Chapter 11
The day was spent enjoying the random pleasantries of Suna. The sun beat down upon them horribly, but Sakura was surprised to find the covering protected her without really keeping the heat in. She understood why they wore this...
"I need to get a few new kimonos." She looked down at herself, thinking over what to get. She bought three, one in black, one in white and a deep red one, each came with a sash in the same color, and she bought a black obi to match them. She especially loved the red one, which had the symbol over Gaara's eye on the shoulder. "Do you know what that means?" Sakura looked at the kanji and smiled. "It's love, right?" Gaara smiled at her. "Shukaku told me." This earned a terrified glare from the man behind the counter, and Gaara smiled at her. "You might want to keep that a little more discreet. You may cause a panic." Sakura nodded, unaware of the town's responses to Shukaku.
They went to the castle again, Gaara had to talk to a few people there about his work the next day, and Kankoro walked with her as an escort to the roof, which was quickly becoming her favorite place in the city. "It's a great place. I know why Gaara comes here." He looked down at the people below and sighed. "What's going on, Kankoro? You were opening up, but you seem to be drawing back." Sakura looked over to him, and he sighed again. "It's the town. People here hold power in me, I have to be strong for them." Sakura knew he was lying, but didn't want to push it.
"Kankoro!" There was a guard at the door who looked between the two of them. "Report." Kankoro turned to the man, leaning back on the brick wall around the roof. "Baki has asked for your assistance with a zoning issue." Kankoro nodded and looked over to Sakura. "I can't have you in the meeting. Uh, You! Stay here! Protect her at all cost!" The man snapped to attention as Kankoro ran off. She sighed and turned back to the edge of the roof, looking around. She saw a few people having a picnic on the wall of the cliff and smiled.
"Hey, Kani! There's a robbery in the Itari rice shop! We need back up!" The man looked over to Sakura and shook his head. "I've been ordered here by Kankoro!"
"You can go, I'll be alright!" She smiled, flashing her Konoha headband and the man nodded. "Thank you!" He ran off and Sakura smiled. She wanted to get rid of him, she felt paranoid with him staring at her. She sighed and watched as Gaara walked out. He walked up beside her and looked out, his eyes oddly cold and distant. "What happened?" Sakura stood, putting her hand on his arm, and he just shook his head. She hugged against him and froze before backing away. "How did you know?" She asked, and he looked over, his eyes narrowed. "What's wrong?"
"Stay back!" She gasped, backing against the wall, as Gaara inched closer to her. "Not another step!!" She crawled on the wall, looking down terrified. He stood still, his eyes suddenly showed defeat as he stepped back and there was the puff of smoke and as it blew away she saw him standing before her.
"Why are you here? Of anything I could have thought, this wasn't it!" She screamed, her mind now a mass of confusion. His hand held out to her, all she could see behind it was his blue eyes. "Sakura, you know I've always loved you, and right now I know he's brainwashed you! You have to come home!" He growled, and Sakura looked down to the street half a mile below her. "NO! Go home! I'm finally happy!" She yelled and he ran forward as she leaned back.
She tilted her head back, feeling the air rush against her ears, sounding like a scream behind her, but she reached out, her mind focusing like never before and felt it come to her. She reached out, grabbing the sill of a window and Shukaku reached out for her, attaching through her to the ledge. She held her hand down and punched out the window, jumping in.
"Sakura!" Kankoro jumped to her side, looking her over, and noticed the sand attached to her arm. "Sakura?" She looked over, and felt her body move on it's own. She fought for a second before regaining control and fell to her knees, scared to death. "I need the gourd. I have to put him back!" She nearly screamed, the adrenaline rush making it hard to hear over the pounding of her own heart. "Baki! Get Gaara now!" He yelled and Baki ran from the room, terrified to see someone else wielding Shukaku. "Sakura, what happened?" She looked up, tears streaming from her. "I was attacked! He's gotten better at the transformation jutsu! He came out as Gaara, but I could tell it wasn't him! I knew and he changed back and tried to attack me anyway! I can't believe he attacked me!" She sobbed, trying to piece this together in her mind.
"Sasuke!" Kankoro shook his head, angered by this attack. "No! It wasn't!" Kankoro looked at her, confused. "Who was it?" Sakura covered her eyes with her hands, trying to wipe away the tears, as like Kankoro, she suddenly felt weak. "Naruto!"
