I kept my promise. This chapter is longer than the last one and Sasuke is in it. I'll let you read it now.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Ch. 10: Sasuke Arrives in Suna
The group arrived in Suna the next day. Kaoru was excited she had really missed Kohaku. The little boy had become a major part of her life. Sakura was just as excited as her friend because she would get to see the little boy and she really wanted a vacation. Gaara had even told them he would talk to Yuri so that Kaoru could have the month off with Sakura. The girls had thanked him and then the two had headed off to Kaoru's house. Gaara turned to Temari.
"I need your help," he sounded as if the sentence was being ripped from his mouth. Gaara didn't like admitting when he needed help. He had been hurt way too much to be happy with having to depend on someone else. Hell yesterday had been the first time he had mentioned his uncle since he had been about 5 years old.
It had surprised Temari too, "What do you need, Gaara?"
"Kaoru's birthday is coming," he commented.
At first Temari hadn't understood but then it clicked. At least she thought it had, "You want to get her a present?"
He just nodded. Temari couldn't believe it. Gaara actually wanted to get a present for someone. Just to show you how abnormal that was let me point out that Gaara is 15 years old and has never even thought about getting someone else a present. Temari had to restrain herself from checking Gaara's forehead to see if he had a fever. He was watching her with expectation and she realized she hadn't responded yet.
"Oh, sorry, Gaara. Do you have any clue about what you want to get her?"
"That's what I need help for. I don't know how to do this, Temari," Gaara said with barely contained frustration.
Temari smiled, "It's alright, Gaara. I'll help you. But can I ask why? You've been friends with her for two years and this is the first time I've seen you get a present for anyone. Why now?"
"I want to thank her and apologize," he grumbled. Gaara also wasn't big on admitting he had feelings. Some things never change and that was one of them. There were only four people in the world that saw this side of Gaara and they were Temari, Kankuro, Matsuri, and Kaoru. As far as everyone else was concerned he didn't have feelings. Even with those four people Gaara didn't open up easily or often. This was just too important to avoid it because he didn't want to show his feelings.
Temari nodded in understanding then said, "I'll walk around the stores with her and Sakura tomorrow. That way I can find out what she wants then I'll tell you. Alright, Gaara?"
He nodded and after a moment's hesitation said, "Thanks, Temari."
"Don't worry about it, Gaara."
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Meanwhile Sakura and Kaoru had reached the Tsukino compound. Kaede came out to greet them carrying a happy Kohaku. Kaoru relieved her grandmother of the boy and placed him on her hip. The three of them walked over to Kaoru's home with a smile. Sakura played with the little boy sitting in her lap while Kaoru cooked something for dinner. After a few hours Kaede went to her house and the two girls went to bed.
The next morning Temari came and dragged the girls out to shop. They each took turned carrying Kohaku who as usual was more than happy with the attention. They were looking around a jewelry store when Temari noticed Kaoru lingering around a certain case. The dark haired girl was looking at a necklace with a heart shaped ruby on it. The gem was as red as Kaoru's blood colored eyes. Temari smiled, "So you like the necklace."
Kaoru jumped at the sound of Temari's voice and gave her a sheepish grin, "Yeah. It reminds me of Gaara-kun."
Temari tilted her head to the side, "How so?"
"A heart is the symbol for love and that's what the symbol he has on his forehead means. It's also the same color as his hair," Kaoru said with a small smile. "Silly huh?"
"I don't think so," Sakura commented. At some point she had joined the other two by the necklace. "It's little things but they still count."
"Doesn't matter though. I can't have it. Do you see that price tag?" Kaoru asked on a wistful sigh. She suddenly smiled and turned to her friends, "Let's move on shall we?"
The next store they entered was a toy store. Sakura felt left out because she hadn't gotten Kohaku a present like everyone else had. They ended up browsing in the stuffed animals and Kaoru saw a little panda bear. It was so cute and she couldn't help but smile at it. Temari noticed it and added that to her mental file of things Kaoru liked. An idea began to form in her head. She smiled. The wind mistress couldn't wait to tell Gaara all about it.
The girls ate lunch together then Temari said good bye to the other two. After dropping Kohaku off with Kaede, Kaoru and Sakura were standing on the cliff over looking Suna. Kaoru was pointing out all the important areas when some not so welcomed company joined them. Hiroshi had noticed Kaoru and some other girl on the cliff. He decided to show up with his brother. Kaito took one look at the pink haired girl and grinned. The two boys walked up behind Kaoru and Sakura.
"Hello ladies," Hiroshi commented with a sly grin.
Now there is one thing that should never be done to a person standing on the edge of a cliff so tall that they can see the entire village. Startle them. Kaoru jumped in surprise and felt her self slip when her foot touched the ground again. She had fallen off the edge. Crimson eyes widened in fear as the world rushed past her in a blur of color. Someone yelled her name but Kaoru couldn't tell who it was. The medic called the first name that came to mind in her panicked state.
