Obligation

Chapter Thirteen

-Retribution-

Gaara sat in his office and stared at a map he had posted on his wall. He had been trying to find Sakura for a little over twenty four hours. That was a life time in this line of work and the odds weren't looking so good. Especially, because he hadn't received a ransom demand yet. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk and lacing his fingers together. His knuckles slowly turning white from the strain he was putting on them.

He had all his best men out there, searching the city for her. But there wasn't even a trace. He cursed under his breath and rested his forehead in his hands. Could he have been any stupider? He knew the moment he realized he loved her he should have pushed her away. It was the only way he could have protected her. But he wanted her…no, he needed her. She was so smart and so beautiful, and so…bright. That smile, that gorgeous smile that seemed to lighten up any mood he was in. Her happiness. Her, she was his happiness. The first he had ever found.

"I'm so sorry Sakura." He whispered, sounding pained. He glanced up when the door opened and glared at his secretary who looked grim. "Have you found her?" he asked.

"Um…well no sir, but-"

"I said not to come in here unless she was found!" he yelled, standing up from his seat and slamming his hands on his desk.

She shrank back, looking terrified and he could only imagine how psychotic he looked. "I know Mr. Sabaku…but there's a call on line tw-"

His fury shot through the roof. "I don't give a damn about line two! Tell them to fucking go to hell and don't bother me again!"

She held her ground and shook her head. "No sir, just answer the phone. You'll want to talk to him."

His glare intensified, but he reached for his phone and hit the button to take the line. "What." He seethed.

'Hello Gaara. Losing our cool now that the pretty little flower is uprooted?'

The redhead went wide eyed and pressed the phone closer to his ear. "Where. Is. She." He demanded, doing his best not sound panicked. If they knew he was scared, it would be all over.

'She's safe right here with me. No need to worry. Here, why don't you talk to her.'

'Gaara?' Sakura's voice could be heard through the phone a second later.

Relief washed over him and he almost relaxed. He held the phone closer and a determined look came across his face. "Are you ok sweetheart? Just relax. I am going to find you and I will save you. I promise."

'I know. I'm fine.' She said, and it almost sounded like she was smiling. 'Hurry though, cause' I don't want to miss my next shift at the hospital.'

He laughed dryly, shaking his head. Her attempt did nothing to ease his worry. She didn't understand how severe the situation was. He heard the phone shift and grimaced when he heard that deep voice once more. 'Now Gaara. I will kill her. She's pretty but I don't like crossing swords with my enemies. Though I might give her pretty little trap a mouthful of my dick.'

"If you touch her I will rip your beating heart out of your body and shove it right back down your throat!" Gaara shouted, his vision blurring from rage. Just the thought of this slime bag touching Sakura in anyway made him sick to his stomach.

'Oh I'm sure you will. So I'm going to tell you where to find the address of where we are. In your warehouse, you know, the one your pretty little wife saw you kill my man in. There will be a piece of paper with our location. If you don't come alone, I will kill her and leave you to find her mutilated body.'

Before Gaara could say anything the line went dead. Gaara slowly lowered the phone and stared at it as if it were the most atrocious thing in the universe. He grabbed the phone and ripped it from the cord, throwing it at the wall, yelling at the top of his lungs. He jerked open his drawer and pulled out his gun, shoving a round of ammunition in and cocking it. "I'm going to fucking kill him." He frothed, grabbing his cell phone and headed for the door.

His secretary stared at him, wide eyed and stark white. "Do you want me to call Mr. Inuzuka? Or Mr. Hyuuga?"

"No. I'll keep in touch though." He said before walking out. He rode the elevator down, feeling the space begin to close in around him. He couldn't get out fast enough and once he was in his car he sped off towards his property, not caring about the speed limit. It didn't take too long to reach the warehouse but it was now nearing sunset and he did not want to be in the dark when he came across the leader of the Vipers. Finally, he pulled up to the place and got out, leaving the car on. He ran in and looked around, heading for the spot he had killed the man. There was still a stain on the floor from the mess he had made and on top of the stain was an index card. He picked it up and looked around, wondering how they would know if he came alone or not. He read the address and headed back to his car, entering into his GPS and then taking off.