Gaara appeared in the door and for a second Sakura jumped away, causing a confused look. "Sakura, what happ- Shukaku?" He looked over to her arm and she looked down. "I need the gourd." She sobbed, barely able to hold herself up.
They left the building after Sakura dried her eyes and re-did her makeup. "I'm sorry I was just a mess. I didn't mean to look so weak in front of your workers." Sakura walked with her head bowed and Gaara sighed, leaning into her. "You didn't seem weak. Baki was highly impressed you jumped from the roof to escape. I'm impressed you were able to use Shukaku."
"I'm impressed you were able to tell it wasn't Gaara." Kankoro spoke, and Gaara turned to her. "How did you know?" Sakura sighed, looking up. "It wasn't you. Your face was too cold, your eyes were empty, like you were those years back. I asked him what was wrong and he didn't respond, just shook his head. I went to give a hug, and I could smell it. I knew from the smell." She looked sad and sighed, trying to calm down a little more. "You could tell from his smell? You've memorized my smell?" Sakura nodded. "You don't smell like trees and fur." Gaara looked at her confused. "Fur? Naruto Uzumaki smells like fur... How odd." Sakura shook her head. "No, it's not. Not really. There's a perfectly good explanation. He has his demon as well." Sakura looked up and Gaara nodded. "We all have our demons."
"No, do you remember the tales in Konoha about the nine tailed fox?" Gaara nodded. "Yes, it killed many of the villagers. What does it have to do with Naruto?"
"The fox was defeated the day Naruto was born. It was sealed inside of him. He literally has a demon as well." Gaara nodded. "I'll have a guard with you tomorrow at the hospital. I'm not letting you out alone." Sakura nodded. "I'm sorry to be such a burden." She bowed her head again and Gaara put his hands on her shoulders. "Sakura, you're not a burden! Please don't think this way!" He hugged her and she smelled him again, the musky windy smell comforting her. She hugged back, nodding. She looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you. I needed that." Kankoro looked between them and sighed. "I'll catch up with you in a sec..." Kankoro turned back to the castle and ran.
They decided to go look at the jewelry again, Sakura smiled at him suspiciously. "You really like jewelry, don't you?" He smiled at her, shrugging. "You seem to enjoy looking, and I can tell a lot about yu from what you like." Sakura turned to him, looking at the gloves with the flowers again. "Like what?" Gaara smiled at her, leaning back on a cart. "You like flowers and butterflies, You like pinks and blues, but you don't seem to like gold. You always look at silver." He nodded to the gloves, and Sakura looked down, noticing the gold inlaid ones next to the ones she held. "Oh."
"I know you have an eye for detail, as you usually pick out the more intricate designs, and you seem to forget your troubles for a bit when you look at something beautiful." Sakura giggled, putting the gloves back. "Distractions come easily to someone who needs them." She looked at a ruby rose with a jade stem. "It shows how much work others do to make sure their lives turn out the way they want. This rose, for instance. Someone took years of training to learn to make this detail. They worked hard to learn, and when they were done they probably didn't even realize what they'd made was as beautiful as it was. The training made them see nothing but the stone, not what it could represent to another. It's not easy, no matter what you do, the point is to enjoy what you do. You have to try..." She picked up a blue sapphire heart and sighed. Gaara noticed the sudden distant look on her and knew she was thinking of something and someone else far away. "Is everything alright?"
"My sixteenth birthday I received a necklace just like this one. I was so happy, and I thought it was Naruto who sent it to me, and I sent a message. He told me he was saving it till we were together, he wanted to see the look on my face. I asked Kakashi if he'd sent it, and he told me no. I never found out where it came from." Gaara looked at her and sighed. "Sasuke. You wanted it to be him." Sakura nodded. "It's weird. All I wanted was for him to come back, and now that he's here all I can think about is you." She turned to Gaara who sighed. "I'm sorry, Gaara. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Gaara smiled at her. "No, I need to know. Sakura, I know you said that you wanted me, but are you sure? Seriously?" Sakura nodded. "Why?" Gaara sighed. "I'm thinking of something, but I don't know how well it will work. You need to get him out of your system." Sakura put down the necklace and turned.
