch. Ramen on me?" she offered. She wanted to make Naruto feel better and she was quite hungry.

"Sure." Naruto gave her a halfhearted smile and rose from his seat. He was still worried about Sakura and he wasn't quite sure how to handle this situation. He'd thought he'd made it clear to her that he was always there for her, but she still decided to run away from all of her problems to do hell-knows-what in Suna.

* * *

Sakura leaped from tree to tree, keeping up her grueling pace although she was already tired. Her habits as of late weren't well nourishing to her and her speed and energy were low. She still traveled twice the pace of a normal shinobi, hoping to reach the midway point by nightfall. There was a small town there and she would be safe. She couldn't survive on her own out in the woods all night. Since she was so weak, she'd barely be able to fight back.

Sakura looked behind her, knowing she couldn't see her hometown anymore. She sighed. Leaving that place was harder to do than she'd let Naruto believe. She'd lived there her entire life and had left her friends and family, thinking it a better idea to be away for a while. Maybe she was right and that entire maybe was why she'd left. She couldn't live anymore, dwelling on the memories of the past and letting them consume her.

She looked to the left and the right, even above her, heightening her senses and making sure there was no one nearby. It was dangerous traveling alone, she knew that, but she still couldn't ask someone to go with her only for them to go back alone. She'd be putting their lives on the line as well and the medic in her rebelled against that notion. Sighing, she pushed herself to increase her pace and before nightfall she'd found the small town at the midway point. Once a large campsite for ninjas of all other tribes to gather amicably and protect each other during the night, it slowly grew and built up over time.

"Can I get a room?" Sakura had hopped off to the nearest motel, not caring where she slept for the night. The seedy man behind the counter looked her up and down and smiled at her, though she didn't return it. She didn't like this man at all.

"If you help me out, I'll take half off the room," the man said suggestively. Sakura glared at him, that hard icy glare she'd become accustomed to using around other people as of late. She thought him disgusting and wished he had never proposed that.

"I'll pay twice as much if you leave me alone," Sakura said, low and rough as she leaned against the counter. Her eyes were dangerous and she flashed a concealed kunai at him as an intimidation tactic. The tactic seemed to work because his eyes grew wide.

"I-I'm sorry, please, t-take the room. It's f-free," Sakura smirked and took the key. Civilians were so easy to scare when they didn't know how to fight. That stupid buffoon probably didn't even have any basic martial arts skills. Sakura yawned loudly and shoved the key into the room, opening it only to lock it quickly behind her. Sighing, she flopped down on the bed and buried in the pillows, trying to get rest after pushing herself so hard.

_"Why didn't you save me?" his face, torn apart by the battle, mangled and beyond recognition asked her, his voice too rough and burnt. Sakura felt the tears come and she found herself on the ground beside him, a picture-perfect display of when she'd been trying to save him._

_ "I tried," Sakura said. No sound came from her throat as she tried to speak and the tears increased tenfold. She wished this would end, all of this would end._

_ "Why didn't you save me?" the ruined voice grew louder and the mangled man she'd loved rose in front of her, staring down at her with anger sparking behind the eyes that were no longer there. Sakura felt the tears increase tenfold and the ice in her heart reaching out to other places inside of her. Soon she would be all ice, she believed._

_ "I'm sorry!" Again, no sound came out._

_ "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE ME?!"_

Sakura shot awake, thrusting her hands into her hair. She was still crying, she found, and she couldn't help the sobs from wrenching themselves from her throat. She sat in the middle of the bed and cried for hours into her knees, whispering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," over and over again, clutching at the necklace hanging loosely from her neck. It was the only thing she had left from him: their engagement ring. When she'd come back from that bloody battle, she stopped wearing it, stringing it around her neck instead.

In the morning, Sakura pulled herself from the fetal position and stretched, trying to get some of the tightness and soreness out of her limbs. She picked up her pack and ran out the door, down the stairs, and left the key for the room on the counter, the foreman not even there yet. She didn't care. She had to get on her way and get to Suna before nightfall.

As she began to run, the dream from last night reverberated through her head with every footfall. Sakura shut her eyes tightly, trying her hardest to forget the words the mangled form of her fiance had yelled at her. Tears sprang to her eyes again and she shook them off, pushing herself harder, going faster, trying to run away from all the memories.

Sakura didn't like being haunted by this. It was her greatest failure and she wasn't so sure what to do anymore than to run away. She couldn't eat, the nightmares kept her awake at night and when they didn't she found herself sleeping an entire day away. She couldn't find anything to interest her any more, not even work, and she simply sat in her house, staring at a wall all day. Tsunade had finally noticed and suggested she find some time away from her hometown.

Sakura felt some sense of relief blossom in her chest when Suna came into view in the late afternoon. She was getting tired and her chest was beginning to hurt from her overexertion. She didn't allow herself to stop, however, until she came face to face with Suna's guards. They observed her quietly, wondering what a Konoha ninja was doing so far away from her home.

"Hey, Sakura!" Sakura turned to see Temari walking towards the gate, a large smile on her face. Sakura didn't say anything, merely watched her come closer. Temari was slightly taken aback at the outright hostility Sakura was displaying towards her, knowing this isn't usually how Sakura acted. Temari only smiled and gestured towards the street. "Gaara told me to come and get you."

"Okay," Sakura nodded and began to follow Temari down the streets of a town she knew nothing about. She kept her head down, trying not to be noticed by the other villagers. She didn't want to be seen by them and she didn't want them talking about her every moment of the day. Things like that were simply exhausting.

"Gaara's happy that you came here. He doesn't really show it, so don't be scared if he doesn't really say it. He's been expecting your arrival," Temari was happy Sakura was here, she really was, but she could see there was an underlying reason for Tsunade sending her. It wasn't every day that Tsunade would send her most treasured and prized student to their village just to train some medic ninja who had the skill of a squirrel.

"I didn't think anyone knew I was coming," Sakura said, her tone dead and flat. A worried crease formed in Temari's brow. She wasn't used to this form of Sakura. Usually she was all smiles and giggles, waving off the trivial things and getting right down to business when she needed to. Now all she seemed was hollow.

"A hawk arrived earlier today," Temari shrugged. Sakura remembered seeing a hawk fly overhead and the passing thought of what it was doing. Sakura didn't react and followed Temari into a large building and up several steps to the top, where she figured Gaara's office was. Temari seemed to run away the moment Sakura opened the door to come face to face with a man that once almost killed her. He was writing at his desk and it was almost enough to make Sakura laugh. She never thought she'd see Gaara doing something like paperwork.

"Yes Temari?"

"Not Temari," Sakura matched his icy tone. There was a slight surprise in Gaara's eyes when he looked up at her, not expecting the pink haired girl to be in his village already. He hadn't been expecting her for another day in a half.

"Ah. Sorry about that. Wasn't expecting you so soon."

"Had a feeling," Sakura flopped down on the couch near his desk, her arms clasped neatly in her lap and one leg over the other.

"You're going to be teaching our medics how to heal properly," Gaara said, pulling a file from underneath a pile of papers, leaning forward to hand it to her. Sakura flipped through it, looking lazily at all the files and how much they all sucked ass. "I have a room we used to use to practice with herbs. It has several tables, large enough to lay out your dummies." Sakura scoffed. She hated those dummies. She thought she never had to see one again.

"Anything else?" She stood and was thinking of where she would stay tonight.

"Your sleeping quarters."

"And?" Sakura was quickly becoming bored. She wished Gaara would just come out with it. He stood and walked towards her, coming nearly too close to her. "Hey—wha-what are you doing?!" Sakurra immediately became defensive, trying to move backwards and put space between the two of them. Gaara sighed and grasped her wrist, momentarily stunned by what he felt there. Old scars, barely healed scratches, and deep cuts marred her wrist.

"Just hold on, will you?" her abrasiveness was getting the better of his temper. Gaara pulled her towards him, trying to put the thought of what he'd found out of his head. Gaara held onto her wrist and transported them. He found Sakura moving closer to him until her face was buried in his shoulder. She was scared. The sand fell away and Gaara looked about the room, knowing it was his bedroom. It was the most familiar place to him and so his sand always transported him here when he wanted to come home. Sakura looked around the room.

"Um?"

"You can stay in here. It's in my home." Gaara didn't know why he said it. He closed his eyes and opened them, looking around the room. He didn't let her know that it was his room. He didn't let her know that he barely came home to sleep and he kept that couch in his office so if he needed to find a couple hours for a nap. "Bathroom's through there," he pointed, "and kitchen's downstairs. I'll bring you something to eat tonight. There's nothing in there right now." His sand began to wind around him to transport him back to the office.

"Gaara, wait!" Sakura lunged forward and grabbed his hand, trying to tell him to wait a moment. Gaara flinched and pulled his hand roughly away from hers. There was a look of hurt in Sakura's eyes, one that he possibly couldn't miss, and he wondered why. Everyone knew he had an aversion to other people and their touch was no different.

What?" He asked, his tone flat. She looked up at him, her eyes still incredibly hurt, and she looked like she was about to start crying. Gaara sighed. "Really, Sakura, what?"

"You'll be back soon, right?" she bit her lip as she looked up at him. She didn't want to be alone and Gaara didn't know why she let her cold exterior fall away for this. Was she lonely? Did she want comfort? If she wanted comfort, he was the wrong person to turn to.

"Yes." He answered her and then he was gone. Sakura looked around the spacious room and sighed. When was being alone going to get easier? She headed for the bathroom and took a quick shower, then laid down in bed though she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep much. She laid on her stomach and pushed her face into the pillow, breathing in the unfamiliar scent of cinnamon and sandalwood.

* * *

Gaara sighed, taking a look up at the clock from his paperwork. He supposed he should get back to see how Sakura was doing. He sighed. He really didn't like babysitting other people because something terrible happened to them. Look at him. He'd had a demon stuck inside of him for fifteen years and he didn't complain much. He was a crazy psychotic killer, but at least he didn't go lording it over everyone that his life sucked.

On his way home, he stopped by a restaurant he particularly liked and ordered some ramen for the both of them. He knew she didn't particularly like it, mostly because Naruto fed it to her like it was manna from heaven, but he figured she wouldn't complain if he brought her something to eat. He left the restaurant and transported himself to his room, finding Sakura asleep on the bed.

Asleep was the easiest way to explain it, though.

Sakura tossed and turned, making a complete mess of his sheets and pillows. Tears streamed down her face and muffled words came from her mouth. She was biting down on her wrist, and all he could hear was "I'm sorry!" over and over and over again. He silently approached his bed, not knowing what to do, and stared down at her.

"Sakura." She didn't wake. "Sakura, wake up, you're having a nightmare," he reached forward to shake her awake, but she didn't stir from the nightmare. She whimpered when he touched her. He grabbed her shoulders and lifted her off the bed, trying to shake her. Tears dripped from her face and connected with his hands. He dropped her, as though burned. He looked at her, not knowing what to do. He couldn't call his siblings either, not unless he wanted this painted all over the newspapers.

Looking down, he grasped for Sakura's hand. Her hold tightened on him almost immediately and she stopped screaming, though tears still streamed down her face. She still writhed on his bed, twisting and turning and making it hard to hold onto her. His other hand drifted towards her shoulder and he pulled her up onehanded, sliding underneath her and laying her back down on his chest. He couldn't fucking believe that he was doing this.

The girl seemed to quiet the moment he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her. He leaned back against his messed pillows, his arms cradling her not too comfortably. She didn't stir, though. She readjusted in her sleep, pressing her face into his shoulder and falling into the crook of his arm. At least he found himself more comfortable. He didn't like the intimacy of this position or the thought that this girl would lose her temper once she woke and her rage would be pointed at him.

"Neji..." her voice was a soft murmur.

That's who she thought he was. He knew she was engaged and he wondered where her fiance was anyways. He should be holding her like this in the middle of a nightmare and Gaara was quite disgruntled that he had to do it instead. The girl hiccuped and Gaara found himself rubbing the space between her shoulders.

"Sakura?" He tried to wake her again, jostling her a little. She didn't wake and he wondered the last time she slept. Sakura was a shinobi, trained to wake up at a moment. If she was this deeply asleep, she must be bone-dead tired. He drifted his fingertips along her shoulders and upper arms. Underneath a thin layer of muscle, she was very bony. Since when did she eat last? Carefully disconnecting himself from her, he went to her pack to poke around.

There wasn't any food in it. Nothing that a shinobi should carry around. She had some extra weapons, a small pouch of money, and her small tent. Gaara frowned, wondering if she'd even eaten in the past two days. He heard a whimper from his bed and he sighed. Where was a fiance when you needed him?

Gaara rose and went back to her, sliding into his bed and wrapping his arms around her. If this is what calmed her, then so be it. He couldn't go calling anyone else when she would be in the paper the next morning, her personal life displayed for everyone to see. He knew now that Sakura wasn't well off. The difference in her demeanor and the fact that she felt like a walking skeleton told him that. He couldn't let her leave his home and let the others judge her until she gained a little weight. He didn't know if he could deal with it, but he didn't think Tsunade would be happy with him if he let her reputation get trashed.

Sakura began to murmur something under her breath and Gaara strained his ears to hear her. "I'm sorry..." She pushed herself deeper into Gaara's embrace, settling herself into that space again, making him much more comfortable. This was new to him, holding a girl. She was so small and seemed so fragile at the moment. She kept murmuring those words under her breath and she would try and push herself closer from time to time. Gaara stared up at the ceiling, willing for the time to go by a little more quickly.

A little while later, Gaara found that his arm was falling asleep. He tried to pull away from Sakura, but she clung onto him with a strength he didn't know she still had inside her. He sighed, trying to find a way to make this work to his advantage. Turning on his side, he found blood returning to his arm, but Sakura was jostled and she couldn't find that same place against him. Her eyes began to open, enough for her to turn on her side and push back against him, molding her body against his.

Gaara had been hoping that she was going to wake, but her eyes fluttered closed the moment she found herself comfortable and Gaara found himself trapped again. His arm was underneath her neck and she held onto the arm that was against his stomach. He knew pulling away from her would be more difficult and she looked like she needed sleep. Sighing, he stared out the window above her head, deciding that, maybe, he should let himself sleep. He wasn't getting out of this situation any time soon it seemed.

He heard Sakura mutter a soft "I tried," before he let himself fall into the black void of his dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura twisted and turned, finally waking up from a long sleep. She didn't really understand where she was. A heavy warmth was behind her and in her muddled state, she thought she was at home with Neji's arms wrapped around her. Turning, she was about to give him a kiss when she realized it was Gaara.

This realization hit her like a brick wall and she woke right up, her surprise freezing her and rendering her speechless. In all of her life, she'd never expected to wake up beside Gaara Sabaku, no less with his arms around her and body pressed to hers. His eyes flickered open and she felt a red hot blush creep up her neck and she subconsciously gripped his shirt in her hands, a reflex. She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out.

"You had a nightmare and wouldn't wake up." Gaara didn't know why he went straight to the explanation when she hadn't even said anything yet. It seemed like he'd said exactly what was on her mind, though. She closed her mouth, but was still frozen to the spot, unable to move. He didn't know what to do now, his lack of social and intimacy skills holding him up in this area. He looked down at her, noticing now how her eyes seemed somewhat sunken from lack of sleep and lack of nutrition. Her cheekbones were too prominent and he didn't like it. Why would Tsunade send him a sick girl.

"Why are you so sick?"

"I—what?" she stared at him, stunned. Her voice hadn't been mean or harsh and he accredited it to the fact that she had just woken. He still stared at her, not knowing that perhaps this wasn't the best place to ask, especially when his arms were still wrapped around her and when they were so close he could see the patterns in her eyes.

"Look," he reached to her wrist and held it to her face. Just as her cheekbones, the bones were too prominent, sticking out from her skin. He took a cursory glance up her body and noticed that she had no muscle tone at all, no fat, no anything. Something stirred within him. There was something deeply wrong with this girl. He didn't like being the one to have to fix it.

She snatched her hand away from him and pulled the blanket over her shoulders, turning away from him. He was confused. He'd asked her a simple question and she wasn't even answering him. He'd thought she would have a little bit more respect for him, at least.

"You aren't leaving my house until you look better," Gaara said, staring up at the ceiling. He felt a small jump and a soft intake of breath. He wasn't in the mood for his attitude being spit right back at him, but she didn't seem to say anything. Maybe she didn't even want to leave the house, he figured. Maybe she just wanted to stay in his house, away from prying eyes and away from the whispers.

"How do you figure to do that?" her soft voice, not warm, but not cold either, rose from his side. He didn't know how to answer her at first. He didn't know really what to say. What could he say? He closed his eyes. Sakura shifted beside him, but she didn't move away. He wondered why. Maybe she missed laying next to someone. He didn't know why she was being so comfortable with him, especially with that fiance of hers.

"I have a bit of time off." If he had to sit at his home and babysit her, then he would. He didn't want to deal with Tsunade's wrath and her sadness if Sakura starved herself to death. He didn't want to face the consequences of Sakura's bad choices and malnutrition if she were to die. He also didn't like that he'd have to deal with Naruto as well, perhaps his only friend and the mutual one between he and Sakura.

