Beta'd by MindTrash


Chapter Sixty-six


Once Sakura is in Gaara's room he makes her feel helpless as she really is now. Like a hungry beast backing his small, delicious prey into a secluded den.

"My Sakura," he chants to her.

"I'm not a possession," she tries to rebuttal. "And I am not yours."

Sakura attempts for Gaara to see reason, but her heart is the one frantically beating as Gaara looks down at the roseate with a calmness that would assure his words to anyone watching. She still has her luck at least, and it plays its part once Gaara suddenly goes cross-eyed in front of her. Sakura can easily see exhaustion washing down on Gaara and her heart begins to settle as the redhead struggles to advance on her.

"Sakura..." Gaara even lowly growls when he realizes he is losing to his own self.

With a hand outstretched this whole time, his attempt was to bring Sakura into his embrace. It's actually Sakura's hold that Gaara falls into once he slumps into her arms. His eyes close soon after. Gaara's body is still recovering, still weak. Perhaps the idea of being so close to his beloved after time apart is what grew Gaara's spirit to sneak his way into Sakura's room.

But time has passed and that spirit dissipates with his body begging for rest.

"Who did you fight?" Sakura asks the quiet air. "Who made you this weak?"

Gaara's answer is his light breathing while he comfortably rests within Sakura's loose hold. The redhead places so much trust in Sakura that his body goes limp and Sakura is forced to use her strength to drag the redhead to his bed. She tosses him with a huff and her breath is lost for a moment.

'I'm as bad off as him,' Sakura dully thinks while looking down at Gaara as her head spins.

Sakura takes a step back and lets her eyes wander around Gaara's room before she will retreat back to her own. With the blinds shut, you wouldn't know day from night inside Gaara's dark bedroom. Another step back has Sakura stepping on one the many scrolls and papers littering the floor. Disorganized, cluttered, messy, words Sakura uses to describe Gaara's living condition.

All except his so-called grand collection of tea kettles. In cubicles are the ceramic pots displayed, and they look orderly and clean compared to the rest of Gaara's room.

"At least he knows how to take care of one thing," Sakura muses.

Look, but don't touch, is what Gaara had warned her when her eyes first found this collection. Now, when her gaze does the same, the only countermand given is Gaara's light breathing as he sleeps. Sakura takes a few steps closer to examine the kettles designs, colors, and overall make. Some of the pots are finely kept; expensive looking items. Some kettles are cracked and worn with use and time; probably these are more valuable than the finer ones.

"Why tea kettles?" Sakura asks herself, bewildered.

Sakura's emerald gaze goes up towards the highest cubicles of his collection where only her gaze can reach. At the top is only one iron piece. It is the body to a kettle without a lid. Above all his other fine pieces, this kettle is cracked heavily. Usable if fixed, but Sakura would dare no one to touch it lest it crumble with how worn it looks.

"Must be really old," Sakura concludes.

Why else would it be displayed high with importance?

Sakura steps back and away from the wall of pots when she hears Gaara mumble in his sleep. She watches as the redhead stirs slightly in his sleep. He moans suddenly with a light whine. If his small cry is a result of his dreams, Sakura assumes a nightmare is taking place. His tossing is restless and his mumbles sound agitated even in his sleep. The roseate draws close to Gaara's bed while looking down at him.

"You are not well," Sakura speaks towards him and is surprised to not see Gaara stir awake to her call.

He remains restless and Sakura wonders more.

"Is it because you're fighting with Shukaku right now?"

Sakura spent so much time with Gaara's younger self to understand why he never slept. Now she watches the redhead struggle to do what is considered a nightly normality to everyone else she knows. Sakura is curious as to what he fights against now. Sleep itself? Nightmares? Shukaku clawing for control? His injury that has yet to heal?

Thinking on his wounds Sakura steps back close to Gaara. He is wrapped and bandaged, but surely this isn't all his medical team can do. Do they rely on Shukaku like Sakura did, a powerful beast with chakra to heal the host, or were they ordered or frightened away by Gaara himself? It's almost a disappointing sight to see Gaara's wound, for Sakura used what power she could at that moment to try to heal it.

Sakura takes a seat on the bed next to Gaara's restless body. She watches him with curiosity, suspicion and light worry.

"Don't die," Sakura whispers to Gaara while brushing her hands through his hair. "You can still help me fix this mess."

Gaara's body relaxes to Sakura's touch and the roseate can't help but be amused at the sight. It's like his infatuation of her follows him even to his sleep, where her voice and touch can console him. Perhaps tired drives her mind slow, but she looks at Gaara fondly remembering his younger self sometimes nestling next to Sakura while she slept. It helps that Gaara keeps silent now, but Sakura grows sentimental remembering the child who is now an adult. She can admit to herself like this.

"I don't want to see you hurt," she whispers truthfully to Gaara. "I won't throw out our time together."

Emotional, tired, nostalgic, Sakura isn't sure anymore why she does what she does next. Slowly, she leans her face close to Gaara's and gently brushes her lips on his head before placing a gentle kiss with her hand parting his hair away from the spot.

"Feel better soon, my little friend," Sakura whispers once her lips pull back.

Slowly Sakura rises her back up, but she stills herself frozen once her eyes fall back onto Gaara's face.

