Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Sound Sleep ❯ Possession ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Tsuyoku 
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.06.2013 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 400 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.06.2013 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 400 | Status: Completed
Tsuyoku: Wow, this took WAY too long... Sorry for the lengthy breaks, guys, it's been a trip. But here's CH4, so please review for me -- I would like some more feedback about how you like the progression. Thanks! R&R
Well, onto it then.
Sound Sleep 4
--
Gaara sat back in his chair looking towards the papers on his desk. He wasn't concentrating or even acting as such, but it might have looked like he was paying attention to the words on its surface to any passerby. His arms were crossed, and his mind was miles and miles away: specifically in Konoha.
To that, he would never admit, especially to his brother, who leaned casually in the doorway. Kankuro waited to be acknowledged, though he knew it was futile because Gaara was obviously ignoring him.
"Ahem," he interjected. "I see you have returned to your normal routine, brother." At this Gaara rose his head. He knew it was just a matter of time before Kankuro mentioned something along those lines. The Kazekage made no sound, but lifted his head to get a better look at his sibling through the grand office.
Kankuro moved in, hovering in front of the desk. He knew that he was treading careful waters, for even though Gaara hadn't killed Temari or him yet didn't mean he would have reservations about it in the future. But this was too interesting a situation to pass up talking about. For the past few years that his brother had been leader, Kankuro had never seen him break his rhythm—his routine—like he had in those two weeks. It was almost as if he had been a different person—gentler somehow in some ways. But now that was entirely gone.
The look in Gaara’s eyes had once again sharpened to a green edge that contrasted with his dark marks. "You need something, Kankuro?" Gaara sent a chilling glance towards him.
Kankuro took his last thought back—the sharpness was worse than ever now. At first his behavior and attitude had returned to his normal tense silence, but now there was this slightly frantic and annoyed, frustrated sheen to it that Kankuro just couldn't figure out. "Just... wondering."
Gaara didn't stop to ponder just what Kankuro could be 'wondering', for he already knew what it was about. "Well, wonder somewhere else. I'm leaving." Gaara walked towards the door stopping to grab his outer robes before departing leaving his brother to stand there and just smile.
Kankuro couldn't wipe the grin off of his face—why hadn't he thought of it before? Probably because the thought would never cross the mind of someone who knew Gaara particularly well, but it was perfect.
Gaara had found a girl.
And Kankuro intended to find out whom. The thought of someone managing to tame Gaara in the least was a physical and emotional power that no one in the past had possessed before save their uncle.
He followed suit and left the office walking towards town, thinking about the facts as he walked:
He knew for sure she lived somewhere out of town. Kankuro hadn't seen his brother most days except between certain hours when he was actually working at a quick pace. So either Gaara was eager to be with her every second he could, or there was a significant journey to somewhere else, certainly one of the bordering countries.
But which one?
He had a plan to inquire about them without letting his brother know too much.
--
Gaara threw the document on the edge of the desk towards his hovering brother. The said relative had taken great interest in Gaara's so called travels in the last few days, which made seeing Sakura very difficult. Not to say that the Sand nin was seeing much of the pinkette in any sense, for she'd vacated her apartment for the time being and was staying with as many people as she could to avoid his presence... or at least that was what Gaara assumed.
But in any case her defiance was grating even more on his nerves ever since he was discovered. He all but slammed his fist onto the table in front of him for being so careless that night, but the dreams that he had experienced were so real, so vivid, and he couldn't help but indulging in them.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on, brother?" The redhead barely spared Kankuro a glance. "I can see you're not focused; you haven't been lately. You've found a girl, haven't you?" Kankuro leaned forward just close enough to meet Gaara's dark rimmed eyes, "though how you could find someone to put up with you is totally beyond me."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Gaara's deep voice reverberated through the room. He knew that his brother had been curious about his whereabouts these past few weeks... However, his ignorance wasn't about to change. Gaara would rather him think he'd found a mate than have to tell him of his reliance towards such a weakling.
