Gaara's back hit the rocky ground with a sickening crack. He winced, curling his body against the sharp pain in his ribs and spine. Before he could get used to the position on the ground, he was forced to roll over onto his stomach to get away from Naruto's onslaught of fists.
Reeling from Naruto's astounding aggression, Gaara leapt back up to his feet, ignoring the screaming pain in his ribs. Flecks of sand hovered around him, ready for their next destination. Naruto's eyes were wild – not lost in the kyuubi, but in something else that was just as primal.
It didn't take a genius to know that Naruto was letting out some of his frustrations on Gaara, at least where Sakura was concerned. Gaara understood. If he could have one good sparring session with Shikamaru… Well, he wasn't so sure that was a good idea.
Naruto struck again, launching a flurry of fists toward Gaara's head and chest. Gaara was careful to block and dodge each blow, observing rather than fighting back. He'd have his chance eventually.
Finally finding a crack in his defense, Gaara launched a barrage of sand toward Naruto just as he flicked his eyes over to Sakura who was watching from the sidelines with an amused grin. While not caught completely unaware, Naruto staggered a little, bracing himself against the mighty wave of sand.
When it had cleared and a very disheveled Naruto was left standing in its wake, Gaara allowed the barest hint of a smirk to show through his stoic exterior. "You seem agitated, Naruto," he said. "Are you alright?"
There was an understanding between them that Naruto cared deeply about Sakura as a friend, but had also had a crush on her at one point. Though Gaara knew that such a crush had long disappeared, and had never been too viable an option for Naruto anyway, he also couldn't help his beastly competitive side. He had reveled in being victorious over Sasuke, and now it was all too easy to feel victorious over Naruto as well.
Naruto had wanted her, but now she belonged to Gaara. It should have made him feel guilty. Naruto had always been a soft spot for Gaara, lurking in his feelings and burrowing into emotions that Gaara didn't know he even felt. But this was different. Maybe it shouldn't have, but it felt good.
Naruto's eye twitched. Gaara knew he was once again suppressing the urge to look over at Sakura. Gaara chanced a look over at her for a brief second. Her face was unreadable, but her posture was undeniable. Her hip was cocked and her hand was braced on it.
Unable to help control it, Gaara's smirk widened into a grin. Yes, it did feel good to have won over Sakura's heart. She was a beautiful, strong kunoichi, brash and full of vitality. She was insanely smart and the most talented medic he had ever met before. She was ambitious and driven and headstrong. Sakura was damn near perfect and everything Gaara could ever have asked for.
And she hadn't chosen Naruto or Sasuke. She had chosen Gaara. And yeah, that felt pretty good.
Feeling a sudden swelling of chakra around him, Gaara brought up his sand shield just as a barrage of Naruto clones began to attack. When he let it back down, Naruto's clones popped into oblivion, leaving one slightly breathless and really angry looking Naruto standing in front of him.
"Why do you seem so angry?" Gaara asked, tilting his head with curiosity. It did feel fun to taunt Naruto, especially as Sakura looked on. However, he still wanted to know what Naruto's answer might be.
With a slight lean in toward Gaara, Naruto glanced back toward Sakura and lowered his voice so she couldn't hear. "I can't believe you had sex with her," he muttered bitterly. "You didn't even wait until you were married."
Gaara's eyes narrowed. "Are you waiting for marriage?" he asked skeptically. "Is that why you're still a virgin?"
Though he hadn't meant for it to sound as cruel as it had, it was clear from the scrunched up features on Naruto's face that he took it as another taunt. Gaara genuinely wanted to know the answer to that question, but he didn't think now was the time to press the issue.
Naruto attacked again, this time with a kunai in each hand. He flailed wildly at Gaara, a little more haphazardly than Gaara thought he should have. It was clear that he was frustrated, but not angry enough for the kyuubi to make an appearance. For a brief moment Gaara wondered what that must have been like.
Gaara continued to duck and dodge his blows, returning one every now and then. It was kind of refreshing to be sparring like this against an opponent like Naruto. There was just enough heat in it to make Gaara feel the rush of adrenaline in his gut, yet no one was in any real danger.
