Desert Petals.
Summary: After being sent on a long mission to Suna with Sakura's dream boy Sasuke, she is determined to show him how much she's changed since Squad Seven. But what will happen when she makes friends with Gaara and Sasuke starts getting jealous of an innocent friendship? SakuraXSasuke SakuraXGaara
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with it.
Warnings: This story has been rated M for later chapters and will include lemon. There is also bad language and cussing. Now enough with the warnings and on with the story!
Chapter 1: Sakura Haruno
It was a warm morning day and dawn had just broken. The air was crisp and light and the wind gently caressed the trees. A young pink haired girl opened her eyes and blinked in the early morning sunlight letting them adjust. She yawned and brushed a few stray hairs out of her eyes before rolling over and glancing at her battered old alarm clock. Sakura Haruno was known for having a short temper and even her alarm clock could not escape her wrath. '6.00am' Sakura thought to herself, groaning inwardly. 'I woke up before the alarm today.'
She sighed heavily and heaved herself out of bed. She knew she would never get back to sleep now. She shuffled slowly towards the shower stifling a yawn and shook her head a few times in an effort to try and remember what she had to do today. Sakura opened and locked the door quietly so as not to wake her neighbours and stripped down, carelessly discarding her pyjamas on the floor. As she stepped under the hot water she finally started to wake up and found herself relaxing.
Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she cried out. "Shit! I've got to meet the Hokage this morning for a top secret meeting!"
She tore the shampoo through her hair and scrubbed quickly. She jumped out the shower and didn't even bother drying herself properly. She wrapped a towel around her dripping slim figure and ran back to her bedroom just as the snooze on her alarm started beeping. So she hadn't woken up before the alarm after all.
There were other people stirring in the neighbouring apartments now. They were making their usual clumsy-early-morning noises, and the smell of coffee permeated the air.
'I'm going to be late!' she thought desperately.
Luckily she had been thinking the previous night and had already laid out her clothes on the elegant black chair in front of her dresser. She dropped the towel and dressed at top speed in her usual pink attire and sped downstairs.
As she passed the kitchen she considered having breakfast and cursed herself for wasting precious seconds thinking about food. She took one step towards the door until her stomach growled in protest at the thought of skipping yet another meal. Too tired and late to argue with herself Sakura skidded into the small kitchen and started scanning around for something she could eat quickly and on her way. Her eyes focused on the fruit bowel and the diet bars next to it. She grabbed the small bar and an apple and ran out of the house before she could think of any other reason to stay there.
As she ran through Konoha in the early morning, she couldn't help but think how happy she was here. The sun really seemed to shine brighter on this village and it warmed and fed the hearts of everyone living there.
As the Hokage's tower loomed into view she picked up the pace and focused chakra in her legs. 'I can't make myself look bad at this meeting, or it will confirm to everyone that Naruto put me in this position because I'm his friend and not because I earned it!'
Sakura had been put at the head of the medical ninja unit. Her job was hard, tiresome and she had a lot of responsibilities, but she loved it. Hard work was something Sakura never shied away at, and she had made great changes in the medical field which had helped save countless lives. But still some people believed her connection to the Hokage had gotten her this position and she was determined to prove them wrong.
She burst into the Hokage's office, out of breath and panting hard. "I'm.... so sorry.... I'm late!" Sakura gasped in between breaths.
"Ah, Sakura!" Hokage Naruto Uzumaki yelled. "I knew you would make it!"
Sakura smiled at how full of energy he was at this time in the morning and leaned against the double doors steadying herself.
"Humph," came a quiet disdainful noise from the desk in front of Naruto. Sakura lifted her jade eyes and her heart rose into her mouth. Leaning casually against the desk was none other than Sasuke Uchiha. Unlike Sakura his hair was perfectly groomed his composure perfectly calm. The absolute pinnacle of perfection.
Sakura looked sheepishly at the floor and felt the colour rise in her cheeks. 'Why can I never think of anything to say to him?!' Sakura panicked.
"Um, Good morning Sasuke." She smiled at the handsome Uchiha and he continued staring at the window indifferently. Naruto's face fell and Sakura quickly added in an overly sunny voice "Good morning to you to Hokage". Naruto hadn't missed it though and he sat back down looking somewhat crestfallen.
