i don't want to be redundant...but you all are amazing and thanks once again for all the wonderful reviews! you all inspire me to keep working on this story, especially when i hit a writer's block...
so i hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

:-) and i do not own naruto...

Upon entering Konoha once again, I decided to keep my distance for the boy who's name I had finally remembered, Lee.
I didn't want people to panic like they did the last time I had walked with Sakura in the streets, so I resigned myself into the shadows that the trees and buildings provided for me as I watched Lee make his way back to the hospital. I silently hoped that my siblings would be in the hospital, because seeing Sakura again had seemed like a good idea before, but now that I was back in the city I suddenly found myself anxious and on edge…in fact, I found myself hoping that I wouldn't see her at all.

My hoping proved to be futile, because suddenly I heard Lee shouting at someone and waving animatedly.
That's when I saw her.
She had worry written all over her face as she rushed towards the green freak. She ran up to him and immediately started to fuss over him, checking for injuries and such. I could see her reprimanding him, I'd seen that face before and could practically hear the speach she was giving him since I had heard it so many times while she was healing me…but then I felt my stomach drop, he was explaining something to her and pointing in my general direction.
I saw her stand on her toes and cover her eyes so that she could better see into the shadows…I wanted to run, but my feet refused to move. I saw Lee grab her arm and bring her over to me.
I had to move, and I had to move now...otherwise there was absolutely no chance to avoid the thing that had been plaguing my mind since I had left this cursed town.
"Gaara?" I heard her ask the shadows around me.
Sighing, I stepped out into the light so that she could see me. Her face immediately lit up and she leapt at me, wrapping her arms around my neck.
Surprised and unprepared for this action, I was forced down by her sudden weight and slight height difference. I hissed as my back bent suddenly and immediately she pulled away from me.
"You're back hurts?" she asked me.
I just looked at her and decided not to answer. Grabbing my hand and then grabbing Lee's arm, she marched us both to the hospital. The people in the streets stopped and pointed at us as the pink haired medic dragged the "demon boy" and "the other green beast" down the streets.

Upon entering the hospital, I scanned the hallways for my siblings as Sakura took us farther and farther in, but I didn't see or sense them. Tsunade greeted us in front of a room and grabbed Lee off of Sakura immediately. When Sakura said that I needed to be looked over as well, Tsunade instructed her to take me somewhere else because all of the rooms were full. Nodding in understanding, she turned me around and then proceeded to drag me out of the hospital.
As soon as we stepped out of the hospital however, my wits finally caught up with me and I stopped our movements immediately. "Where are you taking me?" I demanded, pulling my hand out of hers.
"Well…I'm taking you to my home since I have medical supplies there…" she said blushing a little.
"You're taking me to your house?" I clarified, as if I hadn't heard her correctly the first time.
She nodded and then grabbed for my hand again. When once again I didn't move from my spot, she looked at me confused.
"Dragging me down the street will not be necessary."
Seeing her error, she nodded a few times and then walked next to me still holding my hand. I figured she needed some comforting since both Sasuke and Naruto were currently gone from the village, maybe never to return, so I let her derive some comfort from holding my hand.