"Gaara!!!"
A few seconds later she landed on something soft. By this point Kaoru had shut her eyes tight to keep out the sight of everything rushing by while she fell. When it finally registered that she was no longer falling down Kaoru cracked an eye. She could see figures at the top of the cliff looking down at her. One was Sakura. The medic sat up and looked down. She had landed on cushion of sand. When she glanced over the edge she suddenly wished she hadn't. The sand had caught her floating hundreds of feet in the air. It began to move. Kaoru closed her eyes again in fear. A moment later a familiar voice said, "Kaoru, open your eyes."
At his order Kaoru's eyes snapped open and looked into the sea green eyes of Gaara. The fear caught up to her and she threw herself into his arms and buried her face in his chest. Gaara was at a loss. What was he suppose to do? One of his only friends was holding on to him for dear life and shaking so hard he was surprised he didn't rattle. Her voice was barely a whisper when she said, "I was so scared."
The fear in her voice made Gaara's instincts kick in and he wrapped his arms around her. By this point Sakura had come down from the top of the cliff followed by Hiroshi and Kaito. The twins didn't look happy to see Gaara. Sakura was thrilled. He had just saved her friend so nothing in this world could make her any happier to see the Kazekage. Kaoru's shaking began to subside. Sakura asked anxiously, "Is she alright, Gaara-sama?"
"I believe so."
Sakura reached out a hand but looked at Gaara for permission before touching Kaoru's arm. At the kage's nod she checked Kaoru for any serious injuries. The Suna medic just had a few bruises from bumping the cliff but that was it. Sakura let out a relieved sigh, "She'll be alright."
"I'll take her home," Hiroshi stated and started to reach for Kaoru. Gaara felt her trembling increase. Hiroshi had was almost to the girl in Gaara's arms when a walk of sand came up and blocked him. Hiroshi's golden eyes looked up into Gaara's narrowed sea foam eyes. He raised a silver eyebrow, "Is there a problem, Gaara?"
"I'll take her."
"What?" Hiroshi demanded in disbelief. Gaara didn't bother answering. He picked Kaoru up bridal style and turned. Now Hiroshi wasn't going to just let Gaara go. He walked up in front of the red head, "Now wait a minute. We all know you're too busy as Kazekage to take proper care of Kaoru right now. Let me take her and I'll make sure she'll be alright. Besides, she needs a human. Not a emotionally stunted monster."
Sakura exploded, "Don't you dare call Gaara a monster. He was the one that just saved Kaoru while you were the reason she fell. You don't have any right to criticize Gaara just because you didn't get to be a knight in shining armor. Besides, Gaara makes a better knight than you do anyway."
"That's not why I don't like him," Hiroshi shouted back.
"That's enough," Gaara snapped. "Move, Hiroshi."
The man wasn't dumb enough to mess with Gaara in the mood the kage was in so he moved. Gaara walked right by him without even a glance. Sakura followed after them. They reached Kaoru's house. Sakura headed to Kaede's home to pick up Kohaku. Gaara headed straight to Kaoru's room and set her down on the bed. The medic looked up at him. At that moment Kaoru couldn't tell what he was feeing which was odd. In the last two years she had always been able to tell what he felt. That meant this feeling was really strong and directed at her. She looked down, "I'm sorry, Gaara-kun."
"For what?" For the life of him he couldn't imagine what she was sorry for. Then again all he could think about is what would have happened if he hadn't been taking a walk at that moment. He had heard her call his name and when he looked up his heart had stopped. She was falling. The sand then acted of its own will and saved her. It had taken Gaara a moment to realize that he had saved her then he had lowered her down.
"I shouldn't have fallen apart like that."
His eyes narrowed and he took her chin to make her look at him, "Kaoru, you're allowed to fall apart." Then he added dryly, "Especially when you just fell a couple hundred feet off a cliff."
Kaoru gave him a shaky smile. He stood back up and turned to the door. Sakura came through it with little Kohaku in her arms and Kaede behind her. Kaede ushered all of them to her house and she made dinner for them. Kaoru was still a little shaken but otherwise she was just fine. When they stepped outside to go back to her house it was pouring so she told Gaara he was staying at her house. He didn't object. The demon in him didn't like being wet and he couldn't control wet sand. Between the two he was more than happy to stay as dry as possible.
It was around midnight when Gaara heard something coming from Kaoru's room. As usual he wasn't asleep. Instead he was down stairs looking at the books in the library. He was hoping for something to occupy his mind. At first he dismissed the sound as movement in her sleep but then it happened again. Curiosity and worry had him in front of her door with a hand poised over the handle. He had almost convinced himself to go back down stairs because he was being paranoid when a small whimper reached his ears. He rushed in and woke Kaoru up. Her crimson eyes focused on him, "Gaara-kun, what are you...?"
