Chapter Sixteen

Hours went by between the two, and the entire time Sakura slept without a worry or a care. It was as if she wasn't a hostage, wasn't in the room of a boy who had the eyes that threatened to kill . . . She felt completely comfortable and cozy, as if it was another warm, ordinary day.

Gradually Sakura stirred from her nap, opening her eyes slowly then snapping them open when she was alerted with the sound of a repetitive, pounding heartbeat right by her ear. She turned her head and tried her best to sit up, only to be pulled in tighter by a pair of strong, clingy arms.

'Oh my God,' she thought, a heavy blush rising to her face and her own heartbeat racing faster and faster as the realization came to her. Her nervous green eyes tilted upward to see Gaara's peaceful, resting expression and she squirmed her arms in between his to cover her face. 'I . . . I slept in the same bed as a guy!'

And a handsome one too. Sure, Gaara was scary looking, and right now his make-up was looking a little smeared from what she guessed was tossing around in the covers, but he really wasn't bad looking . . . Wait. She couldn't be thinking this now! 'This isn't right, this isn't right . . . how did this happen?'

A low moan escaped from him that she could feel vibrating in his chest and he hugged her tighter as if she were a stuffed bear. The intimate contact, especially with someone she barely knew made her feel embarrassed and dirty at the same time. When she tried again to get away his grip returned; it was almost as if he were awake and doing this on purpose. 'Gaara . . . come on! Please!'

As beads of sweat from apprehension began to form along her skin the door to Gaara's room creaked open. Sakura, unfortunately, was on the side towards the window of the bedroom while Gaara's self was closest to the door. She was being held so tightly against him she couldn't possibly see who walked in, but the voice gave her an idea.

"Ah, good. Still asleep."

It was a deep voice, yet still the one of a young man. Sakura recognized it as one of the other relatives that were inside the house when she came in at the computer and at the library. She remembered him as being not necessarily tan or pale, with a wide, strong looking body and dark, scary tattoos that lined across his face.

With a sigh it sounded like he was about to turn around and leave again, but she couldn't stand the idea of being left in this . . . position, any longer. Quickly she pushed just enough to raise her hand over Gaara's body, something that was much harder to do without waking him than she had expected. When she spoke, it was completely muffled. " . . . Help . . . please . . ."

"Oh, you're still here." It sounded as if he didn't care about helping her, but after a few footsteps and an unknown clink along Gaara's desk he was over to gently pry open the gothic boy's arms. She rolled back against the wall first before sitting up, and as soon as she was off the bed and standing she stretched towards the ceiling as much as possible.

"That's much better!" she said happily, though she noted to keep her voice down so as not to wake Gaara up. She smiled to the one who had helped her out, who wasn't necessarily doing anything now. He leaned against the door of the bedroom in a sort of waiting fashion, as if he was expecting her to come out and down the stairs with him. "Thank you . . . um . . ."

"I'm Kankuro, Gaara's brother," he replied, giving her a sort of awkward smile of his own.

"My name is-"

"Haruno Sakura, I know." She pouted a little bit at being interrupted, but she quickly dismissed it; after all, this guy was nice enough to help her in the first place. He looked over in the direction of Gaara's desk and her gaze followed, and finally she learned what that clink noise she heard earlier was. It was a small, rectangular tray with a bowl, drink and medicine.

'Must have been for Gaara,' she concluded, sniffing a little. The scent of the soup in the bowl seemed to gravitate to her direction and wafted through her nose, and her stomach growled. She hadn't realized how hungry she was! 'It's been a while since I've eaten.'

Kankuro noticed the expression on her face and shrugged. "It's yours if you want. He's asleep, so it's useless for him I guess. Just keep the medication on the table or something."

"Yes! Thanks!"

She didn't even question why Gaara had to take medicine; in fact, she almost had a sneaking suspicion before that he did have to take some sort of stabilizer in order to keep from acting crazy around everyone that dared to say anything to him.

Instead she did as she was told. She placed the medicine on the desk and took the tray to the floor with her, ready to sit down and eat. Not exactly sure on what else to do, Kankuro shrugged and sat down with her.

When she started to eat, she recalled something she was very curious about. "Kankuro, who is Yashamaru?"

The name seemed to immediately cause some sort of distress in his eyes. She was a little nervous about that and wasn't sure if she should have asked, but nevertheless he replied to her question. She was glad of that.

"Yashamaru is our uncle," he said, which surprised her a little. That was a relation she wasn't expecting. "Our mom died after giving birth to Gaara. Dad was so angry he refused to take care of him, so our uncle, Yashamaru, decided to be the one to take him in. He didn't exactly like Gaara either because our mother was his sister, but I guess things went okay. Gaara liked him a lot."

"So it seems," she agreed, nodding as she put in a spoonful of the soup in her mouth. She swallowed, then continued. "I heard him mention Yashamaru's name in his sleep, so that's why I was curious."

"I see."

"So . . . what happened to him?"

"Uncle?" Kankuro asked, and she nodded. "Jail. This is gonna sound really out of the ordinary . . . not that we probably don't already seem weird to you, but our uncle was a hit man. He was a really nice guy on the outside, but I guess on the inside he was too greedy for his own good. So, our Dad paid him to 'take care' of Gaara. And he messed up. Dad's in jail too."