"How does that fix anything? I'm better left alone, Gaara," her voice was sad, not shards of ice. His eyes were still closed and he wondered what her words could mean. Could she mean that she would rather just run the forests and the sand as a rogue nin until she inevitable died either because of starvation or of other rogue nins taking advantage of how weak she was? Or could she mean that he should just leave her be in his house and ignore her until she, yet again, inevitably died from malnutrition? He didn't know how to read into her words or figure out how she meant what she said. He wished he was a little better at dealing with people. He could simply shove her off into the hands of the psychiatric wing of the hospital, but he couldn't let her condition become public.

"If I leave you alone, you will die. If you die under my protection, Tsunade will break our alliance. The world is wider than what just happens to you," he said calmly, finally, after several long minutes of thinking over his thoughts. Sakura didn't say anything. She stared at the window across from his bed, her mind blank and eyes concealed from him. His words sounded harsh to her and it pierced her chest.

"Oh, if that's all it is," her words were needles now, intending to pierce him. It was if she was daring him to admit that he only cared about the alliance. It was true that he didn't care much about the girl, other than that she was one of Naruto's best friends. Would he save her from an attack? Yes. Would he try to make sure she was safe while on a mission with her? Of course. Did he care much that she was slowly killing herself? Somewhat, but he would rather shove her off on someone else.

"It doesn't matter," he said flatly. "If I allow your reputation to be trashed, I'll have Tsunade to answer to." He wasn't particularly afraid of Tsunade, but like the rest of the worlds' population, he didn't want to get on her bad side. Woe be to him if he lost the safety of reliable reinforcements. Sakura seemed to relax a bit.

"Fine." She didn't sound happy at all. He figured she didn't have to sound happy. She simply had to comply with what he said. As the silence continued, he realized that he hadn't eaten for hours, perhaps the day before, and he was quite hungry. He didn't know whether to get up or not, but realized that if he was going to eat, then he should have her eat as well. Preferably in front of him, so that he could be sure she didn't just throw it away. He thought of the ramen he'd brought back for her, but thought better of it. It was probably cold mush at this point.

"Stay here," he said, carefully detaching himself. He thought he felt her hand catch on his for a moment, as though she didn't want him to pull away just yet. "I'll be back," he said shortly, allowing his sand to envelope him. He figured there wouldn't be a restaurant open this early in the morning, but the market was always open by this time. It was almost like they never went home in the evening.

"Kazekage-sama!" one of his favorite vendors called him. Gaara looked up, catching the man's eye, and nodded. He approached the stall and eyed the man's various food items. This particular man vended fruit and he always seemed to find the best fruits here. "I just got a fresh shipment in today," he said, pulling up a basket from behind the counter. Gaara nodded and he weighed out some apples and oranges. Gaara took the bag from him, giving him a nod of thanks. He handed him payment, adding a little more than he was supposed to. When he went out, he liked to help his villagers, especially because their taxes gave him his paycheck.

"Oh, here," the man gave him a small watermelon as well. "You're always so charitable, Kazekage-sama, you could use an extra watermelon every now and then," the man gave him a wide smile, which Gaara attempted to return, although it was only slight. Gaara walked away from him, looking for the vendor that usually sold him eggs and bread.

"Looking for me?" he turned and realized that the man had moved his stall. At the questioning look on Gaara's face he said, "I make more up here. So what do you need today, Kazekage-sama?" Gaara finally stepped forwards to look over his bread and looked up at him, wrinkling his nose.

"I'm catering to a kunoichi from Konoha. Anything fresh?" He though he'd use the foreign affairs approach, though usually he'd just give the man a look and he'd bring something out from under the counter. The man smiled at him and pulled out a few fresh loaves of bread and the morning's eggs that had been collected. "Thank you," he gave him a few bills. The man smiled and gave him a couple extra eggs.

Gaara arrived back at his house in a whirlwind of sand. He saw Sakura on the bed still, though she wasn't asleep. She seemed to almost perk up when she saw him. Her eyes flickered over to him in a millisecond, from the book she'd been reading. Gaara watched her, waiting for her to make the first move, and that only ended up in a staring contest between the two.

"Um, hi." She didn't seem to know how to talk to him, either. At least they had that in common. Gaara nodded to her and went to sit on the edge of the bed. From one of the bags, he pulled out an apple and handed it to her. Sakura looked at it, almost like she didn't know what it was. He fixed her with a stare, waiting for her to eat it, put it to her mouth at least. She made no move. Finally after several moments of his eyes simply staring holes through her, she lifted it to her mouth and took a shallow bite. She chewed slowly and finally swallowed it.

This went on for several minutes. She would take a bite and then stare at it for a few minutes before taking another bite. Gaara simply stared at her, waiting for her to finish. It seemed like hours until she finally finished it. Now, she looked at him, almost like she didn't know what to do now that she'd finished. He gestured to a garbage can near the bed and she tossed it in.

"Here," he pulled out an orange now, making sure it was ripe before handing it to her. "I'm going to make some eggs. That better be eaten when I get back," he said, standing up to go down to the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway. "At least half," he passed a glance over her, enough to see that she had blushed and was nodding.

When he came back, he saw that she had, indeed, managed to eat half of the fruit and was still working on it. That made him feel a little better. Sakura shied away from him when he sat on the bed, but took the plate he offered to her. He didn't have to fix her with a stare this time, she began eating on her own. She ate slowly, chewing the food thoroughly and he supposed he should start on things like these. Especially if she hadn't eaten in a while or little at all, her stomach probably couldn't deal with tougher foods.

"I have to go to the office," he said after he finished, moving to stand. Sakura only nodded. "I put the rest of the fruit in the fridge, along with the eggs if you're hungry." She nodded again, still not saying anything. It was weird for him, making all the conversation. She didn't seem much of the social type either, though; at least not at the current moment.

"When will you be back?" she asked finally, softly.

"Couple hours." He moved towards her and wrapped his hand around her right wrist. She stared at him, slightly afraid, as he let a band of sand form around her thin limb. "Don't leave, I'll know if you do." Sakura stared up at him with wide eyes. "It won't hurt you," he assured her. She nodded, though slightly still afraid. He only turned away and then he was gone. Sakura only stared at the place he'd been.

Gaara looked up at the clock, now reading that it was half past noon. He sighed, looking at the pile of paperwork he'd completed. One more sheet and he was done for the day, having skimmed and rushed through most of it. Though he'd rushed through it, he was thorough and knew that he didn't make any mistakes. If there were any, he was sure his secretary would find them. She read all of his paperwork over before submitting it.

"Hey Gaara, we need you to—"

"No." Gaara flicked his eyes up to his sister, who stood in the doorway, her mouth still open. She flushed slightly while he stood.

"Um, what? You didn't even let me finish!" She was flushing in anger now, angry that her little brother had interrupted now. "We need you to approve something for the gala." Gaara glared, a headache starting at the moment. That damned showroom of his village was in another month and a half, he didn't see why he had to deal with the details right at this moment.

"It can wait for tomorrow. I've finished for the day." He really needed to get back to Sakura, to make sure she wasn't tossing and turning in his bed again and make sure she ate something for lunch. He could feel the sand he'd left with her, a kind of psychic connection, and he knew she'd gone outside. If he locked onto it, he could transport right to her.

"Can't you just approve this little thing?"

"What? What could it possibly be that you couldn't deal with, Temari. It's just a Gala for God's sake." He really didn't want to deal with the entire ordeal. He just wanted to show up in a month and a half, get through the night, and go home. He would find someone to escort, though he couldn't possibly think of who at the moment, not with how agitated that sand was getting.

"Just approve it." Temari slammed the folder down on his desk. Gaara glared and opened the folder, signing on all the lines. He caught a few of the words and it literally was just how the tables were going to be arranged. He was quite upset about it. Why couldn't his sister just approve this stuff? He glared at the folder as he handed it back to his sister.

"There. I have to go now," he whirled away in a swirl of sand, trying to locate Sakura.

She was outside, all right. On his balcony, staring at the world below her. He let a soft sigh, a relieved breath he didn't even know he was holding. He knew it was because no one could see her up here, no one would talk and no one would spread rumors about her that could make their way back to the Hokage at that damned Gala.

"Gaara?" She turned towards him when he let the sigh out and he flinched. He didn't know how heightened her senses were, but that was to be expected. She had been trained as a ninja for most of her life after all.

"I should have made sure a perimeter was in check," he said. He hadn't thought of making sure she could go on his balcony. It wasn't as though people could actually see her up here. He sighed. She only looked at him, her eyes confined and guarded. She stood from her seat and faltered in a step towards him. He watched her, mildly curious. "Have you eaten lunch?" he said, trying to break the awkward silence. She stood straight and stared at him for a long moment until she shook her head.

He stepped forward and reached for her arm, but stopped before he touched her. He didn't know how to do this. Being a nice person and all to someone other than his own sister and brother. It was new and slightly terrifying that he was actually instigating touch with another person. He finally lurched forwards and grasped her wrist, pulling her slightly to make her follow him back into the house.

"I would have followed, you know," she said softly. It felt good to hear that little piece of her old self show through. He let a small smile grace his lips. They made it to the kitchen and he sat her down in one of the bar stools around the island there. The island was his favorite part of the entire kitchen. Bar stools on one side, opening to the living room, and the kitchen on the other. She sat ramrod straight, her body tense. He noticed, but didn't say anything.

"What do you want?"

"I don't want to eat anything," her voice was a murmur, but his sensitive ears picked it up. He shot her a glance and she nodded. "I know. I just don't feel like it." She knew that he was going to give her something to eat no matter what she said, but she could still be truthful and let him know that he really didn't know what to eat or what she wanted.

"Since you haven't been eating enough, it has to be something gentle on your stomach," he said. Sakura was slightly surprised that he would know that. She didn't think he knew about anything medical, not what should be fed to someone who hadn't been eating. At the hospital, she often had to approve dietary plans for several patients that hadn't been able to eat, or those that simply had eating disorders.

"Eggs. Maybe pasta and sauce. Some of the more common vegetables. Most fruit." She didn't really go into the different vegetables and fruits. She wouldn't eat them if they were to upset her stomach. Gaara turned around and pulled a box from a cabinet behind him. He pulled out a small pot and filled it with water, setting it on the stove. He left it to boil before turning back to Sakura.

"Want to do something while we wait?" he didn't know what else to do. She was simply staring at the ground, her eyes soft and vacant. He didn't know why she was just staring at the ground like that, but he didn't say anything to break her out of her stupor. She shook her head slightly before looking up at him.

"Sorry, what?" she hadn't been listening. Today was a bad day. She'd been getting worse over the past couple of weeks leading up to her flee from Naruto and the others who simply looked at her in pity and she wondered what they were doing now. Everything was reserved. Did Hinata decide to simply have a party or a memorial so they wouldn't waste the money? Sakura knew this was the prime reason she'd run. She didn't want to be in her home on this day.

"Let's go watch a movie," he finally said, ignoring the fact that she hadn't been listening. Sakura only nodded and slowly got up, drifting to the couch as though she was in a daze. She wasn't even acting like the cold Sakura she had been acting like the day before. There was no fight anywhere in her today. Nothing. She was just being and he finally noticed. He didn't know how to ask what was wrong, though, and stayed silent.

Sakura sat down on the couch, still rigid and straight. He thought she'd want to get comfortable or something at some point, but she just sat as though at a meeting with the elders. He only shook his head and put a random movie in. He didn't really care what it was, only that he could find something other than Sakura to focus on. Taking care of an emotionally damaged person was driving him mad. He wasn't very astute to doing this.

"What kind of movie?" she finally asked, trying to make herself seem a little more normal. She didn't like this. Gaara leaned back into the couch and turned to her. He seemed comfortable while she just seemed tense. She only stared at the screen, not even meeting his eyes.

"What's wrong?" he hated that he was asking this. He hated that he was trying to delve into her personal life and he hated that she probably wouldn't answer and he would have to fight for it. He hated these situations and he rather wished that he could just disappear and leave her be, let her kill herself if she so wished. He wished that he didn't have to care about this disabled, sad girl, but he had to else he faced a wrath he didn't want to face. They said Gaara wasn't scared of anything, but he was scared of an angry Tsunade on a rampage.

"Huh? Oh, nothing," she said softly, still staring blankly at something. She hadn't even noticed that he hadn't answered her question, like she was more focused on something else. He didn't know what was going on in her mind right now, but it was driving him particularly crazy. He only sighed. Sakura looked over at him. "What?"

"I'd like it if you could just tell me. Obviously there's something wrong. Nightmares and you haven't eaten in who knows how long before I fed you this morning," he said. It was slightly surprising to Sakura. Since when did he care this much? Since when did he say more than the average person as well? Gaara only sighed and got up to check the water. When he got back, he noticed she'd shifted, sitting further back on the couch and had drawn her legs beneath her. "Ready to say something?"

"I haven't needed to tell anyone. Everyone knew," she said softly. It was true. When Neji hadn't come back from their mission, everyone instantaneously knew. It spread like wildfire around the village and most blamed her, especially the Hyuuga clan. Hinata was supportive of her and tried to make her feel better, but her father was another story. He shouted and raged at her, yelling that he had asked for Sakura especially because she could keep the heir alive. Sakura had only cried because it was all true. It was her fault he was dead.

Gaara tried to weigh the long silence. He didn't know whether she was going to tell him or not. She was too quiet, staring blankly at the television screen. He finally reached forward and timidly touched her hand. Her head flew up and her eyes found his. There was a faint blush on her cheeks, but she didn't pull away. He tried to give her this small comfort, tried to help her in some way that he didn't know.

"U-um, well, you know I am—I was engaged." Her voice was a whisper and Gaara questioned why she would say that she was engaged. She still had the engagement ring. He'd seen it around her neck at one point before she'd tucked it out of sight. "We went on a mission and, um, well, he didn't come back with me," her voice was hoarse and she was crying now, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. She wiped furiously at them, embarrassed that she was crying in front of him.

"He died?" Gaara needed to clarify that fact. Neji could have simply gone off on his own, to track someone down. People have been known to do that and sometimes it took years. Sakura only nodded. She'd taken her hand away from his to clamp it over her mouth, attempting to stem the hiccups and sounds she was making. She didn't like talking about. Many people had tried to ask her, and she just couldn't convey what had happened.

"I brought his body back so he wouldn't go on the MIA memorial," she said softly. Gaara only nodded. It was much more dignified that someone be brought back if they could. He was sure his family was happy about that, at least. She wrapped her arms around her knees and hugged them tightly to her chest, trying to give herself comfort. Gaara stared at her, thinking that she looked so vulnerable, like she was trying to hold herself together. He felt like she'd already fallen apart.

"Do they blame you?"

"A lot of them do," she said. "They said that I've always been weak and that it wasn't a surprise that I failed to save him." They'd said a lot more on top of that, but that was the nicest thing they'd said. She hugged herself tighter, feeling hollow inside. She heard Gaara get up and heard him pour the pasta into the pot. The water must be boiling by now, she figured. Then he was back. He stared down at her, his eyes guarded as he did.

Gaara was warring with himself. She looked hurt, vulnerable, and worn. He wanted to try and do something, but he wasn't quite sure what. He knew that when his sister tried to comfort him, she would wrap her arm around him and just hold him. Granted, he would usually push her off and glare at her, which made her angry as well. He didn't know how Sakura would act if he did it to her, though. He could deal with her pushing him away, though, so he figured he should just do it.

Finally, he sat down, much closer than before. He pushed his arms around her shoulders and pulled her against him. The girl squeaked as she hit his side. She stayed where she was, though. Gaara didn't spare a glance at her, didn't do anything but sit with his arm against her, the girl against his side. Sakura quickly became uncomfortable, though. She was pressed against him and he was rigid as anything. Slowly, she moved closer, pushing her body slightly against his so he would lean back on his seat.

Gaara relaxed his muscles, albeit against his will, and found that he was more comfortable. She rested her chin on his shoulder, closing her eyes. All she wanted to do was sleep. Though she'd gotten a lot of sleep the night before, she was still so tired. She'd tried napping earlier, but the nightmares came back and she woke up to find she'd made a mess of the bed again.

Gaara was surprised to find that she'd fallen asleep against him. He accredited it to her tears. They did take up a lot of effort and made people tired. He wondered how this whole thing came about. He was openly touching her, pulling her against his side, and allowing her to sleep against him. He would probably die if his sister and his brother walked in on him right at this moment.

He heard a knock on the door.

Of course his siblings would come bother him right now. Looking down at the girl, knowing something would make it around the village if they saw her, he scooped her up into his arms and quickly transported to his room to place her into his bed. He hoped she would be okay. He shoved things aside in the closet and found a small stuffed cat his brother had given him one christmas. He'd shoved it into his closet and never thought about it. He put it on Sakura's chest and went back to the door, the bell being rung a million times a minute now.

"What." he opened the door to see his siblings' faces, his brother's finger still raised to ring the bell again. Temari was laughing at her brother's antics and shoved past Gaara, flopping down on his couch. Gaara felt the need to rub his temples, but decided against it. His siblings knew how much of a headache they gave him, but they usually did more stupid things if they knew it was already coming on.

