Chapter 11

After leaving Temari and Sakura in the conference room of the arena, Matsuri walked back to her apartment. She had wanted to apologize to Sakura for the way she had treated her during the trials, but the pinkette had never given her the chance. Before she could utter a word, her adversary for Gaara's attention had informed her that they were going to have a final battle.

At first, she couldn't believe her ears. The Tribunal had officially named Sakura as the winner of the Kazehime Trial. Why would the Konoha native still want to fight her? Matsuri had overheard Temari telling Sakura that she didn't need to fight. Was Sakura still angry with her? If the pinkette had given her a chance, she would have apologized, but now she was going to have to prepare herself to fight a battle she felt she had no way of winning.

Matsuri resigned herself to her circumstances and got something to eat and went to bed.

The next morning, Matsuri arose from her bed. She showered and made herself some breakfast. While eating she decided that not only did she need to be physically ready for battle, but that she needed to be mentally and emotionally ready as well.

So she started looking back to other battles and missions that she had been in and how she had succeeded against her enemies. She remembered the training that she had received from Gaara. Matsuri kept telling herself to stay positive. Being negative would only make her defeat even harder.

She was being given a chance to fight against Sakura and she wasn't going to waste it. Even if she lost to the pinkette, it could still get her noticed by her crush, Gaara. And even if he still did not acknowledge her, she would still try to find a way to apologize to her adversary. Sakura, at one point, did offer friendship to her and that was something she wanted to try to gain back.

The brunette gathered her weapons and made sure to grab her johyo. She knew Sakura had perfect chakra control and would try to use her chakra enhanced strength against her. Matsuri had trained hard for many years with her johyo and had great control with it. The weapon would be of tremendous help towards her fight against Sakura.

After double checking to make sure she had everything, she left her apartment and walked back to the arena. All the while, Matsuri was mentally telling herself that she would be able to put up a good fight against her adversary. Even if she couldn't win, she wanted to make a good show of it and have a good time. She could only hope that Sakura felt the same way.

XXX

While Matsuri was preparing herself for battle, Sakura was rising from her bed. She had surprised Temari when she told Matsuri that they were going to have one final battle. Temari had told her it was not necessary, but she felt that it was. The members of Suna's council had walked away from the Tribunal with anger and hatred in their eyes. Whatever plans they had had for the winner of the Trials was not going to work now that she had been declared the Kazehime. What that entailed, she did not know. Temari didn't seem to be too forthcoming in that department. She would just have to keep pressuring the blonde for answers.

Sakura left the nice warm bed and got a shower. She then walked downstairs and noticed that Temari had made breakfast. She sat down at the table and started helping herself to whatever was in front of her.

Temari looked over to Sakura and said, "Good morning sleepy head. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes. I did. I feel well rested and I am more than prepared for my battle with Matsuri today," she stated with a small smile on her face.

"Are you really sure you want to do this, Sakura?" Temari felt this was a waste of time. Sakura had already been declared the winner, Temari thought. Fighting Matsuri was only going to stall the time that she could be spending with Gaara. Now that the trials were over with, she didn't know how long she would be able to keep the pinkette (and Shikamaru) in Suna.

"Yes. I'm sure I want to do this. I'm afraid if I don't, then your council may find a way to invalidate the decision of the Tribunal," Sakura explained. "You wanted me to win this thing so that the council could not have their way. They were not happy with the decision of the Tribunal. You may want to be cautious around them, Temari."

"I wouldn't worry so much about the council. Let Gaara handle them. If you're sure about this fight, then I'll support you. Try not to get too roughed up. Later today, you will be meeting with Gaara and the council. It will be your first Suna council meeting as the new Kazehime," Temari smirked. Gaara will be in for a big surprise, she thought to herself.

When the girls had finished their breakfast, they washed and dried the dishes and then made their way to the arena.

XXX

Matsuri had finally arrived at the arena. She walked through the big entrance and out onto the dirt covered floor of the arena. As she stood about midway of the floor, she looked around herself. She could see that quite a few people had already arrived and were talking amongst themselves. Knowing that there were no spectators for the trials, she figured that a huge crowd would show up for this event. For the time being, she would have to make sure to ignore them and concentrate on her fight against Sakura.

Sakura and Temari arrived just a few minutes after Matsuri did. Shikamaru had informed Temari that he was staying back at the mansion. He wasn't interested in watching two kunoichi fight each other. Temari told him she didn't mind as she knew of his penchant for being lazy.