Sakura mentally started hitting herself in the head. How could she have forgotten that Naruto was in love with her? He always got really down whenever Sakura showed favouritism with Sasuke.
Sakura sighed inwardly. Over the years she had changed from hating Naruto and thinking he was a complete idiot, to someone who was her friend and someone she respected; not just as Hokage but as a person too. She didn't want to cause him any pain so she tried to show indifference between the two, but just seeing Sasuke when she wasn't expecting him... Well that was enough to make her forget Naruto was in the room. She tried to walk with as much grace as she could muster while still tired from running and stood next to Sasuke. She tried to play it cool but her eyes couldn't resist flicking shyly at Sasuke's handsome face. Sasuke didn't look at her once but he seemed aware she was watching him. He sighed again, shook his head and stared pointedly at Naruto.
Sakura felt her heart standstill, and it felt like the air had been knocked out of her lungs. It may have been only a small gesture but Sakura knew what Sasuke was telling her. He wasn't interested. In fact he wouldn't even be standing next to her if he wasn't at this top secret meeting with the Hokage. She stood there sadly and turned her attention to Naruto. If she was hoping he would have made her feel better she was mistaken. She felt guilt wrack her body as her eyes saw the hurt he was in.
'Great start to the day I'm having,' Sakura thought angrily. 'First I make an idiot out of myself in front of Sasuke and then I upset Naruto.'
Naruto quietly shifted through some papers on the desk until he found the ones detailing the mission. He plastered his trademark grin on his face and handed a copy to both Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto started talking but Sakura wasn't paying attention. She could tell Naruto's smile was just a front and she felt for him. She knew how painful it was having the person you were in love with ignore you.
Naruto's voice pierced her thoughts. "Sakura! Hello? Sakura!"
"Oh! Yes! Right! Um what were you saying again?" Sakura asked sheepishly.
Naruto sighed. "You're really not with it today Sakura. What is it? Miss out on breakfast again?"
"Oh, no! I let my thought's get carried away with me. I'm so sorry Naruto please continue."
"I'll start again just to make sure Sakura knows what she's doing."
Naruto paused and took a deep breath.
"Sakura and Sasuke. You have both been assigned to deliver some important documents to Suna. As there are many villages that would wish to break the bond between the leaf and the sand, you understand that this is an S ranked mission. You may not run into any trouble but there is always a chance." He shifted for a second as if steeling himself to say something. "You two are my dearest friends and I don't wish to hide anything from you. However. These documents are for the Kazekage's eyes alone. You must not open them."
"We will be discreet," said Sasuke quietly.
"Good! You will be accompanied by Kakashi-sensei as squad leader. So! That's all there is to it! On the pieces of paper I have given you are the finer points of the mission. Please memorise it and then destroy it."
"Understood!" Sakura and Sasuke said in unison.
"Right then, you will be meeting Kakashi-sensei at the front gates in one hour from now. Are there any questions?"
He glanced at Sasuke who shook his head, then gazed intently at Sakura. She just smiled blandly and copied Sasuke's reaction. Naruto made a motion as if he was going to get out of his chair but thought better of it at the last minute. He sat back down and smiled heavily at the pair.
"Ok then. Have a great trip!"
Taking this to mean that they were dismissed, Sakura and Sasuke turned and left the office.
They walked side by side, Sasuke looking casually cool and Sakura with a pink tinge on her cheeks, looking flustered. Her heart thudded somewhere in her throat and there was a violent tornado of butterflies in her stomach. She could feel the fiery blush on her cheeks and she ran her hands through her still damp hair trying to wrestle her emotions back into order.
Sakura was mentally trying to think of something to say to break the silence when Sasuke started off down another path. "Sasuke! Wait!" she said.
"What is it?" he asked, his cold eyes washing over her.
"Um, I just wondered if we should help each other get ready. You know? Or perhaps discuss the route to Suna we should take? Or help each other memorise our mission details?" She was rambling now and Sasuke was looking at her with contempt.
"Sakura. We will get ready faster on our own. We have been to Suna before; we'll take the same route we did as squad seven. And don't even pretend to me that you're dumb. You're the leader of the medical ninjas. You're smart enough to memorise mission details without my help. Plus you should already have given the details a once over at the Hokage's office. You should know the basic gist of what we're doing."
