Chapter FOUR

"I see it!" Kankuro gasped. "Is that Konoha?" He pointed between the trees at the walls in the far distance.

Sasori nodded. He looked around, wondering how the Sakura kid followed them without being seen or sensed. He turned to Gaara. "You're going to need to call out your friend, you know. I have her papers and she can't enter without them."

Gaara gritted his teeth, the words 'No' at the tip of his tongue. 'Even if she has to stay outside the village, if I call her, she'll come flying to my side, village walls or not.'

But even he understood that that was not something that he should do. After all, if Sakura jumped the wall, guards would try to stop her. Sakura will kill the guards. Sakura would then be arrested for killing Konoha shinobi. Sakura would be taken away.

Gaara nodded.

They kept moving for another hour, and there were only a few kilometers left until the village gates.

Gaara suddenly stopped in his steps. The rest of the team slowed down but when Gaara didn't even look at them, they glanced at each other before moving ahead.

"Sakura." Gaara looked around.

"Gaara-sama?" Gaara turned around. Sakura crouched a few meters behind him.

"We're entering the village soon. Sasori has your papers. Stay with me."

Sasori's steps faltered just a tiny bit. The chakra signature that had flared to life behind him was small, but that was only because it had been compressed to the point it felt like it would explode any second. He glanced behind him and saw that Gaara had rejoined them. He glanced up, towards the new source of chakra.

Pink hair seemed to glow in the little sunlight which slipped in between the trees. This 'Sakura' easily seemed to be matching their steps, moving gracefully, just like someone who had done this many, many times. Sasori noted that he had never seen her in the training grounds, or felt her chakra signature anywhere.

Sasori held out the papers to the guards, who took them and quickly scanned them through. He handed them back to the Puppet Master and stepped aside so that they could enter the village.

Silence spread as they made their way towards the Inn in which they would be staying at. Sasori ordered two rooms and took the keys, handing one to Kankuro and the other to Temari.

"Okay, girls in one room, boys in the other." He said, though there was something lacking in his tone. Temari and Kankuro glanced at each other, then at Gaara.

"Sakura stays with me." Gaara hissed. "I don't care about what you want."

Sasori sighed in a 'I-knew-you-were-going-to-say-that' kind of way before taking the key from Temari and handing it to Gaara. "So, I'll room with you guys." He told Gaara. The Jinchuriki shrugged.

"You can hang around the village or something, I don't care. Just be back by seven, as we'll be having dinner. Don't keep me waiting, or you'll have no dinner, and you will go to sleep hungry."

He dismissed them and then entered the room he was sharing with Gaara and Sakura. He put down his stuff before sitting on the bed. He then pulled out a scroll and began messing with his puppets.

A few seconds later, the door opened and he look up. Gaara led Sakura into the room by her arms and sat down onto the beg, tugging Sakura after him. He wrapped his arms around her wait and buried his nose into the curve of her neck.

Sakura didn't seemed fazed at all as she sat there, not moving. No fear or anything.

Sasori turned back to his puppets, and after a few more moment, he noticed the feeling of someone watching him. He looked up again.

Sakura's green gaze was watching him work. As his hands stopped in their tracks, Sakura slowly looked up at him.

"What?" Sasori asked.

Gaara instantly stiffened. His eyes shot up to his and the Jinchuriki slowly drew back.

"Sakura?" He asked. "What are you looking at?"

The girl lowered her head. "Sorry."

"What were you looking at?" Gaara pressed.

Sakura stiffened just a tiny bit.

"It's okay. Tell me." Gaara's tone screamed it's an order.

Sakura hesitated for a split second. "Sasori-san's-"

Gaara's hand clamped around the back of Sakura's neck. Sasori could see the strength behind the grip.

Gaara's second hand snaked out and he wrapped both hands around Sakura's throat. "And why were you looking at him?"

"I have never seen someone tending to their puppet before-"

"And why would you want to watch something like that?"

"I was curious-"

"Something like you doesn't need curiosity! You don't need to know anything!" Gaara snarled. "All you need to see and hear and feel is me!"

Sasori had always wondered what kind of relationship Gaara and Sakura had. It seemed like Gaara was much more possessive than he had originally thought.

"You are nothing! Nothing but something that belongs to me! You don't need to know about anyone or anything else. All you need to know is me!"

Sakura's eyes widened just a tiny bit, and she seemed to be fighting her hands from flying to her throat.

"Gaara!" Sasori put his puppet pieces down. "That's enough!"

Gaara turned his harsh gaze to him. "Shut up!"

"You're going to kill her!"

At this, Gaara froze. His hands slowly loosened their grip and Sakura let out a choked cough. She took in gulps of air and leaned forwards, trying to get air through to her lungs.

"Look at what you made me do..." Gaara murmured. He reached forwards and tugged on the girl's shoulders, making her sit up right. With a tenderness Sasori had never seen the Jinchuriki display, Gaara gently rubbed at the rapidly showing purple hand prints. Sand slipped out of Gaara's gourd and moved towards Gaara's bag. The sand disappeared inside, re-appearing moments later with a water container. Gaara handed the bottle to Sakura, who slowly took it. "Drink." She quickly complied, taking a few, quick sips.

"Just look at me. That's all you need to do." Gaara said. "That is your only living purpose. That is the sole reason of your existence."

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.

However, we don't mind if they are repeated. Just review or PM the pairing you would like and later, we'll put up a poll.

This one is slightly (and we mean VERY slightly) longer than usual. (By like, a few hundred words)

Raven: So, I'm the only one here today, cause Darque's not here. Aaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnndddddddd...

We've hit a slight problem...okay...a HUGE problem. A life-threatening problem known as WRITERS BLOCK! And so, can people just randomly give us ideas? Like, what kind of things you want to see in this story. It can be anything, really. THANK YOU XD

Read and Review!

PS:

Sorry if I sound very weird.
:)