Infected

Chapter 22: Misunderstandings

   There was a knock at his office door.

   "Come in," Gaara called out as he double checked the paperwork for the hospital repairs.

   Temari and Sakura entered his office, both of them looked uncomfortable.

   "Sakura-san, how are the repairs going? Do the patients have everything they need?" Gaara questioned the pink haired ninja.

   "Oh, um, well. I'll be leaving the village tomorrow now that we've eliminated the virus..." Sakura shifted uncomfortably and looked over at Temari.

   Gaara's forehead creased in confusion as he looked between the two Kunoichi. He cleared his throat. "Was there something else?"

   Sakura eyed Temari who took a deep breath and slammed both hands down on his desk. This again? What did I do wrong this time?

   "Something the matter Temari?" Gaara asked hesitantly.

   Temari's face was red and her mouth pulled tight. When she tried to speak it didn't come out, "D-d-d-did..."

   Sakura jumped in, "There's been this weird rumor going around the village Lord Kazekage."

   Gaara's stomach tightened. Uh, I think I know where this is going.

   Temari finally got her courage up. "W-w-when you went to retrieve Uta-san and came back... Multiple people said they saw you only wearing a cloak!"

   Gaara laughed awkwardly and slid down in his seat.

   "T-t-that's not true, right?" Temari's voice broke on the last word.

   "Ah ha ha... No, that's true," Gaara admitted.

   Temari's and Sakura's mouths fell open in unison. Yesterday after Mizu had agreed to stay, they'd walked back to the village in silence. He only had her cloak to keep him covered and Yoki stood in-between them on the way back making it hard to talk. When they'd gotten back to the village, he'd gone straight home, but needless to say he attracted a lot of attention walking through the village practically naked. His big sister removed her hands from his desk and stood there dumbfounded.

   Sakura recovered first. "Um, Lord Kazekage... Lady Temari was wondering how this came about? When you left the village weren't you... you know... fully clothed?"

   Gaara didn't know how to answer this question. He hadn't told them about Shikkan or asked Mizu, now that she was free, if she even wanted to divulge her past. If he tried to answer the question, there would be gaps in his story.

   "They... melted," Gaara finally explained.

   "MELTED!" Both women shouted at his statement.

   "H-h-how?" Temari asked petrified.

   Gaara sighed, he should have figured that this wouldn't be a good enough explanation. "I... can't tell you that."

   Temari and Sakura looked at one another, Sakura smiled awkwardly before saying, "That... sounds adventurous."

   Temari rolled her eyes. "It sounds gross."

   Gaara tilted his head confused about what they meant. "No, it was mostly painful."

   His audience blushed at his statement. What? What did I say?

   Sakura cleared her throat. "Uh, um, well... If done wrong I guess it can be... or if you're into that sort of thing."

   What are they talking about?