"Maybe I should send you to him. Let you spend the time with him you've always wanted. Let you make up your mind completely." Sakura looked at him shocked and a bit afraid. "Like what, send me on a date or something?" Gaara nodded. "If need be. I don't want to see you suffer, and though you want to be with me, subconsciously I know you still want to be with him. Shukaku keeps using it against me." Sakura shook her head. "No! Gaara, please! Don't send me away!" Gaara backed away, his eyes dark. "I don't want to see you so lost in thought with him. It hurts." Gaara pulled his hand to his chest and Sakura knew this was something from his past. "Fine, I'll go on a date. One date. Afterwards, I'll return to you, alright?" Gaara nodded. "If you want to return. You should stay with him as long as you want." Sakura shook her head. "I only want you." She turned, walking away. She walked back to the castle and returned to the top, looking over the world below. About now if Naruto tried anything insane, it wouldn't be too much trouble to beat him senseless and throw him over. She stood there for an hour looking below and for a moment it looked as if the people below were going a little oddly, but she shook it off.
The sun was now high in the sky and she sighed as she looked up at the clouds.
"Sakura!" She turned to see Sasuke burst through the door, huffing. He must have run up the whole flight of stairs. "What?" She turned, not too happy with him right now either, but she realized it wasn't his fault and tried to smile. "We've been looking all over for you! The Kazekage is out of his mind!"
"I agree." She sniffed, suddenly feeling like crying. She didn't bother trying to stop the tears like she usually did, she just let them go. "What's wrong?" Sasuke inched up behind her and she smiled at him, tears still streaming down her face. "I've been ordered to go out with you. To get you out of my system." Sasuke stood for a moment, surprised before answering. "You know you were the only reason I returned to Konoha. You knew I loved you, didn't you?" Sakura smiled over, looking at a cloud that looked like a bunny. "You sure didn't show it well. I was so scared you were going to die. When you showed up on my hospital floor I was terrified you were Orochimaru. I had finally gotten a life of my own, and you still managed to kill me." She laughed, the tears getting worse, and she couldn't see the shapes so easily anymore.
"I'm sorry." He spoke, leaning over the wall and looking down. "I never meant to hurt you. I couldn't take you with me, he would have killed you. As the last real Uchiha, if I died it wouldn't really mean that much to people, but you were so loved. I couldn't cause you to die." He sighed and looked over at her, his sharingan eye looking through her. "I thought you were the one for me. I thought you were the one I would spend my life with. Now that you're here I can't stop thinking of him!" She sniffed, her vision now barely anything except lights and basic shapes. "So, you fell for Naruto. I heard he was here earlier." Sakura laughed, wiping away some of the tears. "No! I'd never! I'd go out with Jaraiya first!" She laughed and Sasuke looked at her horrified. "Did Naruto get that bad?"
"He attacked me today. I don't know what's going through his head." She smiled, wiping away more tears. Sasuke walked up to her and put his arms around her, holding her close. "If it's not him, then it doesn't matter. I'll keep you safe. I'll protect you." Sakura laughed again. "As of right now I may be able to kick your ass!" She laughed and Sasuke ran his hand through her hair. "I'm serious, Sakura! Come back with me! You're the only one I've wanted." She thought back on Gaara's words. "Fine, tonight, you're taking me on a date. You have one chance to keep me. That's it. I'll warn you, I'm serious about him, though. It's really unfair to you."
"Who is it? The only one I knew you ever loved was me." She smiled at him and looked back out, running her hand up to her forehead. "Gaara."
"Sakura! Where are you?" "It's alright, I'm safe. I'm on the roof." "Is Naruto there?" "No, just Sasuke. tell him he got his wish. We have a date tonight." "I go to sleep for a few hours and he wished you on a date with another guy?" "Yeah, I'm kinda pissed."
"Sakura, who are you talking to?" Sakura froze. The last while was spent with Gaara and Kankoro, both knew what was going on. "Uh, you don't want to know." She smiled, and Sasuke noticed she had no radio on. "Sakura, are you alright?" Her face fell a little as she turned back to the town. "We all have our demons." Sasuke nodded, unable to figure out what was going on. "Well, if we're supposed to go out on a date, let's go." Sakura turned to him before looking down at her outfit. "Uh, I think I should change first. It's been a hard day." Sasuke nodded. "Alright, I'll walk you to your house. Where do you live?"
Sasuke stood at the front door and glared forward. "You weren't joking were you? This is the Kazekage's manor." Sakura nodded. "Kankoro, You back yet?"
