New Perspective || A Sakura Story

Sad Panda Makes a New Friend

Sakura
Days turned to weeks and weeks to months, and yet the Chuunin exams still hadn't come into play. I really wanted to meet Gaara! And I kinnnnnda wanted to meet Orochimaru as well.

Don't get me wrong! He's a creep, a pedophile, a murderer, and so much more but he was one of my favorite characters in the series! How could I not want to meet him?

That doesn't mean I won't kill him, though. I'd love to kill him. But, it must wait. Wait for the right moment in time.

Basically, I'm a wimpy bitch right now and I gotta be hella strong to fight him. But that doesn't matter. Not when there was a mission at hand. At least, I thought there was.

See, these past few weeks have been odd. There has been barely any missions for us, which left me lots of time to train. And I've improved! I learned more medical ninjutsu, and one earth style as well! It's not as big as it should be, but it's big enough for two people and that's all I need right now. I'm also faster, to a degree, since I've been wearing chakra weights consistently ever since I got out of the hospital two months ago. I increase it every day as well, so I have no clue how fast I am by now.

Granted, they're not as heavy as Lee's but they're heavy enough! "You've gotten off topic again." Inner snapped me back to reality, kind of.

I blinked and looked around. I was here, and they were all staring at me. I grinned sheepishly. "Sorry!"

Kakashi rolled his eye. "Anyway, as I was saying," que pointed glare in my direction. "The Chuunin Exams will start in four days. Here are the signup forms, if you wish to participate be at The Academy in four days and go to the room that is listed on your forms." And with that, he was gone. Poof.

As we left, I remembered something odd. Hey, Inner, weren't we supposed to meet G-man already?

She snorted. "G-Man? Well, yeah, I suppose you were. Maybe you just took the wrong path?"

I sighed. I'll meet him soon hopefully.

• • •

Soon was an understatement. Only a few minutes after I parted from Naruto and Sasuke did they show up. And by they, I mean just the boys. For some reason, Temari was not in the picture. And although Gaara was hidden, I knew he was still there, watching. Observing his enemy.

So, I did what any sane person would do and walked up to the lone puppeteer and smiled warmly. "You're not from around here, are you? Sand, I presume?" I try to make my voice sound as kind as possible.

"Correct, kid. Got any idea where this hotel could be? My sister went on ahead to it and left us lost." He chuckled sheepishly.

"This hotel is on my way home, so just follow me, okay?" I grin and start walking, ignoring the extra set of eyes watching my every move.

"Are you guys here for the Chuunin Exams?" I turn my head to look at Kankuro.

"Yeah, me and my two siblings are competing together." His answer was short, he didn't want to reveal too much to me.

I grinned. "Well, I guess I'll see you at the exams, then! Your hotel is right around this corner, so I'll give you my address if you need any help." I pull out a small piece of paper with my address on it that I had been saving for this exact moment and hand it to Kankuro.

He looks at me like I'm an idiot. "Are you really giving a stranger your address right now?"

"Well, I've got nothing for them to steal so I don't really see why it matters." Did I forget to mention that I moved out a month after my release from the hospital?

"Fair enough." He grinned back to me.

We stopped at their hotel and I waved. "See you guys! If you need me just come to that address!" I turned to leave when a certain raspy voice called out to me.

"Your name." Demanding.

It sent shivers down my spine. "Sakura. And yours?"

"Gaara of the Red Sand." His voice was cold and sharp, like marble.

I turned and left.

•••

Later that night, I felt a familiar chill go down my spine. "You can come out, Gaara dear." I tried not to sound sinister. I really did!

Suddenly, sand was everywhere. A huge, swirling angry mass of sand to be precise. It blew all of my photos and curtains and books to the floor, making an absolute mess. I will give him points for a magnificent entrance, though. "How did you know?" he asked, anger in his tone.

"A magician never reveals his tricks, my dear. Now, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked as I began cleaning up the mess he made.

"Why are you nice to us. To me? You don't know me, about the things I've done. So why, do you treat me as a..." He trailed off, gripping his head.

"I treat you as such because I don't care about your past. What you have done and what you will do are two entirely different things, and I know you'll do good in the future regardless of your past deeds and reputation." I turn to him. "Gaara, you don't really have a choice in this. As soon as you met me, I became your friend and I will stay your friend through good or bad. "

He was crying. When our eyes met, I noticed the tears. Instinctively, I ran over to him. "Gaara, honey are you alright?" looking back, I was careless. Asking to be attacked.

He roared in anger and threw me against the wall, his sand holding me by the throat.  I stayed calm, staring into his eyes. "You are LYiNg!" His voice was becoming deeper.

I had to think quick. I slowly, very slowly, placed my hand on his head and prayed to God it would work. I began using healing chakra, hoping it would soothe his mind for the moment.

A moment passed.

Two moments, his sand was becoming weaker by the second.

Three moments, and he dropped me.

He was looking at me in awe and shock. "Kami, it really worked?"  Inner spoke.

She seemed as shocked as I was. "Wha..what did you do?" He was no longer clutching his head, but instead staring at my hands like they were an angel sent from heaven.

"I..don't really know, to be honest. I panicked." I shrugged and made my way over to him.

I brought him into my arms and held him, and he did what I never expected. He cried on me, and as we sunk to the floor I wondered if I had caused a breakthrough for him way before I was supposed to.