101 ways to cause grievous bodily harm with a pencil.
She always sits under the cherry blossoms trees on the same bench, staring out into the abyss. She always raises her head and stares nostalgically at everyone who enters the village. As if she is waiting for someone. She does not smile. Most the time she is incredibly close to tears. Just waiting…
For the first couple of weeks, during my extended mission to Konoha, I would observe her. At first, due to her large chakra signature, I thought she would make a good sparring partner. However, when I saw who it was, I knew she would never come close to equating to my ability.
It started off as mere curiosity:
What is she doing?…
What was she staring at?…
Who is she waiting for?…
Then, it became an obsession. Watching her, observing her, protecting her.
For the first week I saw 'friend' after friend approach her with food, water, companionship, comfort. They came, and they went, seemingly harmless. However I noted the tight set of her jaw, her bottom lip plump from incessant biting, and the darting of her eyes, between her companion and the vague direction she was looking in. I knew she was uncomfortable. She didn't want their company, however she was too polite to ask them to leave her alone. She threw them empty smiles, and dealt with their company until they gave up and left.
During the second week, I began to halt her friends interruptions. Delaying them as much as possible. I used my sand to mess up the shallow blonde's hair, so she had to go home to fix it. I created a large wall blocking the stuttering girl from getting through. And finally I even created sand clones to distract the hyperactive blonde who thinks we are friends.
However, all those distractions were temporary. They all eventually got through, and they all eventually disturbed her sad, lonely peace. I didn't like that. Didn't like that they could just approach, and ruin her time, whilst I had to stand back and observe. She was resigned to letting her friends sit with her. She did it for reasons unknown to me. But still it irked me. Why were they allowed to approach with no fuss, yet I knew if I tried the same she would scream and run.
It then went from obsessing over her to needing to own her. If she wanted to ostracise herself from her friends, that was her choice. I would just help her a long the way. I began deterring the 'friends' in more prominent ways. The lazy cloud watcher got my top ten favourites from '101 to Cause Grievous Bodily Harm Using a Pencil', The green, annoying spandex man received the ten methods from the book that I knew, from experience, were easiest to perform including but not limited to a pencil straight up the nose.
By the third week her friends ceased coming altogether. Rumours were circulating of the monster lurking in the trees near the bench, however she remained oblivious. I found myself having urges during the third week. Urges to approach her. Urges to talk to her. Urges to at least find out her name. However I stayed put. I only strayed to scavenge for food to sit next to her when she fell asleep. I felt warm, fulfilled knowing that her newfound safety, and quiet was due to me.
On the fourth week something changed. One day, while I was looking for a suitable meal for her, she woke up. When I came back to the bench, she wasn't there. She had disappeared. I worried. I scanned the immediate area for her Chakra signature but could not find it. I ran through the city, searching for a glimpse of her pink hair, or a feel for her chakra patterns that I had practically memorised. Finally I found her. Sitting quietly next to Naruto, in the Ramen stand, eating a bowl of ramen.
Naruto was talking to her non-stop. Filling her in on the activities of Konoha during her hiatus. Suddenly, as I watched her give Naruto her first real smile since I first laid eyes on her four weeks ago, I froze. I felt my blood being pumped throughout my body, by my heart which was beating hard and erratically. My eyes narrowed involuntarily and my limbs stiffened.
That was my smile!! I helped her, I protected her, I cared for her! And I did it in the way she wanted! I left her alone, I helped her have her own space, and gain the solitude that she needed. And…
In the end it was for nothing. Because she would never look at me in the same way she looked at Naruto. She would never give me a genuine smile. I was the monster who received the smiles laced with fear.
I was nothing to her… I should have known. I was nothing to everyone.
I was pulled out of my reverie by my sand shield automatically deflecting a pale, outstretched hand, that I had failed to notice in my musings. The hand was attached to the pink haired girl. This was the first time I had seen her up close. Her short pink hair was matted, and oily, her green eyes were bloodshot, and she smelt stale from not having bathed in 4 weeks. She was beautiful.
She sent me a sad look.
"I'm sorry." She said quietly. "Naruto mentioned you don't like being touched… I forgot." She told me, never making eye contact.
I stared at her. Watched her eyes shift around uncomfortably. From the floor, to a chair, back to Naruto, and finally they rested on me. I saw sadness, I saw pain, I saw nervousness… I saw a multitude of emotions. However the one emotion she didn't have was fear. This gave me hope.
"I…" She mumbled, barely above a whisper, voice hoarse. "Umm…" She sighed. I stood watching her. My face impassive, waiting for the inevitable rejection.
"Thankyou." She said finally, with confidence. I stared at her in shock. "I don't think… I don't think I would have made it through the last month without you… You… Helped me in ways I could never repay. But, I will try. So, thankyou. Thankyou for being a good friend to a complete stranger." She finished with a smile. Not a sad smile, or a fake smile. But a real, happy, genuine smile.
"How did you know…?" I asked her curiously.
"I thought it was Naruto… But he told me the truth." She was staring at the floor again. I raised my arm, and placed it lightly under her chin and lifted it up, tilting her face to look me in the eyes.
In that exact moment I felt the shift. I went from complete stranger to something more in the duration of one glance.
"Gaara." I said. "I'm Sabaku no Gaara." I explained, to her confused face.
"Sakura." She answered, giving me another real smile.
Sakura… a Befitting name…
A/N I hoped you enjoyed. Please read and review.