When we were in front of her apartment, she took out a key and unlocked the door. She walked inside first and I followed a few steps behind her. I had no idea what I was walking into and I had to be cautious to my surroundings. Her apartment was small, but was plenty of room for one person.
"Would you like some tea?" she asked me.
I nodded my response once again.
"You can sit on the couch while you wait, I'll only be a minute."
I decided that sitting wouldn't be the best idea, so I opted to stand by the window, scanning the surroundings. When she entered the room that I was standing in, she placed the tea on a table and walked over to stand next to me. Reaching for my buckles to unstrap the gourd from my back, I stopped her hand mid-air.
"I'll do it." I said as I walked away from her and neared the couch.
Undoing my gourd's holster, I placed it against the couch and then sat down uneasily, my eyes scanning the room as I did so.
"Do you not trust me anymore?" she asked me as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Anymore?" I asked her as I spared her a glance.
Letting out an exasperated huff, she stormed out of the room and returned soon after with a bag that I assumed was full of medical equipment.
"Take off your shirt." she stated shortly.
I did as she told me. Her actions were a little rougher than I remember as she searched my back for the problem. I almost winced as she hit a sensitive spot and all but jabbed her fingers into the knot that had formed.
"You're upset." I stated.
"No. I'm not upset, not at all…" she said as she jabbed her fingers into another knot she found.
Grabbing her wrist and forcing her to stop, I threatened, "That hurts."
"So?" she asked me pulling her wrist out from my grip, "should I care?"
My eyes narrowed at her. It amazed me how all of the things she had written in her letters that had made me believe that she could possibly want to be my friend disappeared so easily in a single sentence… I grabbed my gourd and left her apartment.
I didn't know where I was going to go, I didn't know where my siblings were…I just knew that I had to get away from the pink-haired liar before I killed her

.
I found myself drawn to the spot where all of this had started in the first place: the field.
The sun was starting to set. Sighing as I laid down in the grass, I stared up at the sky that was full of the color…pink. Growling at the fact that I couldn't even enjoy a sunset without thinking of her, I stood up once again and made my way over to a tree that I could sulk against until the sun had set and I could look up at the stars.

Leaning against the trunk, I looked upwards at the many branches that the tree had. My eyes twitched in fury as I found myself surrounded by pink cherry blossoms.
The sand spilled out of my gourd and was about to rip the tree out of the ground and make the tree disappear forever when I heard a timid voice say, "Gaara…what are you doing?"
Her small voice immediately stopped my action and my sand once again returned to my gourd.
"What do you want?" I asked her, not even sparing her a glance.
"I…I wanted to apologize." she said, "I was asking too much for you to trust me after all you've been through. But I just thought…that maybe…" and she trailed off.
I felt my anger melt away. I hated the fact that she had that kind of power over me.
"I don't trust anyone Sakura. You should know this. I only trust myself."
I heard her walk towards me and felt as her arms snaked around my waste and she pressed herself against my back into a hug.
"I liked the rose you made me." she said still hugging me.
"And I like the one that you gave me." I said in response.
She tightened her grip briefly and then let go. She walked in front of me and sat against the trunk of the tree.
"Sit down." she motioned, but I shook my head 'no'.
"I'll stand." I stated and crossed my arms. I heard her sigh as she leaned her head against the tree.
"This isn't how I imagined things going when we saw each other again…" she stated to both herself and me.

I let out a huff. Silly girl and her delusional fantasies.
"I imagined seeing you and… I don't know… maybe eating some ramen and telling each other what has been going on since the last time we've seen each other or something."
I could feel as her mood became sadder and sadder and decided to stop the plummet before she started crying and I was forced to kill her. I sat down next to her and leaned against the trunk as well, looking up at the quickly darkening sky.
"If you thought you were getting me to eat ramen again…you're crazier than I thought you were." This earned me a small smile and her nudging her shoulder against mine in a playful way.
"You thought I was crazy?" she asked.
I nodded in response.
"Don't make me ask you another question… I know how much you like them." she smirked at me and I almost smirked back at her. "You're crazy because you want to be my friend." I told her and returned my eyes to the sky once again.
"Why does that make me crazy?" she asked.
"Because…I can't be anyone's friend." I said leaning forward and supporting my arms against my bent knees.

"Everyone can befriend someone Gaara, you just have to learn to trust again is all…"
"And let me guess, you're just the person to do that…right?"
"Yes. Yes I am." she responded leaning forward with me.
I rolled my eyes at her, "I've heard this all before." I informed her as I started to stand up. Her hand caught my wrist and gently pulled me back down, begging me to stay.
"Listen, I know that you have a rough past…I know probably more than most do because I read your file. But I'm asking you to trust me, and I promise that you won't be disappointed or hurt…"

I spared her a skeptic sideways glare. She smiled at me again and then cupped my face in her hands and turned my face towards hers. Once again, I found her kissing me.
Pulling away I asked, "Do you make-out with all of your friends?"
That earned me a small punch to my shoulder which I was surprised to see my sand didn't stop it.
"Of course I don't." she said sticking her tongue out at me, "only you."