"Sure you do. But there's something that I can't quite put my finger on... something different about you that not even a 'woman's touch' could do." He shook his painted face as if he was seeing things. It was no use trying to study Gaara; he had a mind that would drive a psychologist to insanity.
"Have you any dealings in... Ame soon?" One slightly visible eyebrow rose on Gaara's forehead. "Maybe... River Country?" Hmmm. Kankuro had to think. What other notable villages were within a half day's trip of Sand?
"How about Konoha?" At this, his senses picked up on a slight twitch in his brother's face—the only visible sign that he'd struck a nerve. "No? Well, that's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. By the way, have you seen that new overview of our dealings with the Village hidden in the Leaves; it's over in that stack of files you've yet to touch."
He could have smiled... but Kankuro assumed that it was wise to give Gaara the benefit of the doubt. He all but sauntered his way to the door in a victorious mindset to leave the Kazekage to his own whims.
And as soon as Gaara sensed the hall was clear of his brother (and any other personnel), he double took at the three inch stack of papers.
His throat cleared.
He sort of stretched, which for Gaara meant he leaned back and forth, left and right, without moving arms or legs in the least. Then he tapped his pen while worrying his lip. He knew how out of character he seemed, but that wasn't enough to distract him from what Kankuro had revealed.
Could what was lying in that stack be the key to his misdealing with the pink haired kunoichi?
He wasn't certain, but it was damn well time to find out. Gaara's nerves were wearing thin slowly and grating with frustration and lack of sleep. He hadn't ever experienced exhaustion before, for meditation had been enough for him. Now, however, it was different. It was all her fault.
And this time around, she wouldn't be able to say 'no'.
No, Gaara would put her in as much hell as she'd unknowingly placed him when he got his hands on her... so to speak.
--
Kankuro, meanwhile, hummed from the upstairs quarters he called home. He could only imagine it... how Gaara had pounced on those very files after he left.
His brother was turning out to be more human than any of them had originally thought. And what a coincidence that Konoha had gotten a reaction out of him, since the papers from their Hokage had arrived just that day.
There was a storm coming—not in the physical way—though he could sense something was going to happen with the Leaf Village very soon.
--
Sakura slowly massaged warm, green chakra into her temple as the pains of a headache crept slowly into place. The hospital was allotting her a slow day, but current events gave her mind the run around these days. Things had been quite unusual as of late; she'd all but moved out of her apartment and was currently shacking up with both Ino and Shino simultaneously. But even that wasn't about to shake the image of the one and only Gaara of the Sand sleeping in her bedroom floor.
Needless to say, Sakura was unsure about what action she would (or could) take with Tsunade about what happened. Could this have any effect on a peace treaty should it come into place between the two villages? The pink-haired nin realized that on such an important issue this should never have an effect, but she knew enough about the busty Hokage to imagine some kind of conflict should she mention it. It was well known fact that Tsunade had looked on the orphaned Sakura as a surrogate daughter for years now.
She rolled away from the desk in her makeshift office at the hospital; this had been a heavy burden on her shoulders ever since she'd woken up that night. That and the rumors: Shino and she were apparently dating, shacked up, and she just had to be carrying his offspring, or there was some kind of scandal going on of that sort. Presently Sakura had come to ignore everything that she heard, which had worked for the time being.
"Sakura," speak of the devil.
"Why if it isn't the father of my unborn child." Shino had to pause for a moment, in which Sakura figured he was blinking behind his sunglasses. He regained his composure, however, and a pressed expression filled its place.
"You know if someone hears you, you're just encouraging those rumors." Sakura flashed a smile; of course she knew that fact very well, but it was amusing altogether teasing him. "These people," he continued, "have no lives if they insist on making up such stories. Just because you're living with me doesn't mean we're together." Sakura inwardly flinched at the thought; he was right about the living situation, and if her mother had been alive the woman would have raised a fury at her daughter's decisions while simultaneously defending her at every gossip and whisper.
"Yeah, well, we're projecting that image anyway. You know how many people witnessed us leaving the bar together that evening of our would be one-night-stand?" Once again her dark companion shook his head at her remarks. If he had been a better man, Shino thought to himself, he would have swept her off her feet after she moved in and made her realize what a great pair they made. Indeed, for all the hearsay that went around no one seemed to be disapproving of them as a couple, but that wasn't something he'd imagine Sakura would pursue. He just knew it, no matter what he felt.
