Finally. After all this days we can finally upload the 10th chapter. It's only fair to warn you, this chapter sucks (it's even worse than all the previous chapters) but if you like the sand ninja, you won't complain that much. Please review, we beg of you!

Oh, and Kuro means black, just in case.

Chapter Ten

Take Good Care Of Her

"I'm here to save Sadako." Gaara said, pulling the sand back into his gourd.

Kisame chuckled at his words. He knew well who this red-haired kid was.

Sabaku no Gaara.

The Ichibi of Suna.

He'd heard a lot of rumors of his strength, and that the only person who had ever defeated him was Uzumaki Naruto.

Kisame looked down at the blond boy on the ground. He looked so helpless and weak. If he'd managed to defeat Gaara, it would be more than easy for him. After all, what chance did Gaara's sand had against his water jutsu?

"Great!" He cheered, preparing his sword to strike at them. "Yet another roach to squash!"

"Ninpo, Kamaitachi!" A strong gust of wind blew the sword out of Kisame's hands. The sword went flying until it was out of sight.

"Damn." Kisame muttered. He had been caught off guard.

He looked up and saw a blond girl carrying a giant fan. He knew who she was too.

Suna no Temari.

Gaara's older sister.

The Wind Tamer of Suna.

She fixed her hair, which was picked up into four ponytails on her head and leaned against her fan, acting as cocky as she could possibly be.

"You don't think I would let Gaara come alone, did you?" Her cockiness was getting into Kisame's nerves.

Behind her stood a boy with purple paintings on his face. He had a hat on the shape of cat ears and was carrying a human-sized puppet, just like the ones Sasori used.

He was Gaara's older brother.

The Puppet Master.

Itachi turned to face Sadako, who had forgotten about faking and was now staring at Gaara.

"Sadako." He said softly, holding her left hand. "Tell me, do you really want to stay here?"

"Yes, I do." She answered.

With a glint of sorrow on his blood red eyes, Itachi did a series of hand signs.

"Your chakra is no longer blocked." He told her. "I'm sorry Sad-chan. I wanted to see you and all I did was make you cry."

She suddenly felt sorry for lying to him.

"Listen, I have to leave now. If we stay here, we'll have to fight, and that's the last thing I want." He kissed her forehead. "I might not see you again, so… I guess this is good bye."

Sadako really felt like crying now, but her pride wouldn't let her. She'd promised not to cry again, no matter what. She couldn't cry. Not real tears.

Itachi stood up and turned to Kisame, who was about to hit the sand ninja with another water jutsu.

"Suiton Sui…"

"Kisame, retreat!" Itachi ordered, surprising his partner. "We can't fight, remember?"

"Yeah, Pein's orders. I know." Kisame said heavily.

Both men's figures began to blur and disappear on thin air.

"Wait!" Sasuke yelled, reaching out for Itahci'2 blurry form. "I'm not done yet!"

"I'm afraid we are." Itachi said in a cold whisper.

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All three sand siblings sat on the living room couch watching the Teen Titans marathon, when Kankuro finally decided to ask the question that had been bothering him all day.

"So, you gonna tell us?" Kankuro smiled evilly at Gaara.

"Tell you what?" Gaara asked absently, watching as Beast Boy turned from a giant gorilla into a tiny mouse.

"Why was it so important to save that Uchiha girl?"

Gaara blinked slowly.

"Just wanted to help, that's all."

"And since when are you so humanitarian?"

"Just felt like helping." Gaara shrugged.

"Damn it Gaara!" Kankuro got frustrated easily. "We both know that's not the reason."

"Calm down." Temari said, placing her hand on Kankuro's shoulder. "I'm sure Gaara has a good reason for it."

"Yeah, right. But I still thing it's suspicious." Kankuro thought out loud. "I mean, really. The instant he heard Naruto and Sasuke talking about saving Sadako, he ran like hell behind them and forgot all about our mission! Call me crazy, but I think he was worried back then."

For all answer, Gaara's cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Ha, I knew it!" Kankuro said in triumph. "You like her, don't you?"

Gaara looked at Temari pleadingly. His sister just shrugged.

"I'm… not really sure."

"C'mon, it's written all over your face. The same dumb look Shikamaru has whenever he sees Temari."

Temari whacked him in the head just as Starfire was blasting Cinderblock with her star bolts.

"Ow, but it's the truth, sis." He complained rubbing his aching head. "There's no way he can deny it."

"You know, Gaara…" Temari began slowly. "I heard somewhere that the Uchiha girl likes you too."

