This is a revised repost on September 08, 2004.

A/N: I need only say this once; I do not own the characters of Naruto. Also, please do not plagiarize my work or post it somewhere. If you ask me, I may give you permission to post this fic on your website if certain conditions are met.

For some reason (which is that I LOVE Gaara) I became infatuated with the Sakura/Gaara (Sakuga) idea of a pairing because well, he could go with other women (or men (but this isn't a yaoi fic (not that I am opposed to those)) but I find Sakura to be the most plausible. There really isn't a girl that I think goes well with Gaara other than Sakura, but it's a tricky one to stay in the realm of Naruto (without going OOC or OOS). Let's see how this one goes!

I tend to switch p-o-v as I feel like it (I can get into other character's heads better and present what they feel, think, etc. more actively than I can from my 'Godly' perspective) and I forget what tense that I am in sometimes – please bear with it – this is just for fun after all! My enjoyment and yours ;

Please review!

This picks up from episode 77-80 of the anime, so there may be spoilers for you if you haven't seen that far or read that far in the manga (the author would like to point out that eps 77-79 are some of the best Naruto episodes ever, and most anticipated after the author read the corresponding chapters)

Sweet Surrender – Sands of Time

Chapter One - The Beginning Seeds

This has to be my most exciting fight ever. Never before have I, Gaara, been this challenged, or used this much chakra to defeat another ninja before. This Uzumaki Naruto is one interesting character indeed. And it seems that I have underestimated him. I waited to duel Uchiha Sasuke, but he didn't even break all the way through my impregnable fortress defense of sand. But this ninja, that I am facing now, he has forced me to use another one of my forms. He says that strength comes from protecting your comrades... That is nothing compared to the brute force that I possess...

"Naruto… you amuse me to no end… all this effort to save a girl… or is it that she is just a comrade…" I want to push him over the edge and make him lose his sanity. Gaara was mocking his opponent little by little, and his opponent's increased force against him let him know that his strategy was working.

"Sakura, get away from here – it is dangerous for you to stay---"

"Sasuke-kun, I will not run away. It is my duty as your teammate to protect you. You're hurt and that cursed seal-"

"Sakura! I said get away from here!"

"I am not going anywhere!"

Gaara's head started to ache remembering how that girl stood up to him for the Uchiha, the Uchiha that was his prey… his kill… She stared at him, unwavering but shaking, fearful, but showing no fear. She had eyes as green as his… so alike… but so very different…

Standing before me, she reminds me of the past-

"Yashumaru, what is pain?"

"Yashumaru, what is love?"

"Yashumaru, why did you try to kill me?"

"Because it was an order from Kazekage-sama, though if I had wanted to, I could have refused."

"But why?"

"Because I never got over what happened to my sister..."

Love... AHHHHHH! My head! I have to control it! Strength does not come from protecting others! Strength comes from yourself! I killed my mother and Yashumaru blew himself up because of me! That day I marked myself with a promise to only love myself and live only for myself. Love – for others doesn't mean anything when it comes to strength. I wasn't born to love or to be loved. I was born to kill. That is my answer. My strength is for me and me alone. I will prove it and my reason for existing on this day!

"I'll show you what becomes of those who think that they are strong when they protect others. You will never protect another 'comrade' again!"

The unloved ninja showed her what came of protecting 'special, important people'. Gaara slammed her into a tree trunk and sealed her there with his sand, killing her softly… as the sand he controlled tightened around her pinned body, suffocating her and crushing her insides.

As much as he loved killing, he liked to kill women and men differently. Protecting her 'important' comrade, she chose to give her life. She would not live unless he, Gaara of the Desert, the most feared shinobi in at least the Village of Sand, was defeated. He walked out of the second chunnin test in no time, unscathed, clean – without as much as a scratch to even his visage. Gaara only saw the blood of others, never the blood of his own.

As if I, Gaara of the Desert could ever be defeated by someone who only fought to protect!

