Chapter EIGHT

Gaara tried to hold back the urge to kill everyone in the area around him. Preliminary rounds? Seriously?

The ten competitors were sent up to the stands, and the first pair were sent down. Gaara glanced around, but before he could even open his mouth, Sakura appeared behind him. He indicated with his hand and she appeared beside him. He pulled her even closer to him with an arm around her waist and breathed in her scent. The first two names appeared on the board.

Uchiha Sasuke VS Akado Yoroi.

Gaara scowled at the name. Said Uchiha defeated Yoroi, moving on to the next round. Gaara hoped that he could face the Uchiha, so that he could pummel him into the ground.

Aburame Shino VS Zaku Abumi.

Gaara glanced at the bugs flying around the Aburame, then at Sakura, who watched the battle without a hint of interest on her face. Weren't girls supposed to scream and squeal at the sight of creepy crawlies? Shino won the match.

Kankuro VS Tsurugu Misumi.

Kankuro shot his siblings a confident grin and jumped down to the fighting grounds. He was named the victor, and came back up to the stands, looking twice as confident as before.

Watanabe Ami VS Yamanaka Ino.

The two girls ran around for a while, doing things Gaara guessed they thought was 'Ninja skills'. They ended up knocking each other out, leading to a draw.

Temari VS Tenten.

Temari returned the look Gaara sent her way with a confident nod. She then proceeded to take part in the one way battle, and Temari flung the Tenten girl into the wall just for good measures. Tenten was taken to the medics, and Temari took her place by Gaara again.

Nara Shikamaru VS Kin Tsuchi.

Gaara had to admit, even he was pretty impressed with Shikamaru's layers of thinking. He then glanced at Sakura, who took to battles in a similar way. He wondered who would come out as the winner should the two strategists fight it out.

Namikaze Naruto VS Inuzuka Kiba.

Gaara glared at the blonde. Shukaku was more active whenever he was around. The Hokage's son won his match, and Gaara could hear his loud voice from all the way across the stadium.

Hyuga Neji VS Hyuga Hinata.

This matched was another one way beat down. Neji showed his cousin and heiress no mercy as he showed off the difference in their skill levels.

And finally,

Gaara VS Rock Lee.

Gaara's smirk widened. His sand swirled, ready to transport him down, when a thought hit him.

"Sakura."

Said pinkette bowed.

"Go to the other side of the arena, to the Konoha shinobi. Talk to them, make them uncomfortable, I don't care. I want you to watch the reactions of his teammates and friends as I tear this one apart."

He didn't need to watch to know that his order had been followed.

Sasuke looked up as he sensed someone approaching. He looked up, and met a blank green gaze. Sakura looked as impassive as ever. Sasuke noted that the girl had bandages wrapped around her right ankle, and more wrapped around her arms, peeking out from below her sleeve. He was pretty sure she hadn't been wearing them when he had seen her before, and as far as he was concerned, bandage wrapping wasn't a new fashion style.

Naruto, who had been blabbering on about who-knows-what, turned to him. "Hey, Teme! Are you even..." He trailed off. "YOU!" He pointed an accusing finger at Sakura. The rest of the Konoha Genin present turned to look.

Sakura pointed at herself. "Me?" She asked.

Naruto nodded. "I was looking for you!"

Sakura nodded. "I heard."

Naruto opened his mouth again, but Sasuke beat him to it. "She came to look for me after you left." He said.

Naruto blinked. "Oh."

"Who are you? Why are you here, you're not a participating Genin."

Sakura looked up to meet the gaze of Neji.

"My name is Sakura." She said. "I am here on Gaara-sama's orders."

Shikamaru yawned. "Isn't that the guy fighting now?"

Sakura nodded. She then perched herself on the rail, and turned to face them. However, she didn't say anything.

"Are you guys like, you know, friends?" Naruto asked.

"Friends..." Sakura lifted her head but never met his gaze. For a second, Sasuke thought he saw something flicker within the girl's eyes, before it was gone. "I am whatever Gaara-sama needs me to be." Then the flicker was back again. "I would like to warn you beforehand, that you should pull your friend out of the matches. Gaara-sama isn't feeling very well today. He will kill your friend." Then it was gone. Sasuke held back the urge to rub at his eyes.

Naruto frowned. "He isn't feeling well? Then-"

Shikamaru nudged Naruto, and pointed at the match that had just begun beneath them. "I don't think she meant that in a physical way."

Lee took off like a shot. Gaara's sand moved to defend him, but it didn't help if the opponent was too fast for the sand to defend against. Lee's blows started to connect against the red-head. The boy's eyes were wide, as if his defense had never failed him before. Shikamaru guessed that it never had.

