Chapter Nine: You'll Never Leave Me, Right?
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:
Author: (sigh) I… don't… own…
Sasuke: Hurry up so I can win Sakura back already!
Gaara: (mumbles) She doesn't love you…
Sasuke: What was that, Sandboy?
Gaara: Nothing, Mr. I-Have-A-Chicken's-Butt-For-Hair
Sasuke: AT LEAST I HAVE EYEBROWS!
Author: I DON'T OWN NARUTO! NOW SHUT UP YOU TWO!
Gaara and Sasuke: Yes, ma'am!
Sasuke watched as Sakura and Gaara kissed and she helped him to the hospital. He hated himself for letting this happen, he should have killed Gaara when he had the chance. He hated Gaara for living and for turning a situation that was supposed to be against him into an opportunity to get even closer to Sakura. He slammed the side of the building with his fist, leaving a dent in the concrete. He jumped down from the building, scaring a few people on the street. He glared at them and walked off into the desert towards the woods of Konoha. He sat in his tent, flipping through the sketchbook for the sixth time. How could she love Gaara when she had so many wonderful pictures of him? He flipped to the picture she had been drawing the most recently and stared at it with shock. What is this! He thought as he stared at it.
Sakura lie in her bed, crying again. She hated him so much, she hated Sasuke for every time he had touched her, every word he had spoken, every movement and breath he had ever taken. He had hurt her in every possible way, and now that she had finally hurt him in his most vulnerable place, his heart, she felt regret for ever saying anything to him. He shouldn't have…
"Sakura-chan? What's the matter?" Gaara said as he walked into their room to find her laying in bed still. Her face was buried in her pillow and she was shaking. He knew exactly what was the matter. It was him again.
"N-hic-nothing, Gaara-kun," she said, lifting her face from the pillow and sniffling while wiping her cheeks. "I was just scared that's all," she added, smiling up at him. The sun illuminated her face, showing all the tears stains that lined from her eyes to her chin, from the corners of her eyes to her hairline and from her eyes to any other part of her face. Her nose was tinted red, her eyes were blood-shot and puffy, and her hair was soaked in some places.
How could he do this to you, Sakura? he thought, looking down at her with worry and doubt. The sight of her right now was making him want to cry. She hated seeing her like this… this was how it was every morning he came to get her now, since she stayed in bed as long as she could for the past week. Ever since she had found him bleeding on the floor of his office.
"Gaara…" he heard her whispering. He looked up at her, her head was bent over her lap and her fists were clenching the covers in her lap. "I'm sorry I'm being such a bother to you… I hate you seeing me like this. No matter how much I hide it, I'm crying. And I'm scared. So scared. So very scared it hurts to think. How far have I fallen, Gaara-kun?" she asked, looking up at him, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. "How far has he pushed me over the edge and let me fall? How far was I when you caught me? How far will I fall this time? How much farther is it till I finally break… Why can't I just break now? Why can't I crash and my seams be ripped open! Why is he doing this to me? What did I do? What did I say…" she screamed, still staring into his eyes as though the answers could be read there.
"Sakura… you did all you could, you said everything you needed to. He was the one that hurt you, he was the one that left you," he said plainly, but when he looked back up at her she had her head down again and tears were falling on the back of her fists. Her nails were digging into her skin and blood was beginning to stain the blanket. He moved over to her and hugged her tightly. "Oh, Sakura… you're so innocent and sweet. Why does that emotionless baka do this to you? Why does he want to hurt my little flower?" he said, calling her by the nickname he only used when she needed the comfort of it. She clutched his arms and had the top of her head resting on his chest.
"I'm just so scared, Gaara. I'm afraid he'll take you away from me…" and with that sentence a new fear struck her. "Gaara!" she screamed suddenly, looking up at him with wide eyes and touching his face making sure he was still there. "You would never leave me, right?"
