Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

This story contains bad language, drug abuse, suicidal attempts, and sexual themes.

You have been warned.

Rated M.

Chapter Four

Unchained

Sakura managed to talk Tsunade into letting Gaara out of the hospital. How she did that, she don't know, but she didn't ponder on the idea long. She hurried and left the hospital, with Gaara in the passenger seat of her brand new pink prius, with his arms folded, and a scowl on his face.

He wasn't too happy about seeing Ino, but has to deal with it since she was Sakura's roommate. The girl worked for Haku, a famous fashion designer, so she was paid good money. Sakura needed help with rent, and Ino wanted to live with her best friend. So, it worked out for the best.

Although Ino had several different male friends over once a week. She's been stuck on one though, Kiba Inuzuka. He owned a bar in downtown Tokyo, so that's where they met. Kiba was paid pretty well too, so Ino saw dollar signs in her eyes.

"How much longer?"

"At least ten more minutes."

Gaara frowned, but said nothing more.

Sakura didn't understand why he was being such a grouch. Maybe it was because he was riding in a girl car. Or maybe because Ino was also off today, so he would have to cross paths with the she-devil once again. Ino and he never got along.

It wasn't just because she was a prep, or a total snob. He was absolutely mean to her. But who wouldn't be, after all, she did insult his mother.

Gaara doesn't talk about her much, she noticed. He always spoke of his father, or his siblings, but never of her. She wondered why.

Maybe because his trust for her didn't reach that level yet.

"We're here, now will you stop moping?"

Gaara chuckled, and unbuckled his seatbelt, before getting out of the car. He was happy about being out of that stupid pink prius, but now he was stuck with that blond bimbo Sakura always hung out with. How them two ever got along was beyond his sense of logic. Ino was a total bitch.

Sakura grabbed his wrist and pulled him up to her doorstep, unlocking the door, and walking in. Gaara noticed she was starting to get a little too friendly with him. She'd touch him at the most innapropriate times. Well... he didn't mind, in fact it was a little comforting, and that scared him.

"INO! Kami, put some clothes on!"

The pinkette blushed furiously and covered her eyes, sighing whenever she heard Gaara's loud chuckle from behind her. She didn't realize Ino and Kiba were going to be doing that today.

After both of her friends were dressed, Sakura made them all coffee. Once she stepped back into the living room, she saw that Ino and Gaara were glaring at each other from their seats on the couch.

She sighed. Shikamaru, if only you were here to say, 'what a drag.'

"What are you doing here, or are you Sakura's new play toy for the night?"

"Who are you to talk like you don't do that, you fucking whore."

"Oh please, you wish you could have someone like me."

"I'm quite fine with what I have." Gaara said, grabbing a glass from the tray Sakura held in her hands.

Sakura shook her head. "Can't you two play nice? We have to go to the cellar, give me the key."

Ino rose an eyebrow at her best friend, but said nothing, as she placed the key in her grasp. "If you two are going to do a little hunting, Kiba and I are going to go do some of our own." With that, Ino and Kiba headed up the stairs to have a little play time, since they were interrupted a few minutes before.

Sakura rolled her eyes and looked back at Gaara, who followed her until they got to the cellar. She looked down at it and shuddered, hating that she was having to go down there.

A hand brushing her fingers and grabbing the key snapped her out of her thoughts. Her gave her a questionable look, and unlocked the door, pushing it open.

"You okay? You seem a little hesitant with going down there."

Sakura gulped. "Yes, sort of. I'll be okay," She said, with a small smile. "Don't worry about me, let's go down there, get Sasuke's journal or whatever else, and leave."

Gaara nodded in agreement and started to walk down the stairs, with Sakura tailing behind him. He sort of found it amusing that she was scared of going into the cellar. She seemed so frightened, it was kind of cute. If a guy thinks a girl getting scared is cute, anyway. But, Gaara doesn't think that, not at all.

"Do you have a flashlight, it's so hard to see in here."

"Yeah, here." Sakura said, handing it over to him. He chuckled slightly when he turned it on, and Sakura almost jumped out of her skin.

"Would you relax, there is nothing to be-"

As soon as the words left Gaara's mouth, a rat made a huge pile of boxes fall to the floor, causing Sakura to grab his hand. He sighed and looked at her, but said nothing, as he made his way into the cellar even more.

Shining his flashlight on a box that said, SASUKE, he started making his way towards it. "Sakura, you can let go now. There are no other scary rats in here."

Once she finally let go, Gaara opened the box and searched inside of it. He found a bunch of old tapes, CD's, and a nice looking watch, which he stuck in his pocket for good measure. It could be worth a lot of money and was doing nothing but taking up space. He was doing Sakura a favor.

"Ah ha! Here it is!" He heard Sakura say, which made him drop the flashlight.