Her gaze locks with teal eyes open wide and Gaara's look instantly sets on Sakura's own the second she looks at him. As her back lifts away from him, he begins to pick himself up in an attempt not to break the eye contact. There is wonder in his eyes, curiosity too, but above all that, a thirst in his gaze that Sakura berates herself for setting off.

'He knows I just kissed him,' Sakura nervously thinks.

Gaara's eyes hold a wide, piercing stare on Sakura. Like he is in disbelief and awe at her action. Sakura has awoken a beast with her gentle kiss, and Gaara's eyes tell her that he thirsts for more.

"Kiss me again," he suddenly snaps at Sakura with a small voice.

His head raises to chase her face. He tries to close the proximity between him and Sakura. He confuses her gesture, or convinces himself, that her kiss means she reciprocates his feelings.

"Again..." he breathes in Sakura's face. "I want it."

Gaara's warm breath hitting Sakura's face makes her pause and she remains motionless even when Gaara's face comes closer to her and their noses ghost one another.

"Don't pull away," the redhead quickly rasps a request.

Gaara's teal eyes follows Sakura's own gaze. Her pink hair falls some while she holds her neck up; leveled and eye to eye with Gaara. Their proximity is close and intimate; like two lovers preparing for a deep kiss. With the way Gaara stares at Sakura, Sakura isn't too sure if that is what is on the redhead's mind right now. Gaara's goal is partially achieved as Sakura doesn't pull her face away from his. Tempted, Gaara brings the back of his hand slowly up to brush some hair away from the roseate's face.

"Kiss me again," he suddenly pleads to Sakura.

With his position being under her, his body still weak to rise, Sakura feels their dynamic suddenly shifting.

'No,' Sakura counters that thought when Gaara begins to nudge his lips against Sakura's own. 'I am without my strength too.'

Sakura is certain that if she were to give him an answer he wants to hear, Gaara would find a way to have her under him instead. Gaara's nose bumps Sakura's chin, trying to urge her to a kiss. Instead, she turns her head from his just when she spots his lips trying to claim her. He ends up kissing Sakura's jaw bone. The warm act does not move Sakura. If anything, she ignores the display, and doesn't even pull away when Gaara places another gentle kiss on her skin. When a third kiss follows quickly is when Gaara's begs turn into demands.

"Again," his feeble voice grows louder. "I want you, Sakura."

Sakura does a double take at Gaara's bandaged wound, surprised how energetic the redhead is despite his gash. Bouts of energy force a tired man awake, and within his teal eyes does Sakura spot what effect this is all having with Gaara's mentality. He is unaccustomed to sleep, but his body is now begging for rest. A rest he refuses now that Sakura doesn't run away from him. She is also sure Gaara is uneasy because of, a soon to come, full moon.

"Control yourself," Sakura warns Gaara when his hand attempts to stroke and play with her arm. "You are wounded. Do you want me to make it worst?"

Usually, he listens. Usually, he is like a pup to Sakura you need only tell no to stop his playful antics he will attempt at a later time. Usually, Gaara listens and considers what Sakura tells him. She is the woman he lays out his heart for. Usually, this is where he would pull his hand away from her and joke, chortle, and course Sakura into letting him, one day, love her like he wishes. Usually, she would have no worry with his physical motives he has in store for her. Yet, his eyes are her only warning; a deprived predator, staring at a fine meal he can make out of Sakura before Gaara's hand takes a hold of her arm.

"Kiss me," he half order and half pleads as his other hand reaches for Sakura. "I need you!"

A stroke of luck happens that very moment when a knock from the door comes. Instead of grabbing her, Gaara uses what strength he can to pull himself in front of Sakura in a protective manner. In this home, Gaara has never shown Sakura a reason to use him as a shield. Again, she wonders if this all aftermath stemmed from a man almost fallen in a fight. Who would dare hurt her here in this home that has Gaara reacting this way? A voice from the door finally speaks up.

"Gaara-sama, I brought you your medicinal tea," Matsuri's voice comes from the other side of the door.

'Ah,' Sakura dully thinks. 'She would.'

Even though it is clearly Matsuri's voice, Gaara holds Sakura protectively. Has Matsuri openly shown Gaara that much disdain for Sakura for the redhead to to react this way? Gaara doesn't answer Matsrui's call making her knock and speak again.

"I will break down this door if I have to," Matsuri threatens.

Matsuri begins to bang on the wooden frame. Sakura scrambles out of Gaara's hold and jumps for the door before Gaara can drag her back into his arms. Tired, irritated, Sakura wants to lessen one burden by sending Matsuri away. However, Sakura is met with a burning, and venomous scowl that silently tells Sakura that Matsuri won't be so easily persuaded. Matsuri's readied face also explains she was more than aware Sakura was on the other side of the door; still, she bothers to hiss a question in Sakura's face.

"What are you doing…?"

Sakura returns narrowed eyes of her own. The brunete is not intimidated and Sakura knows her tired eyes give away what bravado she really has right now. When Sakura senses the redhead is not following, she shuts the door behind her.

"You must be embarrassed," Matsuri spits at Sakura. "He is injured after all..."

"You think I'm here by choice?" Sakura whispers at Matsuri with disbelief.

