Dragging You Down

I'll make this simple and just say R&R. Thanks muchly.

I don't own Naruto. Even though you probably know that by now.

Gaara glared at the little pink haired girl laughing, talking with Naruto. How he hated her so much. He couldn't take his eyes of her, and the little bitch didn't return even a glance in his direction. Most people noticed him, noticed him with reverence and fear, yet she was different. Sakura. A fragile, beautiful cherry blossom.

He, in a way, loved her, with her fiery temper, and her beauty. But Gaara loathed the other side of her, the nice, caring, polite, gentle, kind side of her. It sickened him.

But what was such a beautiful flower doing in Suna? Surely she wouldn't stay long. The only flowers that survived in the desert were harsh, ugly things. She'd leave for sure. But Gaara could change that…

You're trying to hunt me down in the hope that I'll give in…

Sakura laughed as she turned away from Naruto.

"See you later!" She yelled back at him.

"Wait! Sakura-chan?" He called her back, his hand extended.

"Yes?" She spun around to face him again.

"Uh… Nevermind. See you later then!" He walked off in the opposite direction. They were staying at almost opposite sides of the city, Sakura with Ino and Naruto by himself.

Sakura sighed and kept going, walking down the next street to get to the small flat they were renting. It was getting dark… Sakura looked around the street nervously and hurried her pace. Something was making her feel uneasy.

"Are you in a hurry?" An ominous voice came out of the shadows.

"Who is that?" Sakura demanded.

"No one…" Gaara stepped out of the shadows of the street.

"You?- You!" She realised.

"Yes. Me." He said dryly. He took a step towards her, and laughed when she flinched. "Why do you hang around with such a loser?" He asked her, moving slowly forwards.

"What? You mean Naruto? He's my friend. But you would understand about friends." She said, angry at being stopped by him. "So just leave me alone." She turned away from him and started walking away.

"I heard him say something very interesting last night… maybe you would like to know what he said?"

Sakura stopped in her tracks. There was just something about the way he said it… He moved up behind her and she flinched as he grabbed her shoulders and leant down, whispering in her ear.

"He said that he never really liked you… Not even as a friend. That he was just jealous of that Sasuke kid, because you liked him so much. He said he didn't even like you now that you stopped liking Sasuke. He even went so far to say that you…" He lowered his voice so that she could hardly even hear. "Were such an idiot to believe that he really liked you."

He was enjoying himself now, causing havoc in the girls mind.

"He said that he was annoyed that you were such a heavy burden on the team, you always were so useless. And still are."

"You… You're lying!" Sakura shouted at him.

"Its true." Gaara spun her around to face him.

"I hear everything." He whispered, and laughed at her. "You can go on living in blissful ignorance if you want. I just thought you should know."

"Bastard." Sakura muttered and brought her hand up to slap him. She was stopped by a tendril of his sand, coarse and grainy on her hand.

"Too slow." He muttered, turning around and walking away, chuckling to himself.

Sakura walked back to the apartment slowly, tears glistening as she analysed what he had told her. The worst thing was that it made sense. Sakura hung her head as she walked in the door, going straight to her bed without even bothering to get changed. She buried her face in the pillow, clutching her head in her hands.

Silhouetted in the moonlight, Gaara watched from outside with a maniacal grin on his face.

She's mine…

Still the darkness draws me deeper in, just like a trap…

Ino came into the room the next morning, laughing.

"Get up you lazy ass." She walked over to Sakura's bed. "We need to go see some more shit with Naruto this morning."

Sakura grunted, taking a moment to wake up more fully.

"Alright, alright." She grumbled, getting up to get dressed. Ino sighed and shook her head, walking out of the room.

On their walk to meet Naruto, Sakura could swear she saw flashes of red hair, following them wherever they went., but she shook it off, putting it down to paranoia.

"You're quiet today…" Ino commented. "Something wrong?"

Sakura shook her head still silent. "I just… didn't get enough sleep."

Ino nodded, though suspicious.

"Man you're worse than Kakashi!" Naruto commented restlessly as they arrived at their rendezvous point.

