I'M LATE!! Sorry, I was so busy...plus I had a major brick wall in my mind. I hate writers block.

XXX

"What…what do you mean?" Sakura asked, her voice on the verge of trembling.

"I'm going to die." Gaara promptly told her through clenched teeth.

Suddenly, Sakura lashed forward, falling to her knees right in front of her fiancé and grabbing his bony hands. "Don't!" She cried. "Don't say that!" She buried her face between his legs and began to cry. Gaara calmly stroked her head, his hands running through her silky pink hair.

Temari must have heard the crash of the coffee cup, because she ran downstairs and flew into the kitchen at a speed that could put Chuck Norris to shame. "What the hell is going on?!" She yelled, finding Sakura sobbing on her knees. "Gaara, what the hell did you say to her?" She wasn't risking any chance that Sakura would leave and take her adorable twins away with her.

"Nothing." The kazekage said calmly. "I just told her that I only had weeks to live." Immediately, Sakura's weeping grew louder and she fisted his jeans, her hands trembling with each sob.

"What are you talking about?" Temari asked.

"I've been seeing a doctor."

The blonde ground her teeth together. "For how long? How long have you been keeping this a secret?"

"…A while."

"Goddamn you!!" Temari screamed, kicking over a chair. "This isn't some Twilight parody!! It isn't funny, Gaara!"

"I never said it was."

"Come on, we're taking you to the doctors." The blonde hissed, grabbing his wrist and pulling him away from the crying Sakura.

XXX

"Your brother has *monoanorexicpneumonia." Doctor House informed them. "It's a disease that eats away at muscles, fat, and tissue until he's nothing but a lifeless, empty vessel." Sakura sat besides her lover, soaking his T-shirt with her tears. She trembled violently.

"Oh god…" Temari leaned back into her chair. "For how long has he had it?" Temari asked, trying her best to stay calm.

"For about a month."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"The kazekage asked me to keep it secret."

Temari took a deep breath. No matter how hard it was to admit, she wanted to cry. She wanted to throw a huge tantrum like she used to when she was young and throw things across the room, all while having her mother chase after her screaming, "Temari, don't! Please!" She wanted to kick Gaara in the place where no man should be kicked for keeping it a secret. She wanted to punch the doctor in the nose for not informing her. Her brother had a life-threatening disease, and she was just now learning about it weeks before his certain death?

"I didn't want to worry any of you." Gaara mumbled. For having a rare, incurable disease, he certainly was taking it rationally and calmly.

"Didn't want to worry us?!" Temari shrieked suddenly. "What did you expect us to do when we find you dead slumped over a baby crib?! Did you even think about how it would fucking affect us?!!" She punched the wall. "Are you happy to just dump two kids onto Sakura and me?"

Sakura tightened her grip on him as if she were afraid he would slip away right then and there.

Actually, the more and more he thought about it, the more he realized his sister was right. He hadn't thought about his kids or his fiancé. He was just being selfish like he had always been.

"Goddamn you, Gaara!!!" Temari screamed, punching the wall again. Then her voice grew soft. "My own flesh and blood…my own brother is dying…" She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to cry. "I can't…I can't lose you…" She whispered, shaking as she fought back her tears.

"There's still some hope…" Doctor House interrupted. "There's a treatment. But even still, there's only a ninety-percent chance he will survive."

Sakura spoke, her voice barely audible. "Take it, Gaara. Take the treatment and live for me."

"No one has survived the treatment before." House warned them.

Gaara hesitated.

"Just take the goddamn treatment!" Temari snapped.

"…fine." Gaara mumbled.

"Good boy. Now we'll give him a few shots to help slow down the process of eating away the fat and tissues." House informed them.

"No!" The kazekage immediately yelled. All eyes turned to him.

"Why the hell not?" Temari asked.

"Because…" The redhead played with his fingers nervously. "I'm afraid of needles."

Needles?! The almighty kazekage, who's not afraid to whoop someone's ass, is afraid of needles?? Temari blinked a couple of times, her jaw dropping about 14 inches.

Suddenly, Sakura slapped him.

Gaara, stunned, lifted a bony hand to touch the throbbing red mark on his face.

"Gaara, if you die I'll never forgive you!" Sakura shrieked. "How can you be so selfish? You don't even know how much I love you, or how painful it would be to rip you away from me! If you die, I'll raise our children telling them how you abandoned us in our time of need!" She paused, her face still streaked with tears. "Even better, if you die…I'll die."

"No…" Gaara groaned, pulling her into a deep hug. "No matter what happens, you've got to keep on living…even if it kills you." That earned him a second smack.

