Crossed Paths

Gaara walked through the forest alone, feeling the branches slap at his face, not caring. His dream was crushed as soon as the council had asked Temari to be their Kazekage. No matter how much Temari would protest, the council would accept no one else. It was what they were famous for. Once they decided upon a candidate, that person would become Kazekage until their deaths, whereupon the council would choose another successor.

Temari, of course, had no desire to be Kazekage at all; in fact, the thought never crossed her mind. Her vigilance at the gate was only out of her loyalty to Gaara, she was only trying to help him succeed his dream. Never did she think the council would misunderstand her intentions and ask her to be Kazekage instead. Right now, she was with Kankurou standing on the walls of the village of Sand, staring in the direction Gaara had disappeared to.

“I knew he wanted to be Kazekage, but damn…never thought he’d actually *leave* if they picked you,” Kankurou remarked.

“Shut up, Kankurou, and think of a way to get Gaara back. Without him, Sand is as good as dead.” Temari scowled at her idiot of a brother, thought sof what happened after the meeting flashing through her mind.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Temari-sama, we would like for you to be the next Kazekage-sama.” The council members looked expectantly at her, as though she was to break out in a song-and-dance routine. She stared back at them as though each and every one of them had grown an extra head.

“Um…I think you guys have it wrong. I don’t *want* to be the next Kazekage, it’s my broth-“

“Nevertheless, the council members have decided you are the most fitting choice for this position. We have observed your actions in defending this village for quite some time now, your skills have grown remarkably since we last saw you. Your brother, of course, would be welcome to stay.”

Temari’s brow furrowed, taking notice of how they said “brother” and not “brothers”. “So, if I were to be Kazekage, Kankurou and Gaara would be welcome to stay in the village and help me out with my duties?” Her tone held contempt.

“Kankurou, yes. The other, well…it would be best if the ichibi did not come inside the village.” The leader of the council spoke, gaining nods and general murmurs of consent from the other council members. “If he were to stay outside the village walls, of course, there would be no problems.”

“Wait. You expect me to be Kazekage here, and Kankurou can live comfortably being my assistant, while my younger brother is out there in the bloody hot desert protecting you guys?” Temari’s voice grew louder with each syllable. “That is *not* the type of shit I would have expected from the so-called esteemed council members.” Temari was stepping over the line, she knew it, but how could she do anything otherwise? There was no way in hell she would be Kazekage while her youngest brother suffered in the sun.


Gaara had left when Temari came out of the village, apparently he had been following her with his third eye. He had told Kankurou to pass a message onto Temari: “Do your duties, and live comfortably.” Kankurou had no idea what that was about, but when Temari came out and explained the situation, Gaara was already long gone.

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

Sakura met Shikamaru at the front gates of Konoha, her pink hair hidden under a stylish bandana and her meagre belongings stuffed into a small backpack. In her left hand she carried a small emergency medical bag. In her right she held a picture of Team 7, taken from when they were all genins. She was dressed as inconspicuously as possible, avoiding her usual colors of pink and orange, opting instead for dark blue. Anyone who glanced at her wouldn’t have recognized her as Haruno Sakura. Shikamaru, on the other hand, was dressed as usual, his hair in the ever-present bushy ponytail. He also carried a backpack, although his was slightly bigger than Sakura’s, and a picture of Ino, Chouji, and Asuma was tucked into the inside pocket of his flak jacket. Not that he’d show anyone, of course.

“Let’s get going already, if we wait too long people will start to notice us. I can tell it’s going to be troublesome already,” Shikamaru glanced at Sakura, who was looking at the sculptures of the five Hokages. He walked discreetly away, giving her a little distance to say her final good-byes. He, however, had already said his, the night before. No point in wasting time that wasn’t going to be used sleeping.

“Let’s go.” Sakura turned away from the sculptures, tucked the picture into her pocket and walked forward, out of Konoha. As she stepped outside of the village gates, she felt a final tug at her heart, then…nothing. ~*So, this is it, Sasuke. I’ve loved you since forever, and you leave me for an heir. I suppose this is fair, you stay in Konoha to raise your goddamn children, and I will leave in search for someone better. I hope we both find what we’re after. Damn you to hell, Uchiha.*~ Sakura smiled bitterly, and wiped unshed tears from her eyes, an action that did not go unnoticed by Shikamaru.

