.


Chapter Forty-seven


Sakura's confession is met with silence and a lift of Gaara's brow bone. Fingers are still tangled within pink, soft locks, and he uses them to hold her face up to his. He staggers behind her, but despite looking at her upside down, his teal gaze never wavers as he attempts to read Sakura's own stare.

Her hands still hold his wrist that is within her hair, but she attempts nothing at pushing him off of her. Instead, she tries to read the confused expression he gives her now. She is dishearten to learn that his eyes, now, mask his inner feelings. His child self was an open book of emotions while trying to hide them from her. She had taught him that sharing how he was feeling was therapeutic. Yet, as she can find nothing in his teal gaze now, she realizes he has regressed with that lesson.

"It's me. Sakura," she whispers again.

She uses a sincere tone in hopes Gaara does not mistake her confession as a plea. However true her words may be; his stare does tell her that he's heard that sentence before as a beg for life by those who tried to replicate her. As the grip in her hair tightens, she speaks again.

"Gaara, it's me. I even know-"

Her words are left unfinished as Gaara suddenly slams her face into the hard ground under them. Sakura hisses at the pain while trying to push herself back up from his weight.

"Don't you dare," he suddenly seethes at her with a hate that stings like venom.

Sakura gasps as Gaara forces her head back up by her hair.

"Don't you dare say you are Sakura to me!" he screams.

Another gasp escapes her as she feels the force of Gaara's hand pushing her face back down towards the ground and threatens to dig her skin against dirt and rock again. Despite the pain, a realization hits her then and there is the faintest of hurt within Gaara's demand that Sakura picks up.

'He cares,' she thinks.

Before he can slam her face into the ground, Sakura throws her hands down and uses her raw strength to dig her fingers past grass and into the deep dirt under her. She pushes herself back against Gaara who doesn't let up his force.

That bond people had warned her about Gaara destroying still exists. Through his anger, the one she brewed, now does Sakura know that the friendship and closeness they once had lingers in his mind just as much as hers. It may be hate that keeps Gaara binding that bond close to his clouded heart whereas her actions are through love, but one thing is absolutely certain to her.

There is a bond left unbroken between them.

Now, if she could just convince him that she really is Sakura. She feels his weight press down harder against her head, and her arms begin to shake with a threat of folding under her and losing to his strength.

"It's true!" she cries out, wincing.

To her words she feels Gaara press more of his weight down on her. Without chakra, he tries to show her that he can overbear her with just the smallest amount of his strength.

"I know I don't look any different and I know that they've used my face to send people after you-"

"This time is no different!" Gaara rebuttals with a hiss and pushes down harder on Sakura.

Sakura cries out as the force of Gaara above makes one of her arms falter down to her elbow. Desperate, she focuses on her chakra despite the failed attempts she's had at it.

'Come on,' she thinks. 'Even if it's for a second, just that flicker...'

She gasps once she feels the faintest of sparks, and quickly focuses that small burst of strength to her hands. It's enough to overpower Gaara suddenly and she does so by pushing herself quickly back up with a loud cry. Her sudden burst of strength must surprise the man holding her for his hand in her hair suddenly untangles itself from her locks, and he cautiously jumps far back to watch her from a safer distance.

Meanwhile, Sakura takes a moment to stare at her hands, flexing them. She grows frustrated when her chakra remains silent to her internal call. Even that small burst is gone.

'Maybe the more time I let pass without using it, the easier it is to at least get a small burst of it...'

Still, it's not enough, this isn't how her chakra should be responding to her. She settles a hand on her back and narrows her eyes in frustration. Yet, as soon as she hears the young man behind her take steps that circle around her she dismisses her thoughts and focuses that frustration towards Gaara.

'One problem at a time,' she thinks.

She turns, making Gaara stop his steps and meet with her gaze. With eyes narrowed, his expression is still one Sakura cannot understand, but she returns his stare in silence.

"What was that?" he asks.

There's a glint of amusement in his eyes as Gaara asks Sakura that question, but the rosette watches it diminish the longer she remains silent.

'As long as he thinks I have strength to push him off of me like that, he might just stay back,' Sakura thinks, brushing her forehead slightly.

