Shades of Grey

Chapter 14

"Are you alright?" Garra asked as he returned to his office.

"I am." Sakura gave a wistful smile. "I didn't expect to see him."

"Temari insisted that you would want to." He hoped that his sister had not been wrong.

"I have wanted to see them all so bad." The kunoichi let out a little sigh.

"Then it shall be arranged." He would give her anything that she desired.

"No." Sakura shook her head. "I don't trust them to let me go."

"Hn." Garra could not help but to agree. He doubted his own ability to do so.

"When would you like to start training?" Sakura was eager to change the subject.

"We may begin now." He reached his hand down to assist her up from her chair.

"Thanks, Gaara." She smiled as she accepted the gesture.

Gaara observed the kunoichi as they walked. The years that they had been apart had treated he well. Her pink locks were held today in a high ponytail and her green eyes were as bright as ever. Even if life had placed a few more shadows within them. She still held a grace about her that he had yet to find in another. Sakura Haruno was and always would be mesmerizing.

"What are we going to start with?" She questioned feeling his eyes upon her.

"You will learn to live in harmony with your beast." He said as though it was the easiest proposition in the world. "Doing so will allow you to tap into many of the animal's natural talents. You will be able to hear, see, and even smell better than the average shinobi."

"Too bad I won't be facing average shinobi." The kunoichi sighed.

"Do not worry." Gaara assured her. "When we are done you will be able to handle your own against any you may face."

That's a big promise Sakura thought as she set and meditated as he had ordered her to do. He let her know that she had to form a bond with her beast, which she felt she had maybe already begun to do.

"It was wise to seek his counsel." The Kyuubi commented to the little woman before him. "Too bad none of the others remain for you to find."

"Gaara and Shukaku worked like a well-oiled machine once he learned to control him." Sakura remarked.

"He never controlled him little one." The fox scoffed at the very thought that one of his brethren could be so easily tamed. "They simply stopped fighting one another."

"I don't feel like you and I fight." The kunoichi tilted her head to the side and gazed up at the massive being. "So, where do we start?"

"I suppose you can begin by calling me Kurama." The demon returned her stare.

"I am Sakura." She supplied even though she knew that he was already well aware.

"Indeed." He the ancient being chuckled. "You are Sakura Haruno, my little one."

The kunoichi graced him with a smile as they fell into an almost companionable silence.

"Again." Gaara demanded of the kunoichi before him. He knew that she was tired, but she refused to give up.

The first week that she had been here had been hard. It had been almost physically painful to watch her submit herself to the deep burns that the demon chakra had caused to her skin. Thankfully, Sakura had always been a quick learner. He watched now as she pulled from the beast's vast reserves and mixed in a minimal amount of her own. The combination of her own blue and its red made a brilliant purple around her small hands. He kept his eyes on her as she used the creature's chakra to enhance her speed racing around the training grounds while deftly dodging the sand projectiles that he launched her way.

Working with her and watching the rate at which she grew almost made him miss Shukaku. He was grateful that she had come to him, for more reasons than one. The days that they had spent together had been heaven to him. Suddenly he managed to hit her with one of his projectiles. She was able to avoid injury, but her arm guard fell to the ground. Gaara's eyes widened when a tiny capsule rolled out of it.

"What is this?" He demanded when as he walked over and picked it up.

"If I am ever captured, I have to ensure that the nine tails does not fall into enemy hands." Sakura gently explained her eyes locked with his.

"You carry around a poison capsule and try to act as though it is no big deal." His sand began to dance wildly around him as his agitation rose.

"Calm down Gaara." She placed her small hand around his larger one. "If you would have known that Shukaku could have been used to destroy your village, can you tell me that you would not have considered the same."

"You are not to leave the Sand." He roared as he violently threw the capsule and crushed it with his sand. "It appears that you not only need protection from Akatsuki, but from your own foolishness as well."

"Gaara," she again tenderly tried to calm him, "You have to understand that I loved Naruto too much to allow him to bear this burden any longer. I love the Leaf too much to allow Kurama to fall into enemy hands. It is my duty to protect my village; you would have done the same."

"I am the Kazekage." Gaara snapped. "It is my duty to lay my life down for my village. But you Sakura, owe the Leaf nothing. You are not bound to them any longer, and you do not owe them this. I understand that you love Naruto. Did you ever just once consider that there are those who love you?"

"Gaara." Tears gathered in her eyes. She had never meant to hurt him again.

"If you want to save lives so badly Sakura, I will put you to work in the hospital where you belong." He hissed.

"Where I belong?" The hurt in her voice was undeniable. "I never thought that you were like them. You always told me what a strong kunoichi I was. You claimed to have complete faith in me, but when it comes down to it you are just like Naruto and Sasuke. You do not trust me to take care of myself. Damn it, I am the student of the Legendary Sannin Tsunade who declared that I have surpassed her. When are you all going to see that I am strong?"

With that the kunoichi could not stop the tears from falling as she turned to walk away from him.

"I do not doubt that you are strong." Gaara let out a deflated whisper. "It is I that is weak when it comes to you."

Sakura let out a shaky breath as she took in his words. She did not allow herself to look back. Even if she would have wanted to comfort him, she knew that now she could not. If she allowed herself to hold him, she might give in and not let go. Itachi had said that she would find a few months' peace, but he had been wrong. True she had not been tracked down by any crazy Akatsuki, but it would seem her own past would never stop haunting her. One thing was for sure, come morning she would no longer be in Sand.