Alone Together...

Forget About Everything

When they learned that people had died that night, they worried about Sakura. Gaara, who was the youngest and most emotionally traumatized of the sand siblings, took the news badly. He blamed himself and worried whether he had killed the only person who had taken the time to befriend him.

Gaara locked himself away, isolating himself from everyone besides his siblings. Temari and Kankuro treasured what little bond they had managed to acquire during Sakura's presence with their baby brother. They could never get close to him because both parties were too scared to. When Sakura had finally given them the chance they always silently wanted, they protected their bond even after the night of the disaster. Perhaps the bond wasn't as strong as it were with Sakura, but at least they knew that Gaara knew that they would be there for him.

It had come as a shock not only to Gaara, but to Temari and Kankuro about their uncle's betrayal. As the oldest, they protected Gaara and so the night when their uncle asked Gaara to have a talk with him, they found it awfully suspicious.

They had stayed back and heard everything he had told Gaara. Temari knew for a fact that their mother loved Gaara. She was positive because she had always had a close relationship with their mother, being the oldest and a girl.

On the night when Gaara was born, Temari had snuck out back and looked through the crack of the wooden walls. She was surprised no one had found her and was even more so when they placed Shukaku inside Gaara. She left after seeing her mother die with Gaara in her arms; but even with death near by, she still smiled lovingly down at Gaara.

It was a secret Temari had kept with her for a very long time, until she told Gaara and Kankuro to re-fortify their fragile bond.

And now, here in front of her stood the girl that helped initiate that bond.

Sakura looked at them for a few seconds, and took in their shocked expressions.

"Ah, hey...It's been a long time. And well, I'm herebecause this is my home village." She said with a smile. She took a glance at Naruto and the kids. They looked over to the sand siblings in wonder.

"You...this is your village?!" Kankuro asked with shock. Sakura rubbed her arm and nodded. She faintly wondered if it would have been better to tell them when they were younger.

"Yeah...Uhm...You guys look great!" She said trying to change the subject. She made eye contact with each one and smiled. When she looked at Gaara, her eyes immediately flew up to his forehead. The Kanji for love was there and his face portrayed no emotions. The only reason she was able to tell he had been surprised was by the slight widening of his eyes

Sakura looked back down to Gaara's eyes and smiled. She opened her mouth to speak but promptly closed it when hurt could be seen in his jade eyes. When he turned away she raised an eyebrow in wonder and quietly waited to hear anything he would say.

"Temari, Kankuro. Let's go." Gaara spoke, void of any emotion and Sakura's eyes widened. Temari and Kankuro looked in between Sakura and Gaara, unknowing what to do. The aura around Gaara was so oppressive that it felt like dense chakra.

Sakura looked at their confused expressions and smiled and nodded to them reassuringly. Tentatively they sent her a quick nervous smile before turning and following their brother.

"Sakura-chan, did you know them? They were pretty rude-!" Naruto's exclamation was cut short when he looked over at her. She was looking at the spot the sand ninja had occupied with a sad smile on her face.