Red on Pink Chapter 10

Red on Pink – A GaaSaku Fanfic (Chapter 10)

Continued from last time:

"Naruto, you will pay for taking Sakura away from me." Sasuke growled to himself as he plotted his revenge. Sasuke paced back and forth in his living room, trying to decide what he would do. He imagined it would be difficult, thinking of a way to exact revenge on his best friend. They were, however, rivals. But Sasuke had changed, and couldn't bring himself to hurting his friend in any way, especially since he was trying to gain their trust at the moment.

"But maybe... Yes! I could get revenge on Gaara! Though, how would I manage that? Gaara is so much more powerful than I, and that would spark a fire in the leaf village, and the sand. I'd be killed if I tried anything." He mumbled to himself quietly as he paced his living room. He figured he'd just wait until the security loosened up a bit and allowed him the opportunity.

Meanwhile, Sakura reached her house quickly after she stormed away, despite unnecessarily stomping her feet and wasting time. She lied down on the couch and thought about what had happened with Sasuke, and wondered if she really did still like him, or if she said it all out of pity. "It's just so strange." she murmured as she retrieved the memories shoved in the back of her mind from the days of Team 7. Their old team picture was also found after a little bit of searching in the attic. She had shut it away up there in order to keep her from thinking about it many years ago. After what seemed like hours of reminiscing, Sakura suddenly realized Gaara wasn't in the house. She tried desperately to find him, for this was one of the times she needed him most. He didn't answer his phone no matter how many times she tried calling – neither did his siblings – and she looked for him everywhere in the village, but he was nowhere to be found.

She felt the tears burning her cheeks as they streaked her face, she tasted the saltiness on her lips, and she felt the sting in her eyes. Sakura believed the one person that meant everything to her was gone, until a faint knock was heard at her door. She rushed to open it, hoping and praying that it was Gaara, but came to quick disappointment. It was only Naruto.

"Sakura-Chan! Wh-What's wrong?" He asked her caringly. She was unable to form words at the moment, so she just shook her head. Naruto wrapped her in his arms and held her until she could restrict the flow of tears for at least a moment, which took more time than he expected. "You wanna tell me what happened?"

"G-G-Gaara's gone... j-just disappeared... I... e-everywhere... c-couldn't find him." She sighed. Her speech was broken at the moment; she just didn't want to face the facts.

"Gaara? Gone? Since when?" Naruto's bright blue eyes widened with worry.

She sniffed, "I don't know. I didn't even r-realize until hours after I c-came home."

Naruto sighed as well. He didn't know what happened to Gaara either, but he was worried enough to get involved. Sakura continued to sob into Naruto's jacket for many minutes more, but he didn't mind; he never would have. They walked to the Hokage's office. Tsunade invited them in immediately, even without an appointment. Sakura was her former student, after all.

"What seems to be the problem today?" She asked them, "And why is Sakura crying?"

"Well, you see, Granny, Gaara is gone. Sakura says she looked for him everywhere and he wouldn't answer his phone. I, personally, think it has something to do with Sasuke. But even if it does, miss, please don't have him assassinated. Gaara isn't part of Konoha anyways." Naruto explained to her with his arm around Sakura. She didn't even care at that point. She didn't care about anything else but finding Gaara.

"Yes, I realize that, but Gaara has much to do with this village and he is very important. He is the Kazekage; the youngest kage in history at that! And you know who you have your arm around right now?" She gestured to Sakura, "He is the most important person in the world to her. I can and will treat this situation with major importance."

Sakura turned her head and sobbed into Naruto's jacket again as he spoke. "I-I know, miss. But Sasuke just came back! He is my best friend besides Gaara, and I don't want to lose him as quickly as I've gotten him. The only reason I think I'd want him killed is if he really did kill Gaara. I don't want Sakura to suffer through that. She probably already wants him dead now, but I'm not going to speak for her."

Sakura sniffed and raised her head, notifying them that she was prepared to speak. "I don't want him dead, just punished, maybe. If it was really him. W-We don't even know if he is the cause of Gaara's disappearance yet, but I intend to find out." For the first time in hours, Sakura, at last, stopped crying. She had a newfound determination to find Gaara, no matter what it took, instead of pitying herself and sobbing like the little girl she was inside.

Sakura and Naruto went to Sasuke's house to see if he was home. As they expected, he was not. They arranged a search party composed of Neji, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Sakura, Kiba, Akamaru, and Naruto. Both Sasuke and Gaara would be searched for, so they split up into two groups, each person in possession of a headset to communicate with one another. The first group was Hinata, Naruto, Ino, and Shikamaru, and the second was Kiba, Akamaru, Sakura, and Neji. The village's borders were, of course, the first place to be searched. They both started at the gates and searched in opposite directions around the village. It took around an hour, and no one was found. They decided to search along the paths to surrounding villages, especially the sand village path.

After another hour of searching, they had no luck. Sakura never gave up, even when the others endlessly insisted on it. She was the only one to keep going when the rest took a break, though she never strayed too far from her group. Her physical being craved rest constantly, but her will was unbreakable. Naruto also had quite a bit of determination, but not near as much as hers. Night was beginning to fall upon them, and all but Sakura and Naruto went home to rest and possibly continue searching the next day if needed. Eventually, though, it became impossible to search any longer, so both Sakura and Naruto were forced to return home.

The next day, Sakura awoke feeling depressed. It had only been a day since she discovered Gaara was missing, but the painful ache of loneliness was already overcoming her. She still needed to find Gaara, or at least some clue to his whereabouts. A little persistence was required, however, for she was not very determined anymore, but she somehow managed. She walked to Sasuke's house, doubtfully dragging her feet. What she found when she finally arrived, though, was very unexpected.