The following school week was pretty stirred, but it wasn't that usual unrest. The kids seemed troubled.

Gaara-kun, something doesn't smell right.

What do you mean?

Everyone is acting weird. All of them seem to only walk in groups. Tenten didn't use to hang out with Shikamaru and Chouji. Wait a second; Iruka-sensei has just arrived.

Only by the middle of the week did she find out what had happened. It looks like a mommy came to school to ask the principal about her missing son. He went to school, but he didn't come back home. At first, everybody thought he was going to show up because he sometimes went to the forest without telling anyone. Other times, he skipped class to go fishing and fell asleep on the pond. But they weren't so sure they were going to find him after Tenten related in front of the class what had happened to her when she was going home from school.

"I and Ino were on the road; we had just left school and were headed home. We wanted to stop at a cake shop on the way because we heard they brought new cakes with unusual flavors."

"It's not important. Skip to the important part." Iruka-sensei told her.

"I saw 2 strange men walking behind us in the mirror of a shop in front of us. Ino proposed to check if they were following us, so we turned right on the next street, and then we turned left. I looked behind me and they were still there. That was when I looked at Ino and told her to run as soon as we get to the corner of the street. We started walking faster and we heard their pace increase, too. We ran like the wind and they chased us like rats."

Only exclamations of astonishment could be heard in the class. Sakura didn't sense the danger, though. Nobody had ever heard of child abduction in Konoha before. Ino took over the story:

"We were smarter than them because we entered a shop and left through the back, before we ran to my house because it was the closest. My mom went to get Tenten's parents to pick her up from my place."

"How scary!"

"Yes, horrible."

The girls' voices rang through the noise. The boys laughed; they didn't seem very scared. Or maybe they enjoyed horror stories. That was the reason why everyone stuck to a group. Sakura chose to wander alone. She was pretty confident in Gaara's sand. Every day was like any other day to her, except that part of the day when she talked to Gaara. That was the most interesting and fun part. They played chess in their mind. She told him the move and waited for him to think before he told her his move, too. It wasn't ideal because they could read each other's mind and both of them knew the other's plans of attack. Thus, most of the games ended up in a tie. When Gaara won once, Sakura was so furious; she said she never wants to play that game again.

What? Why?

Because you're cheating! She angrily said, although she knew it wasn't true.

Gaara was angry every time she said that because he would have never resorted to pitiful acts such as cheating. If he wanted something, he took it by force in a fair fight. And there was no way he could cheat. She could read all of his thoughts.

I didn't cheat. You only say that to upset me.

He felt that she was on the verge of crying, so he made up his mind to leave her be.

I'll let you win next time.

Silence.

Sakura? Come on, don't be upset. Look, we'll do something you like. Let's talk about flowers. You love flowers.

Sakura smiled.

But Gaara-kun, you don't like this topic.

Gaara laughed because it was true.

Yes, you are right. Then he thought he only said it because he couldn't think of a better thing to say to get her out of her bad mood. However, he forgot she also heard this thought.

Awww, Gaara-kun is so sweet.

I am not sweet. I am a boy. Girls are sweet.

He desperately tried to defend his honor as a man. Sakura kept on laughing, making him even more frustrated.

Gaara-kun, I am sorry I said you are a cheater. I know you didn't actually do that.

The boy exhaled in relief and suddenly felt better.

Sakura, let's play again! And let's not fight anymore!

First, I want you to promise to let me win a game for every three games you win.

Gaara pretended to think about it for a second while he was making an origami crane on his desk.

Fine, I promise. As long as you stop crying.

Yey!

As they were talking, Sakura kept looking behind to check if there were any rickshaws to bring her home faster. She was on her way home from school. The street was empty, even though it was past lunchtime. She played with Gaara and looked back every now and then. Two men walking side by side drew her attention. One of them wore black glasses. A few minutes later, she turned her head again and it seemed that they had gotten closer to her, so she frowned. Gaara asked her a question, but she didn't hear it.

Sakura?

Gaara, something's odd. The same 2 people have been behind me ever since I started walking on this street.

Gaara stopped everything he was doing to listen carefully.

Is there a reason to be concerned?

I don't know.

Were there any kidnapping cases in your village lately?

Sakura thought about his question and remembered the story of the 2 girls in her classroom. Her heart shrunk to the side of a flea. Gaara saw the memory, too. He realised it was a critical moment. His cold blood helped in this kind of situations.

