Baa-chan - 1

Gaara promptly returned to Konoha in a foul mood after helping Naruto and their sensei dispatch their pursuers. He decided he would dull-down the details of the conflict when he recapped it to his entourage.

He paused as he entered the gates of Konoha. Entourage. Perhaps that was a better label for the group of knuckleheads he flocked with; a word he would use more frequently over posse or le retinue any day.

There was no describing how badly his head hurt. If he didn't know any better, Gaara would've guessed that a speeding freight-train had paid him a visit not too long ago.

It was unfortunate that he and Naruto were being targeted by a band of nukenin so early on, he noted. A year or more of training and Gaara surmised they'd be able to adequately defend themselves from S-Class threats, but it seemed time was not on their side.

'How much longer before their next attempt?' He wondered, finding himself a bit bitter over the subject, 'How much longer before they realize I live here as well?'

Not too long, as Jiraiya had put it.

What was that saying? Birds of a feather flock together?

Gaara snorted as he turned the corner, guessing that next time he and Naruto would have to act as a unit to fend off their enemies, or better yet, have Haku join them in a surprise attack….and perhaps the whole damn entourage could get in on it.

He decided after careful consideration that it was better if his friends did not get too deeply involved in the matter. It was a problem he and Naruto had to bear, not them. It wouldn't be worth them risking their lives in such a one-sided endeavor.

Gaara didn't want to sound like a pessimist, but he was fairly sure it was only a matter of time before the Akatsuki would regroup and track him down, hauling him in even if he was kicking and screaming all the way. He had sensed the power Itachi and his partner had possessed and he was in no place to make light of it.

Temari and Kankuro had caught him off guard when they stepped in front of him, demanding to know where he had been. Haku and Sakura also looked at him as if he held vital information.

They weren't far off in that respect.

"Well, was he up to no good?" Temari was beginning to harbor the same detestation for Sasuke as her younger brother, "What happened out there?"

"Two dangerous nukenin attacked Naruto in the next village over," Gaara responded, ignoring their gasps, "Sasuke intervened, as did Jiraiya-sensei and I. They retreated once they realized they were outnumbered…" He locked eyes with Haku, "Itachi was there."

Haku and Sakura were eerily quiet for a long moment and Temari and Kankuro gave them questioning looks.

As if understanding that it was a matter Gaara intended to discuss privately with Sakura, Haku ushered Temari and Kankuro along as if the news held little impact, "Well done then, Gaara-kun!" He turned to the elder sand siblings, "Tell me you two, have you ever gone swimming before?"

Temari didn't like the fact they were being excluded but decided she could milk information from Haku later with enough persistence. Kankuro, though, decided to play along, "Swim? Eh, not in anything bigger than a tub I'd wager."

"Then this should be quite the education for you…" Haku muttered, guiding them along, having an ideal lake in mind for the lesson, "We'll meet up with you later, if that's alright?"

Sakura looked a bit torn to see her new friends swept along so brusquely. Gaara spoke up for her, amused, "Teach them well, Haku. It'll be valuable to them in missions outside Suna."

Temari wore an irritated expression as she followed after her brother and the dark haired boy.

At last Gaara had a moment alone with the pink haired girl. He wasn't pleased to be the bearer of bad news for her, but he wasn't about to lie about the situation.

She was hugging him a moment later, murmuring into his shoulder and his headache immediately disappeared, much to his astonishment, "You said Itachi was there, right? Please tell me you're okay!"

"I'm fine. Naruto's fine," He paused, the next words he spoke leaving a sour taste in his mouth, "But Sasuke was injured. He was foolish enough to challenge Itachi and he was beaten badly. Gai-sensei brought him to the hospital."

Sakura pulled away, taking the news better than he had anticipated, "I…I understand." She looked away from him for a moment, aware that he disliked Sasuke, "Will you go to the hospital with me to see if he's alright?"

'No.' Something stopped him from saying it outright. Even if he would've preferred to have left Sasuke for his brother to finish him off he had still saved him. Maybe not for the Uchiha's sake, but for Sakura's. Gaara respected her enough to allow her happiness even if he was not the source of it.

So Sasuke would live to see another day, it seemed.

"I'll go with you, Sakura-chan." His voice was low, with an equal balance of pacification and frustration imbued in it.