Temari noticed that the council members were sitting in the VIP section of the arena. She could see the disapproval in their eyes. They were still angry that Baki had ruled in favor of Sakura. They will get over it, she thought to herself.

Temari walked up to the center of the arena floor. She looked over to her right where Sakura was standing and nodded at her. Sakura nodded back to her. She then looked over to her left were Matsuri stood and dipped her head at the girl. Matsuri pumped her fist at Temari showing that she was ready for the battle to begin. Temari held her arm outstretched and then lifted it saying, "Begin."

Sakura and Matsuri stared each other down for a few seconds. Each girl was trying to guess how the other would start the battle. Sakura grabbed a couple of shuriken from her hip pouch and then created a couple of clones. Matsuri saw the shuriken in Sakura's hand and pulled out a kunai.

Sakura threw the shurikens at Matsuri while her clones ran at the girl. Sakura stayed behind and watched as the brunette blocked her shurikens and then vaulted over the pursuing clones. Matsuri then pulled out what looked like a dart attached to a rope. The girl ran and slung the rope at Sakura's legs hoping to knock her off of her feet, but Sakura was ready for her. The pinkette did a replacement jutsu just as the rope tangled around her legs.

Matsuri stopped her running when she noticed that Sakura had disappeared. She looked around hoping to spot the pinkette. Sakura threw a smoke bomb at the brunette and then threw more shuriken at the girl. She then ran into the smoke and threw a left punch at Matsuri's face.

Matsuri used her kunai to block the incoming shuriken and then dodged Sakura's punch by ducking and rolling to her right. She did the hand signs and created a chakra sand whip. Sakura saw the sand whip and created her own water whip, remembering how useful it had been during one of her battles.

They swung their whips at each other and they entwined. The water began to weigh down the sand and Matsuri had to release the jutsu as it became too heavy to wield. Sakura then swung the water whip and used it to knock the brunette off of her feet. As soon as the whip made contact, Sakura pulled back sharply causing Matsuri to fall on her backside with a huff. She looked up at the pinkette and gave her an angry glare.

The brunette got back up to her feet and said, "I'm not giving up that easily."

"I don't expect you to," Sakura answered back.

Matsuri picked up her johyo while running toward the pinkette. She threw a couple of shuriken at Sakura to distract her. She slung the dart attached to the rope at the pinkette and was able to hit her adversary's shoulder. The dart stabbed her opponent. Matsuri pulled back on the rope to bring the dart back to herself.

Sakura felt the pain in her shoulder and saw blood flowing out of the wound. She did a quick chakra scan to make sure no poison had entered it. Noticing that there was no poison, she quickly healed herself.

Sakura gathered chakra into her fist and punched the ground before her. The walls of the arena shuddered and a crack opened up in the floor. The force of Sakura's punch knocked Matsuri off of her feet. Sakura moved to her left avoiding the crack in the floor and started running towards the brunette. Before she reached the girl, Sakura jumped in the air and extended her right leg up. She yelled a big "shannaro" and landed her leg on top of Matsuri's chest.

The brunette's body was forced back into the ground. She groaned in pain from the strike. She still wasn't ready to give up. She still wanted to prove herself to everyone. She tried to climb back to her feet, but fell down to her knees grabbing her stomach in pain while wincing.

Sakura saw the brunette fall to her knees and decided to give the girl some space and a chance to catch her breath. What she didn't know was that was a part of Matsuri's plan. When the brunette saw Sakura backing away, she took the moment to jump to her feet and run towards the pinkette. She then slide-tackled Sakura and knocked her to the floor. When Sakura landed on her back, Matsuri jumped on her chest and started punching her in the face.

Sakura tried to block the punches with her fist to no avail. She then decided to pour chakra into her arms and hands and she threw Matsuri off of her. She clambered to her feet as fast as she could and then created another set of clones. Sakura immediately ordered the clones to chase Matsuri and to try to lead her near the crack in the floor.

Matsuri tried to take out the clones with her shuriken and her johyo, but they sidestepped the weapons with relative ease. One of the clones was able to grab Matsuri's arm. Borrowing some of the real Sakura's chakra enhanced strength, the clone picked the brunette up and threw her near the largest section of the crack.

When Sakura saw Matsuri land near the crack, she punched the ground again and the crack opened up wider under the brunette. Matsuri fell into the hole and Sakura was on her in a fast second. "I think it's about time you surrendered the match Matsuri," Sakura told her.

