Beta'd by Errihu.


Chapter Eleven


"Please, just one more!"

"I'm sorry, but I just can't."

Sakura was currently pouting at the pharmacist behind the counter. He glared at her, unbelieving she would even be demanding more.

"You do realize the toll they take on the body?" the man asked, trying to enlighten the young woman.

For Sakura though, who was wise with medicine, it was like a slap across the face. So, she fumed.

"Of course I know! I even know how to concoct my own if I had a means for the ingredients!" Sakura said, shaking the small cloth that held said pills in the man's face.

The man shrugged, unbelieving.

"Then, go make your own because I'm not allowed to sell you any more than two."

Sakura was aware of the rules. The misuse of pills had deathly consequences, and the ones she now stuffing into her pocket were no different. They were able to replenish her chakra, to keep her going for a few days straight. Yet, at the end of their effect, complete exhaustion would hit her body.

Hard.

That didn't stop her pouting though. Despite her teachings, she thought her body stronger than most others, and her will even greater.

'I need them,' she thought, turning her head and eyes back towards the glass doors and windows.

The little redheaded boy she spotted was right where she left him, still where she asked him to stay. He was taking notice of nothing around him, yet when people past by and spotted the child, their feet scurried quicker. To this, she narrowed her eyes, wondering if anything went through his mind when this happened, or if he completely ignored it. She watched his body shuffle lightly in his spot.

'Hurry up,' her mind told her. 'It won't be good if he becomes impatient.'

She was in a dilemma, and the man in front of her wasn't budging. Rasa had told her to watch Gaara more closely at night, and these pills had become the only solution she could think of at that moment. Yet, two wouldn't help her in the long run. If she didn't have another person waiting on her, one who would run away the second he grew bored, she would easily have the time to break the man in front of her and have him cave in to her.

'Another day,' she decided, forking over her cash reluctantly. 'I'll just save these two for an emergency.'

The pills were an answer, for now. She would think of something else to help her with the nights in the long run. Coffee wasn't as restricted here, right? Sakura sighed to that idea, chuckling at the thought while stepping back out to meet the boy. Their eyes met when she stepped towards him, and she was about to speak when a shrill cry came from the road across from them. More villagers caught sight of Gaara, and like everyone else, they vanished in a blink of an eye. Sakura merely shook her head to this.

'Cowards,' she thought. 'Maybe I should bring Gaara inside. I bet that pharmacist would change his mind real quick, then.'

She chuckled lightly again at the thought, but shook off the idea when she turned back to look at Gaara. Doing that would not help her cause in the slightest. She wanted both child, and others, to see the good in him.

"Want to see what I got?" she asked, reaching in her pocket and pulling out the folded cloth.

Gaara didn't reply, but still turned to watch her hand, a curious mind taking a hold of him once more.

"Look!" she beamed, showing off the olive colored, round pills.

They were uninviting to look, and even had a little bit of a foul smell. Still, the child stepped closer, tilting his head from side to side while peering at the pills. That was all it took from him for Sakura to start elaborating on what they were and their purpose. Obviously, she was the more enthusiastic with this lesson than he was. Medicine and its properties excited her more than the average person. Still, after her little pompous chatter, even if she had lost him with her long words and odd medical terms long ago, he stepped back and nodded towards her with a blank expression, signaling to her that he had listened and tried to take in her knowledge. It made her smile shine brightly.

"I have one more place to go," she said while stuffing the pills back into her pocket, "We can head back home afterward."

She didn't wait for a reply, or even a nod from him. Instead she waltzed right past him, expecting him to follow. In her book, an obedient Gaara was a good day, and so far the child hadn't protested against anything but seeing his father.

"I'll let you hold my hand if you can catch it," she called back to him again.

The hint was no longer subtle, but damn it if she wasn't stubborn. Persistence was her middle name, and even if Gaara didn't reach for her, there was still a message being sent him through her words. I'm here for you. Or, something along that line, she liked to think.