Has it not sunk in to anyone here that Sakura is a prisoner. The biggest culprit keeping her here forces a relationship; how can such a mindset even exist, Sakura still wonders at times. How can her countless cries against them lead anyone in this household to believe Sakura is agreeably with Gaara when he ushers her away from them? It angers her. It makes her heart and mind boil, and it must suddenly show in a fiery gaze on her face for Matsuri is silent to Sakura's outburst of a question. Matsuri's scowl turns into a cold frown.

"How is he?" Matsuri asks instead.

She cannot hide the concern in her voice even from Sakura, and it makes Sakura's own face soften up a bit.

'She really cares for Gaara,' Sakura easily senses.

The sting of Sakura's presence to Matsuri must hurt harder knowing Sakura is one answering now on Gaara's behalf.

"He's in bed," Sakura tells Matsuri blankly.

She'll allow the brunette that.

Perhaps there is a small, unspoken trust Matsuri places in Sakura. After all, she did save Gaara once already where Matsuri watched. Whatever reason, the brunette presses for nothing more but offers Sakura a tray with a pot of what smells like herbal tea and a small cup.

"The medic-nin suggested Gaara drink this twice a day."

Sakura takes the tea without another word. However, her gaze shifts up to Matsuri's own when the brunette continues.

"It will help him to heal, they said," Matsuri speaks. "Also to help relax him."

"Ah, yea," Sakura murmurs. "He keeps sleeping and waking."

Sakura lifts the tray some before asking Matsuri.

"Do you want to take it to him instead?"

Matsuri blinks and briefly looks past Sakura and into the darkness of Gaara's room, considering Sakura's offer.

"The way he came to me, with that hole in him..." Matsuri whispers absentmindedly, "I'm shaken by it. He has to be too. Gaara-sama isn't a weak man."

Matsuri surprisingly reveals all this to Sakura. Sakura's mind falls to such an image of Gaara Matsuri just described. What would she do if her close friends, all strong as they are, approached her wounded and hanging on to life. She finds herself unable to keep the dark thought going. That helpless desperation she has never seen in Gaara's eyes is too frightening to imagine right now.

Sakura imagines Matsuri doesn't need an invitation into Gaara's room, but the brunette lingers only near the door aside from going into the room or calling out to Gaara. Sakura isn't sure what to make of that, or if she should be following Matsuri's example to stay back from Gaara. Perhaps, Sakura really does lay with a beast.

"I'll ask the medic-nin for something to help calm his mind for the full moon."

Sakura has been warned this way about a child once before. It gives that child a sadder existence, to Sakura, knowing Gaara was thought as the dark monster everyone sees today. The truth is Gaara should have been taught to handle his dark thoughts during these phases of the moon in a way a child would gently comprehend.

"Don't bring anything with blood," Sakura tells Matsuri, recalling what Baki gave her the last full moon she spent with Gaara. Matsuri takes a step back to look and acknowledge Sakura.

"If he wants bloods, he will have it," Matsuri flatly remarks. "And he doesn't need me, or anyone, to get it for him."

'Spoiled,' is all Sakura hears in her head.

She once warned a father that his child was a mixture of anger and entitlement. With his deadly powers, his father's authority, and no willing guidance until she showed up, the child was surely a ticking time bomb. Is that why he is the way he is today?

'Did no one just tell him no?'

Sakura shakes her head. To pinpoint a cause for Gaara's madness is still too soon. Maybe, now, as Gaara lays weak, would be an opportune time for Sakura to press for answers to questions.

'Maybe,' her tired mind thinks.

In a perfect world, Sakura would probably take a spot on the bed with Gaara and just let the both of them rest in peace. Yet, she also knows where Gaara will recover through rest, her body would slowly break down more and more because of that seal. It's only when Matsuri begins tracking back and away from Gaara's room does Sakura dismiss her thoughts and speak up.

"You won't go in?" she questions, surprised.

Matsuri looks almost offended by Sakura's question; as if there is implication to Sakura's words suggesting Matsuri cares too little to check up on Gaara. So, the brunette brings her glare back and speaks distastefully.

"A part of me wants to warn you," Matsuri comments to Sakura as she begins to step around her. "I want to scare you just to make sure you stay away from my Gaara-sama."

Matsuri arrogantly smirks after saying that and that cheeky look stays with Sakura as the brunette continues.

"But then, a part of me wants to make sure you'll stay with him during the night of the full moon," Matsuri says with a maddening smirk.

Does concern outweigh mistrust? Sakura assumes Matsuri is signaling to her to watch over Gaara to make sure he doesn't sustain any more difficulties from his injury. Yet, with a skip to her step, Matsuri draws her mouth close to Sakura's ear as she passes the roseate by with bitter words.

"I'm thankful you saved Gaara-sama, I really am… But, now I hope he tears into you."

Matsuri steps never falter and she stirs herself far and away from Sakura before the roseate can completely grasp what Matsuri has just whispered to her.

'She really hates me...' Sakura muses.

Sakura is, however, unshaken by all the brunette has shared. At the end of the day, Sakura knows Gaara well enough to know he would not lay a noxious finger on her at this point. Though, Sakura is certain Matsuri's malicious threats are displayed because the brunette knows this also. If anything, it is simply a jealous woman acting catty.