Sakura's emotions fell and the buzz she felt at being alone with Sasuke had died. She felt the familiar punch in the gut and her heart sunk from her mouth into somewhere beyond her toes. Her mouth was dry and her eyes stung as she felt the tears begin to pool into her emerald orbs. She opened her mouth to say something more but Sasuke cut across her.
"There is nothing we can do together. There is nothing I want us to do together. Just leave me alone Sakura. I'm going to have to put with how annoying you are while we're on this mission; I'd rather not do it in my spare time too."
Before she could protest he ran off. Sakura felt the sadness cloak her and she stifled her tears. 'After all this time he still thinks I'm annoying,' she thought quietly. She berated herself for thinking about Sasuke now. 'What am I doing? I have so much to get sorted before I leave.' Her green eyes, which were glazed over with a thin layer of tears, found the paper in her sweating, shaking hand. She had to memorise this immediately.
She sprinted back to her small apartment on the top floor. She fumbled for her keys in her kunai pouch and dropped three of the sharp weapons in the process. Cussing loudly Sakura scrambled onto the floor picking them up and threw them carelessly back where they came from. She found the unhelpful keys which were located conveniently at the bottom of the pouch. She shoved the silver key into the lock and kicked the black door open hard. She stomped over to her cheap sofa and sat down roughly. Damn she hated this old thing. She couldn't wait for her next pay cheque when she would be able to finally banish this crappy sofa to the dump where it belonged. She brought her mission details into focus as she tried to relax.
{- VILLAGE HIDDEN IN THE LEAVES -}
MISSION ID: 402840/S
SQUAD LEADER: KAKASHI HATAKE - JONIN
SQUAD MEMBERS: SASUKE UCHIHA - JONIN
SAKURA HARUNO – JONIN
MISSION DETAILS FOR SQUAD MEMBERS:
THE DOCUMENTS ARE TO BE GIVEN DIRECTLY TO THE KAZAKAGE.
THEY MUST NOT BE OPENED.
ONCE THE DOCUMENTS ARE HANDED TO THE KAZAKAGE HE WILL PROVIDE ACCOMODATION.
THIS SQUAD IS TO SERVE THE KAZAKAGE UNTIL THE SQUAD HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY RELEASED.
AT SUCH A TIME THE KAZAKAGE WILL HAND AN OFFICIAL NOTICE OF RELEASE TO THE SQUAD LEADER WHICH IS TO BE HANDED IN DIRECTLY TO THE HOKAGE.
TIME FRAME: UNTIL THE SQUAD HAS BEEN RELEASED BY THE KAZAKAGE.
Underneath the mission details was the Hokage's stamp of approval.
Sakura sucked in her breath quickly and sat up straight. She was going away on a mission that had no time scale to it. Why hadn't Naruto mentioned this at briefing? Sakura began mentally beating her head and answered herself angrily. 'Because you idiot, you always read the papers during the briefing! That's why Naruto looked so sad to see me leave. He even asked me if I had any questions! Grrr! Sasuke Uchiha! Why did you have to be there too?'
She'd accepted the mission and there was no way she could have backed out of it now. Miserably she packed a small rucksack of clothes and swung the plain brown bag on her back. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'At least I'll be with Sasuke.' At this cheerful thought she perked up enough to glance at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was still angry at her for getting out of bed so early and stuck out at odd angles. She tore a brush quickly through her soft pink hair and sprayed a little hair spray on to keep it looking neat.
She sighed at her boring green sofa and stepped outside her apartment. Remembering to lock the door she safely put the key away in its usual place at the top of her kunai pouch. She sprinted to the hospital to make arrangements for her absence; and take her mind off the dark handsome Uchiha.
A/N: I've had the idea for this story buzzing around my head for a long time and I've finally decided to put my ideas down. I've dabbled in fanfics before but this is the first one I'm actually going to sit down and do. I've already decided that this will be the first of two books and you will see why I've done that when it's complete. Any kind of reviews would be helpful; I'm always looking to improve. I will not be changing any of the plots though or any of the pairings. Plot suggestions are welcome but I will bear them in mind when I come to write something new. I only work on one fic at a time so the next chapter should be up soon.
- Ashes