Gaara Sakura: Leaf & Sand's Alliance

Chapter 32: Gaara's Resolve

There are four important chapters for you to read and this is one of them, so find out what's going to happen. ;)

"What about them?" The red-haired Kazekage asked.

"You know exactly what I mean," the dark brunette scoffed while staring at him deadly and continued on. "Has one of your friends ever tell you that he wrote you a letter a few days ago? I had to rip it apart."

"Why would you do such a horrible thing?" Gaara questioned sternly.

"Because everything in that letter says the truth," Katsumi said, clenching her teeth in annoyance.

"Gaara!" A voice called out, making their heads turn to look at who it was.

The purple-faced ninja and the others came down to the ground to where the dark brunette is being held.

"Kankuro! What are you all doing here?" Gaara asked blankly.

"I figured you need help since it will be time consuming for you fighting against her," he said, breathing heavily.

"Hah! It wouldn't take longer if you hadn't come. Plus, I would've finished him off in just about any minute and just stripped the title off of him, so I can be the Kazekage," Katsumi stated menacingly and added in. "Not to forget that I want to destroy all of your bonds that you have with everyone, so you would be left alone!"

"You are nothing but a jealous and insecure person that you are. Send her away. She's been far too brainwashed by them," Gaara ordered sternly while crossing his arms.

Kankuro and his teammates nodded in response and followed his instruction. They lifted her body up from the sand's grasp and quickly knocked her out unconsciously, using a powerful deep sleep technique.

As a result, they put her inside a box and carefully lifted it up together before they left.

Gaara gazed down at the sight of his fiance being taken away, which made him frown.

Kankuro glanced at them, then back at him and asked for reassurance. "Hey... You alright, bro?"

The red-haired Kazekage sighed tiredly with his eyes closed and hopped down on the ground and said monotonously. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, for a second, I thought you were about to lose your shit or something," Kankuro said, nodding firmly.

"I'm fine... I was beginning to realize something," the red-haired Kazekage said, looking up towards the sky peacefully.

"That your fiance is the most obsessed, deceitful, and selfish person?" Kankuro emphasized it slowly as he secretly glanced at him in the corner of his eyes.

The red-haired Kazekage didn't say anything and just continued to look up at the clear skies.

Kankuro sighed and said gently. "Hey, it's okay if you feel that she hasn't been a good partner to you."

"I suppose so..." He said softly as he trailed off of his words.

"Hey!" Another voice called out, causing them to look at the person hovering in the air and jumping down in front of them.

"Temari!" Kankuro exclaimed and asked. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on the battlefield right now?"

"Yes, but I was worried about you two. I couldn't let you guys go off alone and fight. After what happened to Shikamaru and Ino's dads, I thought it would be best if we stayed together," Temari said with a frown.

"Awww, Tem. You do have such a soft spot," Kankuro gushed cheekily with a wide grin.

Temari rolled her eyes at him annoyingly, yet she smiled at his dorkiness. "Yeah, well. We are a family, right?"

"Indeed, we are," Gaara said, smiling.

The three of them eventually embraced each other in a group circle comfortingly, then he suddenly remembered the times where his dearest friend was there for him and still couldn't forget about her.

FLASHBACK:

"What's the matter? Is there something on my face? You're looking at me funny," the pink-haired kunoichi pouted angrily and looked away.

"No. I think you are adorable. I'm impressed by how far you've come. You are strong, you know," the red-haired Kazekage stated while gazing at her intensely.

"Really? I mean, I feel like I haven't done enough in my life. But I found myself to where I've finally accepted who I am and the parts of it that nobody sees before," the pink-haired kunoichi glancing at him softly and chuckled slightly.

"That is why you are one of a kind. You are the most rare type of person that people have ever seen," the red-haired Kazekage said, smiling.

"Yeah. It's too bad that Sasuke hasn't been seeing me train and work so hard for these years. You and everyone else are the ones who kept acknowledging me to the point where I almost gave up," the pink-haired kunoichi explained.

"And you didn't," the red-haired Kazekage said with a nod, then he places his hand on top of hers, making her eyes land on theirs. "Sakura..."

The pink-haired kunoichi looked up at him and asked blankly. "What is it, Gaara?"

The red-haired Kazekage gazed at her beautiful green orbs in her eyes and couldn't help but be mesmerized by them and said faintly. "I...I'm proud of you."

The pink-haired kunoichi blinked her eyes and giggled. "Didn't you already say that to me before?"

The red-haired Kazekage chuckled at himself cluelessly and agreed. "Right... Yeah. But I truly want to ask you if the two of us can have lunch together-"

The pink-haired kunoichi wrapped her arms around him, much to his surprise. "Of course."

His eyes widened astonishingly at her sudden embrace in which he gladly returned mutually, causing him to develop a pink tinge on his cheeks.

"Thank you..." he whispered to her.

END OF FLASHBACK

Abruptly, they heard a spark that was shooting towards the sky, signaling a cherry blossom flower, alarming them as to what is happening.

"What is that?!" Temari asked blankly.

"Could it be...?" Kankuro stammered as they all watched the sign glow brighter pink.

"Kankuro, Temari. I'll be back. I need to go and find Sakura..." the red-haired Kazekage trailed off of his words by the tone of his voice.

"Why...?"

"Because I need to tell her what I should've done a long time ago."

The rest of the shinobi allies had their eyes widened in shock and confusion, but Kankuro had the widest grin, whereas they were astonished.

"What is it?" One of the jounin asked.

"Wait, are you serious? Right now? But we are in the middle of war here-" the second ninja got interrupted when Temari elbowed him to stop ranting.

"Kay," he grunted in a slight pain and smiled awkwardly.

"Look, if it's about the misunderstanding, then-"

"No... It's not that," Gaara shook his head.

"Then what is it? What do you want to tell her?"

"Yeah, bro. Why the sudden rush?" Kankuro asked curiously.

The red-haired Kazekage tilted his head down with his eyes closed for a moment until he reopened them.

They all stood in silence as they waited for him to respond.

Gaara's lips curled into a genuine smile that nobody had ever expected or thought of when he mouthed the words slowly. "I'm in love with her..."