Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Flowers in the Sand ❯ Chapter 14

Well, I must say I'm a bit disappointed. I've submitted a slew of chapters and with only minimal reviews. Regardless, I will continue to write this story as it still has not reached its conclusion. If anyone is interested, I drew a picture of Shikamaru, Temari, and Akina from this story on DeviantART: http://theamberdragonfly.deviantart.com

 

Special thanks to:

 

Dog of the Dead: Fate-boy indeed… XD

 

DaydreamerMagby: You're welcome!

 

pheonixfire2005: Glad you enjoy it!

 

ndruo: why, thank you! But if it's so underrated, then why aren't more people reading and reviewing?? -offers a beating stick- Have at `em, my friend!

 

Fire Halo: Thank you! That's one of my faves too. Was thinking about drawing that scene for my DeviantART account… -wink-

 

Egghead: Thanks! I plan to.

 

moongrace: Interesting idea… but no. Sorry. If I had any control in the universe, Gaara would be mine, ALL mine… muahahahaha…

 

gazer of life: Thank you!

 

Aori Kenji: Thank you, and nice story!

 

SilverAngel906: Glad you approve!

 

cliquequeen37: Hope you got my message as to why I changed it. Shows how I need to do more research before I write! -sweatdrop-

 

Kag-Inu4E: Naruto is still an idiot, but remember- everyone is approximately 25 years or so (Tenten and Neji are 26, Temari is 28, Kankuro is 27) so I would think that by then, some of his baka-ness should've been beaten out of him by Sakura. XD

 

Anyways, on with the angst!

 

Chapter 14

 

Sasuke paused outside the door. “I… I can see…” he heard the girl, Safaia, say in a breathless, shocked voice. He looked through the doorway at the lovely woman sitting upright in the hospital bed. No one should be that beautiful… he thought wryly.

 

Naruto blinked at the newcomer as he finished planting a kiss on Sakura's cheek. “Sasuke? What are you doing here?”

 

His old teammate met his gaze for an instant then turned away. “I wanted… to see if we had gotten to her in time,” he said, rather lamely.

 

Sakura ran her gaze over her one-time crush. He was dressed in a black shirt and black pants, both of which added to his dark handsomeness. His hair was combed, with long black tendrils hanging over his eyes. He looked like every girl's dream bad boy.

 

She shook her head. She remembered well how infatuated she had been with that very visage. Now she could look at him as she would a beautiful sunset or a pretty flower: something created to please the eyes. Sasuke was devastatingly handsome, yes, but he simply wasn't the man for her. Even though his words, spoken so long ago, had ripped her heart apart, she realized that he was right- she was annoying and her love for him was childish, at best.

 

Naruto had loved her unconditionally for years and had been as determined to prove that to her as he had been to become Hokage. And finally, she saw him as a man, not as the annoying Naruto that had irritated her so much during their missions.

 

Her husband now moved over to their friend's side. “Don't tell me you're hooked on her too,” he whispered to Sasuke.

 

Sasuke actually blushed. “Wh-what makes you say something dumb like that?” he stammered, looking rather uncomfortable.

 

“So she's pretty,” Naruto agreed, unaware of his wife clenching a threatening fist behind his head. “Big deal.” Sakura relaxed, smiling to herself in self-assurance. “Is that the only reason you're interested?”

 

“Who says I'm interested?”

 

Naruto gave him a rather “cat-with-stolen-cream” smirk. “The blush on your cheeks.”

 

Sasuke sighed. “I should've killed you long ago.”

 

The blonde man rubbed the back of his head, grinning goofily. “Gaara mentioned something similar a few minutes ago.”

 

“I knew I liked that guy.” Sasuke watched as Safaia stared in amazed wonder at the two men by her side. “So she can see now? I remember you guys mentioning something about her being blind.”

 

Sakura nodded. “Tsunade-sensei and I simply finished what nature had erred upon. Her optical nerves didn't develop properly when she was still in the womb, resulting in her blindness since birth. Now, with our breakthroughs in medical research, we were able to connect the half-formed optical nerves with the correct part of the brain through chakra.” She looked at the lovely woman. “We weren't sure it would work, but if it hadn't, it's not like she would've lost her sight even more. It was a risk with no real bad outcomes.”

 

Safaia finally pried her new vision away from the two men beside her and looked over at the trio on the other side of the room. She regarded the woman. “I recognize your voice. You… are Mrs. Uzumaki, yes?”