Still, they are weapons and Sakura has to make sure Matsuri's blade is distanced away from her. Sakura throws an unpleasant look in front of her as she realizes her safety now depends on the man in the other room. Sakura sighs, the feeling of being exposed was a feeling from her younger years before her training. She is amused when she remembers that helpless feeling began during the chunin exams, a time where she had first met Gaara. That Gaara had harmed her for stepping in front of Sasuke. That Gaara showed no interest in Sakura given her weak nature at the time. Years later, she would be sent on a team to rescue Gaara and, once again, helped to save his life.

Sakura blinks ahead of her as she does recall the sight of Matsuri there at the time.

"I wonder if she is different or the same back home," Sakura whispers to herself.

Sakura is generally curious if that love-sickness for Gaara carries on in both worlds.

The young woman stares down at the tray she holds, noting that the steam from the teapot has disappeared. Through her many patients, she knows medicinal tea itself is a bitter taste. The drink served cold is even worst. Yet, she is frozen in place with lingering thoughts on Matsuri's warning. She had witnessed Gaara go unhinged in his younger years due to the full moon. How safe is she really? What would Gaara do to her? Go savage enough to kill her? Her answers will only come from the young man on the other side of this door.

Sakura has no fear returning to Gaara's bedroom and does so to see that Gaara lays on his back on the bed now.

'I wonder if he was listening to us,' Sakura wonders as she sets the tray on a table.

Though moved, Sakura spots the darkness that is the skin around Gaara's eyes. She can tell his eyes are closed and his breathing slow and assumes him to simply moved into a more comfortable position to rest. Regardless, she decides to pour the warm tea into a cup. She sniffs at the drink, smelling the light herbs before sipping on the drink herself. A certain taste hits her senses and she swishes the drink in her mouth before spitting the contents back into the cup. There is a strong sedative in the drink; placed there probably with the knowledge that this tea was headed to the man who has fought sleeping his entire life.

"There are too many smells in that tea," a voice rumbles in the room suddenly.

Sakura's eyes are back on Gaara, whose own gaze are now open and staring at the ceiling above. Prone to easy waking, or maybe never asleep, but Sakura understands the sedatives now.

"There is a lot of herbs in this to mask the medicine. They probably take into account the full moon that's coming," Sakura speaks back, her eyes trained on the wall as she leans against a table. "Could you imagine Shukaku let loose on this island?"

Gaara is quiet to Sakura's conceived thought. Yet, the thought seems like it may have been a reality in the past the way Gaara keeps quiet. Or maybe, just maybe, he really is that worn down.

"Will I be safe here when that times comes?" Sakura asks in a lowly whisper.

Her head tilts and eyes look towards Gaara. Again, the redhead's lips remain tight and that alone is an answer for Sakura.

"I see," Sakura whispers instead after the moments of silence pass.

To that, Gaara does scowl and turn his head to look at Sakura. There is disgust on his face but that offended look is not for Sakura but instead for his drab thoughts and instincts.

"You should be safe with me," Gaara tries to excuse himself. "I would be the next person, after you, looking out for your best interest."

Sakura keeps her eyes on Gaara. She should be relieved that someone thinks so highly of her that way. It isn't short of how a lover would treat their partner. The relationship is too one-sided for that and the lack of control Gaara has on himself has Sakura doubting him as well.

"Kankuro mentioned you typically isolate yourself when that time comes," Sakura murmurs before her eyes scan the bandages wrapped around Gaara's abdomen. "With that wound though, I imagine that-"

"Yes..." Gaara interrupts Sakura with a low growl. "I am confined to this island until I am healed."

Before Sakura can ask her next question, Gaara answers it.

"I should probably put the order out for my men to disperse off this island before that night comes."

Sakura is slightly shocked. The murderous leader, as he has been claimed by others, chooses not to soil the island with more blood. She watches as Gaara closes his eyes and sighs heavily. A sign that tells Sakura his thoughts are arduous, but his voice is a tired one when he speaks again.

"I'll be going with them then?" Sakura asks.

"No," Gaara answers more quickly. "When you came back to me I promised myself that I would never let you out of my sight again. I intend to keep my word."

"But my safety with you is not guaranteed," Sakura speaks in hopes Gaara can see the reasoning.

The redhead only grows quiet and Sakura decides then to slowly fill back up the tea in the cup. The exhaustion in Gaara's voice reminds the roseate that this brew is meant for him. Once Sakura draws close to Gaara with cup in hand his teal eyes return and his head moves on the bed so that those teal eyes can gaze into emeralds.

"I don't want to be apart from you ever again," Gaara calmly explains. "Yesterday reminded me how short time can be."

Sakura closes her eyes to Gaara's words and lets out a sigh of her own. She knew better than to think Gaara would give her an option away from him. Yet, a curious thought does come to mine. Would his claim of love for her be enough to even stop himself from hurting her, or is she already in safe hands? Sakura sits herself on the bed, next to Gaara, as he slowly rises himself to meet at Sakura's level. He stares at the tea in Sakura's hand skeptically.

"It's meant to make you sleepy, don't try to fight rest right now," Sakura is telling Gaara as he reaches for the cup. "There's a sedative in it."

She speaks to him honestly but his fingers pause and squirm from taking a hold of the cup as his scowl deepens.

"Who brought this?" he questions with a hiss.

Gaara's head and eyes whip in Sakura's direction fast. His eyes glower fiercely before he asks Sakura another question.

