.


Chapter Fifty


Her world is becoming all the more uncomfortable. As true to her word that Sakura is, Gaara, it seems, is just as cemented on his vow to never let her out of his sight. Sakura is determined to fix him, determined to escape this place and stop the war. She is determined to figure out the mark on her back and find her way more.

Gaara's perseverance is instead set entirely on her.

He had told her to be prepared for it, and she even humored him by boldly saying why she knew he chose to never let her go. Still…

That didn't mean she expected him to be by her side day and night. She granted him a day and then two. Now, as she lays under her heavy quilt, trying to gain some much needed rest, her eyes narrow as she awakes for the fifth time. As quiet as Gaara can be, actually making no noise Sakura could accuse him of, his presence alone simply stirs her from her sleep.

'He's never going to leave me alone, is he?!' Sakura's mind shakes.

She is trained too well to feel when another being is watching her. Gaara, it seems, is just as disciplined. For even if she is frozen still under her blankets, he is always quick to note when she is awake, and even quicker to indulge himself in her presence. Much like his child self was.

"If you cannot sleep, might I suggest a walk. Something to eat."

His voice cuts through the darkness and it makes Sakura's stomach turn and twist with distaste.

"Leave me alone," she tells him instead, her voice muffled through the heavy fabric. "Can you not give me peace for just one whole day? Is there not a war out there you should be leading?"

Her encouragement is nothing but deceit since she wishes nothing more than Gaara to back down in this fighting he carries on. Still, if it could just give her some time to herself, time to find a way out of here…

She blinks when she hears no reply and her heart skips a beat wondering if Gaara takes her words into consideration. When no sound comes from him for some time, Sakura casts her quilt aside to sit and turn to face the young man. With the shades pulled, no light breaks through into the dirty room, but his dark silhouette is clear as he occupies a soft chair in the corner. With a straight back, and legs crossed, he is the epitome of someone brought up in discipline, and yet…

'I didn't teach him that,' Sakura thinks. 'He wasn't like that as a child.'

She continues to watch as he twists his wrist and brings his nails up in front of him before examining them through the dark. She realizes then his silence was not consideration of her words but instead his attention being drawn elsewhere.

"This bedchamber is filthy," he sneers towards his nails.

Sakura takes a moment to see what she can through the dark. The dirt will not resolve itself just because of her presence, and the murky smells still lingers. So, for a rare moment, Sakura silently agrees with Gaara. As her eyes turn back to his, his gaze has settled back on her while he keeps his hand close to him still. It looks as if he searches for an answer within her, yet all Sakura can do is shrug.

"This is where I was first placed," is all she offers. "And where I keep ending up."

Gaara grimaces, his eyes scouring the room once again. After some time, he speaks.

"You will take up my bedchamber then."

His eyes are away from hers as he says this, and Sakura is surprised by the offer. She first wonders if she can garner any information from his room, but quickly doubts the idea if he is willing to give it up so easily. She then remembers what goes on in occasion in that room, those lust-filled nights, and Gaara looks at the rosette the moment her nose wrinkles and eyes narrow in question.

"When was the last time those blankets were washed?"

Gaara's eyes return to his nails.

"My stay here is not typically of this much age. A being that can clean and maintain is more resourceful in battle than a home, for the moment."

Sakura's wrinkle only intensifies to what she is hearing.

"After all," he states, as if Sakura is a fool to ask such a question, "all this dust and stench wouldn't garner my consideration had we someone here to maintain it, now would it?"

Sakura quickly shakes her head in disgust, earning back Gaara's eyes.

"I'll keep this dirty bed then," she says. "I'd much rather sleep in dust than in a bed where naked bodies have met and sand slithers."

Sakura only wrinkles her nose more at the thought while Gaara grins mischievously. Amusement in his eyes as he brings them back to his nails. Silence follows for some time, but it is Gaara, and his hunt for enjoyment in the rosette that makes him speak.

"You have felt my sand, and you have felt my naked body," he begins. "So, it should be no issue for you."

Sand she can agree, but for the comment on his bare frame, Sakura narrows her eyes once more before bringing them back up to Gaara. Never, would she lay with this man flesh to flesh.

"Liar," she quickly labels him.

"You don't remember?" he asks.