Their walk to the next store was no different from the one to the pharmacy. Gaara hadn't made an attempt to reach for her, and instead the two walked in silence, his steps still behind her. Though, she didn't pay any of it any mind. As soon as they were in front of their destination, Sakura sighed and tilted her head at the small shop.

When asking for a library, the pharmacist had told her Suna had none, and instead pointed her in this direction for a book store. Yet, the building was small, and tattered. It left her feeling slightly disappointed, for she hoped to find answers here. However, that thought left her when she suddenly heard murmurs behind her.

"Look, that's it over there..."

"What's that monster doing out?"

Sakura turned, spotting a group of people across the road. Though they hid their mouths, their voices could easily be heard. Their harsh whispers had forgotten civility, and if her hearing could catch them, so too could the little boy next to her. She managed a quick glance towards Gaara, but unlike her he kept his back turned towards the group. His eyes and face were passive as he stared towards the book store. It made her wonder if he had learned to ignore such cold comments, but it also made her narrow her eyes towards the small group. They had no fair reason to make such murmurs towards Gaara, whether he could hear them or not. Where had their honor gone for them to provoke a child?

"So scary. We should go before it decides to attack."

From that last comment, Sakura was suddenly blinded by anger. Her eyes were quick scouring the ground around her, and as soon as she spotted a small stone, she immediately poured some of her chakra into her foot and leg before kicking the rock towards the group. The young woman smirked when the pebble whistled from her kick, flying past the people and just missing them by centimeters. The small stone exploded into a building wall, forming a small crater, and the party gawked at the damage before turning to look back at the pink haired woman.

Sakura smirked at their frightened faces, her eyes still glaring towards them.

"Your voices are loud, and annoying!" Sakura thickly said. "Next time I hear you, I'll be sure to knock you quiet!"

That was all that was needed to be said before the group quickly tried to separate themselves from Sakura's scowl and threat. Still, despite themselves, one of them couldn't stop from babbling out.

"Great, now we have two monsters to worry about."

They disappeared behind a corner, but Sakura was still fuming and hollering as if they were still there.

"Cowards!" she called towards the nothing now, "You're all so obsessed with monsters that I'll show you a monster next time I hear your stupid voices! Shannaro!"

Her loud ramblings went on for a few minutes, and while the group was far by gone now, Gaara was the only witness to her words. Yet, he still had his back turned to her, his expression impassive. The whole scenario seemed to invoke nothing from him. That, or he did well to hide his feelings on the inside.

Sakura's outburst only came to a stop when a shopkeep came out to inspect the damage the rosette had done to his shop's wall. At that point, the woman decided then she had said that was needed to be said, and hurriedly tried to shuffle the boy into the book store lest they become the suspects. She had made a reach for his hand, and he protested once more against her touch and her forceful pull.

"I'm not allowed in there!" he hissed, trying to pull himself away from Sakura's grasp.

His words didn't stop her, if anything she tugged him a little harder towards the doors.

'I am not going to get in trouble with your father for a second time today,' was Sakura's only thinking.

"I think we can make an exception today," Sakura replied to Gaara, ushering the little boy inside.

Yet, once in the store, Sakura froze. With a hold still on Gaara's hand, she gripped him a little tighter upon looking at the small selection of books around her. Once again, she was dispirited at the sight. This was where Suna held knowledge for others to learn? It was a pathetic shop, and she was almost certain she would not find her answers here. A sense of lost hit her once again, and her fingers dug a little more into Gaara's hand. For her, he steadied her a little, he was suddenly her support. Meanwhile, Gaara stood frozen and felt just as misplaced as her.

Sakura's touch was conflicting in Gaara's mind. It was an alien feel for him, to have someone holding onto him so desperately. It made his stomach sick, his mind rattle, his heart shake, yet all the while making him lean a little more into her hold. There was suddenly a sense of being needed by another that the boy had never felt in his entire life, and, for a moment, he didn't want to pull away. Yet, as soon as he recognized that he liked the feeling, confusion settled in followed by uncertainty, and then fear. He couldn't recognize Sakura's meaning, and tore himself from her hold then. Still unsure what her grip meant.