"Well, it's much better that the alternative," she mumbled knowing that Shino would hear her reference no matter what. They had talked many nights about what happened with Gaara, about the night everything had changed all at once in her comfortable world. At the break of dawn the morning after, Sakura recalled sitting on the stone bench in front of the main gates in silence, an equally quiet Shino beside her. The stone cut into the backs of her legs, but you heard no complaint of her. It was a familiar place; the bench itself held many memories for her, and this was just another to add to the bunch.
He circled the desk between them and grasped her shoulder lightly with his hand. "He hasn't returned at all, has he?" Sakura shook her head; no, he hadn't. Not that she was around her house to notice. It wasn't surprising that she hadn't seen him again considering how long it had taken her to figure out he was coming at night. He'd been doing so for ages, it seemed, and she had the sand to prove it. All those days of sweeping it out the door and blaming it on Naruto... What a pain for both of them.
She had a right mind to give Gaara a good piece of her mind if he wouldn't engulf her in sand before she could get the last word out, but that wasn't what she should be thinking about. As long as he left her alone at her new residence(s), then there would be no problem and Sakura could get on with her life.
Yeah, right.
Living in Konoha never allowed a situation like that to happen.
Shino let out an inaudible sigh at his obvious discomfort with the quiet situation. He was never one for intimate moments with a girl: physical, emotional, or otherwise. Sakura reminded herself how lucky she was for having him around and what burden it must be to put up with her antics. The rosette wished she could say the same for her team members.
"I just need to put this entire thing behind me, and then I'll be able to carry on with what I was doing here." She motioned to her surroundings. With such excitement, her boxes in the makeshift office had yet to be unpacked—just like her things at Shino and Ino's places.
Shino almost smiled, "You're right. Now let's head out for lunch so you can start 'forgetting' about it all." She motioned to take his hand when there was a knock at that door.
Upon opening, they were greeted with the sight of a messenger from the Hokage's office, "Haruno, you're called at once to the Hokage's office for a meeting." He stood slightly out of breath with obvious hesitation to disclose anything further, the young man darted his eyes towards Shino for a second, "please come alone."
--
Sakura had parted with Shino outside the hospital with the promise of a 'rain check' on their lunch. Already the absence of his warmth, his calm state, was noticeable and she felt more alone than ever. What the Hokage had summoned her for at such short notice was beyond her at this point, but her legs raced heavily towards the tower in hopes that this wasn't going to ruin her day.
"Sakura, come in and have a seat." Tsunade's voice already commanded attention from her position in her office. Sakura had barely walked into the outer office to announce herself, but her mentor seemed to be in a hurried state. So much for not ruining her day...
"You called?"
Tsunade threw a sharp look at her for a moment, "of course I called, why else would you be here." Sakura's face fell and she dropped into a chair—this berating was unlike the Hokage, especially when it came to Sakura. "I'm not quite angry with you, Sakura. However, I am curious about something that concerns you..."
Has she heard something? Sakura's mind raced... there were so many things that Tsunade could have been talking about: Shino and their 'situation', Gaara being there in Konoha—in her bedroom, no less, but she couldn’t decide which was worse.
"I received some interesting papers today from Suna," she seated herself, flourishing with a full jiggle of her breasts and pushed away some of the papers to make room for her sake bottle. After pouring each of them a glass and making sure both Sakura and she had downed them, her hands threw a sheet towards her that had been sealed with the royal seal of Suna...
The Kazekage, Gaara of the Sand.
Needless to say, the breath in Sakura's lungs caught in her throat and her heart began skipping a beat. Sweaty plans grasped the edge of the paper delicately as if it would disintegrate—and she wished it would.
Tsunade didn't wait for Sakura to begin reading, "It's from Gaara. We're to go forth with a treaty as soon as Konoha can arrange it, which is good news in itself." Sakura waited for her to continue, and scanned the lower half of the 'letter' for something more close to home. And there it was.