His eyes stay away from hers, but his grins keeps on growing. It's as if he holds a memory that garners truth in his words. Sakura, however, is sure in her mind and even wonders if Gaara has mistook her for someone else. She remains quiet in thought, yet her mind begins to stray of what transpired between her and Gaara just days ago. When they had reconciled.

'He looked like he was about to kiss me...' she remembers.

Her eyes narrow more when she remembers darker words that had come out of Gaara then.

"I wonder just how far you'll go. The last one was willing to..."

The very thought twists her stomach so hard that Sakura instantly feel nauseous and sick. Shock also mentally rocks her.

'He wouldn't...' she thinks, her round eyes scanning over Gaara. 'I may have told him I wasn't family, but our relationship certainly wasn't...'

It's her confused, long stare that draws Gaara's eyes back towards her own. As their gazes hit, he lifts his brow bone and his grin falls back down to usual apathetic look.

"What's troubling you, Sakura?" Gaara murmurs.

Despite the question, something within his own eyes shine and Sakura certainly feels like the redhead in front of her knows exactly what she thinks of now.

'Kankuro was the same way...' Sakura thinks. 'He thinks of me like a mother, but called me cute..'

In an odd way, she wonders if this all stems from the two of them not understanding a mother-like relationship. With one parent dead and the other locking himself in his office, the children were practically left on their own to wonder what a parents role was; what anybody, in their lives, meant to them considering people came and went in their lives at the drop of the dime.

Especially Gaara.

"Did you...sleep with one that looked like me?" Sakura asks in a breathy whisper.

Even asking that question aloud makes Sakura's stomach drop with a threat of its contents rising up. Yet, the rosette holds her composure, even her eyes do not stray or shake as she stares hard at Gaara.

Gaara's stare is just as hard. His muteness, as minutes trend, makes Sakura's heart beat faster and faster with worry of what he may say.

"No," Gaara finally articulates, and watches Sakura carefully once the rosette lets out a sigh of relief and relaxes her tense body.

Her composure returns and Sakura grimaces towards Gaara.

"What are you talking about then?" she asks, annoyed. "I never laid naked with you."

As her eyes return towards Gaara, she is surprised his stare is still hard on her. He is quiet, still trapped in her previous question, but eventually he relaxes that hard gaze to examine his nails once more.

"When I was a child you-"

"That's different!" Sakura retorts, almost in disgust at Gaara's words.

She shakes her head and sighs while Gaara grins.

"Hold your composure," he tells her with a drawl. "I only jest."

Sakura bites her cheek in annoyance. His words may be true, perhaps this moment even sheds light onto Sakura that Gaara has a bit of humor in him like his younger self did. Still, she can't help the uneasy feeling that swims in her stomach and mind. She would almost call this joke now flirtatious on his part, that is, if she knew him better. A joke like this from Naruto would certainly be considered flirty. Her previous thoughts are there still as well. Kankuro had found her attractive despite her role in his younger years. If Kankuro can see her in that light than Gaara may just as easily. Plus, she isn't blind to not catch that his eyes drift easy towards her figure. All of a sudden, his uncomfortable presence becomes almost intolerable.

She scowls before narrowing her eyes towards Gaara.

"Go away," she tells him again before burying herself under her quilt. "Leave me alone."

Her actions and words make Gaara finally lower his hand and his stare is long on the bulge she created with her body under her blanket. It's as if he is almost aware that her mood has shifted, even if she was asking him to leave her be, just the same, moments ago.

"You are smart, Sakura," he tells her instead. "One of the most intelligent I am lucky to have grace me with knowledge when I was younger. Also one of the few I deeply respect."

Gaara uncrosses his legs then and chooses a more relaxed pose by leaning his elbows, and weight, onto his knees. His eyes never straying from Sakura's silhouette.

"You know why it's like this now."

Sakura rolls her eyes to his words. She is more than aware why he chooses to stick by her side, but she is also mindful that it's an impossible task. He will have to leave her side at some point, war probably beckons him this very moment. There are so many ways to stray away, and even Sakura humors the idea of gaining his trust, tricking him into believing she wants to stay before taking flight back to Konoha.

Yet, that idea pains her heart.

'He'll probably feel abandoned again,' she thinks, the little boy popping back into her mind. 'There would probably be no way of changing him if I did that…He'd hate me forever.'

Despite how she despises the Gaara watching her right now, the thought of him loathing her is still a painful one. She realizes then how very fortunate she was in her own world, and how grateful she is to Naruto for so many things, but more specifically for keeping Gaara as an ally and close friend. In an odd way, she would very much like to take the time to meet with the Gaara in her world and perhaps garner a new friendship.

