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"You are all a disgrace!" The boss's nostrils were flaring up as he crushed the smoking pipe handle in half with his one hand. His piercing gaze was heavily focused on his subordinates, who were looking down on their feet shamefully.

"We-we tried following them, but they just disappeared..." the fourth rogue stammered in fright.

"I don't care! I don't give a single damn if they did, you should've kept your eyes wide fucking open on those little punks. Now, the treasure is lost," The boss sneered.

"I told you that we should've caged them in a circle. You just exploded the rocks in the wrong places..." the first rogue remarked irritably in a hiss.

"That's not my fault, you guys were slacking off," the fourth rogue defended himself.

"How? We were mostly prepared in our positions and trying to find the perfect angle. We would have captured them, If it wasn't your recklessness," the second rogue pointed a finger accusingly.

"Ugh. I'm starting to question about what the hell I'm doing here," the third rogue muttered under his breath as he slapped himself with a groan.

"Shut up! The three of you! It doesn't matter whose fault it is. Blame it on your stupidity!" The boss shouted hotly, throwing the smoking pipe on the ground.

They all flinched at his outburst and staggered back, then bowed down. "Sorry, boss..."

"You better be. Otherwise, you will be the one to get macerated with my jutsu," he apprised slowly in a dark tone of his voice.

"Yes, boss..." they replied in unison and saluted.

"Off you go and find them," he ordered.
After the subordinates left, he was massaging his eyelids to lessen his aggravation.

"They've obviously trespassed my property. Well, let's see if they can outrun my special prowess..." He opened his eyes that uncovered his Shar-rinnegan with his sinister grin.

The outskirts of the mountain hillside were obscure where the pink-haired kunoichi opens her eyelids and zooms her head around in a daze. She fluttered them instantly, not realizing that she had cascaded through the drawn-out pit. Yet, she began to puzzle about how she still managed to lay down on the grass properly until a voice had spoken up.

"I see you're finally awake."

"Gaara... Where are we?" Sakura asked, startling at him sitting next to her.
The red-haired Kazekage looked at the distant scenery over his right shoulder and responded. "The Waterfalls."

"Oh..." she nodded and pushed herself up, but the injury on her leg acted up, causing her to groan. "Argh!"

Gaara held her waist to steady her posture and said softly. "Easy, easy. Here, I'll help you walk."

"No, it's okay. I can heal myself-" Sakura intervened.

"How? We don't have access to use our power," Gaara said and added in. "It's also unlikely for me to teleport as well."
"Right, but I'm heavy," she murmured in embarrassment.

"You are quite the opposite," he said, smiling pleasantly at one of their moments, then slightly faltered. "I carried you when your body was in pain after fighting in those missions..." He cleared his throat and advised by saying. "Anyway, we have no choice but to walk until we meet up and rejoin our friends. We don't know the exact time. However, I think if we start moving promptly, we will get there. First, we have to head towards the east south, so you can fully recover."

Sakura took another brief look at him in awe, thinking to herself. "What is this strange feeling? His aura is so much different from Sasuke's... It's like I felt safe..." She bit her bottom lip and tried to conceal the blush that was appearing on her cheeks.

They continue to wander the path and halt for a second to notice a blue luminosity of the enthralling lake where all the fireflies are.

In just about a couple of minutes, they reached the area and had already settled down on the huge rocks in the edges of the shallow waters. They took off their sandals and soaked their bare feet in them.

"Are you alright?" The red-haired Kazekage asked while he was sitting beside her.

"Hmm. Of course. You?" The pink-haired kunoichi gestured with a soft smile.

"Me too," he responded and went on further. "You know, this is the first time we've been here. Well, without our friends."

"Yeah and if Ino and Hinata saw this place, they would be mesmerized by its beauty. They even want to spend time alone with Naruto and Sai, but apparently, we all have to stick by Lady Tsunade's orders," she giggled and gasped slightly. "I heard you got a girlfriend. You know, Sasuke told me. What is she like? Is she pretty?"

"Yes, she is right here in front of me..." he sighed wistfully in his mind and shifted his gaze on the water. "She is beautiful and I miss her every single moment..."

"Why? You guys don't see each other every day?" Sakura wondered blankly.

"We do, however, she's..." Gaara trailed off of his words as he tried to think of an excuse, then blurted out. "Busy..."

"Busy? Like work?" Sakura guessed.

"Perhaps. What about you?" He glanced at her.

"Huh?" She blinked her eyes cluelessly.

"What do you think about Sasuke?" Gaara mentioned calmly.

"He is the boy I was crushing on back in our childhood days. He and I used to hang out in the park and he saved me from those kids," she stopped for a moment as her facial expression had wry. She grabbed both sides of her head and grunted. "Ugh!"