"Really?" Gaara asked. "Where did you hear that?"

"Well, yesterday I was walking thought Konoha and I accidentally (yeah, right) heard Sakura and Ino talking about a sleep over they'd had." She was forced to stop and stare at Kankuro, who was noisily munching on a handful of peanuts.

"Sorry." Kankuro apologized.

"Apparently, they played truth or dare." She continued. "And her question was to answer who she liked. It seems she mentioned your name."

Gaara thought back at the times he'd talked to Sadako. She had been so nice to him. She'd never stared at him with fear or hatred.

And now he knew she liked him too. This was too good to be truth.

'She likes me too' Gaara thought 'That's why she's so nice at me, that's why she doesn't hate me, that's the reason she didn't run away when I asked her what love felt like.'

"And that's why she let me kissed her…" Gaara suddenly realized he'd said those last words out loud. He tried to take them back but it was too late, because when he looked at his siblings, they held huge grins on their faces.

"No way, you did?!" Temari asked, actually yelling the words on his face.

"Who would have thought?" Kankuro laughed. "Gaara has a girlfriend!"

For just a brief amount of time, Gaara's siblings seemed to forget they were ever afraid of him. It made Gaara happy to realize it, but he was too ashamed to actually like it.

"I… I just." He tried to find an explanation for his actions, but soon realized he had none. "I didn't want to do it, it just happened."

"Well, you can't blame Shukaku for that, can you?" Kankuro asked.

Gaara shook his head no.

"That's it!" Temari decided.

Both Kankuro and Gaara looked at her like she was crazy.

"Uh, Temari…" Kankuro began.

"Tomorrow we'll visit Konoha, and you're going to ask her out." Temari commanded.

"I won't." Gaara asked simply.

"What! But why not?" She asked disappointed.

"She would only say no."

"But you just said she let you kiss her, I'm sure she'll go out with you."

"It's not that, Sasuke won't let her." He said, remembering how mad Sasuke had gotten when he'd seen them kissing.

"Hell with Sasuke!" Kankuro broke in. "She can take her won decisions."

"Well, I suppose…"

"Now that we all agree," Temari interrupted him. "You'll ask her out tomorrow."

And just like that, Gaara's sister began to make a plan for the perfect date. Only one problem… Gaara had no idea what she was talking about.

So instead of helping, he just sat there watching as Raven saved the world form inevitable doom. Man, Raven was so cool.

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So the next day…

Village of Suna, 6:30 am

"Gaara!" Temari shout at the top of her lungs. ""Gaara, where are you?!"

"Right here." He said annoyed.

"Where were you?" She demanded.

"There." He point to the couch behind her.

"Right, sorry. I didn't see you." Temari apologized.

"Hey, keep it down. I'm trying to sleep." Kankuro walked down the stairs, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"Get ready you two." Temari ordered. "We leave in 30 minutes."

"Where are we going?" Gaara asked.

"To Konoha, you silly head." She giggled. "Today you'll ask Sadako out, remember?"

"I was hopping you would forget, onee-san."

"But why do we have to get up so early?" Kankuro yawned.

"Because." She explained. "It takes three hours to get from Suna to Konoha. It will be 9:30 when we arrive and he still has to ask her out, buy her a nice gift, pick her up about two hours later, take her to wherever the hell they're going, walk her back home and then come back to Suna."

Kankuro stared at her wide eyed.

"Wow, you've really spent some time planning this, sis." He joked.

"Shut up and get ready, we leave in 20 minutes!"

"Don't listen to her." Kankuro told Gaara as they walked upstairs to get ready. "She's just angry because she probably didn't sleep last night. I think she was planning the date she'll like to have with Shikamaru."

"I heard that!" Temari yelled angrily.

Village of Konoha, 10:00 am

"Damn it." Temari mumbled, looking at her watch. "We're 30 minutes late."

They would have been in time if only it hadn't taken Kankuro so much time to paint the purple lines on his face and getting his puppets ready. Having a puppeteer as a brother sure had its downsides.

"Look!" Kankuro point at something, but he moved his arm so suddenly that it almost hit Gaara on the head.

"He, watch it!" Gaara growled.

Temari looked on the direction he was pointing to and saw a ramen stand.

"C'mon Kankuro, we can't waste any more time." She scolded. "Besides, you've already had breakfast… three times."

"No, look!" He insisted. So once again, they all looked.

Sadako was standing there, outside a grocery store that was next to the ramen stand.

Instead of her usual blue sweater, she was wearing a blue shirt that was identical to the one Sasuke always wore.

