Hate Me

A Naruto fan-fiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Scar 6: I Promise

Tsunade was a prominent woman, always on top of things and full of wisdom that she presented in her own way. This morning, all of her talents came in handy.

"Tell me how you found her." Tsunade asked, looking at the founder of the girl with narrowed eyes.

Uzumaki Naruto's eyes were wide, and his voice full of shock and vigor. "I walked in, and there was Sakura. She was in bed with the covers all pulled up to her shoulders, and looked like she was asleep. I usually wake her up on missions, and since it was late in the afternoon, I figured it was okay to wake her up. But nothing happened, so I took her here!"

"Right." Tsunade said, "So, was there any marks of disturbance, anything, on the floors?"

"Nope. Nothing."

"So where is Gaara?"

"What do you care? We should take care of Sakura, and then kill him! I'll find him and kick his ass myself!"

"So you don't know?"

"If I did, he'd be dead!"

"Thanks Naruto. Now get out."

Uzumaki scowled and then left. He wanted to be by Sakura's bedside at all times anyway. This was just an unnecessary detour, and one that had annoyed him. Tsunade, that old hag, fit the title bitch to a tee; or, at least, she did to Uzumaki Naruto.

As soon as Naruto was gone, Tsunade relaxed in her chair and sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Perhaps," she said aloud to herself, "having Shukaku no Gaara here was the worst idea yet."

"I don't think so."

Tsunade whipped around in her chair, and found herself face to face with the very boy she spoke of. He dressed now in winter clothes, with his gourd around his back as always.

"Speak of the devil!" she exclaimed, "You know, there's a warrant for you. So why don't you just spill your guts right here, eh?"

Gaara's expression never changed. "A mark on her lower abdomen will explain everything."

Then he proceeded forward, and produced an envelope from his jacket. His green eyes stared at Tsunade and never looked away. A fiery strength and cunning seemed to emit from them, but this was not there when she first met him.

A bit puzzled, Tsunade took the letter, peering at the boy suspiciously.

"Don't try to open it yourself." He said, "It has a curse in it. If anyone but her reads it, the curse will kill them."

"Really? What if I read it with her?"

"The curse will kill you."

Tsunade leaned forward. "So, how do you make the curse skip over her, hm?"

Gaara scowled at the woman, his first show of emotion since he appeared.

"I was raised a sand ninja. Not a fool."

Tsunade rolled her eyes and leaned back. Obviously, this course of action would not work. Gaara was one smart cookie.

"So, you didn't put her in a coma, eh?"

"You'll understand later. Good bye, Tsunade."

He turned and started to walk away, when Tsunade shouted, "Hey! Wait!"

With a stony yet faintly curious look on his face, he turned to look at Tsunade.

"What?"

Tsunade smirked and got in this confidant position in her chair.

"Since when did you harbor scars? Doesn't your body always automatically heal?"

Then, with a pen, she pointed to a thin, faint scar that ran through his tattoo, making a thin line where there was no black.

He didn't answer, but instead continued to walk in the same direction as before.

Gaara looked back at Tsunade one last time before walking to her window and jumping out in a puff of smoke and a whirl of sand.

Tsunade just shook her head, fingering the envelope. Her head rested on her palm, and her elbow sat on the table top of her oak desk.

"Gaara, some how, I think you have always had good intentions."

She chuckled to herself, and then pocketed the letter.

Sakura awoke with a start, and sat straight up; fear still in her eyes, and Gaara nowhere to be seen. As well as her room!

She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to figure out why she was in a hospital gown, in a hospital bed. What the hell is this?

"SAKURA! YOU'RE AWAKE!"

Suddenly, a flash of blonde came at her, and Naruto was hugging her. Rough hands gripped her back, and because of her shock, Sakura didn't have time to hug the boy back! Not that Naruto noticed. He just held her, smiling and moving back and forth. Sakura was okay!

Looking over to the side, Sakura saw that Uchiha Sasuke had made it as well, and had parked his butt in a chair across from her bed. He sat in a slouched, relaxed, cool kind of position, staring at her with his deep, dark eyes.

She shuddered, remembering how Gaara's had suddenly gone a million times blacker than Sasuke's.

Naruto finally let go and now sat next to her on her bed, smiling. Sasuke sat across from her in the chair, but something was weird.

"Um, what's going on?" Sakura asked the boys, clearly totally uninformed.

"Stupid Gaara did something to you, and then you went in a coma, and now you're awake." Naruto said quickly, saying Gaara's name as if he needed to spit in order to get the bad taste out of his mouth.

"So where's Gaara?" she asked, looking from one boy to the next.

