Disclaimer: I, Annabelinda, admit to this being a fan-fic, and therefore, by definition, I could not possibly own the following characters or the show defined by these characters. I just get the liberty to make these characters do exactly what I want, aren't I so evil?
Please, Sakura, forgive me for pairing you up with Gaara, please forgive me! I know, it is totally crack and this pairing will never happen, but this is what has haunted me the past few nights, I just can't help it!
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The team of three Sand Ninjas moved stealthily through the forest, being quieter than mice during winter. They had one mission and one mission only.
"This girl of Konoha possesses a blood-limit, one she isn't aware of." The council leader stated. "This blood-limit, when used right, will cure our village problems."
Temari picked up the picture and glared at it. This girl looked familiar, extremely familiar. She handed the picture over to Kankuro, who looked at it for a second before passing it to Gaara.
Gaara took the picture from Kankuro. If he hadn't schooled himself in his emotions, Gaara would have long since dropped the picture with his mouth hanging open. He recognized the laughing girl in the picture.
She was in a field with tons of apple-trees, flower petals had begun to fall. Her pink hair swirled around her face, highlighting her emerald-like eyes twinkling in the sun. Gaara knew this girl alright. This was the girl who had stood in his way when Gaara had attempted to kill the Uchiha.
She had stood up against Gaara, glaring at him, daring him to hurt her. Gaara had hurt her, he had pushed her against a tree and threatened her with her life, but she hadn't seemed to regret sticking up for the Uchiha. Then, of course, Gaara had fought the Uzumaki Naruto kid, and been beaten.
"What is her name?" Gaara asked, his voice cold and void of emotion.
"Haruno Sakura, she is a med-nin apprentice to the Hokage. Nobody is aware of her blood-limit."
And with that, Gaara had stridden out of the room, his siblings right on his heels.
"…and that will be the plan." Gaara finished saying. Intelligence gathered by spies showed Team-Seven being in this area, returning from a mission, and now was the perfect opportunity to strike.
"I can hear them on the winds." Temari said, one of her hands resting on her fan. "We will collide in five minutes."
A mile away, Team-Seven had noticed the presence of three ninjas. "Are you sure, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.
"Yes, I am positive!" Sasuke growled, starting to get annoyed. Why had he returned to this stupid team again? "Three ninjas, and their chakra feels familiar."
"I still don't sense anything." Naruto mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for Sakura to hear.
They touched down in a clearing void of trees, except for a big thick stump that would fit five Choujis centered in the clearing. They would wait here and find out if the ninjas were a threat or not.
The three ninjas touched down on different trees. They all knew what to do. Keep the two boys busy, that was Kankuro and Temari's jobs. Gaara had eyes for nothing but Sakura.
He admired her, Gaara decided. She had stood up to him when her friends were in danger, even though Gaara could have killed her, if he had tried. Sakura was one of those people you never forgot. It wasn't the bubblegum hair or the way she always managed to pound a person into pulp, but the way she defended her friends. Gaara was envious.
Kankuro and Temari leapt from the trees and touched down to the ground. Immediately, Temari took out her fan and opened it to two moons, Kankuro, on the other hand, drew a puppet from nowhere, a deadly looking thing.
Protectively, almost, Sasuke and Naruto got in front of Sakura. If somebody hadn't known better, they would have thought the two boys were acting as a human shield. Drawing Kunai, Sasuke and Naruto began to stare down the other two ninjas.
Naruto ran toward Temari. "Kage no bunshin jetsu!" Five more Narutos appeared out of nowhere. Temari made a big sweep of her fan and knocked over two of them, the other four kept running at her. After a few more waves, there were only two Narutos, and they were to close for the fan. Temari immediately retracted it and began to use it as a close combat weapon, fending off Naruto's kunai attacks.
A few feet away, Sasuke was using his Sharingan to look for the puppet strings while dodging knife attacks. Sasuke had to be careful, if those hands got anywhere near him, he was toast. A needle came out of the puppets face and almost pricked Sasuke on the nose.
Gaara snuck along the trees until he was behind Sakura. Now, to draw her away from her team-mates. Gaara threw a kunai and made it come up three feet short. Sakura whirled around, making hair fall into her face, and glared at the spot Gaara had thrown from. She was curious now. Sakura drew some ninja-stars and gingerly took a step forward.
Gaara smiled, a few more steps and Sakura would walk onto the sand-trap. Sakura placed one-foot after the other before her, looking at the trees for any sign of movement. There wasn't any movement, which was weird. Then, Sakura felt the ground beneath her change.
