Quote of the chapter: "Why do I care so much about you?" -Boy in luv by BTS

Guess I'll be working on my new story hehe

short chap tho

HAPPY NEW YEAR! :3

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         cнαpтer 8

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"K-Kazekage-sama!" Hoshiro quickly bowed down as Toshiro followed.

Sakura gaped. "How did you find-"

"I'm the Kazekage, I know everything that happens in the village I protect." Gaara replied while looking at both of the Konoha ninjas."Sasuke, Sakura. What are you two doing here? Did you not know that this man is a criminal for stealing?" He stated heartlessly as Hoshiro had no right but to keep silent and Toshiro was on the verge of tears.

"He did steal, but he was stealing for his son. We made a deal that if his son would recover, he would stop his crimes. I healed his son just now so that he won't steal anymore." Sakura defended the recent people she met.

"No matter what is the case, he-" Gaara pointed to Hoshiro "-must be brought to jail. I'm truly sorry, but we must follow the rules."

"Then what about his son's well-being if you take the father away?" Sasuke asked, trying to change Gaara's decision through reverse psychology.

Gaara sighed as he rubbed his temples, he was not expecting that the stealer would have a son. "I'll let Matsuri take care of him and since it was for a good intention...his son may visit him daily."

He may be the Kazekage, but he is still Gaara-the boy who does not want other kids to feel what he felt when he was young which was lack of parents' love.

Gaara also accepted to say their goodbyes before Hoshiro will go to jail. That is how kind he is.

"By the way, how did you learn teleportation jutsu? Only a few people has the capability to do that." Sakura asked, she has been curious ever since they teleported to his home.

Hoshiro smiled in remembrance. "I think that you may know Jiraiya and Namikaze Minato? They came from your village."

Both Sakura and Sasuke had invisible question marks plastered on their faces as they heard the familiar names.

"Jiraiya was my sensei and Minato was my teammate. Minato taught me how, but ever since the war happened nineteen years ago, we were pushed to move somewhere else and then here we are."

"T-The fourth hokage?" Sakura blurted as the man nodded.

"Ah, good old days. Minato was a good man, he deserved better. It was a good thing that his son is still alive, though I never met him. I hope he's doing good."

"We're his teammates." Sasuke stated.

"And he's doing fine." Sakura added much to Hoshiro's delight.

After their talk, they all went separate ways.

They needed to fix their things and do last minute checkings since the two Konoha shinobi will leave Sunagakure the following day.

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"Since you've achieved the C-rank mission to capture the medicine-stealer, I will be the one to send the report to Tsunade. And regards to half of the Suna Hospital staff, thank you for your help." Gaara replied, much to Sakura's comfort.

At first, nervousness clogged Sakura's emotions.

Ever since that incident happened wherein she and Sasuke helped Hoshiro, Sakura felt somewhat awkward around Gaara because he is the Kazekage and they did kind of disrespected the village's rules. However, it was for a good cause though Sakura still feels something she did was wrong.

Although when they met him at the tower before they will go back to Konoha, it seemed that nothing happened. Or Gaara was even nicer to them.

What a miracle.

Sasuke and Sakura were inside the Kazekage tower with Gaara and Kankuro on the side as an assistant since his current assistant-also known as his student-Matsuri is keeping Toshiro under surveillance and care.

"I guess you may go back to your hometown, have a safe trip and see you soon. Please do give my regards to the future Rokudaime and the rest of Konoha."  Gaara's lips curved up slightly if you have a microscope, you would see it.

"Thank you and be safe as well Kazekage-sama. You too Kankuro-san." Sakura bowed in a slight movement with her cheeky smile on as Sasuke gave a curt bow.

Uchihas may be arrogant, but Sasuke knows his place and he still is the boy that was raised by Mikoto Uchiha.

Sakura and Sasuke spun their heel to move out of the room but they halted once Gaara called.

"I apologize but I forgot to tell Sakura about the recent medical updates on the discovery." Gaara organized some papers while he placed it all on thr right side of the table. "It is private for only Sunagakure officials  and the in-charge to know. May you please excuse us for a bit, Sasuke?"

Sakura abruptly turned to Sasuke to which she was sending him a message through the look in her eyes to accept.