Her eyes were thankful but she didn't smile, she wasn't able to. Sakura was frightened, struck with the thought of what may have happened to Sasuke if Gaara and Naruto had not also been there to break up the fight.

She knew the end result of that situation.

Gaara walked beside her silently as they turned around and headed across town for the hospital.

*

Once they had been directed to the Uchiha's room, Gaara's mood had not improved. Sakura's presence, however, kept it from downgrading.

He stood near the door with his arms folded as she sat beside the unconscious boy's hospital bed, her face wracked with worry. A nurse had stopped to check in on Sasuke shortly and then departed, seeing he remained in stable condition.

"I remember the promise I made to you…" Sakura said quietly, touching his hand gently, tentatively, "I'm sorry that this happened again. If I had known, I would've…"

Gaara was watching her with wary eyes and it made her uncomfortable. Her voice dropped to a whisper as she continued, "I don't want him to hurt you again. It won't happen again. I won't let it happen, Sasuke-kun…"

She drew her hand away and sighed, feeling strung-out. Sakura stood and noted that Gaara did not appear hostile over her renewed vow to her teammate. In fact, he seemed more fascinated by her devotion that upset by it.

She was then unaware, however, that he highly doubted Sasuke would take her words to heart the same way he did in that moment.

"Let's go now. He needs to rest." The pink haired kunoichi exited the room as he held the door open for her, "Gaara-kun?"

He turned to her as he stepped out into the hallway as well, giving her an expectant look.

"You saved him, didn't you? When he got hurt?" Sakura had deduced that was why Gaara had been acting so oddly when he had returned, "That's why he wasn't hurt any worse than this?"

"It wasn't much of a rescue." The red haired boy replied, not making a big deal over it.

She nodded, smiling gratefully at the confirmation, "Thank you, Gaara-kun."

Gaara shrugged, finding the entire notion of Sasuke was bothering him much less than it normally did. Perhaps it was because he had witnessed that he was not very much a hindrance to his friendship with Sakura. In fact, Sakura seemed to be getting closer to him daily, he had noticed.

He then offered to take her to lunch at Ichiraku Ramen since Naruto had thrown his extra vouchers at him shortly before leaving on his trip with Jiraiya. No opportunities wasted, right?

Sakura meekly tried to decline, saying her parents would've liked to spend at least two meals of the day with her, but once he insisted she gave up and followed him out the front of the hospital, trying to suppress her delighted grin.

Once at the restaurant, Sakura had already decided on what type of ramen she wanted. They had taken their seats, and he judged it then to be too late to flee upon seeing Sato was there was well, chatting loudly and on his third bowl of beef ramen.

Sato, very annoyingly, very amiably, greeted Gaara, "Hey! Gaara-kun! I haven't seen you in a while! How've you been?" It appeared he didn't hold a grudge against him after their fight during the chunin exam…if he could recall it at all.

"Busy," Gaara responded truthfully, and nodded to Tama when he noticed she was seated beside Sato, still not finished with her first bowl of ramen, "What are you doing here?"

"After training Shino and Sunshine ditched me like they had better things to do," The silver haired boy summarized, smiling at his companion, "They kinder-dumped me on Tama, so as conciliation I decided to buy her lunch!"

'Kinder-dumped? He makes himself sound like a five-year-old.' Gaara found the Hatake's linguistics to be a bit outlandish.

"I actually requested that they let me steal you," Tama corrected, her smile somewhat coquettish and only Sato missed it, "We haven't seen each other in a while, you know?"

Sakura grinned at her from across the way, admiring her take-charge attitude. In her opinion, however, she would think of Sato to be the last boy any girl would want to pursue, 'I mean, sheesh, he causes more trouble than even Naruto! And that's a difficult record to beat!'

Gaara agreed with the idea entirely, something she was not conscious of. Sato just annoyed him in general.

Sakura ordered ramen for herself and Gaara while Sato proceeded to talk the redhead's ears off. Clearly, Sakura noted, the boy hadn't been out in a while; he probably needed to purge his system of all the pent-up nonsense in his head.

Gaara was relieved when the other pair finished their meals and stood to leave. Sato of course, before departing, tossed in his two-cents, "Enjoy your date, you two!"

He wasn't about to be impeded by the chattering dolt, "At least now we can."

Sakura laughed at Gaara's response before taking a bite of her ramen.