Whirlwind
Chapter Eight
-Operation Day Four: Revenge-
She was walking down the streets of Suna, but something was different. People were looking at her with respect instead of completely ignoring her presence. Suddenly she realized that her hand was warm, and that she was holding something smooth. The sensation felt oddly familiar, as if she had experienced this before.
She looked down, only to find that what she was holding was in fact a hand. A very pale, smooth hand. She smiled. That explained why she felt so content. This was the happiest she had felt in years to be honest.
Then she remembered that this was the same dream she had had before. So she slowly began to trail her gaze upwards. She admired the muscular arm, but before she could reach the owner's shoulder, her dream world shattered, like broken glass. Then, everything went black.
Sakura bolted upright in her bed, breathing heavily. Why couldn't she see his face? She vowed that if she ever had the dream again, she would immediately look at his face, instead of admiring his physique.
Unlike the first time she had had this dream, she felt cold and alone, instead of warm and fuzzy. Not wanting to be alone after such an odd dream, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and made her way down the hall. Pausing outside the redhead's door, she lifted her fist and gave a timid knock.
Without even a sound from the other side of the door, such as the rustling of sheets that she assumed would come, Gaara commanded her to enter. She pushed the door open and peeked her head inside. The room was dark, but she could make out Gaara's clearly defined silhouette, sitting upright in his large bed. "What?"
Sakura blinked and stepped into the room completely, shutting his door behind her quietly. "Gaara…" Sakura began, a blush rising to her cheeks. Thank goodness it was dark. "I just had a weird dream, and it kind of gave me an uneasy feeling. Would it be okay if I stayed in here with you for a bit…I just really don't want to be alone right now."
Gaara remained silent for a while, but then pulled back the covers on the untouched side of his bed. "Come." he pat the mattress loudly. Sakura hastily made her way to the offered spot. Sliding under the silky sheets, she pulled them over the lower half of her body. Tucking her knees under her chin, she wrapped her arms around her legs. She felt the mattress lull as Gaara leaned closer to her, trying to see her features through the darkness. "Are you alright?"
She turned her head in his direction, her blush darkening at their close proximity. But with Gaara, she guessed she would just have to get used to it. "I'll be fine in a little while. What about you? I expected you to be asleep when I knocked on your door."
He faced forward and stared at the wall for a long while. He wasn't used to talking about anything with anyone. But Sakura seemed to like it when he told her about what was bothering him, "I was forced awake by a dream as well."
She straightened at this knowledge. "Really? What happened in your dream?" She figured that he slept now that the Shukaku wasn't residing in him anymore, but she never imagined that he would have dreams as well. It was just another sign that he really was human after all.
"Well," he still felt uncomfortable, but this was what normal people did wasn't it? "You remember when the Akatsuki took me and…I died…" he stopped there, not sure how to continue.
Sadness came over her face then, as she remembered Lady Chiyo's sacrifice, and Gaara's miraculous revival. Even though she didn't know the redhead very well then, she had been genuinely worried about him. Her eyes regained their light. It was also when she had killed Sasori of the Red Sand, proving to everyone else, and herself, that she was no longer the weakling of Team Seven. "I remember."
"Well, the dream was kind of like when I was dead. There was nothing…absolutely nothing. When I stepped forward, and I guess something broke because I fell. My sand wouldn't respond to me either and I just…fell. Then I heard someone mumbling, and I woke up." He finished, staring down at his bed. "I don't understand what it means, it's only the second dream I've ever had."
Her brow furrowed in concentration. "Well, I'm no expert, but it seems to me that something in your life is spiraling out of control, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. Maybe whoever the voice belongs to is the one who can save you from your fall." She shrugged. "But then again, these are just the musings of a troubled girl." Placing her hand on his, she lightly gave it a squeeze. "Thanks for keeping me company Gaara. I think I'll return to bed now."
With that Sakura got up from the bed and headed out of the room. Gaara watched her shadow leave, and then lifted his hand up. He stared at his empty, open palm and slowly closed it. He fell back down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Nothing was spiraling out of control, at least he couldn't think of anything that was.