"What's up Gaara?" Temari finally asked. She pulled one of the drawers on an end table open and pulled out the chocolate he usually kept there for her. He didn't agree with bribing her, but she usually shut up if she had something in her mouth. She quite liked chocolates as well, so it worked to his advantage.

"Making lunch," he said flatly, moving to his kitchen. The pasta had finished cooking by now and he strained it out before dumping almost an entire jar of spaghetti sauce into it. He set the oven at the right temperature and poured the pasta into a casserole dish, adding a very generous amount of cheese on the top.

He went back to the living room, standing by the side of the couch with his arms crossed. He wasn't one to relax with his siblings around. Temari was thoroughly engrossed with the movie, about a quarter of the way through. Gaara thought it was quite astounding that she could gather her attention into a show the moment she saw it no matter where it was in the program.

"So, where's Sakura? Temari said that she came in yesterday." Kankorou had come to like the pink-haired woman after she saved him from the fatal poisoning he'd gotten when he'd battled Sasori. He liked the fiery woman and kind of missed her. It had been a good year since their paths had crossed and he wanted to mess with her again.

"She's sleeping. Don't wake her up." Gaara wanted to go and check on her, make sure she was okay, but didn't want to tip off his siblings.

"Gaara, she came here to sleep yesterday and I haven't even gotten to see her since," Temari was beginning to get off the couch. "If I have to go up there and search every room to find her, I will," Temari warned. She tried to intimidate her younger brother. Earlier in his life it wouldn't have worked, but now he was too worried about Sakura's condition making it's way around the village. He didn't want his own villagers saying that the girl was too weak to save any one and always was. He sighed.

"I'll go try and wake her," he said finally. He shot a glare at Temari, who sat back down, a smug smile on her face. He only shook his head and went upstairs and into his room. He knew he had to hide the fact that Sakura looked like a skeleton. The lights were dim and his siblings didn't spend too much time scrutinizing everything like he did, so he figured if he could find something for her that covered her arms and legs, she'd be okay.

Before waking her up, he went back to his closet and searched through it, looking for something that would fit her. He pulled out a long-sleeved shirt that was a size too small for him and some pajama pants. He turned back to Sakura and found that she hadn't made a mess of his bed. She was on her side, hugging the little stuffed cat to her chest, murmuring softly.

Gaara laid a hand on her shoulder and she slowly opened her eyes, staring up at him with a cloudy gaze. He wanted to smile at her. She looked down and smiled at the stuffed animal in her arms. She liked the little cat. She figured Gaara gave it to her. The nightmare wasn't so bad this time. She slowly sat up, cradling the little stuffed animal.

"My siblings are here," a stab of fear ripped into her body. She didn't want people to see her like this. Having Gaara around her, so careful of making sure no one saw her. It bled into her and she felt terror of anyone seeing her look like a walking skeleton now.

"I-I don't really want to..." she was scared and nervous and she didn't know if she could be okay to them. She'd been so cold to everyone for so long. So withdrawn and caught up in her daydreams. She blinked and looked up at him again. Gaara handed her the clothes. She held them up briefly and saw that he'd given her his clothes, big enough to hide her bony frame.

"Come down when you're ready," he said simply. He walked out of the door. Sakura immediately started changing, knowing that if she kept him waiting, he wouldn't be happy that he would have to come back up and get her. She looked in the full-length mirror and tried to hold back a grimace. Usually her training gear hid it, but she couldn't wear that just relaxing around the house. The clothes seemed to hang off of her and no matter how she arranged it, it didn't look any better.

Sighing, she decided that it wasn't going to get any better no matter how she arranged it or how she tried to make it look okay. She finally opened the door and ascended the stairs, her footsteps light and silent. Gaara was taking their lunch out of the oven and she felt a little sad that they weren't eating alone. There was no way he would try his awkward kind of comfort around his siblings. She never knew that telling someone who wouldn't judge her would feel so good. He still looked at her the same way and didn't tell her that she was weak and that she should have been able to save him.

"Sakura!" Temari popped up off the couch the moment she caught a flash of pink. She ran over to her and gave her a hug. Sakura stood there, unwilling to move. She didn't like this. The girl was squeezing her too hard and she felt like she was going to lose all her breath. "How's Shikamaru? And Hinata? And Naruto?" Temari was talking a mile a minute. "I haven't seen them in forever and I didn't have time to ask you yesterday. "Are they doing okay?" she added in a whisper, knowing about the entire situation that had sent Sakura running to Suna in the first place. Sakura only stared at her, slightly dazed and trying to keep up with the rate she talked.

"They're fine," she finally said. It came out harder than she intended. It always came out harder than she intended. She didn't like that it was so hard to talk normally to people anymore. Agitated with herself, she pushed past Temari and sat at the island, watching Gaara. Temari shot a look at her brother, as if asking what was wrong with the girl. Kankorou only shrugged and shook his head, confused. Gaara knew the girl was agitated. The sand he'd left with her was reacting to her emotions, the low-level psychic field it had reacted better to him, but he could feel that it was agitated, meaning she was about tenfold.

"Food's ready," he called to the other two. He turned to Sakura, "Will it be okay?" she only nodded. The food would be easy for her to take. She didn't know how much of it she would eat in front of his siblings. She didn't feel remotely hungry, either. She'd been eating so little for so long it was affecting her appetite.

"Here," he gave her a plate and sat next to her, waiting for the other two to serve themselves. They grabbed a couple more stools hiding in the corners of the kitchen and sat on the opposite side. The stools were supposed to be there, but Gaara had found them too bothersome and simply shoved them off into corners where they wouldn't get in his way.

He watched Sakura out of the corner of his eye as they ate silently. She was taking small bites slowly, though at least she was working on it. He'd given her a smaller portion than his sister would have. His siblings finished off the pan within minutes. He was glad he'd gotten enough for him and Sakura. She was still working on it while his siblings went back to the couch. Temari put another movie in and sat back to watch it. Though Gaara had long since finished his portion, he stayed beside Sakura for a few more minutes as she finished hers. He took her plate and placed it into the sink.

"What do you want to do?" he asked, watching her profile.

"I want to go outside," she said, looking to the patio outside. Because Gaara lived in the desert, there wasn't much else to his backyard. Simply a sprawling patio, covered by an overhang that lead off of the house. Gaara knew that it was cooler than most of the other places in his village. Gaara nodded and got up, letting her whatever she'd like.

Sakura got up and went outside, sitting in one of the numerous chairs it was equipped with. She hadn't been there for very long when Gaara joined her, his features showing he was somewhat irate. She turned to him and was about to ask what was wrong when he lurched forwards and wrapped his fingers around her wrist.

"Huh?!" She tried to pull away from him, but he was a little too strong for how weak she was at the moment. She flushed and realized he wasn't trying to take her anywhere. "Um, what are you doing..." it came out harder than she intended, again, but she knew he wasn't offended like his siblings. He seemed unnaturally good at this.

"I made it so that it would get agitated if you went outside. I have to fix it." He sighed and simply pulled the sand back to him and let more creep onto her wrist. He couldn't communicate with it when it was connected to her like that, being affected by her emotions. This time, it wasn't agitated that she was outside around his house. He nodded and turned to go back inside.

"Wait," Sakura said, a small, tiny bit of terror in her voice. She didn't like that he was leaving. He turned back to her and set his gaze on her. "Stay out here," she said. She didn't ask or anything, just said it. She knew that he could say no. She knew that he could simply turn around and leave, go back into his house and sit with his siblings, which he might like a lot more than being around her.

Gaara only nodded and sat beside her, staring out at the walls with her. There wasn't anything remotely interested around here, but the silence was comfortable and the company without the animate talking of his sister was a nice change. People didn't usually visit him, though.

"Do you think I'm weak?" she asked after a few long minutes. Gaara didn't start or anything, he merely thought it over. She was weak at the moment. She had malnourished herself and, until she had arrived here, overworked herself. She probably couldn't put up her dukes against a good chuunin.

"Right now? Yes." She flushed and looked down. "You're not taking care of yourself. That's mostly why people will talk. That's why I don't want anyone to notice. It'll get back to the Hokage eventually. How angry will she be that her prized student is being talked about in two villages?"

"Very," she said softly, leaning back in her chair.

"She'll be angrier at me if I don't stop it."

"I suppose." She wasn't used to hearing Gaara's soft baritone so much. She supposed that, because she wasn't up to talking so much anymore, he had to find something to say to break the silence. She was grateful for it. At least he wasn't judging her, just like everyone else who happened to see her bony figure, the scars and gashes on her wrists.

"As a whole, no." He didn't give out praise lightly, he hoped she knew that. "You saved my brother from something no one else could. You have the best chakra control of anyone I know. You are a superb ninja. Just because you couldn't save one person doesn't mean you're weak." He was speaking the truth. He knew that she was mostly looking for consolation, that everyone wasn't true. "They're looking for someone to blame."

"They should blame the rogue nin that killed him," she said softly. "There were just so many. They killed the entire squad."

"How did you make it out alive?" Gaara asked. He was curious. If the rogues had managed to take out an entire anbu team, how was she still around to talk about it? She looked down at her hands. She flushed.

"I was the cleanup crew," she said softly. "He told me to wait until they took out most of them and then make an earthquake to get rid of the rest. I didn't mean to wait so long," she said softly. Her timing had been a few seconds off. She hadn't seen what happened the moment before, but after all her teammates had fatal wounds that she couldn't heal.

"You couldn't heal any of them?" he asked. She must have had some chakra, at least enough that they could have made it back to the hospital. Before he knew it, she was crying. He heard soft sniffles and he looked over to see that tears were snaking down her cheeks in rapid succession. He knew this was probably hard to talk about. He knew that she hadn't relayed it to any other person, because they all already thought that she was weak.

"It was some kind of chakra-canceling jutsu. Whatever I put into them simply evaporated. The only good thing is that the guy that put it on them was killed by it too. I checked." At least that menace wasn't out and about simply killing off other people. "It killed all of them, actually. The guy just committed suicide to kill the rest of his teammates and all of mine."

"Some people just want to take everyone with them when they go as well," Gaara said simply. He would know. He was the same way. Though he'd never been particularly scared for his life, the time he'd had the tanuki pulled out of him didn't count, him being unconscious, if someone ever did, he usually went to take them out with him. If he had to die, then he could at least take out the man so they didn't go about killing others.

"But why did they have to take him? Why did they have to leave me alive?" So that was it. She'd been basically killing herself because she felt she didn't deserve to be alive. Gaara only sighed.

"Things happen, Sakura. You were lucky. He wasn't so much. Simply don't waste the luck." She blinked, though she was still crying. She had stopped sniffling a while ago. The tears had slowed somewhat, and he reached over to pat her hand. She grasped his and squeezed. He allowed her to hold it, hoping his siblings wouldn't burst from his home and see it.

"Are you nervous around your siblings?" she asked, not looking at him. She was finding his wall that fenced the property very interesting. He was shocked by her question. "You don't offer me comfort when they're around."

She'd noticed that he'd put her to bed and then his siblings were there. She had a feeling that he hadn't wanted to wake her, but that his siblings seeing him holding her were a completely different story. Gaara kept silent for long moments, his hand like a stone in hers. She didn't dare try to get closer to him, knowing he would automatically draw back.

"I don't touch people," he said. "You need it." She was breaking down his boundaries, making it hard to not comfort her and hard to stay silent and stay in an uncomfortable silence. She felt nice that he offered her comfort, the first one to do it since Naruto, who thought comfort was bringing her to lunch at a ramen place and forcing her to eat as much as he did. He'd done it once and she'd ended up throwing up.

"So you don't want your siblings to see," she said blankly, her eyes soft. She could understand it. She could understand that he didn't want his siblings to see him act so differently than what he usually did.

"If my siblings see, the rumor that you and I are going to marry will be in the village by nightfall." So yes, that as more of a let's not and say we did type of thing. Sakura blinked and nodded, knowing that would be the worst thing ever. "Anyways, the Hokage and some of the clan heads and heirs will be here in a month and a half."

"Oh?"

"The invitations are going to be sent in another week, but Suna is having a gala."

"Uh, those aren't actually that fun," she said, a small glint of amusement in her eyes. Gaara felt another pang of happiness that she let a little of her old self show through. It was nice that she was trying so hard to make sure her words weren't hard and cold. He knew from experience that it was difficult. Most of the time the old habit showed through.

"I know. I still have to find someone to escort." He didn't like the thought. Plenty of the girls in Suna were always all after him, trying to get him to go on a date with them or just straight offering children and marriage right off the bat. He didn't like any of them and he couldn't possibly think of some girl in the village that he would be able to deal with for an entire night.

"Why not me." she was being blatant, he knew. He knew it was a question though it came out flat and unpersonalized. He was the same way. He supposed that reason was why it was so easy to read into her words and find the questions there.

"I suppose so. You would have been on the list."

"Would do well for the alliance." She didn't sound very happy. It was true, though. If Gaara escorted her and showed Tsunade that he could make nice and have a personal friendship with one of Konoha's ninjas, it would be good brownie points for him. He only nodded. He simply hoped that the elders wouldn't read too deeply into it. They were already pushing for him to get married and have a child that could keep running the village.

"I'll escort you then," he said simply. She nodded. They heard someone approaching the door and instantly let go of each others hands, both looking towards the door. Temari popped her head out, looking as if she'd just found them having sex on the lounge chairs. Her face fell when she saw they weren't doing anything.

"Yes." Gaara wasn't in the mood to have his conversation interrupted. He actually liked Sakura's company. He felt like he wouldn't have liked her as much if she came all bouncy and bubbly like she used to be. He felt like it was easier talking to her and getting to know her, even though he had to make most of the conversation.

"We were wondering why you were out here," Temari said. Gaara thought it was obvious that they'd thought he and Sakura were getting it on outside. He wanted to point out that he would never try to have sex in public, even if it was on his private patio. Sakura blinked.

"I just wanted to be outside. Gaara joined me," she said blankly, her eyes far away. He still wondered why she was so lost in her daydreams. He didn't understand. Maybe she just wanted Neji to be alive again. Maybe she was just so lost because she could pretend he was Neji.

"Well, why don't you come back in? The movie's almost done. Maybe we could do some shopping. I still need a dress for that stupid gala." Sakura instantly recoiled from the two. She drew her knees up to her chest and stared at the ground. "Uh, Sakura?" she didn't answer. Gaara glared. He finally manages to get Sakura to come out of her shell and show her old self a little bit, but one word from Temari about facing other people and she draws back into herself. Gaara sighed.

"Come here," he pulled himself up and shoved past his siblings into the house. Sakura only stared at the ground, still drawn into herself. Gaara stood in the kitchen, his arms crossed and his face pinched in annoyance. Temari looked like she was about to shit her pants. She knew an angry Gaara was not a Gaara she wanted to deal with.

"Why would you say that?" he said. He didn't have time to think about his words or the volume of them. He simply couldn't believe that his sister was so insensitive.

"What do you mean, Gaara? It's Sakura. She loves going out and shopping. I didn't know she'd react like that!" Gaara stopped. He didn't let it show, but he'd forgotten that his siblings didn't know. They didn't know that she looked like a skeleton and had terrible nightmares. They didn't know that she was so weak, she couldn't even pull her wrist out of his grip. They didn't know because he thought that was best. He took a moment to find an excuse.

"She's still upset about Neji."

Temari slapped her forehead. "Fuck! It's her wedding day. No wonder she's so upset!" Temari still had the invitation at home. She had been going to drag Gaara along because it was an important event and such. She had forgotten about it since Neji had died and the entire thing was off anyways. She hadn't known Neji well, it had been easy to forget about his death.

"Seriously, how could you forget that, Temari? And how could you not tell us?!" Kankorou hadn't even known that Sakura was engaged. He was just getting completely walloped all in the same day. Sakura's engaged, her fiance is dead, and her wedding day just had to be today. He'd think that would be something important that Temari would point out.

Gaara only sighed. "I think you should leave."

"We're going to come back."

"Then bring dinner," he said flatly. Still a little annoyed with the two of them. Temari just nodded and quietly left, their brother in tow. Gaara sighed and turned towards the door.

"What are you doing?" the surprise in his voice stemmed the annoyance at his siblings, but that simply made way for agitation. Sakura had a kunai in her hand and he could smell the blood. He knew that she did this, but he couldn't believe that he had actually caught her in the act. Sakura didn't seem to care, though. She blinked. She turned back to her marred skin and bit into it again.

"Sakura, stop," Gaara grabbed her wrist. Sakura cried out and tried to pull her arm away. His hold didn't falter, and he pulled the sharp object from her hand. He threw it across the patio. It landed with a clang, but neither of them flinched. He sighed and looked down at her bleeding wrists. Several somewhat deep cuts were slowly bleeding, turning a good portion of her forearm a ghastly red.

"Leave me alone." Gaara only glared and pulled her up. She didn't go very easily and he only glared again before bending to scoop her up in his arms. He carried her into the house and up the stairs into his bathroom. He placed her on the toilet and got his first aid kit out of the cabinet. She only watched him in a daze, probably because she didn't even realize what she'd been doing or what he was doing now.

