aGaara and Temari have been walking in the blazing sun for hours, until they finally hit a row of very deep cliffs. "The entrance is over there." He pointed at a rather small gap set between a few boulders. Temari walked to the gap and examined it. "Remind me, why did I agree to this?"
Gaara sighed. "To make sure Kaima doesn't rip my head off." Temari nodded and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, after you." Gaara walked closer to the gap and started to squeeze through with only little trouble.
Once through, stairs descended endlessly beneath him, small torches were lit along each wall. The air smelled musky. "This place is creepy." Temari shivered. Gaara started to walk down the old steps, leading further underground.
Meanwhile Sakura was lying against a tree, Ribiku was at her side. They started spending a lot of time together. Sakura was laughing at something Ribiku had said just seconds before. "Yes, I completely agree." She giggled. Ribiku smiled at her warmly.
"What was she like?" Sakura asked suddenly. Ribiku's eyes seemed to loose all emotion. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" she began, raising her hand to Ribiku's cheek. He closed his eyes, and put his arm around Sakuras hip, pulling her closer.
"You know, I haven't thought much about her lately." He sighed. "What have u been thinking about?" she asked, her cheeks blushing as her body pushed up against his.
He opened his deep brown eyes; they were full of emotion again. Slowly he pulled her into a deep loving kiss. Sakura closed her eyes, losing herself in the moment, and then suddenly she pictured herself kissing Gaara and pain shot through her body.
She quickly drew back. "I'm sorry, I can't do this." She gasped and stood quickly leaving Ribiku behind with a bewildered look on his fine features.
"How much longer is this tunnel?" Temari asked, her voice sounded utterly frustrated. Gaara shrugged. And just as they rounded a corner he came to an abrupt stop. A giant gate was set in front of them, blocking further entry. Temari stomped her feet. "And what now?" she frowned.
Before Gaara could say anything a voice boomed behind the gate. "Who dares enter?" the voice was raspy and cold. "The Kazekage from Suna and my sister Temari have come for Kaima's advice." Gaara answered, his voice was intimidating.
"Don't tell me that good for nothing boy, eh, what was his name? Kankuro ah yes. Don't tell me he has become the new Kazekage, Suna will be doomed in his hands." Temari rose to her full height. "No, gladly not." She agreed. "Gaara is the new Kazekage, he does his job well, but we have come for advice about private matters." There was a moment of silence, and then suddenly the gate started to open, creaking loudly.
Gaara and Temari walked in. They came into a giant chamber, with several doors leading down other paths, in the centre stood a short stubby woman. She smiled meekly. The walls were lined with lit torches which gave her an eerie glow. "Why should Gaara come for my advice?" she asked hissing his name.
"He learned to love, and lost his love through a curse. We would like to how to end this curse." Kaima smirked. "He learned how to love?" she asked uncertain. Temari edged a little closer. "The Kazekage was to strengthen a bond between Suna and Konoha, his wife, a well known medic nin from Konoha known as Sakura, was cursed after she had been kidnapped. She feels pain now, because she fell in love with him. She suffers, and so does Gaara." Temari sighed.
Kaima looked over at Gaara, who had been silent all this time. "You love her?" she asked. "I do." He replied simply. "Come; let's find a more comfortable place to talk." She led the way down one of the halls leading out of the chamber. Seconds later they came into a small room, which was nicely decorated and cozy. Couches lined the walls, a small table stood in the centre. Kaima sat down, Gaara and Temari followed suit and sat as well.
Kaima glared at Gaara. "I don't like you, and I doubt I ever will. But, I will help you." Temari smiled and nudged Gaara, he just smirked. "It seems like you have been tainted by the 'Nuasair Curse', it is an old ancient creation of evil, meant to torment the one it has befallen by replacing its joy with pain. The thing that made her happy the most was the love for you that is why she can't be with you. In the end, it would kill her." Gaara looked at the ground, his mind was racing, and his heart tearing apart, could he ever be with Sakura again, was there a way to lift this curse?
