Disclaimer: I only own Naruto in my dreams. -sighs- And even they come with a price.

This chapter is dedicated to Gin-inu, who works really hard on her stories.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was on my bathroom counter, next to the sink, staring at my reflection in the mirror.

I was past the point of being pale, and beyond pasty. I was white. Dark circles rimmed my eyes to the point of them almost looking like Gaara's. I had lost enough weight now that my clothes hung limply from my body.

This really had to end.

Sighing to myself, I walked out of the tiny room and prepared for conflict.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Gaara!)

Gaara was currently waiting in his usual spot, sitting in the hardly comfortable wicker chair in the plainly decorated living room of Sakura's apartment. At this moment in time he is chanting a mantra in his head. Shall we have a peak?

'I will not crack, I will not crack, I will not crack, I will not crack, I will not crack, I will not crack, I will not crack, I will not crack... '

You see, dear reader, Gaara's current, not to mention only, love interest was taking a shower. (He thinks) And not just any shower. A shower in the next room. So, Gaara is concentrating on not leaving his spot and going to said next room and doing things I cannot mention in this fic for then the rating would go up.

And this is very hard on our poor... um... Gaara's instincts. Ever since he was abandoned at the age of four near Konoha's outer forests, he had always had to claim what was his, or fight long and hard.

But Gaara couldn't have survived at that tender age by himself. Oh no. He had to thank Shukaku and his ability to control sand, for helping him find food, shelter, and water. And protecting him from anything harmful.

But, Gaara could even remember being taken over by Shukaku while he was young, but he didn't remember what happened during that time. For two years he lived outside the village, until the day he went in and stumbled upon a contact. Or in Shukaku's eyes, a whole lot more.

It had been a pure accident coming upon Sakura that day. Shukaku had suggested they go see the village. So, Gaara trusting his "inner voice" did what he was told. But he never planned on what came of it.

---Flashback... thing---

Gaara leapt from tree to tree. Having completed many chakra techniques at a very young age, he was already quite powerful. Thanks to the demon inside of him.

Speaking of the demon, Shukaku had wanted to visit the village they had always lived near today. Used to obeying his orders, Gaara went along quietly.

After a while of jumping, Gaara finally got bored. "Skukaku?"

"Yes?"

"Why are we just now going into the village? You always said it was dangerous."

"Because... someone special is in that village."

"Really? Who?"

Shukaku chuckled. "You will find out."

Gaara just shrugged and continued heading toward his destination

When he could see the gates, Shukaku spoke again.

"Follow the wall, and jump over where the wall meets the mountain. It should be about half-mile from here."

Gaara complied without question.

"Okay, now what?"

But Shukaku was silent.

'Okay, I guess I'm on my own.' So Gaara began jumping from rooftop to rooftop, hiding his chakra like he had been taught.

Once in a while he would stop and observe the people milling around below. Living their daily lives, no thought as to what could be just above their heads.

After about an hour of jumping around as he pleased, he came to rest in a tall branch in an of tree under what was known as The Great Stone Faces. Not that Gaara knew that.

He was comfortable just sitting in the trees and listening to the wind. But after a few minutes, he heard more then just the wind.

Jumping down a few branches, he saw a young girl about his age. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and her head of pink hair lay on her arms. She was crying.

Gaara tilted his head. 'She doesn't look injured. What's her problem?'

Just as Gaara was about to jump away, Shukaku snapped at him.

"Boy! Talk to her!"

Gaara was confused. "Why?"

"Because... she is the one we're looking for!"

"Why are we looking for her?"

"If we train her, one day she'll make the perfect mate for us!"

"Mate? I don't understand... "

"You don't have too, just relax... "

Gaara trusted Shukaku, and felt the familiar feeling of unconsciousness reaching out to him. His didn't resist. Closing his eyes, he sunk into darkness.

Gaara gave a smirk as his eyes opened, pupils having shrunk to an unnatural size. Clearing his throat, he spoke.

"Girl, why do you cry?"

She raised her head, sniffed, and looked around, but Shukaku made sure Gaara's body was well hidden.

After a moment of the girl just gaping around, Shukaku got snappy.

"Girl, I do not repeat myself." She jumped at the irritated sound in his voice, but answered.

"I'm crying cause all the other kids were laughing at me." Another tear rolled down her cheek.

Shukaku rolled his eyes, 'This is going to be more annoying then I thought. I might as well get this over with.'

"That's a stupid reason to cry. Lots of people will laugh at you over your life time. Get use to it now, instead of later. That only makes it harder."

She sniffled again, her eyes still trying to locate his location in the trees around them.

"Who are you?" She asked as she stood up and walked toward a bush that just happened to be shaking.

'Talk about good timing.' Shukaku sweat dropped before grinning evilly.

"I am a friend." A gust of wind shook the tall trees around them, and blew the bush, that the girl seemed to fascinated with, away,

"Will you come talk to me again tomorrow?" She asked shyly. Shukaku chuckled and smiled to himself.

"Of course. What kind of friend would I be otherwise?" The girl smiled brightly.

'Her hair... it looks like sakura blossoms. I think I'll call her... Sakura.' Not knowing that was really her name.

"Children! Come inside now!" A voice called out from beyond their sight, and Sakura seemed irritated.

"You have to go." Shukaku said sadly, although he was furious inside.