A dangerous bluff, but she realizes she has no better choice than that at the moment. She watches as Gaara's eyes narrow all the more towards her and wonders if her silence peeves him. It could be he can see through her as well, and understands her quietness and small motions now are her devising up a plan. Yet, she keeps her ground; quiet and unmoved by Gaara's dangerous look.

"Answer me," he orders her.

A demand that makes Sakura fall back and envision when she first met the man, in front of her, as a boy. Demanding and one that wanted to be in control; just a few words that defined the boy when she first met him. He had once told her to hand over his kakigori when they first set out for the sweet treat. More than not, innocent enough since he didn't act out when she showed him the error of demanding things. It would be later, as he was training with his father, telling her that she could not leave him, that Sakura would sense a more darker side for his desperation to control. His shorts words, quick tone, even the gaze he gives her now makes Sakura sigh. It is enough to tell her the boy has cast more of her teachings aside.

'It's like I'm starting all over again,' Sakura sadly thinks.

Yet, the boy is now a man, and lessons are a lot harder to push through a mind that has been cemented with a tall wall of lifetime beliefs. Not to mention, the more disheartening thought of all is…

'Where did everything I taught him go? When did he forsake all that he promised to keep?'

Her eyes narrow towards him more and she clenches her fist. This man and her had shared so much together, many days for her while years for him that she wonders if, in the end of all this, they can share a hug once more. First thing first…

Gaara's eye twitches as Sakura's hard frown suddenly becomes a smirk. Her look boasts the confidence she always carries when showing off her strength.

"My power," she finally answers him. "Don't you remember it? It was more than enough to get through your sand."

She falls back to instances in the past, ones she hopes Gaara has not forgotten. It is all she has now anyway to convince the man in front of her that she truly is the Sakura he knows her to be. Her heart beats faster when that glimmer returns to Gaara's eyes. However, it only lasts a second before it fades away behind the darkness in his eyes, and his response to her words is an angry gaze while he grinds and bares teeth towards her.

Recognition, she can see. Yet, it also is one that either irks him or pains him to hear. It could also be that she speaks it, one that he views a fake, and the anger of her telling him who she is returns to him. Before he can speak, or strike, she continues.

"Also got a good hit on your dad once," she murmurs, examining her fist while doing so.

Again, that moment comes to mind, and she finds it almost humorous that she had knocked that man down thinking he cared nothing for Gaara when in actuality he had kept her there to protect Gaara from those who attacked. Sakura turns to look back at Gaara. She is surprised the rage from before seems to have diminished within him. His eyes are still narrowed towards her, but his expression is blank once again and he simply stands straight while watching her. Perhaps...even waiting on her.

Sakura wonders what goes through his mind now. Are these few instances enough to convince him, or are these stories he hears over and over and over? Is it possible that the assailants who used her face were able to learn and tell these same stories to Gaara? Is her tactic now one that he has seen before? It is hard to tell, but Sakura does her best to fall back to only times the two of them shared together. Ones where only she, and him, would know about.

"Do you remember the time we built snowmen in Konoha?" she asks him then, sending him a genuine smile. "I had broken it down with just a flick of my finger."

Like the snowman, she flicks the air in front of her in Gaara's direction. Still, he stands still while staring at Sakura as the woman now waits on him to speak.

"Perhaps..." she says, breaking down in time as the tension rises. "You don't remember."

As Gaara still remains quiet, Sakura feels frustration build inside of her once more. He is no longer the child she needs to wait on, and this scenario now should not be played like a game. If he has an answer for her, a response, he should be speaking to her now instead of standing there like a mute.

"It would make sense if you don't remember," Sakura tells him. "The Gaara I remember, who listened to what I had to tell him, would have never turned out like you are now."

She narrows her eyes, her gaze strong on him as his eyes widen momentarily to her words. Yet, his face contorts quickly, and her heart beats faster as she watches his shock morph into amusement on his face. He lifts his chin towards her, his smile growing and his eyes mocking her once more.

"Ha..." he drags the word out.

