When there is nothing else to do at midnight, write!
I adore your reviews, so please tell me what you liked or hated. Remember, constructive criticism makes even the best writers better. And since I'm nowhere near the top, I need all the help I can get.
I wrote this last night on some notebook paper and transferred it this tonight, so please excuse any mistakes. It is after midnight.
This was inspired by the theory that Gaara's pent up bloodlust will eventually transform into odd libido. ^^
–Blue
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but a girl can dream!
The Medic and the Demon
Chapter 11: Stolen Goods
by Rachel Poulson
––––––––––
There was the sound of cracking stone as a blonde figure landed in a street.
"And stay out, Naruto! Baka yaro!"
The Kyuubi vessel ran down the street, a huge nervous grin on his face. He swerved left, leapt to avoid a cart and vaulted through the window of his apartment, clutching his prize in one hand. Taking a breath, Naruto slammed the window shut and shot a thumbs–up at his audience. "Mission accomplished!" He held up the linen bag for them all to see.
Kankuro snorted and Sasuke shook his head in disgust. "Dobe, what exactly did breaking into someone's apartment accomplish?" Naruto ignored his boyfriend's snide remark and threw the sack at Gaara, who was leaning against the wall. Surprised, Gaara caught it.
"Now we can really check if he's gay!" Naruto said.
This time Kankuro collapsed into a fit of laughter at Naruto's exuberance and his brother's bewildered grin. A mild tic appeared in Sasuke's face. "Why will stolen goods help you check?" Naruto smirked and stuck a hand in his jacket pocket, fishing around. "I didn't just get the goods; stolen goods wouldn't be foolproof. Ah–ha!" He revealed a disposable camera, and the room went quiet. "She didn't see the camera," he added.
Sasuke's expression didn't flicker but he nodded at Naruto. "You win. I'll give you twenty bucks and wear the garter."
Naruto's fist pumped the air. "Dattebayo!"
There was a quiet cough. Gaara pushed away from the wall and held out his hand expectantly. Naruto tossed the camera over and went to sit on Sasuke's lap. The Uchiha prodigy glared for a moment and yelped when Naruto bit the edge of his ear lovingly.
Kankuro finished gawping at his brother. He turned to the male members of Team 7 with fifty bucks and a broad grin. "You guys are so coming to Suna someday."
They congratulated each other on mission accomplished for a moment before Naruto realized someone was missing from their conversation. "Guys, where's Gaara?" They stared and Kankuro groaned, resting his head in his hands. "He's such a do-gooder nowadays! He probably went to return the stuff to her."
The other boys traded disbelieving glances, but Kankuro was right: Gaara was walking up the stairs to Haruno Sakura's apartment.
––––––––––
As his hand approached the door to knock, the wood was ripped off its hinges.
"That son of a – I'll skin that ketsunoana alive!"
Sakura tossed the door to the side, cursing to herself until she realized someone was standing patiently on her doorstep. "What do you want?" she almost snarled, too angry to be polite.
He unhooked the gourd from his back. "I came to return these." Gaara held out the bag of lingerie and the camera. "Naruto wanted me to use them for something. I wasn't sure what, but I figured you'd want those back." He gestured towards the sack of clothing. "Do you mind if I come in?"
She nodded, still in shock and accepted the items automatically.
"By the way, the pictures were good," he said as he stepped over the threshold.
She looked at him sharply.
"What pictures?"
He waved at the camera in her hand. "Naruto said he took them while you weren't looking."
Sakura's cheeks burned.
"You looked at them?"
Gaara nodded vaguely, sitting down on her couch. "Why not? There was so much there to look at."
Sakura swallowed the growl that was building in the back of her throat. She should thank him and make him leave before she really got angry.
"I want to thank you for bringing back my clothes and the… pictures. Was there anything else you needed before you go?"
To her surprise, he sighed and propped his chin on one fist.
Sakura stared. Gaara was too completely bloodthirsty to make such an innocent display of vulnerability, and yet there he was. It was strangely appealing to her.
"I'm just a little confused."
Gaara, confused? That pushed her off the edge. She started to grin at him.
"About what?"
