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Chapter 55: Consequences of Ignoring Visions

Sakura practically had whiplash, the dream came upon her so quickly. The instant flash of a familiar night sky as she fell into sleep made her wonder if the vision that had nearly interrupted her playtime with her friends had just been waiting for her to close her eyes. If that was the case, it was somewhat irritating. After all, why have visions when she wasn't looking for them? Even more so, why have visions during the day if she could see the same thing a Walking Dream? All that sudden visions could do was interfere with whatever she was doing at the time and they might even frighten her friends. The memory of Gaara looking at her with fear was one she couldn't erase from her mind no matter how much she tried to pretend it never happened. She never wanted to repeat the experience.

The fact that Sakura was dreaming of Bunta didn't help her irritation any. She hadn't had a Walking Dream in over two months, not since her one and only dream about Kirsche leaving, and the lack had actually felt relaxing. Sakura had been glad to leave behind her constant nightmares of possible futures that she had constantly had back in the past… Admittedly, this dream didn't seem to be much of a nightmare thus far, but it did contain Bunta, which instantly made it a bad dream. The fact that Bunta was standing outside an earthen house, talking to two other people who had been unkind to her in the past as well as one other person she didn't recognize, made Sakura like this dream even less. If she'd had a choice, Sakura would have ended the dream right there; however, unlike with her visions, Sakura had yet to find a way to dismiss a Walking Dream, and so she was stuck standing invisibly beside the group of older children as they discussed whatever it was that they felt was so important that it had to be said outside, despite the growing winds and the setting sun, rather than inside where, from what Sakura could see through a nearby window, the rest of who she guessed was their friends or relatives were gathered for a party.

At first Sakura paid more attention to what was happening on the other side of the window, because she could just make out Hisako Higa, Rei's twin, playing with a couple of other girls near her age over in one corner. No matter how much she looked, however, Sakura couldn't see Rei within the window's limited view. The fact that he had to be somewhere within was a given, because not only was his sister there, but his older brother was one of the four youths standing around outside, as was his cousin, Sora. Sakura was just beginning to think that perhaps this was a family gathering rather than a party when the fourth person in the outdoor group, the one she didn't know, leaned back against the window, right through Sakura, and said exasperatedly, "Oh, come off it Bunta." From the way Bunta's face went red and his hands started to clinch, Sakura had a feeling that this discussion was quickly on its way to becoming an argument. The long haired person—Sakura assumed it was a girl, although her voice was androgynous—merely rolled her eyes at Bunta's reaction as she continued bluntly. "Nothing we say or think is going to change anything. Besides, the Kazekage has his reasons for everything. If you ever plan on passing the Genin exam, you'd better learn to trust in our esteemed kage."

"Shut your gob, Yasu, you weren't there. You didn't see the way that trash was walking around like she owned the place. What was the Kazekage thinking! We have to put her in her place, or before we know it, her and all those other foreign butt-wipes will—"

This time it was Sora who cut Bunta off mid-rant, "Oh, please, brother…" from her tone, Sakura could tell that Sora was more than a little annoyed, "…spare us your drama. First off, I've met that brat more times than you, and I can assure you that that coward doesn't have it in her to even think of owning the place. Second off, her father isn't a foreigner. Third, have you forgotten that if not for her, that monster would have killed me?!" It was only as Sora said this, jabbing her finger pointedly at Bunta with each word, that Sakura realized that they were talking about her. "Isn't that a good enough reason for the Kazekage to keep her around?"

Bunta smacked Sora's accusatory finger way from his chest. "No," he shouted, his face livid, "it's freaking not! Did you forget? If not for the chit, Shukaku would never have gone for you. How long will it be before she starts ordering her pet monster to start chewing on us all?!"