“... requesting the presence of Haruno, Sakura at meetings and forthcoming exchange...” Etc. Sakura read aloud, but it was like another person speaking out of her mouth. First he was in her apartment at night—and he obviously wanted to be out of there as quickly as possible—and now he wanted her there when he visited during the day.
"Apparently your company is less 'requested' and more 'demanded'." She filled her cup up to the brim once more and down two before she topped off Sakura's. "Now what I've asked you here today to get any information out of you that I might need before the officials from Sand join us, and I find out why you're being brought into this."
The pinkette twisted her hands and tried to swallow the knot in her throat before she was no longer able to speak. "I wasn't sure if I was going to tell you about this, what with the changes between our villages' status currently in process." Her mentor urged her to continue. "But there were some incidents a while back that involved Gaara. I awoke one night to find him sleeping in the floor of my bedroom." Tsunade's eye twitched for a moment, as if she wanted to ask something, but she stayed silent.
"Weeks prior to that I noticed the only window in my bedroom was lined with sand, which I swept out. There was no other explanation for it than someone having tracked it in from somewhere. Then I woke up one night to find him there, but that's the funny thing. Every night that Shino came to visit me, it would wake me suddenly out of sleep... but when Gaara came, it was like he over powered my senses or something because I was apparently none the wiser about his being in my room."
Tsunade had merely sat back and taken it all in before she heaved a large sigh and thought about it all. What Sakura had told her was slightly disturbing, but that wasn't surprising considering the specific Kage in question. Gaara had always been a mystery to everyone that came across him, and even though his dealings as a diplomat were very polite, almost normal, he was far from being considered social to anyone. If these dealings with Sakura were true, then there had to be some ulterior motive to it all.
"These 'visits' stop and suddenly he wants to heal things with Konoha, requesting you to be present for all of them? Interesting, none the least." Sakura shot her an unamused look.
"So what are you going to do about this entire situation? Are you going to deny my involvement with the alliance...? Please?" Sakura begged.
Tsunade could only shake her head much to her intern's chagrin. "I'm afraid I cannot do that, Sakura. You may not yet realize it, but if he does have some kind of plan in store for you personally, then you're our greatest bargaining chip." Tsunade smiled, cheeks slightly red. If she had imbibed enough alcohol that she was already feeling lose and more adapt to the idea of using Sakura, then the young girl knew there would be no dealing with her until she was lucid and sober at the meetings. "Besides, I'm curious about it, aren't you?"
Sakura gaped, "No! I just want to be left alone. What about me; did you ever think about the fact that these plans could somehow be against my best interests?"
"I know you can handle it." She walked around and grabbed Sakura's chin to emphasize her point. "You're going to be there because I know that you can take care of yourself; if it were anyone else I doubt I would have as much faith."
This day had turned to crap.
Sakura looked at her watch once she exited Tsunade’s office.
This day had turned to crap in less than thirty minute thanks to that damn Gaara and her ambitious mentor. When were people going to stop taking advantage of her?
Her whole body turned outside the Hokage tower in a flurry of pink and headed towards Shino's place. If there was anyone that could shed some insight on this situation, she knew it would be him.
--
Gaara leaned back in his chair once more. Since his nightly jaunts to Konoha had stopped, it seemed he spent every moment in his office, and it was grating on his already thin nerves. He'd had a taste of sleep, and his body (and Shukaku) was not letting him withdraw from that situation as easily as he had hoped. But the redhead couldn't help but congratulate himself on his plan.
Albeit it had been Kankuro's idea, Gaara would be overseeing all the actions taken from then on where Sakura was concerned. He figured that his brother knew a lot more than what he had previously let on, but then Gaara reminded himself that once he had Sakura there in Suna, the secret of this 'mystery woman' wouldn’t be so arcane to his immediate family.
And once he had her there, Gaara knew he wouldn't have to worry about sleep (or lack of) any longer.
He just had to make it happen, and considering what this kunoichi had put him through these past few weeks, she certainly had it coming.