Sakura's silent shock washed away when she felt the boy pull himself hard from hold. It was then the woman realized just how long she had probably been digging her sharp nails into him.

"Ah, I'm sorry," she quickly apologized.

The boy only kept his back turned and hunched away from her, eyes towards the ground.

"Are you alright, Gaara?" she quickly asked.

"Gaara…?"

Another voice hit Sakura's ears then, and the rosette looked up to stare at the wide-eyed shop owner. His eyes were fast going back and forth between Sakura and the boy, and the rosette forced a reassuring smile when the man's eyes locked with hers. He recognized Gaara, and the fear that was in everyone upon seeing this little boy was not lost in this man.

"Heh..." he forced a smile on his own face, though his eyes still shook.

Slowly, he brought a finger towards a door to the side of him.

"I'll-I'll be in the back if you need anything," the shopkeep said through a shaking voice. "P-Please... take your time looking around."

Before Sakura could speak, to defend the boy once again with the promise that he would behave, the man had disappeared behind the closed door. There was audible, loud click, and Sakura had a sneaking suspicion she could now wipe the store clean without anyone batting an eye.

"Of course," the young woman mumbled, rubbing her temple some before turning to look back at Gaara.

He still hadn't moved. Both his head, and back, were hanging, and Sakura frowned at the sight. He looked suddenly defeated, and she was unsure why, or if she was to blame.

"It's just me in here," she reminded him, hoping to lift up whatever spirits he had left, "you can look around if you want. Maybe you'll find something interesting."

His head and back slowly straightened then, and she wanted to believe he was happy and curious like a child would be hearing her. Yet, he never turned to her, did not even move, to which Sakura merely shrugged. Her search here would not be a long one, he would only be out of his comfort zone for a little bit.

This thought struck out more to her when she saw the three, old bookshelves. Though there were still many, and quite the assortment of genres, she knew this small shop was pitiful compared to Konoha's. Was this was suppose to be where Suna ninja gained more knowledge, she questioned again in her mind. There had been a running joke in her village she once caught a waft of in her younger years, one that spoke of Suna men being so tan because they trained more outside than they spent learning inside. Her thoughts were putting the joke more lightly, of course. Still, she knew the mockery to be directed towards the sand ninja, to say they had no smarts. Working with them throughout the years, she was quick to realize that joke held no true aspects of Suna ninja. There were geniuses in Konoha, and there were idiots in Konoha. That fact was just as true in Suna.

Yet, as she took each book into her hand, her search continuing, it was that joke that kept coming to her mind. Not because she found ninja here to be stupid, but because one of their sources for extending their knowledge was limited to three shelves. Grabbing another book, Sakura took a moment to study the pricing. Her frown heavy when she realized the high expense of these books. How did this store even survive this economy?

"Probably only the rich here can afford knowledge," Sakura sighed.

Her mission here was to find books about her predicament, or at least ones that related to it. She doubted she could find a direct answer, but hoped to become enlightened to what jutsu had been placed on her.

'If it even is one...' she reminded herself. 'Maybe I've just lost my mind.'

Even if she expected it the second she glanced at the small store, it still brought her spirits down to see the only books revolving around time, or finding oneself back into the past, were simple fictional stories read for entertainment. Regardless, she grabbed a hold of them, and even nabbed some scrolls she thought may relate to time. Thinking at this point that anything could help her.

Walking down towards the last shelf, Sakura smiled when she saw Gaara had left his spot to venture into this new territory. His curious mind had taken a hold of him once more, and he had followed it towards one of the books.

"What'cha got there?" Sakura called towards the boy, making her way slowly towards him.

The boy ignored her, simply staring at the words and tilting his head back and forth. The cover was a bright orange, inviting to any child, but the pages were thick, and the rosette wondered if he could even read that well. Through his frown, and curious gaze, she doubted he was understanding the pages.

'Wait a minute...' she thought, eyeing the cover a little more closely.