"This'll hurt," he said, pulling out an alcohol wipe to clean it. He gently brushed it over her wrist. She only stared at him, not even flinching or giving any sign that it discomforted her. He finished cleaning her wounds and pulled out some antibiotic ointment and some bandages. He spread the ointment over her skin, willing himself not to wince at the feel of open wounds. He supposed that he could have had a healer just patch her up, but they weren't very good and he didn't want her to get infected. Not to mention she probably wouldn't do it herself judging from all the other scars. She only stared at him as he finished bandaging her.

"Why." he stood to glare at her, trying to intimidate her into telling him why she just had to do it. Why she had to do it while his siblings were in the house and could walk out and see her. They would have flipped and he wasn't so sure she could have handled it. Sakura only stared at him, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. She looked so hurt and so sad and he didn't know how to make it all better. Sighing, he pulled the shirt sleeve down and pulled her up.

"Come on," he sighed and led her back to his bed. She crawled into it of her own accord. She curled up in the center and stared at the ceiling, her mind still painfully blank. He wondered what could have possibly been going through her mind to make self harm okay, but he figured maybe it stopped her from crying. Maybe it was just that one thing that made the pain bearable. Letting physical pain take over the emotional pain and let her just be.

"I don't know how to fix you."

"What?" she finally looked over at him, her eyes still glazed over. Gaara sat on the edge of the bed, not willing to meet his gaze. He didn't like this. He didn't like being frustrated over her and he didn't like trying to make her feel better. It confused him. He knew he was only doing this so she wouldn't die and Tsunade's wrath wouldn't reach him. He wondered why he just had to do this.

"You're broken," he said, his frustration showing through. "I can't fix you." Sakura blinked. She didn't know what to say.

"I'm not broken."

"You're hurting yourself. You're not eating. You're so weak you can't even pull your arm away from me. You have terrible nightmares. You're broken," he was getting more and more frustrated. He thought this whole confrontation about hurting herself wouldn't come for a while, after she got a little bit more meat on her body.

"I'm not broken!" she shouted. For once, she was showing something. Something other than ice and cold and emotionless facade. She was angry, he knew, but maybe it worked. "I'm just—just..." she trailed off.

"Stop," he said. He leaned back in his pillows and reached his arm out towards her. Sakura's anger seemed to have gone the moment it'd come. She stared at him for long moments before she finally moved towards him. She settled herself in the crook of his arm and laid her head on his shoulder. He sighed. "I'm going to take that time off. Obviously you need more help than just at mealtimes," he said. He didn't like this burden. Now the elders would have full reign over his village and he didn't like that.

"But I don't, I'm completely fine."

"You are not. Stop fighting me," he said flatly, leaving no room for her arguments. Sakura's mouth closed and she stared at him again. "You need to get better and stop running from all of this." He didn't know what he was doing in the form of helping her get better, but he seemed to be doing just fine as of late. He sighed and pulled the stuffed cat he'd left with her earlier from under the pillow. "Here."

Sakura took it and hugged it to her chest. Hugged being the operative word. She completely crushed it to her chest. It felt good to her, having something small in her arms that she could just squeeze. Gaara watched her, thinking she looked like a little kid. It didn't really bother him.

"Thank you," she finally said, pushing herself a little closer to him. Gaara didn't answer. He pulled a book from his nightstand, intending to read while she slept. She seemed to be nudging off already. He could understand it. She seemed emotionally exhausted. Perhaps if he could find the right way to help her, this would all blow over soon and she would be okay. All he wanted was for her to be okay and no longer terrified that she would be talked about.

"Sorry I'm so tired today," she said. This entire day was so tiring to her.

"It's okay. Just sleep," he said, already reading. Sakura only nodded, her movements slow. Gaara found she was asleep in moments and he was fine with it. Hopefully rest would help her with her emotional turmoil and make her a little more happy. He didn't like that she wasn't herself. He let her be for now and returned to his book.


	3. Chapter 3

"Would you like to come to the market with me today?" it was two weeks after her mental breakdown and she seemed to be getting better. Once in a while she would smile at him, vaguely, as though she didn't exactly know what she was smiling about. He'd found that she wouldn't calm at night if he wasn't with her, though he could leave her for up to three hours now while she slept. She still hadn't left his home, though she seemed to have much more energy and wasn't as deathly thin as before.

"Um, I guess," her voice was still quiet and she didn't quite have the mannerisms she used to have. He hoped he could have her back to normal and sleeping on her own by the time the Gala came around. He didn't think he could deal with how she clung to him for very much longer. He nodded to her and stood, waiting for her to join him. "Do we have to?" she seemed to be begging with him.

"It's faster," he said, his voice monotonous. What did she expect? It was simply easier to transport everywhere. She bit her lip and stared at him, rethinking her decision to go with him. He noticed her hesitation and held himself from rolling his eyes. "Come on," he said, taking a step towards her. Sakura reached her hand to him and he pulled her against him. She pressed herself against him and closed her eyes until she felt the sun on her face.

"It's so bright out here," she said, turning away from his chest. She turned back to him and rested her hand in the crook of his elbow. She didn't want to lose him, but she also felt much more comfortable when they were connected, especially since this was her first time leaving the indoors for a long while. Gaara only cast a cursory glance at her and ignored her on his arm. He tried not to think of how people would point and talked, but at least she wasn't holding his hand. That would make it worse, at least he thought so.

"What would you like?" he asked, finding himself halting for the first time. He had never really asked before, simply gone and gotten easily digestible food, eating what she did and not finding it within himself to actually care. He didn't know her body as well as she did. Perhaps she could take on tougher foods like meat. She only looked around the marketplace and shrugged.

"I don't really know your market that well," she said, her voice barely audible above the bustling, yelling, and general conversation of the wide street. Gaara began to walk, Sakura moving with him as he did. She seemed almost like a shadow, following him that closely. He stopped before the man that usually sold him fruit. The man turned to him and smiled, though Gaara waved him off, letting him finish with the other customer standing there.

"This is where I get the fruit," Gaara said, his explanation plain and simple. He gestured to the stand and stepped back, letting her chose what she wanted. Her hand slid down his arm to grasp at his hand and he allowed it, knowing it was that she was afraid to be alone. He could simply leave her there at any time he wanted, he knew that she knew it. She didn't want him to leave and he found her clutching at some part of him more often than not.

"Are your siblings going to try and join us for dinner again?" Sakura asked. He only nodded. They always came over for dinner at least one night a week and they hadn't been over yet. Usually, when it was this late in the week, they would be there and he wouldn't be happy about it, but he'd allow it. They had skipped the week before, afraid that they would upset Sakura again. Two weeks prior, Sakura had shut herself in her room and refused to come out when they'd brought back dinner. Gaara had only saved her a plate and brought it to her later, reheated.

"Did you want to find something so you could avoid them?"

"As long as they don't run their mouths again, I'll be fine," she smiled that vague smile at him and he found himself chuckling. She was being sassy. It was so different from how she usually was: shy and soft-spoken. She seemed to have tired herself out with all the anger and hate spat at the world and calmed herself into a much softer-spoken and shy Sakura. He liked that she didn't explode out of herself so much anymore and she seemed to have stopped reverting into her shell as well.

"I believe they learned from last time," Sakura turned to stare at him, her face a schooled mask, but she was slightly surprised. There was humor and amusement in his voice, that of which she hadn't quite heard before. It was a pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless.

"Can I help you, Kazekage-sama?" the stall-keeper had finished with his last customer and he was now smiling openly at Gaara, though he seemed to ignore Sakura. Gaara knew that it was only because she seemed to be with him, but he wished that the man could at least give her a nod or something, acknowledge her presence. Sakura didn't seem to mind, she was busy looking over the fruit. He tried not to notice how very close she stood to him, now that the attention was turned to them.

Gaara looked down at Sakura, but she seemed unable to speak when the attention was on them. He was confused. Was she still too afraid around others? She'd seen Temari several times, but had not said one word to her since that day two weeks ago. Maybe she had reverted into her shell and he hadn't noticed because she had become comfortable enough around him to let her guard down. He didn't quite understand.

"Just—" Sakura tugged on his sleeve and he watched her eyes dart to several different fruits. He nodded to her and she seemed to relax minimally. "A melon, a half-pound of strawberries, a half-pound of blueberries, and a half-dozen oranges." She had only wanted the first three, he knew, but she had been eating oranges like they were manna from above, so he figured he could stand to get more. The man knelt under his stand and Gaara knew he was picking out the fresher fruit.

"Sorry, I-I..." Sakura whispered when the attention was off the two of them.

"It's fine," he finally said when he realized she couldn't find the words she was looking for. She settled her hand back into the crook of his elbow and he allowed himself to relax somewhat. She only nodded. She reached forwards for the bag the stall-keeper held out and Gaara handed over the money. Gaara only gave him half the tip he usually would have, mostly because the man had blatantly ignored Sakura. Gaara felt that, if the man hadn't ignored her, she would have been a little more comfortable. At least enough to pick out what she'd wanted.

"Come on," he said, leading her away. She seemed distracted, looking at all the stalls in the streets.

"It's different from my home," she began softly, her voice still barely above the noise. "Most shops are inside because it rains sometimes. Only when it's sunny for a while will they put something outside." Sakura had been telling him little facts like this about her home. He was wondering if she missed it and if she wanted to go back home. She only shook her head at the end of her statement and quickened her pace to fall in step with him.

Gaara picked up a few loaves of bread and a dozen eggs, though the shopkeeper had noticed Sakura this time, smiling and greeting her. Gaara gladly gave him the entire tip he usually did. He figured this shopkeeper knew that Sakura wasn't a ninja of this town and therefore deserved some kind of respect as she walked around with their leader.

"Kazekage-sama?" Gaara turned, Sakura opting to hide slightly behind him, to find a small girl, around the age of eight or so, staring up at him with wide eyes. He knelt before her, his face still a mask.

"Yes?" he wasn't good with talking to children, that was for sure. He knew enough to kneel and get on their eye-level at least. Sakura watched him, something akin to surprise in her eyes. She didn't know small children actually came up to him and talked openly with him. The little girl looked up at Sakura, who gave her the vague smile, and then turned her attention back to Gaara.

"My mom doesn't have any money for food today," she whispered, though it was rather loud. Sakura watched her companion with extreme interest, wondering what he would do and why this girl had come up to Gaara especially.

"Of course," Gaara nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a few bills. Sakura blinked as he count out several of them and handed them to the girl. "Remember," he nodded to her, "don't tell your mother," the girl blushed and smiled, then nodded and ran off to the fruit stand. Sakura watched the little girl go. She gave him a questioning look when Gaara turned to her and he only shook his head, muttering a "I'll explain later." Sakura only caught up with him as he made his way to a shop, though she cocked her head in mild confusion.

Gaara lead her into the shop, where she finally understood why it was inside. She shivered at the refrigerated air, causing Gaara to cast his glance at her, though she didn't say anything. He figured she wouldn't. He lead her to a side of the shop and nodded to the different meats lining the refrigerated shelves. Sakura looked over everything before picking a few things out and handing it to him. He turned towards the register, paying for the items as she hung back.

Sakura's hand was around his arm the moment he got back to her and they exited the shop. Sakura was beginning to feel mildly anxious, being out and about for this long in the village. She was afraid that everyone was looking at her and appraising her still-bony figure. It was an irrational thought, she knew. They were probably staring at them because she was walking so familiarly with Gaara, latched onto him, but she couldn't help but jump to the worst conclusion. Gaara seemed to notice how uncomfortable she felt because he pulled her against his chest, waiting for her to close her eyes, and transported them back to his home.

"Um, thanks," she said, looking around the room. He'd taken them to the kitchen for once, instead of the room he'd so thoughtfully given to her. She set her bag on the island and he followed her example. She began taking things out to put them away when she stopped. "I, um, don't know where anything goes," she whispered, looking quite sheepish. Gaara wanted to chuckle. She seemed a little confused.

"It's alright," he let the warm humor into his voice and she looked at him again. He detected the slight surprise in her eyes that she'd had before and he credited it to the fact he was allowing emotion into his voice around her. It had to be surprising, he knew, but he'd also spent the last two weeks alone with her in his home. He had to get comfortable around her at some point, just as she had to get comfortable around him at some point as well.

Gaara pulled food out of the bags and began to whirl around the kitchen, putting things where they belonged. Sakura watched him, her eyes still slightly surprised. She raised a hand to her mouth and yawned into it and Gaara noticed, his eyes narrowing at how thin she still seemed. She wasn't a walking skeleton anymore, but she still seemed rather anorexic.

"Think I could have some strawberries?" Sakura asked as he was about to put them in the fridge. He looked at her and handed them to her. She brought them to the sink and pulled a plate from the cabinet and a knife from the drawer. Strawberries were in season back home and she figured that was why the shops in Suna had them. They weren't usually sent out this way unless Konoha had a particularly nice crop.

"Cut some up for me as well," Gaara said, putting the last of the fruit in the fridge. He leaned his back against the counter beside her and watched her methodically rinse and core the fruit until she had quite a nice pile on the plate. She wrapped the remaining strawberries up and handed them to Gaara. He put them in the fridge and turned to follow her to the couch, where she picked up the remote and turned on the tv.

Gaara settled next to her and she automatically leaned into his body. This was normal to him now and he simply wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She liked laying like this and he just went along with it now. Ever since that second day that he'd willingly and consciously laid down with her for a nap, there wasn't a moment that she wasn't touching him when he was near. It had been annoying at first, but he'd gotten used to it after a while. It was comfortable now, laying calmly on the couch and watching some kind of numbing television show. It didn't really matter to him anyhow.

Sakura offered him a strawberry and he gladly took it, eating it. This had actually been the first time he'd seen strawberries in the marketplace since Sakura had come to Suna and he figured that they'd finally gotten the summer shipment from Konoha. Strawberries happened to be one of his favorites and he was pleased when Sakura had pointed them out to him. Sakura ate a few more before handing him another.

"Did you like going out today?" he asked, taking another from the plate. She finished eating before she even began to think about it.

"It was nice. Everyone scared me though," she said softly. "I guess I haven't been around people in a long time," that was for sure. The only people she'd seen in the past two weeks and maybe even before that were himself and his siblings. "What was that all about with the little girl?" she asked, popping another strawberry into her mouth. She was still curious about the entire thing.

"I told her that if she needed any food to come to me. Sometimes her mother doesn't have the money. I told her not to tell her mother because I won't allow my villagers to take advantage of me." Sakura understood it. He wanted to help his villagers and make sure they had enough to eat and all, but the older they were the more money they would ask for and the less they would work. Children were unassuming and didn't quite take his charity for granted. "I caught her stealing from a fruit stand a couple months ago," he added thoughtfully.

"You're a good leader," Sakura said, her voice soft. She was quite embarrassed to say it, especially what she was planning on saying next. "You have a kind heart." Gaara was surprised. He'd never thought Sakura would say something like that, not to him. He didn't expect her to say it because at one point in their lives he had tried to kill her. He didn't expect her to say it because the reasons he'd been helping her had started out selfish and assuming. She knew all of this and still said what she had. She put the empty plate on his coffee table and laid her head in his lap, closing her eyes. "You grew up, Gaara, that's not a bad thing."

Gaara was still quite speechless and he only rested his hand on her waist. He didn't know how to respond to her words, though he knew that they were meant in sincerity. "Thanks," he finally whispered, though her breathing had already turned slow. He didn't know when it got so easy to be around her and quell her fears, or when it changed that he wasn't just trying to keep her appearance from the village.

"Gaara?" Temari had come barging in through his door and he didn't have time to move Sakura and himself from their compromising position. She hadn't turned to him yet, but he didn't move, choosing not to care anymore than have her annoying questions about why he seemed to get up so fast. This had to happen eventually. Sakura was usually quite scarce when it came to his siblings. "Gaara, I needed to—" she stopped when she finally turned to him, her eyes quickly widening. "Um."

"She fell asleep," Gaara said simply, though he kept his voice low and quiet. He didn't want to wake Sakura. She wouldn't be very happy that Temari had seen her even though she'd been unconscious for most of it. "Be quiet, she needs her rest."

Temari watched Gaara move his hand up and down the girl's back, as if he was soothing her. Something about this situation threw Temari off. It didn't seem right. Gaara was known to hate people and stay away from them; hell was certainly freezing over that he was openly and consciously touching Sakura and not even jumping away from her although her head was on his lap and her hand was clutching at his knee.

"Oh. Okay," Temari hadn't caught anything but glimpses of Sakura since that day two weeks ago, but she had seen that Sakura was getting better. Her figure seemed to have filled out more since the day she'd arrived and she seemed to be less angry. Her eyes seemed more placated and there was less hatred in them as well. "Anyways, there's something I can't sign for you," she lifted a folder out of the bag Gaara hadn't noticed and she held it out to him.

"What is it?" he asked as he flipped it open, carefully holding it above Sakura so nothing would fall on her or brush against her. He made a mental note to start sparring with her, trying to get her energy up and keep her from getting more depressed from being shut up in his house all day, doing almost nothing but sleep. He knew she needed her rest, but he knew if she didn't get up and do something her condition would stagnate and she'd never get back to her old self.

"It's the invite list," Temari said, "The messengers are being prepared, but I can't tell them who to send them to, especially because I don't exactly have the list of our not-so-nice friends in the other countries." Gaara usually approved the people coming to his village. He was very particular on who entered his gates and he never let anyone else approve outside ninja who wanted in.

