Chapter Four

The process was seemed simple enough, but then again the more simple it was the harder it really was, at lest with Tsunade. The first step wasn't that bad, they had to tie her down after unclothing her. Gaara had little problem with it at first, but then again when the action was done he was more uncomfortable then he though he would have been, his mutation he had guessed didn't like it one bit, for it was acting up and screaming at him to do something he couldn't understand. Tsunade had noticed this little reaction and gently place two white cloths over Sakura's breast and womanhood. This seemed to help, but that little shine was still in his eyes that told her that he was still having a little problem.

The next step was getting Gaara to use his mutation to reawaken Sakura's. She had seen the mutation die out after the third day and that was when the green lines had spidered out all over her body, where they had been only over half. Her calculation was that her mutation had been fighting it off. So if her mutation could be reactivated then maybe Tsunade's new antidote would work. Grabbing Gaara's arm, which held the bracelet she typed in a code and the metal contraption fell clattering to the floor. Gaara nodded his head before stepping closer to the table that held Sakura.

Placing his hand on her forehead he closed his eyes and activated his own mutation. The shock that ran threw his veins did not slow him from his mission. Getting into her blood stream was harder then it had been the first time, vines blocked his path, making him have to rely more and more on his mutation to get him threw. It was seemed that the green lines were not only on her skin, but in her DNA. Gaara was unsure of how long it had taken him to find the single strand of DNA untouched by the green vines that also had the mutation in it. Once he did though, he started the next step of the procedure.

Concentrating on the location of that single little strand Gaara pushed energy into waking the mutation up. It was one of the most difficult things he had ever come across. With the vine interfering only a small percent of the energy got to the designated destination. Even so it seemed enough to spike the mutation awake. It was interesting to watch the red strand suddenly start to glow blue and send wave after wave of blue energy out to the rest of the mutated strands. Gaara pulled himself out, not wishing to be forced out like the green vines were.

Gaara's eyes fluttered open to be staring up at the light fixtures in the lab and Tsunade standing over him. He didn't remember being on the floor. The scientist had a smile on her lips and tears forming in her eyes. She placed a cold hand on his forehead before turning around and grabbing something. Gaara then felt something snap around his wrist, his mind was foggy and he couldn't quite remember what had happened.

"oh, he's finally up is he" Gaara turned towards the voice to his left to see Sakura walking into the lab. Confusion showed on the red heads face as he looked at her. The last time he remembered she was laying on the lab table, dying. "Miss Tsunade, I think there's something wrong with Gaara" she said a little unnerved by the way he was looking at her as if she was the walking dead.

"It perfectly normal Sakura, Gaara probably doesn't remember anything, happens every time he uses his mutation to much" at these word Sakura blushed and looked away, for what reason Gaara couldn't figure out. Tsunade's word floated around in his mind for a little bit before he sighed and slowly sat up.

His whole body was stiff and cracked as he moved, as if he had be still for days. "how long?" he spoke as he lightly touched his aching head.

"about four days" Sakura said with a small shrug as she went about the lab as if she was a worker. Gaara watched her move about carefully and looked to Tsunade with accusing eyes. She said nothing, only smirked at him as she went to work beside Sakura.

"Lady Tsunade, if we use a little less Greenwood and add Wyrm's tongue we might just be able to counteract the poison faster then before and make it safer so when they get here late we can still save them" Sakura said looking over papers, her emerald eyes scanning over the information quickly. She showed Tsunade her work and the woman burst into a smile.

"very good Sakura, that would be more effective, though if we add to much Wyrm's tongue we could kill them, so how much would be safe" she sated more then asked. Gaara watched as the two woman pondered over the question, seemly forgetting that he was even there.

"3 kilograms, that way it keeps it's effect, but isn't deadly" Sakura answered after a long silence, getting an approving nod from Tsunade Sakura went over to the lab equipment and started to work on the new antidote.

Gaara had taken the liberty to change while the girls where debating about scientific stuff that Gaara had little interest in. Hearing Tsunade behind him he glanced over his should at her as he slipped on his black shirt.

"you can't get rid of Sakura, she has done to much for the settlement while you were passed out, if she had not woken up many of our female population would have fallen victim to a new kind of poison that the mutants from the fields created and disputer into our air" Tsunade said crossing his arms over his chest lazily. Gaara looked back at Sakura. Had she really saved the settlement while he was out, but then again if it wasn't for her he wouldn't have been out to begin with and would have stopped the attack. He said nothing as left the lab to go about his business and catch up on what he had missed.