The sand is my slave and my protector. The sand is my mother who I was fed as nutrition and who I feed in order to keep the peace. My sand prefers the clean, pure blood of a life, and the blood of that pink-haired ninja is for sure clean and pure, just like my mother's... Only my sand can kill so perfectly, squeezing the life out of a person in an instant, sending them in a desert coffin to a desert funeral to the afterlife, IF there is an afterlife… even if there is, it doesn't matter to me anyway for my mind and what is left of my soul will be devoured by Shukaku.

The sand whispered to him the condition of that girl; her heartbeats, her panted breaths, her level of consciousness, and the word that she uttered so passionately… "Sasuke-kun"…

Uchiha... Sasuke! With every second of this battle that Naruto was losing passed, 'that girl' was closer and closer to death and not even Uchiha Sasuke could save her. Ah, how the trio of comrades would soon surrender to their fate... surrender to fate… surrender...

Fate... "Naruto! Accept your fate! This battle is your loss! My sand will crush your girl comrade to death and after I defeat you I will finish off that Uchiha who I thought had more power and potential than you, how very disappointing it was to find out how lacking he is..."

"Shut up! Don't talk to me about fate and tell me that this battle has been lost. I am just getting started!" Naruto was more fired up than he was before. The fate of himself and his two comrades was riding on his shoulders. Did he have what it would take to defeat Gaara? Could he surpass Sasuke who he had been seeking approval from? One thing Naruto did know for sure was that he did not have time to second-guess himself, not now.

Soon – soon – I can affirm my existence… thrice! My eyes are hungry with anticipation and need, my bloodlust is strong... One affirmation of existence will be from the death of this outcast Naruto, another from the death of the Uchiha, and a bonus from the girl that the Uchiha called "Sakura" and Naruto protects, calling her "Sakura-chan."

"What? What the hell are all of these clones?" Gaara was surprised. Well, no matter, one clone or a hundred clones, a clone is a clone! "Take this!" The sand-demon-possessed boy known as Gaara of the Desert started taking out clone by clone with his sand shuriken at a furious speed, showing that he earned the moniker of akuma.

All throughout the attacks that were being traded between Naruto and himself, Gaara's consciousness was acutely aware of the developments in the battle, his condition, and in the girl, Sakura. He could still sense her heartbeat causing the sand to rise and fall if only ever so slightly. Her breathing was becoming more and more terse… drawn out... She no longer was able to vocalize that Uchiha's name… Soon – soon – she would be silent completely just like everyone else who fought and died because all they did it for was to protect. His head began to ache more and more, something was not right in Gaara's domain, something was out of place… Time was running out for Naruto to save his one-sided love…

"Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique- 1000 Years of Pain!"

What? When did he get behind me to do that? I underestimated him. It seems that I will have to concentrate more on this fight to destroy him. "I don't think so! Aaaaaah! How does it feel to be slammed away into a tree?!" His body won't be able to stand that impact... What? As the dirt cleared from the air, Gaara could see Naruto in Sasuke's arms. He protected him in that state? What is going on here?

BOOM! "Argh! How did he know to aim for my ass?! Ah, Naruto! How enjoyable this will be to defeat you! I thought that you weren't worth killing before I saw your win over that Hyuuga boy. You even forced me to use this advanced second form. Ha aha ha aha ha! I must commend you for making me feel pain!"

"Naruto- get Sakura and make a run for it. I will do my best to hold him off here." Sasuke was serious.

"No. This is my turn to protect you. I see that I have to be more serious." Naruto figured that his best chance now was to summon Gamabunta. He just hoped that he had enough chakra to do so. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Poof!

"Aaaaaah! Why are you here?"

"I wanted to come out to play." Naruto sighed.

"Wha? Ah shit! He's already attacking again?" Naruto grabbed up Gamakichi. "We need to dodge!" Naruto began evading Gaara's attacks through the trees.

"Ahhhh... I need to attack. Yosh-! Ninpocho Naruto! Mass Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" In an instant the forest was covered with a mass of Narutos.

"What is with this number of clones? No matter. There is only one real Naruto. Sand Shuriken!"

"Naruto Rendan!"

"What?" Gaara's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the mass of clones heading his way.

