Sakura bounced on the balls of her feet, slamming first her right then her left fist into the punching bag. She didn't even allow herself a drop of self-pride when the chain holding up the bag snapped, the heavy bag crashing to the floor with a loud slam.

"Cheap shit." She grumbled, moving onto the next available bag to continue to work on her punches. She had spent the last hour on her kicks, and was now switching over to strengthening her hands. She shook her head back and forth as she punched, pumping herself as the music from her beaten iPod flooded into her ears and kept her movements fast and precise. Though her kicks were stronger, punches gave her more of a rush when they connected with the body of her opponent. She took a break, stepping away from the bag with a sigh and walking over to the benches where her bag was. She dug through it, pulling out a water bottle and chugging down half of it in a quick motion. As she did so, she surveyed her body. She was extremely muscular compared to most girls that were fifteen. Most of them were more focused on their damn make up than 'icky' muscle.

Other than the remaining bruising on her jaw from a hard uppercut she had gotten while practicing with one of the guys at the gym, she was actually clear of injuries. She smiled. Without any injuries, she would be able to take on another one of the guys in a practice fight. While she preferred real fights, she was still being considered a rookie despite her skills and wasn't allowed to officially participate.

She took pulled out her headphones, gathered her stuff, and jammed it into her bag, giving the occasional nod to someone as she walked through the falling apart gym that she practically lived at. A friend of her father's owned the place and allowed her to stay as long as she wanted since he knew her father well enough to understand her wanting to stay away from home. She owed hundreds of nights under a roof to that man and that was the only reason she hadn't knocked his lights out for keeping her out of the official ring. Well, not really official since the fighting was done in an illegal club where several people died a year because a fight only ended when a fighter tapped out, but not counting that…

She entered Joel's office and dropped her bag in a chair across from the one Joel was seated in behind his desk, eyeing her carefully.
"Just a bruise from that uppercut. Set me up for a fight." She was always pretty blunt about what she wanted, not dancing around her point. Joel simply nodded, standing up and not even glancing back at her as she followed him back out into the gym where he looked around for a moment.

"Naruto, Kiba, get out of the ring." He snapped, opening up the ring for her fight. The two boys did as they were told, quickly moving out of the ring. Joel marched through the gym, studying each male carefully, looking back at Sakura, then moving to the next one. Eventually, he stopped in front of a chubby boy with long brown hair that went down to the bottom of his ears and covered his eyes.

"Oh fuck no, not Kankuro. You know he can barely throw a punch." Sakura growled, not accepting Joel's pathetic match. She heard Joel grunt, but he moved on none the less. To her delight he moved over towards the more experienced fighters. He eyed them up for a minute or two, simply staring at them.

"Gaara, Sakura, in the ring." Sakura felt a broad grin spreading across her face when Joel said this. Maybe he was finally taking her seriously. "You want a serious fight, you got one. I want to see you giving him a good fight, or you're stuck with Kankuro for your next three fights." That was high stakes for Sakura. Her fights were the only things that made her happy and threatening to ruin them was walking on the thin line between punishment, and a death wish for the one doing it to her.

The red head stepped forward, his arms crossed over his chest and his jade eyes staring straight ahead. "Do I have permission to use all my tactics?" He asked, obviously doubting Sakura. He had seen her fight before and admitted to himself she was good, but good against him was no match.

"Of course!" Sakura snapped; her fists clenched as she spoke.

Sakura POV

I walked over to the ring and climbed in, ignoring the excited and some scared expressions on the faces of the spectators who included the gym members and staff. My fights were a big deal for some reason and when I fought everyone dropped what they were doing and came to watch. I didn't really care for an audience, just another distraction, but I knew it was a sign of weakness to ask people to leave because they were 'bothering you'. I watched Gaara as he entered behind me, fists raised and his body in a fighting stance.
The bell that signaled the beginning of the fight chimed and Gaara wasted no time, moving forward and throwing a fast right that was aimed towards my side. I jerked up a leg and blocked the punch, continuing the motion by swinging my leg out towards him. I managed to land a kick on his hip, but almost instantly his hand was wrapped around my ankle. He held it in a bone-crushing hold, smirking as the sound of cracking emitted from the section he held. I then made a move he hadn't been expecting. I just dropped to the ground, my back slamming against the mat. I used the foot in his hold to flip him over my body. I moved swiftly, getting over him and wrapping my legs around his neck. I was hoping he would pass out and give the fight a nice ending, but he obviously had other plans. He bucked upwards, throwing me forward and slamming my head into his. I was dizzy and dazed for a couple seconds and he took the opportunity. He moved out from under me and started kicking me ruthlessly. I heard, with a sickening crunch, several of my ribs give way under his kicks. That infuriated me. I was going to have to take longer breather between exercises because of this dumb injury. I was on my feet in a second, ignoring the searing pain in my chest. I thrust out a fist, landing a punch on his jaw with a satisfying crack. He then returned the favor, punching my upper arm to weaken my punches.

This continued on for several minutes, us exchanging punches. I was going for an uppercut, similar to the one I had received in my previous fight, but in going this I left my already injured side open. He was faster than I expected and in a second his foot knocked me to the floor, a muffled scream escaping my lips as I bit down on them. He then smashed his foot into my head, stars and darkness creeping into my vision. Another ding echoed through the ring, signaling the match was over.

A blond was instantly by my side, lifting me up and putting my arm around his shoulders. Naruto was one of the few people I tolerated, and I somehow even managed to enjoy the presence of the hyperactive fighter. The way he always appeared when I was in trouble may have helped.