"He took off." Sasuke answered, cutting Naruto off. "No one knows where he went, but he left that for you." He gestured toward the envelope on the table.

"Go ahead and read it. Naruto and me will go outside." Sasuke stood and grabbed the other boy by the collar. Naruto shouted and tried to beat the boy off, but Sasuke was still stronger. Even five years later, the boys still acted the same!

Sakura moved her legs so she sat on the edge of the bed, and opened the letter.

"Sakura,

I had to leave. Thank you for all that you have done for me. But know this: Whereever you go, the sand will follow.

I will be back during the second spring. I promise.

Enclosed is the ninjutsu I used. After you read it, burn it, and never use it.

I'll come home.

-Gaara

Sakura felt a light smile cover her lips. For all of the times Gaara had upset her, he had always intrigued her. Despite the past, she was happy to house him again, even if it was only for a few days like before. But what had he meant, about the sand always following her?

Suddenly, Sakura felt her hair begin to flutter lightly, and light gusts of wind began to fill the enclosed room. She gasped as she saw the sight before her unfold. From the envelope on the table were wisps of sand, swirling up out of the envelope like magic!

The tiny wisps floated close to her, and began to spin quickly around her body.

Finally, they lowered, and settled into her very skin.

She touched a place where one grain of sand had landed, right near her collarbone. In the gentle breeze that still remained, she thought she heard his voice.

He was coming home.

Tsunade came in without so much as a knock. Sakura looked up from her jello at the woman, a puzzled look on her face.

It was barely an hour after Sakura had gotten the letter. In the room with her were Sasuke, Naruto, a curious Neji, Kakashi, and Iruka.

Without any warning, Tsunade ran up to Sakura's bedside!

"Now, darling, don't fidget." Tsunade said quickly, and threw off Sakura's blankets!

Then, without any sort of remorse, Tsunade pushed Sakura's shirt up and tucked her shorts down, exposing her hipbone. Each of the males looked away, and Naruto was shocked. What was she doing to his Sakura?

Sakura tried to thrash, but Tsunade put her knee over Sakura's legs and then pinned her wrists with her free hand.

"Ah! What are you-"

"There!"

Tsunade had exposed a mark that Sakura had never seen before.

There, right next to her hipbone, was a sort of tattoo!

All eyes were on Sakura's skinny little hipbone, where the strange tattoo resided.

Strangest of all, Tsunade was now smiling! She stepped away, and Sakura now held the rim of her shorts down.

"Wh-what is it?" Sakura asked.

"Can't you tell?" Tsunade asked her, "Its kanji."

"For what?" Naruto blurted out.

"Heart."

Now Kakashi, Iruka, Neji and Sasuke smiled. Well, Neji and Sasuke's were smirks, but they all meant the same.

Naruto, however, was still confused.

"What's that got to do with anything?" he exclaimed.

"Gaara has the tattoo for love, stupid." Sasuke replied hotly, "Now Sakura has the tattoo for heart. Get it, love, heart?"

"He obviously saved her." Neji added.

Sakura stared at the kanji, and then ran her fingers over it.

"But…."

"Read the scroll, Sakura." Tsunade said to her, "Only you need to understand.

This is obviously privet, between you and Gaara."

Sasuke, Neji, Kakashi, and Iruka all looked at Tsunade with 'yea, right' looks, because they all knew that she knew exactly what Gaara had done. So much for privacy.

Then she left, shutting the door behind her.

Everyone was quiet until Naruto shouted, "I still say he got you in this mess!"

"Shut-up, idiot!" Sasuke snapped, and punched the blonde boy.

"Hey!"

The boys then began to fight, with Sasuke having the upper hand. The strangest part was that they were both sixteen, big, and acting like they were still twelve. Of course, by now, no one really noticed when they fought.

Neji's eyes narrowed. "Tattoos that are not manually gotten usually mean the worst. How can we be sure this isn't a curse, like Gaara transported Shukaku to Sakura?"

"No." Sakura replied bluntly.

Sasuke and Naruto paused to listen.

Sakura sat up, and leaned against the wall that her bed was against.

"Gaara is…strange, but he wouldn't give something he despises so to me. He believes it is…his destiny, to bear his curse, and to live through it."

Neji nodded, and closed his eyes, thinking.

"That crazy asshole? I believe Neji!" Naruto declared.

Neji's cold eyes cut at Naruto. "I never said it was my belief, dunce."

"Yea well-"

"Naruto, shut-up." Sakura glared at Naruto. "Gaara was a good person. I should know. He lived with me."

"If he's such a good person, why doesn't he just come and explain the mystery to us?" Sasuke challenged, "He left you in the worst state, and then gave you something none of us understand."