My face went from amused to shocked in a flash. I was the only one she kissed? My sand didn't stop her from touching or hitting me? What did all of this mean?!
Shukaku…? I asked inwardly, I needed answers.
What? he asked clearly annoyed. Go back to kissing this girl, I like the fluttery feelings it makes you get.
Why am I the only one that she kisses? My don't you stop her from hitting me? What does this all mean?! I was becoming agitated and anxious.
I felt as Shukaku quickly became agitated by my questions and snapped back, because she likes you, you stupid boy! I know that this girl could never physically threaten you due to her feelings towards you so I figured you can handle yourself with her.
 Should I trust her?
Might as well, it makes her happy and gives you a chance to be kissed some more. Besides, if she does deceive you, you can always kill her and continue on like you are now…
Who are you? I mused. Did my demon get switched without my knowledge?

That earned me a sharp pain inside of my head, which forced me to wince and grasp it. Sakura was immediately asking me if I was okay and was trying to find the source of my sudden pain.
Make no mistake boy… I still own and control you. I just choose to let these events unravel on their own without my interfering.
Just as suddenly as the pain had started, it stopped. Gathering my scattered mental process, I returned my attention back to the worried pink-haired girl next to me.
"Are you okay?" she asked me once again and I found that she was gently rubbing my back.
"Why do you kiss me?" I asked her.
I was so confused, things were happening that I never imagined were going to happen to me and I just didn't know who I was anymore. My world was crashing down on me and it was all because of this girl…

"Why do you kiss me?" she asked in response.
"Weren't you ever told that you shouldn't answer a question with a question?"
"Well, how about this then: I kiss you for the same reason that you kiss me back."

Her answer only confused me more… I tore my gaze from her and stared at the ground, hugging my knees into my chest tightly.
"And what if I don't know why…?" I asked her.
I felt her shift, I felt as she began to run her fingers through my hair and begin soothing me…
"Then we'll have to find out then, won't we?"

I gave her a sideways glance and nodded once. I felt like I was five years old again…I could just feel the pitifulness of innocence enveloping me as this girl continued to comfort me and continued to be near me.
"Can we not talk anymore?" I asked her grabbing the sides of my head. "This is making my head hurt…"
She planted a kiss on the top of my scalp and then laid her head on my lap, staring up at the sky.
Knowing that she wasn't going to talk anymore, I leaned back against the trunk and stared at the sky as well, hoping to find the reason for everything up there.

Eventually, her breathing slowly began to even out, and I knew that she was falling asleep.
Not really knowing what to do, I shook her awake and told her that I would walk her home.
She was still half-asleep, but she nodded in agreement and stood up with me.

Walking side by side once again, I folded my arms against my chest. It felt like all of my innards were convulsing and it brought about wave after wave of lightheaded euphoria that made me dizzy and queasy. To keep from flipping out entirely, I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and making it to Sakura's house; once she was there I was free to go out and kill something to make this anomalous feeling go away.

When we had reached her door, I watched as she began unlocking it. Once I saw that she could enter her house without a problem, I turned around and started walking away.
"Wait!" I heard her exclaim as she grabbed the sleeve of my clothing.
I gave her a sideways glance. What did she want now? Hadn't she had enough of me yet?
"How long are you in Konoha for?" she asked still not releasing my sleeve.
I just shrugged and said, "Until I find my siblings."
"Well, where are you staying until then?"
As I response, I just pointed towards the woods.

Finally releasing my sleeve only to cross her arms in front of her she said, "You know, just because most people treat you like an animal doesn't mean you have to live like one."
I narrowed my eyes at her. Was she making fun of me? I tried to hold back the growl that was growing in the back of my throat, but it still came out.
"Come on," she said grabbing my sleeve once again, "you can stay with me for now."

