Disclaimer: Mm. I don't own Naruto. But uh. Gaara's really hot. :

LOL.

Sachi saw that Gaara was slightly agitated in not being able to fight, but his happiness to see her spoke much louder. She couldn't believe anyone would ever be happy to see her- most people, if they knew who she was, were terrified. But here Gaara was, so incredibly happy that she, Sachi, was here. Sasuke smirked.

"All right then. I guess I'll have to kill you first." He said, nodding toward Sachi. He knew that this was the same girl he had met in the forest. She had great power, or whatever Orochimaru had said. But he had gotten better as well. He would try to save his chidori for Gaara- but if it was all riding on that one move, he would definitely use it. Besides, he could do two blasts. It wouldn't be too hard, but who knew- this Sachi girl might surprise him.

"Big words" Sachi spoke, returning the smirk "For someone so pathetic. Why did you follow Gaara? You have no business with him." Sachi thought for a moment. Was she stalling this fight? She was anxious to catch up with Gaara, see all that's been happening in the time she was, for lack of a better word, away.

"Why I followed him is my business, isn't it? Now cut the small talk- I hate that." Sasuke seemed placid on the outside, but he was wary on the inside. This girl was not exactly friendly- and she seemed to really like Gaara. Was that even possible? Sachi did not appear to have a loving bone in her body, but looks can be deceiving- Sasuke knew this for a fact. He began to charge at Sachi, ending all conversation, but with his head down, his missed Sachi whispering something.

The Sharingan was a bad choice. She did not want to start some emotional breakdown, right in the middle of a fight. But if she was going to do this quickly, maybe causing Sasuke some stress and disbelief would help. She looked at Sasuke, already knowing his next move- she didn't need the Sharingan for that. He was charging at her head on, blindly, and sort of stupidly. He meant for her to think this, most likely, and for her to be careless and simply sidestep him, which he would be expecting. She jumped off of the tree limb, however, ending up in the air directly above Sasuke. She threw a handful of kunai at him, completely aware he would dodge them. She was also aware that he would dodge the kunai that one of her clones' (she was quick) threw at him on his left. She almost knew, however, that when she hit him from underneath, and from the right (another clone, of course) he could not dodge. He received a few kunai in the chest.

Sitting against a tree, Sasuke attempted to pull the kunai out. One of them came out quite quickly, the other he had to tug out rather harshly- it looked very painful. Sasuke looked up; glaring at her, and finally realized her Sharingan was activated. He gasped, and began to stutter. It was clearly a shock to him there had been someone his brother had not killed.

"Wh- Wha…?" Sasuke began to say, completely in shock. He could not stop from shaking. Sachi looked at him with the greatest pity she could muster up. All this time, there had been another Uchiha; someone who was not allowed to bear the name- but that didn't stop the blood trait.

"My full name is Sachi Uchiha." Sachi said, speaking in an authoritative voice "I was not accepted in the Uchiha clan, because the other Uchihas did not accept my mother, who wasn't ninja of any sort. My father began to believe what they said about her being useless and pathetic. Shortly after I was born, my father left my mother and we were banished from the Uchiha clan, forced to now bear my mother's last name, Hasegawa." Sachi had been told all this from Orochimaru. It did seem to fit into her memories correctly. She remembered, when she was 3, how she had seen her father one day, looking very troubled. Even 3 year olds can tell when something is wrong, and something was certainly wrong. Sachi heard her parents talking that night. She was 3, and couldn't really understand human language too well, but she did know what was going on.

Her father was whispering angrily at her mother, and her mother was pleading him "for the kids, for the kids, please?" Sachi heard her mother shudder in an attempt to stop the flow of tears that were surely falling from her eyes. And the next day, Sachi's father was gone- with all their money, all their hope, and her mother's heart. Sachi's mother had been useless for days, crying over old photos and blaming herself for this whole thing.

