Is this early...? I don't even remember when I said I was gonna update again... Oh well. Here it is. Your reviews have been so inspiring that I just HAD to put this up. Keep up the good work and hit that review button! ^_^ And please, no critiques on the spelling. I know it's bad. I'm trying here.

Chapter 12

Bargain

***From*The*Desk*Of*Tristen1497***

She put the tray down on the last stair before stepping forward. Sakura was too short, so she had to stand on her tiptoes to see inside the cell. It was disgustingly filthy, and small.

There was a bad excuse for a bed with straw as a mattress. The stone floor too had bits of straw everywhere. Sakura tried to ignore the horrid conditions in one corner that served as a restroom. But what she really paid attention to were the chains on the floor, anchored to the very center of the room. And imprisoned within the room, tied up by those very chains was the man she feared.

He sat on the floor, arms hugging his legs and his head buried in his knees. The chains lay still around his ankles and wrists. He looked so still… not at peace but like he was resting. He almost looked like he was asleep…

Her hand touched the gray bar and in the same instant his head snapped up, his wild eyes glaring straight at her. Her heart jumped back into her throat.

"He- hello Gaara." She whispered.

He was at the door before she could blink, his face mere inches away from her own. "What do you want?" He barked at her, his voice silencing the clanging of his chains.

"I- I…" She swallowed hard. "I brought you your dinner."

He huffed.

"Ca… can I come in?"

"I'm not the one with the key, Princess." He glared at her with murder in his eyes.

She swallowed again, moving to pick up the tray and open the door with her rusty key. He moved back from her when she entered, keeping his stance low and his fingernails pointed towards her. It made her feel like she was being stalked. As soon as the door creaked shut behind her, he leapt for her. Sakura pressed herself against the wall, closing her eyes, but the pain didn't come.

Opening her eyes, she saw his face once again inches from her, but his arms were being held far back from her throat by the chains. His eyes were on fire, locked with hers as he struggled, pulling at the chains. He was so close…

He fell back onto the floor, panting, and rubbing his wrists. Sakura could see the blood leaking from them and his ankles. He laid back into the floor, rubbing his eyes and still trying to catch his breath.

"Damn you," he whispered to her, trying to sit up again. Sakura could see how much it made him struggle.

"Are you sick?" She asked him, sinking to her knees with the tray. "You seem so…"

"Weak?" he barked at her. "You see this?" He gripped the collar around his neck. Sakura looked at it, quickly realizing it was not the black one he usually wore. This one was brown and fitted more tightly around his neck. "This is what's making me sick. This doesn't hold back power like the other. This one sucks it out of you."

He sighed again, falling back onto the stone floor. "I couldn't even kill you if I could reach you…"

They sat in silence for a moment, Gaara trying to catch his breath.

"I brought you some food." She whispered again, the sound of her voice making him sit up again instantly. She held out the tray for him and when he didn't take it, she put it on the ground and pushed it towards him.

His eyes never left hers as he hesitantly reached for the food. He ate each bight quickly and forcefully, like he was being starved all while keeping his gaze locked with hers. Seeing the way his dirty and worn clothes hung so loose on his frame, Sakura wouldn't be surprised if he was being starved.

All of a sudden he froze, his wide eyes zooming in on her hands. She looked down to see she'd been holding the shocker in her grasp the whole time. "I won't use it," she assured him.

His feral eyes revealed he did not trust her. "I don't want to hurt you." Sakura whispered, inching towards him. Gaara backed away from her advance quickly but she pressed on, reaching out as if to try and touch him. He gripped her wrist in his hand, his fingernails digging into her skin. She winced as the blood poured out and tried to hold back the tears.

"Do not touch me." He stressed. "Ever." She nodded her head, her wide eyes not leaving his. Gaara threw her wrist away from him.

"Why do you hate me, Gaara?" she asked, nursing her bleeding hand.

He huffed again. "Do you even have to ask?" He eyed the shocker, still firmly in her other hand.

"But, I've never hurt you."

"But you've caused it all," He snapped back. "If it weren't for you none of this would have happened. I wouldn't be imprisoned."

Sakura began to explain. "I tried to tell them it wasn't what it looked like-"

"Not that you idiot!" He hissed at her. "Walls are walls. They can crumble. But this," he motioned to himself "Will never go away! Do you have any idea how much it hurts, feeling like you're crawling in your own skin with no way out?" Gaara barked at her.

Sakura was silent for a long time before she answered him. "Yes,"

He snorted, turning his head away from her. "Just get out."

She hung her head low. This wasn't going the way she had planned. "You want to kill me, right?"

"What gave me away?" Gaara mocked her. "Especially after that horrid display on the battlefield. Disgusting…"

She winced at his words, but cleared her throat and continued on regardless. "You want me dead because if I die, you can be free, correct?" He didn't answer her. "I'll set you free then,"

His untamed eyes were black on her, staring her down. "You can't," He hissed at her. "You don't have the power."

