I re-edited this to the best of my abilities.

Enjoy.


With each passing day, Gaara grew more and more irritated and less tolerable with Sakura. She was constantly whining and overreacting, like she had PMS. Sometimes her hot temper would get so out of control she'd end up trying to kill him or herself again. Everything seemed to bother her; from the way he was constantly brooding to how she hadn't had a manicure in days. He would be more understanding if she wasn't acting like a wild banshee. She wasn't the only one with problems.

But he knew that with each passing night, it was one step closer to the full moon and it could either mean life or death for her.

"I can't take it anymore! It's the third day and I feel like I might just die on the spot! We need to go collect more souls now!"

Gaara sat at his desk trying his best to ignore Sakura's ranting, but tuning her out was getting harder by the minute. He concentrated on trying to finish homework and study for his upcoming exams. Sakura, feeling neglected and annoyed, tossed a book at him. Hitting right in the face

"What!"

"Hello, did you hear me? I said we still have to collect some souls!"

Gaara grumbled a little then spun around in his chair, "For four days I've had to set everything aside so that I could do the reaping, while you sat back and watched. I'm tire and need some rest."

"Well you-"

"I'm not finished. If I knew working for you would be troublesome, then I would never have agreed. I have my college exams to prepare for…"

'Where's he getting at?'

"I understand that if you don't grow your wing back that you'll turn into a fern-"

"Hey!"

"I have a life and reaping for you isn't part of it, you are also very unappreciative."

Sakura glared at the back of his head for what seemed like hours until she finally broke the silence, "If you expect me to apologize then forget it. This is my nature. You don't know what's it's like to be dead and linger between the world of the living and the dead. I killed myself, but I've been given a chance to somewhat live again. If I lose this then…it's over."

Gaara looked down at his paper work for a minute before coming to a conclusion, "I'll risk my life for you later. Your leg and arm seem to be doing fine, you can go reap yourself."

Sakura was appalled, but hid her shock, "Fine, I'll go out on my own and do everything on my own, but if anything happens to me; you're going down with me." After that she jumped out the window and flew into the night.

-----

"I hate being crippled, I hate depending on a human, and I hate my life right now!" Sakura climbed up a tree and sat down a rickety old branch, scouting the rural area for her next target. "Well I made it to the top without sand boy, so I can sure as hell do the rest, but is this painful. Damn splinters."

She took out her Death List and ran a finger down all the way to the bottom. Ten more names remained. 'Hm, I have until Sunday and its Wednesday. If I reap enough tonight, I might finish by tomorrow.'

"Three souls are going down tonight."

Without noticing, an old man wearing a ghostly white kimono robe walked towards the tree. He had a calm expression on his face and held a gentle smile. He walked a great distance searching for her specifically. He had seen it in a dream, just like everyone else who was about to die, his name on her Death List and the Face of his Grim Reaper. He did not fear death, but rather, he embraced it. Knowing that even with his passing, some good will still come out.

He knelt down and sat on his knees without looking up, "My name is Najima Tajo, I believe my name is on your Death List, Lady Grim Reaper."

Sakura jolted, unaware of the man until now. She looked down at him, curious that he would just come up and greet her. Most of the time she went reaping, people would run away screaming or too weak to carry on.

"Yes you are, thanks for saving me the time of trying to find you."

'Now I just need to get down somehow without breaking every bone in my body'

"I assure you, no Daemons are with me, I have come on my own accord."

"So you know about those pests?" Sakura asked while climbing down.

"They are in practically every book about the dead." The old man closed his eyes with a smile as he waited to move on, "I just can't wait to be reunited with my wife Pookie; I know she's waiting for me."

"Well, that's very romantic- EEPP!" Sakura slipped on her own feet, broke the branch, and fell all the way down, landing on her soar back. She quickly regained her composure and brushed the dust off, making sure no one saw. Taking out her scythe and chanting a little prayer, she reared it back before swinging it forward towards the old man. A bright light lit the night sky and all was peaceful once again.

-----

Sakura jabbed the overgrown Daemon in the stomach before rounding off to slice its giant head off. She fell back against a wall exhausted and tired. Taking out her Death List, she watched one more name vanish, leaving only seven more to go. She tucked it away and sat silently for a while with only her panting disturbing the night air. Her leg was better but her arm was still useless, so reaping was going to take even longer.