As he stops and takes a step toward Sakura, the grin on his face still shines. He brings his hands out beside him in a display that throws Sakura off-guard a little. The boldness he carries in him is something she knows the other Gaara of her world to have as well. Yet, how they each outwardly show that confidence is both drastically different. This Gaara, to her, almost seems full of himself. A vain man.

"That's quite the assumption," he tells her.

Sakura takes a step back to his approach, something Gaara notices and quickly halts his movements. His grin falls then and his eyes return to a thin gaze as he straightens himself out.

"Don't claim that my mind has forsaken all that Sakura taught me," he tells her while stretching his arms out. "After all, all of this is the outcome she envisioned of me."

Sakura's jaw drops then. All of this senseless fighting, deaths, and war he claims her to have predicted him to lead? His words outrage her then.

"Liar!" she cries with eyes ablaze. "This was not what I was trying to teach you."

Gaara humors her for a moment, the smugness showing in his face as he relishes in the fact that he will best her with his next words.

"It seems, Sakura, the one who has abandoned the past is none other than yourself."

Sakura opens her mouth to retort but stops as Gaara holds up a finger towards her to silence her.

"Was it not you who aforementioned that I would be a great leader one day?" he asks.

As quick as the familiar phrase comes out, Sakura bites down on her lip hard. It's true she had said these words, but she had done so with the thought of him as Kazekage, not a militant.

"And did you not make constant claims I would become a great man, a strong ruler, and that everyone would follow and look up to me one day?"

Sakura cast her eyes down; disappointment settles within her now. Where she would never take back those words, she is disheartened to learn this Gaara has taken her vague encouragement and sprinkled the words just right to justify more into him that what he does now is his right, chosen path.

"I-!" she cries, bringing her eyes back up to him.

Yet, Gaara cuts her off and points an accusing finger towards the rosette.

"You!" he yells, frustration in his breath as well. "If it is anyone it is you who has disowned your own words."

Sakura is at a lost for words suddenly as she takes this information in, and it seems Gaara notices this while bringing his arm slowly back down. Silence follows until Gaara smirks and snickers lightly.

"If you really were Sakura, you would be proud of the man I am today. Of everything I've accomplished."

He casts his eyes to the side of him and stares longingly in the distance. He stares out towards the falling sun, forgetful of the scenario around him for just the moment.

"You were suppose to always be proud of me..." he mumbles more to himself, but loud enough for Sakura to catch.

Gaara goes quiet after that, and Sakura takes the moment not to fall back on how her words misguided him, but instead of how he labels her now. She isn't sure whether he is humoring her, himself, or if his mind teeters back and forth, but he places her on both sidelines in believing she is the real Sakura and a fake. Perhaps, if she can push it more, she can convince his mind to view her who she truly is, if at least for the moment.

"There were so many times when I was proud of you, Gaara. As a child you accomplished so much while I watched you."

As the rosette speaks these words does Gaara slowly turn his blank stare back towards her.

"You had so much darkness in your heart that I was so proud when the day came that I looked down and saw a sweet, happy child. The one who was able to push Shukaku's dark echoes and listen to my whispers instead. The one who was selfless towards his friends and siblings, and the one who came to me when he was unsure of what was right or wrong. The one who, despite all those who hurt him, had still the slightest need in his heart for a friend."

Sakura swallows hard as the child appears in her mind and, despite the danger, she closes her eyes shut pretending the boy is right in front of her now.

"You were so full of love, Gaara."

As she opens her eyes she can spot that glint in the eyes of the man in front of her. Despite that, her frown is sad as she looks at a man now instead of a child.

"When did your love turn the world to hate? When did you forsake everything I taught you?"

She is only answered with a hard stare; a small breeze sweeping his red locks across his forehead.

"When did you break your promise to me?"

Sakura is surprised to be met with a small sneer but it melts away as he twists his head down to the side and thought overtakes him for some time.

"The only promises broken are the ones done by you," he mumbles, bringing his eyes back up towards Sakura.

Sakura takes in his words, not only because she tries to fall back to the promises he claims her to have broken, but because she can hear, through his words now, that his mind shifts her more to be the Sakura he once knew. There is not longer her in his speech as he speaks about Sakura, instead, he refers her now as you.

He mistakes her silence; thinking she finds his words false or she can't recall.