"U" The clones kicked Gaara's transformed form from all directions underneath him.

"Argh!" What in the hell is this? A pumped up version of the move he used in the preliminaries!?

"ZU" The clones kicked Gaara again from all sides, increasing the pressure at an increasing rate.

"Damnit!" He is faster and more agile than I am when I am in this form!

"MA" An uncountable number of sandaled feet slammed into him at such a rate that his armor of sand was having trouble keeping up.

"I'll get him for this..." This kind of full frontal assault...

"KI!" The clones slammed Gaara's body towards the forest floor from above, pounding down on him harder than the rain that was to come. Gaara hit the ground with a thud and dust from the kicked up dirt filled the air.

"I'm not done yet! Yonnen Rendan!" Not even the addition of punches to kicks to Naruto's taijutsu was able to put down Gaara for good, or at least a little while. Instead, they caused a worse outcome.

"What is that!?" Sasuke's eyes showed fear.

"Wha? Is this the demon that is inside of him? Can I even compare to that?"

"Naruto! I commend you for making me use my third and final form. It is my gift to you! Now! Face your fate and die by my hands! DESERT COFFIN!" Gaara's sand began to surround Naruto, swirling around him, covering him from head to toe. To make me use this form and the desert coffin, ah, Naruto, you amused me to this end!

However, the desert coffin was not the end for Naruto. From within the sand came Naruto's last hope for survival and victory to save his companions. With the little hand space that he had left, Naruto began performing the hand seals for summoning. "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!" POOF! This time, he had succeeded in summoning Gamabunta.

After a time, Gaara slowly emerged through the sand of Shukaku enjoying his ascent to the outside. "Naruto! I will give you a reward for lasting this long. Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu!" Gaara's head glided forward to face down, eyes closed and Shukaku came out to play.

The battle that began between the titans raged on, neither side wanting to budge. The forest was covered in water and partially plowed down from all the attacks that each side released. In spite of the thunder and lightning that crashed between the forces, the sky remained blue and the air remained calm.

Why was it that when I am actually sleeping for a change, my mind is still not at rest? Why was it that I am feeling something more than anger and irritation; more than the will to exist and prove my existence? Why can't I put my finger on what that is? Why was it that I was reminded of Yashumaru that protected others from me, but not me from others? Why did father keep trying to kill me… Why did Yashumaru try to assassinate me… Why did my mother curse me… Why do Temari and Kankuro fear me when they were supposed to be allies, my sibling? Did Naruto and Sakura fear Uchiha Sasuke???

"There is only one thing that can heal the pain your heart feels, Gaara-sama. That is love from another person."

"What is love?"

I have to love only myself, live only for myself, survive for my sake. That is my mission as long as I live, right mother? Isn't that the destiny that I have been chained to? Aren't I the one who is never supposed to be loved?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"Gaara's mind couldn't handle the questions that he couldn't stop asking himself. Monster… Monster… Monster… I'M A MONSTER! He couldn't keep from splitting his mind open in agony. It had to be the Shukaku incarnation that was doing this to his mind… taking more and more of Gaara's self away from him… Seizing the opportunity to take over more and more of Gaara's mind and body the Shukaku would torment him for the rest of his life in his own desert coffin…

Gaara summoned what little capacity he had left for mental strength and rationalized his situation. I do not need to be protected… I am feared, not fearful, I am self-sufficient… I protect myself… the sand protects me… to an extent Shukaku that dwells within my body and permeates my mind protects me as a host and grants me insanity more and more every day… My strength comes from the need to rely on myself and only myself, never trusting anyone – That was the way of nature and the rule of man – to live and die for oneself… Others were an accessory – I am always alone – always, always alone. This could only lead him to one conclusion - Gaara only needed himself…

The nine-tails combination transformation was proving to turn the tide in the battle. The tanuki was becoming worn down even though he had just been released because of the great amount of chakra it had to use in order to use its attacks. The excited funky speech of Shukaku when it was first released was relegated to finite threats.

