Disclaimer: I don't own anything
I really don't know why I wrote this one, I just did. I hope you enjoy it.
Interest
You have always interested me, Sakura. At first I didn't know why. Was it your pink hair? Or was it because I waited for a cherry blossom to become a desert rose? Or maybe it was the look in your jade eyes. When I charged at the Uchiha, intent on killing him, you stood in my way. You glared at me when others would have cowered in fear. Even after I pinned you to a tree, you stared me in the eyes before you dropped your head in defeat. I saw a different look in your eyes. But what was it exactly? What did I see for those few seconds as I stared into your jade orbs? I saw determination… or maybe it was caring. It was determination to save a fellow teammate… a friend.
Friend. What is a friend? In my entire life I have never had a friend. When I was younger all of the other children would call me a 'monster' and run away. Why couldn't they see that I just didn't want to be alone anymore? That all I ever wanted was for someone to care about me. But no one ever did, no one ever cared about me. My mother cursed me with her last breath; my father, brother and sister all feared me. I had thought that my uncle cared for me. But did he?! My uncle tried to kill me, saying that no one loved me.
Love? Was that the reason why you protected the Uchiha? Did you love him? Why? Why!? Why would you love him when all he did was ignore you? Why didn't you leave him, or forget about love? Did you think that he would ever love you in return… ever acknowledge you? Why did you persist in chasing the Uchiha?
Do you remember when the Uchiha left you and his village? You were devastated, so devastated that you came to me for help. It was then that I saw the different look in your eye. This one was so empty, so full of hurt. Maybe that was why I helped you. I knew what it felt like. I knew what that emptiness felt like. Perhaps I didn't want another to go through what I went through.
But then, later that night I found myself asking myself, why do I care? I stared at the moon constantly thinking, trying to figure it out. Why did I care about how you felt? I was the 'monster' that only loved himself. So why did I care? For the longest time I couldn't answer that one simple question. The more time you spent with me and my siblings, the more I found myself lost in your jade orbs. I often found myself staring at you, or thinking about you when I didn't mean to. But the more I thought about you the more that hole in my heart filled, and the less lonely I felt. And as time went by I saw the sparkle return to your eyes, they were once again filled with happiness.
I had helped heal that hole in your heart and at the same time, you helped heal mine. When I asked you why you said, "I don't see a monster." You were one of the first people to say that, not including my siblings. You didn't see a monster, you saw past the cold shell that I was. When I asked you what you saw you had answered, "I see a boy who went through pain that no boy should have gone through." At first I wondered why you cared, just like I wondered why I cared about you. But then it hit me as you lay against my chest. After all of the years I've known you. For the first time in my life I can honestly say…
"I love you, Sabaku no Gaara."
"I love you too… Sabaku no Sakura."