 

Naruto beamed like the proud fool he was. Sakura chuckled. “Yes, but you can call me Sakura. I'm sure we'll be marvelous friends.”

 

“Friends,” Safaia murmured, her gaze traveling over to the spiky-haired man beside her. He had three lines on each cheek, almost like whiskers on a cat or rabbit. “And you?”

 

“Naruto Uzumaki, Sixth Hokage and a fellow Jinchuriki.” He grinned.

 

At the reminder of her loss of Gobi, Safaia lowered her gaze to the linen sheet on her lap. “Jinchuriki,” she whispered, her voice deeply saddened. “I guess… I'm really not one anymore, am I?”

 

Sakura bonked Naruto on the top of his spiky blonde head. “Baka!” she hissed.

 

Gaara looked down at Safaia, an unreadable look on his face. “Gobi is still within you, Safaia,” he told her. “You are still a Jinchuriki. Even after 10 years of being without Shukaku, people still refer to me as one as well. Once you've been joined with a Biju, you will always be considered its host.”

 

Her sapphire eyes drifted back to his face and locked with his aquamarine ones. She gave him the tiniest smile. “Thank you,” she whispered, softly enough only for him.

 

Safaia turned her attention back toward the trio and blinked several times as she saw the man all in black next to the Hokage. Her experience with having sight was still extremely new, but even she could see how darkly handsome this man was. Who in the name of Gobi is THAT?

 

The unmoving man stared back at her with an intensity that was characteristic of an absolute predator, yet it didn't unnerve her at all. She merely returned the stare, wondering all the while why he was gazing at her like that.

 

Naruto coughed. “Safaia, this is my old teammate and one of my good friends, Sasuke Uchiha.”

 

She inclined her head, breaking the eye contact. “Mr. Uchiha.”

 

“Sasuke,” he corrected her. She lifted her gaze again, trying to ignore the shivers across her skin that his cool tone created.

 

Gaara and Neji both narrowed their eyes at Sasuke. Naruto quickly jumped in to prevent a three-way testosterone battle. “Um, Safaia, you never told us your clan name. Do you have one?”

 

Safaia turned her new vision to the young Hokage. It was amazing, this thing called sight. “Fujita. Safaia Fujita, of the Grass Country's Flora clan.”

 

Tsunade narrowed her eyes from where she leaned against the wall of the room. “The Flora clan? I remember that clan… able to use their chakra to grow plants instead of utilizing ninjutsu techniques.”

 

“That is true.” Gaara nodded slightly and pulled out a small yellow flower which had been secured in the band wrapped over his shoulder and around his side. “She grew this from the sand in Suna's desert and it has not yet begun to wilt.”

 

“It won't,” Safaia told him, slightly embarrassed. “It will live… as long as I do.”

 

“Because it is your chakra that gave it life,” Tsunade murmured in realization. “You give a part of your life force to the inanimate materials and thus create living plants. Truly astonishing.”

 

“Indeed,” Neji agreed. He looked at the former Hokage. “Perhaps I should rest now- and let Safaia get used to her new sight.” Tsunade nodded and Neji turned back to Safaia. “If you wish… I will… help you… in any way I can.”

 

Safaia nodded vaguely at him. “I will keep that in mind. Thank you, Neji.” She watched expressionlessly as Tsunade wheeled him back to his own room.

 

“Ehhh, Sasuke,” Naruto said suddenly, aware of the looming silence, “As long as you're here, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

 

Sasuke blinked in confusion at his friend. “You did? About what?”

 

Wrapping an arm around his equally-tall teammate, he maneuvered him out of the hospital room. “You've been hiding in your apartment too long, old friend. You need to start training again- I need you as a protector for Konoha.”

 

Sasuke gave him a bemused and quite surprised look. “You do?” His voice faded as the two men walked away down the hallway.

 

Sakura smiled as she shook her head in amusement. Nice work, Naruto. You're not as dense as you used to be. She bowed to Safaia and Gaara, the only two left in the room. “If you need something, don't hesitate to ask for me or Tsunade-sensei.”

 

Safaia nodded back. “You have done… more than I could've ever asked for.” She clasped her hands in her lap and bowed as low as she could in her sitting position. “You have my infinite gratitude.”

 

“I'll settle for your infinite friendship,” Sakura winked as she, too, left the room, sliding the door shut behind her.

 

Leaving Gaara alone with Safaia for the first time in days.