“Look, if you’re gonna cry, do it now. I don’t need a weepy kunoichi following me around the forest, alerting every shinobi within a 10-kilometer radius that we’re easy prey,” Shikamaru stuffed his hands into his pockets and gave her his customary half-lidded glare.

“Shut up, Shikamaru, I’m ready. Let’s go.” Sakura forced a smile on her face and jumped into the canopy above. Shikamaru joined her, and soon, they were leaping from tree to tree, going nowhere in particular. One would lead, then the other. It was a game of chase, with no objective. This was the part Sakura truly loved about being a shinobi. Every time they raced through the trees, whether she was alone, with Naruto, or with anyone, she would always feel free. As if she was flying. Seeing flashes of the ground below her, Sakura closed her eyes and navigated by instinct alone. She knew this forest like the back of her hand, knew which branch was rotten, which stump had a nest in it, which new branch had just recently sprouted. This was her forest, and no one would take it away from her.

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

They had been moving for several hours now, stopping only twice for rest and some food. It was almost dark, and Shikamaru knew they needed to stop at the next inn they passed, or risk moving at night. Sakura apparently had the same thought, because she started moving faster through the trees in search of somewhere to spend the night. It had been drizzling steadily for 20 minutes now, it was about to break into an all-out storm, something Sakura could not afford.

“Dammit, Shikamaru, do you know where the next inn will be? I haven’t been through this part of the forest since about 4 years ago, so I can’t remember accurately!” Sakura yelled across the canopy to Shikamaru.

“I dunno, the last time I was here there was an inn a couple miles forward, but that was 3 years ago. Also, they were talking of getting it torn down for agricultural reasons,” Shikamaru called back to her.

Sakura swore under her breath. This was *not* good. Her hair was getting soaked, she’d abandoned her bandana (ooh, tongue-twister! Abandoned bandana bandana abandoned bananas….er. Ok. Back to the story…~^-^~”) a couple miles back and her dress was starting to cling to her, slowing up her progress quite noticeably. Shikamaru didn’t miss anything, and told her at this rate they were going to have to walk in order to avoid serious injury if someone slipped from the branches. Sakura gave her best medical opinion, which was to keep going at this rate for five more minutes. If no inn could be seen by then, they would have to walk. Hopefully, there would be an inn soon. If not, they would have to camp in the wild for tonight.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Gaara had been walking for several hours now, going wherever his footsteps led him. It would seem to others that he was lost, since he had wandered through the same spot several times now. Actually, Gaara was very aware of where he was; only, he didn’t see the need to leave. Here was peaceful, here was shady, here was lonely. If the very people he was trying to protect were scared of him, he didn’t see the point in staying guardian of Sand. They had Temari; she was more than good enough. She was older, she was wiser, and more importantly, she was more human than himself or Kankurou. If she was the weakest out of all of them, it wouldn’t matter. She was the strongest of the villages, and the most human out of the three siblings; therefore, she would be the next Kazekage.

Gaara let out a small, bitter laugh. It didn’t matter to the villagers who protected them, so long as they could be accepted by the crowd. Once again, Gaara was feeling the loneliness and the hatred that surrounded him since birth. His thoughts wandered unwillingly to his childhood. Back then, he had Yashamaru to help him, at least until he found out Yashamaru was yet another traitor. On that fateful night, Gaara used his own sand to carve the kanji on his forehead. ~*One day, I, too, will have love.*~ On that night, he truly discovered the meaning of pain. The one who claimed to love him no matter what he did, was the one who hated him with a passion for everything he’s done, and everything he was. His mother’s death. The whispers behind his back.

“He’s the ichibi’s relative, is he not?”
“Monsters, the whole lot of them…”

Yashamaru’s anger and bitter hatred had turned into something that could not be washed away even by the innocence of youth. That night, when he set out to kill his own nephew, he knew it was a suicide mission. The most he could wish for was that Gaara would die along with him, sparing him the humiliation of a foolish self-sacrifice.