Gaara's eyes flitted down the sheet, narrowing every now and then. Temari handed him a pen and he put a check next to a few names. He handed the list back to her and she cast a quick glance over it, noticing that only four or five names out of about two hundred were crossed off. She expected much more, as she knew Gaara's attitude to outsiders.

"Thanks."

"Are you coming for dinner tonight?" Gaara asked as she was readying herself to leave. Sakura mumbled in her sleep and she shifted. He brushed his fingertips along her back to calm her, realizing that he had allowed his voice to be a little louder than it should have. "I believe Sakura was planning on cooking for you," he added, making sure that his voice was softer.

"Oh, sure. I'll tell Kankorou," Temari nodded, a small smile on her face. Gaara only nodded. He heard the door click behind her and sighed. At least she didn't actually say anything about the position he was in with the small girl. He didn't think he could stand that. He was glad he didn't have to tell her that Sakura was planning on them coming for dinner that night and she would be slightly disappointed if they didn't show up. He wasn't one for taking low blows with his siblings.

He stared at Sakura and nudged her, trying to wake her. She mumbled again and slowly opened her eyes after another nudge. She yawned and turned to stare up at him. She glared at him and he wanted to chuckle. She really did hate waking up. "Why'd you have to wake me up?" she asked, her mouth set in a pout. That only made him want to chuckle again.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Want to spar with me?" he asked, only too aware that his hand was still on her waist and she was staring up at him with her sleepy green eyes. Something seemed to light up behind them and she bounced off of him, intending to get her ninja clothes out of hiding and throw them on.

"As long as you go easy on me," she'd stopped at the stairs to turn to him and throw him that.

"You're still weak. I wouldn't want to hurt you," he didn't mean it out of spite and she seemed to know that. She gave him that vague smile and she ran up the stairs. He was glad that she didn't take offense to his blatant words and he knew it was because she was often the same as of late. If she'd come as her old self he was sure that she would have yelled at him for those words. He turned off the television and leaned back, waiting for Sakura. She was down soon enough, fixing her gloves on her hands.

"They still don't fit," she said softly, staring down at her clothes. Gaara had to agree with her. The clothes were still too loose on her and seemed to hang off her form a bit. He still shook his head, stepping towards her.

"It's getting better," he said. She only nodded and stepped forwards, pressing herself against his body. She never liked the way he transported, but he couldn't do anything about that. He whisked her away to one of the training grounds encased in Suna's walls. Sakura had never been there, but there really wasn't much to see. She looked around curiously, only finding that it was a large expanse of sand, walls surrounding it.

"Not a lot of places to hide," she said, her voice a little lighter. Gaara believed that she was feeling a little better that he offered to spar with her. There weren't too many people she could ask after all. He cast his glance along the space and shrugged.

"True. Suna ninjas aren't too good at hiding and surprising their foes. We're better at taking you head on. However, fighting in closed spaces like your forests prove a challenge for us," he remembered the chunnin exams and how closed in he felt. He didn't really care, he had his sand to work for him after all and he didn't really have to depend on hand to hand combat in closed spaces.

"Will you use your sand against me?" her voice was small, frightened, and he knew that she was remembering all those years ago when he had almost taken her life. He shook his head. She wasn't ready for that. They would only use taijutsu for now, helping her get stronger and rebuild all the muscle she had lost.

"Just tell me when you get tired," he said, preparing himself. Sakura only nodded, lowering herself into a defensive stance. He hoped that she would do well enough against him, though he wasn't sure. He hadn't gone against a Konoha ninja in a friendly spar. It had usually been a match. He shook his head and hoped she would say when she was tired.

A few hours later and he wasn't really feeling any fatigue at all, though he could see that Sakura was showing signs of wear. He also knew they should start dinner soon. He pulled himself out of his attack stance and she straightened as well.

"Are you tired?"

"A little," she admitted. She didn't say anything because she'd been having a good time, sparring with him. She supposed he was giving her a little leniency, but she didn't mind. She really was still quite weak.

"It's getting late, we should get back."

"Do you want to spar again soon?" Sakura was a little scared that he wouldn't want to. She wasn't much of a challenge at the moment and he couldn't be enjoying himself like that. Gaara stepped closer to her and pulled her against him, getting ready to bring her back to his home.

"Of course," he said, "Who else would you spar with?" she heard that little bit of amusement in his voice and she wasn't so surprised anymore. She figured that one of them had to show emotion and he just seemed to be the one to do it between the two of them. She knew there was still more ahead of her before she was back to her old self and he seemed to know that too.

He transported them to the usual room and he nodded towards the bathroom. Sakura seemed to get the picture and she grabbed some clothes before heading in for a shower. Gaara went to a different bathroom to clean up, though he could hardly say he felt disgusting. It was only a light spar for him and she wasn't as weak as he originally thought. She still had her abilities as a ninja, she was only weak in the physical sense. She did give him a run for his money several times.

"Gaara?" her soft voice startled him. He didn't particularly like the fact that he was behind a glass door that hadn't particularly fogged up yet and there was a chance that she could see his form. He hadn't done anything physical with Sakura, other than holding her while she slept to offer silent comfort, and he wasn't planning on starting. Though he could see some fine qualities in her that Neji had probably seen and had admitted that she would make a fine bride, indeed. He knew that she would never, ever be his bride and so banished any thoughts that he ever had of Sakura, even if they were strictly platonic. Who knew if she wanted to continue this friendship once she disappeared back to Konoha and out of his life?

"What?" he finally answered, trying to make those terrible thoughts leave his head. He had to remind himself that he was only helping the girl and nothing more.

"I, um, was just wondering if you had any more towels. You seem to have run out in the bathroom," her voice was smaller and he wondered why. He sighed. The maids must have been taking a relaxed approach to their job today and he didn't like when they were slacking. He'd have to have a talk with the company he used soon. He didn't like that they were slacking and Sakura had to interrupt both their showers.

"Look in the hall closet right outside this room. There should be some," he said flatly, not willing his eyes to search for her form outside the glass door. He'd heard the shower going before he left for his own private bathing and he didn't know how far she'd gotten and if she was currently wet and nude. That was certainly a picture that would be burned into his brain and refuse to leave any time soon.

"Thanks," she closed the door softly. He allowed his body to relax once she was out the door. He'd noticing when things started changing towards her, his thoughts at least. It'd been when they were laying in his bed one day. She'd been sleeping peacefully after spending a great deal of time reading with him outside. He'd look down and saw something that was forever etched into his brain. She'd been murmuring in her sleep and he didn't know what it was that caught his eye. He didn't know if it was her lips, slightly parted and forming half-syllables, or the fact that her hand was balled up on his chest, so close to her mouth, or the fact that her eyelashes fell against her cheeks just right, but he found himself staring and he found himself wondering what it would be like to wake up to her face every morning. Not like they were now, him offering her comfort even as she slept, but in the future, as if she would never leave his village. Those were the first of the thoughts he'd had to banish.

Now he tried whatever he could do to keep from looking at her face while she slept. He found himself doing it more often than not, though, and he wondered why. He couldn't figure out what was so appealing to him while she slept like that. She seemed so at peace, the memories and nightmares hidden and locked away while he held her.

Gaara sighed and finally got out of the shower. When he found himself presentable, he went back into his bedroom to find Sakura with his book in her hand, wearing some of his old clothes. He didn't know how she knew which ones were newer and which ones were older, but she never wore anything of his that he would usually wear. He didn't mind, though. She could wear anything of his if she wanted to. He only had one outfit and there were plenty of those in his closet.

"Hey, I was just wondering what you were reading," she was finding it easier to talk around him, he noticed. If his siblings were in the house she still found it slightly hard to control her tone and talk to them and he had a feeling it would still be a long while yet until she spoke to them familiarly, like her old self. Sometimes he still wondered how her attitude could have changed so drastically. "I should have known you would be into mystery novels," she turned another page.

"Would you like me to get more books for you?" he asked, knowing she'd already run through most of the ones he'd bought for her. He'd found, shortly after beginning to live with her, that she preferred reading to television and such. He didn't mind, he was the same way. She'd told him her favorite genres and had gone out and gotten her several books. They often sat on the balcony or the patio and read together until mealtimes came around, or when she was tired and they decided to go to bed, though he would often stay up later, reading, one arm curled around her as she pressed to his body and murmured softly.

"I think so. I finished the last one you brought me and I'm not the biggest fan of mystery," though she'd read it if she'd have to. She found that she loved any sort of book, though she loved drama and suspense the most. He'd gotten so many books for her already. They were stacked up on a desk in the room, two neat piles of almost twenty books each. She'd always found that if she really enjoyed a book, she'd stay up all hours trying to finish it.

"We can go to the market again tomorrow and go into the shops. Jewelry stores and book stores are often inside so the salesperson can keep an eye on people." She didn't really need the explanation, but she knew why he did. Most of the shops were out on the streets and under tents, even shops for clothing. Clothing was easily replaced, though, not fine pieces of jewelry and books that usually cost upwards of twenty dollars.

"Oh, uh, sure," she smiled that vague smile and he took it, knowing she wouldn't smile the first week she'd been with him. He figured she was doing better because the day of her wedding had passed and she was no longer looking forward to that dreadful day. Sitting down next to her, he picked up another book from the nightstand, opening it to read. He wouldn't take it from her now, knowing that she was enjoying it.

"What do you want for dinner?" he asked, flipping a page. Sakura blinked and looked up at him. She preferred to lay down while she read and oftentimes that meant she'd stare up at him when he'd say something. He didn't mind, but the look she always gave him, like she'd barely heard him because she was too lost in the words, completely stunned him.

"Oh, um, I don't know. Anything but ramen?" she supplied, her tongue poking out between her teeth. Gaara liked her like this. She was completely relaxed and nothing stopped her from letting her guard down. He supposed it was because she knew he wouldn't judge her or something of the like, but he didn't mind.

"Alright, we'll get take-out then," he said. He figured a bowl of his favorite curry would do, though he knew he'd have to find something else for Sakura, something that wouldn't upset her stomach like spicy foods would. She still didn't eat much and he was quite worried about her energy level, but she seemed fine when they were sparring so he shouldn't worry so much.

"Okay," Sakura turned her attention back to the book, though Gaara wished he could have his attention back on him. He'd had her undivided attention in his home for weeks now and it was starting to get to him. If she wasn't out on the balcony, he'd go and search for her. If he came home from the market and couldn't instantly find her, he'd lock onto his sand and transport to her. If she was late for dinner, he'd go and search the house for her. He liked the way she listened and the way she wanted to be listened to. He didn't think he'd have gotten to know her the way he did now if he'd met her under other circumstances.

They read until the sun left the sky and there wasn't any light left to read with other than a lamp closer to Gaara. He sighed and put down his book before looking over to Sakura, who didn't even seem to notice the change in lighting. She still read and he was slightly surprised that she'd managed to get more than halfway through the book without him noticing. Silently, he pulled the book from her fingers, marking the page she'd been on and placing it with his.

"That isn't very nice you know," she said, staring at him with her too-bright green eyes. He shrugged.

"You wouldn't answer me if I called you." It was true. A couple days ago he'd said her names several times and she wouldn't look up. He'd finally plucked the book from her hands and placed it on the nightstand. She'd only blinked, like she was still reading, until she'd looked up at him, dumbfounded.

"You've got me there," she sighed and pulled herself up into a sitting position. It was weird, being so close to someone so cold and distant. He didn't mind her, she found. She found that she could press herself into his side and she could lay her head in his lap and take a nap and he would simply sit idly by, reading. Once, she'd woken up to his fingers stroking through her hair absentmindedly, like he wasn't so sure he was doing it. Since then he would do it while he was reading or even watching a show together, even if she was awake.

"You need to eat." It was never 'we need to eat.' He always spoke as if he had to look out for her and make sure she was getting the proper nutrition she needed.

"Okay," she watched him get up and put on his shoes before giving her a pointed look. She sighed. Apparently she wasn't getting out of this outing either. Hoisting herself up, she slipped on her own shoes and then stepped close to him. He'd started wrapping his arms around her as of late. She felt that she didn't have to hide her face in his chest when he did that and found it easier to travel with his sand now. It didn't scare her as much as it did all those years ago.

They landed themselves outside a restaurant and Gaara immediately let her go, silently leading her into the place. It didn't look all that shady and much more of a civilian restaurant than anything else, but the moment Sakura walked in she could feel eyes on them, identifying their chakra. Shinobi littered every table and she wanted to groan. Of course Gaara went to a shinobi restaurant. Although a shinobi herself, she couldn't help but drift closer to Gaara. They weren't her friends, she knew, and she was wary around anyone she couldn't tell was a friend.

Gaara noticed that she moved perceptibly closer to his side as he placed the order, resigning to allow her to lean forward and grasp at his hand. He tightened his hold on hers, trying to convey that they wouldn't hurt her but he felt that he would have the same reaction if they were in her village, surrounded by unknown shinobi.

He lead her to a bench and sat, watching her sit tensely, eyes flitting to each corner of the room, trying to find where she didn't want to be backed up against and where the closest exit was and how many people stood in her way. She looked like she was trying to choose between fight or flight and he realized perhaps this wasn't the correct place to go on her first real day out in weeks.

"Calm down. They won't hurt you. You're with me," he said softly. She nodded, though her tense posture didn't calm. Her hold on his hand slackened only slightly and he could tell she couldn't wait to get out of there. She seemed ready for an attack, ready to defend and fight back. Although she was weak, those shinobi tendencies were still within her and ready to spring.

"Hello, Kazekage-sama," one of his shinobi came up to them and Sakura instantly tensed again, though she kept her face a carefully schooled mask. He cast a glance at her from the corner of her eyes and wanted to sigh. This was definitely not a place where he should have taken her so early in her endeavors. Maybe a civilian restaurant would have been better, where no one would have approached them.

"Hello," he nodded curtly, staring up at the man. He still seemed to intimidate this man although he was sitting and the thought put him at ease. He didn't like that people approached him as though they were friends and making them feel uncomfortable was the least he could do.

"I was wondering if you knew when squad ten is scheduled to come back? My brother is on that team and according to him they were supposed to back a week ago." the man seemed uneasy as well as uncomfortable. Gaara's eyes narrowed and the man thought he was going to cut him with some remark about not having to know every team's scheduled arrivals and departures.

"The end of the week, in the evening. Thursday or Friday depending on travel." Gaara's face had been made only because he'd been thinking. Squad ten had been sent to the very edge of their border to investigate camps left there. He'd had no word of a fight and knew they should be returning soon.

"O-oh, thank you," he finally managed to stutter out, turning and walking away as though he'd just been in a particularly traumatizing situation. Sakura only watched Gaara now, her eyes questioning and still guarded. He'd found that they never were left unguarded and he wondered what she didn't want others to see. He shrugged and got up when his number was called, collecting their food and leaving the restaurant.

"I apologize. I shouldn't have taken you there," he said coolly, stepping towards her and wrapping one arm around her. She leaned into him and when she opened her eyes she found they were back in the bedroom. "It was foolish of me," he continued from before.

"Oh, it's fine," she said, seemingly distracted. She headed for the balcony, Gaara following. He found that she didn't usually like to be inside though he didn't know how comfortable she could be faced with the vast emptiness of the sand. He knew it was off-putting to him to be surrounded by tall trees. He put the bag on the small table and shifted through it before handing her one of the Styrofoam containers.

"You were tense," was all he said before sitting opposite her, pulling out his own food. Sakura had opened hers and was picking at it, not knowing what she wanted to try first. She hadn't had much of Suna's food, but she knew it was rather dry and somewhat bland, not spicy like her home's. She tentatively took a bite.

"Wouldn't you be in a room full of unknown ninja?" she inquired, her sharp green gaze settling on him. He'd been startled by this gaze when she'd first arrived, always thinking her eyes were always soft and naive-looking, but being in their line of work changed a lot of people and he figured witnessing her loved ones die was what made her change.

"I suppose." He also supposed that she hid it well. Only he knew that she was so tense because she'd been next to him, holding his hand in a death grip. He watched her take another small bite of what he'd gotten her. Shifting slightly in the uncomfortable iron chair, he took another bite of his as well. This is what their time together was like most of the time. Silent. Merely coexisting with each other.

Sakura ate silently and got up when she was done. He checked her food like he always did and saw that she'd eaten most of it, just left some of the vegetables behind. Maybe she wasn't too big on vegetables. He sighed and gathered it all up, throwing it in a garbage can kept on the balcony that the maids routinely took out.

They heard the doorbell ring and Gaara sighed. It would just be like his siblings to interrupt a perfectly pleasant evening with the quiet woman currently taking up residence in his home. He shot a glance over to her; she stood by the door, waiting for him to go first. He found that she preferred to be in the back, watching behind them. Perhaps that was how it always was on her teams. He brushed past her and was aware that she followed him. She stood near the stairs, out of sight of the door, though he knew she was always listening. He thought she was simply being cautious.

"Hello," he said as he swung the door open to his siblings, who came in uninvited.