 

For a long while, they were silent, neither speaking. Finally Safaia broke the quiet. “You are hurting?” she asked softly.

 

He shrugged. “Not really.” Just my chest… somewhere around my heart…

 

“That is good.” Safaia stared up at him. “You are… very tall.”

 

The corner of his mouth curled up in a half grin. “You were not aware of this?”

 

“Well, I am sitting down.”

 

He hesitated. “May… may I… sit, then?”

 

She gestured to her bed. “Feel free.” She watched him carefully as he slowly sank down and sat on the edge of the hospital bed, near her legs.

 

Gaara glanced at her. “Why do you stare? Don't I look like you imagined?”

 

The smile she gave him nearly undid him. “I stare because I have never imagined you would look so wonderful. Truly, sight is a magical thing.”

 

He actually flushed. “I am a freak,” he murmured.

 

Safaia turned her head as she looked at him. “A freak? What makes you say that?”

 

“I don't look like the others,” he explained, revealing a long-hidden pain. “People who don't know of me still treat me like a monster simply because I don't look like them.”

 

She laughed. She tilted her head back and laughed out loud. Gaara blinked at her.

 

“Please,” she managed to say as her giggles died down. “That's utterly ridiculous. Neji's eyes are odd-looking. Hokage Naruto has those strange whiskers on his cheeks. I used to be able to turn into a five-tailed dog. Surely you, with those fantastic eyes and deadly serious expression, are much more normal than us.”

 

Gaara's eyes flew open in mild shock. Me? Normal?

 

“Wow,” she breathed, turning her attention to gaze around the room. “It's so… indescribable. So many colors, so many shapes… It's so much more vivid than Gobi described.”

 

“I guess… you'll be asking Neji for help,” he murmured, his voice carefully neutral.

 

Safaia blinked at him in surprise. “I… I suppose…” Her gaze lowered. “You have Kazekage duties… your country must be very anxious without you.”

 

He didn't look at her. “Yes.”

 

Silence.

 

“Well,” she finally said, not looking up at him, “I…”

 

He waited. His entire body tensed.

 

“I wish you a safe return, then,” she finished.

 

Something inside him broke. He nodded stiffly and stood up, unaware that her gaze finally returned to him. She watched as he strode silently out of her room.

 

I'm sorry… Gaara of the Desert…

 

-------------------------

 

Naruto and Sakura peeked around the corner of the hallway and watched with identical confused faces as their red-haired friend exited Safaia's room only a few minutes after they had conspired to leave the two alone.

 

“What do you think happened?” Naruto whispered to his wife. “Why did he leave so fast?”

 

“I'm not sure,” Sakura replied in a hushed tone. “There's something seriously goofy here. I mean, I know she's attracted to Gaara…”

 

“And I'm pretty sure sand-boy's got the hots for her,” Naruto added, watching Gaara glide slowly down the hall away from them, his head hung low and his arms folded across his chest as he walked. “Gaara hasn't walked like that since Temari went into labor. He's worried about something.”

 

“I wonder where he's going,” Sakura mused. A sudden thought hit her and she nearly panicked. “You don't think he's going back to Suna, do you?”

 

Naruto pondered, scratching his head. “Possible… remember, he doesn't know about the party you had planned…”

 

“Dammit!” Sakura swore, surprising her husband. Then her face brightened- she had a marvelous idea. “You have to stop him!”

 

“How?” Naruto asked. “If he wants to go, I can't just keep him here. That'd start a war.”

 

“I have an idea,” the pink-haired woman purred in his ear, making his whole body shiver in delight. “And if we pull it off, I think we can solve this whole mess of problems.”

 

“Mmmm,” Naruto moaned, wishing that they were in their bedroom and not in the middle of a hospital hallway. “I love it when you're devious.”

 

“Then you'll love this,” she murmured, her warm breath tickling his ear. His hair stood on end and he had to adjust his pants. He focused on her words and not the delightful sensation of her lips so close to his ear as she explained her plan.

 

“That might just work,” he managed to say when she finished. “But I don't think I can go after him right now.”

 

Sakura noticed his problem and smirked. “Too bad, fox-boy. Now catch him before he starts heading back to Suna!”

 

“You're mean,” he whined, sounding like he was twelve again, but he settled for giving her a lingering kiss on the lips.

 

“You will get yours later, woman,” he promised her.

 

“I'd better!” she called after him as he ran off after Gaara.