Kaima obviously noticed his expression. "You can be with her again." She said in a calm voice. Gaara looked up at her for the first time hope glinted in his eyes. He never showed this much emotion, but he couldn't help it. He loved Sakura, and so he would do anything.
"You need to find the person who did this to her, he holds a crest, which he used to seal away her joy. It should look like a glimmering charm, talisman or other type of jewelry. You will be able to tell by the way it glows, joy has a way of lighting up even the darkest places." Gaaras eyes widened. "Sasuke, it is him I need to find." He hissed, all emotion replaced with hatred. He stood and bowed to Kaima. "Thank you." He turned to leave, Temari close behind him. "Wait, you don't even know what to do with it once you have retrieved it." Gaara stopped dead in his tracks, he hadn't thought about that. "You need to return it to her. Only if you two are together, can it be lifted." Gaara looked at her for a second, nodded then turned, leaving the dark cave behind him and heading back to Suna.
Sakura walked into her room, tears were crawling down her cheeks. 'Where are you Gaara? I need you.' She fell down onto her bed, letting the tears fall, she cried herself to sleep. Dreaming about Gaara, he was holding her in his strong arms, not letting her go, ever again.
"Kankuro I want you to look over the town while I'm gone, I have gathered a dozen of my best men to travel with me, Temari will be looking for Sakura." Kankuro smiled and saluted. "Incompetent fool, you better not see this as a joke." Gaara hissed and turned, heading straight into the desert, a dozen men behind him. Kankuros eyes were wide, absolutely terrified.
The sun was blazing above; they had been walking for many days. "Sir, we have new reports." A tall man came up to Gaara and saluted. Gaara nodded coldly, his features were tense and he looked ready to kill. "We believe to have found his whereabouts, about thirty miles west." Gaara nodded. He turned west and broke into a run. "Now I got you." His voice was venomous.
The small village they hit was quite lively, filled with busy shoppers and seller. The marketplace was packed with all kinds of wagons and stalls, people shouting and yelling everywhere you turned. Gaara didn't know how he would find Sasuke in this mess. A small man held a large fish before his nose with a wide grin. "My young man, how about some delicious fish?" his voice was rather high pitched. He was short and tubby, his long bushy beard making him look older than he was. Gaara shook his head with a cold stare and turned away.
'Where is that bastard?' He hissed in his mind and jumped on one of the buildings, his gaze wandering over the village, he didn't spot Sasuke anywhere, but he could feel him, he was close.
Suddenly Gaara heard quiet steps at his side and he lunged backwards, barely dodging a herd of whirling Kunais. "I finally found you." He glared at the raven haired man. "It took you long enough, I though you might have figured all these things out before." He laughed and Gaara tightened his hands into fists. "Where is the talisman?" Sasuke pulled out a golden shimmering pendant from his pockets and grinned. "You mean this?" He asked, without another word he threw it, right into the crowd of sellers and buyers. "Good luck finding it, by the time you will reach it, it will probably be destroyed." Gaara didn't move to catch Sasuke as he turned to leave but dived right down into the crowd.
His eyes were everywhere and nowhere at the same time, couldn't he see the faint glowing of the talisman, people shoved him and pushed him away, anger started to take over and he yelled.
"EVERYONE STOP!" The loud talking and rambling stopped and many curious and fearful glances rested on Gaara. The crowd had settled around him, actually giving him a bit of space. "It's the Kazekage." Someone whispered. "What is he doing here?" Another asked.
"No one move." His voice was filled with venom and he looked like madness had taken hold of him. "There is a pendant around here somewhere, lying on the ground, find it." The people looked confused for a second but at his hateful glare they started to stir and look at the ground surrounding them.
Meanwhile Sasuke had gotten away, he knew that was the only thing he could have done to actually save his own skin, he was disgusted about his cowardly act, but Gaara would be off his back for a while. Sasuke knew all too well where Sakura was, and he was heading her way.