The claws and fangs of the transformed Gamabunta were effective in subduing Shukaku… at least for a little while… and a little while was all that Naruto had needed to punch Gaara in the face and wake him up from his fake sleep. That is just what Naruto did. He punched Gaara in the face, dispelling his fake sleep and putting Shukaku out of commission. Golden eyes faded to a dull green and bright, clear green eyes surrounded by sleepless circles shot open.

"And you had just let me out to play, Boy-"

Shut up.

Naruto and Gaara, both almost out of chakra had to finish their epic, grand battle not with jutsus, but with bare fists. Shukaku taunted Gaara from deep within his consciousness and the nine-tails would not lend Naruto any more of his chakra. The two demons needed these hosts and still they would not relegate, probably from being too low on reserves themselves.

When Gamabunta's sword disappeared, the two boys lunged at one another with their fists; colliding, they fell to the hard ground. Gaara lay on the forest floor immobilized and Naruto, after regaining what little bearings remained, made his way like a broken snake across the dirt.

"Stay away from me! Don't come closer!" Gaara warned Naruto to stay where he was. Gaara may not be able to move his body, but the sand was another body entirely.

"I will defeat you..." Naruto looked Gaara dead in the eyes and the sand ninja, for the first time in his life, from a being other than the demon inside of him, was beginning to fear the one inching towards him who harnessed a power that he could not understand. He had said that they were alike, but how alike could they be? He and Naruto are two different people, their raison d'etre, their reasons for fighting were too different...

"Hey… You… - why can you sleep with a monster inside of you?" Gaara called out to the Kyubi cage.

"Because I am not a monster-" Naruto paused to catch his breath.

"Ah… Is that so…" Gaara felt another pang to his heart. No one would ever see me as anything less than a monster.

"...like you." Gaara's face turned away.

Naruto felt a small bit of guilt for saying something that harsh to someone who had the same problems of being alone and rejected; an outcast growing up. He was able to be the way he was because he had people that accepted him, and acknowledged his existence. The sand shinobi could only get that by proving his strength. Gaara was born to fight... Our lives are just too different in spite of how similar they are...

Naruto added, "Maybe the way the demons were sealed inside of us is different. Maybe it's because the demons are different. I don't think about that since the nine-tails doesn't bother me, and gives me chakra when I really need it."

"You're lucky… you can sleep at night." Naruto looked at Gaara, eyes downcast and then turned serious.

"Hey – release Sakura-chan, you need to use chakra to keep her there, don't you? Divert that chakra to killing me. I said that I'd give my life to protect my important comrades. A man's word is as important as the man's life itself. If I don't have the strength left to kill you here then I have failed."

"Your word, is it---" Gaara looked up at the sky; a bird flew out of his range of sight as soon as he had detected it and the clouds were passing slowly. What must it be like to be free like that? Free with nothing of earth binding you to its soil…or sand... I can't even decide to die! Gaara of the Desert laughed bitterly to himself…

Gaara could sense that that girl, Sakura, was approaching the state after unconsciousness. She would die in a few minutes from suffocation at the rate his sand was crushing her. Gaara exhaled, her death would mean nothing now. The joy he got from killing came from killing those who thought they could kill him, and killing those who have great strength. He would have killed that blond cage a while back if he had known then that his strength was… Gaara released the chakra hold he had on the sand that held his opponent's comrade and called the sand towards him and then directed it at Naruto.

"Now I am going to finish you with this last bit of chakra I have left-" Gaara turned his head to face Naruto eye to eye.

"As long as Sakura-chan and Sasuke are okay, then I can deal with losing since I said I would stake my life on their survival, and if I gave up now, what kind of shinobi would I be?" Naruto let out a small laugh. "I really didn't think my life would end this way though." Naruto turned to face the sky. "There sure is nice weather…"

"You won't fight me? Fight me with the last remaining strength that you have and then lose since I am superior to you!" Gaara was getting more and more aggravated by the moment, evident in his pitch.

"I don't have the chakra left to fight. I can't even move my body anymore."