Rather than get angry, Sora actually snorted. It was Rei's brother who spoke, though, when it became clear that Sora was too busy withholding her laughter to do so herself. "Look, Bunta," the boy sounded like he was trying to act calm despite being irritated, "I don't like that filth polluting our village any more than you do, but we all know what happened to Uncle Akai and Sora—not to mention all the other rumors out there—so if you'd stop to use that thick head of yours, you'd realize that that trash can actually be useful." Here Bunta tried to interrupt, to argue, but Rei's brother cut him off with a seething glare and, when that failed to get the desired results, shoved the other boy into the wall beside the window, "Get a grip, Bunta; don't be an imbecile. If we play our cards right, we can use that outside as a meat shield. Isn't that right, Sora?"

Sora, finally over her laughter, rolled her eyes, "I don't like your wording, but yeah. I already told you all how last time the monster started to flip, that brat threw herself between it and Rei and I to defend us from it—and it actually worked. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I think that brat can actually control the monster."

"And I heard," Yasu chimed in as she batted a strand of hair out of her face and into Bunta's, her voice bored and teetering on sardonic, "that our lowly opinions actually matter." Pushing off the wall she had been leaning against, she added in that same tone, "Now, if that's all you had to say, Bunta, I'm going back inside."

Rei's brother shrugged his shoulders, as if to say that Yasu had a point, and Sora actually ran after her departing relative with some snide remark about being snarky—which was cut off by the slamming of the door behind them. Sakura could all but hear Bunta grinding his teeth when Rei's brother patted Bunta on the shoulder and vocalized what his shrug had already said, then added, "Look, Bunta, my father said he had something important he wanted to discuss with everyone, and you know he won't get it over with until he's sure everyone is calm enough to take whatever news he's going to break. Last time we had this kind of gathering, he and uncle were going on an extended mission that ended up taking nearly two years. You'd better clear your head while you're out here, because for all we know, someone's died."

Bunta's silent seething continued up until the door closed behind Rei's brother. The next thing Sakura knew, the boy was kicking clods of dirt and sand into the already turbulant air as he shouted profanities at the night sky. Sakura thankfully couldn't make out most of what the boy was saying—she'd covered her ears at the first profanity—but it was more than obvious he was flustered. What she could hear, though, told Sakura that Bunta wasn't just angry at how the others had seemingly looked down on him, but he also seemed to think they were fools to trust a foreigner with their lives. His shouting seemed to drag on forever, but rather than tire him out, it appeared instead to be stoking his inner fire. It wasn't until he kicked at the dirt and found an unmovable rock instead that he quit shouting. Why the boy thought screaming out in pain was any different from screaming out in rage, Sakura didn't know, but Bunta bit his lip as he hopped around on one foot, holding in the worst of his screams.

After almost a minute of this, Bunta fell back on his butt and finally drew nearly silent as he gasped for air. Sakura slowly let her hands fall from her ears. It was only then that the little girl realized that the boy was no longer standing right by the house, but rather many, many blocks away, and that she had unknowingly followed him there. Thankfully, he couldn't see her, so he couldn't get angry with her, but he could see some of the people peeking out of their windows at him, and it clearly wasn't helping him calm down any. Cussing under his breath, Bunta made a rude gesture at them, then stood up and dusted himself off before turning back down the way he came.

Sakura still had no clue why her dreams had thought she had to see this, but as Bunta started mumbling angrily again, she couldn't help but hope the dream was almost over; there was only so much of his foul mouth that she could take. She was contemplating covering her ears again when Bunta said something so cruel it would have frozen her in place, had she had control of her dream body just then.

"…I hope it kills her…"

Sakura hoped she had misheard—the wind was strong after all—or at least she wished she had misunderstood, but the boy continued, mumbling almost hysterically under his breath, "…squish her like a bug…pull out those beady little eyes…mash her—" Whether it was him who was supposed to be doing these things or Sand Gaara, it didn't matter, it was a terrible, and terrifying, thing to hear…especially when she had to assume that she was the girl he wanted dead.

Sakura covered her ears once more. 'No more', she willed the dream, 'no more', but as always, her dream didn't obey. The only only good thing Sakura could come up with just then was that at least Bunta was speaking quietly enough that plugging her ears actually worked.