"You promised you would be by my side always. Yet, you ran the moment my back was turned," he sneers again.

"No," Sakura quickly counters with a shake of her head. "You're wrong. I didn't run I..."

She slows her speech and darts her eyes at the ground under her.

'What do I say?' she wonders.

The truth will sound so improbable to Gaara that she worries it will counter any convincing on him she has done thus far. She does not want him to think her a mad woman despite the reality of her scenario. Yet, the lie he even pins on her now seems too painful for her to say and without the man retaliating in some way. As she looks up at Gaara, though cold still on the face, his lips are pursed and his eyes strain on her; he waits for an answer he has probably been searching for fifteen long years.

"I..." she begins, shutting her eyes as she tries to make a decision. "I was...called by another."

She blurts out that last part. Vague answer, but it is closest to the truth Sakura is willing to go and she pushes herself to say more before regretting her decision.

"I followed that call, and I became blind to see what was happening to the world, and you, these past fifteen years!" she cries out more towards the ground.

As she looks up at Gaara, she is not surprised to see his face unmoved. After all, her reply is expressed unclear and there is still deep mystery to what she says. How could you not understand what the world has been going through all these years, she assumes him to wonder. How did you avoid being captured when everywhere you were a face of war?

How could you have left me behind?

"Everything happened so fast..." she tells him, her eyes locking onto his again. "There was still so much I wanted to share with you. There were still so many more hugs and smiles I wanted from you."

As her stare lingers on him she can feel the moisture in her eyes begin to well up. While she wipes away a drifting tear Gaara shuffles on his feet.

"I wanted you to become someone better than this!" Sakura calls towards him and gestures her arms towards him.

Her action makes Gaara glower towards her. Meanwhile, Sakura wipes whatever moisture is left in her eyes before returning his hard stare.

"That's why I'm here now," she tells. "This ugliness you've put the world into. This cruelty you've done onto others including your siblings. This atrocity you display yourself as. It all has to stop now."

Sakura swallows hard, waiting to see if Gaara will speak. When he doesn't, and only continues his hard stare, she continues.

"I stopped you once before and I will do it again now!" she calls out towards him. "But I believe there is still some beauty in you, Gaara. I knew a child so full of hope and love that I'm sure there stands a man now in his place who can stop himself from doing anymore damage."

Sakura tightens her fists after her words, hoping that only that little bit is enough for Gaara to take a step back and recount the actions that have led up to this moment. Yet, Sakura is shocked when she is met with a cheeky smirk and gaze. Gaara snickers for a moment before speaking.

"You claim to be blinded these past fifteen years and then choose to stand before me ridiculing my drive to end this war? You think I'm the bad guy because I took out a town full of my enemies?!"

His sneer appears again.

"Open your eyes, Sakura. Don't think those rebels and their leaders haven't done anything just as equivalently bad as you claim this war to be."

Sakura swallows hard then and realizes there is some truth to Gaara's words.

'No,' her mind counters. 'Chiyo-baasama and Baki claimed Gaara was out of control. Even Kankuro and Temari's mentality in all of this mess is warped. Don't let him fool you!'

"They've had the option for a long, long time now to end this war. They are the ones instead who choose to let all this fighting drag on by refusing to hand over what it is I want."

Sakura's eyes widen then and she can even feel her ears twitch a little to what she is hearing.

'There's been an option,' she wonders.

Yet, the price to end war may be worth fighting for till the end. No one had relay to her what is was exactly Gaara sought besides taking over the world. Even Kankuro had skipped over that detail.

"What is it you want?" Sakura asks.

Yet, as she questions this, that smugness on Gaara's face returns and he simply smiles at her with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Ah, Sakura," he hums. "Like I said, you're just as blind now as you claim to have been these past fifteen years."

Sakura takes a step back disgusted by Gaara's display, and it shows on her face while she stares at him.

"What the hell has happened to you, Gaara?" she sneers. "You're almost as loathsome as your father first was. There is nothing about you now I remember you to be."

Sakura senses a sensitive nerve struck within Gaara as she says those words. The amusement and smile are wiped off completely from his face as angry eyes, and a hateful scowl, appear on his face. He becomes quick to retaliate.