"I didn't anticipate how much time and energy this was going to take," She ripped a piece of her shirt off and wrapped it around her arm, "I wish I had someone to help me."

"Like me?"

Sakura turned around and felt her heart flutter for a bit as she saw Gaara walking towards her with that usual emotionless face. He bent down and helped her up.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, idiot."

"I thought you were studying for your exams?"

"It can wait."

He walked her over to bench, setting her down on one side while he sat on the other. Neither of them said a word. All was still and silent, the quarter moon beamed down on them, waiting for something to happen. Sakura was looking at the ground and biting back the pain from her arm, she was done for the night. Gaara rubbed the bridge of his nose in an annoyed way.

"We made a pact; you can't just abandon me whenever you please." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I know. I felt the effects of that pact when you lift the house, but I can't put my life on hold just to help you."

"Then you shouldn't have rescued me. I didn't mean to barge into your life, it just happened. You should learn the rules of the game before playing it."

"My mistake."

Sakura scooted closer to Gaara and skittishly laid her head on his shoulder while playing with his hand. A wave of sadness rushed over them both. She was forever tormented by her selfish death, and he with his troubled childhood. They were both messed up, and fit perfectly well together. But neither of them realized it, she was a lost cause and he was stubborn.

"Did you know, angels can't love and demons can't feel pleasure?"

"Yes."

"I see them all the time, passing through our realm and ignoring us like we're that inferior. Angels have their noses in the air and demons act so prideful. They don't know the pain Grim Reapers go through every day. We are haunted by their suicide day and night, we kill to stay alive and need our wings to thrive. Angles and Demons don't appreciate that they don't have to live like that."

Gaara watched Sakura breathe. Her voice was somewhat cracking and becoming raspy. She was going to start crying and he would have to comfort her. Not that that was any good, when it came to emotions and being sympathetic, he was hopeless. If he didn't even know how a normal girl functioned, then Sakura was out of the question.

"But I realizes something," She looked up at him, "I'm very thankful I've become a Grim Reaper."

"Why?"

She smiled at him in a chilling way, "Well unlike them, we can love and feel pleasure," She whispered in his ear, "But at a price."

"My soul?"

Sakura laughed at him like he was some ignorant child, "No; I die."

"But you're already dead."

"When a Grim Reaper dies from love, they don't turn into a piece of nature; love is trifle in my realm. We turn into nothing but skin and dust. Losing your wing isn't the only way for a Grim Reaper to die."

"Then why did you commit suicide?"

Sakura turned away from him, put kept her head on his shoulder, "Because I was unhappy with the way things were going in my life. Everything was falling apart and I needed to find my escape."

"That is a selfish thing to do."

"I know, but I was a little girl. I didn't know what else to do; there was nowhere to run or someone to help me…sometimes I regret my decision, but then sometimes I don't."

Sakura looked into his eyes and saw the emotions run through them, his face was distant. He neither smiled nor frowned. It didn't surprise her; she actually found it calming to not see anything. But she could tell he was thinking about something, probably bad memories.

"Has something terrible ever happened to you?"

"Yes."

Sakura's smiled weakly, "Once, I fell in love with a Grim Reaper who didn't love me back. But I guess it was a good thing, otherwise I'd be nothing but dust in the wind. He was in love with a human and sacrificed his life for her when she was in danger, his own way of showing affection. My heart broke and a shell of ice grew in its place."

"You aren't the only one who has lost someone."

She looked at him, "Then you understand? You know what heartache is, what it truly means to be unhappy and the loss of love."

Gaara got up and let out a heavy sigh. He looked down at her, she was crying like he thought she would, "I'll help you finish the Death List tomorrow, right now you need rest."

"Merci, Gaara."

-----

"Mon amie, so you have been here all along in the human realm." A Grim Reaper stood in the shadow of the trees with his arms crossed.

"Orochimaru, there you are." Kabuto appeared before him.

"Kabuto, what do you want?"

"The Grim Reaper Queen told you not to enter the human realm for another ten thousand years."

"Well you know; ten thousand years is a long time. Plus, my favorite toy is stuck in this realm; it is my duty as a Sanin level Grim Reaper to bring back her safely back home. But since you're here I don't want to make your mission a waste of time." Orochimaru looked back to see Sakura and Gaara walking back to his house together. He smirked and vanished in a cloud of purple smoke.


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