She knew this book. She was exposed to it, or the cover at least, at a young age. As soon as she was certain that this book was the exact same her old teacher buried his nose in at every given chance, she nabbed the book out of the boy's hold. He protested to this with a low growl, narrowing his eyes towards her in a threat. Yet, instead of him, Sakura's eyes were on the book, reading the same page that Gaara was.

"Kiss me," Junichi murmured, his eyes glazed.

Understanding his notion before he even spoke it, Naomi tilted her head and dropped her mouth in the same fashion. She closed her eyes and waited for him to connect them. She couldn't help but shiver at the way he was whispering her name, or how urgent his demand sounded when he told her to kiss him. When she felt his lips meet hers, her body relaxed and melted into his. Where she had her hands on his cheeks, they slowly began to wrap themselves around his neck, pulling him in closer. For him, his hands had found the opening in her shirt, and slowly his fingers traveled up the bare skin of her stomach before he cupped her-"

Sakura's eyes stopped when she saw small hands reaching for the book.

"Give it back," Gaara lightly whined. "I was reading it first."

Nope!

Sakura slammed the book then, face ablaze with heat for what she had just read, and that burn seemed to only grow knowing the little boy below her had been trying to read the same passage. Again, she tore the book away from his curious hands while he narrowed his eyes angrily towards her.

"Why is your face all red?" he asked.

"That uh… this..." Sakura mumbled, before stuffing the book away on the highest part of the shelf. "This isn't a book for kids to be reading."

"Why?"

Sakura had wanted to roll her eyes to the scenario. Of course Gaara would pick this moment to open up a little more to her. It would have to be this embarrassing moment that he would ask questions. However, it was only a burning blush that morphed her face, and she turned back to the shelf to hide this from the curious child. Her eyes instead scoured for something else to distract him with.

"Uhhh… That's because..." she mumbled, pausing before another colorful book hit her eyes.

'Perfect!' she thought, pulling the small book out and shoving it into Gaara's hands.

"Because it doesn't have pictures like this one does! This one is much interesting, right? Ooo, all these pretty, innocent, kid-friendly pictures."

Sakura shut her mouth when she realized she was simply mumbling. She watched as Gaara glanced between the pictures and words of the book. With time, his frown grew heavy and his eyes began to narrow before he tore his gaze away.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

Gaara didn't answer, only keeping his eyes and distasteful look to the side of him. To this, Sakura nodded her head thinking she understood the reason behind this sudden change in him.

"You can't read it, can you?" she asked while tilting her head.

His answer was silence, and his face morphed as if he were suddenly in pain. Seeing this, Sakura was quick to reassure him.

"It's alright," she said, taking the book from his hands.

He didn't protest at her nabbing this one away.

"Since I made you come with me on these boring errands, I'll buy you this book and read it to you. How's that sound?" Sakura said, a smile brightening her face and voice.

Still, Gaara said nothing, keeping his gaze away from her and tugging the shirt around his stomach in discomfort. Sakura was unsure what his painful silence meant, so she knelt to his level before tilting her head to meet with his eyes. He looked at her for a moment, almost surprised of her presence, before his angry gaze returned. To this, she really was clueless to what he was emotionally feeling and thinking, but still smiled at him.

"Come on, let's go get something to eat. We haven't eaten all day!"

For her, she assumed that painful look and reach for his stomach had come from hunger. For him, no voice came out to agree or disagree, but his eyes did slide to watch Sakura retreat from his face.

It came as no surprise to the both of them when Sakura lightly knocked on the door and asked for the shopkeep that she was answered with silence, and huffed lightly at this treatment. Yet, as soon as she settled her mood, she left what they owed for the books, and scrolls, on the counter before ushering Gaara to follow with a promise of food.

Stepping back outside, Sakura let out a heavy sigh and stood frozen in her spot for a moment. Her mind was plagued with doubts, and they only grew stronger gazing down at her pitiful amount of resources.

"Hopefully..." she mumbled to herself, trying to keep her hopes up.

She looked to the side of her, surprised Gaara's eyes were on her. Yet, as soon as she caught him looking at her, he moved his eyes away from hers fast.

"What wrong?" she asked with a playful smile. "Don't tell me you're scared of me."