It took almost twenty minutes to reach the private estate. He drove up to the front and got out, slowing his advance when he saw a large, bulky man in a black suit walk up. "Good of you to come, Mr. Sabaku. Please surrender your firearms now." He said, holding out his hand.

Gaara looked down to the large hand and then back up, a scowl set in on his face. Reluctantly, he placed his gun in the man's hand and waited. The larger of the two cleared his throat and held out his other hand. The redhead rolled his eyes and reached behind him, pulling another from his belt and setting it in his other hand. The Viper took both in one hand and cleared his, gesturing for him to hand over another. Gaara had to repress a profanity and reached into his pants and pulled out his last gun.

"That's all. I swear."

"I know." The man smirked. "You always carry three. It's a known fact in the underworld."

Gaara just glared at him and then followed after him into the house. He was led to the basement and went wide eyed when he saw Sakura tied to a chair, a suave looking man standing behind her with a gun to the back of her head. "So nice of you to join us, Sabaku no Gaara." He smirked.

The man walked over and stood to the side, watching the whole interaction. "Give her back. Now."

Sakura had to hold in a relieved sigh at the sight of her lover. The truth was, she was scared to death, and considered herself lucky that she hadn't been severely beaten or violated thus far. She was no fool, and knew what these men were capable of and what they would do to her should she step out of line. She locked gazes with Gaara, and tried to convey her love for him through her eyes, having already been told that if she spoke up bad things would happen.

The cocking of a gun tore Gaara's gaze from Sakura and he looked up at the man. "My name is Kane. And my family has been second hand to yours for generations. But I'm not happy with second rate crime. It's finally time the Vipers were number one."

Gaara scoffed, trying to appear arrogant, but he was doing his best to figure a way out of this. "Even if you got rid of me, there are three other people you'd have to find and kill. Plus my two main guys I've named successors."

Kane just smirked. "Oh I know. Which is why, I've already killed your brother. I've put a hit out on your sister and we're looking for your older brother now. And Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Neji are no longer under the radar. I'm just counting down."

Gaara had to control his reaction. "You put…a hit out on my sister?"

"Oh yeah. So no matter what, she's going to die. And unless you want to add your pretty little wife to the list, you will come quietly." But Gaara didn't move, or take his glare from Kane. He sighed. "If you don't, I'm going to kill her in front of you. It's either you or her. So pick. I swear, I'll let you watch her leave before I kill you."

Gaara looked down at Sakura, grief actually showing on his tough façade. "…Fine…"

Kane smirked. "James. Take her out of here, we don't need her anymore. She can go." The larger man moved over and took out a pocket knife, cutting the ropes. He grabbed onto her arm and dragged her up, pulling her with him as they headed back for the stairs. Gaara just stared at the floor, unable to look at her.

"I love you Sakura. And I am so sorry." He said, closing his eyes tightly. Kane walked forward and pressed the barrel to Gaara's forehead.

"I've waited for this my whole career…and I've finally won."

"No! Gaara, I love you!" she yelled, struggling as she was dragged around the corner and towards the stairs at the end of the hall. "GAARA!"

When Sakura could no longer see him, she felt something inside her snap. They were going to kill the last person she had left, and the only man she had ever loved. And she would be damned if she'd be left alone in this world once more. She had meant it when she'd said she needed him, because if he no longer existed, then she had no reason to either, and suicide just sounded so petty.

Quickly, she rounded on the larger man named James and jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist. He stumbled backwards a bit and looked at her in surprise, probably thinking that she was coming onto him, since he had been eying her body since her capture. She cupped his face, but before he could say anything she twisted his neck with enough force to snap it. He began to fall backwards, hitting the wall and sliding down it, allowing Sakura to land on her feet because of her position on him. Sakura bent over and took his gun from his holster, making sure that it was loaded.

She stepped over the large mass on the floor and made her way back down the hallway as quietly as she could, making sure that the safety of the gun wasn't on. She hadn't heard a gunshot yet, but she knew that she didn't have much time before her love was killed, and so she made her way down the long hall hurriedly.

"Just do it already." Gaara said, opening his eyes and staring lifelessly at Kane.