When Gaara began to notice Naruto's demeanor becoming even more hostile, he suspected that soon he would reach a breaking point. It certainly wouldn't do for Naruto to begin sprouting tails and going off the rails.
The next blow that Naruto swung landed squarely on Gaara's jaw. The resounding crack made his entire head explode with pain. He staggered backwards before falling down into the sand. He hoped the violence of his blow would make Naruto come to his senses. Gaara brought up a sand shield to deflect any blows that might still come, but when nothing touched his sand, he dropped it back down into the ground.
"Are you okay, Gaara?" Naruto asked, his eyes less heated now as they roved over Gaara's injured face.
He could feel the blood dripping down his cheek onto his neck. His jaw had been popped out of place so he couldn't open and close it properly enough to answer. Instead, he reached up and attempted to jolt his jaw back into place before a delicate, soft hand blocked his path.
"Don't," Sakura warned, crouching down in front of him to inspect the wound. She placed her hands on either side of his face, prepared to properly do what he had just attempted. He knew he should feel some apprehension about the impending pain, but he was content enough with the feel of Sakura's skin against his and her bright eyes focused on him so intently that he barely even felt it as she pushed his jaw back into place.
Naruto, however, winced at the unpleasant popping sound, fidgeting nervously while Sakura sent her healing chakra coursing through Gaara's head.
"Sorry, Gaara, I just got a little too excited, I guess," Naruto said bashfully, toeing the sand
"Nonsense, Naruto," Gaara said, grinning as he let Sakura help him stand. He sidled past her and grasped Naruto's shoulder with a firm hand. "That was the most exciting spar I've had in a while. It's always nice to face a worthy opponent."
Naruto didn't seem too appeased by this. If anything, he seemed suspicious. "So are we going to continue?" he asked.
Gaara shook his head, gently rubbing the stubble on his jaw. It still smarted, but thanks to Sakura it was a much more bearable pain. "No, why don't we just say you won that one?" he suggested, hoping the concession would ease his mind a little about the Sakura situation.
"Yeah, let me have a turn with him now," Sakura insisted.
Naruto's glower returned at that. He gave Sakura a petulant look, but Sakura was ignoring him. Her eyes were on Gaara, which made his scalp tingle. God, he wanted to fight her. Any excuse to touch her, really.
"Fine," Naruto agreed, stalking over to where Sakura had previously been sitting.
Gaara whirled to face Sakura, his eyes dancing with amusement. Her hip was still cocked and her eyes were bright, too. There was a cocky smirk on her face that he was just dying to wipe off.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked with mock condescension. "I'm not going to go easy on you, you know."
"Don't worry about it," she said with a wink. "I've been practicing some new moves."
Gaara didn't have time to deliberate on what she meant by that. Immediately he was on the defensive, blocking her lethal fists as they flurried toward him. He was quick to recover from the shock, using his fists to catch hers as they rained down on him. It was a temporary solution. He knew it was only a matter of time before she began to pack chakra behind those insane fists.
Wanting to prevent that from happening, Gaara shot a wall of sand up between them and used the advantage to put some distance between him and her. By the time he had dropped the wall again, she had already circumvented it and was heading straight for him again, her eyes positively piercing.
He stopped running and turned sharply to face her. She quickly closed the distance between them and aimed what he presumed was a chakra laden punch toward the ground. He had seen her use this technique before against Hideki – shockwaves sent through the sand by her monstrous strength. That may have worked on Hideki, but Gaara had a real advantage here. This was his desert, his sand. She wouldn't be able to out-manipulate him with his own sand.
Before her fist connected with the ground, Gaara used the sand directly beneath her feet to launch her up into the air. He shielded his eyes with his hands as he watched her lithe body pass between him and the sun. He saw her reach toward the pouch at her hip and launch a cluster of shuriken at him from her peak in the air.
