Chapter Six: Who Does She Love?
Who Loves Her?
(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?
A/N: I d-
Sakura: HELLO STILL TIED TO A ROCK HERE!
Sasuke: who said that?
Gaara: who cares?
A/N: as I was saying, I don-
Sakura: SHUT UP AND GET ON WITH THE STORY, I HAVE AN ITCH!
Sasuke: Gaara, I have a question.
Gaara: Yeah?
Sasuke: why are we here when the author doesn't even own Naruto or us?
Gaara: cause I'm finally married to Sakura and your not and I'm Kazekage and you're not.
Sasuke: oh yeah… HEY!
A/N: SHUT UP! I DON'T OWN NARUTO, JEEZ STOP HASSALING ME SAKURA!
Gaara and Sasuke continued to stare at each other. Gaara stood in his usual position, arms crossed and legs slightly apart, leaning to one side. Sasuke stood with his arms by his side, back to Sakura and glaring at Gaara.
"My first question," Sasuke started about ten minutes of silence. The sun was well above the horizon now and the temperature was rising. "Do you really love Sakura?"
"Yes. She's the first person I've ever loved. I've opened my heart and soul to her and she's settled in quite well," Gaara answered, smirking.
"Do you think she loves you?" was Sasuke's next question.
"Yes, she was the one who asked me out in the first place and she's never been unhappy with me," Gaara replied, the smirk grew slightly.
"Does she show it?"
"Yes, everyday we're together and it grows even more when we're apart."
"How do you know you're the only one she loves?"
"Because… she said I was her first and only true love," Gaara answered.
"Do you make her happy?"
"Yes."
"Does she make you happy?"
"Of course."
"Did you ask her to leave Konoha or was that her decision?"
"I had planned on us leaving both Konoha and Suna and moving to where no one would find us except who we wanted. But she wanted me to become Kazekage because she felt I was the only one responsible enough for it. And I would never argue with her."
Sasuke stood, staring at the ground about twenty feet from him intently. "Do you ever think she'd leave you for someone else?"
Gaara knew he meant himself when he said "someone else."
"No. She wouldn't do that to me, not without a reason. Not without saying good-bye," Gaara said, shaking his head. "She doesn't love you Sasuke, ask her yourself. Just give up."
"She… she still loves me… I know she does," Sasuke said shakily, looking over his shoulder at Sakura. She was looking up at the sky, because they were too far away from her for her to hear any of what they were talking about. He was glad she couldn't, she would have really preferred Gaara right now, the way he was answering.
"Now I've got some questions for you," Gaara said, breaking through Sasuke's thoughts.
"What?" Sasuke said rudely, looking back over at Gaara.
"Why'd you make Sakura wait so long? Why couldn't you accept her love six years ago? Then you wouldn't be in this situation and we wouldn't have to put Sakura through this. It's really quite selfish of you," Gaara said, looking past him to her.
"Because… I wanted… I wanted to remove all the obstacles in front of me, so I could give her every ounce of my attention, affection, and love. I couldn't live with myself if I had told her about my love and then left her because I couldn't think of anything else but revenge."
"Do you think she loves you?"
"Yes…" Sasuke said, but he knew the real answer in the back of his mind. He wasn't ready to accept that though. He looked back up at Gaara after he had heard a snort chuckle.
"Do you really think you'll leave with her? Do you really think you'll accomplish anything from kidnapping her, aside from being locked up in jail?"
"I… I just wanted… I wanted to have her to myself. Even if it was just a few minutes. To talk to her and see how she's been the past six years. Maybe rekindle the love she once had for me."
Gaara just stared at the pitiful form of the once powerful Sasuke he had actual begun to respect all those years ago. Until he had learned of how he had destroyed Sakura and how he had been such a coward to let Orochimaru control him and leave everything he knew and loved behind him. He smirked even bigger.
"You're pitiful, Uchiha. You were supposed to be so powerful. Killing your own brother and being one of the only ones to survive that curse seal." Gaara started walking toward Sakura. But as he walked past Sasuke he stopped.
"One last question, do you really love her or did you ever in the first place? Don't answer now just think about it. And when you come up with the answer, be sure to use the front door during the daylight this time. I'm sending Sakura back to Konoha to visit her friends and old classmates for the next week. She deserves a break from everything after seeing your ugly face. She's been missing her friends latterly so I figured I would let her go for a change. Make sure you come by sometime during the next week, ok?"
Gaara continued walking and kneeled by Sakura, who hadn't seen him coming because she was tied so he could see her profile and she had been concentrating on something to her right, looking away from Gaara and Sasuke. He whispered something into her ear and she had looked over at him. Her eyes were half shut and sad, just like they had been the previous night when Sasuke had kidnapped her. Gaara hugged her and held her tightly for a few minutes.