In the end, what halted Bunta's maniacal mutterings was a little shadow that seemingly materialized from the larger shadows of the night right in front of him. Sakura instantly recognized Gaara—poor lighting or no—and she could see his mouth moving. She was removing her hands from her ears so that she could hear whatever it was he was saying, when Bunta made the worst mistake of his life…

without looking at the child who had popped up before him, Bunta's arm snaked out to backhand whoever had dared to interrupt his temper-tantrum time…

Gaara's sand stopped Bunta's hand an inch from his face…

Gaara said something…but Sakura couldn't hear it. Was it her blood rushing in her ears? Was there something wrong with the dream? Was there something wrong with her? Sakura didn't know…but soon she was glad she couldn't hear anything…because the sand shifted and, as brief, unknown words passed between Gaara and Bunta, there was suddenly blood. Bunta was screaming…his hand falling limply to his side…and Gaara was…

smiling…

It was not a good smile.

It was not a Gaara smile.

It wasn't even a Kirsche smile.

It was a familiar smile, though, but for the life of her, Sakura's befuddled mind couldn't place it.

One eye was shrunk to nearly nothing, the other looking like Sand Gaara's had the one other time she'd seen Gaara's demon—Shukaku, a little voice reminded Sakura. Gaara was saying something, his odd eyes strangely wide…whatever Bunta said, it wasn't the right thing, because the sand moved to cover Bunta's other hand…and then Sakura had to turn away, as the hand became a crushed and bleeding mess…

But moments later, the dream forced her to turn back and look again. Now Gaara was hugging himself, his sands flying all around in the growing winds. He spoke again. This time Bunta spat at him, but the wind picked up his spittle and hurled it back in his face. The sand—Sakura didn't want to see—but it moved slowly up Bunta's legs as Gaara spoke once more—and then Bunta finally seemed to break as tears poured down his face. Although Sakura couldn't be sure, it looked like he was apologizing—which was good. Surely now Gaara would stop act—

Then the thought hit her that it might not be an act. This might be Shukaku by now. After all, she had never known Gaara to be like this before. Even with Akai, when he had gone over board and had started to lose control, he still hadn't tortured the man or smiled so…so…cruelly!

And that was when Sakura placed the smile.

It was a Hayato smile.

The same smile Hayato had had as he had ground her into the dirt.

That smile did not belong on Gaara's face.

Sakura knew she had to stop this. This wasn't the Gaara she knew and loved. She had to act. She had to do something…but once again, she couldn't break herself from the dream. Just a few moments after thinking this, though, something strange happened…the dream sped up.

Gaara smiled Hayato's smile, sand flying everywhere, wind everywhere, blood everywhere…and then there were ninja, aiming at Gaara's back, but his sands stopped their weapons, and then their movements, as the winds steadily increased. It was only as the dream started to pan further out to encompass more of the vicinity that Sakura realized that the sand in the wind wasn't just Gaara's; they were in the beginnings of a sandstorm.

As Sakura watched the fast-forwarded scene, Gaara killed first Bunta, then the ninja, and then the sand that had been swirling started to coalesce around his body, forming what might be a giant round raccoon. Silently screaming, Sakura tried to stop Shukaku, tried to run in front of him, tried to move at all—but she couldn't. As the speedy destruction continued, her sight turning blurry, perhaps due to her tears…and the only light she could find, buried under this tragedy, was the hope that this had yet to happen…that she could wake up in time to go out, find Gaara, and stop him from becoming like Hayato.

Why was this happening? The old Gaara never would have done anything like this? Even if the sand had started taking over, he would have fought it. What had changed? Why had Gaara…?

As the giant sand Shukaku tore through the village despite the now well established sandstorm, Sakura tried to figure out what was happening. Gaara had gone to Bunta for a reason…and a flash of memory was enough to tell Sakura why…he had gone because of what Sakura had told him. She had said Bunta had been trying to get at her. She had thought that incident had been water under the bridge. Gaara hadn't said anything and Sakura hadn't wanted revenge, so why? Why had Gaara gone to speak to Bunta? Surely he hadn't planned on hurting the boy—Gaara wasn't that kind of person—but Bunta had hit him, and his sand had reacted to the attack and clearly Shukaku had come out. If she had known before, Sakura would have stopped Gaara from going to Bunta…but how was she to have known he would react like this, though?