It was morning the next time Gaara opened his eyes. He tossed the covers aside and slid out of bed. What an interesting night. He had never let anyone into his room before, and then so suddenly Sakura had been sitting with him in his bed. He shook his bed head out and theorized that Naruto must have drugged him. He nodded and headed downstairs to make Sakura her breakfast, just like he had for the past couple of days. When he reached the kitchen and saw all the food still out, he sighed and looked in the refrigerator, only seeing a few eggs remaining. "Well this will just have to do," he said to himself. He quickly whipped up a couple omelets and took the plates upstairs to Sakura's room. This time he did better and knocked, but after the third one he walked in.
"Good morning Sakura."
Said kunoichi paused mid stretch, arms in the air and chest pushed slightly forward. When she saw Gaara in her room she immediately stopped and gave the redhead an annoyed look. "What did I tell you about barging into my room?"
"At least I knocked this time, I gave you a clear three second warning." He informed her, coming beside her and setting the plate on her bedside table.
She crossed her arms. "That doesn't mean that I was ready for you to come in. What I said the first time still applies. I could have been indecent, and three seconds is barely enough time to grab something in order to cover myself."
Gaara just rolled his eyes, and leaned against the wall, beginning to eat his own breakfast. "It's not like you really are ever going to be indecent." He scooped the last of his omelet into his mouth and swallowed quickly. "Now hurry up and get ready, I need to get to the office."
She began to eat her breakfast. "Okay." Finishing her meal, she hopped out of bed and began to search for her training clothes. Today was her day off, and she knew just who she wanted to spend it with. Remembering that she had done the laundry last night, she ran past Gaara, grabbing his plate and putting it in the sink on her way to the laundry room. When she found what she was looking for, she turned to run back upstairs and get dressed.
Midway up she heard a loud, demanding yell. "SAKURA!"
She shied back down the stairs, contemplating on making a run for it. He must have just realized she had gone into his room without his permission. She could hear the stomps on the upper floor. Gaara appeared at the top of the stairs, anger apparent on his face. "WHERE are my clothes? And why were you in my room without permission?"
She poked her fingers together in a very Hinata-like fashion. "Hehe….well….you see…I told you that I had done laundry last night, and I figured that you would have some dirty clothes as well. So I went into your room and grabbed them out of your laundry basket. But I didn't touch anything I swear! I even ironed them for you to get all the wrinkles out!"
He stalked down the stairs, watching her warily. He decided to let this one go, since he did almost kill her last night. "Fine. Just don't go in there again without permission." And with that he disappeared from her sight to go and retrieve his clothes.
She hastily got dressed, and strapped her weapons pouch around her waist. Coming down the stairs, she met a fully dressed Gaara, who raised a questioning brow at her. "Planning on getting attacked today?"
She merely shrugged. "You never know when you're going to need a kunai. Might as well be prepared." With that, she walked out the door.
The walk to the hospital was a quiet one, and when he turned to leave Sakura put her hand on his arm. "Don't forget that we're going shopping today after you pick me up. So try to be a little early if you can." She gave him a smile, seeing the distressed look on his face, and walked off to begin her rounds.
And here he had thought that he would get away with not going with her. How wrong he had been.
"Hey Yoko, I'm taking the day off, so you can be in charge." Sakura said flippantly, waving the matter off.
The brunette gave her an incredulous look. "You mean the great Sakura needs a break? Be still my beating heart!" she mocked.
If only, the pink haired medic thought. Quirking a brow at the older woman, she simply stated, "I have a few things that need to be taken care of. I didn't really have to come in today, but I thought I would just check up on things. Can you handle it?"
The other medic simply laughed. "I've been running this hospital since before you knew how to summon healing chakra to those dainty hands of yours. Just because you're gone for one day doesn't mean that the place will fall apart."
It was Sakura's turn to laugh now. Maybe Yoko wasn't so bad after all. "Don't burn the place down." She said as she walked out the door.