"Yes, I do." Sakura came towards him then, ignoring the fact that he stood and backed away from her. She still kept approaching him, reaching forward once again. He gripped her arm, drawing more blood, but Sakura pressed on, fighting against his strength. Even being completely drained of energy, he still managed to resist her. But finally, she won. Sakura's hand gripped one of his arm's shackles, slipping the key Utsute gave her into the lock. It fell to the ground with a clang.

Gaara stopped fighting against her then, instead looking at her like she was insane. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Setting you free, like I said."

He glared at her. "You can never set me free from this body."

"That may be," Sakura started, unlocking his other shackles. "But I can get you out of here, and, in time, out of Suna too."

She looked up to his shocked face, speaking as calmly as she could. "If you try to kill me, you'll be imprisoned here forever, or you'll be killed and sealed right back up in some old ramen cook pot."

"Jar of tea." Gaara corrected her, looking away from her face almost sheepishly. "It was a jar of tea."

"Alright then. Either way, you'll never be free if you kill me. But if you let me help you, I can get you out of this city, you can run away and live the way you want. And when your human body dies, you can then truly be free with no one around to seal you back up again. You can go back to the underworld from which you came. That's what you want, right?"

Gaara looked away from the stone ceiling and back to her eyes. Those bright green eyes that looked at him with such… empathy. Could it be that she really wanted to help him? Or would he just be put in prison again?

"You could never do it. I'll be locked inside this room for the rest of my life."

Sakura shook her head. "I made a deal with the Kazekage. From now on, I am the only one with the authority to have you detained. As long as you don't go back on our deal, you'll be a free as I can make you."

Gaara crinkled his brow. "Our deal?"

She smiled at him. "You will protect me and not kill me but rather wait until I myself can set you free."

He frowned at her. "What's the catch?"

Sakura tired not to let her smile widened. "That catch is, you must do one other favor for me."

***From*The*Desk*Of*Tristen1497***

Sakura woke that morning feeling better than she had in ages. Of course, she had been plagued by nightmares just like almost every other night, but today that didn't matter. Her nightmares and her sleep deprivation met nothing, because today would be the beginning. After that day, she would no longer be useless.

"Hello Sakura-sama!" Jouhin greeted her brightly when she opened the door into her protector's room. Jouhin had flower wall paper and many little trinkets decorating her walls and every surface had glitter or feathers on it. It looked like a cat's paradise. Jouhin sat at her vanity tying her hair up into her signature ponytail.

She got up, her great green cat-eyes staring at her friend. "What, may I ask, is on the agenda for today?"

Sakura smiled. "Don't you have my schedule memorized?"

"Why, yes," Jouhin gave a little twirl. "Today you have brunch with the prime minister from The Land of Water, a meeting with the council, I assume you will watch us train this afternoon, then lunch with Kazekage-sama, Tea with me, and then you must attend a ceremony of some sort. Then, there's a meeting with a citizen, something about the water supply, and then dinner. Quite a light schedule today."

Sakura inwardly sighed. When on earth would she find time to begin her plan? But of course, what did she expect after mourning for so long?

Since she had many public appearances, Sakura put on a white kimono with a few light pink flowers on it and did her hair up in extravagant big curls. When she was finished, her mask was in place. She was a beautiful, delicate princess.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted her when she knocked on his door. "What's up? You coming to watch me spare today?"

She smiled to him. "Of course. But I was wondering, I have some time yet before I have to meet the prime minister. Would you mind taking a walk with me through the gardens before it gets too hot?"

His classic foxy grin spread across his face. "I would be honored. " He bowed to her before offering her his arm.

"Hey!" Jouhin caught up to them. "Am I not invited?"

"Sorry, but I could really use some alone time with Naruto. Do you mind?"

The cat-girl pouted, but gave in none the less. "Alright I guess," they all started heading back down the hall. "As long as we're still on for tea."

Sakura smiled. "Oh course."

Click.

Jouhin and Naruto went stiffer than boards, their eyes fixating on the person who had just closed the door to Gaara's room. Sakura heard them both gasp, almost gaping at Gaara. He lifted his eyebrow in their direction.

"Gaara!" Jouhin breathed out. "Wha… What are you doing here?"

His arms crossed over his chest as always. "I live here, in case you forgot."

Naruto interjected, his fists clenching. "She means, what the hell are you doing roaming around? Aren't you supposed to be locked in jail, I don't know, forever?"

Gaara blinked, un-phased by the rage that seemed to be leaking from Naruto, saturating the air. "I was released." The sand master turned to walk down the hall in the opposite direction they were headed.

"On what grounds?" Naruto hissed.

Gaara paused momentarily before turning back to Naruto with malice in his eyes. Sakura watched him grin mincingly. "Good behavior."

"Naruto, drop it." Sakura held his arm, sensing her friend's contempt. The fox glared once more before turning and waking away quickly, Sakura at his heals.

