No One Else To Bother

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"How was training?"

Sakura whipped around to face him, obviously startled and stared wide eyed at him. His posture was cool and relaxed but it said nothing about how he felt inside. He was a rage. She had lied to him, caused him much trouble in finding her and in doing so drained him of most of his energy. He was going to have to do some serious meditation to get it back for the exams coming up. And, not only that, he had a gut feeling that he was going to have to compete with another host for her attention. It sickened him. He took what he wanted without question or remorse but attention had to be freely given. Who was this other host she reading these things for? It wasn't the type of topic one would look up for a lazy afternoon read.

She sputtered for a moment before the words were able to escape her lips. "It…it was canceled." She lied. "I thought I should catch up on my studies instead. What are you doing here?" she asked as she hushed her voice to a whisper as she looked around, searching the maze of shelves for anyone who might see them together.

"Looking for you." His voice was low and bitter, with a bite to it she had not heard before. A shiver quaked through her body.

"Okay," she said slowly, thinking over his word choice. "But why?"

"Because you were not where you said you would be, therefore I looked for you and had a hell of a time finding you. And you can't fool me," he stated matter-of-factly. "You never had practice today did you?" At his question her eyes left his and darted to the floor. Guilt. Even against someone she hardly knew her emotions were still plain as day. "Why did you lie to me?"

She squirmed in her seat and refused to meet his eyes, she couldn't bear to see that intensity looking down on her, judging her with disappointment. It was then, at that thought, that she remembered something. She lied to him because she didn't want him to know where she was. Even when he didn't find her at the training grounds he still didn't take the hint and leave her alone. She felt her temper rise and she snapped her head up at him. She stared at him as strong and stubbornly as she could. She wasn't backing down to him, it just wasn't happening.

"I lied, Gaara," she began with a bite spoken in mock sweetness. "Because I don't want you around."

His expression didn't change, but the words she spoke struck a chord in him, triggering a memory from his childhood. Back when he thought people could accept him. Back when he was ignorant and stupid. He saw the intensity in her eyes and it challenged him, she was standing up to him and if she could not learn her place, than he would have to put her in it one way or another.

His lips tightened and moved into a bitter, yet very subtle, scowl. His features seemed to harden with anger into stone, but his eyes were alive and wild. He gestured to the books at her side. "What are those for?" he demanded.

"Just trying to study," she said simply.

"Why the hosts?"

His question was blunt and cold, it gave her chills. "Never know when you might need it. I want to know as much as I can before I start school for it," she replied simply. Gaara wasn't buying it.

"You know someone who is a host, don't you?"

Sakura went cold. This guy was dangerous. Sure, to her he was just being bothersome and annoying, but she knew that he had power that she couldn't even begin to fathom. Could he know about Naruto and his fox? There was no way, he couldn't have told that just by looking at him that one time they ever encountered.

"No, it's just that I thought it was interesting and good to know. Better to know and never need to use it that need the information and not know." She saw that he wasn't buying her bluff. She shrugged. "Just precautionary."
Gaara leaned down and spoke in a low and steady voice. "Don't lie to me Sakura, it isn't smart."

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Why do you want to hide it so badly?" he countered.

She rolled her eyes. "You know what Gaara? Go ahead, believe whatever you want. I don't care."

With that she shut her book and began piling them all together to take back to their spots. Obviously she wasn't going to get any more reading done with his hovering behind her like he always seemed to be now. She grabbed her books and turned away from him, walking away from him without even a glance back. Gaara didn't like this, not one bit.

"Don't turn your back on me Sakura, you won't like me when you do." His voice was dark and dangerous, it caused Sakura to waver in her walk at its low grumble. Gaara took notice of how it seemed to affect her. However, she stood her ground and kept on walking away from him, offering her own snide remark.

"I don't like anyways so why would I care?"