It didn't take her very long to find the object of her wrath. Pasting a fake smile on her face, she went up to her group of friends, who were lounging around the square. "Hey guys! What's up?"
"Hi Sakura-chan! What are you up to today?" her energetic blonde friend asked.
"Actually Naruto, I was looking for Kiba." She informed him, her gaze sliding over to the brunette.
Said boy raised a questioning brow at her. "Whaddaya lookin' for me for?"
She rocked back and forth on her heels, trying to contain her excited, evil intentions. "I just wanted to know if you would like to have a friendly spar. It'll be fun." She said in a sing-song voice, only adding to the innocence she was portraying.
He shrugged. "Sounds fine to me. I'll finally be able to mark you off the list of people I haven't beaten. Just let me go get Akamaru."
"Oh you won't need him." She stated hastily. "This spar will be strictly taijutsu."
"Even better. I can train, and beat you at the same time." The dog master said with a confident grin.
With an evil smirk, Sakura muttered, "We'll see."
"Hey, where is Akamaru anyways? I haven't seen him since we arrived." Ino asked.
Kiba simply waved off the question with indifference. "Oh he's probably off chasing the wild cats of the desert or something. He'll come if I need him." Turning towards Sakura he said, "Ok let's go! I wanna start as soon as possible."
"Excellent." She said as she rubbed her hands together, plotting her revenge.
Gaara couldn't believe the great day he was having. His desk was clear and organized, and all of the missions were signed off and given out to their respected levels. He took out the last scroll on his desk and began to read the text. He had had no interruptions all day, all his work was completed, and not one word from his blonde friend or siblings.
"Ah, today has gone just perfectly." He said to himself, pulling out a pen and beginning to take notes on the scroll. That was when he stopped, a suspicious look coming across his face. Why hadn't he had any interruptions? He always had someone bothering him.
A loud rumble shook his desk, and the area around him. Gaara eyed the ground warily, that wasn't normal. They didn't have earthquakes in Suna. Gaara stood and let out a deep sigh, the absence of his…annoyances…was probably the root behind this odd occurrence. At least he had gotten all his work done for the day and he wouldn't have to worry about it later. The sand around him picked up and whisked him away to the source of the commotion.
Gaara appeared in the entrance of one of the largest training fields in Suna. What he saw almost made him laugh out loud. Almost.
"Sakura! I thought this was just supposed to be a friendly spar!" Kiba whined, barely missing the fist aimed for his face.
"Were you being friendly when you decided to eavesdrop on us last night? Were you being friendly when you caused Gaara to run off and have a psychotic episode?" she yelled, going in to attack him again.
"I said I was sorry! What will it take for you to forgive me?" he yelled, running from her once more.
"Your face bruised and battered." Was all she said before using a series of punches and kicks on him. He was able to dodge them, causing Sakura to hit the ground with her fist, creating a huge crack in the earth. "Stop running away and let me hit you! Gaara will be upset if we destroy one of his best training fields!"
"You're the one destroying it!" he said frantically, trying to come up with a plan. But it was useless. Clearly, the pink haired kunoichi had been planning this, and what a good plan it was.
Gaara watched the spar with a huge smirk. He could tell just one hit from Sakura and Kiba would be hospitalized for at least a month.
Kiba weaved in and out of Sakura's attacks, feeling the wind from her hands brush by his face. Man this had been a bad idea! "Sakura please! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"
"Didn't mean to?" Sakura yelled, pulling her fist back and aiming it at his face, narrowly missing and sending a crack up a nearby tree. "You don't understand how impressionable Gaara is right now! He's just learning how to act around people, let alone his friends!" she told him angrily, jumping into the air and raining a kick down on his head. Kiba ducked swiftly and scrambled for an area of safety.
"Ok! Ok Sakura! I promise to be better, please just stop!" he yelped as he barely dodged another fist.
"Not until I am satisfied with your punishment!" The kunoichi yelled, gently grazing his left arm. Jumping back a bit more, the helpless ninja tried for a different approach. Distraction.
"Hey! The agreement was only to use taijutsu! That means no chakra enhanced punches!"
