A/N: Yes, I know, it's late once again. I have decided that I will do bi-weekly updates for a while since I can't make the weekly updates. The only other thing that I have to say is the winning pairing from my poll it is….Saku/Team 7! Technically it's Saku/Sasu but I already wrote a one-shot for that couple so Saku/Team 7 it is! I'll be removing them from the poll so you can vote on the other couples still. Now, my thanks to the reviewers.
Thanks to: Saku-Chan9876, ???, Nikooru-sama, XxBroken ShadowxX, Sakura is number 1, Otakugal, dracolady1441, XDrAnDomPeRsoNXD, shadow-binder, Smexy Darkness Angel, Serene6868, Geniusly-Unique.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, deal with it.
"Talking"
'Thoughts'
'Inner Sakura and Kyuubi'
'Hikari'
'Mamoru'
'Ino talking during her mind switching technique'
The Cherry Blossom Reborn
Chapter 11
"One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul, and yet no one ever comes to sit by it."
Gaara had left his siblings once they were dismissed from the first exam. He couldn't stand their presence, he could sense the fear they were trying to conceal from him. It saddened him; he could remember when they didn't know about Shukaku, they had been a happy family then.
He shook those thoughts from his head and focused at the task at hand. He was on a rooftop stealthily following Sakura. He was surprised when he had found her again, she had left Suna with no warning and he had been trying to find her ever since then. He wasn't falling for her though, he no longer had any feelings, or so he thought.
Sakura POV
Sakura was just wandering aimlessly around the village. Naruto and Sasuke had both left to train, leaving the pink haired kunoichi by herself. She was wondering why her other instructors had given her so little training time, but she wasn't complaining.
She realized that she was being followed and had been trying to figure out the chakra signature. Growing tired of this little game of hide-and-seek, she formed a single hand sign and disappeared.
Gaara stared in surprise as she disappeared from his sight and stiffened when she appeared in a whirl of Sakura blossoms behind him.
"Gaara-san?"
She asked politely. The red haired boy relaxed slightly and felt a microscopic blush forming on his face and hoped that Sakura couldn't see it. He gave her a questioning glance, telling her to go on with whatever she wanted to say.
"Do you want to hang out? It would be much more relaxing for both of us instead of you following me around."
Gaara gazed at her, uncaring, but in reality he was feeling an emotion that he hadn't felt in quite a long time. Sakura put her index finger on her chin, wondering what they could do.
"I have an idea. Let's go get some ice cream, my treat."
She said with a soft smile. Gaara could feel his face heat up and prayed that it was from the sun and not from his blush.
"Ok."
He said in a monotone, inwardly cursing his unemotional response. Sakura took his hand and lead his to Konoha's ice cream parlor. She motioned for him to sit while she got some ice cream for the both of them. Gaara found himself missing her hand in his.
'I thought that I told myself I would become emotionless so that nothing could hurt me again…'
Sakura came back with two cones, one with chocolate ice cream and the other with vanilla.
"Which would you like?"
"You choose for me, I've never had ice cream before."
Sadly, it was true. Every time he got close to an ice cream shop they would put up a sign that said, 'closed for repairs'.
"Eh, you've never had ice cream before? You don't know what you're missing. Here, try chocolate, that's the flavor that most people like."
She said, handing over the frozen treat. He took the treat and stared at it for a moment, then tentatively licked the frozen substance. His eyes widened in joy and he licked faster.
"I think I like chocolate."
He said between licks. Sakura was staring at him amused and he gave her a questioning glance.
"You have chocolate on your nose."
She explained, her smile never leaving her face. He lifted a finger to his nose and found that she was right. He reached up to his nose with his tongue and quickly licked it all up. He finished his ice cream and licked his lips.
"Mmmm…"
He glanced at Sakura's lips momentarily, wondering if they tasted like chocolate also.
'Bad thoughts Gaara! Bad thoughts!'
After spending the day together they were on Sakura's roof, stargazing.
"You want to know my favorite star?"
She didn't wait for a response, knowing that she wouldn't get one from the quiet boy. Pointing her index finger over the Hokage Mountain she began to speak.
"I've always seen that star all my life. When it's someone I trust, I point over the Hokage Mountain, when it's someone I don't, then it's over there, to the western section of the silver pelt."
Gaara had found that Sakura had a habit of saying silver pelt or star clan; she never called it the night sky. Sakura's hand lowered back down to her side.
"I guess you're one of the few people that I can trust then."
Gaara felt a growing happiness.
"Why don't you ever say night sky?"
Sakura shrugged her shoulders.
"Habit I guess. My grandma always said that so I got used to saying that too."