He answered before she could finish, "Nightmare."
"You heard me." He nodded. She let out a small sigh, "I'm sorry, Gaara-kun. I didn't mean to disturb you."
"Stop being sorry, Kaoru. You're my friend. I may be knew to this friend thing but I do know you're suppose to help your friends."
She gave him a small smile, "You're right. It's just...I don't like to be a bother."
"You're not." She smiled at him. Curiosity had him asking, "What was it about?"
"The day I found my parents and..." she trailed off and looked away.
"And what?"
"And the day you pushed me away as kids," she said meeting his eyes again. Gaara blinked in surprise. Kaoru explained, "Back then you had been my best friend and even now I still don't understand what happened that night. I just know that something exploded and Yashamaru had been killed by it. You were so sad and angry. Then when I tried to help you wouldn't let me. It...hurt. I had lost something important and I knew it."
Gaara sat back, "He tried to kill me."
Kaoru blinked, "What?"
"Yashamaru. He had tried to kill me."
Gaara told her everything that had happened that night. He didn't know why he did it. For some reason it just seemed...right. Kaoru listened to every word without interrupting. There were a few times he could see the anger burning in her eyes and other times she looked so sad it hurt him. After he finished Kaoru wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry, Gaara-kun."
"You have nothing to be sorry about," he said uncomfortably. Gaara wasn't use to getting so many hugs and this was his second one that day.
"You know he was wrong don't you?"
"Who?"
"Yashamaru was wrong. You are loved. Temari, Kankuro, Matsuri, and me. We all care about you. Your uncle was an idiot."
Gaara couldn't help the quick smirk that crossed his face at her comment about Yashamaru. He sobered quickly though. If he showed emotions he would have hugged Kaoru back or smiled longer. Instead he stepped away and moved to the other side of the bed. There he sat down and leaned against the headboard. This was the habit. She was suppose to lay down and go to sleep and out of habit she'd take Gaara's hand. He wondered when he had gotten use to that part. There was a time it startled him every time she did took his hand. Now he expected it. How odd. But none of that happened. Instead Kaoru tilted her head and said, "We both know you're going to fall asleep so at least lay down will ya."
He glanced at her with a incredulous look. She sighed and reached out and tugged on him insistently. Gaara swore he was going to stay sitting up but for the second time in his life his body betrayed him. It laid down on the bed and placed his hands behind his head. Then crossed his legs at the ankles. Gaara was mentally cursing his traitorous body when he felt something warm on his left side. He glanced down and saw Kaoru snuggled up against him. She was already asleep. He couldn't believe this was happening. How the hell had he ended up in this position? Right she had a nightmare and he had to help. His body was up to its tricks again because Gaara was suddenly feeling very tired. A few minutes later Sabaku no Gaara fell into a sound sleep.
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Three weeks passed. Sakura and Kaoru were sitting in a restaurant waiting on the sand siblings. They were all suppose to eat lunch together. The girls had arrived early and were now just talking about nothing in particular. Hiroshi and Kaito walked up to their booth. The two of them were relentless. No matter how many time the girls told them to go away they kept coming back. The medical nins let out identical annoyed sighs.
"Hello, Kaoru. How has your day been?" Hiroshi asked sliding in beside Kaoru. For her part Kaoru glared at him and didn't say a word.
Kaito slid in beside Sakura, "Me and my brother were hoping you girls would eat lunch with us and look. Here you are waiting for us and everything."
"We weren't waiting for you," Sakura stated.
"Then who are you waiting for? Certainly not that freak," Kaito stated.
"The only freaks I know are you two," Sakura said sweetly.
"Well why don't all four of us go out and we can show you that we aren't freaks," Kaito suggested.
Hiroshi agreed, "Yeah. I want to show you that you're wasting your time with Gaara, Kaoru."
"No," Kaoru answered.
Hiroshi grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the booth. Kaito followed suite only with Sakura. The girls shot the men glares. Sakura would have liked nothing more than to punch him but she was a shinobi from a different country. She would probably get into trouble so she would save that for a last resort. The men grinned and Hiroshi said, "We don't take no for an answer."
"Well, you're going to have to because me and Sakura aren't going go give you a different answer," Kaoru spat.
The twins started to drag them out of the restaurant when someone hit Kaito and sent him flying across the room. There was a loud crash as he hit the wall. Sakura blinked then looked at the person who had hit the jerk. He hadn't changed much. His blue black hair was still spiked in the back with to stands framing his face. The leaf villages headband rested on his forehead. He wore a white, long sleeved shirt that wasn't quite closed all the way so it displayed his chest muscles. His pants were black and so were the boots on his face. Those onyx eyes turned to her and a smirk formed on his face, "In trouble again, Sakura."