Kakashi stifled a laugh, and then felt shocked. Him and Iruka exchanged glances. Sasuke and Naruto never agreed!

"Sasuke-kun, he saved me." Sakura answered, "The mark he left was an aftermath. I know."

"How? And what did he have to save you from?" Sasuke exclaimed. He stood a foot from her bed, his eyes hard.

"I read the scroll, and burned it while you and Naruto were gone." She said, "He made a mistake…he saved me from himself. But in turn, he gave up apart of himself to save me. He could have left me to die!" Sakura's green eyes bore in Sasuke's, both angry.

"What ninjutsu was it?" Kakashi asked.

"It wasn't really a ninjutsu…I can't explain." Sakura shook her head. "It's confusing, and doesn't really make any sense if you think about it by the textbook. It was almost like he was transporting his soul."

"Or a demon's." Neji interrupted. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, and the shadows from the corner hid most of his figure. Kakashi and Iruka sat in chairs, and Kakashi slouched terribly.

"No!" Sakura shouted, "Listen to me! The first effect of having a demon in your body is flu-like symptoms, and later nightmares. I've had neither! That means I don't have Shukaku!"

Neji's eyes opened, and stared at Sakura. "I never said Shukaku. Gaara is a demon in himself, and he knows it. He has crossed that threshold, and no matter what you say or do, he is what he is. He has the same ability that Shukaku does…it just takes incidents like yours to show it."

Sakura paused, and looked at the sheets.

"Well then," she replied, "I do have a demon in me."

"…So what was his mistake?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura's eyebrows scrunched together. "I…can't really remember. I know something happened…something bad, but I feel like it's gone."

"It sounds like all of our questions won't be answered until he returns." Iruka sighed, "From wherever he is, whenever he will."

It was the only thing everyone in the room agreed on.

Hey ya'll!

Well, one of the all-revealing chapters is up. But with every new set of reviews, I start to contemplate posting an "answers" chapter once this is all over. There's only three more, after all! Two interludes and an epilogue!

So, yes, this is the final and last scar.

Anyway, when I write my Interludes, EVERYTHING is in italics, but when it gets uploaded, it suddenly becomes PARTLY italics! So, for future references, just in case, let it be known that EVERYTHING in the interludes should be in italics!

However, it is not over, and more questions will be answered next time!

Thank you, all of my reviewers!

Danny (Well, with your situation…I could understand not feeling the jump-start of coffee (lol). Anyway, in answer to your question, the interlude with Sakura was meant to be in the past, after the chunin exams. I thought it was a dead give away, since Sasuke's in the bed next to her. But, since I don't know anything about the end of the exam and on (although, I do know that Gaara left at the end, and all that…) I could've been confusing. But I also incorporated some hints, to clear things up for people. Anyway, I'm sorry the 'death' of Sakura made you mad…I thought and thought about it, and it was the only thing I could find that seemed to be something he would jump to! I knew he wouldn't just say 'yes' or 'no'…although, in this scar, you do get the feeling that it was a yes. You're probably mad now that Sakura's okay about his letter, but she doesn't remember! She doesn't remember those memories he gave her, or anything. She just remembers seeing his eyes, and then blacking out. She has no real reason to fear him. So, thus, she was glad to accept him back. Okay, about the 'seven deaths'…honestly, I came up with this one off the top of my head. I only gave it a reason as of late. And, I'm still debating it! I thought asking others what they thought would help me narrow down choices. The thing is, I try to stay relatively close to the manga, but Gaara has a lot of gaps for me, like how he got his tattoo, and all of that. I'm still learning, even though I did tons of research on him before writing this! My choices, however, are this: Seven for the seven sins: gluttony, greed, ect; seven deaths for the seven chosen to become sacrifices for Shukaku (I made that up, though); and seven because it is considered the median number between heaven and hell (666hell, 999heaven). Still debating though…Thank you for your in-depth reviews!)

Hao's Anjul (Sorry you were confused! Let me clear it up for you: Sakura was in a hospital with Sasuke after the chunin exams. The last sentences were meant to solve some of the puzzles in this story! Let me know what you think of this chapter!)

Fayofsand (I'm glad you've enjoyed this so far! Things are certainly happening, but not much is left! Let me know your thoughts on this chapter!)

Queen Cow and Steak (What, I wasn't on the favorites list before? Lol, just kidding…it's fine with me! And, it's really AWSOME to know that I'm on a favorite's list! Does a happy dance YAY! No, seriously, I'm really excited! The last chapter was dark, but I like to write dark things once in a while. They keep writing happy things interesting! Tell me what you think of these chapters!)

Review,

Love,

IHearVoices