"Well, Naruto brought the pictures and the clothes for something. He and Kankuro and Sasuke were talking about it the entire time, but I'm not sure what…"
Gaara trailed off, leaving Sakura floored again. She ogled him, unabashed.
"Are you telling me you don't know what they were suggesting?"
His non–existent eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"I wouldn't be asking otherwise. Can you tell me what they were talking about? It's really annoying me."
Oh–kay. On one hand, annoying Gaara wasn't high on her list of things to do, but neither was explaining the mechanics of sex to him in her living room. With a bag of lingerie on the floor. And a camera full of… undesirable photographs.
"Well, um…" She tried to stall. He was looking at her in a very meaningful way, and she suddenly found herself unable to register coherent thoughts.
"I–I suppose you have to know about what goes before, um, a woman gets pregnant?" He nodded and she heaved a mental sigh of relief. "It's, um, kind of like that… but without, you know, the money. And the, uh, pregnant part. Most of the time."
Now he looked seriously confused and dismayed. "So they were talking about getting married? I hope they don't expect me to run off with some girl."
Sakura stood up, suddenly irritated beyond belief with his uncharacteristic naivety.
"Gaara, for god's sake, they were talking about sex! What's wrong with you?"
The light dawned in his eyes and he blinked.
"Oh. What's sex?"
Sakura stood up, seething as she tried not to take her anger out on the ninja sitting in her living room.
"I'm going to look for something. Just sit here for a minute and I'll get one of my med books for you."
––––––––––
She stalked into the kitchen, wrenching open a cupboard and shattering a plate in anger. She gripped the counter, trying not to break the wood as she cursed Naruto six ways from Sunday. Still breathing hard, she walked back into the living room to find Gaara staring at the ceiling.
"Gaara, would you please leave? There's something I need to do."
He gazed beseechingly at her. "Aren't you going to teach me about sex?"
She shut her eyes. "Gaara, go now."
"Please, Sakura?"
"If you need to learn, go to a brothel."
She opened her eyes. He was standing just in front of her, arms crossed over his chest. Had he always been taller than her?
Gaara grinned at her distant expression. "I've read Jiraiya's book you know."
"You've what?"
Sakura took a swipe at his head and he dodged, grabbing one of her arms. She hooked a foot around his, sending him crashing to the ground. He covered her up to the waist in sand just long enough to stand again. Their brief scuffle ended with Sakura shoved up against her living room wall, breathing hard as Gaara held her hands above her head. He smirked at her. She glared back.
"You tricked me. Can you tell me what possessed you to look at that kind of books in the first place? No offense, but I don't see you as the IchaIcha Paradise type."
He shrugged, keeping his palms pressed down on her wrists. "Naruto sends me every new one that comes out. You know, you're pretty when you're angry."
Sakura blinked in genuine surprise at his abrupt statement. "Pretty? What, do you like me or something?"
He shrugged again, annoying her further. "Is that so hard to believe? You're extremely intelligent. You're pretty. And you're violent."
"That's all?" She honestly did not believe that those things could make her desirable to him, especially the last one.
He considered it, seemingly unaware that he still had her pressed against a wall.
"Well, one time Naruto said that you give great head."
Sakura worked a leg free from his hold and slammed her knee into his stomach, knocking him back as she went for blood. Flexing her knuckles on one hand, she dragged him forwards with the other. Then, before he could respond to her attack, she let her fist fly forward.
It sent him through the plaster wall, the wooden beams, and into the wall of the building across the street. The air slammed out of his lungs on impact. He opened his eyes and grinned, feeling his ribs healing themselves. Then he launched himself back into her apartment. She was ready for him.
They tumbled over her red carpet, limbs tangling as each fought for the upper hand. This time Sakura finished first, her strong legs pinning him to the floor as she swept a stray lock of hair from her eyes. Her green irises glittered dangerously.
"Don't you ever say that again."
"What, the compliments or the thing about giving head?"
"The thing about giving head! I'll flay you alive if you so much as mention it, understand?" She hesitated, frowning. "Naruto wouldn't know that." She stared absently at the wall, holding down his palms with bare muscle.
Gaara raised a metaphorical eyebrow. "Are there others who know?" he questioned.
She stiffened, sending all sorts of inappropriate thoughts through the Jinchuuriki's head.
