Crossed Paths

Gaara closed his eyes and tilted his head towards the full moon high above the desert ground. Temari and Kankurou were asleep on the ground beside him in the shadow of the village walls. Ever since he started guarding Sand, Temari had gotten painfully thin. Perhaps it was the shortage of food, or the lack of sleep. Either way, Temari now looked as though she had been starved for the last two weeks.

He opened his eyes again and used his sand to carry him high above the ground, high up to where no human should ever be. He snickered softly. Human. As if he could be considered that. The villagers of Sand were still deathly afraid of him, despite his resolve to keep the village safe. He had taken out countless shinobis who had come with the intent to overtake Sand while it had no leader. Most were from the Country of Hidden Sound. The country Orochimaru had created. It wasn’t of any surprise to the siblings that as they interrogated them, they revealed that Orochimaru was planning to overtake Sand and use its military forces to destroy Konoha.

~*Always with the same objective. So boring*~ Gaara looked down at Temari and Kankurou, now only two dark shadows on the ground. He was still unsure of what to think of them. When he had been small, they were distant acquaintances, disappearing whenever their father came in. During the chuunin exam, they were his backup, his supporters, and his “sensei’s” pawns. Now, they were risking their lives with him to protect Sand, even though they could be lounging comfortably in the castle, where many people will no doubt want to hear their accounts of how Uzumaki Naruto defeated Gaara of the Sand and lived to tell the tale.

~*Sometimes, being the best is not always good. They expect so much of me, yet fear me as I meet and exceed their expectations. Like father. And Yashamaru. And so many others. When will their terror stop?*~ Gaara wondered. Of course, he would never voice these thoughts out loud, they were considered weak by his father, and his standards have passed onto him. ~*They feared me because I could not control the sand, and yet they run in terror when I finally could. What are they thinking of?*~

Gaara drifted down again, sand dissipating silently as his feet touched the ground. H took his usual post, sitting beside his sleeping siblings, dark-rimmed eyes staring into the darkness. In the vast plains of the desert, it was hard to hide unless you were invisible. Many shinobis who attacked were capable of moving underground, had the ability to become invisible, or moved with a speed so fast it rivalled Gaara’s sand. Of course, all the shinobis who dared to attack were easily defeated by Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou miles before they breached the village’s wall.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, with Gaara staring out into the dark plains and Kankurou snoring peacefully. However, when the morning came, something greatly unexpected happened. A messenger from the palace exited the village wall and approached Temari.

“Would you be Temari-sama?” The fearful messenger glanced around at Gaara and Kankurou, the first looking at him with dark, brooding eyes, and the latter with cold disdain.

“Yes, I would. Is something the matter?” Temari stepped up to the messenger, and gave her brothers a glare. *Back down* Kankurou turned away, and Gaara relaxed his stance minutely.

“The…uh…the council of the Sand would…uh… like to have you…uh…at the council meeting…um…if that wouldn’t be too much trouble?” His eyes glanced at her face, and went straight back to the ground. Temari-sama was intimidating, but the other two were downright terrifying. He waited for her reply while preparing to run for his life, should need be.

“The council wants me at their meeting?” Temari looked at Gaara. “Whatever the hell for?” Gaara merely shook his head a few centimetres, indicating that he, too, didn’t know. “Alright, then. I guess I have to go. I’ll come back once the meeting is over, ok guys?”

“Gaara, should I go with her, just in case?” Kankurou spoke in soft tones to his younger brother.

“No. She can take care of herself. Anyways, if were something involving three of us, I’m sure they would have said so,” Gaara nodded at Temari, giving her his agreement. Temari turned and walked through the wall surrounding Sand with the messenger.

With a loud ‘whoosh’, the doors closed behind her.

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*Thud. Thud, Thud* Kunais thudded sharply into one of the three wooden posts at the Konoha training grounds. This place had become “her” place, her place to brood, to vent her frustration, to be alone, to think. Naruto often said she spent more time here than at home. ~*As of now, I have no home in Konoha*~ Sakura bitterly picked up her kunais and shurikens, putting them back in her pouch. She wiped at the tears leaking from her eyes, no matter how she willed it to stop. Her dirt-covered hands left streaks of mud on her face, but Sakura was too tired to care anymore. She sat by the river, thinking about how in the last 3 hours, her situation had gone from a headache to a broken heart.

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When Sakura left the Hyuuga house, many of the villagers were still outside, whispering about Uchiha Sasuke’s sudden announcement. As soon as Sakura appeared, everyone was immediately silent. Sakura made her way down the front stairs, into the street, and began her journey to the training grounds. As she passed the crowds, she could feel everyone’s eyes on her. She could hear them, too, what they were saying, and she knew they were right. That made everything a hundred times worse.

“Poor dear…heartbroken…”
“I say…deserved it…slutty…throwing…at Sasuke…”
“…agree…no way…Uchiha…hers…”
“…solutely disgraceful…”

With Naruto accompanying her, Sakura made her way down the street, amid stares and whispers. Naruto tried to get everyone to shut up by snarling at them, but it was no use. When Sakura reached her place, she told Naruto to leave her alone. “I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “Really, I won’t attempt suicide or anything like that.”

Better not. Any bastard who does that isn’t worth your tears, Sakura, never mind your life,” Naruto gave Sakura a hug, and bounded away into the trees. Finally, Sakura was alone.