"It's all the Uchiha clan's fault that my mother died. If my father hadn't left, he would've saved her. But his stupid clan convinced him to leave. We were banished from the clan, but I still have the blood trait. They caught up with my brother shortly after my mother died and…" Sachi had not heard the rest of the story. Orochimaru had gotten up and left. Just like that. It wasn't like it was painful to him to inform Sachi what had happened to Dai. Besides, he was still alive- he had to be! Once Gaara was safe, if Sachi was still alive, she would find Dai- if it was, indeed, the last thing she did. "I may be a traitor, however," She paused, for dramatic effect, " I still have the blood trait." She smirked and the battle raged onward.

So Sasuke's reaction had not been what she expected. What had she expected? She knew he wasn't going to stop fighting her because they were related, but- he had barely even flinched. He seemed extremely focused, but his thoughts said otherwise. Sachi's Gekitsuugon was activated, as well as he Sharingan. Her eyes were blood red, thanks to the Sharingan, but she could still do everything she could do with the Gekitsuugon. Sasuke was very weak on the inside, and very undecided. He was wondering whether or not he should fight her- hesitating.

"I came here for Gaara." Sasuke said suddenly, Sachi less then an inch away, fighting with a kunai like it was a dagger "Give him to me, let me fight him- or I will not hold back. I don't…" he trailed off, his voice suddenly failing him. Sachi raised an eyebrow, almost amused. Had he been holding back? "I don't want to hurt you." And his eyes showed an emotion Sachi had seen too many times before- fear. It wasn't the fear of her- it was the fear of hurting her. It was peculiar. Why would he be afraid to hurt her? She had never met him before. They were family, but technically, the Uchihas had disowned her. He should be ashamed to meet her, do something ridiculous, like spit on her. Uchihas were vain people, and this Sasuke shouldn't be too different. What was it about him?

"All this time, I thought I was alone. The last Uchiha… except for my brother. He killed them-" his voice failed him again "killed everyone. All my family. But you're… you're here." Sachi had frozen. She dropped her kunai as Sasuke reached over and touched her hand "I don't want to be a murderer, like my brother." Sachi dropped her gaze and tore her hand away from his grasp.

"Then don't be. Leave. Your village- it's… it's under attack. Leave Gaara alone, and no one will die today." Sasuke considered this for a moment, staring intently into Sachi's eyes. Then he turned around, began to jump off, but turned around.

"This isn't over today." And with that, he was gone. Sachi didn't even turn around to watch him leave. She had released Gaara from his shield and was running towards him. The world went into slow motion, the steps it took to get to Gaara becoming miles- this was Gaara, and here was Sachi. She never wanted to leave him again.

They finally reached each other, and Gaara pulled Sachi into a tight embrace. He attempted a smile, but his eyes read sadness. Sachi was confused- was he not happy to see her? She was so sure before he had… of course. Sachi had, after all, left without explanation. Orochimaru said he had explained it all to Gaara, but those eyes… Gaara's eyes said otherwise.

"Gaara… Orochimaru… he told me he told you." Was all she could manage, burying her face, tears streaming down it, into his chest, his arms wrapped around her. Gaara's body began to shake, and she felt hot tears fall onto her head. "I'm so sorry."

And no more words were necessary. Gaara's touch, his hug, his tears, his love- it was all that mattered. An apology was all he had ever needed, an explanation, and Sachi- he was fulfilled. There was nothing else Gaara could possibly want.

Kabuto watched the scene from afar. He was grateful to be away from Orochimaru- he wasn't exactly in one of his best moods. The plan had failed, because of the girl's utter disobedience. This was a great excuse to be away from Orochimaru- the execution of this girl. It was almost sad- she had sort of grown on him. But Kabuto doubted Orochimaru's mood would improve if he failed to carry out orders. So this would be quick, effortless, and painless.

Kabuto took a deep breath, darted toward the girl and boy, locked in an embrace, and took aim.