"Kankuro is not a Sunagakure official." Sasuke pointed out with a stoic expression as Sakura panicked inside.

"Yes, but he is concerned in the topic." Gaara replied, a hint of frustration in his mind.

Battle of the two emotionless icicles.

"That doesn't mean I can't stay."

"If that's so, why would you want to stay?"

"My mission is to guide her and I follow orders."

Sakura knew that she needed to stop this nonsense. I mean for goodness sake, he could just stay behind the door listening to the conversation anyway.

She nudged Sasuke's forearm, indicating her response. "I'll be fine." She whispered.

Sasuke took a very quick glance at Sakura then to the two men in front of him before going out of the room.

When Sasuke was out of vision, Sakura mentally exhaled.

"Moving on, how's it going with the hospital equipments, new discoveries and new arrivals of medicines?" Gaara asked while he and his brother listen attentively.

"The equipments are more than enough for the patients. New discoveries has been discussed to the doctors and nurses along with the recent cures. The new arrivals of the medicines will soon be shipped here in a couple of days. I'll make sure to update Tsunade-sama about that." Sakura informed, receiving a nod from the red-head.

"So the medics already know how to treat the new diseases and do new surgeries?" Kankuro added the infornation to which Sakura nodded as a remark.

"I taught them the basics and gave them scrolls as a guide which Tsunade-sama would want to give you."

"Alright, thank you very much. We would have a hard time in medical terms without your help." The Kazekage thanked while Sakura grinned.

Though Sakura was caught off guard by the brothers' sudden question.

"By the way, is Sasuke always like that? I know he's been back by a few days but is he?" Gaara asked, earning a question mark from Sakura's brain.

"Pardon? Like what?"

"As in jealous?" Kankuro cleared her thoughts and Sakura immediately denied.

Sakura extended both of her hands, waving them in front. "N-No no no no, you got the wrong idea. He is just over-protective and he's my former teammate! I-It's also his mission to guide me so..." She pretended to cough to break the awkward atmosphere. "...Yeah." She ended her defense with a sheepish smile, scratching the back of her head while a sweat drop her forehead.

With her act, Gaara chuckled. "Okay, you are free to go."

Sakura bowed and gave her goodbyes before leaving the room.

Once she did, the two brothers looked at each other.

"You think he's jealous?"

"Definitely. You?"

Gaara shrugged at the reply of his older brother. "Let's just wait and see."

"Wanna bet?"

"I bet he's jealous."

"Deal."

Who knew that the Kazekage could be playful?

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Sprinting from tree to tree, Sakura's feet dropped on one branch to another as she waited for her teammate to stop since they have been walking and hopping for hours.

They left Suna a couple of hours ago as Sakura grabbed her things from the office and said her goodbye to Ahri-whom she will contact soon.

Once Sasuke halted at the ground, saying. "Let's stop here for a while. It's been hours, you need rest."

"Me? What about you?" Sakura asked, stopping her tracks.

"I can live more than a month without rest, Sakura."

Sakura just rolled her emerald eyes as she sat down with her bag, bringing out her bottle as she consume all of the water inside since it was just half full.

Sasuke sat near her-not beside her but their distance was a bit close. He held out a water bottle towards Sakura. "Drink it."

"But what about yo-"

"Just take it Sakura."

Due to Sasuke's impatience, Sakura had no choice but to accept. She took an air drink-which the tip of the bottle is not touching your mouth-since it still was Sasuke's drink.

After doing so, she returned the bottle to Sasuke. "Thank you." A graceful smile etched her lips.

Sasuke just nodded back in response.

From the time that he protected her because it was his 'mission.' Hell, he can disobey the mission or choose not follow it since no one was watching him.

He was also somewhat overprotective when Gaara would want to talk with Sakura alone with Kankuro. Which the brother claims him to be jealous.

He even helped her in solving the crime even though it was neither of their mission. Still, he offered his service.

It may not be emotional like other love stories but in that moment, Sakura knew that he somehow cared for her.

END OF CHAPTER 8

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//PUBLISHED.12.30.14.//

The new story I'm working on is also SasuSaku btw if you want to know more, just message me ^_^

Thanks for reading, don't forget to vote&comment!

:)

~TheSketcher