"Are . . . are you serious?" Both seemed to find it unnecessary to answer that, and she turned her head upward to look at Gaara, who was still sleeping peacefully in his bed. Right there, he didn't look like he had a care in the world. But as soon as those eyes opened he looked to her as if he had been living a hellish nightmare. Now she could see why. "That must be . . . so lonely . . ."

"Don't worry about it too much," Kankuro finally said, making her turn in his direction again as he stood up from his spot. She had quickly eaten what was given to him while he told her story, so he leaned down to pick up the tray. "Gaara's fine now, in a way. It was a long time ago. His idea is to live and love yourself. No one else."

"But that sucks!" she replied harshly, catching his attention. She looked sad, but not enough to shed tears. It was a frightening story, something so real and scary that it would make anyone weak in the knees. But still . . . Sakura looked up to Gaara once again then to Kankuro, a melancholy expression on her face. "No one should have to go through that stuff . . . everybody needs someone."

"Not Gaara."

"You guys love him, right? You and Temari?"

She had remembered her name from vague memories, and judging from the fact that Kankuro was Gaara's brother she ultimately had to be their older sister. Somehow she didn't think the both of them were as uncaring as they tried to make it seem. From what she saw, they were always together. And little actions did seem to show they were concerned about him . . .

Kankuro really wasn't sure what to say about that. So, he didn't say anything. He just turned around, opened the door and stepped out without another word, leaving her and his brother behind. Just before he left, however, Sakura could have sworn that he had a small, genuine smile. 'Kankuro . . .'

Sakura somehow felt uncomfortable sitting on the ground alone all of a sudden. Looking up at the ceiling made everything seem tall and strange, especially since she was in a new surrounding. Instead of staying put she decided to carefully crawl back on the table next to Gaara.

'It's weird, but I don't feel so embarrassed right now,' she thought. She wasn't sleepy, so she decided to sit back against the wall and watch him instead. She could hear his soft, quiet breathing as he dreamed, but when she thought of what she had been told a pang of hurt hit her. 'No wonder you act the way you do.'

A tap on the window next to her made her jump and she whipped her head around to see who was, her heart hammering from the sudden surprise. Right there on the other side was one of the oddest looking people she had ever seen in her life, and not an attractive sort of oddness either.

It was a tall, thin boy with an unusual bobbed black haircut with large dark eyes, lined with long, thick lashes. A wide, awkward smile crossed his pale cheeks as their eyes met and he gave her a wink. Oh, good God, those eyebrows. Somehow, she wasn't feeling comforted. 'Weird . . . weird! This guy is just weird!'

Sakura turned to see if Gaara had been stirred awake by the commotion, only to find him cutely clinging to one of his pillows. She turned back, a more serious expression on. When she found it okay she twisted the latch to the window open, allowing the both of them to speak properly. "Who . . . who are you?"

Just the very question itself seemed to send him off in a fit of glee. He answered proudly. "My name is Rock Lee, and I'm here to save you from the evil clutches of Gaara! I've been waiting here three and a half hours for the perfect opportunity!"

"Shh! Keep it in whispers!" she demanded, though she had quickly acknowledged that she listened to what he said. "And how are you going to get me out of here without him waking up?"

There was a heavy pause between the two, then he nodded. "I . . . I haven't thought of that yet!"

'This guy,' shethought, a tinge of annoyance filling her with just looking at him. Him, and that dorky smile, and those eyebrows . . . those eyebrows! They were huge! "If you really want to rescue me, just move out of the way so I can climb down the ladder you're on."

"Ladder?" he seemed to question, though at the same time he leaned far to the side to do as he was told. As she took on last glance at Gaara, then stepped her feet cautiously out the window they spoke more. "How did you know I was on a ladder?"

"We're on the second floor."

"You . . . you're amazing! Intelligent!"

Little by little Sakura traveled down towards the bottom of the ladder, Lee just above her and watching her every move with a smile. She felt a little creeped out by it, but now that she was starting to think without his talking in between he really was being kind to her. He was bizarre, yes, but in the couple of minutes they had met he had only done kind things for her. 'I should probably be a little more grateful.'

At the bottom waiting were two more people, ones she had recognized from classes before. The boy, who had long, dark hair, pale skin and eerie white eyes was starting at her intently with a harsh expression. His name, if she recalled correctly, was Hyuuga Neji, and he was only in her first period class. The girl next to him was in her French and English class, a rather petite and cute young lady with her chocolate hair tied into neat buns on both sides of her head. She was Ten Ten.

And as soon as she stepped off to greet the two of them two more people showed up, ones she recognized instantly with a wide smile. They had popped out of the bushes from the neighbors' yard, waving at her as if greeting her for the first time. She ran past Neji and Ten Ten, going straight to them and giving both of them tight hugs. "Shikamaru! Chouji!

"Yo," Shikamaru replied as soon as she let go of him. He and his friend stepped out of the bushes and went to the other couples' side, where Lee also seemed to be waiting after climbing down the ladder. Sakura had only just realized that it was a huge party for such a rescue mission, and she felt embarrassed.

