"Sakura!"

The pink-haired medic watched as her friends hurried towards her. She blinked as her vision soon began to blur from the tears welling up in her eyes. A sudden cough made her snap her head in a different direction. Sakura looked down at Gaara with worry written all over her face. His eyes were jammed shut and his breathing became labored. "Gaara!"

Sakura looked and saw the two sand siblings run in a few moments after Naruto, Sai and Kakashi. The two of them hurried over to his side, kneeling next to his pierced body. Temari soon started to run her hand through his hair as she whispered sweet nothings in his ear. "Sakura, snap out of it! You need to help him!" Naruto yelled.

Snapping out of her daze, Sakura nodded as she kneeled down and put both hands above the open wound. Her hands soon began to glow a faint green as she poured her chakra into the wound. She concentrated on what she was doing, but soon found herself shifting her gaze towards the side, where a man stood. It's that guy! What is he doing here?

She looked around seeing if anyone noticed the other man standing in the room, but when she looked at everyone they didn't seem to care.

After a few long, continuous minutes, Sakura stopped and looked at everyone. "We need to get him to Tsunade-sama. I've used up most of my chakra and if we don't hurry, he might now make it."

They all nodded as Kankuro and Temari picked up their younger brother and each draped an arm around their shoulders. All of them hurried out of the building and ran into the trees, heading towards Konoha. Sakura stayed towards the back of the group, trying to avoid everyone else. It's my fault he ended up like this. If I was stronger that one night, none of this would have happened.

"Hey, Sakura?"

"What Naruto?"

"How bad is it?" He asked.

"Well I didn't do a full inspection, but the Chidori went straight through his chest, so it could've damaged anything is its way. Most likely a punctured lung and it may even get his heart, but I couldn't tell you right now." Sakura told.

"But he'll make it, right?"

Sakura sighed. "Only if he wants to."

"Then he'll be fine." Naruto grinned.

"Naruto, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Why is one of Sasuke's men with us?"

"He had agreed to come with. He said he'd change his ways."

Sakura looked at the man that was traveling in the middle of the group. "I still don't trust him."

"Hey, Sakura, are you sure you're okay?"

Sakura sighed. "For now yes, but once we get there I'll need to heal myself again."

"Tsunade-sama!"

The blonde-haired woman looked up from her paper work. She glanced at her door before sighing. "Come in, Shizune."

Said woman burst through the doors with a small pig in her arms. "Team seven came back with the Kazekage of Suna, and he's brutally injured!"

Tsunade swiftly stood up from her chair and walked out the door with Shizune behind her. They hurried out of the Hokage building and went to the hospital. Once they entered the building, one of the head nurses ran up to them. "Tsunade-sama! Please follow me."

The nurse started to hurry down the hall as the two of them quickly walked after her. She led them to the end of the hall and opened the door to her left and motioned for them to come inside. Tsunade walked into the room and saw that it was crowded with people. She also saw that Sakura was starting to heal the red-head that lay on the bed. "You," Tsunade said as she pointed to a random nurse that was in the room, "take Sakura and heal her."

The medic-nin nodded as she bowed before Sakura and told her to follow her. Before Sakura left to the room, she looked at Tsunade and whispered, "Please save him, Tsunade-sama."

The Hokage nodded as she turned her attention to everyone in the room. "I want everyone out, now!" She yelled, pointing towards the door.

Everyone started to file out of the room, leaving only Naruto left. He looked at Tsunade and started to walk towards the door. "You better save him." He told.

"They didn't make me a Sanin for any reason. Now get out so I can save him."

Naruto nodded as he hurried out the door, shutting it behind him.

Tsunade walked over to the bed and placed her hands over the still-open wound. But what made her stop was what actually the injury was? From a normal view, it looked as if it were an ordinary stab wound. But up close it looked as if it were a burn. The skin and the flesh around it looked burnt. The edge of the damaged skin and flesh was actually black, proving that indeed it was a burn. But what has enough power to burn right through someone's body?

Violent coughing had brought her out of her thoughts. Gaara had started to cough as if he was choking. Tsunade's eyes widened when she figured out what was happening. She quickly placed her hands above the wound and soon they started to glow green. She concentrated her chakra into her hands as she desperately tried to heal the fatal wound. Shit!

Tsunade started to pour more and more chakra into the wound once she felt his heart-rate gradually slow down. She closed her eyes as she tried assessing the damaged that was done to him. I haven't done a full body assessment yet, but this injury seems to be the main cause and most fatal.

But in a matter of minutes, her heart seemed to stop once she realized that the red-headed patient had stopped breathing. Don't die . . . don't die . . .

Her breath got caught in her throat once she felt that his heart stopped beating. Determination swept through her body as she continued to pour chakra into his body. You can't die . . .

Water dripped from the ceiling as it landed into the puddles already on ground. Two golden eyes appeared behind a giant gate as darkness started to take over.

"What is happening?"

The darkness started to envelope the room.

"Why is it getting so dark?"

The darkness started to cover the figure trapped inside of the cage.

"Ah, so it has come to this. Who would've thought that this would happen?"

The giant figure chuckled as the darkness almost consumed him

"You owe me for this one, boy."

The nurse stood over the pink-haired medic as she started to heal the semi-healed injury. "How are you feeling, Sakura-san?"

"I'm fine now, thank-you." She smiled.

"If I may ask, what happened that got you in this condition?"

"Oh, I was kidnapped and I blocked an attack towards my friend."

"That friend must be very lucky to have someone like you, Sakura-san." The nurse told.

"I didn't want him getting hurt, but he risked his life for me." Sakura mentioned.

