Once a week all girls participated in the kunoichi classes where they learned about sensitivity, delicacy and grace. A kunoichi is meant to maintain the emotional and psychological balance of her teammates. She is there to appease the beastly instincts of boys. A girl is a blessing even if she doesn't know many jutsu or masters chakra proficiently. She will never have the physical power of a man. Instead, her presence will bring harmony and peace. Sakura loved those classes. Gaara ignored all the information Sakura rehearsed in her mind because he was good at filtering information. He easily got rid of the info that was useless to him. Sakura did the same when Gaara thought about his training for controlling the sand. She closed her eyes and thought of candies and black cats until Gaara's thoughts became just background noise in her head.

All the girls gathered at the teacher's house after the classes were over. They ran around or braided their hair. Sakura was playing with Ino. It was very fun to play with her. At some point, Ino went to the bathroom and a girl who didn't look where she was going, bumped into Sakura who fell on her behind. She started crying, rubbing her head. When she opened her eyes, the teacher was yelling that somebody broke a very important vase.

"Who was it? Confess right now."

Nobody said anything. All girls looked around.

"Very well. Bring the icon. Each and every one of you will come forward and swear on this icon that she didn't do it. The culprit is the one who refuses to do so."

The teacher held the icon with both of her hands. Girls formed a queue in front of it. One by one, they swore they didn't break the vase. Sakura was waiting for her turn, but she was nervous and fiddled her thumbs. She was trying very hard not to cry.

What's the problem, Sakura? I can feel you are upset.

Gaara-kun, I didn't break that vase.

Then just swear and that's it. He replied calmly.

But Gaara-kun, I made a promise to God that I will never swear to anyone again except to Him. And I don't want to break this promise. What do I do?

Oh, I understand. It's complicated then. Let's hope whoever did it confesses before it's your turn.

He didn't get to finish his thought because it was Sakura's turn. The teacher encouraged her to touch the icon and swear. Sakura touched it, but couldn't go through with it.

"It was you!" The teacher said.

"It was her!" The other kids started whispering.

Sakura tried to explain why she couldn't swear, but everybody kept screaming at her without listening at all. The teacher said nothing Sakura said made any sense, so she should just confess already.

"It's obvious it was you."

Sakura cried with hiccups, but she didn't give in because she knew her words were true. The kids gathered around her waiting for a confession. In the end, the real culprit admitted her fault because she felt pity for Sakura. The teacher looked behind Sakura, at that girl, with confusion, before going there to talk to the culprit. Ino came to Sakura's side and tried to calm her down.

"Let's go to the bathroom to splash some water onto your face."

Gaara was proud of Sakura because she didn't surrender to social pressure. Sakura told the truth and didn't break her promise. He smiled and wrote down in the pages of his thoughts about Sakura's behavior. He wanted to copy it in the future. Sakura was just as brave as Temari when she confronted their father. Soon, he was about to learn something from his brother, too. Gaara didn't like to admit, but he wished a lot to be like his brother, Kankurou. Younger boys always look up to their older brothers, just like younger girls look up to their older sisters.

It was a day like any other days for Gaara. He trained, went to school, ate, did his homework and talked to Sakura. However, the night was special. Gaara slept more than usual. His body needed rest because the boy was still growing. The monster inside him got bored after waiting for too long, so he took control of the little red haired boy's body. Red chakra covered Gaara before dark scales covered his body. Claws decorated his newly paws. All you could see from the original body was the head. Sakura felt a deep burn like a fire rope pulling at her neck. She woke up, looked around, but she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Gaara-kun? Gaara-kun?

Nothing. No answer. It was as if Gaara was replaced by a monster. She yelled in despair, but it didn't work. Images of people dying in pools of blood flooded her thoughts. Their terrified screams made her cover her ears, but the volume didn't decrease at all. She started crying, holding her knees tight to her chest and whispered:

Gaara-kun, don't abandon me.

Whenever she didn't know what to do, she said a prayer, just like she did at that moment.

Far away words passed by Gaara's ears, but only one word reached his unconscious mind: 'abandon'. He tried hard to recognize the voice. It was too thin to be his and too whiner to be his sister's. Long seconds passed before he heard the prayer in the background louder and louder. It woke inside him the desire to find out who was abandoning Sakura. I am definitely not. Suddenly Gaara opened his eyes and woke up from his sleep. His tired voice called for Sakura.

Gaara-kun, thank God you are ok. I thought you were gone for good.

Her tears of happiness didn't cease to fall from her eyes. Gaara looked around himself and the image of dozen of dead bodies washed his eyes. He didn't enjoy it, but he also didn't feel anything either. They were people who never cared about him.

Gaara-kun, what happened? Were you feeling sick?

He replied in a serious tone.

Sakura, the monster I told you about took control over my body while I was sleeping.

Oh no. All those people I saw...

They're dead.