--
TYK: Hello, hello! I'm back and have not fallen off the face of the Earth, as I'm sure some of you readers have assumed. But here it is, please select the little review button to the left and let me know what you think. Thanks! R&R
Well, onto it then.
Sound Sleep 4
--
Gaara sat back in his chair looking towards the papers on his desk. He wasn't concentrating or even acting as such, but it might have looked like he was paying attention to the words on its surface to any passerby. His arms were crossed, and his mind was miles and miles away: specifically in Konoha.
To that, he would never admit, especially to his brother, who leaned casually in the doorway. Kankuro waited to be acknowledged, though he knew it was futile because Gaara was obviously ignoring him.
"Ahem," he interjected. "I see you have returned to your normal routine, brother." At this Gaara rose his head. He knew it was just a matter of time before Kankuro mentioned something along those lines. The Kazekage made no sound, but lifted his head to get a better look at his sibling through the grand office.
Kankuro moved in, hovering in front of the desk. He knew that he was treading careful waters, for even though Gaara hadn't killed Temari or him yet didn't mean he would have reservations about it in the future. But this was too interesting a situation to pass up talking about. For the past few years that his brother had been leader, Kankuro had never seen him break his rhythm—his routine—like he had in those two weeks. It was almost as if he had been a different person—gentler somehow in some ways. But now that was entirely gone.
The look in Gaara’s eyes had once again sharpened to a green edge that contrasted with his dark marks. "You need something, Kankuro?" Gaara sent a chilling glance towards him.
Kankuro took his last thought back—the sharpness was worse than ever now. At first his behavior and attitude had returned to his normal tense silence, but now there was this slightly frantic and annoyed, frustrated sheen to it that Kankuro just couldn't figure out. "Just... wondering."
Gaara didn't stop to ponder just what Kankuro could be 'wondering', for he already knew what it was about. "Well, wonder somewhere else. I'm leaving." Gaara walked towards the door stopping to grab his outer robes before departing leaving his brother to stand there and just smile.
Kankuro couldn't wipe the grin off of his face—why hadn't he thought of it before? Probably because the thought would never cross the mind of someone who knew Gaara particularly well, but it was perfect.
Gaara had found a girl.
And Kankuro intended to find out whom. The thought of someone managing to tame Gaara in the least was a physical and emotional power that no one in the past had possessed before save their uncle.
He followed suit and left the office walking towards town, thinking about the facts as he walked:
He knew for sure she lived somewhere out of town. Kankuro hadn't seen his brother most days except between certain hours when he was actually working at a quick pace. So either Gaara was eager to be with her every second he could, or there was a significant journey to somewhere else, certainly one of the bordering countries.
But which one?
He had a plan to inquire about them without letting his brother know too much.
--
Gaara threw the document on the edge of the desk towards his hovering brother. The said relative had taken great interest in Gaara's so called travels in the last few days, which made seeing Sakura very difficult. Not to say that the Sand nin was seeing much of the pinkette in any sense, for she'd vacated her apartment for the time being and was staying with as many people as she could to avoid his presence... or at least that was what Gaara assumed.
But in any case her defiance was grating even more on his nerves ever since he was discovered. He all but slammed his fist onto the table in front of him for being so careless that night, but the dreams that he had experienced were so real, so vivid, and he couldn't help but indulging in them.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on, brother?" The redhead barely spared Kankuro a glance. "I can see you're not focused; you haven't been lately. You've found a girl, haven't you?" Kankuro leaned forward just close enough to meet Gaara's dark rimmed eyes, "though how you could find someone to put up with you is totally beyond me."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Gaara's deep voice reverberated through the room. He knew that his brother had been curious about his whereabouts these past few weeks... However, his ignorance wasn't about to change. Gaara would rather him think he'd found a mate than have to tell him of his reliance towards such a weakling.
"Sure you do. But there's something that I can't quite put my finger on... something different about you that not even a 'woman's touch' could do." He shook his painted face as if he was seeing things. It was no use trying to study Gaara; he had a mind that would drive a psychologist to insanity.