She smirked in a very Gaara-esque fashion. "I'm not using any chakra. This is my natural strength." She told him, before jumping back into action.
Standing on the sidelines, Naruto had a very nervous look on his face. "I've never seen Sakura-chan this scary before."
"Not even when she was hitting you for saying something stupid?" Temari asked.
The blonde merely shook his head, speechless. "Wow, that's a first. I've got to see if Sakura can teach me some of that." The wind master pondered out loud.
The last thing Gaara needed was for his sister to learn more ways to hurt people, the Kazekage thought with a shake of his head. He would stay, though, to see how this would end. He never knew that Sakura was so naturally strong.
"I hope you have a high pain tolerance Kiba." The pink haired woman said in his ear. Said ninja turned around quickly, only to be met with air.
"What do you mean?" He asked, afraid of the answer.
She appeared on his other side, saying "When I'm done with you, you'll be in a lot of pain." And before he had time to react, she made contact with Kiba's face, sending him flying across the field, and through a tree.
"Kiba!" Ino yelled, running to him.
"Back off Ino! Unless you want me to kick your skinny ass too!" Sakura said, stomping over to where the brunette was laying.
Ino stayed in front of Kiba, spreading her arms out as if to take a blow from her friend in his place. "Sakura! Stop! He's sorry ok! And don't you threaten me!" Ino yelled back, standing her ground, but she looked a bit nervous. She was no match for Sakura's strength, her only option would be to trick her. "You can't tell me to stand aside, what would you do if Gaara had gotten hurt?" she jabbed, taking a confident step forward.
The pink haired kunoichi paused mid-step, hesitating. Regaining her momentum she continued forward, and slowly began to raise her fist. "Gaara did get hurt! Do you have any idea what I went through last night to fix the mess that Kiba made? He will pay for what he put Gaara through!"
Ino glared at her friend. This wasn't exactly how she wanted to spend her afternoon. "I'm sorry Sakura, but I just can't let you do that to Kiba!" Ino opened her kunai holster and pulled out two, tossing one into her other hand.
"Beating up Kiba anymore than you already have isn't going to make you feel better!" Ino yelled and ran at Sakura, slashing at her swiftly. Sakura dodged out of the way, aiming a fist at the blonde's face.
"You don't even know how Gaara came home last night! There was blood all over him!" Sakura screamed, slamming her fist into the ground. The earth shook violently, breaking apart in enormous chunks.
Ino flipped back and attached herself to the wall, pumping chakra into her feet. She looked fiercely at Sakura. "But he probably did that to HIMSELF! Stop blaming Kiba! He said he was sorry! Gaara is fine now, so CALM DOWN!" Ino made a couple hand signs and framed Sakura with her hands. Something blue shot across the field and slammed into Sakura. The medic stopped her advance on the blonde, appearing more like a lifeless doll.
Gaara moved forward, slightly alarmed by Sakura's actions. He had seen this before at the chuunin exams. Ino jumped off the wall and landed in front of Sakura, pulling out a seal from her bag. She pulled Sakura's hands together behind her back and wrapped the seal around her wrists tightly. "Please calm down Sakura." Ino whispered to her friend before releasing her from the jutsu.
Sakura may not be able to use her fists, but she still had her legs, and they were just as powerful. The pink haired kunoichi immediately swung her legs around, effectively knocking Ino to the ground on her back. Before the blonde could react, Sakura was standing over Kiba, whose face was bleeding from the hit she had landed earlier.
"Sakura! No!" Ino yelled, getting up.
She turned to her friend. "Don't worry Ino, I'm not going to kill him or anything." Then she made eye contact with the semi-conscious brunette. "If you do anything like that to cause Gaara to harm himself ever again, you will bleed from more places than just your face. I will make sure of it." She slowly broke the seal, tearing it like it was plain paper, causing Ino to gasp.
"You mean, you could've broken the seal the whole time?" she asked incredulously.
Walking up to her friend, she merely lifted the corner of her mouth in a half smile. "Tsunade-shishou taught me how to counter various types of seals." She placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "I'm sorry Ino, can you ever forgive me?"