"This is no time to be joking, Gaara!" Sakura screamed.

Gaara's face scrunched up like he had just eaten a lemon. Silence fell upon the room.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

"I'll take the treatment." Gaara finally murmured.

Temari almost smiled. "Good boy. Now let's go home and break the news to your brother."

XXX

At home, Gaara sat on the couch, arm raised. Sakura sat beside him, a sharp needle in her hand.

Outside in the garden, Kankuro leaned against the side of the mansion, his hands shoved into his pockets. "What did you want to tell me?" He asked his older sister.

Temari dug a hole in the ground with her foot nervously. She sighed. She opened her mouth, and then closed it. Then, she spoke. "What if I told you Gaara had an incurable, life-threatening disease?"

Her brother shrugged. "I'd say you were on Heroin."

She frowned. "What if I said…I wasn't joking?"

His eyes widened. "You mean…"

She nodded.

"Oh my god! No way! There's no way possible…that's…that's just…"

Suddenly, Temari threw her arms around her younger brother and started crying. "I…I don't want him to die!" She wailed, burying her head into his shoulder.

Awkward…

A bit creeped out, Kankuro hesitantly wrapped his arms around her back.

Meanwhile, Gaara sat on the couch, breathing heavily. "Just do it." He squeaked. Obedient, Sakura drew the needle closer to his skin. Closer. Closer. Closer still. He shuddered once it touched his arm and squeezed his eyes shut. His hands clenched into fists, all the while listening to Sakura whisper comforting words. And then…he screamed as the needle punctured his skin. It was a bit hilarious to find that the great kazekage, who could take several stabs and a gunshot, would scream at a needle.

"Hold still, baby." Sakura whispered calmly.

He trembled and bit his lip until it bled.

And then, it was gone. Gaara felt the needle retreat and opened his eyes. He looked down at his arm and sighed in relief.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Sakura asked softly, still in her depressed mood. The couple sat in silence for a long while as the clock ticked by every second.

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

"Sakura…I'm sorry." He mumbled, looking at his hands.

"It's not your fault."

"No, I mean…I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

She bit her lip and her face scrunched up like she was in pain.

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

"…It's ok." She finally admitted, her voice softer than ever before.

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

"You better get some sleep." She mumbled.

"Yeah." He agreed, barely able to stand up.

"You need any help?" She asked, quickly standing and grabbing his arm.

He shrugged her off. "No." And slowly walked up the stairs, hanging onto the railing like his life depended on it. Sakura watched her lover disappear, holding his stomach in pain before she, too, walked upstairs and into her daughters' room. Aki was peacefully sleeping, her tiny little hands clenching the pale pink blanket. Sora was wide awake, on the other hand, biting the metal bars of the cage with her toothless mouth.

"Sora, what on earth are you doing?" Sakura asked, laughing and lifting the baby from her crib. She cradled the small human in her chest while Sora happily squealed. Sakura nuzzled her nose against her daughter's forehead and smiled at her. "You're going to grow up so fast…" She whispered, choking back tears. "I just hope your father's going to be around to watch it…"

XXX

The more days that past, the more lifeless Gaara came to be. There did come a day when all he could do was lay on his bed, hardly able to blink. All that day, Sakura sat with him, stroking his wild fire hair and crying. She had never seen her lover look this vulnerable, so helpless, in massive pain.

"S-Sakura…" He hardly could squeak out.

"Sssh, baby…" She whispered back.

"Sakura…I want to go downstairs."

"What do you need, baby? I'll bring it to you."

"No…I want…to get it myself." He struggled to sit up, his skeleton arms trembling, almost rattling with each shake. Sakura helped him up, depressed at how much pain he looked like he was in.

She practically carried him downstairs, and she might as well have since he probably had lost almost half his body weight. She helped him to the table and sat him down. "Now what do you want?" She asked softly, gazing at his gaunt face. He looked more of a skeleton now, bones so clearly visible it wasn't funny.

"I…want…AH!" He suddenly fell to the ground, clutching his chest in agonizing pain. He desperately tried to push himself up, but he was far too weak for that.

"Gaara!" Sakura shrieked, panicking as she helped his rise. "Temari!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "Temari!!" She became frantic as her fiancé shook violently in her arms, bone rattling as he clutched his heart.

Almost immediately, Temari was downstairs and taking the trembling Gaara from Sakura's hands. "Get in the car." She demanded, her voice harsher than usual. She was trying her hardest to stay calm, but it came out in anger.

Sakura silently obliged.