Kane sighed, but he still looked pleased. "See Gaara this is why you don't fall in love. Women have always been the downfall of men. It seems the great leader of the underworld is finally going to bit the dust." He moved around him, pressing the gun to the back of his head. "Goodbye Gaara." He said, pulling the trigger.

Slowly, Gaara looked around when he realized he wasn't dead yet, and at first he thought that Kane was just trying to screw with him. That is, until he heard someone else speak. Someone he thought he'd never hear again. "Nobody threatens my fiancé and gets away with it." He turned and saw Sakura standing on the other side of the room, holding a gun, and looking more pissed off then he ever thought a woman could be.

She walked up to Gaara, but her gaze was on the body of Kane, which was on the floor and sporting a bullet hole right in the center of his head, a clean shot. "Fucker." She glared, stepping out of the way of the blood pooling around the body. Then she looked up at Gaara and her gaze instantly softened. "Are you okay baby?" she asked, although there was still a spark of something crazy in her voice and eyes.

Gaara just stared at her, slightly wide eyed. He looked down again and then back up. It was hard to process what was happening, since he hadn't seen it for himself. "Did you…?"

"Yes." She said, her eyes hardening.

He pulled her to him slowly, wrapping his arms tightly around her and resting his head on her shoulder. "This is all my fault…"

She wrapped her arms around his waist, the gun still in her hand. "Not it isn't, I should have been more careful when I heard that weird noise at the house." She said, nuzzling his neck, just glad that he was alive and still with her. Now that she was in his arms, she felt okay again, the violent part of her that she didn't know having fully receded into her mind once more.

He pulled her closer and shook his head, not really knowing what to say. He released her then and looked down at the lifeless body. "I have to call that hit off my sister." He told her, fishing through Kane's pocket for his phone. When he found it he scrolled through the texts and found the group. "Ok, hold on a second." He stood and hit the call button, waiting as the ringer sounded.

"Zen." He paused and then smirked. "No. This is Gaara." Sakura just watched him, his expression showing that he was getting the reaction he wanted. "Kane is dead. Yeah. Mhm. Please spread the word." He hung up the phone and then dropped it to the ground, stomping on it until it was completely shattered. He glanced back at Sakura and held his hand out to her. "Alright. Everything's going to be ok now."

She took his hand, the gun falling from her limp grasp and clattering to the floor. The reality of what she had done hit her finally, and she buried her head in his chest. "I don't ever want to kill someone ever again." She muttered, gripping his shirt tightly with her free hand.

He buried his face in her hair and tried to comfort her with his embrace. "You won't ever have to. I promise. I am so sorry. I will never put you through something like this ever again…and you have assured that. No one will ever mess with us again…"

"Good." She pulled away slightly and cupped his face with her hands. "I thought I was going to lose you." She whispered, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She stroked his cheeks with her thumbs. "That's why I did it. I wasn't going to let them take you away from me."

He placed his hands over hers, "I know. And because of that. We can now go home. Together."

She smiled at him. "That sounds really good. I think I'm going to take the day off work and spend it with you, making up for lost time." She kissed him lightly. He returned the kiss in turn, finally relaxing now that he had her back safe and sound. They broke and he took her hand, leading her away from the gruesome scene.

"When did you learn how to shoot?" he asked, glancing back at her as they passed the man from before. Gaara found his guns and replaced them on his person, not wanting any evidence of his presence here.

"Well, ever since you gave me that gun, I would go by the shooting range after work sometimes and practice, since I wanted to be good at it just in case." She explained. "I'm glad I did too, otherwise this would have gone a lot worse."

They stopped at the doorway and he held her face with one hand, "Thank you…you literally saved my life."

She covered his hand with hers, holding it in place against her cheek. "Not any more than you did mine." She turned her head and kissed his palm then, rubbing her cheek against it. "I love you Gaara, more than life itself."

"I love you too Sakura. And I will until the day I die." He kissed her then, "Now let's go home." He smirked.

She smiled at him, lacing her fingers with his as they both left that horrible place together. And as they drove off into the night towards their home, it was with the knowledge that they were now free to live the rest of their lives together, their future looking to be venom free.

The End!

A/n: Thanks for reading! And don't forget to review. Keep your eyes out for the sequel to Obligation.

Accountability