Sixth Encounter

Sakura rubbed her temple, extremely irritated with herself. Why the hell had she come back to this godforsaken desert? What more could she get from it now, except another sunburn? 'It's curiosity,' she told herself for the umpteenth time that day. 'I'm just curious about what happened to Gaara. And I said I might visit him sometime.'

So she had come out to a place she absolutely hated to find a man she had maybe known for three months total. How pathetic. He would laugh at her if he was here now.

Of course, if he was with her now, she wouldn't be in the desert. And if he had just stayed with her, this situation wouldn't be happening at all. Because she had another reason for coming to see Gaara, one that was more important.

After days of searching she had finally found the hidden Sand village. Now she would just go see Temari, ask where Gaara was and be on her way back home.

'It's not home,' A voice laughed at her and she told it to shut up. Finally she found the building she had been looking for and knocked on the door. She waited for a while before Temari answered.

Temari had grown, Sakura noticed, and in all the best ways, "Hi Temari," Sakura greeted her timidly.

"Hi…" Temari looked a little suspicious and Sakura tried to relieve any suspicions she might have right away.

"I just wanted to ask, um… where's Gaara?"

Temari shrugged, but Sakura was sure she watched her more closely. "I don't know. We haven't seen him for years now. If you do see him, will you tell him come see me?"

Sakura nodded solemnly. She really didn't know anything about the siblings' feelings towards each other, but she hadn't thought Temari would worry about Gaara. It must have been hard having him as a brother. She had hoped, though, that if she didn't care about Gaara she would at least know where he was. So much for that idea. "Well, thank you anyway Temari. I should get going."

"Wait Sakura." Temari looked around to see if anyone was listening. There were people on the street nearby, but she spoke anyway. "Do you need a place to stay for the night? You can stay with me."

"I don't want to get in your way…" Sakura said, secretly hoping Temari wouldn't change her mind.

"Oh come on, no need to be so falsely polite." Temari held open the door and snorted, "Besides, it's not like I have anyone else to get in my way."

Sakura stepped inside, removing her hat and sandals as she said, "No boyfriend then?"

Temari laughed, "Gods no!"

Sakura grinned with her, "Good. It's so awkward with Ino sometimes."

Temari showed her down the hallway to the guest room. "You can stay for as long as you want. Make this placea sort of base of operations." She stopped in the doorway, "It won't be easy to find him you know. He's never… Ah, forget it."

Sakura smiled at the room and Temari as she walked in, "I haven't had an easy time so far."

Temari nodded, "Yes well, I'm sure you'll be wanting to clean up. Are you hungry?"

"I'll be fine eating whenever you do. I'll clean up so I don't stink too much."

"Ok." Temari left and Sakura dumped her pack on the floor. How different the siblings were. She stepped into the bathroom, smiling at the lovely bath in there. Temari had a very nice place.

She peeled off her shirt, throwing the sweat soaked garment aside. She should wash her clothes later. For now she would wash herself. Even though she loved baths Sakura tried to use as little water as possible, knowing it's value out here.

Too soon she was clean and dressing to go talk to Temari again. She liked the idea of having a place to come back to out in the desert while she was there; and Temari was a strangely comforting person. She and her brother had that in common at least. Sakura kind of wished she could have been part of their family.

She found Temari in the front hall talking with a man dressed in black. Sakura was sure to make her feet slap loudly on the floor as she approached so they wouldn't think she was spying.

The man in black looked up first, but it was Temari who spoke, "Sakura, may I presentthe Kazekage."

Sakura bowed to the man, inspecting him as she did so. So this was the man who had taken Gaara's place. For such a role he didn't seem very threatening, or impressive. He looked just like a normal person actually. Then again, sanity was probably a good quality for the Kazekage to have and it was not a quality apparent in Gaara.

"Good day, Kazekage." Sakura greeted him respectfully.

"Good day Sakura." He bowed his head slightly, a courtesy Sakura knew she didn't really deserve, but she was glad to receive it. He turned to Temari then and said, "If you'll excuse me, I have very important matters to attend to." He rolled his eyes and left through the door.

"Not too dramatic I see." Sakura commented about him once he had left.

Temari watched the door and nodded, "He's very practical…" She turned and smiled at Sakura, "You sure clean up nicely, don't you?"

The next morning Sakura was off again, after thanking Temari for her hospitality and her offer of future hospitality.

'Now if I was Gaara, where would I be?' Sakura thought, but as hard as she tried she just couldn't imagine being Gaara. 'If I had to be him, I'd bury myself in forty feet of sand.' She seriously hoped he had not done so, as she would never find him if he had.

She decided she would try to find the desert people and then she would… She had no idea what she would do. She didn't know what she would do if she ever found Gaara. One thing was certain, she would warn him.

It took two days of wandering to find the desert people. Sakura hadn't actually expected to find them so easily, but she had stumbled upon an oasis and there they were.

A small child saw her first and yelled to the others while pointing at her. Sakura felt fear clawing its way through her insides, but she forced it back. These were people, normal people. This was just like a village, albeit a moving village. A group of women came forward and brought her to the water, making sure she drank her fill before anyone bothered her.

When she had finished they sat her in the shade of a giant burden beast and told her to wait and someone would be with her. She felt like she was in a waiting room, waiting to see someone important.