"Have you any dealings in... Ame soon?" One slightly visible eyebrow rose on Gaara's forehead. "Maybe... River Country?" Hmmm. Kankuro had to think. What other notable villages were within a half day's trip of Sand?
"How about Konoha?" At this, his senses picked up on a slight twitch in his brother's face—the only visible sign that he'd struck a nerve. "No? Well, that's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. By the way, have you seen that new overview of our dealings with the Village hidden in the Leaves; it's over in that stack of files you've yet to touch."
He could have smiled... but Kankuro assumed that it was wise to give Gaara the benefit of the doubt. He all but sauntered his way to the door in a victorious mindset to leave the Kazekage to his own whims.
And as soon as Gaara sensed the hall was clear of his brother (and any other personnel), he double took at the three inch stack of papers.
His throat cleared.
He sort of stretched, which for Gaara meant he leaned back and forth, left and right, without moving arms or legs in the least. Then he tapped his pen while worrying his lip. He knew how out of character he seemed, but that wasn't enough to distract him from what Kankuro had revealed.
Could what was lying in that stack be the key to his misdealing with the pink haired kunoichi?
He wasn't certain, but it was damn well time to find out. Gaara's nerves were wearing thin slowly and grating with frustration and lack of sleep. He hadn't ever experienced exhaustion before, for meditation had been enough for him. Now, however, it was different. It was all her fault.
And this time around, she wouldn't be able to say 'no'.
No, Gaara would put her in as much hell as she'd unknowingly placed him when he got his hands on her... so to speak.
--
Kankuro, meanwhile, hummed from the upstairs quarters he called home. He could only imagine it... how Gaara had pounced on those very files after he left.
His brother was turning out to be more human than any of them had originally thought. And what a coincidence that Konoha had gotten a reaction out of him, since the papers from their Hokage had arrived just that day.
There was a storm coming—not in the physical way—though he could sense something was going to happen with the Leaf Village very soon.
--
Sakura slowly massaged warm, green chakra into her temple as the pains of a headache crept slowly into place. The hospital was allotting her a slow day, but current events gave her mind the run around these days. Things had been quite unusual as of late; she'd all but moved out of her apartment and was currently shacking up with both Ino and Shino simultaneously. But even that wasn't about to shake the image of the one and only Gaara of the Sand sleeping in her bedroom floor.
Needless to say, Sakura was unsure about what action she would (or could) take with Tsunade about what happened. Could this have any effect on a peace treaty should it come into place between the two villages? The pink-haired nin realized that on such an important issue this should never have an effect, but she knew enough about the busty Hokage to imagine some kind of conflict should she mention it. It was well known fact that Tsunade had looked on the orphaned Sakura as a surrogate daughter for years now.
She rolled away from the desk in her makeshift office at the hospital; this had been a heavy burden on her shoulders ever since she'd woken up that night. That and the rumors: Shino and she were apparently dating, shacked up, and she just had to be carrying his offspring, or there was some kind of scandal going on of that sort. Presently Sakura had come to ignore everything that she heard, which had worked for the time being.
"Sakura," speak of the devil.
"Why if it isn't the father of my unborn child." Shino had to pause for a moment, in which Sakura figured he was blinking behind his sunglasses. He regained his composure, however, and a pressed expression filled its place.
"You know if someone hears you, you're just encouraging those rumors." Sakura flashed a smile; of course she knew that fact very well, but it was amusing altogether teasing him. "These people," he continued, "have no lives if they insist on making up such stories. Just because you're living with me doesn't mean we're together." Sakura inwardly flinched at the thought; he was right about the living situation, and if her mother had been alive the woman would have raised a fury at her daughter's decisions while simultaneously defending her at every gossip and whisper.
"Yeah, well, we're projecting that image anyway. You know how many people witnessed us leaving the bar together that evening of our would be one-night-stand?" Once again her dark companion shook his head at her remarks. If he had been a better man, Shino thought to himself, he would have swept her off her feet after she moved in and made her realize what a great pair they made. Indeed, for all the hearsay that went around no one seemed to be disapproving of them as a couple, but that wasn't something he'd imagine Sakura would pursue. He just knew it, no matter what he felt.
