Chapter THREE

"Sakura!"

There was a flash of movement behind him, and Sakura appeared in front of him, crouching and head lowered.

"Yes, Gaara-sama?"

Gaara smirked to himself. "I'm thirsty."

Sakura dipped her head and stood up. She turned around, but a tendril of sand snatched her ankle. Sakura stopped and the sand crawled up until it was wrapped securely around her waist.

The sand tugged her backwards and Gaara wrapped his arms around the pinkette.

He moved Sakura's hair out of the way and bit her neck, hard enough to draw blood. He drew back and watched the crimson liquid seep out and roll slowly down her pale neck. He licked up before it could drip any further down and soak into her clothes.

Not that anyone would notice.

Sakura was wearing a crimson kimono top over a red short andon bakama. People believed that her clothes were previously white, but had been soaked in the blood Gaara spilled. It was laughable, really.

After a few more goes of inspecting then licking, Gaara shoved Sakura away. The girl easily caught her balance and landed in a crouch before him once again. Sometimes, her gracefulness annoyed him.

"I'm going to go training. Come."

Sakura obediently stepped after him as he left his room.

Without a word, Gaara sent a wave of sand at Sakura. The pinkette easily moved out of the way. Her feet were a blur as she gracefully dodged the tendrils of sand, staying just out of reach of the sand hands. Maybe it was Gaara's fault for doing this every chance he got, but it still annoyed him. By the looks of it, Sakura looked like she could dodge his attacks in his sleep. Not to mention that even if he did manage to catch, his sand wouldn't be able to break her body past her bones. Sure, he could draw blood, but thanks to her bone structure and strength, it was impossible for her to break a bone. In a way, it was similar to his Sand Armour.

Sakura landed neatly on her feet a few feet away. She stomped the ground with her foot, sending a fissure towards him. The sand at his feet rose into the air, taking Gaara with it. The sand bridged over the crack, depositing him on a flat piece of land.

"Where did you learn that?" He asked.

Sakura paused. "Chiyo-baa-sama told me of her rival, Senju Tsunade, who came up with the technique of channeling Chakra to ones fists in order to power up the blows. Chiyo-baa-sama explained the basics of it and I figured it out myself."

Gaara slowly nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Gaara-sama?" She asked.

Gaara shook his head. "Nothing." He said. "I'm leaving." Sand rose into the air, cocooning him. He vanished.

"Good, at least you're all on time." Sasori nodded in approval. Temari and Kankuro nodded respectfully while Gaara completely ignored him. One of the Kazekage's personal servants held out a stack of travel papers, which Sasori took. He flipped through the papers, pausing on the last. "Sakura?" He glanced up at the servant.

"That's...Gaara's girl." He said, then looked around nervously. "She doesn't seem to be around, but she just appears, I guess, so you shouldn't really be surprised if she's there all of a sudden."

Sasori narrowed his eyes and slowly nodded. He scanned through their information then dismissed the servant. He stuffed the papers into his cloak and turned to face the team.

"We'll be heading out now." He told the siblings. "You have everything you need, right? You better, because I'm not waiting for you if you forget anything."

"Ga-Gaara?" Temari asked before she could stop herself. Gaara turned his gaze from the tree to her. They had decided to camp for the night. Kankuro had been sent to collect wood for a fire while Sasori had gone to a near by river for water and if he were lucky, a few fish.

"Where's Sakura?" She remembered the girl's paper being in the pile Sasori had, but as far as she was concerned, she hadn't seen the girl.

Gaara narrowed his eyes. "Why are you asking?" He asked.

Temari shuddered at the Killing Intent being released. "N-no, I was just curious-"

"Where she is is none of your concern." Gaara interrupted sharply.

"Right, sorry." Temari flinched away from the burning glare and pressed her back harder against the tree she was leaning against. A few seconds later, Sasori reappeared form the trees, refilled bottles in one hand and a six fishes in the other. He blinked at the think air before looking around. "Where's Kankuro?" He asked.

Gaara ignored him while Temari shrug. "He hasn't come back."

Sasori narrowed his eyes. "Isn't he taking his time?" He muttered.

"But isn't he too late?" Temari asked. "Shouldn't he be back by now?"

Sasori nodded. "He should." He glanced at Gaara, then turned to look around the trees. "I'll-"

"When are you guys going to sleep?" Gaara snapped. "Your yakking is very annoying."

"But Kankuro's not back-" Temari flinched and stopped mid-sentence at the harsh glare.

"If he has died on a simple journey, he is not worthy of being on my team." Gaara sneered.

Temari desperately turned to Sasori, who sighed. "Gaara, wait a moment. We haven't even eaten the fish I actually bothered to catch. I'll go look for-"

"No need." Gaara interrupted. "He's here."

Something came falling from above them and Temari tensed, a hand flying to a weapon, when the lump on the ground moved and revealed itself to be Kankuro.

"Ow..."

"Kankuro! Where were you?" Temari gasped, shaking off her shock of him falling out of the trees. "Why were you up-"

"I got lost." Kankuro laughed nervously. "Also, the wood-"

Something else came falling from above, hitting the ground around Kankuro, a few hitting said Genin on the head. Rubbing his head, Kankuro picked up the scattered branches and sticks. Sasori wordlessly nudged him aside and piled it up before lighting the fire. He then placed the fish around it.

"So, what were you doing, Kankuro?" Sasori asked.

"Well, as I was saying, I got lost, but then someone who I assume to be Sakura dragged me back-"

Gaara snarled, cutting him off. "Do not talk about her."

Kankuro shuddered and shut his mouth. Sasori turned the fish over before handing one to each Genin, keeping the one for himself. He eyed the last two fishes before Kankuro asked for another. Sasori held up the last. "Do you want to give this to your...friend?" He asked Gaara.

Gaara narrowed his eyes. His sand moved, taking the fish from Sasori and tossing it into the trees. Temari opened her mouth but closed it again when there was a faint rustle. One second, the fish was falling, and the next, it was gone in a flash of movement.

Gaara leaned back against his tree.

"Is your friend going to be fine without a fire?" Sasori asked absentmindedly.

Gaara narrowed his eyes. "Yes." Sasori shrug.

Hello, people!

We have a new idea for another NARUTO fanfic (Sorry) and we were wondering about which pairing you would like it to be.

Just review or PM the pairing you would like and later, we'll put up a poll.

Okay, chapter three is here!

Mwahahahaha!

Darque: Tomorrow is the last day of school! Then we have Chinese New Year holidays!

Raven: Good for you. I have school.

Darque: I know, right?

Raven:...

Darque: So, how's that arm? The one you broke when you ran into a car?

Raven: The CAR ran into ME!

Darque: Ops, my bad. Then again, it's not too hard to imagine you charging into a car on purpose.

Read and Review!