"Sakura!" The red-haired Kazekage exclaimed, holding her closely.

The pink-haired kunoichi, on the other hand, became dizzy as soon as half of her memories came flashing in her mind. The rogue ninjas were fighting against the two siblings, whereas the red-haired boy untied the ropes off from Sakura's wrists. The next scene popped up where she was trying to revive him. Her helpless cries were being heard throughout the deserted area after she mourned over his death, alongside her friends. Then, Lady Chiyo said her final words as she exchanged her life with the red-haired boy. Sakura saw him and embraced him longingly once he was brought back to life. Instantly in just about a few seconds, she snapped back into reality, gasping out in stupefaction.

Gaara went puzzled at her abrupt reaction towards him. "Sakura...?"

"I-I remember now," Sakura said faintly.

"You do?" The red-haired Kazekage queried optimistically.

"You are the boy that I was trying to save your life..." she noted and approached him slowly. "You are important to me for some reason and I couldn't pinpoint as to why I'm deeply fond of you."

Gaara raised both of his eyebrows when she swiftly hugged him in a jolt. He reciprocated as they stayed in their embrace for five minutes until Sakura began to hit him, making him perplexed.

"I just don't understand why you were trying to kill my friends back in the Chunin Exams! I was the one reaching out to you, but you chose to be cold and hostile!" Sakura pointed angrily with her fists against his chest, then she silently broke down, sobbing.

He swallowed a hard lump in his throat. Yet, he doesn't seem to be fazed out by her constant beating and just kept his arms around her comfortingly.

"All those times where we had arguments and tried to compromise, we end up coming to disagreements! You are the most compulsive jerk who didn't approve anybody's decisions in the squad!" She shoved him off of her and questioned. "And not only that... Who is Katsumi and why did she kill me?!"

"Sakura..." The red-haired Kazekage took a step forward, but he was signaled to stop.

"Answer me!" The pink-haired kunoichi demanded impatiently.

"She was my fiance before-" Gaara tried to explain, but got cut off.

"So why the hell is you with her?!" Sakura interrogated further with a livid expression. Her tears were dripping on her cheeks and wiped them away.

"Can't you see what she did? She wanted me to be gone so badly that I wanted to stay out of your lives. Yet, I'm always being dragged down into your personal affairs. It's been so clear to me since the day I saw her, she is nothing but an envious and self-absorbed person. It only leads me to the point of blaming myself and you didn't try to defend me at least once! I thought we were friends!"

"Look, I know what I did was wrong back then and I've regretted my decision for letting you get hurt so many times," he interjected.

"You should be because I had feelings for you, but you were stupid enough to notice them," she huffed and looked away before she was striding towards the tree.

Gaara narrowed his eyes and snapped back sharply. "Well, I could say the same thing and I'm sorry if I'm not a good mind reader. It's not my intention to hurt you when you are so obsessed with Sasuke and still wouldn't get over it. Congratulations, you want to be with a criminal who almost killed you three times!"

"How dare you! You know, Katsumi is probably the craziest bitch you are going to marry," Sakura stated and gestured her arms out.

"You and I are no different. We are both going to live our lives with them," Gaara said sarcastically.

"At least, I'm not deranged like you are!" Sakura shouted and marched off angrily away from him.

"If you must know, I'm not in some sort of relationship with her," Gaara said loudly and went on further. "My girlfriend is not busy... She's right here..."

The pink-haired kunoichi stopped for a moment in bewilderment and turned around again slowly to question. "What are you talking about?"

"Katsumi and I broke up two months ago," Gaara said.

"I don't believe you," Sakura contradicted and shook her head dismissively.

"You may deny it, however, I would never lie to you..." he murmured as he stepped forward until the two of them were close. "Even if you still don't remember, one thing's for sure is that you and I are together."

The pink-haired kunoichi was startled when he suddenly smashed his lips against hers. She didn't push him away this time, now that she feels butterflies in her stomach.

Gaara caresses her face with his hands and kisses her again passionately before wrapping his arms around her waist.

Sakura subconsciously finds her hands on his neck and responds back, deepening into their kiss.

The two of them slowly removed their clothes on the side until they were fully naked in the water.

Their eyes were filled with lust and desire as they became more intimate when Gaara gave her a few hickeys on her collarbone. Sakura was arching her back and widened her legs between him as he kept thrusting in and out of her.

A couple of their heavy moaning breaths were made as they reached their climax.

The moon was gleaming brightly as the lake glistened back and forth upon their bodies.

Thus, they continued on further without letting go of each other throughout the blissful night.

TO BE CONTINUED...