Sakura held her breath in shock and didn't even know what more to say.

Dad will be furious.

Gaara waited for a long while, but Sakura didn't make any sound.

Sakura, thanks to you, I woke up before Shukaku killed more people. Thank you.

Mhm.

Please don't stop talking to me. Gaara begged. You are the only one who can help me. Please, Sakura. Without you... he couldn't go on because of fear. He kept pulling at his hair desperately.

Sakura spoke with tenderness and calm:

Gaara-kun, I meant it when I said you and I will always keep in touch. You didn't kill those people. Shukaku did. And it's your dad's fault anyway. He is the one who sealed a monster inside you. But Gaara-kun, we have to find a way to stop Shukaku. You have to be stronger than him, or else...he might attack me too when we meet. That last part she didn't want to voice, but Gaara heard her nevertheless.

No. This will never happen. I will find a way to control him. You don't have to be afraid. I would never hurt you.

Gaara clenched his fist.

Mhm, ok. I will help you find something. Sakura said cheerfully.

Rasa was disappointed and embarrassed, just as Gaara had predicted. It wasn't the first time his son did something like this in the past. That was why he tried to end his life for 4 times. 'I didn't think I'd have to try again the 5th time.' Rasa thought. He had to explain to the council and to daimyo-sama why those people died. He always made up a story to save his skin, even though everybody knew the truth. 'Annoying son! Karura, you gave me such a headache with this boy.'

Temari and Kankurou were home, talking.

"Kankurou, he is going to try again."

"I know."

"We can't let him. We have to do something."

"Yes, I know. Don't worry, I will find something."

Temari looked at him as if she wasn't convinced. She had a sad look on her face, as if something bad was going to happen. Kankurou turned towards her and grinned ear to ear.

"Don't worry. Your brother will solve this."

His words managed to relieve a bit of the stress that strained her and he was happy.

At dinner, all of them were sitting on needles. One could cut the tension with the knife. Gaara tried to pick some dumplings with his chopsticks. They were his favourite. Kankurou stood up suddenly and stole the bite from Gaara's hand, yelling with his big mouth:

"Ha, this is mine!"

Right when he was about to shove it in his mouth, Rasa angrily slapped his hand making him drop the dumpling.

"Where did you learn to take food from somebody else's mouth?"

"Sorry."

Kankurou's unusual behavior lit up bulbs in Gaara's mind. Kankurou wasn't the type to act that way. He has never slapped my hand before. Now, that he looked closely at the table, nobody had touched the plate with dumplings. Did he just save my life? It must have been poisoned.

He was suddenly scared of eating anything else. Temari was more playing with her chopsticks instead of eating. Beads of sweat covered Kankurou's forehead. Rasa seemed more irritated and angrier than usual.

"I am full." Gaara said when he stood up.

Rasa gestured him to go to his room. He left without looking back.

Sakura, I think my brother has just saved my life.

What? How?

My dad poisoned the food.

No way! She gasped in shock.

Don't worry, Sakura. Thanks to Kankurou, I didn't ingest the poison.

Thank God. Gaara-kun, I think your brother might be in trouble. Do you think your father will try to poison you again?

I doubt it.

Do you know any jutsu to detect poison?

No.

Gaara-kun, if your dad tries again, your brother might not be able to warn you. I will search through my father's books some jutsu that might help you.

Sakura...would you do that for me?

Of course. I can't just sit and wait for Gaara-kun to be assassinated.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Sakura went to the library as she promised, while Gaara hid in his room. He was holding the photo of his mom in his hands and prayed to her to help him get through.

A few hours later, Gaara heard his friend again.

Gaara-kun, I found it! I will tell you the hand signs you need to learn to activate the jutsu. When you are in contact with poison again, your fingers will turn black for a few seconds. Be careful to hide this from your dad.

Sakura, I have no intention of running away.

But Gaara-kun, if your dad finds out, he will look for tougher, more elaborate ways to kill you. If he doesn't know you can protect yourself from something as easy as poison, he will not make an extra effort to kill you. You'll have higher chances to survive.

Sakura. Gaara said with a smile. A boy doesn't think like that. It's a game of power. He has to see I am not an idiot who fears him. If I don't stand up to him, he will never respect me.

But what if...

Thanks to you, I can defend myself against the only thing I didn't know how to avoid until now. My sand will protect me from physical attacks. The only problem left is Shukaku, but when I think about you, I know I can resist him. Sakura-chan, I have to make it up to you.

Sakura giggled and hopped in her room.

Gaara-kun, thank your brother. See? You did well to talk to your sister when your dad beat her. Otherwise, your brother wouldn't have helped you today. I am happy Gaara-kun's efforts paid off.

Sakura-chan is very cute and she is also right. I will make it up to Kankurou.

Good.

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Notes: Thank you very much for your support and appreciation. I hope you enjoy this chapter, too. Please let me know your opinion.