Sakura stared back into those striking jade eyes for what felt like an eternity. How beautiful they were. It was almost as if she was being put under some sort of spell that suddenly made her forget about all the stress and anxious thoughts she had. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't manage more than gibberish and a simple. "Uh..."
"Uh... I'm sorry," Gaara apologized, "that I never called you."
"I don't believe I ever gave you my number," Sakura responded finally but quickly, as if she'd never be able to get the words out if she didn't speak them as fast as possible. Her face was flushed, and her heart was pounding against her chest so hard, she thought it may burst.
"Oh, right," he sighed and looked around, sensing their awkward tension. "So, Sakura, huh?"
'Right,' she thought, 'we never even told each other our names.' The red color on her cheeks grew more intense, and she stuttered, "Y-yeah, yeah. My name is Sakura." She broke eye contact for only a moment and looked down at the floor where the flowers still lay. She knelt to pick them up and continued to speak, "I'm so sorry, I thought I'd never see you again. So may I ask... what your name is- huh?"
He was gone. She looked away for maybe 5 seconds, and he was gone. She hadn't even heard his footsteps receding.
"What the fuck?" she blurted out, gazing down both ends of the hallway. 'Is he some sort of fucking Olympic runner?'
Sakura stormed back into her apartment, slamming the door shut and whipping the bouquet onto the kitchen table. She clenched her fists and jaw, watching with tears in her eyes as the rose petals scattered all over the floor.
"Shit! Fuck!" she gripped the back of one of the kitchen chairs and started violently shaking it in an attempt to release some of her rage. She screamed something unintelligible and punched a hole through the wood before finally stopping to take a few deep breaths. She was dizzy now. She pulled the chair back a few inches from the table and sat down, placing her head in her hands. Her steady breaths gradually transformed into sobs mixed with an occasional curse word.
'What the fuck am I supposed to do?'
Every day, it felt like she was losing her mind a little more. She lifted her head to look at the bouquet that she destroyed and forced a smile, tears streaming from her eyes. Fortunately for her, nobody was around; she definitely looked like a psychopath right now. She closed her eyes and took a few more deep breaths to calm herself down. 'It's just the pregnancy hormones,' she told herself. She slowly placed her hands down on the table, visibly shaking. Her left hand landed right on top of the card that still managed to stay attached to one of the stems after being thrown. She pulled it off and brought it closer to examine the text on the backside.
"City Blooms..." she read aloud. That was the name of the flower shop downtown. She passed by it every day on her way to work. 'Does he work here?' she wondered. It was hardly the kind of job she imagined him having, but he had been the one to deliver them. At the least, it was something worth looking into another day. For now, she was going to spend the rest of the day sulking and feeling sorry for herself.
xxx
They were finally down to the last couple of plants that needed to be trimmed. Temari and Kankuro sat in silence, nothing but the sounds of scissors snipping and an occasional deep sigh between them. They turned their attention to the stairs creaking beneath Gaara's feet as he stepped down into the basement with a plastic container of freshly washed scissors. He joined his siblings by taking a seat and pushed the container to the middle of the table where they could all reach it.
"Thank you," said Temari, tossing the pair of scissors she was using into a different container located on the floor. "These get sticky so quickly."
"We're almost done," Kankuro said, relieved.
They continued to trim the remaining plants in silence until Gaara chimed in. "The Akatsuki is in town," he said, "Sasori and Deidara want to meet me at that nightclub they own downtown."
"But these buds- most of the buds, aren't even fully dry yet," Temari protested, "if we package them up now, they can get all moldy! They won't be any good!"
"I don't know what they plan to do about that, but they're not willing to wait any longer," Gaara replied.
"They never come all the way here to pick up the product," she said with a frown, "why this time? We've been late on our delivery before."
"Maybe they're not worried about how much they might lose because they plan to make us push something more lucrative," Kankuro suggested, "maybe they're ready to start and that's why they came here."