Gaara’s thoughts strayed to the chuunin exam, where he was defeated for the first and only time in his life, by Naruto.

**********************

“Sleep….I’ll take care of things…” A dark voice echoed inside Gaara’s head, lulling him to sleep. Indeed, Gaara was so incensed, he had began to lose himself.

“yes…Kill the dark-haired one…the pink-haired one must die as well…for protecting him…He’s just like me, I can see in his eyes the suffering, and yet she protects him…She must die as well…” Gaara’s last thoughts were transmitted to the ichibi as he fell asleep.

*THUMP* Gaara went flying. Before he caught his breath, Naruto was on top of him, fists flying, his anger clearly evident at Gaara’s attempt to kill his most precious persons. Truly shocked, that was when Gaara realized two things: first, Naruto had *punched* him awake to recall the ichibi. Second, when one had people to protect with his life, that’s when one truly becomes strong.

As Gaara lay on the floor, looking at the blue sky, Temari and Kankurou appeared. “No more…” Hearing these words, Kankurou carried Gaara’s body back to an isolated clearing in the forest to treat his wounds and recuperate before returning to Sand.

***********************

It was dark. As Gaara’s consciousness slowly resurfaced, he noticed three things. One, it was raining hard. Two, he was back at the clearing where Kankurou and Temari had taken him after the chuunin exam. Three, there were two other people in the clearing as well, staring at him as though they just saw a ghost. One had black hair in a ponytail, even though he was clearly a male. The other had shoulder-length pink hair. The pink brought a sharp image into his head, and he knew who she was at once.

“Haruno…Sakura?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Ga…Gaara?” Sakura stared in disbelief at the rain-soaked figure standing before them. His reddish-brown hair was plastered to his face, almost hiding the kanji tattoo on his forehead. His normally loose clothing was clinging to him, the legs of his pants dripping. He still carried his gourd on his back, although since it was made of sand, how it maintained its shape Sakura didn’t know. “What’re you doing here?”

‘I…I was merely out for a walk,” Gaara answered evasively, still suspicious about the two unseemly visitors. What was she doing here? Who did she think she was, questioning his authority to be here? Why did she act as though this was her territory, and he had no right to be here? “This is land is within the borders of the country of Wind. Why are you here?”

Sakura stared at Gaara. Out for a walk? Yeah, right. And she was here to celebrate her birthday. “We were travelling and didn’t realize it had grown so late. By the time we began to look for shelter, it was already dark. So, we decided to camp here.” Her defiant gaze caused Gaara to raise an eyebrow minutely.

“I see. So, if I told you this clearing is off limits to anyone who crosses the Wind borders without valid reason is off-limits, what would you do?” He let a small smirk slide over his face.

Sakura bristled. “Look, if you want us gone, just *say* so. But at least wait till morning or something. Heck, let us stay the night and we’ll leave before daybreak tomorrow.” Her fatigue was clearly getting the better of her, and it was beginning to show.

“Sakura, I don’t think that’s possible, considering you’re a person who needs at least eight hours of sleep a night. From the position of the moon and the stars, daybreak will be arriving about 5 hours from now. I can get up and leave before then, but I highly doubt you can,” Shikamaru’s voice cut through her thoughts and she realized with a jolt he was right. Still, that didn’t make him any better in her book.

“Shut up, Nara”

Shikamaru’s eyebrows winged up, but said nothing.


Gaara watched the exchange with amusement, although careful not to let it show on his face. Sakura, and the other shinobi were clearly companions. They were travelling, presumably for private reasons, and somehow or other ended up within the borders of Wind. Now, they had settled here in this isolated clearing to pass the night.

“You do know that the tent of yours wouldn’t work, right?” Gaara directed his comment at Sakura, who was busily trying to set up camp and failing miserably.

“Why the hell not?”

“This country isn’t named Wind for nothing. During sandstorms and storms like this, it’s strong enough to rip up a medium-sized tree. Your tent wouldn’t last 5 minutes.” His tone made Sakura’s fist clench and her jaw tighten.