Suddenly she felt something wrap around her ankle and yank her to the ground. As she fell her books slipped from her hands and they – along with herself – fell into a soft landing of sand cushioning her fall and muffling the sound of her impact in the quiet library. It quickly pulled her back over to Gaara as she tried to jerk her ankle free. She shot him a glare as the sand shifted to prop her up and set her back on her feet. It swirled along the ground to pool in a pulsating circle around Gaara's feet. To see the sand move in action, on his command was something new to her, she realized that – in a sense – it behaved kind of like a dog. Loyal and protective of its' master and always by his side.

"Why do you hate me Sakura?" He asked simply. "I feel I have been very nice to you since I've arrived and just for that alone you should count yourself lucky."

"Well than you must not know what nice really is than, do you?"

"No." She was caught off guard by his blunt response. Nothing in his features changed, not in his eyes, his body language, his tone, nothing. It was as plain as day, she couldn't even laugh it off like a joke, he really didn't know what nice was…

"Well," she began slowly. "It's definitely not what you're doing now."

"Which is what?" he questioned. "Making sure that you're safe and well even though you continually make it clear you do not have the same concern for me? Spending all my time on someone I hardly know and you continually do nothing but make that harder for me?"

"Oh excuse me, but I never asked for you to be concerned about me or follow me around at all. You just did! And you said it yourself, if you don't know me than why are you always around? Don't you have other people to bother?" she spat at him, her words filled with frustration and annoyance at his complete lack of interest in her need of privacy.

"No."

There it was again, that damn blunt answer of his. But this one was different, blunt – yes, but also sad. It was then, when she saw the flicker of hurt in his cold eyes, that she understood that he was alone. He had said his village didn't like him but she didn't see it then, he had no one. She felt for him and that part of her that cared for the wellbeing of those around her and wanted to help cure that loneliness. She remembered Naruto once again, his childhood filled with the other kids teasing him and refusing to accept him. What they didn't understand at the time was that if Naruto wasn't what he was - if he didn't have the fox sealed inside of him - that very demon would have destroyed their home years ago. They owed him their lives, their homes, and they were too distracted by the beast inside him to see that. She wondered if Gaara had suffered a similar fate.

She sighed, knowing all too well that after that she couldn't just leave him. She couldn't live with herself if she had once again stooped to the level of spiteful ignorance. "Gaara," she said in a tired voice. "I was going to go get some lunch, are you hungry at all?"

He looked at her with hesitation and confusion. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I want to know if you want to come with me."

"You want to go somewhere with me?" he questioned, testing how the words felt on his tongue, they were strange and felt out of place. "Why?"

Sakura couldn't help but take pity at the confusion she saw in his eyes. "Because you have no one else to go with."

Gaara looked toward the doors of the building. She asked him if he wanted to be around her, giving him the choice to stay or to leave. Suddenly he wanted to leave, but not by himself. He didn't want to be out in the city amongst all those people, he wanted to just be around her. She was calming in a sense, even when she annoyed him, and he didn't want to share her presence with anyone else.

"Can we just eat at your house?"

She nodded. "Alright, I guess, but I have to pick up some food for the house. It's going to take me a little while." He looked her over skeptically and gave her a quizzical look. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I promise I am going to the market and not somewhere else okay? Go wait for me at my house if you want, I'll be there as soon as I can."

Gaara thought this over for a moment. "Alright," he agreed. "You have a 30 minutes before I come looking for you." Without any other word than that his sand began to flurry around him and within moments he had vanished, disappearing in a cloud of sand and evaporating into the air like a mirage

Sakura found herself standing alone with a pile of books slumped on the floor. She pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. 'Danmit Sakura,' she cursed herself. 'What have you gotten yourself into?'

'Looks like its some fun with a crazy boy. Good one.' Her inner added sarcastically. 'At least he's a cute one, that's always a big plus.'

She's be lying to herself if she said she didn't agree. There was something about the way his dark red hair fell over his neck and above his eyes, layering lightly over the tattoo on his forehead, making the dark rings around his eyes seem feral and wild. And his eyes themselves, so deep and piercing with the most clear teal blue she had ever seen. He was tall for their age and lean with strength she hadn't even begun to witness or comprehend. His voice sent chills down her spine and the way he seemingly wanted to control made a small part of her want to give in to him.

She shook her head and let it thud against the wall behind her. "I'm doomed…"

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