'That's an idea for another time,' she reminds herself.

A loud noise erupts Sakura's thoughts, and dust showers down from the ceiling as the giant house suddenly rocks lightly. Sakura is quick to appear back out of her quilt, her eyes scouring the top of her room before her eyes zoom over to Gaara's for an explanation. His face shows no amusement as his eyes cast upward.

"Imbecile," Gaara sneers under his breath.

"What was that?" Sakura asks.

Yet, to her question, Sakura is quick to wonder if the fighting has found its way to this island. A chance, for her, may come more quickly than previously thought.

"Should you not attend to that?" Sakura asks with a snark when Gaara remains distant from her eyes and question.

Gaara returns Sakura's scowl then and is quick with a snide remark of his own.

"For you, Sakura, if you wish me to off the man responsible I shall, but then that would leave me with one less captain."

His grin grows as Sakura's face drops and pales.

'Kankuro!' she quickly thinks.

Sakura is appalled that Gaara even suggests such a thing and studies his eyes closely to see if she finds any joke to his words. Despite the dark humor it would be, she hopes Gaara's proposal is not a serious one.

"How?" She asks him, almost in shock. "How could say such a thing...your own broth-"

Before she can finish that word Gaara's smirk falls to a scowl fast, and he straightens his back while gripping the arms of his chair. He cuts off Sakura.

"Don't," he warns her, almost in a breathy whisper. "Don't you dare say that man and I are akin."

Sakura is shocked, and disheartened, at what she hears. Even if she is warned not only by his words, but also by his frown and tense appearance now, she can't help herself from pressing.

"You disown having a brother?" she asks. "Temari then, do you-"

His grip on the chair tightens and his scowl appears more threatening.

"They are merely my captains. Both of them."

Sakura is quiet, but her face must express many emotions for Gaara becomes quick to talk, and defensive with his words.

"Put yourself in my shoes, Sakura," he begins. "Do you not recall the way everyone feared my presence and disregarded my mere existence? Do you truly believe I would call two of those very same people brother and sister? Do you honestly believe they deserve to be recognized when all they wanted was for me to disappear from their lives?"

Sakura's face hardens and she keeps her gaze firm with Gaara's, now, chaotic look.

"It's probably true your siblings, in the beginning, held no attachment towards you..."

Sakura swallows hard then, remembering Temari's first words of her wishing Gaara were dead. Yet…

"Can you not remember how they changed. How you changed as well?" Sakura asks with a quiet voice. "Kankuro reached out to you, he wanted to be your brother. Temari also shared with you how important you truly were to your mother. Without her, you would have never heard your mother's song. Kankuro and you were inseparable at times. How could not recognize either of them?"

"Their actions were probably deceptive-" Gaara begins before being cut off this time by Sakura shout.

"They were children!" she tries to explain. "All three of you were. They merited nothing choosing to be kind to you but a sibling to love."

She is surprised to see Gaara purse his lips for the moment, but his narrow gaze still tells her that she is the wrong one in this. The rosette can only shake her head in disappointment.

"What has happened to you, Gaara?" Sakura whispers. "It's like your mind has been warped. How could you forget the kindness your own brother and sister showed you? You even pushed some of those people to your opposing side."

Sakura continues to shake her head and shrugs her shoulders when a thought comes to her.

"I often believed, if there was someone you were suppose to lean on, someone to depend on the most, it was to be Kankuro."

She doesn't see it, but Gaara's eye twitches to her comment. He is quick to remark, once again, and doesn't take the opportunity to dawdle on the idea of Sakura's words. A trait he focused well on in his younger years, but slips with now.

"Kankuro?" he quips with a sneer.

Sakura turns her head just in time to catch his wide gaze.

"Don't think you can pass those judging eyes across me and think me a fool not to notice," Gaara begins.

Sakura opens her mouth, to rebuttal that claim and ask what he speaks of, but stops as Gaara holds a hand up and hushes her. An act that makes her eyes narrow at the redhead, but she does listen carefully as he continues.

"I was use to it my whole childhood, Sakura," Gaara says. "You're the fool here to think I've not noticed the way you glance in my direction or inquire such an intrusive question."