Sand wrapped itself around Sakura's leg, forcing her further into the sand-trap. Soon, sand had traveled up her leg and was heading for her waist. Gaara made his appearance then, jumping from the tree and landing in front of Sakura.
Sakura's eyes lit up with surprise, showing the smallest amount of fear. "You?"
Gaara didn't bother answering, she knew who he was. He began to smirk, wasn't this the apprentice of the Hokage? Surely she wouldn't have chosen a stupid apprentice. But, what was Gaara to do?
"You will be coming with us." Gaara said, taking a step forward. He continued to look at those eyes; for some reason, they fascinated Gaara, like a cat with a mouse.
"Why?" Sakura asked. Her question went unanswered as Gaara took another step forward. She looked into his eyes. They showed no emotion, they were just blank. It was almost like the blank-look somebody had when spacing off, but these eyes were in the present. Jade orbs that went unblinking.
Eyes locked, each studying the other. Gaara continued coming forward, until his face was only inches from Sakura's.
A swooshing sound could be heard by the both of them. They turned their heads to see three kunai and two stars heading straight toward them. Before either could react, sand could be seen everywhere. It formed a cocoon of sand around both Sakura and Gaara, trapping them inside.
Naruto watched as the kunai he just threw missed Temari and headed in the direction of Sakura. When had Gaara revealed himself, and why was Sakura standing so close to him. Kankuro's puppet through two ninja-stars. Sasuke leaned backwards, dodging the stars, and watched upside down as they headed for Gaara's head.
The sand cocoon sprung into action and enveloped the two of them, cutting them off from everybody.
Naruto began to freak. "Sakura-chan?" he called, running toward the cocoon. Before his hand came an inch to it, sand stopped Naruto's hand. Right behind him, Sasuke was starring at the cocoon, as if it were a puzzle; Temari was looking at the sand thoughtfully, holding her chin and mumbling "…that wasn't part of the plan." while Kankuro just starred dumbstruck at the thing.
"What the hell is going on?" Naruto demanded from Temari.
She shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. "I have no idea."
Naruto turned to Kankuro, who hadn't moved. "How do we get Sakura out?"
Kankuro shook his head. "We don't, she comes out when Gaara releases the cocoon."
Sasuke held up his hand and began to perform his Chidori. "This worked last time."
"You can't do that!" Naruto yelled, jumping up and down frantically before Sasuke. "You will hurt Sakura-chan!"
"Are we just supposed to wait for that thing to release Sakura?" Sasuke retored.
Naruto looked behind him toward the sand-shield and nodded sadly.
But when would that be?
As soon as the gourd had closed around Sakura, she found herself enveloped in darkness. Terrified, Sakura stepped as far away from Gaara as possible, not ceasing her backwards walk until her back came up against the wall. She had only made it two steps away from Gaara.
"L-let me out!" Sakura commanded, trying to sound unafraid.
"I am trying!" Gaara growled through clenched teeth.
As her eyes became used to the darkness, Sakura could see Gaara with his face scrunched up, obviously concentrating on something. Although Sakura hadn't known Gaara well, she had never seen him quite like that, before. Struggling to think of something.
"But you are in control of the sand!" Sakura insisted.
"Not this time!" Gaara snapped, trying to get the girl to shut up.
He didn't understand, why was the sand doing this to him? It had never not listened to him before, so what was wrong with it now? Gaara glanced at the ninja huddled against the wall. She had a look of fear plastered across her face, and her eyes, those beautiful emerald eyes, showed it too.
So then why wasn't the sand listening to him? Did it have ulterior motives to trapping Gaara and Sakura in a cocoon together? Or maybe, the sand was doing what Gaara wanted after all.
Gaara vaguely remembered a moment while he was traveling, his siblings and he had just reached the grasslands, and Gaara had been thinking of the mission, devising a plan to capture Sakura, and thinking about her eyes. Sakura's eyes had sort of haunted him since he had almost crushed her to death. Those fierce eyes, the ones that had hated him, the ones that had pitied him, and the ones that had smiled when she had healed him. He had been thinking 'I wish I could study those eyes without others getting in the way.'
Well here he was, Gaara of the Dessert, trapped in a sand-shell with a terrified girl. He guessed he should at least make her calm down, before Gaara decided to kill her.
"I won't hurt you." He said quietly, retreating to the opposite end of the cocoon from her and sitting down leisurely.
"Then why did you guys start fighting us?" Sakura asked angrily, momentarily forgetting about her fear.
"We wanted you." Gaara told her.
Sakura blinked. "What? Me?"