Feeling a little amused, Gaara dodged the weapons without the aid of his sand and glanced back at Naruto. The blonde was still sulking, but looked greatly invested in having Sakura kick Gaara's ass.
While he wouldn't have really minded losing to Sakura, Gaara also really wanted to walk away having won both spars today. Defeating two thirds of Team 7 was quite an achievement.
The second Sakura hit the ground, she was already rushing him again, her fists cocked. Knowing what she was capable of, he didn't think it wise to try to block her fists with his bare hands, but he didn't really want to use his sand either. He couldn't have anything blocking his view of her.
And boy, what a view it was. There was nothing quite as exhilarating as a deadly, gorgeous woman with a spark of real heat in her. He wouldn't call himself distracted, per se. He was easily able to dodge her attack still. It was just that now that they were so close again, he could see the sheen of sweat on her remarkably smooth skin. He could see her pink lashes clumped together with moisture, either sweat or tears that had made their way to her eyes.
He longed to reach out and touch her, so he finally returned a blow, aiming a light punch toward her chest.
Sakura easily evaded his blow, but Gaara wasn't quite satisfied. In fact, he couldn't help but feel a brief, but sharp stab of annoyance that he hadn't touched her at all when he wanted to so badly.
As she stepped away from his reach, he used another jolt of his sand to push her toward him again, extending his hand so that he could reach out to grab her. Once she was back in his reach, her face glowering, he latched his fingers in the fabric of her vest.
He hadn't exactly planned on what to do with her next. Of course now that he could feel the heat of her body against his fingers he wasn't so keen on hurting her.
All he really wanted to do was kiss her.
Sakura seemed agitated by his actions, which amused him. She was right to be annoyed because he wasn't giving this spar the dedication it deserved. One day he would fight her properly. Today, with his mood more… sensual, for lack of a better term, and Naruto close by watching, he wasn't really in the right headspace to destroy her.
She attempted to twist herself out of his grasp, pushing on his hands to get him to release the fistful of her vest he still clenched. Sensing that she was about to use chakra to shake him off, Gaara tugged hard.
He had expected this to force Sakura to walk toward him. He had only wanted to pull her toward his chest. However, she was unwilling to budge and used chakra to keep herself firmly rooted where she stood.
The result was a very topless, very red Sakura left standing in the desert sun, bared for all to see. Well, bared for Naruto and Gaara to see.
Gaara dropped the torn vest to the sand, regretting this very much now that he could see the more primal fury radiating from Sakura.
"You pervert!" she screeched, her hands coming up to cover her breasts. She took a step forward to reclaim her vest from the sand, but Gaara snatched it up first.
He wasn't sure what compelled him to do such a thing. He was very much entertained by the half-naked, angry Sakura stomping her way over to him now. Her ire seemed real enough, but Gaara couldn't find it in himself to be bothered by it. The way the sun made her body glow was far too mesmerizing to be thinking of anything but that.
It took monumental effort to drag his eyes away from her long enough to see Naruto's retreating form as he ran back toward Suna. Whether he left out of rage or rather because he didn't want to see what was about to happen, Gaara had no clue.
"Do you think he's mad?" Gaara asked, flicking his eyes back to her.
"I'm mad," she deflected, reaching again for her vest.
Gaara held it out of her reach once more, unable to help the smirk on his face as she released one breast in order to free up a hand.
"Are you really?" he asked dryly. "Are you going to punish me, then?"
The look of shock on her face was extraordinarily satisfying. It lasted only a second before she was charging at him again. With Naruto gone, she didn't seem quite as concerned with keeping herself covered.
It was then that Gaara decided that he would definitely lose a spar to a half-naked Sakura. His focus was lax and his eyes were not on anything that would be useful in helping him defeat her.
"Give me my vest," she said, stomping her foot in the sand to create a shockwave to knock him off his feet.
Unfortunately for her, that tactic didn't work. Gaara was easily able to take control over the sand, quelling the shockwave before it could impair him in any way.
"Make me," he teased.
She stomped her foot again, this time churlishly instead of for violent purposes. "Is this what you consider a fair fight?" she demanded.
