Sakura fell on the ground and quickly stood up in a fighting stance. "Is that all you can do, Kazekage?" she taunted.
Gaara arrived at their 'battlefield', which was his backyard, and replied, "I don't wish to hurt you, but if hurting you is the only way to keep my people safe, then so be it!" His sand shot forward.
Sakura dogged it with ease and threw a shuriken Gaara. Of course, his sand blocked it, and she disappeared and then reappeared from above him with a kunai in her hand. She threw it at him. Unfortunately, his sand was fast, so it blocked her attack. Damn.
Sakura landed on the ground and turned around to face Gaara. She made a few hand signs and then two Sakuras appeared next to her. They charged. Gaara's sand just rose to his front to form a barrier as the attacks hit. The two Sakura clones disappeared in a poof and the real Sakura collapsed, but immediately stood up again.
"I've had enough," Gara murmured. His sand started to move towards Sakura and grabbed her legs.
"Let go of me!" Sakura screamed. Instead, the sand made its way up to her whole body and started to wrap her into a small cacoon.
"Sand Coffin!" Gaara closed his hand and his sand followed the same movement. The last thing heard was Sakura's painful cry as the sand crushed her.
When Gaara retreated his sand, he found something very disturbing. Sakura wasn't there, but a log instead. A replacement technique! He quickly turned around, but it was too late. Sakura had already dug her kunai into his arm and ran past him before his sand could get hold of her.
"Don't underestimate me," Sakura purred as she went in for another charge.
Gaara winced at the pain. She...she actually got to me! That weak kunoichi...got to ME? He turned around and snarled, "You no good-"
"Cursing won't help." Sakura was only inches away from her attack, but it was blocked by...Sasuke? She looked up and saw the raven-haired, teenage Uchiha blocking her with his arm. She scowled in annoyance.
Sasuke looked down at Sakura with wide eyes. This is Sakura? What's Itachi done to her?
"Get out of my way!" Sakura hissed. She grabbed his arm and threw him aside. But just when she was about to make her attack on the wounded Gaara, his sand had pounded her onto the wall of his house. She yelped in pain.
"I'll kill you!" Gaara roared.
All of a sudden, his sand broke. He looked to his right and saw Itachi and Kisame next to the now unconscious Sakura.
"That will be all, Kazekage," said Itachi. He picked up Sakura, bridal style, and started to walk away with Kisame.
Sasuke rose to his feet and shouted, "Itachi! What have you done to Sakura?"
Itachi didn't respond. Sasuke, in his anger, charged at his brother, only to get knocked back down into the ground by Kisame's fist. The Akatsuki trio then disappeared like thin air.
Gaara fell on his knees and took the kunai out of his arm, hissing at the pain. He threw the kunai somewhere and held his bleeding arm. Wounded by a pink kunoichi. How lame.
"She's gotten stronger huh?" Sasuke asked out of the blue. He struggled to get up, grinning at Gaara sadistically.
Gaara huffed but confessed lowly, "Yeah. She got to me."
Sasuke was finally able to sit up and was wiping away the blood from his mouth. "I've got to get her back. Tsunade-sama needs her, her family needs her, Konoha needs her..." His voice started to trail off.
"You need her," Gaara remarked with a smirk. Sasuke glared at him. "Oh come on. It's obvious that you've fallen for her. The way you're talking about her now...it makes your feelings clear as glass.
Sasuke sighed. "Guilty." The two just sat there in silence for a while.
"Sasuke," Kakashi's voice popped.
Sasuke looked up and greeted his casual, "Yo."
"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto's voice boomed, "What the heck happened here? It looks like you and Gaara were beaten up pretty bad. Wait...Gaara was beaten up?"
Gaara scowled and looked away in shame. Stupid fox. He's practically trying to embarrass me.
Kakashi looked at Sasuke with a worried face. "It was Sakura, wasn't it?"
Sasuke bowed his head and nodded. "She was with Kisame and Itachi."
Kakashi nodded understandingly and said, "Lets go back to the Inn to regroup and plan this out okay?" Sasuke nodded.
The three left and Naruto yelled back to Gaara, "See you around, Kazekage!"
Gaara kept a straight face as he watched them leave. It's GAARA, you idiot! GAARA!
Sorry guys. I won't be updating much today cuz I'm off to watch Pirates of the Carribean Dead Man's Chest! Woohoo! Go Orlando Bloom!