"Look who came to visit!" Temari practically yelled in his ear before a third person came in. Gaara visibly stiffened, ironing his will so he wouldn't look behind him to Sakura, who was tense and waiting in her own way. He knew she was ready to attack if this person happened to be unsavory, but he knew she wouldn't pounce unless she found him in danger. It had happened once when an elder came to talk a few things over with him and she had tackled him to the floor because of his haughty tone and the flare in Gaara's chakra. That was certainly a sight to see, though he didn't like explaining her actions.

"Nara, Naruto," he nodded to each of them. Sakura became frightened, he could feel it through the sand still connected to her. It bothered him. Why was she so frightened to see the people from her home? She should be glad to see them and glad that they had found themselves in the safety of Suna instead of a camp that was poorly defended.

"Hey, Gaara!" Naruto was louder than his sister and he narrowed his eyes at his friend. Naruto gave him a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his head. Shikamaru only nodded, his eyes dazed. He didn't seem to care that he was standing in the Kazekage's house. "We don't mean to intrude, but we were on our way back from a mission and thought we could stay here for a couple days instead of...you know," Naruto had been thinking of the same thing Gaara had.

"Don't worry about it," he said flatly.

"Is Sakura here?" Naruto said it in a hushed whisper, though Naruto's whisper was a normal inside-voice. "I wanted to see how she's doing and if she'd want to come home with us," at his words Gaara felt a spike of fear and didn't have to look out of the corner of his eye to see that Sakura had fled up the stairs and back into his room.

"She's here. I have to confirm whether she'd like to see you," he said airily, his gaze on Naruto. Temari looked worried in the background, her teeth worrying her lower lip. She only sighed, knowing Gaara would do what was best for the girl and flopped on the couch, turning on the television. She assumed one or both of the Konoha ninja would join her.

"What do you mean? Of course she wants to see us, we're her friends!" Naruto was taken aback at Gaara's words. Shikamaru had shrugged, knowing that if Sakura had wanted to see them she would have made her presence known. He sat with Temari, his gaze focused on the show now. Naruto was still fuming.

"If she wants to see you I assure you that she'll come down," Gaara pierced his friend with an icy look and Naruto finally stepped back, his eyes hurt. Gaara thought it really couldn't be helped. Sakura was still hurting and seeing people that she'd failed was only going to make it worse. Gaara turned his back on him and slowly made his way up the stairs, checking to make sure Naruto hadn't followed him.

"I don't want to." Sakura was sitting on his bed, staring at her hands, the words barely out of her mouth before he'd closed the door. He walked to the bed and sat next to her, his eyes just as concealed as hers were. He placed his hand over hers, trying to offer her comfort. She gripped his hand and held on tightly, her eyes still blank and staring at the floor.

"You don't have to," his voice wasn't soft, but it wasn't hard either. Sakura leaned into his side and he allowed her. He was sure this would have been different in different circumstances, but for now it was nice. He'd never known the comfort of physical touch before, not from someone that wasn't his siblings, and he found he enjoyed it.

"Gaara!" Sakura tensed at the sound of Naruto's voice reverberating off the hallway. Of course that idiot would come looking for him. "Have you found Sakura yet?!" he passed a look over her face and she looked about to cry, though he knew she'd wash it away in a second and treat him coldly, as though he wasn't really there.

"Come on, Gaara, open up!" Naruto had started banging on his door now. Every bang Sakura flinched and her hand tightened over his, her other rolling into a fist. She threw the door an angry glare, as though she was going to break it down herself and bash Naruto unconscious. This fiery temper Gaara had seen before. It made him believe, for a moment, that her mental state was getting better.

"Go away," Gaara finally spoke up, sending a glare of his own at the door. He didn't like his quiet home being invaded by the loud Naruto, but he was his friend and Gaara couldn't simply send him away. Sakura was still glaring at the door, willing for her friend to go away, wishing he would leave her alone and stop asking her to come home. He'd sent her letter after letter asking if she was coming home yet and if she was better and when she was coming home. She never answered them.

"No, I want to see how Sakura's doing." He sounded like a small child having a tantrum, stomping his foot and pulling a face until he got his way. Gaara sighed and looked down at the girl. She looked up at him and he could see that she didn't want to talk to him, and for good reason. Gaara never asked how she was feeling or anything a friend like Naruto would do. He simply sat and was with her. Gaara sighed again and got up, patting Sakura's hand in what he hoped was a reassuring manner before he went to the door.

"She isn't in the mood to see anyone," Gaara had opened the door and shown himself, though he kept the rest of the room, Sakura included, from view. It was good that he was still taller than the blonde by several inches and he easily gave him a haughty look, hoping he'd get the hint and go away.

"What are you talking about? Sakura's always in the mood to see me!" Naruto grinned, though his eyes turned dangerous the moment he looked back into Gaara's eyes. "She's my friend, I just want to see her." Gaara wanted to throw the idiot out of his house at that point. All Sakura wanted for a long time was to be left alone, not have her overbearing friends smashing down doors to fire question after question at her until she blew her temper and destroyed his home further.

"She's tired." Gaara thought of anything to say to him so he could finally go away for a while. "We sparred today. It wore her out. Go back downstairs." He was becoming quickly annoyed with Naruto and wished he would just leave it be.

"No. I want to see her!" Naruto tried to shove past Gaara, but the taller man blocked him, somewhat with the help of his sand. Naruto was no pushover and Gaara needed a little helping hand in staying in his place. He turned a dangerous glare onto the blonde.

"While Sakura is here, she is under my care. If she says she is tired and doesn't want anyone to bother then hell be it from me to go against her wishes," Gaara was emitting a dangerous aura, a breadth away from wrapping his sand around Naruto and removing him by force. "You know which room is yours, now go there or go find yourself entertained with Temari." Sakura still hadn't made a noise behind him, but he knew she felt grateful for dealing with the loud-mouthed idiot.

"Fine, but I want to see her in the morning," he grumbled, knowing better than to mess with Gaara when he was glaring as such and his voice was like sharpened knives. He threw a glare at Gaara before stuffing his hands in his pockets and sauntering his way back down the stairs. Gaara let out a deep breath he didn't quite know he was holding and turned back to the girl sitting on the edge of his bed.

"I got him to leave you be for now," he said finally, moving to sit beside her again, laying his hand over hers.

"Thank you. I just...I don't know what to say to him."

"I know," Gaara really did. He didn't know half of the things he wanted to say to his siblings, but he'd find a way to say it, in time. That's all Sakura needed. She needed some time to think things over and find out what she wanted to say to them. Her hand tightened in his.

"I am tired, though. Think I should lay down?" she was asking him if he'd come to bed with her, he knew. That was how she usually asked if they weren't already reading together. She bit her lip, knowing it was unfair of her to keep asking him to spend the night with her, to hold her and keep her nightmares at bay. He stared at her.

"I'll have to tell my siblings I'm going to bed. I'll be back up in a moment," he let go of her hand and left the room, knowing she'd still be sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting for him. She didn't like going to bed without him. She didn't like the nightmares.

"Temari," Gaara appeared in the living room and his sister's eyes automatically connected to his. "I'm going to bed. I've had...a very trying day," she knew what that meant. He'd had to watch over Sakura and that usually tired the both of them out before long. She also knew they slept together, tangled up in each other's arms. Temari had caught them one morning while looking for a spar and had to promise to keep it to herself if he was going to explain himself.

"Alright. I'll make sure these two get themselves in the right rooms," Temari nodded to her brother. Gaara nodded back. Once, he'd woken up to a very drunk Naruto trying to climb in bed with him at three in the morning. The contractors and maids were not very happy in the morning when one party came into a very destroyed house the next day and the other party had to fix it. He didn't say two words to the other three people in his living room, merely walked back up the stairs.

"Will he bother me until the morning?" yet again, her words were out before the door even shut. Gaara didn't answer her at first, taking time in locking the door and setting some sand in the hinges to be sure no one tried to push their way in without him knowing. He was a light sleeper, but he liked to have some warning as well.

"No. Naruto knows when to back off from me," as he expected, she was still sitting on the edge of his bed. He crossed over to her and stood before her until she sighed and moved to her side of the bed. She waited for him to lay down and find himself comfortable and pulled herself against his body, laying her head on his chest. His arm automatically curled around her form, resting on her waist. He supposed it was habitual now, this was how they always laid down to sleep.

"Are you tired?" she asked softly, already well on her way to sleep. He pulled his book from the nightstand, shaking his head before opening it.

"I'll go to sleep soon. Just get some rest." He knew she would fall asleep on her own, but he knew she was also worried that their friend would burst into the room looking for her. She sighed and closed her eyes, listening to Gaara's rhythmic heartbeat and the turning of the page every now and then. He felt her slowly drift to sleep, much more slowly than he would have thought she'd have.

* * *

Sakura awoke with a start, her head against Gaara's chest at the sound of banging. He was cradling her head, his arm wound tightly around her waist as he shot a death glare at the door. Of course Naruto would be up at the crack of dawn no matter how late he'd gone to sleep the night before. Gaara wanted to sigh and knock some sense into the idiot. Sakura let out a soft sound of disapproval and Gaara looked down at her, pulling her closer to him.

"Why does he have to be a loud idiot at seven in the morning?" she grumbled, still tired and not very happy at being woken up. Gaara only sighed, deciding to pry himself from Sakura and go deal with Naruto. He didn't know what had possessed him that he would cradle the woman to his chest, trying to block the intrusive noise from reaching her, but he went with it and she hadn't woken for the first few moments.

"I'll deal with him," he said darkly. Gaara didn't take well to being woken in such a way either. Sakura sighed and laid her head back down on the pillow, pulling the blankets up around her. It was quite chilly in Suna during the night and she found herself almost on top of Gaara every morning, seeking his warmth. To be fair, Gaara would have wrapped both his arms around her and pulled her snugly against his body during the night as well. "What." Gaara swung the door open to find Naruto mid-bang. The idiot's mouth fell open at the sight of Sakura on the bed and Gaara wanted to hit himself for not remembering to block his sight.

"Are you _sleeping_ with Sakura?!" the intention was clear in Naruto's voice at what he thought he was doing. Sakura was slowly becoming angry. She didn't like Naruto's tone and it wasn't like they were actually having sex.

"No."

"Then what is she doing in your bed?!" he was angry, they both knew that, but Sakura couldn't find why. If she was, in fact, sleeping with Gaara, then he had no right to butt in and try to control the situation like a father would. She had one of those in her life and as an adult, she didn't exactly need one anymore.

"You idiot," Sakura threw the blankets off of herself, momentarily chilled by the cool morning air drifting through the window before she stalked up to Naruto, hitting him over the head. Gaara could tell she was completely pissed, even without the help of his sand. "It doesn't matter what we're doing in here. If I wanted to fuck Gaara, I can do just that. You aren't my father, so don't act like it's a _huge _surprise I actually have sex!" Sakura glowered at Naruto, a dangerous glint in her eyes. It made it funnier that she was still wearing Gaara's clothes, completely dwarfed by them.

"But Sakura—"

"'But' nothing. It's rude to wake someone up at the crack of dawn. We aren't all you, Naruto. Now go find something to do. I'm going back to sleep," Sakura shot another glare at him and stalked back to the bed, sliding back under the warm blankets. Naruto looked sheepish as he exited the room, not even sparing a glance at Gaara.

"How do we get more of that to come out?" Gaara lightly joked as he got back into bed at Sakura's glare. She immediately pushed her body back into his and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his chest. She seemed to find comfort there and he didn't mind it so much anymore. Before he went to sleep every night he would pull her close and allow her soft breathing to put him to sleep. He didn't know how he would get to sleep without her beside him now.

"Keep me perpetually angry?" she said, a glint of amusement in her eyes. Gaara scoffed. He didn't want to deal with an angry Sakura no more than the next person. "Yeah, I thought so," she settled herself more comfortably against him and pulled the blankets over her shoulder. Gaara didn't mind the chill, but he didn't mind the warmth they shared either.

"Did you want to go to the market after it warms up?" he asked, staring at the ceiling.

"I thought we were going to," she said softly, still slightly sleepy. She was waking up, though. Her tiredness had returned when she'd climbed back into bed, but there wasn't any way she was going back to sleep now. She was still feeling anger at the idiot. Gaara shifted underneath her and pulled her on top of him. She made a soft sound at being moved, though found herself more comfortable. She rested her head on his chest.

"Would you really have sex with me?"

"What?"

"Just wondering." He'd thought it funny after the fact and the look of utter bewilderment on Sakura's face made it completely priceless. He figured she hadn't been expecting that to come from his mouth.

"Well, um, I guess I would," she blushed at being caught in her own words. She hadn't really though about what she'd been saying before, she was far too angry for that, but she had to admit that Gaara wasn't bad looking at all. She just never felt the need arise over the past couple weeks.

"Naruto's staying here for a couple more nights," Gaara commented.

"May as well keep him up?" Sakura laughed. She knew they didn't mean anything by the way they were speaking to each other now, but it was certainly fun to think of ways to keep the idiot up so he wouldn't break down the door at the break of dawn again.

"I would think so," until now Gaara hadn't even thought of kissing Sakura. He'd been first too annoyed that he had to take care of an emotionally damaged woman and then he found himself enjoying her company, but kissing her was still something he didn't know how to feel about. Her comment earlier had certainly startled him, but he supposed she would be one of the first people he'd want to have sex with if the need ever arose. She certainly wasn't ugly. His fingertips drifted over her back, rubbing. He heard a squeak and felt her shiver.

"What?"

"Your hands are cold."

"Sounds like a personal problem," he still rubbed her lower back, trying to soothe the rest of her anger out of her. On the rare occasion she had a nightmare as he held her she would wake up like this, on his chest and his hands running over her back. He found it soothed her and she would relax against him. It was a nice way for them to lay.

"Yeah, it's your problem and you're making it personal," she sassed back at him. He only smirked at her. She sighed and let her head drop to his chest, enjoying his touch even if he was freezing. She didn't know how to explain their relationship, friendship, and didn't care to try. She didn't worry over it and just let him comfort her and soothe her in the ways he knew how and in the ways he was learning.

"Would you like to spar today?"

"Only if Naruto doesn't insist on tagging along," she quipped. She didn't need to listen to him yelling about how rough Gaara was being on her or bits of advice she didn't really need. She didn't need to replenish her chakra stores or anything, simply build up the muscle and resistance she'd lost from her eating habits and overworking herself.

"I'm sure I can make him stay like a good boy," Gaara said, his hands stilling. He looked over to the clock. "It's almost eight now, if you'd like to go to the market now." They could get some ingredients to make breakfast, since he was sure that Naruto had eaten most, if not all, of the things they had gotten the day before. That's how it always was when Naruto came to stay for a couple days.

"Sure. Get that out of the way before Naruto tries to 'wake' us up," she said, pulling herself off of him. She went to the dresser, Gaara having insisted that she unpack her clothes so she didn't have to go through her pack every morning, and chose some civilian clothes she rather liked. She turned around to go to the bathroom when she was met with Gaara's chest.

"Don't go back with them, if they ask you too," he said after several moments of looking at her stunned face. "You aren't ready," he didn't know what made him say it. He simply couldn't stand the thought of Sakura going back so soon. She still had a job to complete here as well and as soon as she saw herself fit, she'd go to work.

"I still have a mission here you know," so she hadn't forgotten. That was good at least. "But I agree. I'm not ready to go home. I came here to get away from it all and I think that means for more than a month," she ended her words softly and he nodded. However far she had come would disintegrate the moment she heard the rumors spreading of how weak she was again. That was something he didn't want to see. He'd seen her torn down and helped her build herself back up. She might not be able to do it again. "Does it make it seem like I'm running from my problems?" she asked just as quietly.

"You came here looking to run away. I believe I made you change your views. You're no longer running away. What would you have done? Wasted away and died or beat everyone that looked at you the wrong way?" Gaara was speaking sense, she knew, and she sighed, pushing her way to the bathroom. He watched the door close before going to his closet and pulling out one of his many, many shinobi outfits. She would fight him in her civilian clothes, he knew, mostly because they were only working on the physical side of fighting and they wouldn't get too ruined. Especially since sand was easy to wash out.

Sakura came out of the bathroom and Gaara had to admit that he stared. She was wearing hip-hugging capri pants and, though he would have scoffed at anyone else that wore them, she was doing herself a justice. She had a simple tank top and sandals that quite looked like Tsunade's on her feet. He had to remind himself to look away from her.

Sakura walked over to him, pulling her hair into a small messy bun at the back of her head. If there was anything she hated it was hair on her neck. She had to remember to get a haircut soon or she'd chop it off herself with a kunai.

"Ready?" he asked, taking a step towards her. She only nodded and let him wrap an arm around her, pulling her to his chest, and whisking her away to the market. She immediately detached herself from him, though held his hand. He supposed he didn't mind. She seemed to want to always touch him, as though reassuring herself that he was there and he couldn't help but give into her, much like any other time she initiated contact.

"Where to first?" she asked him, standing precariously close to him. He'd never notice how close she would stand to him. He looked down at her and felt himself give her a slight smile.

"Lead the way," he said. She seemed much more comfortable than yesterday and he accredited it to the fact that no one had said anything degrading to her and she'd seemed to be feeling better after she'd sparred with him. He didn't mind. If she was feeling better it was another step towards being able to go home. Home. He didn't like that word. Something inside him just made him lash out at that word. He didn't want her to go.