"Mou…e…mou…e…." Gaara closed his eyes…

-----

"Sakura! Sakura! Get a hold of yourself! Oy! Sakura!" Sasuke held Sakura in his arms after he caught her from her freefall due to the sand's dissipation. Sakura started to breathe a little more fully and hr eyes flickered to a half-open state.

"I'm glad you are okay, Sasuke-kun-"

"Oy! Sakura – you idiot – facing that Gaara like that! What were you thinking? You could'v-"

"But I didn't die, you saved me…"

"Sakura, you risked your life to save me, but Naruto risked his life to save yours. Naruto protected us all."

"Naruto? Naruto? He risked his life to save me?"

-------

"Yo! Gaara!" Temari and Kankuro came into the clearing with the two boys drained of all power. "Gaara – can you stand? We have to get out of here."

"Temari – you're still here? I would have thought that you would have evacuated at the sight of my second form…" Temari didn't respond to Gaara, although she had evacuated, she returned when the dust had settled. "Kankuro, you too..."

"Gaara…" Temari looked saddened by the ai-marked shinobi's state. Kankuro was shocked that his brother was even in this condition.

"Mou...e..." Gaara's voice trailed off.

"Gaara?"

"Whatever, I am too tired to think about anything anymore."

Gaara… I've never seen you like this… you're acting almost…hu- She cut her thoughts short.

"We have to go and regroup with the rest of the teams." Kankuro, shaken at his teammate's weakened state, picked up Gaara and with Temari ran through the trees, from branch to branch, faster than they should have been able to considering their injuries and the additional weight that Gaara added. Not that Gaara was heavy, but all that sand in that gourd…

"Temari... Kankuro... I'm sorry..." His comrades, surprised kept moving through the forest.

"Don't worry about it."

--------

Naruto lied on the grass remembering Gaara's last words to him. "I spared the girl's life for now – but I will return to finish what I started – you will not be able to run from me…" Those last words worried him.

"Shit!!!" Naruto kicked his weak foot against what was left of the forest floor. "Why does he have to pick on Sakura? She didn't even make it to the last part of the chunnin exam…"

"Shit! Why couldn't I have just finished him when I had the chance?! Shit! Shit! Shit!" All Naruto could do to keep from screaming and scaring all the creatures from the forest was to continually pound his fist against the ground and curse his own shortfalls and weakness.

---------

"Yo! Naruto! I finally found you." Sasuke approached Naruto a little out of breath.

"Sasuke, I couldn't defeat him. In the end, I couldn't defeat him!" Naruto's hot tears were creating mud at the base of his face. "Shit!" He pounded the ground even further until he remembered about Gaara's promise about Sakura. Eagerly he turned towards Sasuke. "How's Sakura-chan?"

"She's fine. More importantly, you are in worse condition..." Naruto's eyes closed and fell into a deep sleep knowing that he had saved his important comrade and first love. Sasuke took him back to where Sakura and Pacchun were waiting.

---------

Trust, was it? Strength from protecting others? Love... I will probably never know these things, even if it would be nice... Gaara fell into a real sleep.

I have not forgotten that day in Konoha when my greatest battle with the Kyuubi-cage ended in a stalemate. Six years ago, that day was etched into my conscience, and six years ago Sand re-allied with the Leaf. Since five years ago I have been living in Konoha, though my residence in Sand is still empty and desolate, unkempt, waiting for my eventual return. I have not forgotten my, forged roots, nor have I forgotten the village whose forehead protector I wear. There is just more for me in Konoha...

Six years ago I was lectured by my siblings that I needed to mellow out – if I killed any Leaf ninjas, especially, then the then new re-alliance between Sand and Leaf would be destroyed. More wars would ensue. More ninjas would die. More families would be broken. I was told to think of others' circumstances, and disregard my own. It didn't matter to me if there was war or if there wasn't war. Life was all the same. People died no matter how they lived, with strength or with nothing, with honor or with fear.

Then again, I say that, as I am living, and as I have took countless lives from this earth.

My promise not to kill them, hence reneging on my promise from years ago to the sand and to myself, did not want to make me fight them any less, I just needed to postpone my overwhelming desire to kill them… until a more opportune time would arise for me to do so. I had wanted to suffocate the life out of one Sakura Haruno as well... had wanted to... aah...

