Alright, here you go! First chapter. Oh, and Sakura is sixteen.

Sakura ran a hand through her hair, frowning at the sweat she felt. Training today had been hard, Naruto was a little too much for her to handle. They had just finished, and now she didn't know what to do with herself. Naruto said that he had promised Kiba to do something with him, so Sakura waved him off, wondering what she should do for the rest of the day. It was just getting dark out, so there weren't many options.

Dully she thought about visiting Kakashi or Ino, but neither really seemed appealing. Kakashi would have probably already escaped the hospital, and who knew what kind of mood Ino would be in. So she wandered around the village, not quite sure where she was going. Soon she found herself in the market and shrugged, why not buy something for her apartment? She wandered down to the shop stalls, looking over the merchandise. She turned her head up to the sky, wondering how low the sun was.

But then she bumped into something and was knocked over.

She fell heavily and groaned, looking up. And froze.

She had wandered into a deserted street, well, almost deserted. Gaara was glaring down at her, and Sakura struggled to hide her terror. "Hn." Gaara scowled and turned away, moving to walk off.

But a ninja had other plans. Out of nowhere, a man clothed in black leaped from a roof and landed in front of Gaara, making him step back and bump into Sakura. She saw him and took a fighting stance. The ninja threw himself at Gaara. Gaara ducked and threw his hand up, sand wrapped around the attacker.

But that was only a distraction. Sakura sensed something behind her and spun, seeing another black clothed ninja quickly make a hand sign like looked like a complicated jutsu. She stepped back and knocked into Gaara, who didn't budge. A green, rope-like substance appeared and threw itself at her. She yelped and raised her hands, but when the substance collided with her, she didn't feel any pain.

Instead, she felt a slight pressure stream over her entire body, and by Gaara's sudden growl, she knew he was feeling the same thing. Sakura whipped out her weapons and a throwing star was launched at the woman, burying itself into her shoulder. Gaara surrounded her with sand, his face murderous. As he did, the other ninja was released and ran for it.

Out of nowhere Kakashi appeared, knocking the female attacker to the ground. He held a kunai above her throat and glared at her. Gaara let his sand recede and let out a deep breath. Sakura was busy examining herself for any trace of the strange jutsu, but saw nothing.

"Who sent you?" Kakashi demanded, straddling the woman ninja. She only smiled at him and lashed out with her elbow, making Kakashi roll off her. Before any of them could react, she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Sensei!" Sakura hurried to his side, but stopped short, falling backwards. "What the?!" Sakura managed to regain her balance and straitened.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't know…" she raised her hands and pushed them in front of her. They met an invisible barrier just a small space away from her body. She growled and punched at it, but just as she struck out, her hand erupted in pain at the same spot where her hands were stopped. Wincing, she withdrew her hand and rubbed it.

Gaara walked over to her side and raised his hand, which was allowed to go its complete length. He threw an odd look at Sakura and stepped forward, nothing fought him. Sakura warily reached out, and, touching nothing, jumped forward. Nothing happened. Her face grew red as both Gaara and Kakashi stared at her. She glanced down at her fist and saw that it was red, and the pain was still there.

"Sakura, is something wrong?" Kakashi asked.

She ignored him and walked forward. One step…two…as she continued, Sakura began to feel very foolish, but suddenly she hit the invisible force again, just ten feet away from Gaara. She took a few steps back, then lunged forward—and hit a wall, hard. She was thrown backwards and landed on her back. Kakashi stood and moved to her side.

Gaara had watched her quietly, and now turned around, shaking his head. But just a few steps and he stopped. There was a low hiss, and he turned back to Sakura. "What the hell are you doing? I can't move."

"Oh no."

Both of them turned to look a Kakashi. He sighed and shook his head. "I've heard of this jutsu…Sakura, what color was that thing that covered you?"

"Green, why?"

He groaned, glancing between Sakura and Gaara. "You aren't going to like this…that was a rare kind of jutsu…and, well, it's hard to break."

"What is?" Sakura asked her voice sharp.

Kakashi sighed and decided to just let it out in the open. "That jutsu binds two people together for a certain amount of distance; the stronger the ninja who performs it, the less room there is between the two people."

