A/N: So... all in all, a very short chapter (I normally try to get at least 3k words, but this one is a bit less than 2k), but I needed to get something out here again. I've been a bit overwhelmed with school and everything going on lately, that I forgot how much I enjoy writing. Anyways, hopefully this reads ok, and I just thought I'd mention that you should definitely feel free to offer some constructive criticism (although please no outright hate!) in the comments. I'm always looking to improve my writing, and even though this obviously isn't a great showcase of the best writing I can do (I normally just write it down as I go and don't even really check it over/edit it oops!) but I'm still really interested in hearing what aspects of my writing you guys think could be better :))

Hopefully I'll get the next (longer) chapter out soon, but who knows~

I'm really excited though, because after the next two chapters (maybe three), we get into the really interesting part of the story that I've got planned out, and that everything so far has been kind of building towards.

Also, I promise that by the end of the next chapter Sakura is going to

a) not be so confused about what the 'Voice' and her powers are

b) stop passing out! (sorry for the spoilers for this chap lol)

With all that said... I hope you enjoy reading this at least as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

[Chapter 14]

Sakura stood in the middle of the arena ring, pink hair fluttering softly on an invisible breeze. The cavern must have some type of venting. She couldn't see any openings along the walls but perhaps they had been obscured. Not that it really mattered.

She gazed across the ring into another pair of green eyes. His eyes were pupiless, ringed with black kohl. She couldn't read the emotion beneath them. It was like staring at a doll.

Gaara's red hair was unnaturally bright. She wondered where its colour came from. Naruto had told her about his siblings. Temari's hair was blond, and she hadn't yet seen Kankuro's. She imagined Gaara dyeing his hair red with blood. Somehow the image didn't bring her any sense of amusement, just added to her fear.

The proctor had blown his whistle about two minutes ago, but neither genin had moved yet.

Sakura wasn't sure why Gaara was hesitating - or if he was even hesitating. She'd been feeling around with her chakra and hadn't sensed him do anything yet, but he could be setting up some elaborate trap while they both stood here, motionless.

She shook her head mentally. No, that went against the impression she'd gotten of him so far. He was strong enough to crush his opponents without resorting to wits. He didn't need a trap to beat her. The lack of obvious motive for his silence unnerved her.

Slowly reaching into the kunai pouch at her thigh, Sakura heard her heart beat loudly in her ears.

The lack of motion so far was worse than an actual fight. It was like walking down a dark alley at night, knowing something lay in wait but not knowing when it would attack. Fear and suspense could win a fight before it even started.

She couldn't deal with it anymore.

Her kunai flew straight and true, whistling towards Gaara's head. He didn't make a single move, either to block it or attack her, and for a single second Sakura wondered if it could really be that easy.

A wall of sand sprung up before him in an instant. The kunai clattered to the ground, the sound breaking through the unearthly silence that had reigned.

Still Gaara didn't move, his green eyes gazing at her without life. She didn't dare break eye contact.

Out of the corner of her vision, she saw the floor distorting. Trying not to let her surprise show on her face, she cast a quick glance at it.

For a second she thought her eyes had played a trick on her. But no, the floor itself wasn't moving. It was covered in a thin layer of sand. Little swirls formed on the floor of the arena near Gaara's feet as more sand spilled from the gourd on his back.

Her eyes widened. But the sand was just that; plain, harmless sand.

Seconds ticked by.

Suddenly the sand seemed to take on life as Gaara infused his chakra into it and within seconds it was swirling up in an unnatural storm, defying gravity.

It rushed towards her in a whirlwind, swirling around both of them as if Gaara didn't want anyone interfering - or seeing - what was happening in the arena.

The gritty texture grated against her skin and got in her eyes, forcing Sakura to squint.

She could barely see in front of her. She wondered if this was what being in a sandstorm felt like. Not that it mattered - her heart pounded furiously and she could barely think rationally over the fear.

She didn't know where Gaara was anymore.

Focus, she told herself, trying to take deep breaths. Each gulp of air was filled with sand, making her throat feel raw, like she'd just screamed for hours.

A brief moment of lucidity overcame her and morbidly she wondered if Gaara could control the sand she'd just swallowed. She saw it ripping through her internal organs, leaving her to collapse like a marionette with its strings cut.

She forced her mind to focus. If she let herself be carried away by her fear it'd be over. Where was Gaara?

The sand storm picked up intensity and her vision was reduced even further. She could barely see her own hands now.

No. If she couldn't use her eyes then she'd just have to sense his chakra. No matter that Kakashi and the teachers at the academy had barely covered the basics of chakra sensing.