(Vianey: Sasuke lend it to her, get it?)

Her right arm, for obvious reasons, was fully bandaged. No one could have guessed it was actually made of ice.

"New outfit." Temari commented. "I wonder what happened to the her sweater."

Gaara gulped guiltily, remembering it had been him who reduced her right sleeve to shreds.

"Yesterday, when we saved her, she was wearing a different sweater too." She remembered.

"I see nothing escapes your eye, sis." Kankuro joked.

"Not at all." She looked at Gaara. "Go on, ask her out."

Gaara didn't move.

"C'mon!" She pushed him forward.

"Ok, ok." He walked three steps, then stopped and looked at Temari. "Where should I ask her out to?"

"I don't know…" She scratched her head. "Ice cream stand?"

"Ok." Once again, he walked towards Sadako.

As he walked closer to her, he began to panic… wait, panic?

This had to be a joke. Him, Sabaku no Gaara. The legend of Suna… panicking? This couldn't be real.

His heart stopped beating when he finally reached her. Her back was turned at him, so she hadn't seen him yet.

Gaara couldn't help but thinking that she looked really cute, even if she was wearing a boy's shirt.

"Sa-Sada-ko." He stuttered, felling his legs begin to shake. This really had to be a joke.

She turned around to face him.

"G-Gaara-sama?" She stuttered, turning bright red. Obviously, she hadn't forgotten the last time they'd talked.

He tried not to remember, but the memory instantly played before his eyes like a DVD scene. He could almost feel Sadako's lips against his. Could almost taste her kiss. It tasted like…

'C'mon boy, focus!' He scold at himself.

"I…I was wondering…"

At that same moment, Sasuke walked outside the grocery story carrying a bag of peaches.

"Hey, onee-san. Are these enough for the peach pie or should I buy some mo…" He stared at Sadako's red face. "What's wrong?"

He turned his head and frowned deeply at the sight of Gaara.

"Yes, can I help you?" He asked dryly.

"Uh, he was just… etto…" She looked at Gaara questioningly.

"I just wanted to know," He gathered all his courage. "if you would like to go out with me today."

The Uchiha twins stared at him wide eyed.

"Ah, we'll just go to the ice cream stand, that's all." He added, noticing Sasuke's nasty expression.

"Well…" Sadako looked at her brother hopefully.

Sasuke looked away; she knew that meant 'no'.

"I… I'm sorr…"

"She'll be there." Sasuke answered. There was nothing he hated more than the idea of Sadako going out with Gaara, but he'd promised not to interfere with her decisions.

"Really?" She asked. "I mean. Yes, I'll be there."

"Fine, I'll pick you up at…" Temari had said to pick her up two hours later. "Is 12:00 pm ok?"

Sadako looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke just shrugged.

"Yes, it's ok." She guessed.

"Ok, then… I'll be there." He said, then began to walk away.

"What she say?" Temari asked.

"She said yes." Gaara said blankly.

"Damn, don't look so exited little bro." Kankuro said sarcastically.

"Now… let's go find her a nice gift." Temari continued.

"But, I don't think it's her birthday today." Gaara said.

"Oh, poor Gaara." She grieved, shaking her head slowly. "You'll understand some day."

Outside the Yamanaka Flower Shop, 11:15 am

"What are we doing here?" Gaara asked, looking at the curly letters on the flower shop's sign.

"Flowers are a nice gift." She said, walking inside the shop. "Come on in."

All three of them walked inside.

"Irasshaimase!" Ino greeted from behind the counter. "Oh, Temari-chan. Are you looking for Shikamaru?"

Kankuro looked at Temari with that 'I knew it' expression she hated so much.

"Ah! No, no." She blushed. "I just want to buy some flowers."

"Flowers for Shikamaru?" Ino asked confused. "I don't think he likes them that much."

Kankuro burst in laughter.

"They're not for Shikamaru, damn it!" She spat. "Why does everyone always think we're dating?"

"So you're not dating?" Ino asked tilting her head.

"Agh!" Temari shook her head violently. "Gaara, just pick a flower and let's get out of here!"

She looked at her watch. 11:23 am! It was already getting late.

"Hurry up!"

Gaara stared at her. She had just yelled at him! And just for some dumb flowers he had absolutely no idea of why they were so important.

'Kill her' He heard Shukaku's voice inside his head. 'She can't treat us like this, she should be afraid!"

And for about 3 seconds, he was tempted to obey, until he laid his eyes on a bucket near the window.

"Those." He point at the bucket of flowers he liked.