She moved to drag me into the house, but I didn't move from my spot.
"Isn't that considered 'inappropriate'?" I asked her folding my arms together once again which caused her to come closer to me since she refused to let go of my clothing.
She smirked at me then and responded, "It's only inappropriate if one of us thinks it is. All I'm doing is offering a friend a place to stay, where's the harm in that?"
"People might say we're dating." I stated matter-of-factly.
"Is there something wrong with that?" she asked me as something flashed across her eyes.

I could tell that this was a topic that she really wanted to discuss. I had seen that look in Temari's eyes on more then one occasion about stupid things like clothes and gossip.
"It is if it's untrue. I've had my fill of rumors…" I broke off.
It was true, it seemed no matter how hard Temari tried, rumors about me and how I lived filtered through Suna like the wind. Most of them were outlandish and ridiculously untrue, but that didn't stop people from believing them…making my already horrific reputation shoddier.

"What if it's not untrue though…" her eyes were staring at me full of hope.
I had never seen someone look at me with as much hope in their eyes than she was right now…and she wasn't even begging for her life, and I wasn't pretending to hear her pleas…
"What are you saying?" I demanded.
"Well…I just thought that we…maybe we could…" she was talking herself in circles and stuttering again.
I rolled my eyes at her feebleness.
"Would it make you happy?" I asked, wanting to get her to stop talking and stuttering like an idiot.
She smiled the brightest smile and nearly blinded me with her happiness, she was nodding vigorously as well.
Rolling my eyes at her again I said, "Fine."
"So we're dating?!" she squealed excitedly.
"Not if you keep acting like that." I said, disgusted at her behavior.

Calming herself down immediately and collecting herself, she leaned in and kissed me once again. This girl was way too easy to please. "Come on." she said as she grabbed my hand and started to drag me again.
Pulling away from her immediately, I held back my anger and said, "I already told you, dragging will not be necessary."
"Sorry…I was just a little overexcited is all."
"Well don't be. You have nothing to be excited about." I said walking ahead of her into her house.
"Why not?" she asked as she followed behind me.
"Because, you're now 'dating' me…do you have any idea how hard you have just made your life?" I asked her as I turned on her pushing her back against a wall.
"I don't care what people think." she said defiantly.

I smirked at her then, my face centimeters away from hers. I could feel her breath wash against my skin.
"You will." I said and then I released her as I walked over to the window.
"No I won't." she said with an air of force in her voice.
"Everyone does…" I said quietly as I gazed out of the window at the night sky.
"Even you?" she asked me.
I spared her a sideways glance, but I never faced her. I couldn't right then. Of course I cared about what others said about me. They were further destroying my already sordid name…how was I ever going to gain the respect of my village if the rumors about me continued to flood the streets of Suna?
Wait…is that what I wanted? To gain the trust of the village and to be accepted by it? When did I start wanting this? And for how long had I been wanting this for?

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Sakura's hand on my shoulder.
"Whatever it is that haunts you, it can't touch you here…" she reassured me; and I longed for her to be right, but I knew she wasn't. Deep down, I knew it was just a matter of time before she got sick of my standoffishness and unusual behavior and replaced me with another.
I shouldn't get too attached and dependent on her, because as soon as I did, she would leave. And then I would be forced to kill her.

"You should go to sleep." I stated.
She yawned and stretched in agreement.
"Good night." she said, kissing my on my cheek and hugging me slightly as I continued to look out of the window unmoving.

As she began to walk towards her bedroom I heard her stop and say, "Promise me you'll be here when I wake up in the morning…"
So needy.
So timorous.
So alone…
"I promise." I found myself responding, "I'll be right here."
Then I heard her bedroom door creak open and close.

As soon as her presence was out of the room, my thoughts returned to everything that was happening to me.
What have I agreed to? I asked myself.
For once, Shukaku decided not to add in his commentary.
Why does she accept and want me? What am I becoming…?
And the answer to my last question came out of nowhere and echoed inside of my mind over and over again…
the answer I got was: human.