Tsunade sighed as she looked back at Sakura, who was looking a the lab door with a hurt expression. She said nothing, knowing why that expression was upon her beautiful students face. Sakura had broken down as soon as she had woken up and told her everything that had happened. From the torture to the rape, everything, every little detail. How when she had been saved from the poison she had seen Gaara and he had helped her out of that darkness. Even since then she had been edgy around men and buried her self in work, as if to forget everything, but seeing the red head she guessed reminded her that he had saved her and from what it was that she needed saving from.

Sakura looked back at her work, trying once again since she woke to forget everything that had happened in her poisoned state. Even though it had all been in her mind, it all seemed to real to being though as a dream. Looking in the microscope she looked closely at the two compounds, seeing if they were reacting correctly with each other. Seeing them harmonize made Sakura's heart warm, clear meaning that this new antidote would work quite well. Glancing up at Tsunade she let a small smile play on her lips.

"it's going to work, now all we have to do is send it threw the blood test" Sakura left the station for Tsunade, so she could get a looks as well and go about setting up for the blood testing.

"Thank you Sakura, you should go home though, it's been a long day and I know you haven't been sleeping, try and get some sleep will you" Tsunade said looking up at Sakura, concern clear in her eyes. Sakura gave a weary smile before bowing and leaving. Shaking her head Tsunade went about her work.

Gaara had arrived home late into the night. He had so many papers to look over, new recruits to judge, defuse fighting families, punish some members who had been working with the mutants, kill one member who had changed into a mutant and so much more. By the time he had walked into the metal and wood home he was weary and nearly asleep already. Slipping off his shoes he walked down the hall to his left towards his bedroom. He slipped into his dark room, taking his shirt off and falling onto the bed.

Hearing movement Gaara quickly moved him self to pin what ever was in his bed. His body pressed again something warm that felt of silk. A yelp emitted from the being beneath him, waking him completely up and something deep with in him as well. Sea foam green eyes peered threw the darkness at the face under him. There staring back him was wide emerald eyes. Her face flush, the image of cherry blossoms in the whiter flash in his mind, the ting of pink against her pale skin, called forth the beast with in him to capture those parted lips, to change that face of fright into one of lust and pleating. Her bare chest brushed against his with each one of her ragged breaths.

Silence over came them as they stared at each other. She couldn't move, not only was her body pinned but frozen. She had though one of the men from her nightmare had found her in real life and wished to take her back, but when she saw though sea foam eyes and red hair she knew it was only the man that had saved her and some of her fear had gone away, replaced now by embarrassment as she realized their chest were touched, skin to skin.

"um….G-Gaara….could y-you please get off" she said in a low whimper as she adverted her eyes. She didn't know how far he had unclothed and didn't wish to find out.

Upon hearing her voice he growled, a sound that rumbled deep with in him self. He knew he should get off, her, break the contact of their skin before his beast consumed him, but he couldn't. As much as the beast tried to control him a part of him wanted it to, to take over and do something he could not. It was a long moment before he move to sit up and off her at the end of the bed.

Sakura pulled the thin covers over her chest, even in the darkness she felt as if he could see her as if they were in a brightly light room. The way his eyes seemed to glow in the dark caused her to doubt that this man was really Gaara. She tried to find her shirt that she had tossed on the bed before going to bed so that she had something other then the thin cloth covering it. In the darkness of the room though she could not. She heard movement and stilled. Had Gaara decided that maybe he didn't want to leave her just yet, did he maybe want to jump he once again. Her heart raced with the possibility of having him on top of her again as he mind chastised her for having such thoughts. Soon she felt something get shoved into her chest and grabbed onto it in an attempt to stop it from pushing her down. She felt the coarse material for a moment.

"Put it on" his voice frightened Sakura into obeying. Something dark lingered in his rough voice, something that told Sakura he was fighting again something that was far worst then any mutant she had come into contact with.

She hastily put the oversized shirt on to cover her self. The long sleeves went past her hands, the bottom the shirt when to her bottom and the neck hung loosely around her, but didn't show her breast, just her collar bone was revealed to the darkness. She tugged at the bottom of the shirt and looked anywhere besides where Gaara had been sitting. She took a few calming breaths.

"t-thanks" she said softly and yelped when she was once again pinned to the bed. The lights outside flickered on and Sakura's breath caught in her throat. One of Gaara's eyes was as golden as the setting sun, four black dots in the iris, full black where white should be and his pupil was like a little plus sign. She felt her heart pick up more a of a frantic pace as his grip tightened around him. The loud beeping of his bracelet long forgotten by both of them as Sakura started to panic and try to escape. In her panic she did not hear her own bracelet reacting.

