A/n: Yes, chapter three. Now I got a review that said they didn't have much personality so I really tried to work on that in this chapter. Please tell me what you think and I do like criticism so if you have something to say please say it. Thanks for all who have reviewed! It makes me truly happy and I do try to reply to all the reviews that don't simply say 'Please update.' So I hope you enjoy this next chapter and I will work very hard on the next as well! Please review!!!
Gaara tied his sash tightly, taking up one of his swords and fastening it to his side. He looked down and grimaced at the sight, how he wished he could sleep. He grabbed his second sword and looked forward, trying to avoid the drunken scene of Naruto on the floor. Once both his swords were in place he stepped over the snoring man and slide the door open. He sighed deeply and closed the door silently, Naruto talked far too much when he was drunk. Finally Gaara's bored expression returned to his face as he walked down the silent halls. While he was "asleep" he had tried thinking back as far as he could remember. Despite the absurdity of what Sakura had said, he found himself mulling over every little thing from his remembered childhood. Unfortunately he had only been able to back track to his arrival at Naruto's house, to be raised as a samurai. Gaara groaned aloud, his pace beginning to slow from his agonizing head ache, shutting his eyes tightly. He raised his hand to his head and tried to ease the throbbing by rubbing his temples.
"Gaara-sama?" a familiar voice came from directly in front of him. Sakura stared at him in concern, her worry written all over her face. The forest in her eyes seemed to move slowly, as if the trees were being blown by the wind. She was dressed less like a princess today and more like a commoner woman in a very nice kimono. It was a pale green with pink cherry blossom petals falling all over the fabric.
"Must you call me that?" he finally muttered out, looking away from her enchanting eyes.
Sakura frowned, letting out a soft sigh. "To me you are Gaara-sama, does it bother you so much that it must be stopped?" she asked, staring up at him trying to get the answer she wanted out of him.
Gaara glanced back at her, seeing her want and decided he would play along with this princess' games. "Yes." He said simply, unable to keep the small smirk from appearing on his face. Sakura's eyes widened just a fraction, but she smiled back at him deviously. It was going to be a clash against their wills from now on to see who would win the rights of calling him 'sama' or making her stop. "Why are you dressed like that Prin-" he was stopped in midsentence by a threatening glare from Sakura, daring him to finish what he was about to call her. He blinked, quickly recovering and corrected himself immediately. "I meant…why are you dressed like that Sakura?"
Sakura smiled brightly and raised her arms to show off her kimono, she was a princess after all and she loved clothes. "Well I thought that it would probably be less conspicuous if I looked more like a normal woman then a princess. Don't people try and attack princess' and get ransom?" she asked curiously, clapping her hands together and staring up at him. Gaara was in awe, apparently she wasn't just a pretty face she had a brain under that pink hair of hers.
"Well yes. That's a very good idea, did you think of that yourself?" he questioned, trying not to sound too degrading to her smarts. Sakura nodded, letting a warm smile grace her face. She showed no sign of offense, but that was always a good sign. The last thing Gaara wanted to deal with was a pissed off woman. "Well it was very brilliant." He told her once more, only making a small pink blush rise to her cheeks.
"You think so? Well thank you Gaara-sama," she replied back, looking back over her shoulder and to the empty hall. "Well all my things are ready and I have said my goodbyes as soon as you are ready we can have breakfast and depart for my new home." She told him, looking almost perfect in this charade. Gaara studied her face carefully, he could see the strain from forcing herself to smile. Was it truly that bad to marry Sasuke? Or was it something else, none the less Gaara was not fooled by this fake happiness. Especially since he had just seen her true smile moments before.
'I just want to see you smile'
The thought flashed through Gaara's mind so fast it had given him a jolt. He hand went to his head to try and ease the sudden pain. It came and went so fast he couldn't grab a hold on the thought to decipher what it had meant. He suddenly felt soft hands against his face, caring and holding him closely and protectively. He opened his eyes slowly, seeing Sakura holding his face with her pale hands. Her face was filled with shock and alarm, concern and worry, she couldn't have hidden these emotions even if she wanted to. "Gaara are you alright?" she asked, his name without the suffix sounded so nice when it was said in her voice. He suddenly realized he was looking up at her face and soon saw that he was kneeling on the ground and so was she, holding him protectively. When had he fallen? Was the shock that bad? And what was it even from? 'I want to see you smile' he repeated in his head, but it was different in his mind. When he heard the voice it was beautiful, like silver bells ringing. Was it a memory from his past that he could no longer remember? What was it that he had been thinking of when the thought struck him so hard, Gaara closed his eyes once more and tried to think back on it.
'What was it?!' he yelled at himself, remembering the scene from just moments before. He remembered Sakura's sorrow filled smile that she tried to masquerade for him. The thought flowed into his mind once more and he heard the soft voice, 'I want to see you smile.' That voice sounded extremely familiar and then there it was again calling his name out. That's when he realized Sakura was screaming his name and he finally slammed back into reality, tears were streaming down her face. She looked stunning even when her face was wet and her eyes were puffy and red, "Gaara!" she yelled again, giving him a shake to try and wake him. "Gaara please!" she screamed louder, as if she was trying to reach him with her voice.
He stirred slowly and gripped only her hand, looking up into her eyes to show her he was fine. "I'm fine Sakura, please…do not shed your tears for me." Gaara realized seeing her cry clawed at his heart deeply and cupped her face with one of his hands, trying to wipe the tears away. "I really am alright, I didn't have a lot of sleep because of Naruto last night," he lied
She still held onto him tightly, but Gaara could hear footsteps rushing towards them. No doubt Sakura's wailing had alerted all the guards in this area of the house and they would be here soon. That was something he did not want to deal with. He pulled his hand away from Sakura's sorrowful face and stood up, helping her up along with himself. He let go just in time as the guards rounded the corner and rushed to the aid of their princess.