Gaara nodded, "That's what I'm thinking," he agreed.
The three siblings shared concerned looks.
"I want to go with you this time," Temari pleaded, "you always deliver this alone. Something doesn't feel right about it this time."
"No. The deal has always been that I meet them alone, and they're making me meet them at a busy nightclub in the middle of the city," said Gaara, "they'd be stupid to try anything there. And besides, they never would've told me about their plans for me to push new products in the future if they were going to do anything to me."
'Yet,' he almost said aloud. He held back to prevent provoking a more anxious response from his sister. A part of him knew that one day, eventually, they would probably kill him. Nobody got away from the Akatsuki with their life.
"I don't like the idea of you doing that, either," she insisted.
"We've already discussed that there's no choice for us," he said.
Kankuro slammed his hands on the table and shot up from his seat, commanding attention from both Temari and Gaara. "We would have a choice," he seethed, "if it weren't for our father. We wouldn't have to do any of this shit if it weren't for him." Temari hung her head and said nothing, while Gaara and Kankuro maintained intense eye contact. "I mean, just think of it! We could be living normal lives instead of bending over backward for a violent drug gang that could kill us at any-"
"Shut up," Gaara ordered calmly, "...and sit down. There is no sense of wallowing in the past. Our father made his choices, but he's dead now. His burden is ours to carry, and that's the way it is."
Kankuro responded with a frustrated grunt and took a seat. He curled his hands into fists and clenched them so tightly, they were beginning to turn red. "I know," he said, begrudgingly. "It's just not fair."
"Nothing in our lives has ever been fair," said Gaara. Kankuro and Temari both nodded. They all picked up their scissors and returned to cutting the plants in silence.
xxx
The next day, Sakura decided she should pay Naruto a surprise visit at work and bring him lunch. Currently, he was the only thing in the world that helped her feel some form of stability, and she should express her gratitude. She stopped by Ichiraku's to get him his favorite ramen and headed toward the police station where he worked.
Upon entering the front doors, she was immediately greeted with an angry scowl. "What are you doing here?!" came a shrill voice from behind the front desk.
'Karin.' Sakura's inner voice groaned and she sneered. She approached the desk, brow furrowed and not in the mood for any of Karin's shit. But she'd have to get by her first to get to Naruto.
"If you're here for Sasuke, he-"
"I'm here for Naruto," Sakura quickly cut her off.
Karin fixed her glasses, narrowed her eyes, and raised a brow at her. "Naruto?" she asked, suspicious. "It's mighty bold of you to show up at Sasuke's place of work and ask to see his friend. You know Naruto's got a fiancé, don't you? Even I would've thought messing around with a soon-to-be-married man would be below you-"
"It isn't like that," Sakura spoke fiercely, "and you're not really one to speak on infidelity, Karin. Now, can I please just go see my friend and give him his lunch?" She held up the plastic bag that held the ramen.
They glared at each other. Karin reached for the button to buzz Sakura into the back room where the offices were. "He should be in his office," she said, attitude still heavy in her tone.
Sakura rolled her eyes and headed to the back door. She reached his office and knocked a few times, but no response came. After a moment, she decided to just turn the knob and enter the room.
'He's not here,' she thought. She walked over to his desk, set the ramen down, and took a seat. Among various files and papers scattered haphazardly all over his desk, he had many little trinkets that he probably collected on vacations, a couple of photos of him and Hinata, and even a photo of him, Sasuke, and Sakura that they had taken on a night out. Sakura reached forward and set the photo face-down. Regardless of this not being a space of her own, she had grown used to placing photos of Sasuke like this, so she wouldn't have to look at him.
Her eyes wandered around the room, noting how cluttered and messy it was.
