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.x.
The cloud from the explosion had a distinctly mushroom look to it. Sakura grimaced as two bodies flew through the air, crashing into the ground. Every day they came to this training ground and Gaara and Naruto would beat each other to a pulp. One had the perfect defence (apparently) and the other enough stamina to rage for days. They didn't look to be stopping any time soon either.
And every day, Sakura would hover around like a mother hen, waiting and worrying about what they were doing to each other. It used to be Naruto and Sasuke back when Team 7 was still a thing but Sasuke had moved on to ANBU and was now preparing for his Uchiha wife-to-be.
Sakura still sighed heavily and wistfully remembering the day he told them in that monotone voice of his that he was getting married to some distant cousin. Naruto told him his clan was "gay and weird" for that and the two had barely spoken since.
Sasuke didn't have a sense of humour about his family and Naruto had no tact.
A loud war cry broke Sakura's thoughts and she looked back over the destroyed training field. They were still at it. The mushroom cloud turned to dust and disappeared. But a moment later, it reappeared - this time the colour of chakra.
Naruto had something to prove to the outsider who dared to say that Konoha ninja were children. Gaara had something to prove to the orange clad idiot who retorted that all sand ninja were weak compared to the leaf.
Sakura just hoped they didn't end up killing each other and causing an inter-village incident. So here she was, loyally waiting for them to finish and not be able to move anymore before heading in to heal them. She always decided who to heal first based on who was being the least rude. It was often a close call.
This had been going on for three weeks leading up to the new Chunin Exams and neither were backing down. And every time she healed him, Sakura developed a new appreciation for Gaara of the Sand. To stand toe to toe with Naruto and sometimes even outlast him was no small feet. Naruto had more power but Gaara had better control and (seemingly) more jutsu up his sleeve.
And his heavy breathing when she healed him was almost too distracting for her to concentrate on her chakra. It was lucky she had perfect control or she'd not be able to heal him. He watched her, too, when he wasn't too exhausted to. In her peripherals, Gaara's sweaty, flushed and intense face zeroed in on her calm and focused expression.
Sakura rushed forward when the two landed, a moment of hesitation sending her in Naruto's direction first. It was a quick heal but he whined the whole time, under his breath, so quietly that she doubted Gaara heard him. Then she moved to Gaara and struggled to push down her blush when his head turned in her direction and his eyes moved to her face. The first time she healed him he was confused why she bothered but she never wavered.
By now he was used to it but still flinched whenever her bare fingers brushed against his bare skin. He could get punched over and over in a fight but the gentle touch of healing hands still unsettled him, she supposed. She had no idea why.
Naruto had a smug grin on his face as he wandered over to them, not noticing how Sakura was trying so hard not to stare back at Gaara, her fingers only trembling slightly every now and then.
And Gaara couldn't stop the light groan that exited his mouth as Sakura's hands accidentally brushed his skin at the distraction.
"Don't be a baby."
Sakura gave Naruto an irritated look and he obediently shut up.
They all waited in silence but she was having trouble focusing, again. Gaara flinched again and Sakura hesitated. Her chakra flickered and she forced herself to channel it back into her hands and focus on healing the redhead.
Sakura held her hand to his bare skin and tried to focus on healing him and not how surprised she was that Gaara had a six pack. It really was unfair.
.x.
A few months passed and Sakura was beginning to think that she'd imagined that blush on Gaara's face when her fingers brushed along his skin. She hadn't seen him much during the exams because he had come to Konoha to help officiate it - they were both Jounin so allowed to. If she'd known she would start to become infatuated with him she'd have signed up for that as well.
So she sat in the audience as the genin fought to impress the judges but she wasn't watching the battles. Not really. She watched the redhead who'd been pressured into sharing the proctor duties with Naruto. She watched as they gave each other barely concealed glares - but Naruto's was more obvious; so much so that the Hokage told him to bugger off and let Gaara do it all. Which only aggravated Gaara even more.
It was entertaining to everyone.
Sakura could have sworn that Gaara looked up at her when Naruto yelled at her from the ground to remind him to pummel the redhead later. The glance was so fast she believed she imagined it. But she was surprisingly excited either way. It meant that they were going to fight, giving her the excuse to touch the redhead again. To heal him of course.
She couldn't wait.
But a few hours later when she went looking for them at the training ground to "accidentally" find them trying to kill each other, Sakura couldn't find them anywhere. She figured they went to a different training ground so made the rounds between them. Nothing.
Another few hours later she gave up and decided to listen to her stomach. It was close to sunset and she was getting hungry. She stopped suddenly, spotting the familiar blond and red heads standing outside Ichiraku Ramen. They were talking animatedly; Naruto waving his hands around and Gaara's arms crossed as he tapped his foot on the ground.
Then they made to move away from the shop and she kept watching but Gaara didn't look in her direction. Something was different.
They weren't fighting. They started laughing. And heading off toward other shops instead of fighting each other. They weren't angry. And she wasn't needed after all.
They were finally getting on?
.x.
Another month passed. Sakura was pining and she didn't like it. After years of following Sasuke around amounted to nothing and she promised herself she'd never pine for guys again. It was their turn to pine for her! But she missed Gaara. She missed healing him after he and Naruto were done pummeling each other. The two were getting along and she didn't like it.