"Sakura! What's happening? Gaara's all freaked out, Shukaku told him you have a date with someone? What's going on?!" Sakura looked down at her dusty outfit and sighed. "He told me to. I had to go out on a date with Sasuke." Kankoro turned to see him standing in the doorway and sighed. "Ah, he's worried about you getting his darkness. What ever you choose, remember this. You'll always be one of us, okay?" Sakura smiled and hugged him, sniffing again. "Thanks." She ran from the room before the tears started to fall again, leaving Kankoro and Sasuke alone. "You hurt her, I kill you, understand?" Kankoro nearly growled, leaving Sasuke in shock. "You love her too, don't you?" Kankoro narrowed his eyes. "You behave." Kankoro did growl this time.
It was a few minutes later Sakura came downstairs, a light pink kimono with blue clouds and the red sash from the kimono she'd bought earlier. "You look like a sand ninja." Sasuke shook his head, and Kankoro smiled at her. "It looks noce." Sakura smiled and twirled again, showing off. "We better go. If Gaara gets back Shukaku may kill you." Sasuke cringed and shook his head. "Yeah, let's go." They walked off, not noticing Kankoro close behind.
They went out to eat, Sakura smiling politely through the meal. "What's happened since I left? Naruto told me random things, but his head isn't working properly." Sakura nodded. "I'm one of the top med-nins in Konoha. I've been under the Hokage herself. I've trained, looked for you, trained more and looked more. That's been about it till two weeks ago when the Kazekage was supposed to stop by for a peace keeping mission. We fell in love, and then the shit hit the fan. What's been going on with you?"
"I was in league with a pervert pedophile. Orochimaru thought I was the cutest thing, till I killed him. Got Itachi, Got Orochimaru, went home to find the woman I loved was running off with the sand ninjas. Naruto lost it, I tried to go after you under the guise of a mission that needed handled, and took care of it quickly, but I've had trouble finding you. Now I know why." Sakura nodded. "Your eyes have changed." Sasuke blinked, closed his eyes and looked down. "I've gotten good at the sharingan. It's there all of the time now." Sakura nodded.
"But it's there. I know we'll..." Sakura looked out of the window to find Gaara running past, Baki and a few others behind him. 'What's going on?" "Sakura! Have you seen Kankoro?" She stood her eyes wide. "No! What's going on?" "Hold on a sec..." Sasuke watched confused as this happened and was amazed when Gaara came tearing through the door. "What's going on! What's going on with Kankoro?"
"He's missing! There's an invading army coming at us from the north!" Sakura shook her head, angrily. "He can't fight now! His shoulder isn't healed yet!" Sasuke looked between the two as they yelled half things at each other, and for a bit it seemed that only half of the conversation was going on outside of their heads. "I give!" Sasuke stood, his hands up. "Sasuke!" Gaara looked at her outfit and realized what he'd walked in on. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you." He bowed as he walked away, leaving Sakura terrified. There was an invading army and Kankoro was missing? This wasn't like him. She looked around, feeling her pulse quicken and suddenly felt completely helpless.
She hated feeling helpless. Sasuke stood and walked over to her and put his arm around her, to which she flinched. "It's alright, just me. There's nothing you can do right now. Just calm down, alright?" Sakura nodded, looking out of the window.
They finished their food and walked out, Sasuke looking around. "Where do you want to go?" Sakura shook her head, unable to get into the date mood knowing Gaara wasn't on the other side. He sighed and looked around. "I have an idea." he smiled at her, to find her looking at her shoes. "You know, at one time if I'd taken you out on a date you'd have had a heart attack!" He smiled and she nodded. "Things change." Sasuke nodded, his smile fading. "You really love him, don't you?" Sakura nodded, feeling hopeless in this. "I'll take you home, it's obvious that's where you would rather be." Sakura looked up at him and burst into tears. "I'm sorry! I really am, but I can't help who I love!" Sasuke hugged her and ran his fingers through her hair. "I understand. Come on, he's probably waiting."
Sakura opened the door and looked around. "Kankoro! Are you hiding?" She looked around, Sasuke standing at the front door. "I'm right here." Sasuke nearly jumped out of his skin. "How the hell?!" Kankoro was inches away, directly behind Sasuke and Sakura ran down. "Gaara's looking for you! There's an army coming from the north!" Kankoro nodded. "I know." He walked in and sat on the couch. Sakura looked at him, a little surprised by his lack of aggression. "Is everything alright?"
Kankoro smiled at her, sighing. "Yeah! It's all good. Sasuke, thanks for protecting her." Sasuke nodded and looked at her again. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me." Sakura nodded, but sighed. "I won't." He shifted his gaze to the floor and walked away. Sakura felt like a terrible person, but she wasn't going to give up Gaara for anyone, not even him.