Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
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Mission Rank: B–A
Assigned: Gaara, Fifth Kazekage of Suna
Description: Escort target Haruno Sakura to Suna. Remain in Suna and act as bodyguard until further notice.
Cautions: Unknown shinobi may or may not attack. Possesses chakra-depletion jutsu. Especially skilled in taijutsu. Capture alive if possible.
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It was for her own good. Her own life. She should be grateful to Gaara.
But god dammit, she didn't want to!
Who wants to leave their village because a maniac is after their life? Who? Not her.
And why did she even need a bodyguard? She was perfectly capable of handling herself!
She chanced a look at her stoic companion, and was startled to find that he was glaring right back at her.
...he's still creepy...figures...
"Um..." She trailed off. Never in her life had she felt this awkward. "Could we maybe stop and rest soon?" Jumping from tree branch to tree branch was getting rather old.
"No," he answered without looking at her.
"...why not?"
He slowly turned to look at her.
"You need to ask?"
Oh yes...someone was out to kill her. She felt herself blushing against her will. It seemed the boy had obtained the magical ability to make her feel incredibly stupid without even trying.
Great. Just great.
"So, Gaara-san..." Somehow it felt strange calling him 'Kazekage'. "How've you been?"
His pale green eyes flicked to her for a second before he replied. "Fine."
She sighed glumly and went back to taking in the scenery as they traveled. Said scenery consisted of trees. Lots and lots of trees.
"Are you tired?" Gaara asked eventually.
"Huh? Oh, no," she replied. Just starving as hell.
Unfortunately her stomach decided to voice what she would not. Gaara glanced at her, and something that might have been a grin crossed his face. Then it was gone. She could feel herself blushing again.
"We can rest for a few minutes," he told her.
They stopped in a small clearing and ate some of the meager rations they had brought. Neither of them complained; it took the edge off their hunger and they had more serious issues to worry about. After resting for another five minutes, they set off again.
Traveling with Gaara was dull, boring, uneventful work, and by nightfall Sakura had calculated that by the end of this trip, she would have gone partially insane.
Sakura unrolled her sleeping bag and dug through her backpack for dinner while her companion made a small, hopefully unnoticeable campfire. She extracted two granola bars and tossed one to Gaara. She leaned against the thick trunk of a tree and savored each bite of her dinner, knowing that it was the only food they were going to get until noon the next day. They hadn't brought much.
Gaara stood and walked towards the edge of the clearing. Sakura paused in mid-bite.
"Where are you going?"
"To get dinner."
She just shrugged and went back to concentrating on the chocolate chip peanut buttery goodness of her granola bar. If he wanted to stumble through the forest at night searching for roots and berries and whatnot, then so be it.
She didn't expect him to return with a fat adult hare, limp and still in his hands. Its neck flopped around when he walked. He had snapped its neck. He stooped and pulled a kunai from his pack, and slit it open from its neck to its stomach. Sakura gaped, then had the sense to turn away, the freshly eaten contents of her stomach churning violently.
When she turned back it he had already finished cleaning it and had impaled it with a sharp stick. He placed it by the campfire.
"I am not eating that," she said, trying to keep her revulsion to a minimum.
Gaara turned to her. "It's protein."
"It's cute."
Gaara raised the skin where his eyebrows would be and cast a meaningful glance at the carcass roasting over their small fire. "Cute. Right."
"Well it was cute," she said weakly, and turned her back on him. Honestly, murdering innocent little rabbits? That was entirely unnecessary.
But when the aroma of slowly cooking meat filled the air, she practically got high off the fumes. Gaara removed the hare from the fire and neatly sliced it in perfect halves with his kunai. And when he held out the half with the stick through it, she lost all her resolve.
She did glare at him while he handed it to her though. That had to count for something.
Fifteen minutes later, however, feeling full and put in a considerably better mood now that her stomach had stopped constricting painfully, she was willing to forgive him.
"Thanks, Gaara-san."
He nodded at her once and took in her content, sleepy appearance. "I'll take the first watch. You sleep."
Sakura happily agreed and crawled into her sleeping bag without a second thought.
--
When she next woke it was to Gaara leaning over her and lightly shaking her shoulder.
"'M up," she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes. Without any further greeting, Gaara sat, hunched, against a tree, and closed his eyes.
Sakura stretched, groaning a little as her back popped in five different places. With a small yawn, she surveyed her surroundings. Eventually she decided on a branch about fifteen feet up a tree, and she settled down to keep watch.
She really hated keeping watch. You had to keep alert and awake the entire time, and usually, nothing happened. But she knew that if she fell asleep or daydreamed, they would be attacked. That was just her luck.
She guarded camp until sunrise, then leapt down from her perch and stood before Gaara, suddenly realizing something.
He was asleep.
Well, what else would he be doing?
Right...Shukaku had been removed, so why wouldn't he?
Still...she hadn't really managed to grasp the fact that he had been asleep while she kept watch. It was a strange sight.
He didn't look like most people she had seen while they slept. Granted, the only people she had ever seen sleep were impassive Kakashi, likewise Sasuke, and...Naruto, who was Naruto.
He didn't look like any of them while he slept.
He didn't look hateful or peaceful or even...er...happy, while he slept, like her teammates occasionally did. His brow was furrowed and his lips curved downwards in a frown. Every once in a while a finger would twitch.
...how did he manage to scowl in his sleep?
She lightly poked his shoulder and sucked in her breath, half expecting him to lash out at her. He jerked awake (She took an automatic step backwards.) and blinked a couple of times before standing.
"Good morning, Gaara-san."
He nodded politely but otherwise ignored her presence. "Let's keep moving."
--
Sometime between afternoon and night the terrain drastically altered from forest to desert. This was not a welcome change for Sakura because, not only was the temperature much less to her favor, they now had to walk, and their progress was considerably slowed.
She had never more greatly appreciated how tiring it was to walk in unsupportive, shifting, constant, sand.
Gaara, however, seemed to be much more at ease now that he was surrounded on all sides by his weapon of choice. He visibly relaxed and progressed to answering her attempts at conversation with three or four words, instead of, "Hn."
She wiped the sweat from her upper lip with the back of her hand and plopped onto the sandy ground. She really hated this. It was so hot.
"How do you do it?" She asked him, absentmindedly fanning herself with her skirt flap.
"What?" He asked dully, making it far too obvious that he wasn't interested in what she had to say.
"How can you not die of heat stroke?"
"I'm used to it."
She looked down at herself, dressed in her sleeveless shirt, cycling shorts, and short white skirt, then at him, dressed in his long sleeved black robe.
And then wearing long black pants underneath, no less.
He didn't seem to be affected by the heat at all. She, on the other hand, felt like she was dying. She pressed her index finger to her wrist and pushed a small bit of chakra into her bloodstream. Ah. That felt a little better.
When she looked up Gaara was watching her again.
"Cooling Jutsu," she said, waggling her middle and index finger in the air. "Want some?"
He shook his head. "They didn't tell me you were a medic."
"Well, I am," she said, not sure how else to reply.
"I'll take first watch," he said, cutting off their short conversation.
--
Sakura stared up at the tall stone walls bordering Gaara's village, the very first flutterings of apprehension stirring in her stomach. The guard patted them both down then waved them through, and they entered the village hidden in the sand.
Gaara turned to her, looking neither relieved nor pleased to return home.
"Welcome," he said. "To Suna."
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