"Is that any of your business?"
He thought about it for a moment. "It might be."
She didn't answer, speechless with fury.
He grinned slightly and shoved her over, sending them rolling again. He swung her over one last time, holding her down as he regained his breath and composure.
"Let me up right now!" She struggled in his grasp, ignoring the urge to go limp.
"I'll let you up in a minute." He lowered his head, nose grazing her ear as he inhaled deeply. When he breathed out, she shivered.
Slowly, he turned his face to hers and kissed her.
She thrashed in his grip for a moment, trying to wriggle out of his hold. Kissing? She felt his soft lips pressed against hers, moving in time with some inaudible beat. And he was kissing her… should she be kissing him back? She was almost sure that was what she'd been trying not to do, but she couldn't seem to focus when he was gently tugging on her lower lip with his teeth. Kissing. He was kissing her. She was kissing him. One kiss. No, it was surely more than one kiss; this had to count for a lot more than that.
She gasped as he pulled away, aware more than every of his closeness. If he were touching her any more, she thought she might scream. She tried to speak, to accuse him, to curse him, to beg him for more, but she couldn't force the words from between her swollen lips. She lay there breathing harshly, still tasting him on her lips, as she tried to convey the shudders running through her body. It was a mix of drowning and falling off a cliff, she decided. Her breathing was labored by an almost tangible desire to be kissed again, and her body was shaking with an unnamed response.
Even he might have been embarrassed at the proximity if not for the intimate details of her figure that flooded his senses with each touch. They filled his thoughts, leaving no room for doubts and shyness. He observed her shocked state, noting that she was no longer fighting his hold.
"First time?"
Her gaze snapped to his and she found she could move again.
"It's not like it counts. Your first has to be willing."
Gaara looked at her in incredulity.
"How much more willing do I need to make you?"
"A hell of a lot more willing!"
She glared up at him, and his lazy grin got wider. Slowly, lowering his eyes, he released her hands. She didn't move; she was limp as a doll under his earnest gaze and sensitive fingers. Her eyes widened as he gently cupped her chin in his palms and kissed her again. This time it was faster, more insistent as his lips swayed her into submission. It took Sakura a moment to realize that she was kissing him back, and another moment to realize that this would definitely count as her first kiss. There were few people on the face of the earth more willing than she was right now. Her hands twined in his thick red hair, legs following the apparent all–clear notice.
As he pulled away a minute later, she noted his smug expression.
"What are you so happy about?"
He licked his lips, making her shiver.
"Well, mainly that. And I got you extremely angry and then got you to kiss me."
"I did not kiss you."
"Intent counts. By the way, I was joking about what Naruto said."
"You son of a bitch, you planned this with him!"
"The thought never crossed my mind. Oh, and the camera had no film in it. Naruto has no idea how to take pictures."
"Just let me up and I'll–"
"You'll what? What about if I do this?"
She gasped into his lips.
"That is not what I meant!"
"You weren't talking about more kissing?"
"No, I was talking about manslau–"
"Holyfuckingshit!"
They both looked up.
Ino, Kankuro and Lee stood in the wreckage of Sakura's doorway, staring in wonder at the scene before them.
Sakura turned crimson. "It's not what it looks like–"
"Gaara!"
The exclamation came from Kankuro. It was a cross between horror and awe, like someone examining a jar of poison.
The redheaded Jinchuuriki looked calmly at his brother, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that he was still sitting on Sakura. "Yes, Kankuro?"
"You were– and she wasn't– and no one was– not even a scream?" he finished lamely, fishing for help blindly.
Ino was wearing a calculating expression, the one that meant everyone would know by lunch that Sakura had been having a major make out session with Sabaku no Gaara.
Lee looked like he was about to cry. "Why, oh beautiful blossom of youth? Did you not wish to wait for me?" He turned to Gaara, shoulders slumped in defeat. "What first alerted you to the glorious beauty of Sakura? Was it her graceful demeanor or sparkling intellect?"
Gaara looked at the blonde kunoichi. "What's he asking me?"
Ino smirked. "He's asking you what about Sakura turned you on."
Gaara blinked at Lee through eyes lined by insomnia.
"She punched me and threw me through a wall."