"No," Matsuri cried out in defiance. "I can't let you defeat me."

Sakura could see tears falling from Matsuri's eyes. Why was she so upset about this? She knows that no matter what happens, she still won't be given the title of Kazehime.

"Matsuri, why do you wish to continue so badly?" she inquired.

Matsuri sniffling, answered, "because I want to prove to Gaara and to everyone that I am a strong kunoichi. After all the training Gaara gave me, I don't want to let him down."

Sakura knew that Matsuri had feelings for Gaara. She felt bad for the girl. She knew what it was like having a crush on a guy and wanting to prove herself to her crush. But - no matter what she did, it seemed as if it was never enough. Sasuke had never acknowledged her. Not even after he had seen her in battle. It hurt and she knew that Matsuri may suffer the same fate.

That was why Sakura had tried to share her experience with the brunette. She had hoped that Matsuri would have learned from her and would let go of her crush, but it didn't even seem as if the girl had listened to her or wanted to learn.

The brunette was going to keep fighting for as long as she could, no matter the extent of her injuries. The only way to get the girl to quit was if she knocked the girl out. It was the most merciful thing Sakura could do now that her anger had been sated. Now all she felt was pity for the Suna girl.

Sakura pulled the girl out to the hole and placed her back on her feet. "I'm sorry Matsuri, but we need to end this before you get too hurt."

"What do you mean? I'm good enough to continue," Matsuri yelled back.

Sakura just shook her head at the girl and then hit her in the back of the head. Matsuri's body crumpled to the floor like a rag doll.

Temari ran to the center of the floor and stood near the two kunoichis. She looked over to Sakura and asked her, "Is she going to be ok?"

"Yes. She will be fine when she wakes up. She may have a headache, but she will be ok," she answered.

Temari took Sakura's right arm and lifted it in the air. With a loud voice, she told the crowd, "the winner of this match is Haruno Sakura. Three cheers for the kunoichi from Konoha."

The crowd, standing to their feet, answered back with three cheers of "Huzzah, Huzzah, Huzzah!" A strong blush could be seen on Sakura's face. Temari laughed outloud at her friend in spite of herself.

While the crowd was still cheering, Temari motioned for the medics to come and take Matsuri back to the hospital. Sakura directed the medics on what to do for the brunette when she woke up.

"Well now that that is finished, I think it is time for you to go back to the mansion and get yourself cleaned up," Temari advised Sakura. "In about an hour, you will have a meeting with Suna's council and I know you will want to look your best, especially since Gaara will be there," the blonde snickered.

Sakura just rolled her eyes at Temari and started walking back to the mansion.

After cleaning up from her battle with Matsuri, Sakura decided she was going to try and talk to Temari about what the council's plans were for the winner of the trials and how it involved Gaara. She exited Temari's room and went looking for the blonde.

Said blonde was found in the living room reading a scroll Gaara had left for her to read. Temari was going to be given a genin team and she would need to prepare them for when they had their first mission. The scroll contained the names of the genin she would be in charge of and how well they had performed while attending Suna's academy.

Temari didn't know if she was ready to be a sensei yet. When she finished reading the scroll, she rolled it back up and put it on the table in front of her. Right now, she had more important things on her mind and she wanted to see them through.

"Temari, now that my battle with Matsuri is over, we need to talk," Sakura informed her friend.

"I told you everything I could, Sakura. Besides, after this meeting, I think you'll be able to figure everything out for yourself." Temari knew the whole truth wouldn't be forthcoming at this meeting, but the pinkette was a smart girl and she should be able to figure out most of what being the Kazehime would entail. When the time was right, it would be either herself or Gaara who would break the most important news to the girl.

" Temari. You told me that the council had nefarious plans for the winner of the trials and that it involved Gaara," she reminded the blonde. "How am I supposed to help you if I don't have all the information? What are the council's plans and how does it involve your brother?"

Sakura decided that if Temari was going to be stubborn about this, then she would be too. She wasn't going to drop the subject. The Konoha girl figured that the role of Kazehime probably was just as important as the Kazekage, but she still wanted more information.

"Sakura. I can't tell you anything more," Temari insisted. You will just have to wait for the meeting. I'm sure that after this meeting, you will figure everything out. You're a smart girl. By the way, if we don't get moving, we will be late for this meeting. Let's get going."

While Sakura went to the door and started to put her shoes on, Temari told Shikamaru they were leaving for the Kazekage's office. He was welcome to join them if he wanted.