"Princess! Princess!" they called loudly, surrounding the two. Most of the group was glaring at Gaara as if he had done something wrong, or tried to kill their precious cherry blossom. "Princess are you alright?" the same soldier asked, seeing her slightly red eyes.
Sakura smiled, putting on the act for them as she had tried to do with Gaara. "Oh it's nothing, please you all must calm down. Gaara-sama just wasn't feeling well and I got a little carried away with my worry." She told them, well it was sort of the truth.
Most of them relaxed and nodded, talking amongst themselves and saying how caring she was and that not even the stars in the sky could amount to her endless love. Gaara rolled his eyes, nothing bothered him more then unnecessary adoration. "Well thank you for your concern but were off to breakfast!" Sakura smiled, wiping her face with her sleeve and latching herself onto Gaara's arm as if he were her escort. "Come now Gaara-sama, I'm staring and it looks like you could use energy." She encouraged, leading him off with her and leaving the confused guards behind.
Gaara sighed with a hint of annoyance, he was only going to put up with this girl's oddness while they were still in her family home. On the way to the Uchiha manor this was not going to become a normal routine of her doing whatever she so pleased. "You can let go anytime you know," he finally spoke up, becoming a bit uncomfortable from their closeness.
"I know," Sakura said simply, not loosening her grip in the least bit. "I don't want to." She told him, sounding a bit snobbish. Gaara decided not to protest to this, at least for the time being, boy was she in for a rude awakening once they set out on their journey. They finally reached the dining hall and Sakura escorted Gaara into the large room and sat him right beside her. One of the other doors opened and Naruto wobbled in with an ice pack on his head to numb the throbbing in his head.
"Ah man too much sake last night," he whined aloud and then saw Sakura and Gaara already there. "Hey you two how are you this morning?" he asked, still looking drowsy but sat down next to Gaara. Ino walked in after him and shut the door, finally taking her seat beside Sakura.
"My things are all packed as well, we can eat and then leave when you are ready Sakura-sama." She bowed her head respectfully and then looked over to see the chiefs bring their breakfast in and set it all out on the table. It was like a feast ready to be devoured, Naruto greedily started loading his bowl with all his favorite dishes.
Gaara started to pick things he saw that looked good when what Ino had said finally registered in his brain. "Wait one moment, you are coming also?" he asked, looking very confused.
"Of course she is Gaara-sama." Sakura interrupted and broke her chopsticks, eating her rice very lady like. "She's my best friend and my personal maid, I don't go anywhere without her. If I go, she goes. So you really have no choice," she informed him, biting down on a bundle of rice, keeping her mouth closed over the shop sticks and giving him the death stare, daring him to object to her wishes. He glared back, but kept his mouth shut until he took a bit out of a rice ball.
The rest of breakfast went by fast, with idle chit chat between Naruto, Sakura, and Ino. Gaara had to go over their return trip in his mind all over again now that they had a fourth member to their party. How annoying, he thought to himself, setting his chopsticks down once he was full and no longer wished to indulge on this rich-man's food. Naruto did the same and leaned back, rubbing his full stomach. "Arigato Sakura-chan, that breakfast was delicious." He graciously bowed his head in appreciation for the meal. "By the sounds of it I would say that we are all ready to depart. I will go get mine and Gaara's belongings and meet you in the front," Naruto helped himself up and bowed once more to his host and left the room.
"Well then I will meet you two at the front of the house as you ready yourselves for the journey." Gaara said politely, getting up as well and dismissing himself. Sakura watched him leave and sighed, following suit and leaving with Ino as the clean up started to clear the dining room.
-
Gaara took his belongings from Naruto and tied them securely on his back so they would all stay in place in the cloth bag. "What do you think is keeping them?" he asked Naruto, who was doing the same with his cloth bag. Naruto shrugged and looked down the hall, expecting them to be there any moment.
"Well this is the last time Sakura-chan will see her family in a long while, so she probably wants to say goodbye." Naruto suggested, tapped his foot hard on the ground to make sure his shoes were on securely.
Just at that moment Sakura and Ino came into the front, "We're ready, sorry to keep you so long." Ino spoke for the both of them as she slipped on her geta. Sakura did the same and stepped down from the wooden floor, looking sad as she glanced back one more time to see the inside of her home.
"Come on lets go now," Gaara said, placing his hand behind Sakura and leading her forward gently. It must be terrible to leave all your family for someone you don't even know. He would try to be sympathetic. "Come on now Sakura," he looked down at her to try and comfort her in this time of sadness. She looked back at him and smiled softly, but it faded soon after. They all walked out into the beautiful trees and headed towards the last gate that would let them out into the road. The same guard from the day before was there, looking distressed as he watched his princess leaving the Haruno house. He bowed respectfully to her and opened the door for them.
"Be safe princess, may you have a safe journey and may no harm come to you." He smiled to her and she smiled back, waving at him as they passed.
"Do not worry Gouta," she said sweetly. She looked back up at Gaara and truly smiled and rested her hand on his arm, "As long as I am with this one, no harm will ever come to me." She said confidently.
Gaara stared at her, the feeling he had gotten from the words of his memory earlier were coming at this as well.
A promise.
He looked down to the ground and tried to make sense of this, but nothing came to his mind just the feeling of an oath and a promise. Once they were out the gate closed and the four started down the road on the long journey back to where Sasuke awaited.