She didn't have to wait long before an old couple followed by a young man came to talk to her. They were all dark, the colour of tea, and dressed brightly. The old man knelt on her left and the old woman on her right as the other man sat in front of her.

"Good day." Sakura bowed from the waist.

The man did the same and greeted her as well. Sakura grabbed her arms away as the old couple started to inspect her.

"I'm fine!" she said, "I'm not injured, but thank you."

The man nodded and sat back, but the old woman grinned at Sakura, "I understand you don't want to speak of it in front of the men, but I would hardly call you uninjured. Why don't you come talk with me later tonight, eh dear?"

Sakura nodded and turned back to the young man as he spoke, "I am Argan, the leader of my people, for now. What may we call you?"

"I'm Sakura." She waited nervously before continuing. Argan said nothing, just watched her, reminding her of another man she knew. "I was wondering if you could help me. I'm looking for a man… His name is Gaara, he's short, he has red hair and he um, he controls sand. He's always got that big gourd on his back."

Argan nodded, "We know of the one you describe, but we have not seen him for many months." Sakura's spirits dropped into the pit of her stomach with a dull thud. Another dead end. "But a strange storm began and has not stopped or moved from the ruins of the village Kartheid. Maybe there is a connection."

Sakura nodded hopefully, "I think there is!" She jumped up and grabbed her bag, "Thank you so much!"

"You're not leaving so soon little one?" the old woman spoke, "You should stay for the night in comfort with us. It is many days to your destination."

Sakura gave in, decided to wait until the next morning to continue on. She was almost certain that if she got to the heart of that storm she would find Gaara. And if he had been there for months he wouldn't leave soon. But as she sat with the desert men and shared their food she couldn't help but worry about him. What if someone else found him first? What was he doing? Was he…

"Some wounds never heal child." The old woman said quietly, "But all things get better." Sakura jumped; she hadn't noticed the old woman approach. What was wrong with her? Even so distracted she should still have noticed her. The old woman sat beside Sakura; she was surprisingly nimble for her age. "You must get on with your life."

Sakura didn't like the way this woman was lecturing her as if she knew all about her life. And it was creepy that she had said those exact words… "I've already had this conversation, and I've already moved on with my life."

The old woman smiled condescendingly, "Then why are you back here?"

"I'm looking for a friend."

"A friend?"

"Yes, a friend!" Sakura felt like yelling at the old woman, but she refrained. "I have friends! I have work; I have moved on!"

The old woman frowned, "How can you say that when you won't let anyone get close to you?"

Sakura clamped her jaw shut then. If there was one useful thing she had learned from Gaara it was that silence was the best way to get rid of people. She waited for the woman to leave and went to sleep.

When she woke up the next morning the burden beasts had all been loaded down and the people were ready to go. Argan met her as she was leaving. "Your destination is several days walk in that direction. I would go with you to show you the way, but I must follow my people, and we aren't going your way."

"Thanks Argan," Sakura bowed to him and waved goodbye and she set out, "Maybe we'll meet again someday!"

She set out with high spirits, but after four days of walking over endless sands she was feeling pretty low, and her water supply matched her mood. At the end of the fourth day though, she had reached the village.

'Wow, he must be upset,' Sakura thought, faced with the sheer enormity of the sandstorm. She was sure it was Gaara causing the storm. 'So now what genius? You can't get through there; he'd kill you.'

"Gaara!" she yelled, at a loss for what to do. "Gaara, it's Sakura. Please let me in!"

Nothing.

Sakura sat at the edge of the storm. Today she would use that great brain of hers. If it was all she really had she had best make use of it.

But her mind was completely blank. 'Not now, not now please.' No inspiration came to her. Finally she decided she had two choices. One: she could try to get through the storm, but that would depend on Gaara being unwilling to kill her. Idly, she stuck a hand into the storm, pulling it out quickly before it was ripped to shreds. She held her injured hand and glared at the storm, 'Okay, so first choice is out.'

Second choice then: she could try to get over the storm and drop into the heart. She couldn't just jump it though, if only there was some sort of giant bird… Sakura laughed out loud at her thoughts. 'Oh sure, a giant bird is just going to fly overhead…"

She looked up as a shadow covered her, 'No way!' But it wasn't a bird. It was a wave of sand, reaching out to engulf her. Sakura didn't even bother screaming as it lifted her through the air and into the calm heart of the sandstorm. She was still held immobile as she was held inches away from the creator of the storm.

She was struck by how empty his eyes looked. Maybe she just hadn't noticed it before, but his face now was so lifeless she felt like crying,except she didn't do that anymore.

"Gaara," she croaked, "Please put me down, you're crushing my ribs."

He blinked and she noticed how much the dark lines around his eyes seemed to have grown. "You…" he said quietly and set her down. His eyes regained some life and they focused on her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I 'think' I came to warn you. I came because…" she was having a hard time catching her breath again after having it all squeezed out of her. She breathed deeply, watching Gaara's face, surprised at how much she had missed him, "I came to warn you. Someone has been killing ninjas… important people and because the bodies are all so mangled and crushed everyone thinks it's you." She stopped and watched his expression closely, "It wasn't you right?"