The pink haired girl was too happy to see him to get angry. She threw her arms around his neck with a cheer, "Sasuke-kun!"
Sasuke allowed her to hug him without complaint. He even wrapped one arm around her waist. The Uchiha hadn't admitted it until now but a part of him had missed this pink haired kunoichi. There had been times during the last two years when he wanted nothing more than to return home for no better reason than to hear her call his name in that happy voice she always used when speaking to him. Now here she was. He wondered if Kakashi had planned this. His masked sensei walked up to them with a smile, "Well hello, Sakura. Shouldn't you be in Konoha?"
"I'm on vacation," she told them happily. Then frowned as she realized that the other guy hadn't let Kaoru go yet.
Suddenly both Kakashi and Sasuke focused on Hiroshi. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he said, "I would let her go if I were you."
"And just who the hell are you?" Hiroshi demanded.
"Sasuke Uchiha. Let Kaoru go."
"I don't think I will. This is none of your business," Hiroshi said as he tightened his grip on Kaoru's arm. Kaoru winced in pain. The girl was seriously beginning to wonder if he was trying to cut off circulation to the rest of her arm. She just knew there would be a bruise there later. His grip tightened more when Sasuke's Sharingan activated.
"Ow, Hiroshi that hurts," Kaoru stated.
Hiroshi didn't get a chance to say anything else. There was sand wrapped around the wrist that was holding Kaoru's arm and each of his fingers were pulled open one by one by an invisible force. They all turned towards the door. Gaara stood there with his siblings. All three of them were giving Hiroshi a murderous stare. Kankuro had a hand up which explained what was forcing Hiroshi to release Kaoru. The minute she could Koaru tore herself away from Hiroshi and ran towards Gaara. He stepped in front of her to block her from Hiroshi's view. The message was clear. Hiroshi was to leave Kaoru alone.
Kaito had gotten back up and was standing next to his brother. The boy was looking at Sakura with a hungry expression. Sasuke wrapped and arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. He watched Kaito with his Sharingan eyes. That message was even clearer. 'Mine,' was written all over Sasuke's actions. Kaito gulped. His jaw was still sore from that punch Sasuke had given him earlier. The two brothers ran off as fast as they could before Sasuke and Gaara got even angrier.
Sakura looked up at Sasuke with her head tilted to the side. She had never known him to act this way. Kaoru was the only one other than Sasuke that knew just how confused he was by his own actions. He stepped back and smirked at his teammate, "Saving you again, Sakura. You really should quit getting into trouble."
"Hey, I could have taken that guy. I just didn't want to get into trouble for punching an ally nation's shinobi," Sakura said indignantly.
The whole group left the restaurant and went to the sand siblings home. They lived in the Kazekage's mansion. It was one of the many benefits that came to being a Kage and/or being related to one. Your home was provided for you. They all sat around as Kakashi and Sasuke told them about their last two years. Well, Kakashi did. Sasuke just sat there mostly. He still wasn't much of a talker. This didn't surprise anyone really. Kaoru got up to go get something to drink.
"So how long are you planning on staying in Suna?" Sakura asked them.
"About a week. We're meeting up with Naruto in a few months then we'll be returning to Konoha," Kakashi answered.
Temari glanced around then said, "That means you'll be here for Kaoru's birthday. We're planning a surprise party for her. You guys have to come."
"Of course we'll come," Kakashi said with a smile. Sasuke nodded in agreement. They changed the subject when Kaoru came back in. Kaoru and Sakura left a few hours later. Sasuke and Kakashi were invited to stay in the Kazekage's manor and they accepted of course. Everyone but Kaoru had plans to meet the next day to plan for her party. None of them could wait.
Kankuro was heading upstairs with Sasuke and Kakashi when he remembered something. With a grin he said, "So, Sasuke, I hear your still a genin. Do you realize you and Naruto are the only ones left that hadn't taken the exam again? That means I outrank you."
There was a loud crash. Sasuke walked into his room slamming the door behind him. Kakashi walked into his room shaking his head. Kankuro was laying of the floor with a bump on his head. The poor idiot didn't think before messing with Sasuke.
Gaara walked into his room and checked on the present he had gotten for Kaoru. Now that he had bought it he was paranoid something would happen to it before he could give it to her or worse she wouldn't like it. The Kazekage let out a frustrated sigh. He put the present back in the bag coming to the decision that this friend stuff was hard work. He just hoped she liked it.
that it for this chapter. the next chapter will cover her birthday and we get to find out what Gaara got Kaoru if you hadn't figured it out already. Anyways don't forget to review.