A blue glow started to surround her, causing everything to shift with in the room. A growl like nothing Sakura had ever heard emitted from Gaara as he shook, a red glow started to surround him as well. They two auras moved around them and clashed against the others. The mended together almost seamlessly. Suddenly Gaara was thrown from Sakura.

"Sakura! Sakura!" the loud booming voice of Tsunade entered Sakura's deaf ears and she slowly turned to the direction of the voice. She saw the panicked woman that she worked with and then nothing but darkness surround her. A familiar feeling of floating consumed her.

It only took three hours for Sakura to wake and when she did she shot up from the metal table she knew all to well. Her breathing was ragged and sweat as cold as ice pour from her pores. Her whole body shook with a chill though she felt as if she was on fire. Tsunade was at her side in seconds.

"Sakura! Your awake, thank god, I though I had lost you" The elder woman hugged Sakura tightly before letting her go and then quickly injecting Sakura with something that instantly made her fell better.

Sakura took in a deep calming breath and looking at her hand, it was no long shaking. "what happened?" she said in a soft voice. She couldn't seem to muster up anything louder.

Tsunade didn't answer for a long time and this cause Sakura to look up at the older woman, what she saw made Sakura still. Behind Tsunade in a glass case was Gaara, well something that looked like Gaara. Sakura jumped from the table and walked slowly over to the glass case that held the village leader. Half of him looked to be made of sand, a form of some kind of beast taking half of him. The other half was Gaara, sleeping peacefully. She shivered as she looked at the beast side, it's golden eye seemed to be looking straight at her, accusing her of something she knew nothing about. Tsunade placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder and looked at Gaara.

"Something cause his mutation to react strongly to where he tried to take over, what you see now is what Gaara's mutant is" Tsunade's voice was quite, saddened and Sakura knew why. This meant Gaara was turning into a mutant. "The same almost happened to you, Sakura I hate to ask this, but before we arrived, did you perhaps threaten Gaara?"

Sakura turned to Tsunade with a look of disgust on her face. Her heart clenched tightly. How could Tsunade think that she would try to hurt Gaara, sure he had wanted her Exile, but other then that he had been nice to her, well kind of.

"Tsunade I would do no such thing, I was simply sleeping and he came into the bed, he did not realize I was in the bed and pinned me when I moved, that is all" she said her face becoming flush. She would not mention that she had been naked and he had been without clothing as well…not completely.

"I know Sakura, but this had never happened unless he believed him self in great danger, did your mutation maybe try to hurt him?"

"No, it didn't even react until he pinned me again and I saw his eye wasn't normal"

"Again? So he had let you up and then pinned you again? Why?"

"Because he…." Sakura looked away from Tsunade, unwilling to explain.

"Sakura I have to know, it could mean a way to revert the transformation"

Sakura hugged her self and looked over at Gaara. She really didn't want to say, but he couldn't have Gaara killed because she was unwilling to embarrass her self in front of a woman who already knew everything about Sakura.

"I wasn't warring anything and he gave me his shirt, I said thanks and suddenly he pinned me again" she said looking down at her feet.

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples. None of this made sense. Gaara shouldn't have reacted so strongly to that, not in that way though, maybe and erection, yes, but transformation, no. She turned to the case that held Gaara and crossed her arms under her breast. What kept him in such a state, why was he not fully transformed. She had done nothing to stop it, she couldn't, but he seemed to be suspended between him self and his mutation.

Sakura looked to Gaara once again and stepped close enough to touch the chilled glass. As soon as her fingers touched the glass Gaara's normal eye shot opened to stare right at her, causing Sakura to jump and Tsunade to curse. Tsunade went to pull Sakura away but as she did Sakura's mutation flared out and blocked her.

"Sakura! Stop!" Tsunade yelled as she tried to get to the pink haired woman once again, but failing as she was pushed away by something invisible.

Sakura shivered as she stared up at Gaara, the back of her neck started to burn. Even so she couldn't move or even breath for that matter.

"S-Sak-kura" his voice sounded so strained, so deep, so lost. Sakura nodded her head and touched the glass once again and closed her eyes. She didn't know what she was doing, she was just going off of her instincts like she did so often. She felt as if she was getting small and smaller, getting crushed into small little pieces. She expected pain, but something warm blossomed inside her, something soothing and she soon lost her self in. Light flashed in front of her self and she soon found her self in a room of white.