"You!" Gaara confirmed, trying not to raise his voice. What was with this girl? Did she ever cease to ask questions?
"Why?"
"You possess a blood-limit you aren't aware of." Gaara told her, trying to keep his answer simple so she would stop with the questions.
Sakura snorted. "Hah, that is the funniest thing I have heard all day. Me with a blood-limit!? As if! Now Sasuke, he has an amazing blood-limit." She spoke with such admiration for the Uchiha that Gaara gagged.
"We traced lineages." Gaara said simply, "You are the only ninja with the blood-limit."
"So what did you guys want to use my 'blood-limit' for?" Sakura asked, lying back on the sand in a comfortable position.
"Your blood-limit can heal our village."
Sakura snorted again, but this time not about the blood-limit. "I would have come to help if you had asked me; we have a treaty you know!"
Gaara looked over at girl. "No."
Sakura out-right glared at Gaara. "No? I would have come! Of course, first I would have told you that I don't have a blood-limit."
Gaara shook his head. "You don't owe Suna anything."
"That doesn't matter!" Sakura argued, standing up swiftly and walking to the middle of the cocoon. "I would have helped! That is what neighbors do!"
Gaara eyed her. He was starting to get into the argument. "But we 'neighbors' killed your Hokage!"
Sakura brushed his comment off with a hand. "You were tricked by Orochimaru, it has happened to us all!"
"That doesn't justify our actions!"
"Fine, it doesn't! But we forgave you! Now, together, we are the strongest countries in military power."
"But why would you help?" Gaara asked again, "You don't owe us anything!"
"I would do it because I want to!" Sakura said, raising her voice.
"You aren't making sense!"
By now, Gaara had gotten up and stood near Sakura, glaring at her, just as she was doing to him.
"I am making perfect sense! It isn't my fault you aren't normal!"
Gaara began eyeing the ninja before him. He was really upset now! And yet, Gaara found himself looking at her eyes, those sea-green beings that seemed to let his emotions drift away.
Sakura looked up at Gaara, attempting to be imposing, even if she was a few inches shorter. She was looking into Gaara's eyes, trying to figure out just what his emotions were. He was mad, angry, hurt, and afraid, and then, it all just vanished, replaced by tranquil and peaceful eyes. What had just happened?
Gaara was leaning in, his eyes locked on hers. A million thoughts were running through Sakura's head, trying to understand what exactly was happening. Why was he leaning in?
Sakura reacted to him being so close, she couldn't help it. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips to Gaara's.
Gaara was surprised when Sakura closed her eyes, and even more surprised when Sakura pressed her lips to his. He didn't know what to do. This was exactly like one of those romance novels Temari loved to read aloud, dramatically talking about the kissing scenes. This moment was exactly like in one of her books, a kiss in a cave between two unknowing people.
When Gaara wasn't responding, Sakura began to pull back, blushing. What had she done? But hands suddenly grabbed Sakura's waist and brought her back. Gaara began to kiss her, really kiss her, and Sakura couldn't help but press herself to Gaara, wrap her arms around his neck, and kiss back.
They were both unaware when the sand fell away, revealing quite a sight to the shinobi outside. Naruto started screaming, Sasuke fumbled with his kunai before dropping them, Kankuro's jaw fell to the ground and his puppets crashed to the ground, and Temari was smirking, laughing, and awing all at the same time.
The two kissers pulled back for air. They opened their eyes simultaneously and noticed they could see the other clearly. Together, they looked up at the same time and saw the sky, and then looked over to see their teams starring.
Sakura blushed the color of her hair and attempted to hide. She dug her face into Gaara's chest, attempting to block out the people starring at her. Gaara, however, looked from Sakura to the ninja before taking a hand off Sakura's waist and commanding the sand.
The cocoon was instantly there again, leaving the other ninja to wonder what was happening behind the curtain of sand.
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I have absolutely no idea how to spell Kankuro's name, so please, bare with me on that. This is my first one-shot, my second/first Naruto fan-fic, fourth fan-fic, and my first post on Fanfiction. Hope everybody enjoyed it! I also just updated this, fixing the grammar problems. What can I say, last night I was really tired, but it wasn't my fault I couldn't sleep. So, I fixed it today, instead of doing homework, and now I am satisfied. Although I wish Miki and Su would shut up already! Miki just keeps going on and on about how much my plot sucks and Su wants to dust away the grammar mistakes. Where is Dia when you need her?
Again, forgive me Sakura, I just couldn't help it. Next time, I will pair you with Naruto or Sasuke, haven't decided which yet.