"Matsuri was the one to bring this, right?"

He seems apprehensive to the drink, Sakura notices, but nods.

"You heard her, didn't you?" Sakura reminds him.

Gaara doesn't answer her but instead takes a hold of the warm cup before sipping lightly on the drink. Sakura watches as Gaara jostles the liquid in his mouth from cheek to cheek before swallowing hard. He stares out at the window curtains in front him with a distant gaze.

"Poison?" Sakura questions recognizing what Gaara is doing.

She meant her voice to come out more jokingly, but is surprised by herself even to hear a dull, tired, raspy voice come from her. The roseate knows well that the tea drunk is safe, she had tasted it too. She jumps lightly when Gaara's fingers begin stroking Sakura's hair lovingly.

"Don't drink and eat anything brought to me without me testing it first," Gaara comments.

"Why?" Sakura snaps at him.

Matsuri had brought it for him, surely there was no ill-intent in the tea that she wouldn't have noticed. Can Gaara maybe tell how weak and tired Sakura has become? Does he know more or heard of ill-intent for him so close to his island? Is it a means of control, him trying to show Sakura that she needs him for protection. All of these reason swim in her mind, but none are the reason and Gaara even takes a moment to study Sakura and her wavering eyes.

Gaara's gaze is a steady one, but Sakura can also see contemplation behind his look.

"I want to keep you safe. Keep you close," he explains on a breath before he gives her his sole reason. "Because I love you."

And what can Sakura say to that? Even if the bad guy, Sakura recognizes that it be many emotions, love especially, that will help her to guide Gaara back down a happy path. The fact that he does love means he is capable of change, a voice in Sakura's mind tries to tell her.

Yet…

"Why…?" Sakura whispers under her breath.

Her voice is too quiet to be heard and the redhead instead sips on his tea as his eyes venture back out ahead of him. Between a long sip, Gaara makes a bold and presumed comment.

"You've never had someone love you, have you, Sakura?"

No amount of tiredness would stop Sakura turning red to that statement. Suddenly, she is embarrassed, Suddenly, she is struggling to speak. Suddenly, she is offended and defensive. Worst of all, Gaara is just watching with a blank stare as she turns shades and tries to rebuttal. Her mind is more quick to explain to her-

'He knows.'

His stare is a steady and certain one. If she could have painted a lie to him, her outward, self-conscious display has stolen her brush.

"It is nothing to be ashamed of, Sakura."

"My parents loved me. My teachers loved me. My friends love me," Sakura explains. "I am loved."

She is still trying to argue Gaara, and she is red from embarrassment still while trying to clarify to Gaara that she is loved. Yet, she knows what he truly means-He speaks of the unconditional want and need only few people have for one another. He speaks of love with a partner. He speaks on a subject Sakura is certain he knows nothing about. Looking into the conversation, you would think the ignorant one on the subject to be the woman who is speaking too quickly and defensively.

Gaara's fingers are back on Sakura's pink locks, and he strokes her hair gently.

"You know what I speak of," Gaara gently tells Sakura. "I have a desire for you."

Gaara's delicate hand and tired, gentle voice mixed in with his words has Sakura blushing. For the first time, something odd also happens to the roseate. Sakura's heartbeat jumps before dropping to the pit of her stomach. It is the first time a compliment has overwhelmed her.

"Has no one else ever told you that?" Gaara questions as his eyes stay trained on Sakura.

There had been a few, in her younger years. Perhaps there had even been some admirers when she was older. If there were, their admiring whispers and obscure glances of her had all gone unnoticed by Sakura as her own mind and heart centered around one certain man.

'Sasuke-kun...' Sakura thinks of his name.

Sakura's face reddens in shame. Her desire for Sasuke would almost be the same as Gaara's feelings for her. An unrequited love that is simply begging for some feelings in return; a chance even. What a cruel spot Sakura understands she has been placed...but then, is she just as guilty in not answering Gaara's own love, she wonders.

"No," she answers under her breath.

Sakura shakes her head solemnly that Gaara pauses his hand mid-air while watching Sakura's back hunch and her head hang.

"I've never been told that," she answers Gaara truthfully.

Even if the redheaded man had told her there was no shame to that answer, Sakura's shoulders are sinking as she dwells on the thought. She is young, strong, beautiful...what is she doing wrong where she can garner no attention let alone a passing glance from Sasuke?

Moments in silence pass and even if Sakura believes Gaara is quietly judging her she just lets it be. Judgment from a corrupted man means nothing to her. She remains frozen still even when Gaara's hand rests on her head and hair.

"Then it must take a genius to love a woman like you," Gaara lightly tells Sakura.

Sakura scoffs at Gaara's words. A typical answer from a narcissistic man, but her mocking sounds does pause Gaara once again in silence.

"Sakura," Gaara calls to the roseate.

Sakura's back straightens when Gaara's fingers tangle into her locks more rugged. He is combing through her hair harder now with his hand. It's still gentle enough to where Sakura doesn't push his hand away, but the harshness has her suddenly wary and unsure if she is actually enjoying his touch or distressed by it.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Gaara asks in an aggressive tone.