"Don't worry; I'm that they'll be fine."

Sakura sighed as she looked towards the door. I hope you're right.

Tsunade quietly gasped as she saw the Kazekage's eyes shoot open. His breathing was erratic as his eyes frantically searched around the room. He suddenly tried to sit up, but was stopped by Tsunade. "Please refrain from moving, Kazekage-sama. Your injuries are not healed yet."

Tsunade lightly pushed him back against the bed, but once she did, Gaara's eyes suddenly jammed close. She watched as he clenched his jaw and his fingers grabbed the sheets under him. Tsunade walked over to one of the cabinets in the room and grabbed a syringe filled with clear liquid. I don't want him up and suffering while I'm still healing him.

She sent the needle into his arm and injected the liquid. Once she disposed of it, she waited until the red-head fell unconscious before starting to finish healing his injuries.

Kakashi, Naruto, and Sai sat on wooden stools as they ate their food inside the ramen bar. When Kakashi finished his bowl of ramen, he looked over and saw that Naruto had barely touched his. "I thought bringing you here would cheer you up."

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, I'm worried."

Kakashi stood up as he put down money on a counter and then placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "The Kazekage is in Tsunade's hands. I'm sure that he'll be fine."

Naruto chuckled and showed his toothy grin. "Yeah, I shouldn't have doubted her. Gaara will be okay."

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "Now, how 'bout we head over to the training grounds. I'm sure I haven't seen everything you've learned through-out the years."

"You're on, Kakashi-sensei!"

The two of them left the ramen bar, leaving Sai by himself. As they walked down the road, an explosion was heard and shook the ground for a second. The two of them looked and saw smoke start to form in the sky. Naruto and Kakashi quickly ran to where the smoke was coming from. It's the interrogation building. Naruto thought as they arrived at the destination.

Both of them looked as the smoke slowly cleared out. Two figures stood on the roof of the building. Naruto's eyes widened as he noticed who they were. Goku . . . Sasuke . . .

Both of the enemy ninja suddenly disappeared. Naruto clenched his fists as he started to run in the direction they disappeared in, only to be stopped by Kakashi. "Let them go. Someone else will search for them."

Naruto sighed as he looked where the two of them once stood. That bastard tricked me.

The Next Day

Sakura walked down one of the hallways of the hospital. She walked up to the door where Gaara was currently residing in. She quietly opened the door only to be greeted by Tsunade from inside. "Ah, Sakura, how are you?"

"I'm doing better, Tsunade-sama." Sakura told as she glanced at the red-head who was lying in the bed.

The blonde-haired woman followed her student's gaze and sighed. "He's in stable condition now. We had some complications half way through, but I managed to heal him the best I could."

Sakura continued to look at the man lying in the bed before her. Bandages were wrapped around his torso and his arm was completely bandaged. "His arm was broken in about three places and that will need some time to heal, but the one to his chest was the worst . . . What happened, Sakura?"

Sakura looked at woman at her side. "He protected me from Sasuke. It's my fault that he's like this."

Tsunade sighed as she looked at her student. "Don't say that. He did it at his own free will . . . Now I'll leave you alone; I should get back to doing something in my office."

Sakura nodded as Tsunade left the room. The pink-haired medic turned her attention back to Gaara. She reached out with her hand and ran her fingers along his bare arm. "You know it's not your fault."

Sakura jumped from the sudden noise. "G-Gaara!"

Sakura leaned over the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I was so worried. I thought it was going to be my fault if you died because I wasn't strong enough to save you."

"You're not weak, Sakura."

"But I wasn't strong enough to save you."

"But it wasn't your fault."

Sakura sighed as she let go of his neck and stood up straight. "I'm sorry. I'm just so relieved that you're okay."

"And I'm glad you're okay."

Sakura looked at him confused. "I thought that I was going to lose you when you protected me."

Sakura smiled at him.

You're lucky I decided to save your worthless life, boy.

What are you talking about?

You just about died . . . until I stepped in that is.

Well, thanks for that, Shukaku.

The demon slightly growled. You owe me big, kid.

One Week Later

Sakura sighed. It was the day that he was leaving. She started to walk down the road towards the Konoha gates. It's the least I could do. Say good-bye.

Gaara stood with his siblings at the gates. Team seven was there, as well as the Hokage, getting ready for them to depart. "We hope your stay here was somewhat pleasurable." Kakashi said.

Temari and Kankuro chuckled. "Don't worry, we love coming here." Temari said.

"Well, we don't want to keep your country to keep waiting." Tsunade told as she bowed.

The three siblings did the same and turned towards the gates.

--

Sakura arrived at the gates and saw that she was too late. He's gone . . . What am I doing? I can't just let this chance slip pass.

"Wait Gaara! I . . . I love you!"

The red-head stopped dead in his tracks. His two siblings turned towards him and smirked. "We'll meet you back there." Kankuro told.

Both of them jumped into the trees and started to head back to Suna.

Gaara turned around just in time to see Sakura running towards him. She ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. He stood there for a few moments before wrapping his arms around her waist. He moved his head so it was right next to her ear. "As do I, Sakura."

Sakura let go and smiled up at him. "Promise that you'll come see me again?"

Gaara turned towards her and smiled. "Promise."

Woo! Finished yet another story! I hope everyone enjoyed this one as much as I did :D

Ok my next story is called You're Here for a Reason. And it is a High school fic .. and of course SakXGaa And I'll try to get that up within a few weeks.

And as a final note .. I would like to thank everyone who reviewed/favorite/alerted this story. You guys are AWESOME!

Until next time

Itachi2011