"Sunflowers?" Temari looked at the huge yellow flowers.

"No, the ones next to them."

Temari looked at them. They were white roses and the tip of each petal was decorated with a tiny sky blue stripe.

"Those are cute." She agreed.

Temari grabbed a single white rose and placed it on the counter.

"I'll take this one." She told Ino.

"Only one?" Kankuro asked. "We came all the way here for just one flower? Why not a dozen?"

"Because only boyfriends give their girlfriends more than one flower." She explained.

"Not necessarily." Ino said. "I think…"

She stopped on mid-sentence because Temari was giving her a death glare.

Gaara knew his sister hated being corrected more than anything. Even more than being related to Shikamaru. Temari was always right, even when she was wrong.

"So… who is it for?" Ino asked mischievously.

"Mind your own business." Gaara said coldly.

He set some money on the counter as payment for the rose, then walked out of the shop without a word.

Outside the Uchiha compound, 12:00 pm

Gaara took a deep breath before daring to knock on the door.

He tried to remember everything Temari had warned him to do. The white rose was on his hand and he knew exactly where they were going: The ice cream stand.

According to Temari's carefully laid plans, nothing could possibly go wrong… yeah right.

Knock, knock.

There! He'd done it. He'd finally knocked on the door.

Footsteps were heard behind the door, then it creaked slowly open.

And guess who was there? Yup, you guessed it… Sasuke!

He had a sour look on his face, his mouth formed a nasty sneer. It seemed nothing would make him happier than using his Chidori against Gaara… that wasn't so far from what Sasuke really wanted to do.

Sasuke stared at the red haired boy before him. As he did this, he couldn't help but to wonder why his sister liked him so much.

"Sadako isn't ready yet." He told Gaara, hoping he would suddenly get stroked by lightning, or at least get bitten by a rabid dog. "She'll be here in a minute."

"Ok." Gaara replied simply, hiding the rose behind his back.

Sasuke's eye twitched. How could he act so indifferent about it? It was his beloved sister he was dating! He should be grateful Sadako had even considered going out with him.

"Listen." He said threateningly. "Don't you…"

He was about to warn Gaara about trying to kiss his sister again, when he heard Sadako walking down the stairs.

It was impressing how his expression turned from vicious pray dog to nice and caring brother as soon as he saw his sister had arrived.

"Hey." She smiled sweetly at Gaara, making Sasuke angrier than he already was.

Gaara bowed his head politely in response.

"I'll be going now Onii-san." She said.

Sadako kissed Sasuke's forehead, then walked out of the house and closed the door behind her.

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"Here." Gaara handed Sadako the white rose. "This is for you."

"Oh, thank you." She took the flower from Gaara, her eyes sparkling happily.

So that's what the rose was for, it was to make her happy. Now it all made sense to Gaara.

He was not sure what to say. An awkward silence fell between them.

"I like your hair." Was the only thing he could think of. Not just because he'd thought of nothing else, but because he really did liked her hair.

Sadako's hair was always loose and fell on her shoulders, but today it was picked up in a ponytail. Locks of black-blue hair fell softly from her forehead and at each side of her face.

Her clothes were different too. Instead of her blue sweater and long pants, she was wearing a blue long-sleeved blouse with the Uchiha symbol painted on the back and a black mini skirt, blue tights and black leg warmers.

She was still wearing her black gloves and weird shoes, but there was no doubt that she looked really… cute. Cute was the only word Gaara could think of to describe her. She was also pretty, but cute would define her better.

"Thank you." She said, pushing locks of hair away from her eyes. "I had no time to dry it, so I just combed it up into a ponytail."

A sweat drop appeared on Gaara's forehead.

"… should we go now?" He suggested.

"Sure."

As for their date, it wasn't so different from normal dates.

As any boy does, he bought two huge bowls of ice cream. Vanilla flavored for him and chocolate chip flavored for her. As any average boy, he was kind enough to bring her spoons and napkins, even thou he had to go back because he forgot to bring some for himself.

And as any boy does, he tried to make a good impression but ended up spilling his entire ice cream bowl over Sadako's skirt and part of her blouse.

Good thing that, as any girl does, she just said 'It's ok' while Gaara apologized again and again.

"Do you want to go now?" He asked, watching as Sadako tried to wipe the ice cream from her clothes using napkins.

"Yes, I think so." She giggled. It only made Gaara feel worse. "I'll just go to the bathroom to clean off and we can leave."

As soon as she was out of sight, Gaara heard Temari's voice calling him from the door.

"What?" He asked, stepping out of the ice cream stand.