Sakura's gaze looks into Gaara's teal eyes. She can see the anger in his eyes, but unlike everyone else around her, his anger does not frighten her. If anything, there is a need in her to diffuse Gaara and guide him. Yet, she is simply gawking at him in silence, something that makes Gaara tug on her hair more.

"No," she answers quickly and is relieved to feel his hold on her loosen.

Sakura knows Gaara is far from stupid. In her world, Gaara is exclaimed as a genius and that is no different here as he remains a tactful warlord. Even as a child Sakura can recall a young Gaara grasping intellectual conversation for his age. So then, as an adult, he should be able to grasp as an adult why his love for her is mistaken.

"The love you speak of isn't-!" Sakura begins to speak again but stops when Gaara tugs at her hair again.

Her eyes widen with slight panic as his pull begins to force her head and neck up. She blinks rapidly as he looks down at her again with animosity.

'He is wounded,' Sakura has to remind herself. 'He is one edge. Don't push him now.'

Before Sakura can stop and calm him, Gaara questions her again with malice in his voice that makes him hiss at her.

"Do you think I'm helpless or something? Do you see me as that child you're still trying to fix?"

Sakura shakes her head at him, but does open her mouth to explain.

"But I do think-ah!"

Sakura cries out lightly and tries to take a hold of Gaara's hand in her hair once he tugs on her to silence her. Before she can pull away or yell at him, her eyes widen once Gaara's brings his face down and close to hers. Silently, they stare at one another. Sakura is with uncertainty and small panic as her emerald look takes in Gaara's aggressive contemplating teal gaze. He keeps Sakura in place as his hand palms more of her hand in between his fingers which stretches her neck more. Sakura then remembers another reason not to be pushing Gaara right now.

'He is influenced by the full moon coming.'

Gaara suddenly brings a head down and brushes his lips against Sakura's ear. He pulls on her hair more before whispering to her.

"Do you think I'm fucking insane for always having you on my mind?"

Gaara brings two fingers to gently brush against Sakura's neck as he holds her in place still.

Yes, she wants to scream at him. Before she can, another voice speaks to her inside her mind.

'It's no different from your feelings of Sasuke.'

'Is that true?' Sakura wonders with uncertainty.

It's true at her young age Sasuke was the center of her world, but she didn't drag her infatuation to this level. At least, she likes to believe Sasuke didn't view her as obsessive as Gaara does her. But then, to her, that was love. That love for him is still inside of her, and if she can carry that unrequited love so many years later on then…

'Gaara can too.'

"Is this really love?" Sakura questions.

As her emotions play and trick her mind, as Gaara's pull on her hair tickle her nose, a bead of water slides down from the corner of her eye. She only notices the small tear when Gaara places a gentle kiss on it. She gasps at his kiss, and tries to turn her head away from his.

"This is my love," Gaara explains to Sakura.

Instead of tossing that love aside, instead of trampling on his plea for her, instead of scoffing, mocking, judging his love, Sakura actually is quiet and listens to Gaara.

"You showed me your love all those years ago," Gaara calmly speaks before pulling his head away from Sakura.

Gaara's hand in Sakura's hand loosens, and the redhead straightens himself back on his bed. As Sakura scrambles to also sit herself upright, Gaara pushes her shoulder to stay in place. Her gaze is stolen by his own serious look as he looks down on her laying form with her head cushioned on his leg. His hand returns to stroking her hair lovingly before he speaks to her again.

"Let me show you mine," he pleads with some pain in his voice.

Sakura's eyes widen some. She can relate to the pain she hears in Gaara's voice that echoes from his heart. Gaara does at least deserve Sakura's ear, she knows. Not only because she understands the ache of a loved one turning their back on her, but because she believes she also owes him a chance due to their past. Love be a token she proudly wears, but her care has driven even the most broken into her arms.

As Gaara's hands and fingers once again bathe within Sakura's hair, the roseate trembles.

She is helpless under him and as his eyes shine looking down at her that feeling only makes her heart race more.

'This is Gaara,' a voice reminds her. 'He will not hurt you. He is your friend.'

What shame she carries for calling such an evil man her friend. Sakura can only imagine the ridicule were she to call him her lover too. But darkness' touch is a gentle, frightening one that includes glowing eyes adoring her very being while she knows it could swallow her whole.

She stays unmoved laying on him and lips flutter lightly until a quaky voice escapes her.

"I'm scared of it," she confesses on a scared, soft breath.

As if to solidify her answer, she flinches once the back of Gaara's fingers stroke down from her soft cheek to chin.

"Don't be," Gaara murmurs on his own tired breath. "I want only to take care of you like you did I."

Their eyes remain on one another.

"I am who I am because of you, Sakura," Gaara continues to speak whole stroking Sakura's face and hair. "I'd never hurt the first person who wanted me to accept them."

Sakura takes a deep breath once she feels Gaara's cold fingers slide under her robe and brush the warm skin of her shoulder.

"Friendship," Gaara speaks before his eyes trail past Sakura's gaze to look where his fingers touch.

That deep breath Sakura was holding releases in a shiver when Gaara parts Sakura's robe off her shoulder more. Her bare skin is inviting to the redhead who brushes his fingers down towards Sakura's collar bone.

"-and love," Gaara continues.

He pauses his voice after that, and Sakura watches as Gaara's teal gaze looks down at where his hands are. Hunger returns to his eyes and his strokes seem to slow down as he is pulled into a mesmerizing spell.