"Well, it's much better that the alternative," she mumbled knowing that Shino would hear her reference no matter what. They had talked many nights about what happened with Gaara, about the night everything had changed all at once in her comfortable world. At the break of dawn the morning after, Sakura recalled sitting on the stone bench in front of the main gates in silence, an equally quiet Shino beside her. The stone cut into the backs of her legs, but you heard no complaint of her. It was a familiar place; the bench itself held many memories for her, and this was just another to add to the bunch.
He circled the desk between them and grasped her shoulder lightly with his hand. "He hasn't returned at all, has he?" Sakura shook her head; no, he hadn't. Not that she was around her house to notice. It wasn't surprising that she hadn't seen him again considering how long it had taken her to figure out he was coming at night. He'd been doing so for ages, it seemed, and she had the sand to prove it. All those days of sweeping it out the door and blaming it on Naruto... What a pain for both of them.
She had a right mind to give Gaara a good piece of her mind if he wouldn't engulf her in sand before she could get the last word out, but that wasn't what she should be thinking about. As long as he left her alone at her new residence(s), then there would be no problem and Sakura could get on with her life.
Yeah, right.
Living in Konoha never allowed a situation like that to happen.
Shino let out an inaudible sigh at his obvious discomfort with the quiet situation. He was never one for intimate moments with a girl: physical, emotional, or otherwise. Sakura reminded herself how lucky she was for having him around and what burden it must be to put up with her antics. The rosette wished she could say the same for her team members.
"I just need to put this entire thing behind me, and then I'll be able to carry on with what I was doing here." She motioned to her surroundings. With such excitement, her boxes in the makeshift office had yet to be unpacked—just like her things at Shino and Ino's places.
Shino almost smiled, "You're right. Now let's head out for lunch so you can start 'forgetting' about it all." She motioned to take his hand when there was a knock at that door.
Upon opening, they were greeted with the sight of a messenger from the Hokage's office, "Haruno, you're called at once to the Hokage's office for a meeting." He stood slightly out of breath with obvious hesitation to disclose anything further, the young man darted his eyes towards Shino for a second, "please come alone."
--
Sakura had parted with Shino outside the hospital with the promise of a 'rain check' on their lunch. Already the absence of his warmth, his calm state, was noticeable and she felt more alone than ever. What the Hokage had summoned her for at such short notice was beyond her at this point, but her legs raced heavily towards the tower in hopes that this wasn't going to ruin her day.
"Sakura, come in and have a seat." Tsunade's voice already commanded attention from her position in her office. Sakura had barely walked into the outer office to announce herself, but her mentor seemed to be in a hurried state. So much for not ruining her day...
"You called?"
Tsunade threw a sharp look at her for a moment, "of course I called, why else would you be here." Sakura's face fell and she dropped into a chair—this berating was unlike the Hokage, especially when it came to Sakura. "I'm not quite angry with you, Sakura. However, I am curious about something that concerns you..."
Has she heard something? Sakura's mind raced... there were so many things that Tsunade could have been talking about: Shino and their 'situation', Gaara being there in Konoha—in her bedroom, no less, but she couldn’t decide which was worse.
"I received some interesting papers today from Suna," she seated herself, flourishing with a full jiggle of her breasts and pushed away some of the papers to make room for her sake bottle. After pouring each of them a glass and making sure both Sakura and she had downed them, her hands threw a sheet towards her that had been sealed with the royal seal of Suna...
The Kazekage, Gaara of the Sand.
Needless to say, the breath in Sakura's lungs caught in her throat and her heart began skipping a beat. Sweaty plans grasped the edge of the paper delicately as if it would disintegrate—and she wished it would.
Tsunade didn't wait for Sakura to begin reading, "It's from Gaara. We're to go forth with a treaty as soon as Konoha can arrange it, which is good news in itself." Sakura waited for her to continue, and scanned the lower half of the 'letter' for something more close to home. And there it was.
