Okay I Lied. I got lazy. My computer crashed. Lost my inspiration and motivation. Got a new laptop, but was too preoccupied with IMing. School was hectic as hell. I got lazy. A lot's been happening in my life. I got lazy. I am lazy. Lazy, lazy, lazy.

Je peux être paresseux

Hgridwggfea – Shukaku

Gjrioetuierhylhl; - Gaara

Enjoy.

"He killed her didn't he? I knew it, he killed her. She's dead, another body to add to the collection." Kankuro whined as he paced back and forth.

"Shut up, I can't hear anything with you bitching like that." Temari was crouched down, hidden between two thick bushes. She was peering into the dark tunnel, hoping to see any sign of either Gaara or Sakura; but saw nothing, "I can't tell where they are, it's too dark. Why'd he take her in there?"

"To feast on her flesh-Ow!"

Kankuro rubbed his throbbing head and sat down behind a tree. Temari scowled at him and went back to looking into the tunnel. It seemed to go on for miles without end or light. There was no sound, not even the footsteps of a mouse. It was pitch black, and yet Gaara insisted, with the bloodied girl in his arms, that he take her in there. Reluctantly, Temari agreed.

After Sakura was thrown off the tree and fell to her presumed death, everything completely stopped. The fight was instantly over. Naruto was knocked unconscious, but was still breathing. He was resting next to Kankuro; his body was weak and useless. Sasuke, however, disappeared into the shadows of forest, leaving his comrades behind. He didn't even bother to check on Sakura. Temari was angered by this, but brushed it aside.

"Gaara, what the hell are you doing in there?"

"Do you see any sign of life?"

"Obviously not you twit."

"Hey, I'm just asking," Kankuro picked up a stick and poked Naruto on the cheek, "What do we do with this kid?"

"Just let him rest."

Kankuro snickered, "He's making weird noises…ew, his eye are turning purple!"

What will you do now?

Gaara sat in a next to Sakura and brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

I don't know.

If she dies, it's your fault.

I know that.

I never expected this to last; you don't know how to hold onto a good thing. You should have scared her off when you had the chance; instead you grew too soft, and look what happened.

I didn't want to end it like this.

He looked at his hands, they were shaking. All the rage in him, all the anger; it was all gone. There wasn't an ounce of emotion left in him, he was tired. After battling himself for so many years, he was tired. Drained of everything inside, all he wanted to do was close his eyes and drift away. Where nothing hurt, emotions were obsolete, and everything stretched on forever. Was it selfish to want to escape? After facing so much tragedy in his young life, there wasn't much to ask for.

He wasn't looking at anything anymore; he was looking past the blood, past the darkness. Is there anything left to hold onto in this cruel world? There was nothing special to keep in his memories; everything was mere dust in the wind. Faces of people began to blur in the back of his mind, his battles turned into moving pictures that burned in his eyes. He wanted nothing from this world anymore. He'll leave everything behind and walk into the future alone.

Something warm moved past his chin. And then he remembered her. His eyes shifted from the tunnel to the body below him. It was pitch black but he clearly sees Sakura's open lips. Life. She was breathing in and out very slowly and softly. Gaara's head curiously titled to the side, his mouth twitched a little. He gently placed his hand around her throat and squeezed. There was something stuck in there, preventing her from actually waking up.

That's interesting.

"Sakura,"

Her name stung his tongue, it felt like ages since he last spoke. His mouth suddenly became dry and his hands started shaking again, but he had to control himself. He softly squeezed her throat around. It was a bit difficult figuring out what the object was. It was soft, but large, and blocking portions of her windpipe. It was a couple minutes before he found out what it was, and a grave feeling began to sink in.

His own sand was stuck inside her.

Smooth move.

He lifted her head up and hovered his hand above her mouth, retracting the sand out of her. When it was all out, he threw the sand aside. He wanted to throw all of it away, just knowing that it was covered in her blood made his blood boil.

Suddenly, Sakura pushed herself away and crawled backward as far as possible. Her back hit the wall and her calm breathing turned into panic. She started coughing violently and her body began to ache. All the scars, bruises, and broken bones began to take its toll on her.

"W-where am I?"

Gaara couldn't answer, he wanted to say something but couldn't utter a word.

"Who are you? Where's Naruto?"

Say something imbecile.

"Sakura,"

Her breathing cooled down and her heart started racing, "Gaara?"