XXX

Kankuro walked into Gaara's office. His brother had been working most of the day and he could see how tired the Kazekage was. "Gaara, are you ready for the meeting with the council?"

Gaara looked up from the scroll he had just been reading. He was not really in the mood for another meeting. It seemed as if the council was out to ruin his life. They always wanted things for themselves and at times it seemed as if they didn't have Suna's best interest at heart. He gave a sigh while pinching the bridge of this nose. "Yes. Let me just finish with this scroll and I'll walk with you to the council chambers." Shortly after, Gaara walked with Kankuro to the meeting.

The council entered the chamber and sat down. "What are we to do now that a leaf kunoichi has won the trials and will now be the Kazehime?" the head council elder asked.

"It seems as if our plan has backfired on us," council member Kuura said. "Since we put Temari in charge of the trials, I think we should allow her to do most of the talking." She looked at the faces of the other council members and could see that they were in agreement with her. "Fine... Then we will have Kankuro tell Temari and Haruno Sakura to wait outside the chambers until we are ready for them to come inside."

Gaara and Kankuro had entered the chambers just as Kuura had finished her sentence. Gaara took a look around the room and noticed the sullen faces on the council members. He wondered what could have them so upset.

The head council elder spoke to Kankuro; "please wait outside for Temari and our guest. Let them know they are to wait until we call for them."

Kankuro bowed to the council and left the room. "What is this meeting about?" Gaara asked his council.

"The Kazehime Trials are finished. It is time that you be introduced to the winner," the head elder infomed Gaara.

Temari along with Sakura and Shikamaru finally made it to the Kazekage building. They walked up to the second floor and saw Kankuro standing outside the council chamber door.

"The council wants you and Sakura to wait out here until they call for you," Kankuro informed his sister.

"Alright. We will wait here," the blonde said.

Kankuro walked back into the chamber and told the council that their guest was waiting outside. The head elder continued with the meeting. The introduction of Haruno Sakura as the Kazehime would be the last point he talked about. The fact that a leaf kunoichi had gained the title was still a point of contention, he felt. He wondered how the Kazekage would react to the news. Would the leaf kunoichi hang it over their heads about the fact that they had been fooled by a Sannin and tried to attack Konoha and failed at their attempt?

Gaara was getting impatient. He felt that his council was dragging out the meeting for no purpose at all. Were they disappointed in who the winner was? Per Temari, he thought that most of the participants had been hand chosen by the council. What about the trials could have them so upset?

As Gaara was thinking, he overheard Kuura tell Kankuro to let Temari and their guest to enter the chambers. Kankuro left the room and then walked back in with just Temari. Gaara wondered why the guest had not entered as well.

When Kankuro had come back out of the chambers, he told Temari they could come in. Temari had told Sakura to wait. She wanted to make sure everything was ready for the kunoichi's entrance. Sakura couldn't help but feel nervous. This was another important event in her life. Meeting the council and Gaara as the new Kazehime was a very big important matter. Temari had informed her that the council had had nefarious plans for the winner of the trials and that somehow Gaara was involved. She wished the blonde had told her more.

Temari entered the room and took a look around at the council. Kuura stood up from her seat and told her, "since you were put in charge of the trials, we would like for you to introduce the winner."

Temari stood next to her youngest brother and started to give the highlights of the trials. "We had fifty participants in the trial. Each kunoichi was transported to different parts of the desert. They were expected to survive in the desert, battle other kunoichi and make it back to Suna on their own.

A tracker that could measure heart rate and the location of each participant was distributed to each kunoichi as they signed in. We were able to use the tracker to inform us when a kunoichi was in trouble or knocked unconscious from a fight. When someone was defeated in battle, we were able to transport that kunoichi back to the arena for medical treatment."

Gaara listened intently to his sister. She was giving a very informative summary about the trials, but he wished she would hurry it up. He just wanted to get this meeting over with so he could get back to his office and hide behind his mountain of scrolls.

Temari continued. "We ended with two winners to the trials. A tribunal was conducted and it was determined that one of the participants was disqualified for entering the trials illegally." Temari turned to her brother and gave him a smile. "The winner of the Kazehime trials is standing outside the door. Are you ready to meet her, Gaara?"

He gave his sister a nodd. She walked over to the door and stuck her head out. "Ok, guest. It's time to come in," she snickered.

