A/N: Okay. I've been getting lots of good reviews, so here's the new chapter!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Unspoken
By: Goth-VampireNinja
Chapter Five: Capability
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As Gaara jumped to avoid getting scorched, he couldn't help but notice the gasp that escaped from some of the watchers. His eyes flickered away from the angry-looking girl below him and when he looked back, she was no longer there. He looked around cautiously, but he couldn't seem to sense or see her anywhere.
"Boo," a teasing voice breathed above him. He looked up in horror and came face to face with his opponent. Impossible, he thought. There was no way she could've jumped up above him without him noticing. But she wasn't falling suspended in the air by the momentum of a jump. Instead, she seemed to be flying or hovering above him, with her body stretched out gracefully to gain more balance. In the glaring light of the sun, he caught the sight of a transparent, glittery, and barely noticeable stretches of something extending from her back. They looked like…invisible wings. As he thought that, the wings flapped and she caught the front of his shirt with one hand, suspending them both in the air. The crowd below them gasped in shock and murmured amongst themselves.
She was smirking evilly at him as her arm sung back at impossible speed and caught him right on the face. He was surprised when he didn't feel any burning. Instead, his face stung terribly where her elongated nails had grazed. Then the long, transparent wings on her back started flapping and they both pummeled towards the ground at a great speed. His only chance of survival would be if she was distracted for a second…
"Sakura!" Tsunade yelled warningly. Sakura looked up for a second before placing her feet on Gaara's stomach and pushing him toward the expecting ground. The area around them exploded in the shock wave. Sakura looked at the crumpled body under her and looked for the bell. It was nowhere to be seen. She heard a tinkling sound behind her and spun around barely in time to dodge a flying spike of sand. Gaara was behind her, not under her. "I told you not to kill each other!" Tsunade screamed angrily. "Stop! Both of you!" She yelled as they both rushed at each other with murderous intent clear in their eyes. They stopped and looked at her in annoyance. "If you insist in acting like this, I'll give this whole thing a twist before we all end up dead. Gaara, you will now have a goal, or else this could go on for days. You will win if you manage to restrain Sakura for more than ten seconds. Sakura, your goal remains. Start!" Tsunade immediately retreated to the safety of the surrounding forest with the rest of everybody.
Gaara turned and smirked at Sakura, who frowned and took a step back. Now they were both working against each other and Gaara wouldn't be the only one on defense anymore. She glared at Tsunade. She just had to make it all the more difficult. Sakura glanced at Gaara and noticed the gashes on his face. She smirked as she saw the blood starting to pour out.
Sakura tried to take a step forward but noticed that her feet couldn't move. She looked down in horror and saw the sand holding her in place. When?... she thought as she looked up at Gaara in surprise. He was walking towards her with a triumphant stare in his cool eyes. Sakura was panicking with Gaara's sand wrapped tightly on her legs and climbing upwards and it didn't help that a male was approaching her with such an unsightly look on his face. She was horrified yet intrigued at the same time. Horrified for obvious reasons. And intrigued by the fact that he managed to keep cool and composed through everything.
Gaara's hand reached for her, not a foot away now, and in a moment of panic, Sakura's control over her abilities slipped and a tremendous wave of chakra flew out of her. Gaara's every grain of sand turned to sharp, crystalline glass and Gaara was thrown back from the impact of the shock wave. Sakura broke through the glass and rushed at him with the wild, crazed eyes of an angry animal. Her eyes were a silvery-green with blood-colored pupils and rims. She didn't seem to have any consciousness of what she was doing, because she just rushed at him with not weapons in hand and no jutsu activated.
Gaara smirked and took the one opportunity. He summoned forth the sand he had been grinding underground and trapped them both in it, leaving them in complete darkness. Sakura looked around desperately and started attacking the walls looking for a way out. Gaara's sand wrapped around her like a tight, impenetrable blanket and held her in place. Gaara let the barriers around them fall and started silently counting to ten.
One…Sakura started thrashing wildly. The sand that covered her seemed to be dissolving. Gaara sent more sand to restrain her.
Two…Sakura started breaking through his sand with brute force. Gaara summoned the last of his chakra –infused sand to form his Sand Coffin around Sakura.
Three…Sakura screamed in anger and a fine mist started forming around her. The sand around her seemed to sizzle.