Sakura does not move as she watches Gaara sweep up from his feet and circle towards her bed. Their gaze never breaks as he takes a seat on her mattress and leans in closer to speak with her.

"You label my mind corrupted, Sakura," Gaara all but whispers, pressing his hands against the bed to lean in closer to the rosette. "Yet, surely you've noticed Kankuro's own distortion."

Sakura is quiet, and her eyes waver as she recalls the moments she has had with Kankuro. It had been easy for her to understand that all this fighting, and possibly more, had taken a toll on the brunette's mind. Still, she had disarmed the dangerous moment when Kankuro had backed her up into a wall, and unlike Gaara, she was certain how to calm the hurting man and probably even teach him to overcome, or overbear, his troubles. Yet, she does second guess these thoughts when she spots Gaara's smile turn into a lunatic grin.

"You've no idea, Sakura," Gaara tells her, almost gleefully. "You pass wrongful judgment onto me and then claim the most senseless one in this household was meant to be the closest to me. Claim him to be my brother?!"

His last sentence comes out in a boom, and his grin disappears as Gaara bares his teeth in her direction. Before Sakura can speak, Gaara is drawing back the heavy quilt from her frame and begins to reach for her while lifting himself onto the mattress more.

"Tell me the truth!" he spits then, eyes wide. "You've always cared for Kankuro more than I, haven't you?! Even now, you paint him as an innocent man and me a monster still."

Sakura keeps her ground steady, for she is sure then that if she were to turn her back now Gaara would jump for her. It's ironic, she thinks then, that Gaara calls himself sane while losing himself now in front of her.

"Gaara," Sakura calmly speaks. "I cared for Kankuro and you. I still do. I didn't favor him over you, or the other way around. Everything you're saying now is simply not true."

Yet, her voice disbands nothing. Instead, she watches as Gaara bangs a fist down onto her mattress and begins to snicker lightly.

"You're such the liar, Sakura," Gaara says through his light laughs. "Even know, I know you're thinking me wrong here, thinking I'm crazy. Between him and I, your lips found him first."

"Are you talking about that kiss I gave him when he was just a child?! The one on his cheek?!" she cries out, baffled by Gaara's outrage.

Sakura blinks, and she is shocked when, in that moment, she feels Gaara suddenly in front of her. His face close to hers before he grips her free arm tight.

'He's gotten faster,' Sakura thinks.

"I'm not the mad one here!" he screams in Sakura's face. "Kankuro's killed more men and women than I!"

Sakura's eyes widen to that claim and she must give the expression Gaara has been searching for, for his hold on her loosens some, and his tense look relaxes. Still, as he looks down at Sakura, there is a desperation in his eyes, and his words, that Sakura notices. It's almost like a plea he is conveying to her,

"Look me not with those judging eyes. Think me not the crazy one here. I am more innocent than my siblings. Run to me, not them."

It makes Sakura wonder if she has been judging Gaara too harshly. Certainly, the boy she loved, would shed tears knowing Sakura put a label on him for his past. It also makes her wonder if perhaps Gaara is jealous of Kankuro in a sense. Maybe the redhead does notice the brunette's kind heart and despises that his empathy paints him nothing to feel.

She recalls then those jealous eyes that Gaara sent in his sibling's directions at his young age.

Sakura is still silent as Gaara quickly let's go of her arm. He returns to the end of Sakura's bed and composes himself before staring straight at Sakura's door. Before she can even fathom what he is doing now, he glowers towards the wooden frame before a firm knock is heard.

'I didn't even sense anyone,' Sakura thinks again, falling back on the thoughts of how well in his senses Gaara has become.

"Enter," Gaara answers.

Sakura's heart is still pounding from the situation prior, and her thoughts still do fall back to Kankuro, but her eyes do watch as Temari opens the door. The blonde quickly spins on her heels to shut the door as soon as she steps in, and spins back around to bow her head. In her hand is a folder of papers.

"Gaara-sama, we've just received a message from the captain up north."

Sakura's ears twitch to the news. Unlike her, however, as the blonde had spoken Gaara simply yawned before resting his frame entirely on Sakura's bed. His expression now bored, he instead drags his fingers across Sakura's blankets and grimaces at the dust left behind on his fingers.

"Begone," Gaara comments. "Just leave it in my bedchamber, I will skim over it later."

Sakura can't help herself but narrow her eyes towards Gaara for his display. Where there are people fighting, sacrificing themselves for his cause, he treats the system like a tedious game while comfortably hiding away.