"What just happened in there Gaara?" She nagged. "You were supposed to make a good impression and end up looking like a fool."

"It's not my fault." He said defensively. "It's not my fault they set the bowl right where I was going to put my hand. I did not saw it."

"Whatever. Here!" She hand him a box.

"What's this?" He asked.

"It's another gift. You don't think she'll be happy after you spilled the bowl on her clothes." She said, tapping the box with her index finger. "Give this to her, and let's hope she likes it."

"But, what is inside the box?"

"Here she comes, got to go." She ran and disappeared.

Sadako walked out, there was a big white stain on her clothes that could not be cleaned out.

"I'm really sorry for that." He blushed.

"I said it was ok." She looked curiously at the box.

"Oh, this is for you." He hand her the box.

"What's inside?" She asked.

"It's… well… a surprise." He had absolutely no idea what could be in the box.

Sadako opened it and gasped, then a cute little smiled formed on her lips.

"Awww, it's so cute!" She pulled a little black kitten out of the box. "Thank you Gaara-sama!"

"You like it?" He looked at the cat. It was just a normal cat, nothing was special about it.

"How did you know I love cats?" She asked, holding the kitten on front of her face.

"Lucky guess." He was secretly thanking Temari for it.

"Look," She point at it's chest. There was a patch of white hair in the shape of a heart. "it's got a huge heart."

"I'm glad you like it."

"I'll name him." She looked closely at the cat. "Kuromaru, because of his black fur."

"I like that name." He smiled at her, a real smile. What was it about her that always made him smile?

Gaara walked Sadako back home as Temari had instructed. People stared at her clothes stained with vanilla ice cream, but she didn't seem to care. She was to busy talking to Gaara that she didn't even notice some of them were even laughing.

When they reached Sadako's house, he looked at her and sighed. It had been so nice to be with her, but now she had to go.

"So, I guess I should be going." He said slowly.

"Yes." She said on a low voice. "Will you come back again?"

"Of course, I mean, if you want to."

Sadako smiled and nodded.

"I'll leave now, then." He turned around and was about to walk away when he felt her hand on his arm.

"Wait."

He turned to face her and noticed she had turned bright red.

"I'm sorry." She said, blushing even more.

"Sorry?" He looked at her confused. "Sorry for what?"

"For this." She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.

Gaara's eyes went wide. He wasn't expecting her to do this, but he was clearly not going to push her away. All he could do was close his eyes and kiss her back.

She pulled away from him, her eyes avoiding his.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He said, lifting her face and kissing her again.

Once again there was that feeling of soaring. Soaring above painful pasts and never healing wounds, it all seemed so far behind.

There was the feeling that his heart would burst of happiness, but it didn't mattered. And, yes, there it was too. The taste he'd felt so faintly before, was now so strong there was no doubt about it. The taste of sweet cinnamon.

The taste of her kiss.

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Gaara sat on the living room watching 'The Lord of the Rings', when he heard someone knocking on the door.

Temari and Kankuro were out on a mission, so he knew he had to get the door himself.

He opened the door, a mailman stood there with something on his hand.

"There's a letter for you, Gaara-sama." He handed Gaara an envelope.

Gaara tipped the man, then sat back on the couch and opened the envelope. Inside it, was a card shaped on the form of a red cloud.

"Akatsuki." He mumbled.

He flipped the card over and read what was written on it.

Sabaku no Gaara:

It has reached my ears the word that you're dating my sister.

I will not interfere in that, I'm sure she can take her own decisions.

I just warn you, if you ever hurt her, I'll make you pay for it.

Only one thing I want to ask from you… Take good care of her.

Take good care of my sister.

Gaara read it and smiled, because after that last sentence, written in big bold letter, were two words final words:

OR ELSE

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Vianey: Did you like it? I'm sure not. Anyways, we'll be out on vacations soon.

Ten: We can finally rest from school work.

Vianey: The bad thing is, I might not be able to upload the next chapters for a couple of weeks.

Glacia: But don't worry, we'll keep writing (oh, wait. Is that something good?) and upload as many as possible when we come back.

Vianey: Yeah, I know the story sucks, but thank you all for lying to me. Thank you for giving me reviews like "Your story's good." Instead of "Your story sucks, it's a piece of crap and I hope you die in order to stop the uploading of this junk."

Glacia: Yes, we really appreciate your nice comments.

Ten: Oops, we've got to go now. Just one last thing, if Gaara isn't acting like Gaara, it's because this is not the original story XD.

YukiTenVianey Team out…