Title: From Winter To Spring
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from the anime, Naruto, but they are superb story fodder, aren't they now?
Summary: After the first time Sakura took part in the chuunin selection exams and failed, she tried once more before undergoing intensive training to better herself, while Naruto and Sasuke both passed and moved on. Their team split, but now that Sakura's all alone an unlikely antihero steps up to make her exam taking team complete: Gaara of the Desert. (GaaraSakura as best as I am able, which may not be very promising, because it is my first fanfiction piece ever.)
Author's Note: Nothing much to report... thanks for the reviews, I do so love getting them for this piece and my other one about Shikamaru and Ino. Keep 'em coming and I'll keep this going. Not that I wouldn't do it anyway... and I just noticed that Gaara doesn't actually speak in this chapter. I should force him to say more in the future chapters, open up to her in some way. I don't think of him as a talkative guy, I guess, more introverted than extroverted.
Chapter 6: Sandwiches and Insanity
Lunch was surprisingly good and even though the main dish was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Sakura was still grateful to Lee for his kindness. He sat beside her on the grass, retelling an event in which Gai-sensei displayed an impressive amount of skill... as usual. The stories always sounded the same to Sakura, but it was Lee's warm, comforting presence that she truly enjoyed- conversation was second to that.
Especially since her only other conversational option sat brooding under the deep shadow of a nearby tree. His presence seemed to darken the atmosphere, making the shadows he rested under even heavier than those of other trees in the area. She realized she was staring when Gaara felt the intense scrutiny and glanced up from his thoughts to lock gazes with her. Expecting to meet his expression of obvious dislike for her, Sakura was surprised to find it absent from his features. In fact, all emotion was void from his steady gaze. The emptiness chilled her to the soul while looking into his eyes and it finally overwhelmed her.
Glancing down at her sandwich sharply to avoid his gaze, Sakura jolted. The sandwich's contents had dripped from between the bread slices and made a puddle of jelly and peanut butter on her lap. Lee watched as she cursed and shoved the remains of the sandwich into her mouth before wiping her clothes off.
"Sakura-san... your attention span seems to have shrunk today," Lee whispered discreetly, in case Gaara's sense of hearing exceeded that of a normal person. "Is something the matter? Your behavior earlier really worried Naruto..."
She crinkled her nose at the mention of the blonde boy. And Lee grinned as he finished his sentence, "and Sasuke."
Pausing in her fumbling, Sakura felt the blood rush to her cheeks instantly. Trying to sound nonchalant, she ventured"Sasuke-kun is worried about me"
The small grin spread across Lee's face as he saw the change in her whole attitude at the mere mention of Sasuke's name. "He might not show it, but in his own way he might even be more concerned about your health than Naruto."
That was it. She was officially lost to the world. Her heartbeat sped up and her entire face turned a bright shade of red as she stammered out nonsense about needing to get back to her training. Standing up abruptly, she turned and quickly tripped over her own feet, falling to a useless heap on the ground.
"Stupid shoes..." she lied hastily, trying to get rid of the all-knowing smirk that was on Lee's face. "They're new. I haven't really broken them in yet."
"Sure, sure, Sakura-san," Lee smiled, picking up the trash from their lunch to keep from bursting into laughter. "I don't want to keep you from your training, but I'm curious... How do you expect to spar with Gaara when you can barely remember to stand and breathe at the same time while thinking about Sasuke?"
With a growl of indignation, Sakura chased him from the training ground, his uncontrollable laughter only serving to fuel her rage. When he was out of sight, she sighed heavily and cracked her knuckles before returning to where Gaara waited.
Her sparring partner had not moved in the slightest, his eyes focused on something happening in a tree close to where he stood.
Without inquiring as to what he was watching, she followed his gaze and found a parent bird forcing its full grown offspring out of the nest. The young bird dropped like a stone in a pond, straight to the bottom, at the last second reaching an epiphany that made it open its wings and flap desperately to safety.
Sakura exhaled in relief seeing the bird unhurt as it swooped unsteadily into the sky. Gaara remained silent as his eyes seemed to stare passed the scene to a memory only he could see. A memory of a time with someone he believed cared about him like a parent... it was the closest thing to happiness he had ever experienced. Of course, it had been a lie and a betrayal all rolled into one.
Yashamaru... he mulled over the dead uncle for a moment until Sakura brought him out of the dark trance.
"Hey, Gaara-san. Wanna train?"
He glanced at her. She had positioned herself in front of him, leaning in with her head cocked to the side, examining his face while he stared into space. They were at least a few steps apart, but it was still too close for Gaara's comfort.
A perplexed look crossed his face fleetingly as he took a step back to put more space between them. How had she gotten under his guard so easily? Not even his siblings could catch him by surprise, regardless of whether he was staring off into space or not.
The sand poured from the gourd on his back, sweeping the distance between them with its bloody scent and presence to ensure that the buffer of space remained uncrossed. However, she did not seemed to be interested in getting any closer to him. Her lack of reaction to him placing a greater distance between them bewildered Gaara. She was already getting too close to him in a manner that had little to do with the physical distance separating their bodies. No matter how much space he shoved between himself and her, the strange nagging thoughts and emotions plaguing his mind would not cease. The more space he took, the more incessent the feelings became. He could not cope with the strange desires pounding on his already unstable psyche...
"Gaara... calm down. Please," she felt a rush of fear but it quickly melted into complete concern for the shaking fool in front of her. Suddenly, the innocent look in his eyes reminded her of the incident earlier that morning in her room when he wanted so childishly to know why people slept for such a long time. But at the moment, that childish look was veiled by a mask of fear at the thoughts and actions he could not understand. He lacked the emotional intelligence to deal with such things.
The fight or flee instinct was already at work in his mind, but Sakura refused to chase him or fight back. She wanted to be the calm spot, the person he did not have to worry about as an enemy, if it were possible for him to truly trust anyone again. She would not betray or attack him.
"I'm not going to fight with you. There's no reason for it. If you feel like you need to be alone then go. I won't chase you. You already know where to find me when you're ready to talk or continue with the training," Sakura inclined her head slightly and backed away to continue her practice alone.
Gaara stood in place, unwilling to move away or closer to her. The sand that had surged around him dropped lifelessly in a circle around his feet. Never before had anyone dared talk to him so simply and with such a direct manner. Everyone spoke to him in a calming, roundabout way, which irritated him immensely. After a pause in thought, he concluded that he found both ways of speech annoying. It was a lose-lose situation when communicating with him.
But she did not want to add to their stress. Pursuing him would only complicate matters.
His mind was on the verge of breaking down, watching her walk away and focus on training. Why did he care that she was brushing him aside? Before he could overwhelm his brain and send himself into complete mental disarray, he took her advise and let the cloud of sand whisk him to a secluded area far away from the practice grounds.
Sakura kept a secret gaze locked on Gaara until he disappeared with the help of his chakra controlled sand. Expecting to feel a rush of relief at his departure, she was taken back when the main emotions that took root in his wake were loneliness and worry.