The Past and unknown
A man clad in black and brown stood there. The bottom of his face hidden by a cloth. Only his dark eyes were visible. Sakura drew her small personal dagger, and crouched in a defensive position. "Who the hell are you?" she hissed through clenched teeth. The man snickered. Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Is the Sand Shinobi here?" He asked, suddenly serious. Sakura stiffened. Gaara! "What's it to you!" she snarled back. The man's eyes narrowed. "You'd better tell me or you'll be sorry!" Sakura felt her heart skip a beat. Gaara still meant a lot to her. She'd always protect him. Sakura charged. She slammed her elbow into the man's stomach. He yelled and went slamming into the wall. He wasn't expecting her to attack. Sakura dug her dagger into his leg, he sudden wasn't there. A log was. Sakura backed away, looking around, where was he? The stranger was gone. Suddenly his voice filled the room. "I'll find the sand Shinobi, and then he'll pay for what he's done. Then you'll pay." Then silence. Sakura shivered. He was gone, she was sure of it. She walked around the house, dagger still in hand. The window was broken, the window in Lee's room, Gaara's room. Sakura leaned against the doorway. Her house no longer felt safe.
"Sakura! Sakura!" Sakura looked up. Lee was home. She heard him racing from room to room. She stood there, silently. Lee was suddenly there. He smelled like sweat and fear. He was tense. Sakura leaned into him. He wrapped his arms around her. "What happened?" he asked. "Someone was here, a man. I'm not sure what village he came from. He was looking for Gaara" she answered. Sakura felt Lee tense at Gaara's name. She looked up at him. Lee was staring out the window, an unreadable expression on his face. Sakura felt confused. He couldn't still be jealous over Gaara could he? Was there something more? Did Lee know something? Sakura decided to test her theory. She quietly whispered "Sand." Something in Lee's eyes flashed, he was tense for a second then relaxed. Sakura pulled away. "Lee?" she asked. Lee did know something. And she had to find out.
Sakura grabbed Lee's hand and led him out of the room, he seemed to have returned to normal, except hat he was very weary and protective. She sat him down on the couch and then sat next to him. It had grown dark now. Crickets had started chirping, the clock in the kitchen dinged 7 times, saying it was 7:00pm. Sakura and Lee sat there for a few moments, listening to the crickets. Sakura leaned over and kissed Lee. "Lee" she said quietly and calmly. "What do you know?" Lee stiffened. "I'm sorry, my dear, dear Sakura. I feel as if I have betrayed you. I want you to know that after I tell you everything that I still love you, and I shall always protect you until I die" Sakura felt taken back by his words. What did he mean, after he told her everything? Lee closed his eyes and looked down for a few moments, his bowl-cut haircut casting shadows on his pale face. He looked up, looking a little stronger.
"I know Gaara" he started out. "He worked for my father. When Gaara was a little kid his parents and village hated him for having a demon inside. My father took him in, seeing him as a potential assassin when he got older. Gaara didn't disappoint him. Gaara went far beyond what my father expected. He was acute at killing, and seemed to enjoy it. Everyday he got stronger. At first he was kept around me, kind of like a body guard. Later when he was too strong for that my father used him to kill people who double crossed him, betrayed him, or just annoyed him. Gaara seemed to get stronger with each kill. Around the age of 14 he went berserk. Killing a whole village. My father saw Gaara the same way a cowboy sees a purebred horse. You need to keep them healthy and happy if you want them to listen and do their best. My father somehow figured out Gaara was lonely. When Gaara wasn't out on a killing mission he was kept in plane house under supervision, 24/7. He had nothing to do, no one to talk to. Nobody dared talk to him. My father first tried hiring girls to be with him, that didn't end well. It wasn't the kind of companionship he needed. He finally decided to ship Gaara off to a big city, north of here. Somehow, but not surprisingly, Gaara escaped. Most of the guards died trying to restrain Gaara, but they did manage to injure him, but only slightly. That only happened because they had slipped pills into his tea. The pills worked as a sedative, making him sleepy. The sand even seemed kind of slow and dull. He fell from the crashing plane. Somewhere in the woods, a couple hundred miles from here. Somehow he must have managed to walk here from the crash site. Then you found him. We didn't know what happened to him for about a year. My father was furious. He lost a lot of money, but for some reason Gaara suddenly showed up. He was ready to work again. Ready to kill. The few times I saw him, he seemed different. Like something had happened that changed him when he was missing. Now I know it was you Sakura. You were the one who taught Gaara that he could love, and be loved back. Mt father was happy. But every once in a while Gaara would just vanish. Usually he'd be gone for only for 2 or 3weeks. Now I know he was visiting you." Lee stopped talking. He loked over at Sakura, his eyes filled with sorrow.
Sakura stared at Lee. Her eyes filled with tears. She knew she was shaking. Fear and anger rolled around in her mind, threatening to spill out. She clutched her dagger so hard her knuckles turned white. Sakura shakily stood up. Lee watched her. His eyes sad and loving. "Sakura…." He said quietly. "I'm sorry…." Sakura shook her head. She walked to the back room. Gaara's room. She closed the door and locked it. The outside breeze blew through her pink hair from the broken window. Sakura went over to the closet and opened it up. Lee's green clothing hung neatly from hangers. Sakura pushed to the back of the closet and pulled out an old mattress. Gaara's mattress. She laid it down in the middle of the room and laid down on it. It smelled like him. Sakura finally broke down. She cried for Gaara, for Lee, for the pain and hurt. In the last 60 minutes her world turned upside down. Unknown to her it was about to get worse.