His eyes narrowed, returning to hers. She had hit a soft spot of his, and he rebutted.

"I'm not afraid of you," he mumbled, threat lacing his words.

To which Sakura hummed.

"So, you're just shy then?" she asked.

Even if her words were confusing to him, his eyes let up just a little bit. Because he was somewhat becoming familiar with her and her playful teasing, and it made him curious to finally experience some of what he had been deprived of. No matter his attitude towards her, his cautiousness, his anger, his despair, he was still a kid at heart, and drew small steps closer at her attentiveness. So, he stared up at her, unsure how to reply to her.

"Is it because you finally want to hold my hand?" she broke the silence, and even offered her hand to him. "I told you already that you could, you just have to catch it."

Gaara's gaze went from her eyes to her palm. He stared in silence, still for quite some time.

"You should really take up my offer," Sakura said, and winked with her tongue out when the boy looked back up towards her. "You'll never hold a prettier girl's hand than mine."

Definitely shy, Sakura decided then. At her words, Gaara's face contorted into many emotions. His eyes had widened in shock before he narrowed them in confusion. Yet, as her gaze met his, he could no longer force that anger to stay on his face, and he tore his eyes and head away from her to hide his shifting features and red face. For the rosette, her laughter echoed all the way down the street. For any local, they would think the young woman mad, since no laughter could ever come standing in the presence of that child. For Sakura, he brightened her day.

"Alright, alright," Sakura said, trying to stifle her giggles. "Let's go get something to eat."

She realized then how hard her words impacted the child, for he suddenly switched their roles. Usually, she was the one to lead them while he trudged behind her, but he this time was quick to walk in front of her, head and eyes towards the ground while his steps were fast. At first, Sakura gawked at him, wondering why this sudden change, but soon figured out that her playful words had embarrassed him. She ran, catching up to him.

"What's wrong? Does that mean you won't hold my hand?" Sakura asked jokingly.

Gaara didn't reply, instead his walk became faster.

"That's too bad! I was hoping I would finally get to hold a cute boy's hand!"

Sand erupted from his gourd then, shielding his back from the girl and hopefully drowning out her voice. To this, Sakura merely stuck out her tongue playfully before keeping silent. For Gaara, his face was still red even after many streets.


"I'm begging you! Please consider what you're asking!"

Sakura turned towards the lady who was crying into her ear, her eyes narrowed and were angry towards the woman for trying to convince her differently. The woman had made Sakura shift in her seat, and she crossed her arms and focused her attention on the little boy who sat across from her. For him, his eyes were below, to his lap, but his hand still tugged at his stomach while his other began rubbing the temple of his head.

"Why?" Sakura hissed, questioning the lady. "Why should we have to leave?"

With her errands done, Sakura had suggested to Gaara they stop and eat at this restaurant the minute she walked past it. The smell of food called to her, and surely to him too, so it had baffled her when he protested once more going into the restaurant. He had turned a blind eye to her encouragement, to her promise that the food here was delicious. Yet, her persistence paid off with time, and the child finally agreed after she promised that they could go back to get shaved ice later in the day. Still, while her stride was strong walking in, he followed behind her slowly with a heavy frown.

As soon as Sakura found a table for the both of them, she suddenly understood the repercussions of bringing Gaara along with her inside. Murmurs and whispers suddenly exploded around them.

"Monster."

Sakura kept hearing over, and over. Countless times. It made her angry, but she gritted her teeth trying not to retort like she had done earlier. Had this been the reason Gaara wasn't keen on the idea of eating out, the rosette wondered? Sure enough, as soon as those mutters grew louder, people began standing from their half eaten meals and making a hasty exit. It hadn't turned into full blow chaos yet, but it seemed with more people leaving, the more joined in. In silence, the two of them sat while people past quickly by them for the exit, and still whispered in their direction.

"Monster."

Soon enough, the restaurant housed only them, and Sakura was fuming silently when the owner tried to intervene. Asking them to leave.

"Because..." the woman tried to have Sakura see the scenario from her perspective. "My customers are not comfortable with him."