Feeling a little guilty, Gaara tossed her vest back to her. She caught it, looking a little surprised and little suspicious.
"I did genuinely want to fight you," he said consolingly, "but my intentions changed pretty quickly."
Sakura eyed him, waiting for his explanation.
"You're so beautiful," he said. "It was too distracting. I just want to kiss you."
"You're full of it," she snapped, her eyes blazing.
He grinned as he watched her push her arms back through her vest sleeves. She left it hanging open, her chest still exposed to him. The sun had reddened her pale skin and it would be stinging later on unless she healed it. He could tell now that she meant to use this weakness against him.
He watched her slide back into her fighting stance, her clenched fists raised up to eye level.
"Come on, Sakura, you don't want to fight me," he said softly, letting his eyes scour the rest of her body, too. She was pure perfection, plainly visible for him in the harsh sunlight. He couldn't help but admire the dips and curves of her body, the subtle blush on her breasts, the shadows that carved the shape of her against the dunes.
She flung another kunai at him, casually this time. He deflected it, his eyes never leaving hers. "You're not taking me seriously," she complained.
Gaara grinned. "I take you very seriously, Sakura," he said, moving the quickly cover the distance between them. "Very, very seriously."
When he was close enough, he pushed her down to the ground, climbing atop her to keep her back pressed into the sand. She grunted and struggled against him, but not nearly enough to dissuade him from touching her.
"What are you doing?" she demanded. "Get off of me."
"No."
The glare she directed up at him was petulant, but charming. Unafraid of her now that she was pinned beneath him, Gaara allowed his fingers to brush across her cheek, testing her reaction to something softer than a punch.
He was pleased by her near immediate reaction. She leaned into his touch, her eyes still blazing but softened now that she was distracted a little bit. He carefully noted the hitch in her breath as he trailed his fingers down to her neck and slid them along her collarbone.
"I don't understand how perfection like this could exist," he mumbled, more to himself than to her. She was absolutely mesmerizing.
"Come on, Gaara, you're going to give me a big head," she teased, reaching up to brush a lock of red hair out of his eyes.
The touch was so tender and light, so much different than the lethal jabs she had made at him just moments ago. He leaned down to kiss her, unwilling to let the opportunity pass him by. He could never waste any chance to kiss her – not when she was leaving soon and he wouldn't be able to touch her whenever he wanted anymore.
Sakura arched her back, pushing her hips up toward his. Gaara eagerly embraced the contact, slipping his hand underneath her to palm the small of her back. The sand beneath her was warm and gritty and the juxtaposition between that and her soft skin was hypnotic.
It took every ounce of his self control not to rip her little pink skirt off and fuck her right there in the sand. He trailed kisses from her mouth along her jaw to her neck, humming his approval against the heat of her skin. He could taste her salty sweat and feel her blood pulsing through her veins in her neck.
"Is this what you wanted all along?" she asked, practically purring as she writhed beneath him. "You brought me out here to romp in the sand?"
"Of course not," he replied, using the tip of his nose to draw circles on her neck and shoulders. "I want to spar with you. It's just so easy to get distracted. You're so pretty, you know."
"So if I satisfy your carnal needs, will you give me a proper spar?" she asked, her hands shuffling along his back.
"If that's what you want, Sakura," he said, smirking into the kisses he continued to trail over her skin.
Sakura's legs wrapped around his waist and her arms latched over his shoulders. Her immediate acquiescence stoked a fire deep in his gut – one that burned like a hot star in his stomach, curling and coiling and urging him to touch more of her, to slide his hands down the length of her and explore everything she had to offer him.
Her fingers tightened against his scalp, curling into his hair and holding his face against her neck. Obligingly, he continued to kiss her there, reveling in the way she squirmed against him, clutching their bodies close together.
"Are you sure we should be doing this here?" she asked, her voice gloriously breathless.
He pulled away from her for a second, mesmerized by her glowing skin and mussed hair. Flecks of sand clung to her hairline and temples, so he reached up to gently brush them away. She would be covered in sand, no doubt, by the time they were done. He almost wondered if that was a good enough reason to stop.