"Don't claim me any different!" he cries at Sakura then, teeth flashing. "I strived to be where I am today. The man you always alleged me to be. A leader!"

"This isn't what I wanted for you!" Sakura cries back. "Never did I want that little boy I loved to become a monster!"

Gaara's eyes flash then and he tilts his head somewhat while staring at Sakura.

"A monster?" he whispers.

Sakura stands there in silence, watching Gaara's eyes stare out past her. He seems lost within himself, but the rosette pays it little mind the moment she feels wind suddenly cascade around them.

"What's happening?" Sakura asks herself.

Her eyes widen as a dark aura suddenly suffocates her. Looking back at Gaara, she can see the wind, and grains of sand, begin to pick up around him. Her eyes widen at the sight.

'Just like at the town,' she thinks. 'When Gaara and Kakashi were fighting.'

"Sakura," Gaara calls out to her, drawing her attention in with his uncanny tone. "Do you still think of me a friend?"

Sakura is quiet; distracted instead by the dark feeling she senses as well as the sight in front of her.

"Sakura," Gaara tries again. "You still love me right?"

His eyes grow wider, his head slants more, and the sand on his feet begin to cake and layer onto Gaara.

"What is this?! What are you doing?!" Sakura instead asks, taking a step back from his figure.

Gaara shakes his head slowly.

"Even if you abandoned me, I still first thought you as my friend still. I worked so hard to become the man you said I would be. Most of this I did with you in mind."

'Something big is about to happen,' Sakura thinks. 'I sense so much power. Could it be…?'

Sakura swallows hard and backs slowly away while still keeping her wavering eyes on Gaara's own deranged, wide ones. As sand begins to coat his face, and the wind around them grows stronger, he tells her one last thing.

"Sakura, I still love you."

She can hear his words, it even stops her for a moment to fall back one the child. Yet, she shakes off the memory a second later and dashes for the mountain trail behind her. Her goal now is to get as far away from Gaara as possible, and she attempts this by running down the path of the mountain as fast as her legs can carry her.

Yet, she knows it all in vain the moment a giant claw wraps tightly around her body.

'Shit!' she thinks. 'If only my chakra.'

Her eyes widen, mortified, as the claw carries her back up the mountain with swimming grains all around them. Once back, the giant claw turns her over to look into the eyes of not only Gaara's, but of another being who is far from human.

"Shukaku..." Sakura whispers, eyes shaking.

She glances between Shukaku's giant form and back up at the man who who sits leisurely on top of the bridge of the monster's nose. Gaara's own hand is out, fist clenched, just as Shukaku's claw is while holding her. Through movement, they are connected, and the rosette is breathless as she stares up at the blue markings that begin to slither and paint Gaara's skin. Even his eyes, now, seem to brighten the longer she stares up into them. Her eyes wince as Shukaku's hot breath blows into her face, the giant's heavy breathing in sync with Gaara's own as the man stares down at her from his perch.

'Did he learn to control the Ichibi's power?' Sakura wonders, a feat she only knows Naruto and Killer B to have done.

Sakura cries out a little as the claw raises to bring Sakura up to where Gaara looks down at her. His own hand motions the caw, and as he grins, so too does the monster he sits on as its dirty fangs grow taller than the trees around them.

"Sakura," Gaara speaks.

Yet, along with his own voice does Shukaku's rumble along. The echo of the monster trembles the scenery around her and the rosette begins scrambling then to free herself from it's sharp claws and deathly grip.

"I asked, do you still love me?!" Gaara cries, Shukaku's own voice in sync with his.

Yet, the question is one that flies over her head. Not to mention, it is one she would need time to dwell on. Does she love Gaara? She loves the boy he once was, and would probably claim to love his older self had he just turned out to be the man she was hoping him to be. Yet, now…

Instead of an answer, her silence instead propagates an answer within his mind as she stares angrily at him. With time, does Gaara's own grin and amusement dissipate from his face. There is confusion in his look first before an anger overtakes him. He bares his teeth at Sakura, and Shukaku's form does the same with its yellow fangs, even the lowest of growls emit from them both.

"You promised!" Gaara's voice suddenly rings out. "You promised you'd always love me!"