Sakura, listen to me.

Sakura clutched the sides of her backpack.

Cross on the other side of the road and tell me if they do the same.

Sakura did as she was told. The men followed Gaara's advice, too, even if they couldn't hear him. Fear took control of the little girl and she wanted to run.

Don't! If you do it, they will know you discovered them and they will chase you down.

Sakura was preparing to cry.

Sakura, listen to me. You will get out of this. I am with you. Are there any other people on the street? Women or families maybe?

No.

What do the buildings look like? Does it look like somebody lives in them? If you were to scream, do you think anyone would hear you?

Sakura looked at the buildings from the corner of her eyes and noticed all of them seemed abandoned or ruined. Even the ones who looked more decent seemed to shelter people who would never come to anyone's aid.

OK. How close are they to you?

About 30 to 35 meters.

Gaara considered his next move. The 2 men could abduct her because his sand was too little to defend her.

Gaara, I see a group of people in front of me, on the other side of the road.

What do they look like?

Women and men, young and old...

That's very good. Cross the street again and RUN! NOW!

Sakura started running.

You need to draw attention to you. Scream!

She ran as fast as she could, but she couldn't open her mouth to scream. It was like her jaw was stuck because of the intense fear she felt.

Sakura, SCREAM! Otherwise, they will take you! SCREAM! NOW!

Gaara was desperate. In a critical moment, Sakura couldn't do such an easy thing as screaming.

SAKURA!

The men ran after her like crazy. An old woman from the group Sakura had seen earlier, connected her eyes with Sakura and only then could Sakura emit such a sharp and desperate scream that everyone directed their eyes to her. The men behind her slowed down 3 meters behind her. They looked at one another, gritted their teeth and turned left on the first alley.

Sakura walked into the group where the old lady patted her back.

"Who were those men? Did you know them? Were they following you?"

Sakura couldn't form any words in her current state. All she could do was cry and sob. The old lady looked in the direction Sakura came from and shook her head. She started comforting the girl, but no matter what she told her, Sakura refused to stop crying. Gaara exhaled in relief that little Sakura escaped from death's claws. Who knows what those people would have done to her or if anyone would have been able to see her again? The old lady took the girl to her parents. Her mom was shocked to see her like that, but after the lady explained everything, she took her daughter into her arms and understood the reason for her crying. She bowed deeply to the old woman before she went into the house, whispering reassuring words into her daughter's ear.

"Don't worry, my dear. I will take you to school from now on. Nothing will happen to you. Don't go onto that street again."

Her mom kissed the child's cheek as her small hands wrapped around her neck. Sakura hiccupped from all the crying. Her eyes were puffy and red. No one could stop her, not even Gaara. No matter how much it hurt to hear her crying, it would have hurt a lot more if she had died. This was a test for him, too. He realised that he couldn't imagine Sakura not there.

Gaara-kun, if it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have known what to do. You saved me. Thank you!

I am just happy you are ok. Now we can play and look, I will let you win all the games. But this offer is only available today.

Sakura started crying again.

Please, don't cry. Everything is good now. It's over.

Gaara-kun, I don't think I can sleep tonight. Will you stay with me?

Of course I will. But why can't you sleep?

What if they come after me? She held her knees to her chest, sitting on the floor, between the nightstand and the wall, as far from the window as possible.

They're not coming back.

How do you know?

Because if they did, police would catch them immediately. You have already described their appearance to your family. They want to kidnap people who haven't had the chance to tell anyone. In other words, they don't want to draw attention. Plus, they won't come to you because they imagine you will be well guarded from now on.

Sniff! Sniff!

Gaara took a deep breath. He was pretty rational for a kid, but it seemed that no argument could convince her.

Sakura-chan, try to always stay where there are people around you. Don't wander the streets all alone. Let me know whenever you feel in danger and I will help you, ok?

Ok.

Now, don't cry.

Sakura squeezed the root of her nose between her fingers and looked at the light bulb on the ceiling to try to stop the tears from falling.

Bravo! Good girl! I am proud of you.

That night, Gaara read the whole book to her before she finally fell asleep in the same position she had adopted earlier. She refused to sleep on the bed in case somebody looked through the window to check if she was there and kidnap her while she was sleeping.

ℬ

Notes: Thank you very much for reading and for all your reviews.

Please tell me what you think about my story.