“... requesting the presence of Haruno, Sakura at meetings and forthcoming exchange...” Etc. Sakura read aloud, but it was like another person speaking out of her mouth. First he was in her apartment at night—and he obviously wanted to be out of there as quickly as possible—and now he wanted her there when he visited during the day.
"Apparently your company is less 'requested' and more 'demanded'." She filled her cup up to the brim once more and down two before she topped off Sakura's. "Now what I've asked you here today to get any information out of you that I might need before the officials from Sand join us, and I find out why you're being brought into this."
The pinkette twisted her hands and tried to swallow the knot in her throat before she was no longer able to speak. "I wasn't sure if I was going to tell you about this, what with the changes between our villages' status currently in process." Her mentor urged her to continue. "But there were some incidents a while back that involved Gaara. I awoke one night to find him sleeping in the floor of my bedroom." Tsunade's eye twitched for a moment, as if she wanted to ask something, but she stayed silent.
"Weeks prior to that I noticed the only window in my bedroom was lined with sand, which I swept out. There was no other explanation for it than someone having tracked it in from somewhere. Then I woke up one night to find him there, but that's the funny thing. Every night that Shino came to visit me, it would wake me suddenly out of sleep... but when Gaara came, it was like he over powered my senses or something because I was apparently none the wiser about his being in my room."
Tsunade had merely sat back and taken it all in before she heaved a large sigh and thought about it all. What Sakura had told her was slightly disturbing, but that wasn't surprising considering the specific Kage in question. Gaara had always been a mystery to everyone that came across him, and even though his dealings as a diplomat were very polite, almost normal, he was far from being considered social to anyone. If these dealings with Sakura were true, then there had to be some ulterior motive to it all.
"These 'visits' stop and suddenly he wants to heal things with Konoha, requesting you to be present for all of them? Interesting, none the least." Sakura shot her an unamused look.
"So what are you going to do about this entire situation? Are you going to deny my involvement with the alliance...? Please?" Sakura begged.
Tsunade could only shake her head much to her intern's chagrin. "I'm afraid I cannot do that, Sakura. You may not yet realize it, but if he does have some kind of plan in store for you personally, then you're our greatest bargaining chip." Tsunade smiled, cheeks slightly red. If she had imbibed enough alcohol that she was already feeling lose and more adapt to the idea of using Sakura, then the young girl knew there would be no dealing with her until she was lucid and sober at the meetings. "Besides, I'm curious about it, aren't you?"
Sakura gaped, "No! I just want to be left alone. What about me; did you ever think about the fact that these plans could somehow be against my best interests?"
"I know you can handle it." She walked around and grabbed Sakura's chin to emphasize her point. "You're going to be there because I know that you can take care of yourself; if it were anyone else I doubt I would have as much faith."
This day had turned to crap.
Sakura looked at her watch once she exited Tsunade’s office.
This day had turned to crap in less than thirty minute thanks to that damn Gaara and her ambitious mentor. When were people going to stop taking advantage of her?
Her whole body turned outside the Hokage tower in a flurry of pink and headed towards Shino's place. If there was anyone that could shed some insight on this situation, she knew it would be him.
--
Gaara leaned back in his chair once more. Since his nightly jaunts to Konoha had stopped, it seemed he spent every moment in his office, and it was grating on his already thin nerves. He'd had a taste of sleep, and his body (and Shukaku) was not letting him withdraw from that situation as easily as he had hoped. But the redhead couldn't help but congratulate himself on his plan.
Albeit it had been Kankuro's idea, Gaara would be overseeing all the actions taken from then on where Sakura was concerned. He figured that his brother knew a lot more than what he had previously let on, but then Gaara reminded himself that once he had Sakura there in Suna, the secret of this 'mystery woman' wouldn’t be so arcane to his immediate family.
And once he had her there, Gaara knew he wouldn't have to worry about sleep (or lack of) any longer.
He just had to make it happen, and considering what this kunoichi had put him through these past few weeks, she certainly had it coming.
--
TYK: Hello, hello! I'm back and have not fallen off the face of the Earth, as I'm sure some of you readers have assumed. But here it is, please select the little review button to the left and let me know what you think. Thanks! R&R