For a moment Sakura felt as if her heart had quit beating as the horrifying truth hit her in the face. She would have known…she should have known…because of the vision! If she had only allowed herself to See this earlier, she really could have stopped all this…instead, she had let worrying about what others thought stop her from saving lives.

Mentally, Sakura shook her head. Perhaps it wasn't too late. She didn't know for sure. This was a dream. Maybe it hadn't happened yet. If she could just wake up, she would know—


Sakura's eyes snapped open, not because her dream was done with her, but because a veiled ninja was shaking her awake. The first thing Sakura noticed as she blinked the residual images of a sand giant from her eyes was that this ninja was a woman; the second was that the window was open and that a strong wind was filling her room with sand particles.

"Good, you're awake," was all the warning Sakura got before the kunoichi scooped her out of bed and hopped out the window. Even though Sakura was startled, she didn't ask what was going on. She had a bad feeling that she already knew. The kunoichi confirmed her worries when she mumbled mid-leap, "I hope you really can calm that demon, or else…"If she said any more than that, it was lost to the wind, but Sakura didn't need to hear more…there was still hope. She wasn't sure what she could do to stop Shukaku—so she hoped instead Shukaku hadn't yet come out…that Bunta and those ninja were all still alive…that Gaara wasn't so far gone that he wouldn't hear her. As long as he could hear her, recognize her, Sakura was sure she could stop Gaara from becoming like Hayato.

By the time the kunoichi landed half a block away from where Sakura could see Gaara, the winds were getting much stronger and the amount of non-Gaara sand in the air was greatly increasing, to the point where Sakura wanted to cover her face with a cloth—but she couldn't, because what she could see made her blood run cold and her limbs freeze: Gaara was smiling Hayato's smile, blood splattering all over as his sand dropped the limp form it had been holding—squeezing…she was too late…Shukaku had already…Bunta…even if she hadn't liked Bunta, she never would have wanted this…

Sakura didn't let the tears she could feel building pour from her eyes. She already knew what would happen next…the ninja his sand had been holding off would be next to die…and Sakura couldn't let that happen. Squirming out of the kunoichi's hold, Sakura ran towards Shukaku, hoping beyond hope that there was enough of Gaara left to hear her scream. "Gaara!" His name tore itself from her throat, her voice a croak that sounded nothing like her.

He heard her all right, but he was looking at the ninja who had attacked him first…it was his sand that reacted, flying at her as if she were another of the ninja that had been attacking him…and if she had been, she would have been dead…but because she was a child, the attack that would have pierced through her chest barely clipped her head instead.

Stumbling from the blow, Sakura cried out in pain. Her hand came back from her head with a small patch of blood. If the memory of bloodied corpses hadn't been so strong in her mind's eye, Sakura might have started bawling; instead, the five-year-old did what even some ninja would have feared to have done in her place: she called out her friend's name once more, despite how he had reacted the last time. This time her voice came out sounding normal—or at least, as normal as it could, given she was in pain and was shouting into a strong wind—but that was where her courage ended. She couldn't bring herself to look up, away from her bloodied hand. She was afraid to see Shukaku in Gaara's face—or worse, she was afraid to look up and find that all the ninja were already dead and that the sand raccoon had already formed and was about to step on her like an ant.

Sakura might have kept staring at her hand, afraid to look up, if sand hadn't hit her smack in the face, making her choke out a cry of shock and pain. For a split second, Sakura thought Gaara—no, Shukaku—had hit her; that she was a goner. But then more sand started to hit other parts of her body in bursts that stung. It was like she was being scrubbed with sandpaper. It wasn't Gaara, Sakura realized as she tried to cover her face from more oncoming Sand, it was the sandstorm. It had finally arrived full force. She really was too late. Shukaku was probably done with the ninja and was about to kill her now too.