"Well how much do you think Naruto ate?" she asked, stopping to look back at him. She didn't seem to notice that people passing them by were giving them strange looks. He knew they were only staring because no one had seen the Kazekage act familiar with anyone. They also got quite a few glares, though mostly aimed at Sakura; the jealous girls that wanted to be latched onto his hand and speaking with him in such a way.

"All of it," he deadpanned, his eyes focused on her. He didn't want her to notice all the looks they were getting and he supposed that if they didn't say anything bad about her they really didn't have anything to worry about. Sakura seemed to think for a moment before she turned and pulled him off to the fruit stand they'd visited the day before.

She still wouldn't talk to the vendor. He'd found that she shied away from him the moment she made eye contact, hiding behind Gaara. He looked at her from the corner of his eye and she avoided his gaze, choosing to flush and look away. She seemed to still be shy of other people and he figured there had to be a flip-side to her attitude. She seemed happy enough about going out but talking to someone that wasn't him was going to take some time. As long as she came out without his goading, he supposed it was a step in the right direction.

"Same as yesterday," he said, trying to pull Sakura out from behind him. She didn't come easily and he soon wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her up. She squeaked, but couldn't get out of his iron grip. The vendor didn't notice, too busy at pulling things out from under the counter and such. Sakura's eyes were angry as she looked up at him. "You're not allowed to hide."

"That's not nice."

"Gain more confidence and talk to them how you talk to me." Sakura fell silent at that. She looked down and flushed, not knowing that he was trying to make her more comfortable with her surroundings by pulling her out from her hiding place. She didn't particularly like this display of trying to make her come out of her shell, but she couldn't really blame him. "Come," he guided her by the waist into the bookstore. "Here," he gave her several bills, "Get what you want, I'll be back shortly." With that, he left.

Sakura looked around the little shop, not knowing where to start. She felt uncomfortable, almost naked, without Gaara's constant presence beside her. She looked down at her wrist, almost making sure that the sand was still there. Gaara would come if she was too frightened or if she felt threatened. She only sighed and made her way around the cramped aisles, looking for something to suit her fancy.

When she finally found at least ten more books she was interested in, and making sure that she had enough money to buy them all, she slowly advanced to the register, the salesperson watching her with a look that said she didn't find Sakura very trustworthy. Sakura could agree. She felt like a cornered animal, almost ready to bolt. Silently, she handed the books over to be rung up.

"These are some of my favorites," the girl tried to smile at Sakura, who attempted one back, though it seemed to come out as much more of a grimace. Sakura sighed.

"I just...needed something new to read," she said softly, avoiding eye contact.

"I saw the Kazekage in here a few weeks ago buying a lot of books of the same genre, were they for you?" Sakura wasn't surprised at the girl's question. She had probably seen them enter the shop together. Sakura finally managed to make eye contact with the girl, though her brown eyes were friendly and not at all haughty.

"Yes. I've been staying with him and don't like television much," Sakura admitted, watching her put the books into a bag. She handed her the bills Gaara had given her, too nervous to really try and make conversation. It seemed so easy a few months ago and with the recent changes in her attitude and trying to make herself better, it wasn't coming back as easily as she wanted it to.

"Don't worry, I don't either. If you'd ever like someone to talk books with, I'm always here," the girl smiled at her again and Sakura managed her vague smile back. The girl was making her feel a little more at ease in coming alone. More like ditched more than anything else, but Sakura wasn't going to differentiate at that moment.

"I'd like that," she finally managed to get out. The girl tried to give her the change but Sakura shook her head, "keep it." She knew Gaara tipped out his villagers generously, even if the job they performed didn't see it as customary.

"Oh, thanks," she smiled again.

"What's your name?"

"Amaya," she didn't say anything about the other customers in line, though they only numbered two and Sakura figured the girl did this often. Her customers must have been regulars because they didn't seem to mind, either already reading what they had chosen, or counting out the money they'd need.

"If you'd like, you should come by the Kazekage's house for dinner sometime. Don't mind Gaara, just ask for me," Sakura didn't mention that she rarely answered the door and if she did, she usually pounced on the caller and held a kunai to their throat, demanding who they were and what they wanted. Gaara usually had to pry her off of the visitor.

"Oh, okay, that should be fun," she smiled. Sakura offered her a soft goodbye on her way to the door, seeing Gaara calmly wait for her. He took her bag and watched her calmly before saying word.

"Amaya is nice. I thought if I left you alone with her you might be able to talk," he said, "normally," he seemed to add it as an extra thought. Since she seemed to have an aversion to men because Naruto seemed to be an overbearing, protective father-like person in her life, he thought maybe she could strike up a conversation with a civilian female. It seemed to have worked.

"I don't like that you pushed me into it, but you were right." Gaara nodded and stepped towards her. She clung to his shirt, but he didn't move to transport them. He set his bags down and reached into his pocket, searching for something.

"Here. I saw it and I thought of you. I thought you should replace that necklace and let the past go," his words weren't hard, but there was a certain softness to his monotonous tone as he pulled out a necklace. He put it into her hands to scrutinize as he reached behind her and unclasped the engagement ring around her neck.

"I don't want to," she said softly, almost inaudibly, as she stared at the necklace he'd gotten for her. It was a silver chain and from it hung a cherry blossom pendant, no doubt set with precious stones. She looked up at Gaara, almost too lost for words as he pocketed her engagement ring. She stared him, terror in her eyes as she watched him take the one last thing she had of Neji save for her memories.

"You have to. To move on, it is customary," his voice was a hushed whisper as he pulled the necklace from her hands and clasped it around her neck. It didn't hide underneath her clothes like the other one did, like she was trying her best to hide it from the world that she was still clinging onto a memory.

"Maybe I don't want to move on," she said softly, her fingertips resting on the pendant as she stared with unseeing eyes into his chest. Her words seemed to have broken something in him and he sighed, pulling her fingers away from the necklace.

"Life moves on, Sakura, you need to as well," he said, pulling her against him. She flushed as she realized he was giving her a hug. Her arms slowly rose to wrap around his waist and she pressed her face into his chest. She didn't realize they were making a public scene, though Gaara still managed to keep his attention on several things at once, and he brought them back to his home while he still had her locked in his embrace. As she pulled away from him, he stopped her from going to far and looked desperately into her eyes, willing for her to listen to him for a moment. "Don't hold onto the past, Sakura, it only makes you hate the world. Please," he never thought he'd let that word fall from his lips and he never thought he'd say anything in such a begging tone before. He just wanted her to listen.

"Gaara, I—"

"Gaara?! Is she awake yet?!" Naruto was banging on the door again. Sakura looked away from Gaara as he glared at the door, anger arising ferociously and quickly at being interrupted in their moment. If this is what he had to deal with every time someone came to visit him, he was going to become a hermit.

"Go away Naruto," Gaara said gruffly, keeping Sakura caged in his arms. She seemed to be upset, but he couldn't tell. He sighed and led her to the balcony, hoping Nara would show up sooner or later and knock Naruto upside the head for waking the lazy man up. Gaara didn't know what to do once they were out on the balcony. She was no longer caged in his arms and she leaned against the railing, looking down at the streets below, refusing to meet his gaze. "What were you going to say?" Gaara asked, moving to stand next to her in much the same way, mirroring her pose.

"I don't think the villagers will ever let it go," she said softly, staring out at the empty vastness she could barely see over the top of Suna's walls. Gaara's house was the tallest in the village, a sort of guard tower that he could always see and watch out of. "When I came back and made my own recovery, teams wouldn't want me because of that failed mission and they wouldn't let me heal them when they came into the hospital either. Everyone except Naruto and Ino abandoned me. Some clan thing I suppose."

"Powerful clans stick together in their decisions," Gaara nodded, knowing all too well of what clan groups could do to a government. If he was any lesser man he was sure that a clans' group decision would have overpowered him. He didn't give into their pressure and such, but that didn't help if they chose to openly ignore a villager.

"It was like I didn't even belong there anymore. All I did at the hospital was paperwork because all the other nurses and doctors were too busy trying to tend to all the patients I would regularly see. Kakashi was still with me. The trust that comes from a team isn't so easily spent," she seemed to quote the last line, but he couldn't be sure. "None of the Hyuugas would talk to me. Naruto said he shouldn't even be trying to talk to me because Hinata's his fiance." Naruto wasn't one to go along with clan decisions either, though.

"You ran away to try and feel like you belonged?" Gaara seemed to question. He couldn't quite understand it. They'd alienated her, but it couldn't be much better in Suna. Suna didn't like outsiders and barely liked Konoha ninja although they were in close alliance with each other. Sakura sighed.

"At least your people won't alienate me. They won't try to make me belong either. It was a safe middle ground," she finished softly, staring at the sand below her. The place was peaceful. People didn't really do much under the sun, mostly relaxed if they were under it. Most things, like school and such, were held in the evenings, when it was cooler and easier to move about without a risk of sunstroke. Sakura could understand it.

"You'll always have a place here," he gestured to his home, knowing it probably meant more to her than anything else. "I do not believe you are weak and I do not doubt your abilities. What happened was purely bad luck. It happens."

"But it shouldn't have happened!" Sakura was crying now. She turned to him and he openly allowed her to throw herself against him. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly to his body, offering her comfort no longer foreign to him. "I should have been able to heal him—or something!" she cried into his chest and he sighed. She shouldn't be beating herself up about this still.

"Sakura," he didn't want to have to do this. "You are a ninja. People die on the battlefield. I could die. Kankorou almost died if it hadn't been for you. Some ninja have special abilities. Such as canceling out medical jutsu so you are unable to heal your comrades. You must accept it and move on," this is what he'd been trying to communicate to her for weeks now, but it seemed the only way she would get it is if he stated it bluntly. "You are an unbelievable medical ninja. I wouldn't leave here without you if I had you."

"Really?" she whispered. His comforting words weren't something she was used to. He usually held her silently until her tears stopped and she slumped into an exhausted sleep. She looked up at him, searching his eyes for something that he hoped she would find.

"I was surprised yesterday. You are still very strong although you do not look it. Do not let yourself be affected by what people say. They are not your defining characteristics," never, in a million years, would Gaara imagine himself in this position, staring down at a teary-eyed woman who was terrified of being rejected by him, terrified that he would agree with her village and admit that she was weak. She was the opposite, to him. She could still defend herself against him and he was not an easy match.

"Then what are my defining characteristics?" she said sullenly, breaking eye contact again.

"What you truly believe. Who can get to Suna in two days? Not even Naruto can do that unless he travels all night. Who could heal Kankorou? None of my medical shinobi could even begin to try before you showed up. Do not sell yourself short on one failed mission where there was nothing else you could do," he let it all out. He let out everything that she'd been doubting herself on. She'd never heard him speak this much before and she realized it was because he'd actually come to care for her on some level throughout the past few weeks. Especially if the necklace he'd given her had anything to say about it.

"Gaara?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you," she looked up at him and he caught himself staring at her. Her eyes were still glassy with shed tears and she wasn't an ugly crier at all. Her eyes were glowing at him and her smile, that damn smile, was shining like the sun. It wasn't her normal, vague smile, and he was astounded that he was the one she was truly smiling at now. He couldn't seem to help himself as he pushed a strand of hair away from her eyes and he couldn't seem to help himself as his fingertips tilted her chin as he leaned forward to press his lips against hers.

He didn't know what had possessed him to do it, but he certainly didn't regret it. Her mouth was soft, pliant underneath his, and she was pressed just so to his body that it made it that much better. He was slightly surprised as she began to kiss back, but he covered it quickly and still kissed her gently. He couldn't lie, this was the first real kiss he'd had. There was no doubt Gaara wasn't a virgin, but he'd made no move to kiss or even look at the girls he'd been with.

All too soon, he felt her pull back slightly and he did as well. He felt a strange sense of warmth in his chest as he stared at her, her cheeks now flushed for a different reason. She stared up at him, completely speechless before she moved forward again, hesitation evident in her movements. He moved the last half inch forwards and kissed her again.

"The hell?!" their quiet moment was once again interrupted by the idiot. Gaara didn't pull away from her. She made no move to, either. They had the same mannerisms in this instance. If Naruto had to come bursting through the glass door to the balcony, then he could wait until they were done. He finally pulled away from her, passing one last glance over her blushing face and slightly dazed bright eyes before looking over to Naruto with an annoyed glare.

"Yes?" by Gaara's tone he was clearly annoyed that he'd been interrupted. Sakura made no move to pull away from him and a part of his mind wondered why she didn't jump away from him the moment they'd been found out. Perhaps she was more stubborn than she let on and would just let Naruto think what he wanted. Or maybe she was trying to prove a point from earlier when Naruto had accused them of sleeping together.

"I just want to talk to Sakura and I come out here to find that you're—you're taking advantage of her!" Naruto tightened his hands into fists, though Gaara made no move to step into a defensive crouch. He rolled his eyes at the idiot.

"Do you see her moving away from me or punching me?" he asked. Not that Sakura would ever be able to land a hit on him with his sand, he had to physically withhold himself from using it the day before, but she wasn't one to just sit back and let herself be raped. "Sakura's a big girl. If she didn't want it, she knows she can get herself out."

"You don't need to speak for her, Gaara."

"Yes, I do. Since you've been here, all you've done is anger her or frighten her," Gaara turned slightly to hide Sakura's face now as she hid in his chest. She was trying her best not to get angry and blow off on the idiot again, but it didn't really seem to be working. She was slightly amused at Gaara's words to her friend, but Naruto's words were still piercing her and making her angry.

"I never thought you, of all people, would be defending her, much less kissing her," Naruto said, flopping down on a chair, his anger forgotten as he rifled through a bag and began to eat an apple. He watched the two of them with a suspicious air, Sakura still hiding against Gaara, afraid to even look at Naruto. Gaara didn't mind. He could glare enough for both of them. All Naruto seemed to want to do was break Gaara's doors down and rant about how he was deflowering Sakura.

"Is this why you came here? To rebound from Neji?" Sakura tensed and anger infiltrated the physic link. She was completely and utterly angry.

"No," her voice was small, and he thought it weird. Gaara thought she would have exploded, but he looked closer and saw that she was crying again, angry tears. "I came here to run away from home. Because all everyone did was stare at me and whisper that I was weak and that I couldn't do anything right. I ran away," she turned away from Gaara, stunning both himself and Naruto with the tangent anger that was rolling off her, "because no one wanted me on their team, not even _you _Naruto. Don't come here and accuse Gaara of taking advantage of me and don't come here accusing me of using Gaara as rebound."

"In fact that was the first time I kissed her," Gaara finally managed to get a word in between Sakura's angry rant. He stepped forwards and pushed his hand into hers, hoping to calm her down, but she only squeezed it tightly and let it go.

"At least here, I'm not an alienated freak!" Sakura stormed through the broken glass of the door of the balcony and he watched as a flurry of sakura petals rained on his floor as she transported somewhere. He could feel she was still within the village, which was good enough for him. At least she wasn't running away again.

_ "_I hope you're paying to get that door fixed," Gaara said calmly as he too began to find his way back inside, planning on giving Sakura some time to cool off. He needed to put the food away anyways and hope Naruto didn't eat it all before he had a chance to make dinner.

"Did she really mean all that?" Naruto's voice stopped him before he carefully stepped over the broken glass and back into his home. He cast a glance to the blonde and sighed, not wanting to comfort another soul for the rest of his life. Sakura was already too much work and he wasn't keen on talking to someone who so thoroughly upset her.

"Yes." The answer was that simple.

"I thought she needed time, or something. Hinata said she wasn't up to going on my team with me or even talking to me, so I just left her alone. I tried in the beginning, but she just threw her ramen at me and started crying. She left and I didn't run after her."

"Hyuuga was one of them that alienated her, Naruto. The only people she had were you, Ino, Kakashi, and Tsunade. No one allowed her on their teams and no one allowed her to heal them. She's better off here where no one will judge her." Gaara made to leave, but Naruto's voice stopped him.

"I didn't want her to come here, you know. I wanted her to stay, where her friends were. She didn't listen," Naruto had long since stopped eating the apple and he stared down at the ground as he said this, not knowing what to think about Sakura anymore. "I still want her to come home, you know."

"She isn't ready to. I don't think, unless your villagers openly apologize and ask her to come back, that she'll ever be ready to. That mission destroyed her. She doesn't talk to anyone save for me. I had to force her to talk to a salesperson today. She hasn't started working with my medics because I wouldn't let her leave this house for two weeks. Being in that village was killing her and you would have had to deal with a dead woman instead of one that found solace here," Gaara knew that this wasn't what Naruto wanted to hear, but he wasn't going to change his words. The truth hurt sometimes.

"There's a gala next month, isn't there?"

"Yes," he didn't understand the change in subject at all.

"Will Sakura be there?"

"Yes," he left out the fact that he would be escorting Sakura, he didn't need another reason for Naruto to break down their door in the middle of the night. He didn't see the need anyways, he would find out in another month or so.