"Hai," Temari comments, head still bowed.

Yet, to her words, she does peek an eye up from her lowered head. She locks her gaze with Sakura briefly before sweeping them over towards Gaara, who still pays her no mind. Sakura's eyes lower to the folder in Temari's hand and she is surprised the woman quakes somewhat. A movement Sakura recalls feeling as Temari held the kunai against her neck in that town.

'She's...scared?' Sakura thinks.

Yet, as seconds pass, and Temari does not move, the man is quick once again to his feet. Like with Sakura, he is in front of Temari in the blink of the eye. The blonde gives a loud gasp, and no discipline can keep her head down as she looks up towards Gaara in fear. Like Kankuro had done with Sakura, the redhead does now with his sister and backs her up against the wall as he towers over her with rage lighting up his eyes.

"Are you defying my orders, Temari?" Gaara asks with a hiss. "Is this mutiny on your part now?"

The women cowers under Gaara's words and stare.

"No, my lord," she quickly answers. "I just believe that-that-"

She cries out suddenly as Gaara wraps his fingers tight around her neck and the act is just enough push to make Sakura leap from her bed.

"Believe what?" Gaara drawls. "That you would demean me in front of another. In front of Sakura?!"

Papers litter the floor and Temari quickly brings her hands up to try to pull Gaara off of her.

"Please, Gaara..." Temari manages before Gaara's grips tighten.

"Have you forgotten your place?!" Gaara suddenly cries. "You would just call me Gaara?!"

"Stop this!" Sakura cries, placing herself next to Gaara.

Before Sakura can even lay her hand and stop Gaara, the redhead does exactly what she asks. His gaze shifts to the rosette entirely once Sakura helps lower Temari down to the floor while the blonde drags in a breath.

"Let me see," Sakura asks of the blonde, trying to unwrap her fingers from her throat.

Temari coughs lightly before Gaara speaks.

"Temari, know that it is Sakura who spared you now."

Temari steals a glance at Sakura before looking up at her little brother.

"She wishes you to live right now, but do not conclude you can continue with this insubordination. There will not be a next time of this, will there?"

It's Sakura who turns her angry eyes up towards Gaara now. Temari trembles still. For Sakura, the sight of her paints her as someone who is somewhat broken. The Temari she knows from her own time cowers behind no one, and as Temari escorted her earlier, she was sure that bravado remained in the older woman.

Yet, now, in front of Gaara, she quakes like cornered prey. Her fear of her brother, from her younger years, seems to have grown instead of disappearing like Sakura had intended, It's enough to make Sakura snap at Gaara.

"Stop it," Sakura tells him again. "You've done more than enough."

Yet, despite her words, Temari and Gaara's gaze do not break, and the young man even speaks before Sakura finishes her sentence.

"From now on you'll answer to her like you do me. She is above you, therefore you should thank her properly for saving your life."

"Gaara!" Sakura booms once again.

Sakura's attention shifts towards Temari once she sees the blonde shuffling to her feet. The rosette's eyes go round as Temari formerly bows at Sakura, forehead skimming the floor.

"Sakura-sama..." Temari begins to say before Sakura quickly reaches for her.

"Stop this!" she cries, picking Temari up along with her.

As soon as she stands the blonde woman up, Sakura turns her angry eyes at Gaara.

"And you!" she hisses. "Stop your tormenting. I'm beginning to see a pattern here, and it makes me wonder how exactly your army choose to follow you."

Gaara's stare is hard, but not filled with anger or rage Sakura expected. Instead, he rests his arms against his back and puffs out his chest as he speaks.

"Though it may not look like it in your eyes, I assure you, Sakura, my army of men are more poised and disciplined than-"

"Cram it already!" Sakura snaps back, tired of his speech.

Her orders are loud, and shocking, enough to make Gaara do just as she tells him. He watches her with wide eyes as Sakura tends to Temari once more. His shock turns slowly into amusement, and if seen by Sakura herself, it would be met with judging eyes and a grimace as she would try to decipher him more. Alas, she only looks at the redness around Temari's neck.

"It's going to bruise," Sakura tells her.

While she speaks, Gaara reaches for the folder and papers that litter the floor from Temari's hands. His eyes scan each one slowly before he reaches for the next, but freezes when one particular message catches his eyes, and he slowly straightens himself up before his eyes, and mind, indulge on the full message.