Sakura entered the room and closed the door behind her. Gaara decided to stand up from his chair. He turned around and saw the backside of the girl in front of him. Pink hair spilling over her shoulders. Wait… pink hair… Was that pink hair? He blinked several times. There was only one female he knew with pink hair. It couldn't be her. No way it could. She was supposed to be in Konoha, not here in Suna. The girl turned around and emerald green eyes stared into his jade green eyes.

Temari tried hard not to laugh at the sight of her opened-mouth brother. Didn't he remember that she had told him that she had a plan? "You might want to close your mouth, Gaara. You don't want to start drooling on the floor," the blonde snickered. Gaara gave her a brief frown.

"Gaara, I would like to introduce you to the winner of the Kazehime Trials - Haruno Sakura." Temari gave the two of them a big grin.

Sakura looking a bit sheepish, waved her hand and said, "hello."

Garra couldn't pull his eyes away from her. "What are you?… I mean, how did you?…" His mind was a muddled mess. He couldn't even get his thoughts straight. Looking over to his sister, he thought she could help explain why Sakura was standing there before him.

Taking mercy on her brother, Temari started telling him, "Don't you remember that I told you not to worry about the trials? To let them play out and see what happens. Since the council was able to choose certain participants and since I am a member of the council as well, I chose Sakura to be a participant in the trials." She could feel the heated glares from the council members, but she didn't care. This was about Gaara and his future. It was not about them.

The redhead listened to what his sister told him. This must be what she meant when she said she had a plan that would benefit him and Suna. Oh, no! Did this mean that she knew of his crush on Sakura. Was that why she chose the pinkette?

Sakura noticed that Gaara was going pale and started to worry about him. "Are you ok, Kazekage-sama?" she asked. It seemed as if he had been kept in the dark about who the participants of the trials were. Why was that?

"I'm fine, Sakura. Congratulations on winning the trials. I'm sure you fought hard against some formidable opponents." He gave her his best smile. A small blush started to appear on Sakura's face.

Bowing to Gaara, she said, "Thank you Kazekage-sama."

He wanted to walk up to her and tell her to cut out the formalities. They were supposed to be friends and there was no need for honorifics between the two of them, but his council was still in the room and he had to maintain his stoic facade.

Sakura didn't know what else to do, so she just stayed in place hoping that someone would tell her what she should do. Temari gave her a sympathetic look and asked the council if there was anything else that needed to be said or done. They shook their heads. The head council elder closed the meeting and the council members left the room.

After watching the council walk out of the room, Kankuro gave a hearty snort. Shikamaru just uttered a "Troublesome."

Temari told both of the men, "I think we should give the Kazekage time to get to know his Kazehime a little bit better."

Gaara and Sakura were left in the room alone together. They couldn't stop staring at each other. Sakura remembered her conversation with Ino about moving on and how Gaara would be a good place to start. She felt her blush getting stronger the longer he stared at her. It seemed like an eternity.

Gaara didn't know how long they stood there. It seemed as if time had stopped. He cleared his throat and began saying, "I hope you don't mind if we drop the honorifics. Please, just call me Gaara. Now that you are the Kazehime, it is your right."

"I will if you will just call me Sakura," she said with a smile that lit up her face.

"I would like to spend some time trying to know more about you. If you don't mind that is," he bravely stated. Everytime he had made a trip to Konoha, he had wanted to spend more time with her, but both of their responsibilities had gotten in the way. Now would be a good time to start.

"I would like to spend more time with you as well, Gaara," Sakura said, her face still beaming.

"Ok. We'll make a day of it. I'll clear my schedule and we'll spend all of tomorrow together. How does that sound?" He couldn't help the sound of hope coming out of his voice when he asked his question. With his crush standing in front of him, the emotions he was feeling quickly started to overwhelm him. He was grateful for what his sister had done for him.

Sakura tried not to sound too excited as she answered Gaara's question. "That sounds fine, Gaara. I look forward to it."

"I assume you are staying at the mansion. I will walk back with you."

As they both walked back to the mansion, Gaara entwined his fingers with the newly announced Kazehime and held her hand the whole way back to his home.

Author Notes:

Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites. I hope you are enjoying this story.

I apologize for posting this so late. There was a lot that I wanted to put in this chapter and I wanted it to make sense. The first draft that I had, I did not like, so I rewrote this chapter and this is what came out. I hope you liked the reveal. There was a lot of emotion that came out.

Next chapter will be even more Gaara and Sakura. Gaara has some big plans for his day with Sakura. I look forward to sharing their moments with you.