She felt around until her hands found his feet, then they started traveling up his body until they rested against his face. Tears fell and landed on his leg before she threw herself at him and held him tightly. His laid his hand on her arm.

"You aren't afraid?"

"I…I'm terrified."

"Of what?"

"Everything."

They stayed that way for a while, only the sound of Sakura's breathing filled the air. Gaara heard Temari call in, asking if everything was alright. He finally gave in to his body and let himself fall into Sakura's arms. She kept her arms wrapped around his neck, and rubbed his back.

"Go."

"I can't."

"I almost killed you, leave me."

"If I let go then you'll disappear, I'll never see you again."

"That's what I want to happen."

She finally let go and gripped the sides of his shirt, "Why? Why do you always have to push me away, can't you see that I don't want you to go? I'll spend the rest of my life not wanting anyone else. I'm not mad at you; I know why you hurt me. But I can live through it. I know I'm too young to be saying this, but..."

"What about me? Do you expect me to live like this with you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I am a monster. I'll kill you again and again until you can't wake up. I can't live with that. Just learn to let go of me, as I will with you."

Sakura's arms dropped to her lap. The tears kept falling but her voice was lost. There was nothing else she could say; now it was her turned to be drained of everything. Gaara helped her up, and carried her out of the tunnel where Temari and Kankuro waited for them.

On the way to the hospital, no one said anything. Kankuro tried a few times, only to earn him several beatings to the head. Temari felt the tension surrounding Gaara and Sakura, almost suffocating on the heavy feeling. She knew their faces would not be welcomed in the village so she sneaked Sakura and Naruto inside, dropping them of in a vacant room.

Sakura could only watch Gaara with somber eyes, as he left her without saying a word. Their ties together were cut, and their paths may never cross again. But somehow, she couldn't muster up any anger or sadness. Instead all she felt was reget, that it had to end this way, and that she wasn't strong enough to stop it from happening. Instead of drowning in her sorrow, she'd cherish the moments she had with Gaara and learn to let go.

She looked over at Naruto and bit her lip, using her last bit of energy, she limped over to him. She gently touched his cheek and smiled.

"Naruto…I'm so grateful I have you in my life." Then pressed the room service button.

"This is Nurse Keiko speaking, Room C-114, to whom an I speaking too?"

"This is Haruno Sakura, I have two severely injured shinobis in here who are in need to medical attention. One is knocked unconscious, possibly suffering a concusion, and the other has two fractured rib cages and a broken leg."

"I will send emergency officers and medical nins right away."

"Thank you."

Sakura sat down next to the bed and waited patiently for the doctors. Something rough was scraping against her palm, she opened it and sand started falling out of her open cuts.

"Temari,"

"What?"

"What do we do now?"

She took a gulp of water from her bottle and sneaked a quick peek at the top of the cliff, "We go home, duh."

"Don't we have to look for Baki?"

"I'm sure he survived and is back in the village waiting for us."

"I bet he's mad."

"Who cares? Frankly this whole thing was a failure to begin with and shows how much Suna needs to change. When we get back, I'm gonna give those village idiots hell. What kind of leaders decide to form a pact with that sound village? Real fucking brilliant."

"Yeah, I wonder what's gonna happen now," Kankuro sat back and laid flat on his belly, "So are we leaving tonight?"

"No, tomorrow morning, I'm gonna try and get some supplies. This whole village is a wreck, so I don't think they'll mind if I use my five finger discount, plus," Temari let out a heavy sigh, "I think we should give Gaara a little time to recollect himself."

"He broke up with his girlfriend, big deal, everyone does that – Not the fist again!"

Temari lowered her arm, "If you can't say anything nice, be prepared to get hit!"

Gaara tuned out the sound of his siblings arguing and continued to stare at the tree. For over an hour, the leaves stayed black. It didn't move against the wind, it didn't have that life it used to. Old memories surrounding it were cast away. The tree too felt the pain, and stayed the color of Gaara's heart.

This was all I had in my head, sorry. I'm sure more will come out later.

While I did take anatomy in school, I never really learned much about the throat or the windpipes so I have no idea how it would work if san really was stuck in there or what a fractured bone really is. Oh well, this is naruto land, where anything and everything is possible (whoop dee freakin doo -_- )

I'm going to try to update this as soon as possible. Because I want to end this story really, really badly. I just haven't decided how to end it.

Ciao.