"Shit-" He cursed, while glaring at Sakura. She couldn't see it, but it made him feel better.

"Where is the flashlight?" She asked, her voice suddenly filled with fear. Sakura may not be afraid of a lot of things, but she absolutely hated the dark. That was something she could never get over. At night, she would sleep with her T.v. on, or a nightlight. Embarrassing as it may be, she couldn't help it. She was a twenty-five year old, who slept alone at night while Ino had company. Who wouldn't be afraid?

"I don't know, I dropped it when you shrieked!"

Sakura gasped. "Are you blaming me for this?"

"Yes, who wouldn't have a light put down in their cellar?"

The pinkette frowned but kept her cool. The light was shining up the stairs, how hard could it be to get there from here? Looking forward, Sakura suddenly thought it would take a million years to get there.

Gaara sighed and grasped her hand in his, pulling her with him. Once they finally made it up the stairs, he let go, and Sakura let out a sigh of relief. Maybe he was right, she was going to have to put a light down there.

"Let's go look in his journal."

They both took a seat on the couch and opened it, Sakura having to lean over Gaara in order to see. He was hogging up the whole journal! Oh well, at least she could still see. The first page was written when Sasuke was nine-years old. A nine-year old who knew a lot of big words:

It's October 30th, and father says I can't go trick-or-treating tomorrow. I hate that man more than anything! He never lets me have any fun. He makes me sit in the house all day, cooking or cleaning with mother. While he takes Itachi out to go bond... sometimes when my father hits me, I feel as if he hates me...

Sasuke U.

Age 9

"Sasuke's father abused him."

"Yeah, yeah. Take me back to the hospital. I'll study this while you rest."

Sakura nodded in agreement, and for once had nothing else to say.

Deciding it was time for a little girl fun, Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, and Ino all joined each other at Kiba's bar. Drinks were on the house that night and who was Sakura to turn down free drinks? Especially her favorite mix.

Hinata Hyuga was a singer for a bar down in Shinjuku, and Sakura wondered how the hell she winded up with that job. She was shy for her age, always fiddling with her fingers, and blushing all the time. She was also dating Naruto Uzumaki, the famous manga writer of SHUJIN: LEGENDARY NINJA OF THE GREAT LANDS.

Tenten is a famous Karate fighter for Kishimoto's fighter ring. She was all time Champion, and was dating a man, who was also on her team. His name was Neji Hyuga. Those two were pretty serious, but every time Sakura asked when they were going to settle down, Tenten would shrug her off.

"So why was Gaara at her house today?" Ino asked, sitting in front of Sakura, while taking a sip of her vodka. "You two seemed a little too friendly, if you ask me."

Sakura growled. "There's nothing going on, you idiot. I was selling him something of Sasuke's."

"Oh, finally getting rid of that crap, are you? Good for you!" The blond said sarcastically, while giving her best friend applause.

"Shove it, Ino-pig. It's none of your business anyway." She said, leaving her three friends in the booth.

Tenten looked at Ino. "Does she seem a little more grouchy tonight, or is it just me?"

Ino snorted. "She didn't glare at me until I asked about Gaara. What do you think is going on there?"

Hinata shrugged. "Her eyes said a lot that her mind wouldn't. They held a little sadness in them whenever you mentioned his name."

Ino and Tenten looked at each other, then looked at Hinata. "What, you're suddenly an expert on feelings?" Ino asked, nudging the raven haired girl slightly.

This made Hinata blush. "N-no... But Naruto did say I had a good act of reading people. Just give her a little time."

They all looked towards the pinkette who stood at the bar, talking with Kiba. "She'll come around."

Sakura sighed. "How do you deal with Ino, Kiba? She was so freaking annoying."

"We've been seeing each other a while now... so it's getting easier."

With that, Sakura gave him a sly smile. "You love her don't you? Ah, look, Ino isn't the type to settle down, but maybe with you, she would. After all, you were captain of the football team."

Kiba grinned at this. "And she was captain of cheerleading. Oh, I loved seeing her in that little skimpy uniform, her breasts-"

Sakura held up her hand. "I so do not want to know."

"What's going on with you and Gaara? You two did seem a little-"

She glared at him. "A little friendly, I know." Sakura didn't know if she should tell Kiba or not. She needed someone to trust, and he was a little dense, so maybe he wouldn't tell.

"Can you keep a secret?" Whenever Kiba nodded, she smiled and continued. "Gaara is having a little trouble and we're trying to find out stuff from Sasuke's past. I'm trying to save him."

Kiba looked at her as if she had grown two heads. "Trying to save him? From what?"

"From making a huge mistake."

Whoa, well there you are! Some of the other characters were in this chapter!

And can she truly trust Kiba?

And a little GaaSaku fluff! Aww! Sakura's afraid of the dark! Maybe Gaara could heal that~

hehe. Please review.

-gaaraluver45