What Sakura didn't know was that during the few short seconds her eyes had been away from Gaara, Gaara's eyes had been drawn to her. He was shaking uncontrollably and his eyes were shrunk, but as he heard her cry, and realized who he had just attacked, he felt a tinge of guilt. The voice in his head was shouting for him to extinguish everyone and everything, to destroy, to kill…and his own voice was echoing somewhere in the back of his mind that that horrible person—if someone with as vile of thoughts as Bunta could be termed a person—had deserved what he got…but as Sakura's shrill cry of pain pierced through his hazy mind, he realized the voice in his head hadn't recognized her. As his eyes sought his other half, he could feel the angry voice that was calling for revenge fading to the back of his mind. Suddenly his own thoughts seemed louder, but they were still fractured and hazy, and his emotions were adrenaline driven.

Gaara instinctively knew that the blood on Sakura's hand was her own and that he was the cause, but after that first flash of guilt, all he could feel was an overwhelming need to protect her—to protect himself—it seemed only to make sense. Her pain hurt him. He couldn't let her feel pain. His eyes were about to shift to the ninja all around him—and her—the ones whose killing intent was all but palpable—but then Sakura suddenly jerked, as if she'd been hit, and then she was flinching, and trying to cover herself, even though none of the surrounding ninja had made a move. It took Gaara a moment of staring at her, wide eyed, to understand why she was acting that way. He hadn't noticed the sandstorm before, his own sand protected him, but not his other half…

Without conscious thought, Gaara hurried towards Sakura, extending his own sand to cover her. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the ninja—a female—start to move towards them. If the woman had been looking at him, he would have ignored her, but she wasn't. She was looking at Sakura…as if she wanted to take her away or as if Sakura were her target. Gaara was not about to let that happen, and so, he shifted more sand actively to stop her. The problem with doing this he realized a moment too late. By changing his sand's course, he had left Sakura unprotected, and the wind was growing stronger. Sakura was now curling into a ball, trying to cover her face and coughing. Gaara fought with his dual needs to protect her from the elements and the ninja for only a moment. Closing the distance between the two of them as quickly as he could, he threw his sand around them both in an enclosed dome.

The sudden quiet as the winds that he hadn't even noticed were instantly cut off allowed Gaara to hear his own thundering heart. There was no light in his little dome, and for a moment, Gaara feared that he was alone in there—that he had somehow left out Sakura—but then, just barely, he could hear her huffing for breath over the sound of his own heart. His relief was a hundred times stronger than the guilt he had only briefly felt before, and it was strong enough to completely wipe the brief emotion from his memory. Sakura was safe and so was he. That knowledge was all that mattered.

Gaara was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn't recognize at first when Sakura's coughs turned into sniffles. It wasn't until Sakura started stuttering his name that he understood that she was frightened. She thought she was alone too, he realized, because it was so dark, and she was probably afraid of those ninja too, since one of them had been after her.

The dome was small, so Gaara only had to shuffle over a few inches before his hand found what felt like her shoulder. She jerked away in surprise. "Don't worry," Gaara whispered, moving his hand forward again in the dark, "It's me." He could still hear her sniffling, so he added comfortingly, "I'll protect us, no matter what."

When his hand found her again, he knew this time he was touching her face, because he could feel the tears on her cheeks. "G-Gaara?" Sakura's voice came out a wavering squeak, "Y-your b-b-back?!" Did she think he'd left?

"I'll never leave you behind, Sakura."

He could feel her head already shaking from side to side, but it seemed to take her a moment to find her voice to actually say, "I m-meant—oh, Gaara!" He felt her hand shakily touching his on her face as more tears started to fall. "Sh-Shu—Sa-Sand—Bu-Bunta!" She was shaking so hard now, but Gaara thought he understood what was wrong.

Wiping her tears away as best as he could in the dark, Gaara whispered, "He'll never hurt us again."