Ino stood quickly and made a hit at Sakura's arm. "What's wrong with you? You're so mean!" she huffed and crossed her arms. "How could you do that to Kiba?" Ino ran back over to him and lifted his head to her lap. "Are you ok Kiba?"
Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but before she could get a word out someone else spoke, causing a chill to rush down her spine. "Sakura." Gaara called from his high viewpoint, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
Naruto and Temari looked up instantly and saw that Gaara had been there since who knew when. Hinata blinked and looked up as well, stifling a small laugh. "He's been here awhile." She said quietly.
Naruto gave her an incredulous look. "You mean you knew he was here the whole time and didn't tell us?"
Hinata merely shrugged. "I figured, if he wanted us to know he was here he would have made his presence more obvious."
The kyuubi merely crossed his arms in annoyance. "Gosh Hinata, I never knew you were so mean!" he whined.
She giggled. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Naruto-kun."
Back on the training field, Sakura stared into the jade depths of Gaara's eyes, transfixed in what she saw there. She wasn't sure what he was thinking, and part of her was afraid to find out. She walked over to the tree, and put on the most innocent face she could muster. "Yes?"
"Come here," was his only reply. He didn't bother giving anyone else a glance, despite the fact that he was impressed by the Hyuuga girl for sensing his presence.
Ino was about to make a snap at Sakura, but the serious look on Gaara's face kept her mouth shut. She looked down at Kiba and then back to the Kazekage. He was so hard to read. She couldn't tell if he was upset or angry.
With a graceful leap, Sakura landed next to Gaara on the top of the wall. Unsure of what he was going to say, she clasped her hands behind her back and began to fidget. All he did was gesture for her to come along with him as he walked off and jumped to the ground. They walked in silence for some time, passing shops and restaurants.
"Are you alright Sakura?" he questioned, looking down at her face.
She looked up at him, surprise written all over her expression. "I'm fine. Kiba's the one you should be worried about. I think I broke his nose and dislocated his jaw." She knew she should sound remorseful about what she had done to him, but when she thought about it, it was nothing compared to what would have happened if Ino hadn't interfered. She would have to thank her friend for that later.
Gaara stopped, right there in the middle of the street, and stared her down. "Sakura, please, I just watched you almost kill your friend for my sake." He gave her a small smile that only she could see. "I told you I was alright, and I am. You're acting strange, and I think it would be best if we both were not having psychotic episodes." He took her hand and lifted it up some, almost like he were about to kiss it. He pulled her closer and leaned down towards her face, "Though I did find it amusing that you were fighting for me." He smirked and led her over towards a food cart. "Now we have shopping to do, don't we?"
Stunned, and a bit shocked that he wasn't mad, she smiled into his face. "Yes, I believe we do." Pulling his head towards her, she whispered into his ear, "By the way, you're not the only one who's allowed to have psychotic episodes. I will try to control myself, but I won't make any promises." And before he could respond, she had engaged the vendor in conversation about the new produce he had received, as if nothing had happened.
Gaara laughed and made his way to her side, a spectator in this odd act called grocery shopping. The two walked around the marketplace, Sakura buying more and more, which meant that Gaara had more to carry. Some of the specters in the market looked appalled at the sight of their Kazekage holding all the belongings of the pink haired medic. It was simply unknown to them that Gaara would even shop at all. Sakura on the other hand, knew that for the villagers to see such a sight, it would cause them to come to love and respect their Kazekage more.
When they finished their shopping trip, they headed straight for the house. Gaara had asked her if she needed to check on Kiba, to which she shrugged. "Not really. Ino knows basic first aid. I'm sure he'll be fine. I don't really care whether he heals properly or not. It'll just leave him a constant reminder never to upset me again." She said with a murderous glint to her eyes.
"Devious," he laughed, and heaved the bags onto the counter once they were in the kitchen. They began putting away the food and setting everything in the cupboards as Sakura started dinner for the evening. Surprisingly, it was an uneventful day for the duo, and the first in which they didn't fight before going to bed.