Chapter Five: Why…?
(Old) Summary: Sasuke comes back to find that Sakura has married someone else! But who? (Gaara, duh, that's like Chapter Two, come on!) Sasuke tell her he loves her and…. (She got pissed, COME ON!)
(New) Summary: As Sasuke continues to pursue Sakura, he finds out it's going to be a lot harder than he thought. He has to come up with a plan or he'll never have the love of his life back. If only there was a way to get Gaara to…… gasp?
Disclaimer: Oh my, gosh. I DON'T own Naruto, get over it people! I've said it four times already, JEEZ!
As Sasuke sat in hishotel roomhe thought of how he could kill Gaara tonight. He had to do something and he had to do it in front of Sakura, so she could see how much he loved her. He had to. Then it struck him and wrote down all the details on a pad of paper.
At two in the morning he stopped outside the Kazekage's house. He stopped under the window he had broken into the previous night. It felt like that night was a distant and blurred memory from long ago. He climbed the wall again with ropes hanging from his shoulder. He looked in the corner of the window and saw that Gaara wasn't in the room this time. Just to be safe he concentrated and tried to sense his chakra. All he could sense was Sakura though. He slid into the window and looked around carefully. He wondered where Gaara was but continued to advance toward Sakura slowly and carefully.
Gaara walked down the paths that lead around the perimeter of Suna. He was looking at the ground with his arms crossed. He was thinking of Sakura, as usual when he wasn't with her. He wanted to know why she had been having a nightmare about Sasuke. She had told him everything that had happened six years ago when he had first been with her and so many times over the years. She might have been dreaming of the night he left her, but she wouldn't have hit anything back then.
"What did he do to you, my little cherry blossom? What did he do to you that I can't fix, that I can't make go away?" he asked and he stopped and looked at the moon. He hadn't felt this lonely since he had been a child, the night his own uncle had tried to kill him and he had engraved "Love" into his forehead. He massaged the red sign on his forehead with his fingers. He had never known the meaning of it, not until her. Not until the day he had had her. The pain in his chest had gone with the first time he had said, "I think I'm in love with you,' to her. He remembered the day clearly.
Flashback
Much younger versions of Gaara and Sakura were walking down the streets of Konoha, hand in hand. They had been hanging out more and more lately and it was only natural for them to touch each other in this way. She had even kissed him on the cheek twice before and he had been left speechless. Gaara lead Sakura, who hadn't been paying attention to where they were going to a clear space in the woods where cells trained. She had been talking about how Ino and Chouji had been caught kissing by Hinata and Naruto at a restaurant and how they were the strangest couple she could think up. She stopped in mid sentence when she realized where they were.
"Why are we here, Gaara-kun?" she asked innocently, looking up at him.
"Oh, I just felt like coming here," he lied, but she seemed to except the answer and ran over to a rock and sat down, breaking their connected hands. Gaara followed her slowly and sat down next to her. He looked down at the ground and concentrated on a spot as though it were the most interesting thing in the universe.
"Is something wrong?" Sakura questioned. She had surprised Gaara and he looked at her as though he were about to ask why she was sitting next to him.
"Oh… I was just thinking," he said and continued to look at the ground.
After a few minutes of silence Sakura turned to look at him. "Is there something you're trying to tell me?" she asked, almost reading his mind.
"I… h-how'd you know?" he said, looking surprised at her.
"Oh, I woman can always tell," she said, smiling slyly. "So, what is it?"
"Umm…" started Gaara, not sure how to say it.
"Well?" she said expectantly, she already had an idea to what he was going to say, but she still wanted to hear him say it. Just as she was thinking that Gaara got up and looked around uneasily.
"Why don't we go back to town? It's starting to get dark and I'm sure you're tired," he looked around at her.
She looked up at the sun, which was almost directly above them and determined that it was about noon. She looked at the back of his head with doubt written all over her face. "Just tell me, pleeeeeeeease?" she begged, getting up and looking at him with sad eyes.
"I-I, uh…" he said nervously, trying hard to resist her face.
"Please, Gaara-kun," accenting the last part, knowing the term of endearment would help her get her way.
"I think I'm in love with you," he said, his head down and mumbling.
"Did you say something, Gaara-kun?"
Gaara looked up at her and held her hand to his heart. "You're the only who has ever known I have a heart even without having to feel the pulse. I owe you so much for that. You opened your heart to me and I want to do the same for you. Sakura… I think I'm in love with you," he said gently as she felt his heartbeat increase as the seconds passed.
"Gaara-kun…" she whispered. She hugged him tightly around his torso and smiled.
"I love you, too," she said. She barely whispered, like a secret she wanted to keep between just the two of them. Gaara wrapped his arms around her. After awhile he tipped her chin up and kissed her deeply. It was his first kiss and he hoped it was hers. He wanted it to last forever, but he broke it of after a few minutes. He looked down at Sakura and noticed the tears running down her cheeks.
"Are you ok?" he asked, worried if he shouldn't have kissed her or said anything in the first place. "I'm sorry," he said, hoping it would help.
"No, don't apologize. I'm just happy, I final know that there's a place to put my love. I don't need to wait for Sasuke anymore. I don't love him anymore, Gaara. Thank you," she said, smiling and hugging him tighter. She buried her face into his chest and continued to cry. They stood there, holding each other until the sun started setting and Sakura fell asleep, exhausted from crying so much. Gaara carried her back to her house and laid her in her bed. That was the first time he had watched her sleep and cooked her breakfast.