"What are those two stars?"
He asked, pointing to two stars that were in the direction of his homeland. The pinkette stared at them for a moment.
"I don't know, hold on."
She jumped off the roof, onto a balcony and entered her house. Once she was gone, Gaara felt lonely and unloved, the same feelings that he usually got. When Sakura came back, it took all of his self control not to hug her and tell her how much he missed her, after all, it was only a minute or two.
She sat down next to him and he saw that she had brought a book. She flipped through it for a little while before she stopped on the page she was looking for.
"Those stars are Mars and Venus, god of war and goddess of love. It is prophesized that if they are to cross then a war shall break out and love will be found in the most unlikely of people…interesting…"
That made Gaara blush; he was an unlikely person to find love.
"Sakura-chan?"
He was beginning to revert back to when he was little, including the suffix on Sakura's name.
"Yes, Gaara-san?"
She said, not taking her eyes off the night sky. Gaara was thankful for that; she would be unable to see his blush.
"Did you ever figure out why…"
"Yes, my mentors told me a few days after I left Suna. You want to know something Gaara-san?"
"What?"
He said, turning his body towards her. If he was going to be hurt again then he might as well take it face on.
"I don't care, I didn't then and I don't now. You're my friend and that's all I care about. It wasn't your choice to have Shukaku in you. I have a secret also but you can't tell anyone about it, ok?"
"Hai."
He answered automatically; he was willing to promise anything to Sakura now that she had fully accepted him.
"Well, I also have a demon in me, two actually. I also have an inner me, though I have no idea how I got her. As for my demons, I was just the unlucky first born daughter it was my fate to have them sealed in me. I don't remember any details but, I remember the feeling that people weren't exactly friendly to me. You know, I owe you an apology."
"What apology?"
Gaara asked, unable to find any reason for her to apologize to him for.
"I left you in Suna with no warning and when I met you again I was unable to recognize you. That must have hurt so much, but it wasn't because you weren't important to me. I've been unable to recall many memories from my childhood. I feel like there's something that I'm missing but I just can't figure out what it is, so sorry."
"It's ok, umm, Sakura-chan?"
"Hai?"
Gaara contemplated if he should tell her about the attack. He thought that it was strange that his father suddenly wanted to attack Konoha but he wasn't one to argue with the Kazekage, he was only a tool after all.
"Would you still be my friend if I did something wrong?"
"Of course, through anything, that's what friends are for."
She put her hand over his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Gaara half expected his sand to react but wasn't very surprised when it stayed still. She was always able to touch him when they were younger, of course she would be able to touch him now.
"Even if I were to attack Konoha?"
"Yes, even if Suna and Oto were to attack, I would still be your friend."
"You know?"
"Know what?"
"Never mind, it's nothing."
"If you ever have to kill, please don't just kill mindlessly. That will only fill your days with sorrow, it won't solve anything. Kill to protect your country and those close to you if you must."
She glanced at the moon for a second.
"Oh, it's getting late. I should go to sleep, good night Gaara-san."
She wrapped her arm around his torso in a hug and he hesitantly returned the gesture. He knew that whoever saw this would be glaring at him but he really didn't care right now. All he wanted was some time with Sakura, she was perfect for him. Unfortunately, she was perfect for a lot of people, most of them guys.
"Sayonara Gaara-san, see you tomorrow."
She said, stretching and yawning. Right, she needed sleep, he didn't, but now he felt like he could sleep. He had found what he was missing, he needed love, he needed Sakura, he could finally sleep.
"Bye, I have six years of sleep to catch up on."
"Sweet dreams."
Gaara disappeared in a whirl of sand.
'As long as you're in them they'll be as sweet as the chocolate that you gave me.'
As Gaara appeared back in the room that he and his siblings were sharing, he dropped on the couch, fast asleep.
'Sensu-chan and Neko-chan will be surprised when they see me.'
What he predicted was true. When Temari and Kankuro came home, they immediately got into defensive positions, expecting an attack from their younger sibling. Once Temari saw that they were, in fact, not going to morph into his tailed demon state, they relaxed.
"He's…sleeping?"
Temari asked, looking at the sleeping Gaara with a soft gaze. She tentatively reached out to put her hand on his head.
"Sensu….-chan…"
Gaara murmured, clearly fast asleep.
'He remembers?'
"Good night, Gaara-chan."
She said, running her fingers through his fiery red hair. Gaara sighed in content and snuggled into the couch even more.
"Neko-chan."
She said, using the nickname that Gaara had given Kankuro when he had started to wear his hood.
"Give me the extra blanket and pillow…Gaara's fast asleep."