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Sakura washed her face and weapons in the stream, put on her shoes, and trudged home. She took all the back alleys she knew of, and thankfully passed no one she knew. She would eventually see her friends, she knew, but she would rather it be on her own time, at her own pace. Right now, Sakura just wanted to head home, heat up as many bottles of sake she could find, and get drunk. To hell with the hangover she would get tomorrow. Right now, she just wanted that high-and-floaty feeling she had everytime she was intoxicated. Hence the reason Shikamaru found her already half-drunk at the bar, ordering another half-dozen bottles of warm sake.

“Jeez, Sakura, drinking’s no fun alone. At least get someone to join you,” Shikamaru slid into the bar stool next to her and shouted his order to the bartender. “So, sup with you? Any particular reason you’re in the bar at 5 o’clock in the afternoon already drunk?”

“Shika-kun…I’m –hic—not drunk yet…I can still see my fingers…See? That’s my pinky…” She stuck up her ring finger. “Oops…How come I have two pinkies on one hand?” She shook her head, as if to clear the image. “Oh well…yes, Shika-kun, join meee for a –hic—drink! And tell Sakura-neechan why Shika-kun is in a –hic—bar at night! You’re past—hic—curfew,” Sakura shook her head at him, and giggled.

“Man…I heard about the Sasuke thing, sorry about that. Never really liked him anyways, you’re better off without him. Although I highly doubt you’ll be able to recall anything I say right now after you get over your hangover the next morning,” Shikamaru slanted a glance at the pink-haired kunoichi next to him. “As for the reason why I’m here…Let’s leave it till you’re sober, I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Alright, --hic—let’s get drunk tonight…oops!” Sakura accidentally emptied a bottle of her sake onto Shikamaru’s flak jacket. She giggled. “Hehehehe…it’s okay, you can take it off! Hahahaha…” She trailed off into hysterical laughter, almost falling off her stool.

“Is it really that funny? Dad’s gonna be pissed at me again, you can only dry clean these things…Man, women *are* troublesome…” Shikamaru grudgingly removed his vest and sat on it, sake-drenched side down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They stayed at the bar for several more hours, until Sakura was so drunk she could barely stand, and Shikamaru decided to stay partly sober in order to bring her home and drag himself home.

As they entered Sakura’s front door, Sakura suddenly decided to vomit all over his sake-drenched jacket. Because he hadn’t bothered to zip it, some of the vomit found its way onto his mesh shirt underneath.

“Aw, MAN! Sakura!!! Damn, having a drink with you is more trouble than fun! Jeez…my old man’s gonna *kill* me for getting the bloody vest so dirty..says it’s the symbol of shinobi or something…” Shikamaru dumped Sakura on the couch, grimacing, and stripped off his vest and shirt. “Where’s your bloody washroom?”

“My bedroom on the left,” Sakura felt bad because she vomited all over Shikamaru, but not bad enough to get up and help him clean his clothes. “There’s detergent under the sink.”

“Great,” Shikamaru muttered as he bent down for the detergent. “First Tenten dumped me, then Sakura pours sake onto my vest, and then she barfs over my shirt. This day is turning out just great.”

“Tenten dumped you?”

“Whoa! Shit! Oww,” Shikamaru’s head emerged from the cupboard and he straightened, rubbing the back of his head where he banged it against the sink ledge. “Jeez, Sakura, don’t *do* that, okay?” He looked at her slender form, slumped against the door frame, and sighed. “Yes, Tenten broke up with me, that’s why I went down to the bar.”

“And Shika-kun wanted to discuss his break-up with me?” Sakura grinned evilly.

“No, I do *not* want to discuss my love life with you, thank you very much. I just wanted to find a friend to talk to. Chouji is busy learning some new thousand-times-enlargement jutsu from his dad, and Ino and Neji have run off to God-knows-where. So, the only person left is you.” Shikamaru ended his explanation with a sigh , and glanced at Sakura. Nope, still drunk.

“Shikamaru…how would you like to run off with me?” Sakura asked this softly, as though still thinking about it as she said it.

“What?” He was sure he didn’t hear correctly.

“I said, how about we run off together as well? I’ve got no future in Konoha, being the *whore* I am,” Sakura smiled bitterly. “And you don’t have any family here. You just broke up with Tenten, so why don’t we leave Konoha together?” Sakura was almost sober now, the gears in her head turning rapidly. “Why not? Nobody will miss us, no one will care. We can start a new life somewhere, and put all this crap behind us.”

“Thanks for implying I don’t have friends, Sakura,” Shikamaru grinned slightly. “But you’re right. No point in staying in Konoha, since people will be annoying me with their questions about why we broke up, how, and whether she dumped me or I dumped her.”

“Great! We leave tomorrow morning!” Sakura’s enthusiasm had Shikamaru’s eyebrows winging up.

“Um…you do know you’ll have a hangover tomorrow, right?”

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Temari had spent the entire day at the council meeting, bored out of her mind. Truth be told, she had stopped listening to what was being said about 3 hours after she sat down, and the sky was dark by now. She was hungry, she was thirsty, she needed to pee, and her ass hurt from sitting the whole day. Finally, she noticed everyone in the room in silence, staring at her.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?”

“Temari-sama, we would be honoured if you would agree to be the next Kazekage for the village of Sand.”




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Well, everyone, thanks for reading! Yes, I know, not much Gaara in this chapter either, but he'll meet Sakura in the next, don't worry!

Thanks to all my reviewers, love you all ~^3^~ and if you'd be so nice as to review after reading, I'll love you too!


~dark_Angel~