End Flashback
He wanted to go back to that time and keep holding her, to keep kissing her, and to keep her safe. Safe from Sasuke, from everything, and everyone else. He didn't want her to get hurt like Sasuke had hurt her that night six years ago. He knew he couldn't protect her forever, but he had to at least try, for her sake. He continued walking around Suna, thinking about her. About every moment they had been together, every moment he could remember. If you had walked out on that path the next day, you would have seen hundred of foot prints, close to a thousand and small specks of water. You would probably have simply thought that however had been walking was training during the night and had been sweating… a lot.
Sasuke was standing next to Sakura as she slept. He had to be careful, or she would wake up and ruin everything. He quickly covered her mouth firmly, but she didn't wake up. He put duct tape over her mouth as carefully as he could. This was when her eyes opened weakly. She looked sadly up at him, her eyes half open. He could've thrown up right there. That look hurt his stomach like Tsunade punching him in the gut. He swallowed hard, trying to swallow the lump in his throat, but he knew he had to do this, no matter what happened. He needed her, he was sure that he needed her more than that baka Gaara. She continued to stare at him, but he stared to notice that she hadn't moved. She must still be asleep, he thought. I hope so. He tied her legs together and her hands in front of her. He picked her up and moved towards the window. He looked down at her; her eyes were still fixed on him, misery shined through to her soul. His stomach ached, but he ignored it and jumped out the window.
As Sasuke tied Sakura to a rock in the desert about ten miles outside of Suna he remembered the noted he had left Gaara, hoping he would come for her.
Gaara,
Prove you love Sakura, prove it by nightfall or I'll take her away from here, farther away than you'll be able to find. She'll forget you and continue to love me, more than she ever said she loved you. I'll make sure. We're ten miles south of Suna. I want to see who is braver, you or me. No one will interupt us and I'll make sure Sakura can't hear any of our coversation. Come if you're not a coward, but then if you don't I guess everyone will end up happy.
Uchiha Sasuke
He knew Gaara would show up, especially after he called him a coward. He was hoping he would, he wanted to kill him more than anything. He had killed Itachi two or three years ago, he couldn't even remember when. And after that his whole life was empty, exactly like Kakashi-sensei had told him it would be. So he had turned his attention to Sakura, who he had always thought of.
Just then he saw Sakura wake up and wrestle against the rock, which he was sitting on top of. She looked around wildly, trying to find someone to help her. So she had been asleep earlier, he thought. I better hurry and settle her down before she does something dangerous or hurts herself. He jumped down in front of her and kneels there. She looked at him, shocked.
"MMHHHFFFMMM!" she yelled from under the duct tape. Sasuke took it off as gently as he could. "OW! YOU BAKA! WHAT AM I DOING HERE AND WHAT'S GOING ON?" she shrieked, struggling even more. Sasuke merely looked at her, she was angry with him…
"I'm sorry," he said, feeling his heart grow heavier. She stopped struggling and looked at him.
"Sasuke, what the heck is going on here?" she said, softer this time. "Why are you doing this?" she inquired, staring at him with concern.
"I… I missed you," he answered. Sakura just continued to stare at him.
"Whatever," she said, jerking her head to the side and closing her eyes. Her eyebrows were furrowed as if she were contemplating on whether to say something or not. "Then why'd you leave me if you knew you would miss me so much?" she said finally, very softly. But her only answer was a shrug and grunt as he stood up and turned so his back was to her.
"I wanted to remove all the obstacles in my way," he said after an eternity of silence drenching the air between them. "I wanted to get rid of everything else that had held my attention away from you, so then when I came back I could give you all my love and attention," he finished.
"…I don't need you anymore, Sasuke," she said, as if knowing that was the one thing she could have said to completely destroy him. "I don't love you anymore, I have Gaara. Even if whatever plan you have works, I'll just run away and go ba-"
"NO!" he yelled, clenching his fists by his side, "He doesn't deserve you. He can't love you as much as I do. He just can't!"
Sakura looked at him with a worried expression. "Sasuke, there has to be someone else for you, because I'm not the one you're supposed to be with. This is a hallow battle that will only end in trouble."
"I…l-" he started, but was interrupted when he saw a figure walking calmly towards them. It was sunrise and Sasuke started to advance toward the figure. He knew very well it was…
"Gaara," he said when he was within a hundred feet of him. Gaara looked just behind Sasuke and saw Sakura. Sasuke had replaced the duct tape on her mouth, even though he knew that she wouldn't say anything to interfere.
"So, we're supposed to fight to the death to prove who deserve her? Is that it, genius?" Gaara said, smirking. "Sasuke, we both know what the outcome of this fight will be. You're completely surrounded by sand and as I've told you, I have someone to fight for now. I finally understand what everyone was talking about all those years ago. The pain in my chest isn't slowing me down anymore and I don't even need the gourd on my back when I'm in Suna."
Sasuke just kept staring at him. "I don't want to fight you, I just had a few questions for you, Gaara-sama."
Short Ramblings!
Another chapter, Yay! I'm trying to leave each chapter with a cliff hanger or something, but this one didn't really work out like I wanted it to. I felt bad about not updating for a week, so I decided to put two chapters up today! YAY FOR GUILT!
