Sensitively keep ahead of time, leaving area (8)
I believe the answer is:
tenderly
'sensitively' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'keep ahead of time leaving area' is the wordplay.
'keep' becomes 'tend'.
'ahead of time' becomes 'early' (I've seen this before).
'leaving' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'early' with 'a' removed is 'erly'.
'tend'+'erly'='TENDERLY'
(Other definitions for tenderly that I've seen before include "in affectionate manner" , "with compassion" , "In gentle and fond manner" , "in caring way" , "Gently, sympathetically" .)