"I'll talk to Tsunade and make the village see their wrong," Naruto's jaw was set in determination as he stood, picking up the forgotten apple and taking another bite out of it. "I didn't actually know that everyone was doing that to her. I just wanted to give her time to heal, but she just seemed to get worse and worse as the days went by."

"That's because you are incredibly thick-skulled," Gaara deadpanned, picking up his bags again and heading through the broken door. "I expect that door to be fixed when I get home, Naruto," he called. "And don't eat all the food or you don't get dinner tonight," he added as an afterthought.

After putting away all the food, Gaara locked onto the sand he'd left with Sakura and transported to her location. He found her at the training ground they'd used the previous day, throwing kunai at wooden dummies. Watching her for a moment, he decided to test her reflexes. She threw the kunai and he blocked it with a wall of sand, flinging them back at her. She dodged gracefully, even throwing one his way. He blocked it and offered it to her.

"Still angry?" he asked, watching her take it.

"A little," she sighed and put the weapon into her pouch. She sighed again. Gaara watched her for a few long moments, wondering if she would say anything else.

"I believe Naruto is going to apologize to you," Gaara finally said, watching her face attentively for her reaction. She seemed to relax slightly, slumping to the ground and sitting with her legs crossed. Gaara sat opposite her. He knew she wasn't going to say anything to him right now and just focused on meditating with her. If it calmed her down without throwing kunai at him it was fine by him.

"Why do you think he's going to apologize?" the sun had gone down by this point and Gaara opened his eyes to see her illuminated by moonlight, her mood relaxed. He supposed it was the hours of meditating they'd done. He simply waited for her to calm her mood and talk to him again. He didn't know who taught it to her, but he didn't mind it. It was better than fighting out her emotions anyways.

"I made him see the error in his ways."

"What did you say to him?" her tone wasn't accusatory, merely curious. Not many people could get through Naruto's thick head.

"He asked if you were ready to come home. I told him you probably never would be unless people started treating you the way you had been before that mission and if they publicly apologized."

"Even then..." she trailed off. "Even then I might not. They'll always think that...that I'm weak. I might just become a rogue and wander. I don't think I'd cause trouble or anything, but I don't think I'd ever want to go back there, not after how they hurt me like that."

"I told you that you always have a place here," Gaara said, his eyes flashing. He didn't want her to become a rogue nin. If she did, then all nations would be out searching for her. Konoha would be searching for her so they might bring her home and the other nations, save for Suna, would search for her so they could bring a powerful shinobi down and traumatize her home with it. "It still stands and always will. Perhaps I can send you out on missions with Temari and Kankorou soon."

"Really?" Sakura asked, her eyes lighting up. Gaara wanted to laugh.

"First you have to talk to them and make sure it's alright, Sakura. I won't do that for you. And I have to get permission from Tsunade." He couldn't do anything without permission from her leader, as she was still a Konoha ninja and he wasn't given permission to do with her what he will. "I'll send a letter with Naruto."

"Okay," Sakura said, staring at the sand. She pushed her hands into it and watched it fall through her fingers. "I think I might want to go home one day, but not until I completely get over this whole thing." She subconsciously reached up to touch her engagement ring, floundering when she didn't find it, touching the cherry blossom pendant instead. She blinked, realizing who gave it to her.

"I think we should go make dinner. My siblings will probably be over," Gaara said, rising from his position and brushing himself off, Sakura doing the same. She nodded and took a step towards him. He pulled her against him and transported them to their room. He glanced over at the balcony and saw, with a smirk, that Naruto had fixed it. Good.

Sakura bounded down the stairs and came face to face with Shikamaru, Naruto, and Gaara's siblings. "Temari," she said, crossing over to her and sitting on the couch. Temari turned to her, smiling. She had never given up on Sakura, even before Gaara had explained what was going on with her. Temari wasn't one to give up on her friends so easily.

"What's up?" Temari's voice was far more cheery than Sakura's. Sakura was still somewhat reserved around her, but Temari had seen that she'd opened up over the past couple of weeks, talking to Gaara and even sitting with her and Kankorou to watch a movie. Sometimes she would say something in a tone that was less than savory, but Temari didn't hold it against her. Years of dealing with Gaara helped with that. Mostly she spoke softly, reserved, like Hinata Hyuuga did, but she caught glimpses of her old self showing through, especially when she became angry.

"Gaara says that if he gets permission from Tsunade, he could send me on missions with you. I have to ask you for permission first though," her voice was careful, testing the ground. Temari was completely caught off guard and she whirled her head around to stare at Gaara, only to get a look of '_please_,' from him. Though Temari didn't mind either way, she had never heard of Gaara using Konoha ninja as one of their own. Sakura had to be a special case though, especially if he was getting attached to her as he seemed to be over the past week and a half or so.

"That's alright with me, how about you Kankorou?" Since Kankorou was the other person on her team, the only other person, she wanted to see if he found the new addition satisfactory. Kankorou looked over to Sakura's face and broke into a smile.

"Who else will I allow to heal me?" he asked. Sakura smiled. He was stunned. It wasn't a half-smile or a vague smile, something she'd been playing favorites with for about a week now. She must have been very happy and very excited to smile at him like that. Naruto merely watched in the background, seeing what Gaara meant. He hadn't seen her smile in the months leading up to her departure and she looked like she'd gained a lot of her weight back.

"Sakura," Naruto finally spoke up.

"Yeah?" Sakura stared at him, her face blank. She'd been happy talking to Temari and Kankorou, but she didn't know how to feel about Naruto and Shikamaru, who was watching her with interest, one eyebrow raised. He'd noticed the drastic change in her almost a month later as well. She seemed to be doing better to him, anyway.

"I'm sorry for earlier. I told Gaara that I'm going to try everything I can to make the villagers forgive you and stop saying those things about you," Naruto looked sheepish, scratching the back of his head and giving her a nervous smile. Shikamaru watched him now, wondering. He'd left Sakura alone because he thought she needed space. She didn't seem to want to be bothered. The one time he'd tried to get her to act as medic on one of his teams which included Hinata and Kiba, they had both said not to bother her and 'just let it go.'

"Sakura," Shikamaru said, his interest outweighing his silence. "Why did you leave Konoha?"

Sakura looked down and away. "People weren't talking to her or letting her heal them or even letting her act as medic on their teams," Naruto explained quickly. Naruto had been as confused as Shikamaru had. The Nara clan didn't partake in the normal politics of clans and such. They were simply too lazy. They were more the Switzerland of the Konoha clans.

"Ah. Inuzuka and Hyuuga told me that you weren't feeling up to missions when I tried to enlist you as medic on our teams." There had been several times, actually. Mostly when the Hyuuga had been on his team. Shikamaru was regularly switched around as he was a natural leader and incredible strategist, though he didn't care much about being captain. Gaara moved past them to the kitchen, leaving them to their social time.

"So it's all the clans' faults?" Sakura's mouth fell open and she looked about to cry. Temari bit her lip and threw a look over at Gaara. Gaara glared and motioned for her to take over his cooking and he'd go and sit beside her. Within a moment, their position was changed, Gaara pulling her against his side.

"Sakura," Shikamaru started, "It's common for the clans within villages to have feuds with each other and against certain villagers. It's simply the clan heads or heirs acting like assholes and asserting their power and dominance over civilians and ninja that are not clan-based." Shikamaru watched her intently and she didn't seem about to cry anymore, though she didn't move from Gaara's side. "However, I agree with Naruto. If we get enough supporters for you and Tsunade-sama backs us, then we shouldn't have a problem making them regret running you out of the village," and those were the exact words Shikamaru was going to use. He was going to guilt the hell out of the clan heads.

"Thank you," Sakura finally said. Shikamaru only nodded, his head still reeling from the injustice served to the poor woman. He was already forming a strategy in his head and he probably wouldn't stop until he faced Tsunade.

"Ah, Naruto, would you mind giving this to Tsunade?" Gaara handed him a sheet of paper and Naruto read it over quickly before nodding and handing to Shikamaru to read, who skimmed over it quickly. It was Gaara asking permission to send Sakura on missions. Shikamaru pocketed the note although Naruto scowled at him.

"We both know you'd lose it."

"Fine."

There was a knock at the door.

Sakura instantly tensed, her narrowed eyes watching the door silently. Gaara nodded to Kankorou and his brother got up to answer it. Gaara had explained to him why Sakura was no longer allowed to answer the door. The first time she did there was a rumor around the entire village that Gaara had a bodyguard and it was a female. The fact it was a female spread like wildfire and that was why Gaara didn't care that Sakura latched onto his hand now. There were already rumors now, it didn't matter if there were more.

"Hello?"

"Hey, is, um, is Sakura here?" Sakura perked up at her name and she watched the door with even more concentration. Gaara wanted to chuckle. He knew who it was.

"Yeah, come on in," Kankorou flashed a wide smile and opened the door for the young woman to step through. Her eyes lit up when she saw Sakura and Sakura was simply caught in disbelief. She didn't think the girl would have actually taken her up on the offer, since Sakura had only met her this morning. Sakura stumbled upwards and held her hand out to the girl in greeting, her mind still trying to catch up to her.

"Hi, Amaya," that was her name. Sakura blinked and then smiled her vague smile. She'd only been able the true smile around those she was most comfortable with. It was going to take a while before she could talk to acquaintances like she used to.

"Hey, Sakura," the girl didn't seem perturbed by the vague smile. She smiled openly in return and shook Sakura's hand. "I thought I'd take you up on the offer of dinner. I didn't really care to make anything tonight to be honest," she giggled and Sakura thought her sweet. The girl was really just a friendly face and Sakura felt glad that Gaara had pushed her into meeting the nice girl.

"These are friends from my home village," Sakura said, pointing to the two Shinobi lazing on one of Gaara's couches. "The blonde one is Naruto and the other is Shikamaru," she pointed to each of them. "This is Amaya. She runs the bookstore." Amaya smiled and greeted them both. Shikamaru only nodded, but Naruto had a huge smile on his face as he jumped up and bounded forward to hug the poor girl.

"I'm so happy that Sakura's making friends!" He swayed back and forth, pulling the girl with him. He didn't know how it came to be, that the cold Sakura that left them wasn't so cold anymore and had managed to speak to someone without inadvertently offending them, but he was glad she was doing better and he was more than hellbent on making Konoha her home again.

"Is he always like this?" the girl whispered to Sakura. Sakura sighed and nodded, rubbing at her temples. She sat down next to Gaara and patted the area next to her, inviting Amaya to sit. She sat with her and cast a cursory glance around them. "Have you started the books you bought this morning or no?" she asked as way of conversation. The poor girl was feeling quite uncomfortable in the presence of so many people, but she was determined to make Sakura her friend. There was something in her eyes that she found heartbreaking and she wanted to help fix it.

"I haven't had time, dealing with that one," so far Sakura was coming off as more annoyed with everything than anything else. Amaya didn't mind the vague smiles or the almost cold tone she used to talk with, Sakura's mannerisms told her that she was shy of people and didn't quite know how to interact with him. Whether it was a new development, or just how her life was lived, the girl didn't know, but she didn't care either.

"I get it, my little brother was always a handful when I lived at home. My father enrolled him in ninja studies because he always had too much energy." Gaara looked over to her at this, his eyes calculating.

"What's his name?"

"U-um, Jouji," she said, blushing. She hadn't expected Gaara to address her, though he was more than cordial in her shop, always buying many books and always giving her more than enough, telling her to keep the change. She was thankful to her Kazekage, it helped pay the bills.

"Excellent ninja. I believe he has made it into Anbu. Particularly rare for a civilian ninja, but impressive," Gaara didn't give out praise lightly, but he now stored that information in the back of his mind. If anything ever happened to Amaya, Gaara would be the first to look for her. He wouldn't want one of his ninja's siblings to be used against the village. He was sure he'd be outraged if Temari or Kankorou were captured, and they could actually defend themselves.

"I'll have to tell him you said that!" Amaya smiled brightly and beamed at him. Gaara only nodded, giving her a slight smile in return. He reached over to the end table and pulled something out from a drawer. "Here," he gave it to the girl. He'd given it to her out of mere impulse, but he didn't think Sakura would mind having her there.

"Wow, the Gala?!" Amaya stared at it, completely awe-struck. She wasn't from an important family and no one would have escorted her, so she would have just sat back and watched the festivities like most of Suna, though there was sure to be a festival in the streets before the main events. She couldn't believe the Kazekage, of all people, gave her an invitation. "B-but why?" she was stumbling over her words now, not knowing quite what to say. She knew her leader was generous, but she never knew he'd do something like this to a complete stranger. Well, almost complete stranger.

"I believe Sakura would like you to be there, since she is going," that was the reason he was going with. If there was at least one person there, excluding him and his siblings, that she was comfortable with, he wouldn't worry about her as much. She could cling to Amaya if Gaara was held up somewhere else.

Sakura looked over at her and offered her that vague smile. "We can go get dresses together," she offered. Amaya thought it was almost halfheartedly, but she saw the look in Sakura's eyes that told her Sakura honestly would like to go with her. "I have to find something to match this," she said softly then, touching a cherry blossom pendant.

"Wow, Sakura, where'd you get that?" Temari had come out of nowhere (probably at the mention of dresses, which meant shopping), and was staring at the pendant. She didn't ask about the engagement ring that had previously been there, thinking it would set Sakura off if she asked. Sakura looked up at Temari in alarm, but slightly smiled.

"Gaara replaced my old one. He said I have to move on and so gave me this to help."

"Wow, my little brother's so sweet!" Temari grabbed Gaara and pulled him into a hug, swaying back and forth, squeezing him tightly. Gaara, however, was becoming quickly pressed for air. Temari liked to squeeze until she suffocated.

"Let. Me. Go." Temari immediately let him go, beaming at him, though Gaara gave her a death stare. He sighed and leaned back on the couch, his hand on Sakura's waist. She subconsciously leaned into him, like it was second nature to her now. He didn't mind. He was beginning to believe that her touch calmed him just as much as his did her.

"That is sweet, though," Amaya said, her eyes soft as she looked at Gaara. He certainly seemed attached to Sakura. Sakura nodded, still touching the pendant.

"What happened to your engagement ring, Sakura?" Temari wanted to hit Naruto for that. Sakura stared at him, speechless. She didn't actually know what happened to it.

"I sold it," Gaara said. Sakura looked over at him. "It held memories she shouldn't be holding on to," he looked over at her, but didn't see any anger in her eyes. There was a grateful look in her eye, as though she was thanking him for ridding her of it, as though she would have never had the courage to get rid of it herself.

"Did she get the money at least?" Naruto thought that was the least Gaara could do. Neji had saved up for a solid year just to pay for that thing and he hadn't taken low-level missions either. Gaara glared at Naruto, trying to convey he was going to give it to her, just thought it was undignified to dig in his pocket to give it to her now.

"I don't want it," Sakura said, looking at Naruto, though Gaara knew she was speaking to him. "Gaara has helped me, in more ways than one, this included. I owe him a lot and I know it doesn't make up for what he's done for me, he deserves to keep it," especially with buying her the new necklace, though she didn't even know how much it was worth.

"Oh, well okay," Naruto said, completely speechless otherwise.

"Dinner's ready guys," Temari finally, _finally_ said.

* * *

After dinner was done and Sakura was finally relaxing with Gaara, she sighed and closed the book she'd been reading. Gaara put his down as well.

"Something wrong?" he asked, watching her. She was curled against his body, their usual way to lay down, his arm draped around her waist. She looked up at him, biting her lip. He tilted his head, curiosity getting the better of him. "What?"

"Why'd you kiss me earlier?"

"Why'd you kiss me back?"

"I—um, I...don't know. I guess...because I—I wanted to?" Sakura bit her lip again, staring at him. He didn't understand what she was trying to get at, when it dawned on him. She wanted to kiss him again. Something about that utterly bewildered him. Not only had she kissed him not once, but twice, and she wanted to again.

"Sakura, if you want to kiss me again, you don't need to question my actions from earlier," he mocked annoyance with her, but from the slight smile on her lips he could see that she understood. She pulled herself up and stared at him, biting her lip again, before she slowly closed the space, her movements screaming hesitation again.

He closed the space and connected their mouths. The kiss was gentle, as before, but it wasn't chaste. He enjoyed the warm weight of her body on his and the way her hands gripped his shoulders, the way she was unsure in her movements, as though testing the ground between them. He finally pulled away from her, a slight smile on his face as well now.

"Why'd you kiss me again?" she asked, a soft giggle escaping her. Gaara paused. He hadn't heard her giggle before. It was new and it was like a breath of fresh air after camping out in a deep cave. It gave him new hope that her old self was returning.

"I wanted to," he borrowed her words. "Now go to sleep. I'm going to keep sparring with you every day until you can get to work on my medics," he said softly, though there was a certain edge to his voice and it made her smile when she realized he was being playful. Sakura thought she'd never see the day he would be playful with her.

"Fine, fine," she said, twisting so she laid on her side. Gaara mirrored her position and pulled her against his chest, locking her into place. These feelings she awoke within him were new and slightly frightening in their own way, but Gaara knew she was slightly frightened of the feelings too. She probably had thought she'd live the rest of her days alone.

"Remember," he said softly on a whim, "You always have a place here."

He heard a soft giggle and he reveled in it, hoping she would laugh more, "I know."


End file.