Sakura squirms and curls her lips back as Gaara's hand advances more down her robe. His hands explore her warm skin in a gentle way but his eyes reflect a longing for so much more.

"I would not know of these cherished feelings were it not for you," Gaara says more sternly before he gives his bottom lip a quick lick.

He speaks to her adoringly, but Sakura is watching his eyes lust for something more. Sure enough, as his hand goes lower in her robe, threatening to touch her bare breast, she speaks up.

"Stop," she tells him, surprised how breathy she sounds.

She realizes only then that her chest is heaving hard and her heart is racing, yet she is not afraid. The thought she may be yearning for touch, his touch, does scare her however. Gaara does as he is told, and brings his hand back to him while locking his gaze back with Sakura's own.

"I only want to make you feel good," Gaara explains.

Sakura wants to scoff, but listens instead as Gaara continues.

"You are exhausted, you are pained," he coos at her.

Sakura is surprised that Gaara actually can see how she is now when being blinded before by lust. Does she really look that worn?

"I just want to make you feel good," he explains as he brings his fingers back to stroke the side of neck. "You deserve it."

Sakura doesn't brush away Gaara's touch, but instead grows curious of his question.

"You mean sex, right?" she asks.

There is no disgust in her voice and no amusement. There is no feelings behind her tired voice anymore. If there are any curiosities in her at the moment, it's wondering how that mind of Gaara works and looks at her and the world. She is surprised to even feel his fingers go frozen the moment she said that s word. Gaara is quiet, contemplating Sakura's question before his hands return to her skin.

"I would worship you."

And Sakura is certain he would. She is beginning to believe that Gaara would do anything she asks for. After all-

'I would have done the same for Sasuke.'

Gaara would probably put a crown on her head and lay her in a pile of gems if she told him she'd be happy by it.

'Isn't that what love is?' a voice in her mind speaks. 'Giving the one you love all that you can give.'

As if he can read her mind, Gaara cements his feelings with his words and a confession.

"I love you so much, Sakura. It hurts at times."

Sakura turns her head and gaze away from Gaara then. He is speaking too much on a level she is familiar with, but she refuses to let him recognize that. As her eyes travel, she catches sight of Gaara's bandages, and forces herself to remember that Gaara is hurt and not in full touch with his mind due to the full moon and tea.

"I can't do that with you, Gaara," Sakura tells him instead.

She knows what pain is to come next, so she speaks in favor of not hurting Gaara's feelings.

"You are hurt..."

"I will be alright," he quickly refutes, his eyes now shine as Sakura holds a desire of his and teases it tantalizingly.

Sakura writhes under Gaara once his hands returns under her robe and back to rub her shoulder.

"It's to make you feel good."

Sakura blinks after hearing Gaara's purr. Are his words truly selfless or is she so desirable to him that he would lie for his favor? These are questions Sakura is still so unsure of despite the answers Gaara gives her. Would he truly keep his word? Would he make her feel good, or would he break her through his enthusiastic urges. Her mind recalls the first night she was brought into this home and stumbled in on Gaara with another woman.

"Would it be different..." Sakura speaks in barely a whisper, embarrassed to be speaking to Gaara like this.

Gaara's head tilts and he looks at Sakura just as she is finishing her question.

"...Then when you do it with other people?"

Sakura blushes lightly as she recalls how Gaara used his sand on another woman.

Sakura is caught off guard as Gaara brings his head low to Sakura's own and he begins to cradle her lightly.

"They are nothing to me," he spits with a hiss, as if upset Sakura even brings up a question. "You are my everything while they are all nothing. I will pour my all my feelings onto you."

Sakura swallows hard, unaccustomed to hearing such things said about her. Red burns her face again and she attempts to brush off what Gaara says with a joke of her.

"If it's all of your feelings then you would probably break me," Sakura tells him while trying to ignore the stern look he sets on Sakura.

She sighs lightly when she realizes her joke doesn't move him away as she hoped.

"It would be too much for my first time," she whispers into the air.

A silence follows. Sakura quickly feels on edge as the aura of the room shifts. Suddenly, Sakura feels as if she has spoken taboo words with the way Gaara's voice and hands freeze on her. Her head and eyes tilt back to look up Gaara as his clouded gaze stares past Sakura. Her gaze shifts from his tea to his bandaged abdomen. Signs that she really should let Gaara be to rest. Before too long, the redhead's fingers squeeze the skin of Sakura's shoulders.

"Virgin?" Gaara asks in a stunned whisper.

Sakura's cheeks turn hot again at Gaara's question.

'Why did I say first time?' Sakura castigates in her mind.

When Sakura's voice doesn't utter a word is when Gaara's nails dig a little harder into her skin.

"Oi," he calls to Sakura while clambering to bring his face closer to hers. "Did I hear you right?"

Sakura blinks at Gaara as his eyes lock with hers. There's an odd, built enthusiasm in the redhead now. Sakura is suddenly brightening his eyes even more now, and he seems flustered trying to get Sakura is answer him.

'He is fascinated by...oh.' Sakura thinks before it clicks in her mind.

The idea is a backwards one, and even Gaara's jaded being now might be cause of it, but Sakura can see Gaara raising her even higher on a pedestal of desire all because she…

"You've never been touched," Gaara clarifies for her on a hitched voice.