"Of course not, Sakura-chan. I'll always been right here. I'll always been near you when you need me," he said, looking at her softly. That was a special look only she would ever receive. She smiled back and hugged him. She continued to cry in his arms for the next two hours. She cried for what Sasuke had done to her six years ago, for what he had done to Gaara, and for everything he had ever done to her all those years ago. She just wanted to sit there in Gaara's arms forever and feel his warmth against her body. It was so comforting that she ended up falling asleep again.
"Sakura…" Sasuke whispered as he stood outside the window in her room. "I'm sorry… for everything." That was what he wanted to say that day in the cart. He wanted to tell her he was sorry for anything and everything. He just wanted her to be with him, just for a little. To know that she at least still thought of him, but he didn't want to make her cry like this. He hadn't meant to do any of this to her. He just wanted to be in Gaara's place right now. To hold her and be the one comforting her, to kiss her, and make love to her. Her smell intoxicated him in that cart and he wanted to hold her and smell her hair, she smelled like cinnamon.
Later that day as Sakura was cooking dinner she looked out the window that was in front of her. She sighed softly. She had been half hoping that Sasuke was outside the window. She shook those thoughts out of her head. She had Gaara. She looked down at the salad she had been washing.
As Gaara sat in his office he looked down at the papers that was signing. Sakura… he thought and pictured the day he had proposed. He had tried to be romantic, he really did, but it hadn't quite worked out. He had taken her to the same spot that he had told her that he thought he loved her. He had set up hundreds of candles there to light it and lined a path with sakura petals. He had led her like last time there, it was dark and they had just finished another one of their dates. It had been four years after the incident with Sasuke and she was over him now and loved him. She had said it numerous times, not many but still enough. He drifted off into the memory of it and didn't notice Sakura come in the door.
She snuck up behind his chair and tried to think of what would be funniest to do to him. Then it hit her. She bent down so she could easily whisper into his ear.
"Mmm… Gaara-kun?" she whispered as best as she could. "That feels sooo good, Gaara-kun. Oh, keep going." She looked at his face and noticed it had turned as red as his hair. She tried to hold back her laughter. "Gaara, oh, keep doing that." Gaara was completely frozen in shock and embarrassment. His face was a bright crimson now. "Gaara?" Sakura asked in her normal voice. "Are you okay?"
"Uh…" Gaara squeaked as his nose started to bleed. He jumped up, but Sakura pulled him down into the chair.
"Oh, now don't be shy, Gaara-kun. Come a little closer," Sakura giggled. She always loved messing around with him like this. It had been a while since she had. "I'll take care of everything," she whispered into his ear. She exited the room and came back with a small bowl of water and a few napkins. "You get embarrassed so easy," she said as she sat on his lap and cleaned up his face. He was still blushing, remembering the tone of her voice.
"That's not funny," he said grumpily. He hated when she did that, it always made him get a nosebleed.
"Oh, come on, Gaara-kun. Lighten up a little. Have some fun," Sakura smiled at him. "Naruto always said that to me when he played practical jokes on people and I didn't approve."
"Sakura…"
"Hm?"
"Do you miss Konoha at all?"
"A little, but I love Suna and you so I'm happier here than I would be there. And besides, you allow my friends to come visit me and let me go there sometimes," she said, smiling at him still. It was true that sometimes she missed it, but she saw Ino every month and the others at times.
"Sakura, do you ever regret marrying me?" Gaara said, looking deeply into her eyes.
"Only when you ask silly questions like that. You know I'd rather be with you than anyone in the universe," she looked at him. "What's with the stupid questions all the sudden?"
"Oh, nothing, just feeling random today," he lied, but she seemed to accept it so he didn't push his luck. He sighed and looked down at the papers he had been working on. He sighed again thinking about how much work he had to do. He still had to send some mission requests to the Stone Country and the Waterfall Country. Then he had to read and assign two requests from the Grass and Cloud Countries.
"I'll leave if you want to finish your work," Sakura said.