He meant it to be comforting, but he felt her shock, and before he could even contemplate why, she was pulling away from him. "N-no! It w-wasn't you! It was Shu-Shukaku!" She sounded confused, or as if she were trying to convince herself of something, but Gaara couldn't understand what. Why would she think Shukaku had anything to do with…?

Slowly it dawned on Gaara that the voice he had been hearing, the one that wasn't his own, the one that said everyone had to die for what they'd done to him…to her…that voice had actually been Shukaku's. He'd never thought about it before. He had always known the demon was inside of him, and thanks to Sakura he had even come to think of the him that he became when he blacked out as Shukaku…but he had never before thought of Shukaku as the voice to kill in the back of his mind. Was that bad? Had Shukaku made him kill Bunta? What about those ninja? Was the voice in the back of his head wrong, to think they needed to die?

Sakura had continued stuttering as he thought, but he hadn't heard a word of it, and in fact, he interrupted her without meaning to, to ask, "Was it wrong to kill him?" Sakura's sharp intake of breath almost startled Gaara. If only he could see her face, he thought, maybe then he would be able to understand what she was thinking…but no, although he could no longer sense any ninja nearby the winds were still pounding outside, so it wouldn't be safe for him to lower his sand walls yet. He started reaching for her again through his confusion.

"Yes!" Sakura's clipped voice nearly made him jump. It took Gaara a moment to match her answer to his question, and by the time he did, by the time he felt the sting of pain in his chest, Sakura was speaking breathlessly between sobs, "B-Bunta—he was mean—and had a b-bad mouth—and t-temper—b-but—he d-didn't deserve t—to die!" His hand finally found her, but she jerked away again.

For a moment Gaara wasn't just hurt, but angry at her rejection of him. He might have reacted poorly if not for that newly named voice in the back of his mind starting to stir again, suggesting that he might be better without her. Gaara's horror at the very thought was enough for him to stamp out Shukaku's voice. It was also enough to set in his mind that Shukaku's thoughts, even though they had come from inside him, were most certainly not his own. He would never want to be without Sakura.

Thinking about his other half made him tune back into the real world and realize that Sakura was outright crying now, and had been for some time. He began to reach out for her, then hesitated. What if she jerked away again? What if he only made things worse? What if he scared her? What if she was already scared of him? She never had been before, but what if…? As his silent hesitation progressed, Gaara started to make out syllable in Sakura's sobs, and slowly those syllable became words: dark, too dark, afraid, death, air… It was these words that reminded Gaara of the one other time he had shielded Sakura fully. She had been afraid of the dark then, too…but this time he couldn't lower his shields. If he did, he knew that the sandstorm would shred her to bits. He had seen it happen before to a criminal his father had ordered chained out in the desert as punishment…and he refused to let it happen to her.

This time when his hand touched her she jumped, then tried to swat it away. He couldn't tell if she was scared of him or angry at him in the dark, but whatever the case, her actions, though expected, still hurt his heart. Despite the pain and the fear he was starting to feel about losing his other half's love, he didn't back down. She needed him, and what comfort he could give her, whether she wanted it or not. Hoping that she wouldn't hate him for it later, Gaara reached again, this time with both hands, and as soon as he figured out where her shoulders were, he pulled her away from his sand wall and into his arms. At first she resisted, sputtering something about being unhappy with him, about not forgiving him, but he didn't care…because even as she said so, even as she tried to pull away, he could feel her slightly relaxing against him. She needed him just as he needed her…and when he thought about it she was right to be angry with him, or even to fear him.