"If there is no medic here to heal it just ice it until-" Sakura speaks, but stops once Temari glares at her and steps back from Sakura's examination.

A swift glance from Gaara tells Temari she can show Sakura just how much she admires Sakura for what she has just done. It is easy for the rosette to decipher the hostility and anger Temari's glare tells her to have for Sakura, but her words are pleasing to the ear, and both women know it is merely for show as Gaara will clearly catch her defiance if she speaks otherwise.

"Thank you for your concern, Sakura-sama," Temari clearly speaks with narrowing eyes. "I will be sure to do as you recommend."

Sakura, meanwhile, remains silent as she stares sadly towards Temari. She hopes her eyes convey her emotions towards Temari, and she silently understands that she is not above Temari, or that she wishes for this formality Gaara has placed on her. Yet, Temari's glare only remains the same with Sakura staring more and more into her eyes.

'Their eyes do not change,' she sadly thinks, remembering the little girl who colored next to her.

"I just want my mommy back!"

Sakura can suddenly hear Temari's young voice echoing familiar words. It makes the rosette realize, as well, just how desperate this older sister must be to keep her two brothers happy. They are her only family left, and while she has shown Sakura just how desperate she is to keep Kankuro out of harms way, she wonders if the mutual feeling follows in the direction of her youngest brother.

'It has to,' Sakura thinks. 'There has to be love in all of them still.'

Sakura's thoughts vanish as Temari turns and straightens in Gaara's direction. His voice suddenly becomes louder than the small echoes in her head.

"She should have taken care of it by now!" Gaara growls, more to himself than anyone in the room.

His teeth bare once more out of anger but, surprisingly, Temari takes a bold step forward.

"May I make a proposition, Gaara-sama?" she asks.

Sakura is surprised to see Gaara pick his eyes up from the paper to look at her briefly before back at the blonde.

"Vaguely," he tells Temari.

This is all Sakura needs to hear to realize it is war they now speak of and the smallest of schemes comes to mind.

"Shall I step out?" she asks Gaara, already baby-stepping her way to the door. "After all, you need not be vague if I'm not here."

Before an answer comes, Sakura slowly reaches and opens the door, only to watch Gaara's hand reach out and slam the door back shut. Their gazes lock again, and she finds irritation in the redhead's eyes rather than amusement. He grimaces at Sakura but says nothing more as he shifts his gaze back towards Temari.

'Not that easy,' Sakura thinks.

"One of us should deal with the situation," Temari continues as soon as Gaara gives her a nod to do so.

"I am not needed there for something like this," Gaara speaks, his eyes once again glancing towards Sakura.

The rosette sends him a glare before turning her back to him.

'Of course you aren't,' she thinks. 'Because I won't be here once you leave and return.'

"My men and I are ready to leave at once, Gaara-sama," Temari speaks, straightening herself.

Yet, her words earn Gaara's angry eyes back towards her.

"Do not conclude anything until my say, Temari," Gaara snaps back.

Sakura begins to grow bored of the mind games Gaara does with his sister, as well as the constant, unnecessary apologies Temari has to make. Yet, with her back turned, Sakura doesn't spot the malice grin Gaara now sends in her direction and there is amusement lighting up his eyes once more.

"Sakura, would you be a dear, and fetch Kankuro for me? He resides on the lowest floor."

Sakura's eyes widen to Gaara's question, and she spins on her heels to look at the man, just to be sure he isn't toying with her once again.

'He's letting me go?' Sakura thinks, her heart raising at the new given opportunity to flee from Gaara's chains.

Yet, the redhead is one step ahead, and Sakura's heart drops once she watches Gaara sneak an arm around Temari's shoulder, forcing the woman to face Sakura just as he is. Instantly, in the blonde's gaze, is fear that Sakura is easy to decipher, and she trembles once more to her brother's hold.

The message is clear to Sakura then. If she attempts anything funny, or tries to run, it is Temari who is going to be dealt with the aftereffect. A promise on Sakura's part, to the woman in front of her that was made during Temari's young age, suddenly rings in her mind.

"I promise you. Gaara will never do anything to hurt you, or Kankuro."

Sakura's eyes widen as one of Gaara's fingers traces around Temari's still red neck.

"Never."

"Please don't keep us waiting for too long, Sakura," Gaara grins.