Sakura is actually surprised to see an emotion she can recognize on Gaara's face; anguish. Yet, it is only for a second before that rage returns and the rosette cries out as she feels the sand claw begin to squeeze her too tight.

"You said you'd love me forever, no matter what!" Gaara practically screams down at her.

Shukaku's voice still echoes with Gaara's own, and the beast's loud roar then shakes the ground under them dangerously. Gaara stands himself now; his breathing heavy and frantic as he stares at Sakura under him. Before long, he begins to shake his head as he watches the woman struggle and cry out against Shukaku's tight grip.

"No..." Gaara eventually murmurs. "No, no, no, no!"

He stomps his foot like a child and Sakura winces to look back up at him and his gestures. She can hear, and feel, bones in her body begin to snap under the pressure. Rage still veils Gaara's eyes, and he grits his teeth while taking in Sakura for the moment.

"There's no way your Sakura!" he manages out. "You're not my Sakura!"

Sakura cries out as she is flung violently towards the tall trees suddenly. The force of Shukaku's throw is strong, and too fast, for Sakura to overcome. Instead, she cries as her back collides with the hard wood and her breath is stolen as her body tumbles from branch to branch until she finally hits the hard ground with a loud thud.

She moans as she seeks out the strength to pick herself back up while Gaara, and Shukaku, still cry out in the distance. Her limp body is forgotten for a moment as Gaara begins pacing on top of Shukaku's head, his hands hitting himself lightly in the head as he continues to yell at himself.

"She's not Sakura," he repeats, trying to push away any doubt that is left. "She's not her! Sakura wouldn't break her promises. Sakura would be proud of who I am today. Sakura said she'd love me forever!"

The young man suddenly jerks and bends over in pain before clutching at his head and hair.

"No," he whispers. "Not now. I can control it. I will control it. I control you now!"

As Gaara begins his own mental struggles, Sakura catches her second wind and she pushes herself up while looking at the beast, and man, from a distance. Her breath his heavy and she winces at the smallest of movements. Shukaku's powerful, crushing claw before its hard toss of her has done tremendous damage to her body. Despite the broken bones she feels she looks out in determination at the waterfall she has landed near and draws closer towards the mountains edge.

'If I just land in the water right...' Sakura thinks, desperate to get away now.

She worries the tall waterfall will kill her, but worries more about the beast that snaps at her. It is her courage that pushes her forward and she takes a deep breath before pulling herself over the edge and into the rushing water. She winces her eyes as the winds, and water, pick up around her from her fast fall.

'I will survive this,' she tells herself, preparing her body for a dive despite her crying bones. 'I will escape this place. I will fix all this. I will return home. I will-'

Sakura gasps as she feels that sand claw return once again around her small frame and loses hope as the pool at the waterfalls end grows farther and farther away as she is pulled violently back up. She digs her fingers into the sand in one, last effort, to have the beast release her before she is forced face first, just inches away, of Shukaku's sharp fangs. With Gaara on top of its head still. he leans in toward Sakura as the monster draws his face closer.

"Don't think I'l-amose!" Gaara and Shukaku's voice rumbles, loud like thunder, at Sakura.

Through her heavy breathing does Sakura's eyes grow wide while trying hard to understand what exactly Gaara has just told her. She looks back up at the man who seems to be struggling with himself as he stares at one of his shaking arms. The dark markings that cover his body begin to reside and pale skin returns. She watches Gaara, fascinated by this struggle before she catches sight of him mimicking a movement of toss. Once again, Sakura is released by Shukaku with small toss that she still lands hard to. This time, she stays still as she lays face first towards the ground. There is not even an ounce of strength in her now to turn over and look back to see what what is happening to Gaara. She strains to speak, but finds she can only make the softest of sounds now. Instead, she lays in the grass, but with new knowledge that makes her question.

'Can he still not control Shukaku?' she wonders. 'Does he not have a grip on it like Naruto does?'

An immense amount of chakra and power resides within Gaara. One that she is sure he has been using in this war. Yet, a dangerous factor comes into play with all of this knowledge she has gained. What would he do if he lost control like he did in his younger years? Should she assume that is what is happening now?

