Disclaimer: yeah, yeah. You know the deal.

Author Notes: Wow, I can't believe I got so many reviews! Thanks! Glad you guys liked it, and I hope you continue to. Anyways, here ya go:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I hate you!"

She hit him, her ring scratching deeply into the skin of his cheek. The cut was unintentional, she had forgotten she had a ring on, but Gaara did not know that.

'I'm dead meat.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gaara kept his head turned, eyes wide in what looked like surprise and confusion.

She stood in silence, shocked by her actions, seeing the result of it as blood trailing down his pale cheek. Then she remembered the sand he carried around in the large gourd strapped to his back. The sand didn't allow anyone to even get near him. Anyone stupid enough to try to attack him would quickly lose their life to that lethal sand. So… how was she able to hit him?

'Forget dead meat. We're a bloody, squishy pile of dead meat,' Inner Sakura said mentally eyeing the stunned Suna no Gaara warily with a raised brow.

'Yeah, like that's any better. Who asked for your opinion anyway?' Sakura thought bitterly.

'It's probably closer to the truth, though. Not much is left after his sand gets you. Forget the Boogey Man, Gaara would tear that freak to shreds in the time it would take him to grin maliciously. Just hope it's a quick death. And I don't need your permission to give my opinion,' she said haughtily inspecting her nails, 'I've got better ideas and if you just followed my lead now and then we'd be great!' Inner Sakura jumped up shaking a set of pom-poms.

'Ugh, useless,' she thought before ignoring her split personality completely. She was getting nervous just waiting to see what the redhead would throw at her in retaliation. They seemed to have been standing there forever. 'Maybe I killed him and post-mortem has set in.' Inner Sakura merely snorted at the absurd idea.

It was another moment before the boy moved. He turned back eyes closed, and she wondered how furious he was and how painful her death would be.

'At least you'll die at the powerful hands of a Demon Vessel, not some weak ninja,' Inner Sakura pointed out.

'Oh, yeah. That's reassuring,' Sakura felt like rolling her eyes but she wasn't going to risk taking her eyes off the sociopath before her.

'But it's true,' Inner Sakura humphed, 'We are so dead. Your fault by the way.'

Sakura growled silently to her multiple personality, 'We're the same person idiot. You're the one that expresses strong emotions.' The only response was a sheepish 'hehe.'

When the dangerous boy before her took her hand, Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin. He looked like he was as surprised as she that he was touching her. Then she felt his fingers brush against her hand with unsure strokes. It made her wonder when the last time he had touched another human being or if he ever had.

And when he placed it over his wounded cheek, she looked at him bewildered. It was unnerving feeling his blood on her skin. She had never thought he could have such a weakness as being able to bleed that red substance. It made him seem human.

Sakura did not move or breathe in fear that particles of sand would come rushing out of the gourd to kill her in a suffocating coffin of sand. The tension was killing her. Just waiting for him to do something with this new personality of his was making her more nervous than ever before.

Dark-rimmed eyelids opened to reveal jade eyes; eyes with a manic quality to them. He pressed her hand hard into the wound, and Sakura knew it had to hurt, but he only sighed in pleasure. 'Creepy, creepy kid.' Sakura could only agree with her crazy inner self.

"Hit me, hate me, as long as you are touching me I don't care," he spoke quietly.

That royally freaked her out. What was his problem? Shouldn't he be trying to squash her into a Sakura smoothie? And 'hit me, stab me'! What the heck was that about? Where were Sasuke and Naruto? What should she do?

He had not said anything for a while now, just held her hand to his cheek. It was a good thing she had an empty bladder, otherwise she might have peed her pants. She was barely able to keep herself from hyperventilating.

"Gaa-r-ra?" she nearly whimpered in fear, "what are you doing?"

He tilted his head, not seeming to understand. Then the worry in his eyes flitted away, making her wonder if she pushed him over the edge.

Not knowing how to fix things and get the boy to his normal self, she decided to do what she knew she could do. So she pumped warm green chakra into the hand against his cheek and forced the skin to stitch itself together, not even leaving a scar.

Gaara finally pulled her hand away and his attention was caught by the sight of his blood.

"No one has made me bleed before," then he frowned as if he did not like the thought of his blood on her.

'W-wha?' and then Inner Sakura keeled over in shock as Gaara began licking her hand. Sakura stared dumbfounded, not believing her eyes. She blinked. Nope, he was still there, pink tongue darting out to run along her skin. His tongue was rough like that of a cat, and it sent little jolts of electricity through the sensitive pads of her fingers and palm. When he focused on the flat underside of her hand she had to stop from squirming because the sensation tickled. Shivers ran up her arms and down her back as he continued until her palm and fingers clean.

Finished with- er, cleaning her hand, he let their hands lower, though he did not release hers. Touching his cheek with his other hand, he realized it was healed, and examined it disbelievingly.

"No one has healed me before," his voice was soft and rough. The unspoken 'no

one ever cared enough to' hung in the air.

By this point, Sakura was far from knowing what to do. Tsunade never went over what procedure you're supposed to use when your dealing with a sociopathic boy who has a Raccoon Demon allow you to hurt him when his sand kills any who tries to, shows masochistic tendencies using your hand as the tool, and then completely loses it.

"Sakura!"

'Sasuke,' she thought, looking over her shoulder towards the voice. Not a second later she got distracted by something sliding up around her leg. 'Now that is on odd feeling,' Inner Sakura mused. Looking down she inhaled sharply seeing sand, which in normal instances is generally harmless, move like it was alive. Sand that had killed who knows how many.

Sakura met Gaara's gaze and saw something feral in their green depths. The whimsical insanity was receding but the manic gleam was back, something growing stronger in there.

"Sakura!" she bit her lip, because she only wanted to call back to Naruto who just yelled and have her team surrounding her in the safety she always felt with them. Something in those narrowed eyes were warning her, though, making some primal side deep within her that was covered in years of civilized thought acknowledge the mysterious threat.

She might not have been able to take her eyes of the Tanuki carrier, but her body naturally began to turn when she again heard the worry in her teammates' next calls. She winced, knowing it was the wrong thing her traitorous body could do as the sand tightened and traveled further up circling her upper thigh, Sakura gulped, and over the front of her hips. To make matters worse and even more uncomfortable, a hand gripped the inward curve of her waist, and the pupils in those green eyes contracted to slits.

Sakura gulped, her sea foam eyes wide, searching for any intention but finding none in that pale face with the tattooed kanji of love. Why was there a kanji of love on the forehead of someone like him? Did he ever know love?

"Sakura!"

Judging by the growl coming from the redhead she stood in the clutches of, he had felt the very slight twitch under his hand on her waist when she heard Sasuke, and he did not seem pleased by her body's response to her teammate's voice. Even inner Sakura winced before quickly taking her leave, 'Pissed off more like it.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Well, that took awhile. I know it's short, but it takes a while cuz I like to make sure it flows and makes sense. I think I proof read it like… six times. Anyways, read and review.