"We were hiding in case it wasn't a success . . . didn't want to get our butts kicked by Gaara." Chouji started to talk right after Shikamaru did, speaking as he wiped off a bunch of leaves from the bushes that were clinging to his clothes. He shivered. "Anyway, let's go. This place is giving me the creeps."

"C'mon, toughen up!" Ten Ten insisted, placing her hands on her hips and giving a powerful stance. "You've got to be braver, like Neji! You're such a coward, Chouji."

But the one she had just complemented seemed to think otherwise. His voice, unlike hers which was energetic and full of strong personality, seemed powerful in a much darker way. "I think it's best that we go and not start trouble."

"Why are you two here anyway?" Sakura asked. Somehow she had learned being in this neighborhood that it was never a bad time to ask a question. The first one who decided to answer was Lee, who had his arm raised like a child in school and he was waving it energetically.

"Oooh! Pick me! Pick me!" he said, and excited grin on his face. "I'll explain it all!"

X x x x

Finally, a new chapter! XD And finally, more characters to love. Includung my favorite . . . –Drumrolls- Lee! –Hugs him- I know it seems like I'm treating him badly, but it won't be like that long.

And as for Gaara's past . . . I tried to keep it sort of true to the anime but with a High school realism at the same time. So, I based it off of this true story I heard on Court TV. It was about these parents who hired a hit man to kill their children. T.T Terrible! But anyways, I figured Yashamaru was a Ninja hit man in a sort of weird way . . . so now he's just a hit man. In jail. And he'll never pop up in the story because I love Gaara too much for that. So yeay!

I hope this chapter was alright for you . . . XD It was tough to write! Gaara x Sakura . . .! T.T That'd be so cute! Too bad they won't be together, although that'd be an interesting twist.

Drackial- Thanks! Believe it or not, I really do like Ino, and I know she's a good girl. I feel bad turning her into such an evil girl! T.T There's more to her and Sasuke than just a crush though, and while it doesn't justify what she does it makes it easier to understand her pain, so . . . Hopefully I'll get to that part someday:D Oh, and I found the hit counter thanks to you! Gosh it's crazy . . . This story gets thousands of hits! O.o I'm honored!

zornoid13- Yeay, I updated within a month! Not soon, but at least it was within a month. Lol!

NeyugnNosila- Thanks:D Gaara isn't sick, but it's more of a tranquilizer to keep him balanced. XD I guess it's obvious he doesn't like to take it, but he does. Only this time he took sleeping pills! And now he's all cute and sleepy. XD

Yokaigurl- So small? It's tough to write all this! XD Plus I have three other fanfictions I have to keep updating, so this is plenty for me! I still try to update this fanfiction monthly though. And as for Sakura, she doesn't have any loves in the past, so I don't think the Neji idea will work. XD Besides, he already has plans in the story!

Emeralde- :D –hugs- Thank you very much for the offer. And a SakuSasu fan, yeay! XD I thought I had the pairing I wanted figured out, but now I'm bad to square one. Ack! Sixteen chapters into the story and I still don't know! That's bad. XD

HinatasBiggestFanBoy- Awwww, thanks:D I'll do my best and I won't rush things, but I'll try and keep at least a little consistency. XD

Random Reviewer- Thank you! It would be an awsome pairing. XD Honestly, I think Sakura goes well with anybody! I really like Sakura, so I like thinking of different ways she can be a match for all the characters. Ultimately, it comes down to my favorite pairing for her in the anime though. XD She and Sasuke are destiny!

Kawaii-Hisui- Oh, thank you so much! I love charicterization, so it makes me happy that you enjoy that aspect of the story.

Mrs.Uchiha- Thanks! Strange relationship between who? Sasuke and Ino or Ino and Sakura? For the first pairings, yes! And for the second pairings, they never knew each other before Sakura's first day of school. XD

Nkitty29- Will do!

Kist- Aaaah, sometimes I feel the same way! It's such an unusually but good pairing. I think that's why I added my little Gaara x Sakura moment in her. XD Fwa! And there are more to come too! Hee hee hee . . .

SpErX- Thank you so much:D Gosh, it's crazy to think that through all this Naruto and Sasuke are completely oblivious . . . and they're the main guys! This part is mostly for Sakura' own development and interaction with other characters. It's fun!

Marise-Faia- :D Well, welcome back! –Hugs- And I do remember you, so yeay! I'm happy you liked the last chapter- I'm very glad with how this little bit is going to far! Probably because I'm crazy in love with Gaara . . . and Lee! XD

Vanillagal- Thank you so much for reading HV and Summoner:D That makes me incredibly happy. Lol, I got my addiction to Naruto when I started reading the fanfics too. XD Sometimes I feel it's the best part of anime!

BlueKanji- :D And continue I shall! I won't quit, no matter how long this story is!

Crisis Haylo- OMGosh, you're right! I need to put in some Temari x Shikamaru fluff. They're such a perfect couple . . . they need to realize it, already! XD

krn-kimbap- And indeed he is. –Loves him- That, in my opinion, is the sexayest sleeping panda I've ever seen. XD lol!