Temari, who could have lifted her brother at any time, now found he was much lighter, like a child. She carefully set him in the backseat of the car, Sakura sitting beside him. She then slipped into the driver's seat and sped off.

All the while, Sakura was screaming at her fiancé, sobbing hysterically. "No! Gaara! Gaara! Gaara, what's wrong??!!"

Temari growled. "Shut up or we'll all die! This is a car, not a playground!"

Sakura reduced down to just sobbing, her salty tears dripping onto the car seat. Gaara's eyes rolled back into his head as he continued violently shaking, his hand clutching his heart as if it were going to run away. Sakura had never seen him like this, and the sight of her beloved in so much pain was enough to break her heart.

"We're here." Temari growled, angry for no reason at all as she sped out of the car and grabbed her shaking brother, and running into the hospital like the 100 yard dash, Sakura running just behind.

As soon as they touched marble floor, Temari screamed out "Help!"

A receptionist took one look at the trembling kazekage and quickly dialed for a doctor, panicked. Naturally, what would the village do if Gaara should die?

"2nd floor, 3rd door to the right." The receptionist said.

They followed, Temari running over all who got in her way.

"In here." A doctor told them calmly.

In less than a minute, Gaara was in on a surgical table and doctor House was quickly snapping on gloves.

"You've been giving him the treatment every day, correct?" He asked, a bit rushed.

"Yes." Sakura replied through tear-streaked eyes.

"The virus is eating up his vital organs. We'll need to operate to replace the tissues."

"Then why the hell didn't you do this sooner?!" Temari hissed.

"Because the operation is very risky, and we never want to perform it unless absolutely necessary. Do you give us permission to operate?"

"Yes!!" Sakura screamed, falling face-first into Temari's arms.

"Very good. Please step outside."

And the operation began.

Outside, the girls could hear every word being said.

"Scalpel, hurry!"

"Damn! He's losing oxygen!"

"Carefully, doctor."

"I think I know what I'm doing, stop distracting me!"

Sakura lay on Temari's lap like a small child on her mother's. The blonde lightly stroked her pink head, comforting her like she never thought she would. Overall, they had become closer together, and even maybe like friends. They were quiet; both too scared to even breathe. Sakura wept silently, the salty tears flowing from her eyes like a flood.

"Goddamn it!"

"Shit! The anesthetic is wearing off!"

Sakura buried her face into Temari's pants, gripping the denim for her life.

All of a sudden, Kankuro appeared. He looked worn-down and out of breath, sweat glimmering on his forehead. "I came as soon as I heard." He said, sitting down beside his sister. Temari looked at him, a tear threatening to fall from her eyes.

All three of them sat in painful silence for what seems like days. The hospital hallway grew quieter, and the number of nurses died down. It must be the night shift…

Suddenly, a group of nurses came running down the hall, wheeling in a hospital bed that held a young man. "He's been shot!" Voices rang out through the marbled floor frantically as the nurses tried to rush the man into a hospital room as quickly as possible.

And then it was completely silent.

It stayed silent for a few more hours. Painful, agonizing, suspenseful hours…

The operation door swung open and doctor House stepped out, hand clean and sanitized already.

Kankuro stood up. "How…how is he?"

House shook his head. "The operation was a success, but we're still not sure if he'll sure if he'll live through the night."

It was that horrid line always used in movies…Sakura began trembling with tears, soaking up Temari's jeans.

"I'm sorry. Would you like to see him?" House asked, stepping out of the doorway to allow Temari to gently pull Sakura up and help her walk into the operation room. Sakura was glad for this, since she wasn't sure she could even walk by herself, she couldn't feel her legs.

Inside the operation room was a terror-filled scene. Nurses stood around the beloved kazekage, who was lying on the operation table, unconscious.

"Gaara…" Temari choked out, bringing her sister-in-law-to-be a bit closer to the weakened red head.

Almost instantly, Sakura fell to the ground, her head on his chest, sobbing hysterically. Temari put her hands on Sakura's shoulders, squeezing them softly.

"Gaara…" Sakura moaned, clutching the bed sheets so hard, her knuckles turned white. "Stay alive…" She whispered between sobs. "Please…"

It was like a really poorly made horror movie, the fear rushing down both women's bodies. Kankuro stayed outside. He didn't really feel like having mental pain shoot up through his spine at the sight of his dying brother.

And Sakura cried practically all night…

XXX

*= I know there's no such thing as monoanorexicpneumonia disease…I made it up.

Wow. That really sucked. The ending was also pretty crappy. I need to write another sex scene soon…

Mm-hmm, review because you know you want to…

REVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEW…? -cough- please?