“Look, Mr Smartass, if you hadn’t noticed, there IS no bloody storm. This is called a shower. It will pass in an hour or two, and it will definitely NOT be enough to rip up my tent. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to retire for the night.” Sakura finished hammering in the pegs and crawled inside.

Shikamaru looked over at Gaara, who was staring at the tent, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned. “Women. They’re so troublesome. I’d stay out here if I could, but my jacket’s gonna wrinkle if I don’t dry it. I’ll see you later, I guess, if you’re still around.” He disappeared inside the tent as well. Seconds later, a yelp could be heard and Shikamaru came crashing outside again, this time minus his flak jacket.

“Dammit! Sakura, what the hell are you doing? You WANT me to die of hypothermia?!” Shikamaru’s voice echoed in the small clearing.

“Die for all I care!” came a muffled voice inside the tent. “Honestly. Coming inside when you’re all goddamn soaked? Don’t even TRY it.” A hand with pink nail-polished came out and zipped up the entrance. Shikamaru was left staring in disbelief at the lopsided tent.

“Can you goddamn believe her?” Shikamaru turned to Gaara, his face a mask of annoyance. “Oh, wait. You travel alone, don’t you.”

Gaara didn’t know why, but he felt compelled to answer. “Actually, that’s not quite correct. I was travelling with my sister and brother.”

“Sister? Oh yeaaaa, that Temari chick, right? The girl with the fan? Yea, I remember her. She was my opponent during the main matches of the Chuunin exam.” Shikamaru’s eyes closed as he lay down on the soaked grass. “Man, those were the days, before all the suicidal missions and insanely stupid assignments.”

Gaara frowned slightly, the smirk gone from his side. He knew his sister? His brow furrowed a little more, an expression of intense thinking for Gaara. ‘Nara’… “Nara Shikamaru?”

“Yeah?”

“No, nothing. I was merely…nothing.” So this was the famous Nara Shikamaru that had been promoted on his first try in the Chuunin exam. He was now jounin, and a very well-paid one at that. He specialized in tactics and strategy, so every mission he took was usually a stealth-and-surprise attack, instead of body guarding or fighting. Other than his first one as a chuunin, he had never failed any of his assigned missions.

Gaara’s concentration was broken as Shikamaru spoke. “So…what happened to you and your sister?”

Gaara was surprised, but careful not to show it. “Excuse me?”

“You said you WERE travelling with your brother and sister. Were, as in past tense. As in you aren’t anymore. Why?”

Damn, he was perspective. “Various reasons. Why are you travelling alone with Sakura?”

“Avoiding the issue, I see. By the way, did you realize your statement just contradicted itself? If I’m travelling with Sakura, I’m not alone.” Shikamaru’s voice held a hint of humor.

“And you are, also, avoiding the issue. Very well. I suppose we should leave it at that.” They both fell silent, and Gaara realized with shock he just had a normal conversation with someone other than his siblings. Guess purple elephants existed after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Temari-sama, the council espects your answer to our request within a week. Menawhile, please stay within the walls of Sand." The council head bowed and left. Temari sighed.

"Dammit, Kankurou, we only have a week left to find Gaara and haul his ass back here. If we don't, they're goingto force me to become the next Kazekage, which I sure as hell don't want. But we're not supposed to leave the walls of Sand either," Temari fell silent for a while, thinking hard. Finally, "Kankurou, how good are you with your puppets?"




~*~*~ Well, everyone, thanks for reading. This was supposed to be chapter 4 & 5, but I decided what the hell. Don’t expect chapter 5 to be out as fast, though, cause I already had part of this chapter written when I posted chapter 3 up ~^-^~ I know I made Sakura into a bitch in this chapter, but she’ll be fine once she’s had her beauty sleep…=P
If you took the time out to read, might as well take another 2 minutes to review…and you would make my day as well….so please PLEASE review ~^-^~ thanks! ~*~*~

~~ dark_Angel ~~

**PS: How the hell do you do italics on AFF.net? It's pissing me off...gr....>.<"