"What do you mean, binds?" Gaara demanded.

"I mean, that you two can only go a few steps away from each other. If you try to go farther, you'll be stopped."

"And how long does it last?" Sakura whispered.

Kakashi coughed, "Until the person who performed it releases, or until they die."

"What?!" Sakura yelled.

"That's not possible," Gaara hissed.

I can't be stuck with this killer for that long! I'll be dead before dinner! Sakura fought the urge of panic.

Gaara scowled and lunged forward, but was—unsurprisingly—thrown backward. He quickly recovered and landed on his feet. His face grew bland as he walked toward Sakura.

"Killing her won't break the jutsu," Kakashi warned.

He hesitated, and Sakura gulped. Never mind dinner, she wasn't going to live the next hour! Then Gaara continued, right up to Sakura, and bent down, throwing her over his shoulder. She yelped and protested, but Gaara calmly resumed walking. Kakashi kept pace with him and removed Sakura, holding her bridal style as he asked, "Just where did you plan on going with her?"

"Back to my village."

"I'm not going with you!" Sakura yelled, and Kakashi set her down. Gaara glared at her.

Kakashi said, "Gaara, why don't you stay here, at least until we find out who that ninja was. Once we do, I'll send out a team and bring her back, or, if she resists, kill her."

"And what are we supposed to do until then?" Sakura demanded.

"Learn to cope," Kakashi said, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sakura stared at where he had just stood. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening! No, no, no, no, no!

"Come on," Gaara said, walking down the street. Sakura knew better than to argue with him and reluctantly followed him.

"Where are you going?"

"Food."

Sakura nodded and followed him. They were silent as they walked, and she noticed that many of the people on the street were staring, first at Gaara, then at her. Why was she with this killer?

Gaara led her to the ramen shop and sat down, quickly ordering a bowl. Sakura ordered another, deep in thought. If they were going to be stuck like this for a while, she would have to be careful. Already she was treading dangerous ground. And then she thought of the things that seemed impossible now, with him having to be so close. The thought of needing to bathe and change clothes made her shiver, and then blush when she realized Gaara had the same needs as her. Glancing at him, she quickly looked away. He was staring at her.

"W-what?"

"Where do you live?"

She frowned, now realizing how close they would be, at all times. "In an apartment…it's kind of small…"

"Of course," he grumbled. "Look, if we're going to be stuck with this," he said with authority, "there are going to be a few rules. No touching me."

Done, I don't want to touch you anyways.

"Don't talk to me."

You're not exactly chatty anyways.

"And what I say goes."

Right…that's going to be a problem.

But Sakura remained silent and merely ate her ramen. She felt Gaara's eyes on her and ignored him. Soon she was finished, and Gaara pushed away his barely eaten bowl. He put money down on the counter and followed Sakura out. She hurried to her apartment, not wanting to answer any questions about why she was leading Gaara to her home.

But of course, it didn't work. Just as she was reached the stairs, Naruto's voice rang out loudly. "Sakura! Hey! Why don't--."

He stopped suddenly, and as she turned around, Sakura winced, knowing what had made him cut off. Gaara was standing behind her, his arms crossed.

Naruto's face was confused, and he asked warily, "Sakura…?"

She decided to act like nothing was wrong. "What is it?"

"Err…who is that behind you?"

Like he didn't know. "It's Gaara."

Naruto looked at her like she was crazy. "Oh, yeah. Why?"

"Why not?" Gaara asked. Naruto blinked at his sudden words, and gawked as he slipped his arm around Sakura. She was just as surprised as him, and was too shocked as he began to lead her up the stairs to protest. Naruto's alarmed and terrified face disappeared from view.

After a few steps, Gaara removed his arm.

"What was that?" Sakura demanded.

"What was what?" he asked, looking bored.

"Why did you put your arm around me?" she asked; her face flushing.

"You weren't moving," he answered, and continued up the stairs. "And you obviously didn't like it when I carried you before."

She sighed and followed him, opening the door when they reached her apartment.

I know, a little boring, it will start to pick up, I promise. Comment please, I accept flames.