'He's never been the best at saying organized,' she thought. 'I should probably let him know I'm here.' As she was reaching for her phone, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was an evidence board. She had noticed it right before she sat down, but chose to ignore it. Now, however, a flash of red from one specific photo pinned to the board was drawing her in. She squinted at it, but it was too far to make out, so she stood up and stepped towards the board for a closer look. When she stood in front of it, she rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times to make sure she was really seeing what she was seeing.
The board contained a collection of about 30-40 photos and notes, some photos of scenes, others portrait shots of random people, all connected through a series of pins and red thread. There was, however, a single photo she did recognize. Towards the bottom of the board, there was a photo of the mysterious red-headed stranger himself. She reached for the photo and pulled it off the board, causing the pin to pop out onto the floor, rolling off somewhere never to be seen again. There was a name written on the photo in black marker. "...Gaara...Sabaku?" she read quietly. 'Is that...his name?' She took a step back and looked up at the evidence board. 'What is he...what is he doing on this board?' Her heart sped up and her mind began racing, full of confusing thoughts. But before she could put any pieces together to fully form a single one, the handle of the office door clicked and the hinges squeaked. She whirled around and held the photo of Gaara behind her back.
"Yeah I'll see ya later," Naruto said to another person as he entered the room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Sakura standing there, desperately trying not to look suspicious. "Oh- hey Sakura! What are you, uh... What are you doing in here?"
"Naruto," she breathed and chuckled awkwardly, "I'm so sorry to barge in here like this. I just-" She slowly slid the photograph into her back pocket and quickly brought her arms forward, crossing them over her chest. "I just wanted to bring you some lunch. I got the flowers from you and Hinata and I just...wanted to surprise you and say thank you, I guess."
"Oh!" Naruto glanced over at the bag on the table. "Is that Ichiraku's logo?!" He zoomed over to the desk and pulled the food container out of the bag. His eyes sparkled and his mouth hung open in awe, as if he hadn't already ordered the same thing from the same restaurant for the last 20+ years of his life. "Thanks, Sakura! But you know, you're not supposed to be in here... I've got a lot of things lying around from open cases. You understand, right?"
"I do," she nodded, "and again, I'm so sorry. Karin said you'd be in here, but you weren't, so I thought I'd just wait instead of going back out there to be around... her. You know? But it won't happen again, I promise."
"Yeah I'm sorry, I was at a last-minute meeting with Sasuke and the other agents," he explained. He set the food container back on the desk and walked up to the evidence board where Sakura stood. "We've been buried up to our necks in work with this huge case we've been working on. I can't really tell you any details, of course, but..." His eyes were glued to the evidence board behind her. Sakura turned around to look at it again. "Since you've already seen it... can you at least tell me if there's anyone you recognize?"
Sakura scanned over all the photos and notes briefly before her eyes fell on a specific man. "Itachi Uchiha... Uchiha?" she looked back at Naruto, searching for answers to a question she hadn't even asked yet.
"Sasuke's brother," he confirmed. "You know him?"
"No," she shook her head. "Sasuke had only mentioned that he had an older brother once. I tried to ask about him before, but he got angry with me any time I did, so I just stopped asking. He never mentioned anything specific about him."
"I was afraid you'd say that," Naruto said and rubbed his chin, "and Sasuke is always so vague and unforthcoming with information about him."
"Always has been..." she agreed. "But I'll tell you if I think of anything, okay?"
"Okay,"
"I better get going. Again, I'm really sorry about coming in here."
"It's alright Sakura," he assured her with his famous toothy grin, "you're one of my closest friends and I trust you."
She smiled back and headed for the door, "I hope you enjoy your lunch!" She shut the door behind her and sighed anxiously. On her way out, she didn't even look Karin's way. She wouldn't have wanted to, even if her nerves weren't rattled. Quickly jumping into her car, she reached in her back pocket and pulled the photo of Gaara out.
"Gaara Sabaku..." she said aloud again, staring intently at the photo. 'Who are you...' she thought, 'what were you doing on that board...what is your role in all of that?'