The woman nudged her head slightly to the source, Gaara, and though she was brave enough to point the finger in his direction, she still shook and eyed Gaara warily as if he may strike at any moment for her putting the blame on him.

"No," Sakura said thickly, eyes still angry and arms crossed. "We have every right to be in here. We have done nothing to invoke anything. You cannot ask us to leave when we have done nothing wrong."

There was nothing more said between the two, and soon after, the workers and chefs in the kitchen were also making a leave after hearing word that Gaara was here. They silently refused to stay, to do their job, simply because they feared the little boy who sat silently in his seat. Though he sat quietly, he began to rock his head lightly in his palm, and gripped his other hand a little harder into his stomach.

It was at this moment, the woman begging them to go realized her empty restaurant, and sighed in defeat.

"Fine," she muttered. "Just sit in here for all I care. I am refusing you service."

The woman turned and left then, and as soon as Sakura heard her departure, she began to curse loudly before shooting herself to her feet and stomping around the empty tables.

"Fine!" Sakura cried back to no one. "If no one will serve us, then we'll serve ourselves. Crazy lady. Crazy people..."

Sakura was now scavenging the tables and fuming, grabbing food that had been prepared for others and dropping the plates in front of Gaara.

"Crazy village!" she cried again in the direction they had all left. "You're all afraid of a child!"

Sakura was practically huffing when she returned to her seat, her appetite now lost while she continued to ridicule others. Her arms had crossed once again, and her foot swung rapidly while she mumbled under her breath.

"I can't believe this. I can't believe this place! Call him a monster now, but watch him save all your asses with his own life once the Akatsuki come blowing up everything."

Sakura bit her lip, and shook her head, when she realized her words were of the future. She was still uncertain what she should, and shouldn't share. So, she turned her angry eyes to the boy, surprised he hadn't even picked up his eyes to the many plates she had placed under him.

Her anger suddenly left her when she saw his heavy frown and wincing eyes. He was suddenly gripping both his head and stomach like he was in some sort of pain.

"Hey," Sakura called to him.

He didn't reply, and she was quick off of her seat to kneel beside him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worried for him.

Still, he said nothing and simply rocked back and forth as if trying to nurture the pain. When another minute in silence came and went, Sakura brought her hand down to his back, to show him her support. Yet, when he felt that contact, Gaara pulled away and swatted once more at her arm.

"Don't touch me! Stop touching me! Stop pretending to be my friend! Stop acting like you care about me!" he cried bitterly.

It was a loud outburst, it shocked her. The boy was normally quiet, and he looked to be more sick than anything. Yet, his cry, his eyes now, even the way he seethed, showed off an angry child. Sakura was quiet as she took in his look, thinking this anger was severely misplaced.

"I don't want to be in here..." he hissed, turning his head and eyes away from her.

'Ah, that's what it is,' she thought.

She watched him as he clutched his head suddenly, trembling lightly.

He was upset at the situation she had placed him in. She forced him into something he did not want, he knew this was a bad idea despite her reassurance, and the consequences of it all had fallen onto him. Even if Gaara was quiet, even if people claimed him cold and uninterested, even if he had sworn to himself to numb out the pain, the little boy still held dear to his heart the evil names, and dark murmurs, that reached him from others.

"Gaara, I'm sorry," Sakura whispered.

"No one ever is," he hotly shot back, again like a dark hiss.

Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"Please believe me when I say I am."

The boy still trembled, still clutched at his head, and still didn't believe her words. They were quiet again, and Sakura gave a hearty sigh. Patience was key, she kept reminding herself.

"I am sorry. I shouldn't have forced you in here when you didn't want to. No one should ever force you to do anything you don't want," Sakura said, earning his narrowed eyes back on her. "Especially a friend."

His eyes widened briefly from her words, but he quickly winced and gripped his head once more when some sort of pain rushed his mind, and he once again scowled at her.

"Why?" he suddenly asked. "Why do you keep calling me your friend? Don't you know what I am?"

Sakura widened her eyes in surprise.