By the time he had untied her and allowed her to gently peel the tape off her mouth herself Sasuke was long gone. Gaara picked her up bridal style and carried her home. She fell asleep in his arms halfway home, mumbling an apology. He lay her down in bed and sat in a chair next to her bed.
"Sakura…" he whispered, gently stroking her cheek as she slept peacefully for the first time since Sasuke had come. "Do you still love me?" And with that he was gone from the room in a swirl of sand. He appeared on the roof staring out upon Suna. He always sat up there when he needed to think, and tonight he needed to.
The next day Gaara woke Sakura up early and told her to start packing and that she was going to spend some time in Konoha with her friends.
"But Ino and Hinata just left from visiting here. Are you sure you want me to leave?" she asking, looking up at Gaara with concern. She held his hand in hers' and stood close to him. "I'm not going to leave you Gaara, not for anybody," she said, staring into his eyes and kissing him deeply on the lips.
After they had broken apart he looked down at her plainly. "I want you to see all your friends, that's all. You have seen Naruto, Neji, Kiba, Shino, or TenTen lately and I'm sure you miss them. So make sure to pack a lot of clothes and I'll make sure you can stay with Ino-san for a week. Don't worry about me, I'll be able to feed and take care of myself for a week. It's not like you'll be gone forever," he said smiling slightly. Sakura looked over at something on the wall, contemplating whether it was really safe to leave Gaara alone for a whole week. As if reading her mind Gaara soothingly whispered into her ear, "Don't worry, my little cherry blossom, Sasuke won't be around for awhile. I'll be fine. I… love you, Sakura. So, please, don't worry about anything. Enjoy your time with your friends." He kissed her on the cheek and slowly walked out of the room to call Ino.
"OF COURSE SHE CAN STAY WITH ME!" Ino screamed across the phone making Gaara sigh as he yanked the phone away from his ear. "FINALLY YOU LET HER OUT OF THAT VILLAGE TO VISIT US! I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL HINATA AND KIBA ANDCHOUJI AND NARUTO AND SHINO AND TENTEN AND EVERYONE ELSE THAT I CAN'T REMEMBER RIGHT NOW CAUSE I'M SO EXCITED!"
"Thank you, Ino-san. I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience to have her stay for a week, but I have to business matters that will take up most of my time and I don't want her to feel lonely."
"Aww… is the responsibility finally getting to you, Gaara-sama?" she teasingly asked, accenting the last syllable to remind him he was leading a country now.
"No, it doesn't really have to do with The Sand Country right now, it's more personal," he said, making sure she knew that he was born to lead a country.
"Sasuke paid you guys a visit?" Ino asked, quickly changing personalities and becoming very serious.
"Sadly, yes. He kidnapped Sakura so he could ask me a few personal questions," Gaara, said calmly. He rotated the chair in his office to face the large window on his office wall and looked out on the village.
"What! Oh, he is so getting it next time I see his sorry little ass!" she said, getting angry and on the brink of yelling again.
"Don't worry, Ino-san. I took care of everything and Sakura doesn't have a scratch on her."
"Ok, well I have to finish makingChouji's dinner. He'll be home soon from work at the academy and I still have to finish the special rice I created to help control his weigh, he's been trying to lose a couple pounds for me. So when is Sakura going to be here?"
"She'll be there by tomorrow. And, Ino-san can you do me a favor while she's there?"
"Hmm?"
"Make sure she has fun and if she asks any questions about Sasuke or me change the subject and make sure she stays there the full week."
"Ok, Gaara," she said, but Gaara could tell there were questions behind that sentence to his motives and what the "business" he had to take care of was really about.
"I'll send her with some money to pay for anything she'll want to buy. Good-bye, Ino-san and tell Shikamaru I said hello," Gaara said, hanging up the phone. At that moment Sakura walked in the door and walked over to stand in front of him. She sat on his lap and curled into a ball with her head under his chin. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan?"
"Nothing… I just had the sudden urge to snuggle with you," she said wrapping her arms around his torso. He looked down at the top of her head and smiled a little.
"Okay," he said, wrapping her in his strong arms.
They stayed there for an hour or two, not talking any calls or any visitors. Even the Kazekage needs to have some time alone with his wife.
Sasuke set up camp in the forest with the supplies he had retrieved from his hotel room.
"What the hell did you mean, Gaara? I… I love her more than you ever will…" he said, unsteadily. Almost as though he didn't believe himself, or he wanted to believe himself.
Short ramblings!
I know this isn't that long, but I confused my self by changing the direction of the plot as I was writing it. I bet you guys thought they were gonna fight. Well, that's what I was gonna do at first, but I changed my mind cause I really wanted you guys (and girls) to find out more about Gaara and Sasuke's feelings for Sakura. But don't worry, I'll most likely have them fight in a later chapter (hint hint). Well, hope you enjoyed. BYE! REEEVIEWWWW! Pwease?