Swallowing her instincts screaming that this was this stupid, she closed her eyes. Feeling out with her chakra, she thought that she felt Gaara's chakra flicker exactly where he'd been standing before. Had he not moved?

Sakura let out a hiss of pain as she felt some of the sand draw a trail of blood along her arm. Vaguely she remembered learning about the process of turning sand into glass. It felt like shards of glass were tearing at her skin.

It hurt. She wondered if Gaara's plan was to let her slowly bleed out while he stood there.

But that didn't seem his style.

Tentatively feeling out with her chakra again, a growing foreign signature stopped her in her tracks.

She barely needed to sense it. It completely overwhelmed her, flooding over the entire arena like a released dam.

What was it?

Suddenly she realized it was Gaara. Some hidden well of chakra that he'd kept concealed within him was rising out now, overflowing into the arena. It rushed towards her like a wall of fog, the insanely powerful foreign chakra burned her skin as it surrounded her.

Sakura screamed in pain. The barrier she'd built in her mind came crumbling down in seconds. The Voice flooded her brain like before, screaming right along with it.

She felt fear, but it was pushed to the back of her mind as an even stronger feeling overwhelmed her. Some instinctive, unconscious desire to suppress the foreign chakra filled her. She felt the unovercomable need to quell it, extinguish its flame, silence it.

She heard a hoarse voice shouting in anguish, and a little startled, she realized it was coming from her own mouth.

But as Gaara's chakra continued to coat her, any thoughts she'd been able to gather dissipated like water slipping through her hands. Again, all she felt was that inherent, urgent need to suppress Gaara's chakra.

She screamed again.

Just like in the forest with Orochimaru, a tree burst forth, growing at a speed that was unnatural. Trees were supposed to be slow, solid, unmoveable.

Solid bark scraped over the floor of the arena and branches spun and twirled through the air like long, spindly arms, reaching for her target. Lush, green leaves sprouted, bursting through the hazy colours of Gaara's still ongoing sandstorm like a sapling after a long, harsh winter.

The tree raced through the arena straight to the source of the chakra. It raced towards Gaara.

Suddenly the sand storm stopped whirling around them. All the sand fell to the ground in heavy sheets, as if all the life and chakra had been drained out of it. It covered the floor of the arena, creating an uneven terrain. Mounds of it in places, while other surfaces were covered by only a thin layer of dust. It was highest concentrated around the two of them, the sand reaching above her ankles. Sluggishly, Sakura took a step forward, feeling the sand slow her down, like she was moving through sludge.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw all the onlookers on their feet. She saw Kakashi restraining Naruto, as if he'd been trying to rush down to her.

But all of her attention was on the red-haired boy before her.

The tree had split at the end of the trunk, forming a massive hand. It grasped Gaara in a horrible imitation of an embrace, wooden fingers wrapped around him. He'd terrified her before, but now he just looked like a little boy. A limp, red-haired doll. He looked small, fragile.

His eyes had lost the bloodlust-filled glossy sheen they'd held before and now they gazed back at her in terror.

"What did you do," she heard him whisper in absolute horror.

"What did you do to mother?" He yelled.

Sakura frowned in confusion, still unable to gather her thoughts. She felt unnaturally tired. If her limbs had felt like they were moving through jelly before, now she felt like she was swimming against the strongest current in the world.

The world weighed down on her and she collapsed to her knees, sending jolts of pain down her leg.

Without realizing it, her eyes followed the tree wrapped around Gaara. Where had it come from? She wasn't in the forest and she didn't remember any trees in the arena.

Her vision followed the tree to herself and she looked down.

Her hands were pale, blue veins showing through along her wrists. Bloodied lines where the sand had swirled past her laced down her exposed skin. Her fingers were dirty, stained with blood and dirt. And where they should have ended, where there should have been round, dirty fingernails, her fingers turned brown and hardened, transformed into the roots of the tree.

She jerked her hand back, finding some hidden spark of energy. But her vision didn't change. The tree was growing out of her.

Panic flooded her again.

She felt all the eyes watching her, but she didn't care. All that mattered was getting it off. The skin of her fingers transformed seamlessly into tree roots. She couldn't move. She felt grounded to the floor, as if she herself was a tree, rooted deep into the ground.

Her vision swam, the exhaustion and fear finally overcoming her.

She saw Kakashi jumping over the railing and as she let herself collapse forwards towards the arena floor, she told herself it would all be alright. The Hokage was here. Gaara wouldn't hurt her. Kakashi would protect her.

For the third time, her vision went black. She really needed to stop making a habit of passing out.