In spite of all the missions Temari, Kankuro and I have collaborated on with the Leaf shinobi, in spite of all the times I had to work side by side with Naruto and Sasuke during missions, in spite of all the effort it sometimes took to restrain my sand, nothing changed, well… except for one thing…

Sakura. Her presence embedded on me from that day through my sand has never left my memory. Her green eyes that bore into my soul from that day when she defended Uchiha Sasuke… that pink hair that reminded me of pastel blood…. Her determination... her love...

No matter where my mind strays, it always returns to her. I can't leave her alone. I never let her know of my presence around her or my surveillance of her, and no one else is the wiser either. I have always been watching her from that day.

I watched her pain five years ago when Sasuke knocked her out and left the village to go to Orochimaru. She confessed her feelings for him and all he could say was "thank you."

I watched her worry over Sasuke's and Naruto's conditions when they got back from missions. I watched her pass the chuunin exam five years ago and rise through the ranks again to become a jounin. One thing bothered me than anything else about her training to increase her strength…

She wasn't committing herself to be an opponent or match worthy of me...

She was doing it so she could follow that Uchiha. She cried over some nights knowing that she could never be side by side with him in skill; because no matter how hard she worked, he worked harder and had more innate talent and ability. So she decided tearfully, with determination to be happy being a few paces back, as long as it was his back that she was behind. She didn't need to be as skillful as the Uchiha, as long as when he turned around, she was the one that he saw.

She wanted to be his everything.

Does she still? Even now...?

When Uchiha Sasuke returned to Konoha from his personal mission, successful but near death, she promised him that she would never leave his side. Sakura would heal his scars as long as he needed her. She didn't want to be a nuisance to him. She wanted him to love her again, like she had hoped he had before he left to kill Uchiha Itachi. She wanted to believe that somewhere in Sasuke's heart that he was doing it for her, so he could look to the future instead of gazing at the past. She was a fool forgotten completely by Uchiha Sasuke. A woman like her would never fully understand the need for revenge, how it permeates your entire being, so you live only for that and life's only meaning becomes to satisfy that mission.

Why did he have to return then?

When your heart is seeking revenge, it won't seek anything else or warrant the entrance of any other thought. Revenge blinds the eyes by covering up the sun, until you are living in darkness and become accustomed to the life of an avenger.

That was my life... until I was set free long ago.

Watching her one-sided love throughout the years had been amusing, and there were moments that only I knew about since I watched her from the shadows… I had the upper hand.

I used my special eye of sand technique and kept it tailing her years. At least that jutsu does not use as much chakra as some of my other ones. When I was in proximity to her, I would send out grains of sand to swirl around her, sensing her breathing, her heartbeat, her body temperature, the moisture on her skin dampening my sand…

Five years ago when I had obtained residency in Konoha, I only concerned myself with her out of a curiosity as a shinobi who would have died by my sand. Four years ago I concerned myself with her because I did not understand why I felt different when she was around me. Three years ago I decided that I did not have time to play around with games and took up residency at my house in the Sand Village again. Two years ago I realized that I, Gaara, missed being in leaf, the village that was more alive than my own, so I returned. One year ago something awakened in me and I became silently, undetectably attached to that girl, Sakura, whose hair matched her name, as my life matched mine.

I'll never forget that mission...

16 pages

I try not to use Japanese in the stories since it sounds out of place (eeeeeeJeeeeeeeeJ), so even though I am thinking in my head the Japanese that the characters would say, I try my best to translate it for you (e.g. Kuso = Shit). However, I left 'mou e" in Japanese (though "mou i" would have been more proper romanization, in English, the e is pronounced the way the romanized "i" is) since I couldn't think of an acceptable equivalent in this context that I liked. I also left some jutsu's in Japanese where it was (at least to me) apparent what the jutsu was.

I have another fic posted on , an InuYasha one. If you like it let me know and I will continue that one as well.

Lots of reviews make me write more and update more often. :D

Thanks for reading!

AstroVixen