"Don't you go to the school?" Sakura was confused.

"No, I don't."

Shukaku smirked happily. 'After living as long as I have, you don't need to go to school.'

"Sakura, you need to go now, before you're late."

"Hai." She started to walk away, but turned around and asked, "Before I go, what's your name?"

Shukaku chuckled.

"My name is Gaara."

---End Flashback... thing---

The bathroom door creaked open, shaking Gaara, or should I say Shukaku, out of his thoughts.

Sakura sat down on the small sofa and drew her knees to her chest.

"Gaara, we need to talk."

Shukaku sighed inwardly. 'The most horrible sentence known to earth.'

"Very well."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sat quietly, trying to collect my thoughts. But Gaara seemed to beat me to it.

"I'm sorry." He said, surprisingly soft.

I blinked. And blinked again.

"Well... um... I forgive you... but-"

"I mean, I'm suppose to be your friend, and I drop a bomb on your life and our friendship." Gaara stood up and started pacing. (OOC! Damn.)

"Yeah... but it's not that bad-"

"What was I thinking! We're only like, what? Fifteen?"

"True, but if you'll only let me-"

"Well, I shall build a new bridge in our friendship!"

"That's great, but-"

"And we will go on like nothing had happened!"

"Wait a second-"

"And when we are older, you shall be my mate! Or wife... whatever you want to call it." (Gaara... OOC... much? Yes, I'm sorry. But remember, it's not really Gaara!)

"STOP!" I stood, fists clenched at my side. Anger written purely across my face.

"Mate? Gaara, seriously!" I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "I know you have known me for like ever, but that doesn't mean we're going to end up together!"

Gaara slumped his shoulders. "I guess you're right."But inside, Shukaku was busy plotting. 'I bet she doesn't realize that bite mark won't go away.' He grinned and chuckled evilly to himself.

I walked over to Gaara and gave him a hug, which shocked him a bit, but her returned it hesitantly.

During this time, I wasn't aware of red eyes staring angrily at us.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Sasuke again.)

After training, Sasuke followed Sakura home, being very careful to stay in the trees out of sight, and hiding his chakra. Although it wasn't hard to follow her without being noticed. She was in such deep thought it didn't matter. But it made it all the easier for Sasuke. (Slacker.)

Stalking was actually a really boring process. The person walks, you follow, the person walks some more, you follow some more. Etc. Etc.

And after a while, you start to sweat from nervousness. Your stomach is churning excitement and anxiety And you start to make mistakes, like tripping and falling in a huge pit of mud. Or jumping through a freakishly big spider web.

So right about now, Sasuke was one nasty piece of ninja. (xD)

By the time Sakura finally reached her house, it was very surprising that the Uchiha was not spouting out curses right and left. Of course that would blow his cover, and thus waste all efforts in what he just accomplished.

So, here he was. Sitting on a conveniently placed branch outside of Sakura's living room window. After she had been in there a while, he peered into the apartment. Sasuke could just make out a form sitting in a chair. But it wasn't Sakura! This made him furious. Of course he never stopped to think it might be Naruto, or maybe even Ino. Although Sakura didn't hang out with her that much.

But, if he had stopped to think about this, it wouldn't have matter because we all know who it is! Poor Sasuke. So clue less

Any ways, while he was busy ranting off mindless things in his head, he didn't notice when Sakura came out and sat down. But he did notice when the other figure inside stood up and began pace. The voices inside rose louder, though not enough so Sasuke could hear them.

Then, Sakura stood up and... what's this? Hugging? Sasuke's Sharingon activated solely by his anger. Not because Sakura was hugging someone, no. But because she was hugging the guy from the training grounds. The red-haired freak!

Through his anger, Sasuke thought of a plan. He crackled evilly and rubbed his hands together. 'This is gonna be good.'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Authors notes: Wow, ya'll seemed to like the typos in the last chapter. I'm glad. I was very surprised to find so many Sasuke haters, but then again, if you liked Sasuke I doubt you would read a GaaraXSakura story. Hehe.

I bet you weren't expecting this twist, huh? Gaara being taken over by the Shukaku since the beginning! Muhahaha!

And enjoy me being sick! I'm writing like crazy!

Thanks to all my reviewers:

LostsoulofRegret(Us emo girls gotta stick together!), chie, If-This-Disturbes-You-Then-Walk-Away, Gina01, kai'sgirl510, tweetybaby2, angelfox13, JovianShe-Wolf, itsjustcherry, Sister-of-the-Light, Puppyeye1, Kyo-my-Love, Heartless Ghost, loves-winged-dark-angel, slaymyheart, kiiuSakura The Unloved, Gaara's desert blossom, the answer is 42, DeadlyDemon17, Gaaraslady, silveraqueen, Scarlet-chan(You rock!), SasukesoOoFlower, Wolfdoodler, Hao'sAnjul, Jenjei Cat, Gelayel, RubberDuckiesWhoLikePieAndCake, twistedchild, and Silent Uke Fuu.

You guys continue to surprise me! I love you guys so much! Without you I would have stopped this story at the first chapter.

I think I'm going to kill something! My sister is playing the slow version of "Everytime we Touch" by Cascada, over and over. I think I'm going insane. Wait, too late! Hehe!

Until next time!

blackXheart