"So what?" Sakura speaks with a head voice, trying to shake away Gaara's digging nails.

Sakura regrets that question when Gaara speaks to her truthfully.

"I want to be your first and only. You only seem to entice me more day by day, my blossom."

Sakura wants to roll her eyes, but as Gaara's hands grow more feverish and his eyes seem to just dive into her emerald orbs she knows she can't stay quiet. She sighs a deep breath just before Gaara says more.

"It's as if you waited for me..."

"You're wrong!" Sakura shouts. "Let me go!"

Her chest heaves heavy, but her eyes stay trained on Gaara's own and she is able to stop his hands and eyes growing feverish. Eventually, as silence looms, Sakura picks herself back up and away from Gaara who does not hold her down or refute her movement. Instead, he watches her intently as she scoots herself to edge of the bed before hunching her back and hanging her head low. She can't find her voice as her thoughts rush with all the stresses she is handling at the moment.

She is tired. She is dying. She is away from her own world, bouncing through time. She is trying to change an evil man while also consoling him. A man she helped to raise to become the dark animosity he is today… There is blame weighing her down and guilt that is eating away her soul. She is realizing now, sitting on Gaara's bed, that the bright future she wants for everyone is now looking so hopeless.

She only notices that tears are coming out of her once her vision blurs.

'Maybe you should just accept this,' she dismally thinks.

Her spirit is cracking, but unbeknownst to her someone else loves her enough to notice her struggling. That someone else is quick to notice Sakura's tears even before her, and he is quick to rush to her side. He wants to help fix her spirit he grew up to love. He will pick up those broken pieces that Sakura to help put her back together.

He does his part now by holding Sakura. It's instantaneous that the moment he touches her, Sakura lays her wet eyes into his shoulder. He strokes her hair gently as Sakura gently weeps and lets out a more vulnerable side of her in front him. She lets out more of her to him now than ever that his heart swells despite the obvious pain she is in.

"I did not mean to frighten you," Gaara gently speaks while cradling the roseate. "I would never hurt you..."

Sakura sniffles, stifling her tears, but not because Gaara's words ease her. But because he is all she has now, she opens up more.

"You frighten me now," she admits on a quivering breath.

Before he never had. A man who claims to love her scares her more than his unpredictable child self ever had. But she is losing her strength, and more importantly, time. That thought is driving her into the arms of a madman and growing curious about the love he vows to show her.

Her own mind is frightening her as well.

Her claim has Gaara holding onto her harder suddenly, and she only realizes why he tightens the embrace when he opens up to her as well. Something about Sakura scares Gaara too.

"Be afraid of me after you leave today, Sakura. Be so afraid of me that you don't come see me until after the full moon," Gaara's voice shakes lightly as he looks down at Sakura. "Any other time, do no be afraid."

Gaara's hold on Sakura loosens and she is allowed to look up at him with wet eyes. Her hands are still planted on his chest where the redhead rest his hands on top of hers. She is silent, puzzled, and curious by Gaara's words now. She suspected consoling on his part but instead is given a sinister fact. Something useful that she actually appreciates hearing from him.

Something that tells her that maybe he really is looking out for her.

Her voice is gone, and Gaara recognizes her silence. He is the one to pull her hands off of him before speaking to her more sternly. It is only with his next words does Sakura notice something within Gaara's eyes. There is a glimpse in his eyes now that reminds her so much of his younger self suddenly.

"Sakura, If there is a world where I would do any harm to you then I need you to promise me something."

Despite his abysmal sounding words, Sakura's heart is now beating more calmly.

"Okay?" he asks her while bringing his head down closer to her.

He waits for her to nod to answer him yes. He needs to have Sakura understand his words.

"Promise me that you'll end me then and there."

Sakura gawks as she tries to comprehend what Gaara is telling her. How frightened should she really be about tomorrow? Maybe she should be begging him to let her go.

Maybe she should run.

"Promise me, Sakura."

It's only when Sakura can spot Gaara's eyelids growing heavy, him struggling to stay awake, does she give him an answer.

"I'll consider it..." she can't agree to his promise when his child self is so fresh in her mind.

Despite her answer, Gaara lifts his lips some in a gentle smile as his eyes close.

Gaara says nothing more as he lets go of Sakura to instead embrace his bed. As he lays, Sakura takes it as her cue to leave quickly.

'...and not return until after the full moon.'

As she leaves and closes the door behind her, her mind rushes once more with many things. Including Gaara's kindness and his praise of her along with his warnings. There are so many sides to Gaara that she sees. So many warnings do others tell her about Gaara while others praise him.

She is still unsure about Gaara. Even though his kindness moments ago speak loudest to her.

'He cares for you...' a voice in her mind tells her. 'Isn't that what love is?'

And she is breaking because she does actually agree to that thought before retreating away from Gaara's room.


Her spirit is cracking, but unbeknownst to her someone else loves her enough to notice her struggling. He wants to help fix the spirit he grew up to love. He will pick up those broken pieces that Sakura to help put her back together. However, an evil man can also put those pieces back in a different way, he could remake her anyway that he pleased. He might just know, that when pain takes a hold of you and all seems hopeless, exactly when you'll come to him asking him to help you piece yourself together.

And she will be too broken already to see.