"Is there somewhere else you'd rather be?" he asked, feeling amused and turned on and just elated to be in this position with her. He would take her anywhere she wanted to be.
She considered this for a moment, her brow furrowed in thought.
"No," she said with a shake of her head, which caused more sand to find its way into her hair. This time he didn't brush it away, reminded of the first time he had kissed her when they had been trapped in the catacombs beneath the sand. He hadn't been able to see her then because of the darkness, but he remembered the way he had touched her face and felt the flecks of sand that clung to her skin.
He leaned down to kiss her once more, enamored by her teasing half-smile and sunlit, pink hair.
"What do you want?" she asked, softly, stretching like a kitten beneath him.
"What do you mean?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows to gaze at her.
Sakura took the letting down of his guard as an opportunity to flip their positions, twisting them both until she hovered over top of him, her hair dangling down between them and tickling his cheeks.
"You can't spar with me until you've been sated," she hummed. "So what can I do to sate you?"
Gaara felt a tingle of electricity between them at the heated undertone in her words. She lowered her face to his neck and began to press kisses there like he had done to her. Gaara didn't answer right away, unable to process his thoughts and turn them into words. She continued to trail kisses down his neck, tugging aside his collar as she got closer to his chest. His hands flew to the back of her head, tangling in her hair and keeping her against him.
"Is this enough?" she asked teasingly, pressing her hips forward into his. Gaara bit back a groan and moved his hands down to her hips to steady them. "Or do you want more?" she asked, rolling her hips even harder in spite of Gaara's firm hands.
A little blearily, Gaara glanced back toward the direction he knew the village to be in. No one would be able to see them here, of course. There was too much distance and he would be able to sense anyone approaching. They were free to do whatever they wanted now, which gave Gaara the confidence to slip his fingers into the buckle of her skirt and unclasp it so that it dropped into the sand.
"More," he demanded, his hands already roving over the newly exposed skin of her thighs and ass.
Sakura giggled and was all too happy to oblige, much to his amusement.
If there was ever a moment, a memory that Gaara wanted to preserve forever, it couldn't have been anything other than this one. The sun, the sand, Sakura – all of it made his heart clench and his skin tingle. He held tightly onto Sakura, perhaps feeling a bit more emotional than he wanted to be.
She rolled her hips against his again, the pink tips of her hair tickling his collarbone. She leaned forward to kiss him again, but Gaara stopped her by flipping them over again, pressing her back into the hot sand.
"I can't get enough of you," he murmured in her ear, burying his fingers in the sand beside her face.
He felt her grin against his cheek, her fingers toying with the hem of his tunic. "You can have as much of me as you want," she murmured back.
Gaara helped her pull his tunic over his head and tossed it away into the sand. The feeling of skin against skin was electrifying. Gaara pressed himself harder against her, holding their bodies flush.
He really wished that were true. He couldn't have as much of her as he wanted. He wanted all of her. He wanted her to never leave his side again. She belonged in the desert with him. She belonged beside him, his angel. His kunoichi. His beautiful, charming, powerful girlfriend.
He kissed her with a reverence he didn't usually show. He had never quite felt reverent of anything but, well… Sakura, she was something else. She deserved his reverence. Anything less was unacceptable.
It was true that she would go back to Konoha soon, and Gaara wanted to feel sad about it. He did feel sad about it.
But this moment was dedicated to his reverence of her. He would enjoy it, preserve this memory so that anytime he felt sad or lonely he could just recall the time he'd taken an angel from heaven and fucked her on a sandy dune under the hot sun.
AN: Thank you guys so much for all your feedback last week. I'm still undecided on what kind of fic I want to start next, but I'm really leaning toward KisaSaku. There's not enough of that ship out there.
And also, for those of you requesting a ShikaSaku story, I wrote a oneshot, Empty Genius that's up now. I know you guys wanted a full length story, but I don't want to spread myself too thin because I've got a lot going on right now!