"Of course I do," she replied. "You're Gaara. Someday, everyone will want to be your friend. They'll look up to you with smiles on their faces."

He still had a hold on his head, but he managed to ground out an amused chuckle. Not because he found her words uplifting, but because he thought her foolish.

"You're lying again. You should be afraid too. I'm not like you, or them. There's something inside of me that everyone's afraid of."

As if to emphasize this, Gaara winced once more at the pain in his head. Meanwhile, Sakura was quiet, unsure how to convince the boy otherwise. Her words could only take her so far, and his young mind was just as complicated to figure out. Another sigh left her, and she turned her eyes towards the plates of food. She stared at the assortment of food for some time before pulling a slice of radish off one of the dishes.

"Look," she nudged the food at the boy.

His eyes were still narrow from the pain, but he peeked an eye open in her direction and at the food she held for a moment before shutting them back closed. Sakura bit into the food, an audible crunch and chewing noise filling the air.

"Now, I'm radish," she claimed, watching Gaara sternly.

He scowled at her confusing words, but managed to open his eyes again and keep them like that while studying her serious gaze. She said nothing more, and his curiosity grew before he asked skeptically.

"What?"

"I'm a radish," Sakura answered, pulling a carrot off the plate next and biting into it. "Now I'm a carrot."

They were both quiet again as Sakura hoped her words were sinking in for the young boy. Gaara meanwhile blinked at her in confusion, forgetting his pain and dropping his hands to straighten his back to meet with her eye level.

"No, you're not," he said, studying the food in her hand before bringing them back to her eyes as if he was trying to convince himself her words were false.

Sakura eyed the half-eaten carrot before finishing it off.

"I'm not?" she asked. "What makes you so sure? Do you know what I am?"

"Human," he answered matter-of-factly, as if she was the naive one among them.

She gave him a quick nod.

"You're right. I am human."

Gaara sneered at her then, he was unsure whether she was trying to be playful or lying once more but whichever it was irked him. Yet, she smiled in his direction suddenly.

"It doesn't matter what's inside of me. Whether it's a radish, or a carrot, or a monster-"

Gaara's eyes widened suddenly to Sakura's words, and the young woman was glad to see him grasp what she was telling him with his young mind. A child he was, his innocence still some, but he was also smart enough to understand her.

"-none of that is what will define you."

She smiled once again, bringing her hand up to rest against the boy's head, and he let her. Perhaps he was in too much shock to push her away, but he let her touch him once again, and she silently prayed he understood this physical support.

"You are Gaara."

His hand suddenly gripped her wrist from the hand that held him. His nails dug deep into her skin, and Sakura watched him tremble lightly while his eyes wavered on her own. He was again conflicted, and confused. He wasn't sure why he had reached for her. In his mind, something was whispering at him to pull her hand off of him, to turn his back to her and her words, yet her smile, and eyes drew him in.

Sakura too did not pull away from his hold, even when his nails became painful, she could allow this because for her she understood his confusion. He was a lost child; it was fitting for his character. For her, as the wise friend, it was her job to enlighten him and reassure him. Not that he needed her, she knew. He eventually figured this out on his own.

Still, she grinned with time, and brought her other hand to graze and hold his cheek. Like her other wrist, Gaara's other hand snapped up to grip at her wrist to stop her, and he shook while holding her hands in place. Still confused, still unsure whether he did this to push her away, or to keep her there, he trembled even more when Sakura slowly brought her forehead down to lean against his.

At that contact, his shaking stopped. The pain he felt quickly vanished, and the whisper in his mind disappeared. His eyes were wide, his breathing heavy from this unfamiliar touch, but he couldn't tear his gaze away from Sakura's soft eyes and warm smile.

"You are Gaara," Sakura whispered to him again. "You are not a monster."

Her words calmed him, and his hold on her loosened, though he still not dare let go of her.

"Don't let the words of others discourage you or make you think otherwise," Sakura whispered again after some time, "Ignore their echoes. Let my whispers become your strength."

Another quick gaze at her smile, and bright eyes, before Gaara nodded softly against her head. Letting her words, at the moment, do just that.