Sakura's thoughts vanish once she feels a hand grip at her shirt, and she is flipped over to meet Gaara's angry, teal gaze. The immense power from before seems to have vanished, Shukaku and the sand as well, and Sakura watches silently as Gaara breaths heavily before picking her up off the ground by the collar of her shirt.

"Don't you dare think-" he begins, but stops once he catches a soft sound emitting from the rosette.

Smallest of noises with her faint tones barely heard. To the unknown, they would mistake Sakura's soft noises now as whimpers. For Gaara, he hears a familiar song he wouldn't have ever heard were it not for Sakura. Above that, a love he would have never learned about, that follows him everywhere still, is with him because of Sakura.

Anger flashes through his eyes from her humming. Yet, so also does confusion, and he is left standing there holding up Sakura's limp body while trying to catch his own breath. Catching a second wind, Sakura musters her strength to speak. Though slow, she grips Gaara's wrist, a futile attempt to get him to let her go.

"You haven't heard your mother's song in a while, have you?"

Perhaps, two loves follow him.

A sharp gasp comes from Gaara then and his eyes widen while taking in Sakura's limp form. He is quiet, save for his breath, as his eyes dart all over the damage he has done to her body. It isn't until Sakura forces a small smile in his direction does he force his composure to return.

"No more of this absurdity," he suddenly tells her. "I'm done."

Before she can steal another glance of his or speak, Gaara releases his hold and lets Sakura's back drop with a thud. He turns from her and walks away as Sakura lays there contemplating what it is she can even do next. It is only a few steps taken by the redhead before another duo jump forth. Sakura's eyes widen briefly as Kankuro and Temari suddenly appear next to each of her side. She can even feel Kankuro steal a gaze at her form while she looks up towards the sky.

"Do you want us to get rid of her, Gaara-sama?" Temari asks, watching her youngest brother continue to walk away from them.

To her question Gaara stops his steps. He take a moment to consider what he wants.

"Just put her back in the mountain," Gaara orders. "Let her rot in there with the others."

"Hai," both Kankuro and Temari reply.

Temari's voice speaks more loudly than Kankuro's. It isn't until footsteps by Gaara are heard again do the pair move to help Sakura up. Yet, at the pull of her arm, Sakura cries out in pain.

"Don't be rough, Temari!" Kankuro bellows at his sister. "Sakaasan is in pain."

A silence falls after his words and a new tension suddenly rises as Temari's eyes shake slowly and look back towards Gaara. Kankuro, too, swallows hard as his wide gaze settles towards Sakura's tired eyes once he realizes his slip-up. Gaara's steps had halted with Kankuro's words, but he has yet to move. Still, it is easy to spot his hands now clenching tightly; knuckles white.

'Have they upset him?' Sakura wonders. 'Is it because he called me Sakaasan?'

Yet, in time, does Gaara's fingers relax. He turns his head somewhat in Kankuro's direction.

"No..." Gaara murmurs, losing himself in his thoughts.

The three behind him watch as Gaara points a finger at them.

"No," he repeats. "Bring her back to the building and tend to her wounds. She's probably hungry, get her something filling. Let her rest."

"Hai!" Temari and Kankuro agree again with a bow.

If there is shock, the only one to visibly show it is Sakura. Yet, her voice is lost to fatigue, and she watches with a heavy heart as Gaara's figure begins to fade away with his many steps.

"Come on, Sakaasan," Kankuro whispers to Sakura, lifting her gently before Temari helps to place her on Kankuro's back. "I'll fix you up."

Temari, through this ordeal is quiet, but as Sakura catches her gaze on her from time to time, she can see both confusion and shock and Temari's orbs. Yet, Sakura pays them, nor anything else any mind. Instead, she looks back out towards Gaara as her eyes struggle to stay open.

"Gaara," she whispers.

The boy in her mind appears again and tears make their way down her face once she realizes the boy she truly loved is gone. Instead, now, is a monster, and she blames it for taking away her Gaara. Worst of all, she feels somewhat responsible for letting that monster steal him away from her.

"Gaara, I'm sorry," Sakura repeats before resting her head against Kankuro's back and shutting her eyes.

Darkness envelops her.