"Sakura? Geez, don't tell me he broke your fucking ribs! Gaara I am so gonna kill you in our match later!" Naruto shouted, dragging me over to one of the benches. He leaned my head back against the wall and I let out a low whimper as my aching head gently knocked against the cinderblock wall. "Christ Sakura, concussion too? This'll take so long to bandage up I won't be able to kick Gaara's ass!" He said good-naturedly. I managed to form a small smile on my lips and tried to laugh, but was then sharply reminded of my injured chest. I sucked in a breath and tried to stop breathing so the burning would stop.

"Tsunade? Come on, Sakura was in another practice fight. Gaara. HEY! I DIDN'T- okay. See you soon." I barely registered he was talking to Tsunade on his cell before the darkness that had been lingering at the edge of my vision moved in, taking over.

Gaara POV
I watched as Sakura blacked out on the bench, that smile she had managed for Naruto on her lips. I had a split lip, a broken nose, and tons of bruises. This girl was better than I gave her credit for. She is never going to get any better if Joel keeps refusing her a mentor. I thought, watching as Naruto pulled off her shirt leaving her in a black sports bra. I winced at the blooming bruising that covered the right side of her chest now. Naruto paused in his work to glare back at me before brushing his hands over her chest to count the broken ribs. I continued to watch as he examined her and still watched when Tsunade arrived and took over. Naruto watched Tsunade for a minute before walking over to me. "She's got three broken ribs, a concussion, a possibly broken ankle, and tons of bruises. Couldn't you have held back a little?" He grumbled, watching the pink haired girl with a frustrated expression.

"You know she would have hated that." I answered, taking the time to study the girl. She had long pink hair that reached her lower back, her bangs swept to the side so they covered most of her right eye. She had extremely pale skin, probably from practically living in the gym, a thin and delicate (well…maybe not delicate) body, and muscles padding her body. One thing I had always found odd about her though, was that she always wore arm wrappings. They went from her knuckles to her elbows and even when she wore long sleeves and wasn't training, she still had them on. "Naruto, what's up with those wrappings on her arms? I never see her without them." Naruto seemed to pale at my question, only adding to my curiosity.

"Don't ask Sakura about them, alright? I can't tell you about them, but I promise to fucking kill you if you ask her." He growled quietly, causing my small eyebrows to rise. What the heck was going on with this odd girl? I had always known she was weird since when she was seven and she would show up at the gym with bruises, leaving with even more. I didn't get how she already had bruises, but I had always shrugged it off. I also wondered why she always became angry at mention of her home and why no one at the gym had ever seen her family. She was a mystery to me. "Okay?" Naruto asked, regaining his relaxed and happy sounding attitude.

"Whatever." I turned and headed towards the locker rooms, grabbing a towel and my bag as I walked over to the showers. I turned on the water and stripped down, letting the steaming water fall to my skin and rinse away the sweat. What the hell is up with that girl? Hates her family, nobody has ever seen them, has weird wrappings on her arms, and Naruto is extremely protective of her. I knew they got along, but not this well. I turned off the water, getting out of the shower and putting on a pair of jeans with a black t-shirt. I picked up my bag and dried off my hair with my towel as I walked back into the main gym.

Sakura was still out cold on the bench, Tsunade crouched in front of her with a very concerned expression. I walked up behind her, clearing my throat when I was right beside her. She turned to me and glared. "I'm going to need some help bandaging her up and getting her to somewhere she can sleep. I told Naruto to leave because I thought I could do this alone, but apparently you fucked her up worse than I thought." I helped move Sakura forward and, after some hesitation, moved the half-dressed girl so she was sitting on the bench with her head resting on my shoulder as I kneeled in front of her, my arms on her shoulders to steady her. Tsunade went around to her back to examine it and let out a string of curses.

"Damn kid! She lied! She has still got bruising and cuts all over her back!" Tsunade poked at the bruises, checking the extent of the damage. Sakura, her head on my shoulder and right next to my ear, groaned and pushed her head deeper into the crook between my neck and shoulder. I tensed, but a glare from Tsunade made my muscles relax so that Sakura would be more comfortable.

After half an hour of me holding Sakura and Tsunade bandaging her, the busty old woman was finally happy with how her fighter's wounds were dressed. "Alright, move the damn kid over to Joel's office. She told me she usually sleeps in his chair." I complied, putting on arm under Sakura's knees and the other under her upper back. I carried her into the office, setting her in the chair.

"Is it okay to leave her like this?" I commented, uncomfortable with leaving the pink haired girl unconscious, alone, and injured in the gym.

"Well you red-headed bastard, guess there are some emotions under that shell of yours. And no, I don't think we should, but I don't have room at my place. I always offered for her to live with me, but the brat refused. I couldn't convince her, so I ended up taking in several of the fighters here. Naruto, Shikamaru, and Lee are all staying with me. You got room wherever you're staying?" She asked. Since Sakura was out cold, we wouldn't have to take her kicking and screaming.

"I could accommodate her." I replied, picking up the girl again and walking back out to the main gym. I set Sakura down on one of the benches, put her and my bags over my shoulder, and then lifted her up once again. I was about to leave when I felt a hand on my arm. I turned to face Tsunade and watched her dead serious expression with interest.

"Gaara, Sakura sometimes has trouble sleeping. This includes insomnia, restless sleep, sleepwalking and nightmares. If she can't fall asleep, help her. If she is sleeping restlessly, comfort her. If she is sleepwalking, send her back to bed. If she had nightmares, call me right away." And then Tsunade just walked away, leaving me baffled.