She didn't like that she didn't like it. It was a good thing for inter-village relations. But Sakura was so useless when it came to guys that she didn't know any other excuse to get close to Gaara without him knowing she liked him.
She was almost eighteen and she'd never been kissed or been out with anyone other than Ino and that didn't count because they did it to make Sai drool, and Ino wanted his attention.
It was time to end her abysmal failure love life.
.x.
Sakura was digging through Tsunade's files looking for missions to Suna. She knew she'd lost the plot. She was desperate. It had been several months since she last saw him and she was going crazy and it was getting painful. No matter what Gaara said when she told him she had to tell him how she felt. Pining for him was unhealthy for her.
Her inner won the fight and she was keeping her promise to herself.
"S Rank, land of lightning." She mumbled and tossed the file back into its folder. Ten minutes later she found an A Rank for Suna but the people Tsunade had circled for the mission were Neji, Tenten and Naruto. She frowned, reading over the details. It sounded like it could use a medic and she wondered why the Gondaime hadn't included one.
"Sneaking around I see."
Startled, Sakura stood up so fast she knocked all the files onto the floor. "Lady Tsunade! You were supposed to be at a meeting."
"It ended early." Tsunade pointed at the pile and Sakura obediently bent to fix them up. "What's this about?"
"I..I just wanted to ask for a mission," she stuttered.
"Uh-huh." Tsunade grabbed the files from her. "Suna?"
Sakura blushed. Did she know? She nodded.
"Figures." Tsunade huffed. "The brat goes and makes friends with the Kazekage's kid and you're pining after him."
Sakura lowered her eyes to the floor.
"Don't be embarrassed, girl. I'll add you to the team. Was thinking you might be good for it anyway. They could use a medic."
Sakura nodded and looked up into the warm smile of her mentor.
Tsunade used the file to slap Sakura on the butt. "Go get him, kiddo!"
.x.
"Yes!" Naruto fist pumped the air as Tenten rolled her eyes and Neji mentally groaned. He was excited that Sakura was joining them.
They met at the front gate of Konoha and started moving out immediately.
"Thank goodness you're coming," Tenten said. "I didn't much fancy being the mediator between Neji and Naruto."
Sakura understood. But the three days they spent travelling to Suna all she could think of the seafoam eyes that were waiting for her. The nights spent in the tent she was sharing with Tenten and ignoring the arguments coming from the boys, her mind was elsewhere. Her bunkmate noticed but kindly didn't mention it.
As they approached the walls of Suna, Sakura was so nervous she had to rub her sweaty palms on her clothes. He was waiting for them at the gates, alongside his brother and sister. The Kazekage was nowhere to be seen even though it was typical for him to greet allies.
But Gaara was a welcomed sight; his eyes widened slightly as they landed on Sakura. And a genuine smile was elicited from him. She was happy to see that he was happy to see her.
.x.
After they were given their duties and Sakura discovered this mission was just a cover as it turned out the Kazekage was retiring and Gaara had been named to replace his father.
They were here to get things ready for Tsunade's official arrival. It all sounded so pompous and unnecessary but that was the nature of politics and inter-village relations.
Sakura worked tirelessly to help and wondered now what a medic could possibly be needed for, on this job. But she didn't regret coming. At the end of the three days it took for them to set everything up, Gaara came to her and she returned his smiled.
"Naruto and I are going to spar and we could use a medic."
She grinned. "Okay, let me just grab my pack."
Whether he was doing this for himself or her she didn't know. He gave her a knowing look as they walked together to a training ground he'd already arranged for the fight.
He didn't flinch when she accidentally brushed his fingers, taking a water bottle from him as he got ready to stretch and prepare. In fact, his breath hitched and the blush was back on his cheeks.
She felt suddenly very confident and stepped over to him, kissing his cheek softly. His eyes widened and she blushed.
"For good luck."
He nodded absently and moved to engage Naruto. Neji and Tenten were also nearby, taking the opportunity to sit in the shade and watch.
Several hours later Gaara and Naruto were both exhausted but neither needed any serious healing. Sakura still placed a hand on Gaara's skin and healed his minor scratches.
"I like you," she blurted and they both blushed. "I... wanted to tell you."
He cleared his throat. "I like you too."
She nodded, licking her lips and finishing her healing, then dropped her hands by her side as he continued to watch her. He had a thing for watching her.
"So.. uh. What now?"
"Now, I do what I've been wanting to do for months."
Gaara licked his lips and then lowered his mouth to hers. She didn't mind that he bit her bottom lip. Nor that his fingers found the hem of her clothes and started tugging absentmindedly. They were moving a bit fast but she had time to stop him and would do so if he pissed her off too much.
They kept kissing and kept touching each other even as Naruto's voice rang nearby; the alarm he was sounding going unnoticed by the newly found lovers. Tenten attempted to shut him up, with Neji's help, to leave Sakura and Gaara alone.
What was coming next wasn't for them to see.
Sakura felt Gaara's sand whipping up and teleporting them. She knew what was coming and though this was indeed fast, she didn't care, for now.
For now she didn't want to stop touching him. Or being touched.
.x.