"Hah…" Sakura laughed weakly, struggling to keep from yelling at him at the top of her voice.

Ino gave her a funny look and they hurried on, further into the desert city.

Naruto paused and turned back towards Sakura, who was walking along with her head bowed.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" He asked, puzzled.

"Whats wrong?" She asked, her anger getting the best of her. "Don't act as if you don't know whats wrong, you lying little bastard! You-"

What a scene to be making in the middle of a public place. Sakura's common sense finally kicked in and she stopped mid sentence, turning and running back. Just back. She ran, blinded by tears, and eventually stopped. She wasn't sure wear she was but at least she was away from Naruto, and her raging anger.

In the silent street, she came back down to earth.

A tear leaked from the corner of her eye. "Shit… What have I done?" She murmured to herself.

"Come on, you can't say it wasn't fun, can you?" A soft voice came from the shadows. Gaara.

"You." Sakura said, as before. "Get out of my life you bastard." She said in a low voice, laced with malice. She glared at the ground.

Gaara took a step towards her, smirking. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. She gritted her teeth and glared at him.

"Can you tell me that wasn't fun?" He asked again, coolly.

"Yes I bloody well can!" Sakura shouted at him, smacking his hand away from her as she lost her cool.

"Hah." Gaara laughed, still as emotionless as ever. "You're so cute when you're angry." He commented.

"Cute?! What has that got to do with anything?" She asked him. He moved over to her left and she resisted the urge to follow him with her eyes, still staring straight ahead.

"Much cuter that that Ino person..." He whispered.

"Huh?" Sakura said, quietened. "What did you say?" She asked softly.

Gaara smirked. So predictable. "She's such a bitch… And ugly too. Why are you even friends with her?" He asked, his voice low and beguiling.

"Well… she was nice to me…" She said hesitantly.

"Was she?"

The simple phrase uttered by the sand ninja was enough for Sakura's doubt to set in.

"See you around…" Gaara found it was a good time to stalk off into the darkness.

"L-leave me alone!" Sakura shouted half heartedly into the shadows. But she knew it was a lie to say that. For some bizarre reason, she wanted to see him again...

He was right... She couldn't help thinking. That was fun…

Sakura snuck into her room when she got back to avoid any conversation with Ino.

But as she lay in bed trying to sleep, her dark side set in, encouraged by her little guardian devil. Gaara.

But now I've got you here I'll never lead you back…

Sakura woke up, bitter and angry from her night of silent anger. The first thing she'd do was go and give Io a piece of her mind. She felt normal for long enough just to think- Is this what Gaara feels? She seemed to be dwelling on him during the night. Bizarrely, a good thought amidst too many bad ones. This puzzled her…

As Sakura entered the kitchen, she spotted Ino in there and other thoughts were pushed out of her head. For the first time in her life, she had an urge to hurt something, someone… Ino noticed her and turned to talk to her, but didn't manage to, as Sakura slapped the blonde as hard as she could, With this, and another punch, Ino crumpled on the floor. All Sakura did was smirk. She sat down calmly and ate breakfast, as if nothing had ever happened. But she calmed down… What the hell have I done? Tears sprang to her eyes as she avoided looking at her unconscious friend as she raced out the door, into the same part of town she had been in the last night, the same street. She walked down it restlessly, looking around nervously.

"Come on, come on, I know you're here…" She murmured, half to herself.

"Why?" The voice made her jump, even though she was expecting it. "Do you think I'm following you?" Gaara's laugh sent shivers up Sakura's spine. But fear, or something else… she couldn't tell.

"I-I need your help…" She said, tears flowing silently down her cheeks.

"How?" He asked, almost expressionlessly. Though this was what he had been waiting for.

"Please… Take me away. Anywhere, just away…" She sobbed. She was hurting everyone she was ever close to. She needed to get away from her conscience, hurting her with constant words of guilt.

"Certainly, Sakura-hime. My desert princess…" He purred, surprising Sakura by leaning forwards and pressing his lips against hers.

It was only when he took her hand to lead her away, that Sakura realised she was his. Forever.