"Perhaps you should be nicer to him," She suggested as they entered the Palace's gardens.

Naruto snorted. "Not on your life."

She paused dead in her tracks, watching as her friend slowly turned around to face her. "Do you mean that? Do you hate him so much?"

Naruto appeared torn as he ruffled his own hair. "Ugg! You just don't get it. This is Shukaku we're talking about! He's not some hurt little boy you can fix Sakura! He's a demon! A manipulative, cunning, bloodthirsty demon!"

"You are also a demon," she pointed out.

"That may be, but I'm nothing like him! I came to this world because I was forced! I was pulled from my world against my will, placed upon this strange earth and meant to kill! I didn't ask to be the power of the wind that would pollute this human world with demonic seed. I didn't want to be the taker of so many lives, but I had no choice.

"Shukaku had a choice! He was the first of our kind to answer the sand-prince's plea! The one who agreed to come to this world to take the lives of humans purely because he wanted to! He was the damn spark that started all of this! And he dragged the others in our realm to follow, and when he went too far they sealed us all!"

Naruto had paced back and forth many times, eventually coming to stand in front of her, gripping her shoulders. Sakura tried not to wince in pain. The deep gashes Gaara had left the night before were still fresh below the bandages she had used to conceal them.

"Please, get it, Sakura. Gaara cannot be trusted."

Sakura stared at Naruto with almost unseeing eyes. Her insides were being thrown into turmoil again, yet she could do nothing about it at the moment. She had to be composed, she had to be the princess, and try not to think about the mysterious red haired man.

"Alright," she breathed calmly.

Naruto blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Alright. I will listen to what you say. Gaara cannot be trusted. Therefore, I will not trust him."

***From*The*Desk*Of*Tristen1497***

Sakura slipped from her bed that night, while the rest of the palace slumbered on. No one had told her how cold it could get at night, even in the desert… Her long pink nightgown was so thin it was almost see-through; not proper at all for the cold. She compensated with fuzzy slippers that did nothing to warm even her feet.

She tiptoed through her chamber, across the hall and to that dreaded red door, opening it with the utmost care.

"Gaara?" She whispered into the black beyond. Slowly, she stepped into the room.

"I did not say you could come in," A harsh voice hissed at her. She froze, looking all around, unsure of where exactly he had spoken from.

She started shaking. "I- I…"

The curtains covering the wall opposite her flung open with a clamor, bright moonlight streaming in. Only then could she see the red-head, lurking ominously in the corner by his sand fountain. His piercing eyes stared her down. "What is it you want?"

Sakura couldn't find her voice. It was if she was lost in his eyes of hate.

"If you have nothing to say, leave." He turned from her, walking to his small red rug and sitting down on it, gazing out into the starry night.

It took her several minutes to work up the courage to speak as she walked slowly forward into Gaara's labyrinth. "Is it true, you elected to be pulled from the underworld? Just so you could come here and kill?"

The silence around was deafening, until finally Gaara spoke. "You listen too much to what Kyuubi says."

"Naruto is my best friend. I trust him and believe in what he tells me." She said softly.

"Oh?" She was standing next to him now, and the way he looked up at her had shivers running down her spine. "And what else has Naruto told you?"

Sakura had to visibly try to keep her breath steady. "He told me you were not to be trusted."

That satanic grin spread lightly over Gaara's lips again. He stood, towering over her, just inches from her face. Sakura might have fled, if her feet hadn't turned to cement again. "So what will you do now Princess? Betray our bargain before I can?"

She closed her eyes to escape the wrath of his gaze. Her very breath shivered as she tried to let it out slowly. "No,"

When Sakura opened her eyes again, she could see the confusion written on his face, especially in the way his right eyebrow lifted slightly. His expression was almost… cute. Then the look was gone, replaced with pure suspicion. "Why?" Gaara demanded.

She took in another shaky breath. "Because, I still need something from you, and, whether you like it or not, you still need something from me."

He glared at her, as if challenging her. Then he smirked again. "I'm not exactly sure what you're getting at, but I'll play along."

Sakura blinked, surprised as he quickly moved away from her, standing to overlook his view of the desert.

"And you're sure about this? You want to be trained as a shinobi?"

She swallowed hard. "I don't want to be useless anymore."

He gave a stiff nod, not looking at her. His gaze was still fixed on the desert. "After sunset," He commanded, pointing at a speck in the scenery. "up by that cliff. Be there if you wish to start your training."

Sakura's eyes would have lit up if it wasn't for the menacing look he threw back at her and his bone-chilling words. "I do so love to play with my prey first."

END

BAHAHAHAA! ^_^ that's right countless people who complained Sakura was too weak. She's gonna be doing some ninja training. ^_^ I be having fun with this. I wonder what's gonna happen next...? :O

Next update: Mar: 21st. That's only 10 days. Be happy.