He had hurt her—both her head and her heart—he could remember all too well the expression on her face when he'd recoiled at the sight of her Hoshi Eyes. He should have known better—he had known she had a Kekkei Genkai and she had even said that her eyes did weird things…but the sight of her pupils acting separately from her irises had shocked him so much, he had already taken a step back in fear before he recalled that this must be normal. He regretted it more than he even regretted having accidentally hit her head with his sands…because that had been an accident—he had sensed her Chakra and thought she was another ninja sneaking up on him—his reaction to seeing her Eyes, on the other hand, had been instinct. It was only normal to fear the abnormal, but he should have known better. After a few more moments of thought, Gaara realized that if Sakura was afraid of him now because of what he'd done, that was also normal—she was his best friend, so she would never have expected him to hurt her—but even despite his seeming betrayal, she was slowly readjusting to him, relaxing more and more as he held her in the dark of his sand dome. He could live with that. The pain in his chest at her rejection of him still hurt, but she must be feeling the same way about his rejection of her. Neither of them meant to hurt the other. The fact that they had, strangely, felt like a moot point.

After a few minutes, Sakura quit resisting Gaara's hold on her entirely. Instead she started shaking and grasping desperately at his hand as she continued to mumble things about it being dark and fearing for air. Gaara couldn't understand either fear, but thinking that it might help, he tried to distract her. Unfortunately, the only thing he could think of was one that would remind her of things that might make her hate him; he didn't realize this, though, until after the words were already out of his mouth, "He said he was going to kill us." He flinched at the same moment she did, but when he realized she was listening and that her sobs were lessening, he continued carefully, trying to keep her from hating him. "I went to warn him to leave us alone…but he attacked me—"

"He d-didn't m-mean to!" Gaara hadn't been expecting Sakura to interrupt him, especially with that kind of statement, but for some reason, he wasn't surprised either. It only made sense that Sakura would stand up for that horrible person. He remembered her saying something similar about Hayato too. The more he thought about it, though, the more he realized she was wrong. She cared about everyone—too much really—but then again, he realized, if she knew how he had started to feel about others, she'd probably say he cared too little. He wasn't going to change, and neither was she…but he didn't want her to. Her kindness was part of what made Sakura, Sakura; he simply would have to protect her when her kindness led her astray…like it was right now.

Gaara didn't care if Bunta hadn't meant to hit him—he had still tried—but Gaara could already tell that it did matter to Sakura, so he said instead, as calmly as he could, "He did mean to hurt you, though; you said so yourself." As had Bunta, but he thought better than to bring that up again. Sakura would probably just argue that he was misunderstanding Bunta's words—but he knew, without a doubt, that he was not. Bunta had told him—to his face—that he wanted to see both of them dead. "If I had let him go, he would have tried to kill us." Sakura was starting to cry again—he hoped he wasn't frightening her, but it was the truth, and he refused to lie to her. When she started mumbling something about 'shouldn't haves', he added defensively, "I'm not sorry I killed him…" and then, as he felt her start shaking again, he added, knowing that with her, apologies were everything, "but I am sorry you had to see. Why were you there, anyways?"

Mid-sentence he had feared she would pull away again, because of the way she had tensed up, but at his question, she actually shuffled in the dark until she was holding his hand tightly. "The l-lady brought me." By the time Gaara understood that 'the lady' was probably that female ninja he had almost attacked, Sakura's hands were shaking like a leaf as she continued, "B-but I'd Seen it even b-before that." Once again it took Gaara's mind a moment to understand why she'd put the emphasis where she had, and by the time he did, she was speaking again, "Why, Gaara, w-why did you d-do that?"

He thought that answer was obvious; he had already told her. Bunta had wanted to kill her…and him. He knew that the horrible bully wouldn't have succeeded in hurting him, but Sakura was another matter entirely. She didn't have his sand to constantly protect her, and he couldn't always be with her since they didn't share the same body as he and Shukaku did. The only way he could protect her was to get rid of the threat against her at its source. He hadn't gone there to kill Bunta, but as soon as he realized what a threat Bunta truly was, he had had no qualms about doing so. He would do anything to keep Sakura safe.

He refused to lose her ever again.

Gaara didn't even realize he had said anything aloud until Sakura asked, "Lose me? What do you mean?" When he didn't answer, she started shaking. He gripped her hand in his tighter and shifted his hold on her with his other arm so that it was less awkward and, hopefully, more comforting. He couldn't tell whether or not he was succeeding, though. When Sakura finally spoke, he realized she was still crying. He didn't like it, but he didn't know what else he could do, so he simply listened as he held her. "It's my f-fault…all my fault…" He liked what she was saying even less than he liked her crying, but once again, he was unable to think of anything to say that might alleviate the situation.