Four…Gaara tightened his hand the tiniest bit to prevent her from escaping, and she glared at him.
Five…Sakura looked down and smirked. When she looked up, there wasn't a single trace of unawareness in her. Was she just acting? Gaara thought.
Six…Sakura broke one of her arms free and started doing some hand signs.
Seven…All of the chakra in Gaara's sand was sucked up and it fell uselessly to the ground in front of her. The only sand that remained was turned to glass around her legs. Shedidn't move, but she was panting heavily.
Eight…Gaara decided that the only way he was possibly going to keep her restrained was if her had direct contact with her to be able to hold her still better. Gaara rushed at Sakura with a kunai in his hand and jumped at her when he was less than a foot away. At that exact moment, Sakura broke through the glass and as she was about to get out of the way, Gaara tackled her and they both wrestled each other.
Nine…Ten…Gaara had Sakura pinned under him with both her hands held down. She glared up at him with fear in her eyes, then she chuckled and smiled triumphantly at him.
Everyone thought that it was over and that Gaara had won. That was until they saw her smile. They looked closer and saw the thinnest, most unnoticeable thread of fire dropping the bell into Sakura's palm. She chuckled. Everyone was wondering who had won. Gaara had pinned her down for ten seconds, but Sakura had gotten the bell on the tenth second.
"Looks like it's a tie," Gaara said. He could feel the blood dripping towards Sakura's face and he purposefully let one drop fall, just to see her reaction. She turned slightly and laughed when it hit her face. He was surprised, but he couldn't help but smile back at her. (A/N: PICTURE TIME!)
"Sorry about that," she sighed. She smiled falsely up at him; the most convincing one she could muster. He noticed. "But it doesn't look too bad…if you don't mind people thinking you're so defenseless that you got injured by a cat!" She was teasing, but she couldn't help it. There was something about him that made her want to bug him…
"Well, isn't that a pose…" Tsunade came up and Gaara immediately jumped up off of Sakura. "This might be the beginning of a beautiful…relationship," she teased. They both stared at her unfeelingly. Tsunade frowned and shook her head disapprovingly, having expected more of a reaction. "You bores. Anyways, this was a hard battle to judge, but in the end, I think…" Everyone waited anxiously for the answer. "It a tie," Tsunade announced. Everyone twitched in annoyance. "Well, Sakura, I have decided that you will be placed at a Chunin level for now and depending on how you do on missions, your rank will either escalate or descend. You will start a week from today." Tsunade threw a small bag at her. "Your previous apartment is still yours and I have taken the liberty to move in extra bedding for Gaara. Well, I take my leave." With that, Tsunade disappeared and Sakura was left with lots of built-up rage. What was she thinking, having Gaara move in with her?!
Nobody wanted to approach her in her angry state for fear of getting in a fight with her, so they congratulated her and said their farewells from a distance. It went like that until it was just Gaara and her standing in the training grounds. Sakura scooted away from him and wiped the blood off her cheek. "Well," she said awkwardly. Maybe I can ditch him again…? she thought.
"If you're planning on leaving me behind, don't even bother. I can keep up…" Gaara said, almost as if reading her mind. "Let's go."
Sakura nodded and walked a little ways behind him. She sure as hell wasn't gonna get close to him; especially not if he was a match for her. So they walked in silence all the way to her old apartment, and she smiled sadly when she saw it. So many memories…
"Why do you fake all your emotions?" Gaara asked suddenly. He was as surprised at his comment as she was, but he didn't show it. He had to resist the urge to look behind him to check if it hadn't been someone else who spoke.
Sakura was staring at him with surprise and anger. "I don't fake anything!" she said. "And you have no right to tell me what I do or don't hide when you don't show your emotions at all and you just keep them bottled up like a sad little piece of scum!" Gaara glared at her. Sakura glared back and said, "Get out. It's a request and I want you out!"
"I don't consider it safe for me to leave, so I don't have to," Gaara said. They glared at each other until Gaara just finally walked past Sakura and sat comfortably in the living room.
"Whatever…" Sakura mumbled, and stomped into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her. Gaara just glanced after her curiously, then shrugged and concentrated on calming himself. He had no idea of what Sakura would do next…she was so unpredictable.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A/N: Okay! So how do you like it so far? R and R! OKAY?! Good! Look in my profile for the link to the picture! See you soon!