"Is...is your friend a Taijutsu specialist?" Sakura murmured.

Neji narrowed his eyes. He opened his mouth. "What is it to-"

At the same moment, Naruto shot her a grin. "He is, tebbayo!"

Sakura nodded to herself. "A Taijutsu specialist...Do you think it is possible that I-"

A hand gently came down onto Sakura's head. Naruto glanced up and met the lazy brown eyes. Said eyes blinked at him, before shifting to Sakura.

"Sasori-sama." The pinkette jumped off her perch and crouched into a bow.

Sasori nodded. "You know...don't you?"

Sakura lowered her head. "My apologies. I was out of line."

Sasori sighed, and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I didn't mean it that way." He paused. "If you want, I suppose you could spar against one of my puppets?"

Sakura glanced up. "That would be appreciated." She said. "However, you do not need to-"

Sasori cut her off. "I don't mind. It'll be interesting." He said. "I know that Gaara's sand is very deadly and very lethal. I would like to know how you have managed to avoid it all this time."

"Gaara-sama is going to lose control." Sakura said, glancing at the Konoha Genin. "The boy is never going to be the same again. Injuries beyond repair at best, death at worst.

Was she a jinx, or did she just know?

The scream that followed the clench of Gaara's fist was bone chilling. Gai yelled out to his student.

Gaara released his hold on the green clad shinobi, and Lee's limp body fell to the ground. Everyone half expected him to get up again, just like he had time to time again. However, he didn't. His limbs looked mangled, and were bent into odd directions.

His sand began to swirl again, ready to swallow up his opponent, when another green clad figure swept it away. Lee slowly got to his feet, but his eyes were unfocused, and he collapsed into his teacher's arms.

Gaara relished in the looks of horror on the Konoha Genin's faces.

"The winner is Gaara." The proctor managed to announce.

Gaara folded his arms, the panic he had felt before long gone. He could feel the stings from the hits to his face, but Sakura could easily fix that. Speaking of Sakura...

He glanced back towards the stands, and met Sakura's gaze. The pinkette quickly glanced down, her head lowered. She dipped her head at him. Gaara smirked.

Sakura hesitated. This was the first time in her whole entire life in which she had hesitated at something. Up until now, everything had been laid out for her, and everything had been organized for her. Everything had been planned out by someone else. All she had to do was follow, and Sakura didn't really understand what it was all about.

She glanced at Sasori, who had wandered off again, then at the Konoha Genin, who looked too shocked and scared to really do anything. She reached into her sleeve and pulled out the glass vial containing her chakra. Though she had made it, she had known that Gaara's team wouldn't need it.

She tapped the closest person to her, the pineapple haired boy, and held out the tube. "Give this to him."

Everyone in the area turned to her, and she quickly glanced down at the floor again, careful not to meet any of their eyes. "Medical chakra. Not sure how much it will help, but it will."

Shikamaru slowly took the vile. "Why are you doing this?" He asked, voice analytic.

"Gaara-sama is no longer who he used to be. He has wrapped himself in darkness so that he doesn't have to see all the pain he has gone through." She said. "He is not supposed to be like that. That is what I am here for. I am supposed to be the one to absorb the darkness for him. That is my purpose. It does not matter what he is like to me. However, one day, he will be back to normal, and when that day comes, I want him to embrace it, not regret it."

Sakura knew that it wasn't a straight answer, and the glint in the boy's eyes told her that he was aware of this too.

Gaara teleported back to his siblings side, and Sakura joined them a second later. Without a word, her hands reached out and gently touched his face, the bruises vanishing as her fingers brushed by. He let out a sigh, the annoyingly warm feeling returning to his chest. Then he caught himself and he shoved the girl away. He shook his head to clear the bubbly thoughts and promptly looked away.

He didn't notice the sharp eyes watching him from the other side of the arena.

Dosu Kinuta VS Akimichi Choji.

The aftereffects of the previous match had finally calmed down, and the last match was held. Dosu defeated Choji and the ten who would move on to the next round were chosen.

Still looking for that fanfic.

New chapter, hope you liked it. We sort of rushed through the matches...but...yeah.

Darque: And so, we're supposed to be writing a Bio report in science, and here I am, writing fanfic.

Raven: How were your exams?

Darque: Why did you ask?

Raven: Cause I wanted to make you feel bad...

Darque: WHAT?!

Raven: Er...nothing. Just wondering.

Darque: My 'I will fail' list was 100% correct.

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