In this seemingly empty room a table stood in the middle. Laying upon this metal table was a puzzle and a note. Picking up the note she read it, the words echoed threw the empty room.

"When one believe in them self they can save others, when one believes in others they lose them self"

Sakura paid little mind to the odd words and turned to the puzzle. She had always like puzzles and soon she was putting the pieces together. She started with the edges, working her way inwards. She didn't thin, she just did. She didn't know how long it took but she place the last piece and looked at the whole puzzle to see that a piece was missing.

"when one believe in them self they can save others, when one believes in others they lose them self"

The words repeated in her minds. Over and over until she place her hands over her ears and screamed, blocking out the sounds. She couldn't think, not with the constant chant. She needed to figure this out, she didn't know why, but she had to, she felt somewhere inside of her that if she didn't she would lose more then just her mind but something much more important.

"believe"

Sakura did just that. She believed that she could find the answers to her question that she could complete this puzzle. That she could do it with out help. She looked at the puzzle and watched a the missing piece shimmered into place. As it fully materialized another flash of light blinded her.

Tsunade could do nothing but watch as Sakura dissipated into nothing but a find mist with pink petals floating inside of it. That mist slipped into the case that held Gaara and surrounded him. She watched as she thrashed and fought against the unseen being. She watched as his eyes rolled back into his skull and the heart monitor stopped beating. She watched as he died. She watched as the mutation receded deep with in him. She watched with tears in her eyes as he was brought back to life. She watched as the case opened with a hiss and he stepped out of the cold container with Sakura curled up in his arms, sleeping peacefully.

Tsunade rushed over to them and took Sakura from Gaara and set her on the table that the girl was on to often and started testing her to make sure she was fine. She did the same with Gaara, one right after the other.

"Tsunade" Gaara's voice broke Tsunade from her panicked work and stilled her as she turned to see Sakura waking up once again. She slowly walked over to them, as not believing what she was seeing. Soon Sakura was fully awake and sitting up.

"ouch, I really need to stop passing out" she said with a small chuckle as she looked up to see Gaara back to normal and Tsunade's panicked tear stained face. She looked between the two and blinked a few times.

"SAKURA!" The woman's face went from tear stained to red with anger. "how dare you use your mutation in such a reckless way, what were you thinking, you could have killed your self and Gaara, or worst turned, we can not afforded to lose either of you, the next time you decided to do something like that at lest warn me" Sakura cringed as she was lectured about being reckless.

"Sorry Tsunade, I wasn't thinking, I just kind of reacted" she said looking down at her hands as heat raised to her face.

"Tsunade, calm your self, we are both fine, now get back to work" Gaara's voice came as he took a seat on one of the tables, waiting from the test to start, though a slap to the back of his head came first. He looked back at the elder woman with a glare. He was expecting to fell the beast rise up and he was ready to fight it, but the felling never happened. He and Tsunade shared a look of understanding before Tsunade gabbed a needle and drew blood from Gaara.

She took it over to be tested and while she waited for the results she did the same to Sakura. Who unlike Gaara tensed from the needle and had to look away, earning a chuckle from the red head. Sakura just glared at him.

"Hey it's not funny" she said with a small pout.

"Yes it is" was all Gaara said.

"No it's not, needles are perfectly normal thing to dislike" Sakura defended her self.

"nope, just you"

"I am not, I know for a fact that Naruto hates them, Hinata faints when she sees them and Konkuro cries" She said with a huff and crossing her arms over her chest.

Gaara just chuckled again with a smirk as Sakura clenched his fist.

"now now children, no fighting in my lab" Tsunade said as she looked at the results of Gaara's test. She blinked a few times before running the test once again. She did the same to Sakura's. Gaara and Sakura looked at each other and then over to Tsunade. She ran the test ten times before making her way over to the both of them with an unreadable expression.

"What is it?" Sakura asked as she heart started to race. If Tsunade had to run the test that many times something must be wrong.

"nothing wrong, in fact you both are perfectly fine"

"well that's great" Sakura said releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding.

"No Sakura, you don't get it, I mean you are perfectly fine, as in you have nothing, I mean nothing wrong with you, I expected it from you Sakura, since your mutation is so closely bonded with you, but not with Gaara, his mutation has always been erratic, but these results are telling me that BOTH of your mutations have fused them self so completely with in you that it is no longer a threat that you will become a mutant"

Woot, I'm BACK, after almost a whole year I finally have internet and I can post up the chapters I have of this ^^ more to come shortly.