"Weird…"
Kankuro was still wary of his little brother but went to fetch the desired objects. He came back and started to inch closer to Temari, who had not moved from Gaara's side. Temari rolled her eyes and took the blanket and pillow from his hands. Kankuro summoned up the courage to walk up to his younger sibling and look him in the face.
He looked…happy, in love? There were so many emotions flitting across Gaara's face, it was hard to discern them.
"Sakura….-chan…."
"His breath smells like chocolate. Hmm, I remember someone named Sakura, I met her this morning…"
Muttered Kankuro, looking at his younger brother's face.
"All I can remember was she was really cute and something with pink and green…"
"That doesn't matter now, just go to bed."
Kankuro got into bed, thinking about the cute pink haired girl. Both his and Gaara's dreams were filled with images of the pink haired kunoichi that had captured the hearts of many people.
Kakashi arrived at the hokage's office and knocked.
"Come in."
He opened the door and sat down in a chair opposite the hokage. The third leaned forward onto his elbows.
"You wanted to speak with me Kakashi?"
"Yes, I have some questions to ask if I may."
"You may ask, but I may not be able to answer."
"Of course. Can I request that Utatane Chie and Mitokado Kaito be here as well?"
The hokage snapped a finger and an ANBU appeared at his left side. He whispered something in his ear and the ANBU promptly disappeared. Kakashi fished around in his pockets and produced a small stack of paper clipped papers. He threw them onto the Hokage's desk.
"Here is the mission report."
There was a poof and two people appeared in the hokage's office.
The woman, Utatane Chie, had short brown hair with grey streaks that stopped at her shoulders. Her hitate was covering the top part of her head, like Ibiki. She had a Jōnin jacket over a black shirt and Jōnin pants.
Mitokado Kaito wore his hitate on his forehead, keeping his spiky grey hair out of his face. He only had a black shirt on with arm guards and Jōnin pants.
"You summoned us Hokage-sama?"
"Kakashi-san has requested your audience."
"Kakashi-san?"
"I would like to know if you are training my student."
Kaito nodded his head in understanding.
"Ah, so that's what you wanted to talk about. Well, you are correct that we are training Sakura."
"Why are you teaching her?"
"We knew her parents and when she showed up in Konoha, wanting to become a kunoichi, we took her under our wings. There was no way that she could become a kunoichi for at least a few years, background checks and all that, without our help. We have not actually taught her much Genjutsu, mainly Ninjutsu."
Chie said from the chair that she had sat down on upon her entrance.
"Who are her parent and what happened to them?"
Kaito sat on the arm of Chie's chair. It was obvious to him that Kakashi had a lot of questions to ask.
"That is not our place to tell. I would tell you to ask Sakura but I highly doubt she remembers or she would have said something. One thing I can say is she has changed since we last saw her."
"How did you meet her?"
"We went to her village with Homura and Koharu quite a long time back. I believe that she was about three and a half at that time, am I correct Kaito?"
"Yes, you are correct. Both our grandparents went with her parents for reasons I do not know and we were told to stay with Sakura. We played for a while then left with Homura and Koharu."
"That explains how you're related to the two councilors. One more question, what village is she from."
Chie stood up and headed for the door, leaving Kaito to answer the question.
"That is also not my place to answer. Again, I would advise you to ask Sakura but she really doesn't remember anything about her past so that might not work. From what I know of her past, I sincerely hope that she doesn't remember anything at all, so don't try to make her remember."
He bowed to the Hokage respectfully and exited after Chie. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at their behavior; their attitude was different from their grandparents. Homura and Koharu were strict, regal and, stiff; they made you feel like you were unworthy to be in their presence. Their grandchildren, on the other hand, were totally different. They put you more at ease, polar opposites of their grandparents. It was hard to believe that they were related.
The Hokage sighed at their slightly disrespectful exit
"They are nothing like their grandparents but that is logical for they do not talk to one another often."
"Is there a reason for that?"
Kakashi asked.
"They do not see eye to eye on many views. They were close many years ago but as they grew up, they began to understand what their grandparents were doing and how they were doing it. They disagreed and drifted apart."
"I see."
"You should check up on your students, I hear they passed the first exam."
"Yes, I'm surprised that Naruto passed the written test."
"Yes well, young people continue to surprise me. You are dismissed Kakashi."
"Hai Hokage-sama."
Sensu: A folding fan, used to keep oneself cool
Neko: Cat
A/N: Yes, yes, I know, short chapter, but I wanted to update so here it is! We get to learn about Sakura's other teachers and their connection a little bit. Now please review, it makes me happy. See you next time, ja ne!
High Summoner Sakura