They stayed like that for a long time, with Sakura crying near-wordlessly and him awkwardly patting her back, until eventually her crying turned back into those sobs about it being dark. In some ways, Gaara was relieved. At least she was no longer blaming herself—for what, he didn't quite understand, he just knew he didn't like it. Unfortunately, he didn't understand her fear of the dark, either. Figuring that it must be a better distraction than the last one, Gaara asked her about it. At first she said she didn't know, and then went right back to keening about the dark, but after a bit of prodding, Gaara got her talking.

As the sand howled outside the dome, Sakura told him about the girl she'd met in New Suna named Keiko and how she'd seen her die. When he had realized what kind of turn the conversation was taking, he had switched tactics—actually interrupting Sakura's story—and instead asked her to tell him more about the people she met over there. She did, her voice cracking less and less with sobs the longer she talked, until eventually she seemed to forget entirely that they were still in the dark.

Up until then, Gaara had only really asked her for stories of his mother, and sometimes his uncle. As he listened to her speak about all of her adventures, though, Gaara wished he had been there with her. He had been thinking that very thought when Sakura first mentioned how she had met the boy she called Aniki and how he had reminded her of him…and he had realized that a part of him had been with her…just as a part of her had always been with him. As Sakura's stories started to focus on her encounters with Aniki, Gaara found himself actually feeling a little jealous. This Aniki person seemed to be taking up a large part of her heart, and he wasn't sure he liked it…and yet the more she said, the more he realized that, jealous or not, he was glad she had met him…because if she hadn't, she might have died…and then Gaara never would have gotten her back.

The fact that she thought of Aniki less as a friend and more as a brother helped him snuff out his jealously also, though he couldn't quite understand why…then again, Gaara couldn't understand what was so great about having an older brother in the first place, either. He found Kankuro to often be more annoying than anything else. Sakura was just mentioning that she had been trying to find Aniki, in the here and now, to no avail, when her voice trailed off. After a moment, Gaara could feel his lips rising in a smile.

She had fallen asleep. How typical.


Well, I hope people liked this chapter. As you can see, things are happening and changes are on the horizon. If you have any ideas for scenes or information that you think might be good to have appear in this 'growing up' arc, please let me know. Like I've said before, this arc will span a large number of years, and so, even though I know a number of things that will be happening, there is still plenty of room for other things to occur if they'll fit into my planed storyline.

I am still currently busy and sick (and I'm really getting sick and tired of being sick and tired, by the way), but I'll still try to update in two weeks (around July 24th), but, as has been the case recently, I can't promise.

As always, I greatly appreciate reviews and constructive criticism, and welcome them indefinitely; flamers, on the other hand, will be turned away at the door. Now, let's move on to the pretty list!

Thanks to: general zargon (Yes, cue the dramatic music, and you were correct, it did have to do with Bunta. Don't worry, I will always continue my story until it is completed. I never stop in the middle...I just might take longer to finish than I would have wished. As to a happy ending, don't worry, I never end with a truly unhappy ending...I'm not a big fan of tragedy), Yunilein (Yes, I do like to foreshadow, and don't worry, you will see Sasori again eventually, I just can't say under what circumstances. I built his character up for a reason), dreaming. is. what. i. do (I'm glad to hear that, and thank you), BriEva (I thought people might have forgotten about him, but I never had. I feel that he can be a useful plot device. Yes, Bunta is a jerk; as for Kankuro, let's just say that I have some plans for him. I think being scared of Sakura's Eyes would be a natural reaction for just about any child) & moodymel (Thanks, I do love foreshadowing, and I'm glad you like where things are going. As for Sasori, don't worry, Sakura will meet him again eventually...I just won't say under what circumstances. I did build up his character so much for a reason) for reviewing!