"It's okay, Sakura-chan. But could you do one thing for me?"
"Sure," Sakura said, getting up and began cleaning up the napkins and bowl of water. "What's up?"
Gaara got up and moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her hips, close to her sensitive area. She blushed. She put his chin on her shoulder and whispered into her ear. "Wear something sexy tonight," he said, then started kissing her neck. It was Sakura's turn to blush. But she knew that Gaara was just using her own weapon against her.
"Oh, but Gaara," she said innocently, turning around to face him. "I don't have anything worthy of you looking at." She pressed her hips against his and kisses his neck softly. Gaara's immediately started bleeding again.
"Ok, Sakura. You got me again, you can stop," and when he said that Sakura popped her head up with a victorious smile.
"I win, again!" Sakura said, pulling away from Gaara and wetting another napkin. She cleaned his face quickly and ran out of the room saying something about getting him tea.
When she got to the hall she quickly wetted one of the napkins and cleaned her bloody nose, thankful that Gaara hadn't seen it.
She stepped into the kitchen and looked out the window. Sasuke stared back at her with cold eyes. She felt a pang of guilt for what had happened in the office, but she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the way Sasuke was looking at her.
Wait… what was Sasuke doing outside their house. She quickly set down the tea and ran outside.
She stood in front of him, staring at him. "Sasuke?" He looked over at her, still staring coldly at her, as if contemplating as though he should tell her something.
"Sakura, I'm through with these games."
"What do you mean, Sasuke?" she asked, taking a step towards him. They were only about two yards from each other.
"Sakura, do you still love me?" he looked down at the ground, like he regretted asking the question. He was afraid of the answer.
"Yes, I do," she said, looking away at some of the houses near hers.
"Then why didn't you wait for me, Sakura?"
"I…" she said, trying to think of a good reason to why she hadn't waited for him. "I didn't think you'd ever come back for me. I didn't think you loved me."
"I did and I still do," Sasuke said, looking back up at her. His eyes weren't cold anymore. They looked a little sad to Sakura. "Will you run away with me, Sakura?"
"I-" she wanted to say yes. To be impulsive and spontaneous, but she couldn't. She had to think about Gaara, about the life they had together for the past six years. She had to think of what Sasuke had done back then. He probably wouldn't hesitate to do it again in a heartbeat. "-can't. I don't think I could ever feel the same way about you again, Sasuke. I love you, yes. But I love Gaara more. He treats me like way I had hoped you would treat me all those years ago. I just… I can't leave him. Not after all he's done for me."
"But I need you more than him, Sakura. I love you more than he could ever love you!"
"No, you don't, Sasuke. You're hanging onto the past. I've changed… you've changed. We're not the same people we were six or seven years ago. I'm more mature, and from the looks of it, you're not," she said, turning her back on him. "It's my turn to leave you, Sasuke. And I won't come back and neither should you. Get over me and find someone that you belong with." She walked back into the house and looked out the kitchen window again. She saw Sasuke still staring forward at where she had been standing.
He was crying.
Short Ramblings!
This is the second to last chapter, meaning chapter ten is the last one. Thank you everyone who reviewed! Especially Songstress of Victory and fallen.lunar! They were the first to review and I want to thank them for their support and help!
LoveShinobi4eva (ya happy? i made Sasuke-teme cry just for you, lol!)
Scapegoat
Neji's Cherry Blossom (who I think I turned into a GaaraXSakura lover now, maybe?)
darkness 4 eternity
yumifan05
Firemoon520
kawaii chibi sasuke luver (sorry for all the cliffhangers!)
La princesa zorro
Darkness Eternity
SilverSimoneLady (who just barely made it onto this list, good timing on the review!)
All of them reviewed and supported me. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! I promise the tenth and last chapter is coming soon! I already have it typed, but, ya know what? I feel like making all of you wait, just for the sake of tension and cliffies!
