Deception

Chapter Seven

-Scheme-

Sakura turned off the water in her shower and grabbed her towel, drying herself off before wrapping it around her. She had decided to just go about her day as if nothing had happened, and was actually feeling better. She was glad to be home, around familiar objects and surroundings. Not that staying with the Hyuugas wasn't enjoyable, but she felt that she didn't fully appreciate anything due to the circumstances of her stay.

Walking into her room, she grabbed a small pair of red shorts and a white tank top to wear to bed, going back into her bathroom to change. Normally she would just do it in her room, but she didn't know exactly where Gaara was keeping an eye on, and didn't want to give him a show.

Once she was dressed she brushed out her hair and towel dried it before going into her room and putting lotion on her newly shaved legs and arms. She was so happy to be going to bed, her day just wore her out completely. After cleaning her entire apartment, and doing some laundry, she had changed the sheets on her bed and remade it.

Pulling back her covers, she took a cursory glance around her room before crawling into bed. As a precaution, she put a kunai under her pillow before snuggling into her sheets and closing her eyes. She thought of Gaara as she began to drift off, and felt a small smile come to her face. She was really happy that it wasn't him, because in all honesty she had never truly believed it. And, surprisingly enough, she didn't feel an ounce of fear anymore. Now she was just pissed, and she couldn't wait until that pervert got his just desserts. Sighing once more, she rolled onto her side and fell asleep.

A few black specs crept under the shut window and moved around until the lock snapped. The window opened and a familiar figure jumped in. He looked around the room and saw the bed and the form snuggled beneath the sheets. He crept over, reaching towards the sheets, "I told you I would be back." The deep voice whispered, ripping back the silk.

The doppelganger went wide eyed, meeting a mirror of impassive jade. "Well, well, well." Gaara smirked, sitting up from his rested position in Sakura's bad. The clone went wide eyed and backed up quickly, heading towards the window that slammed shut.

"You're supposed to be locked up!" the fake Gaara pointed with a harsh glare that didn't even faze the Kazekage.

"If you really think that anything or anyone could possibly incarcerate me, you are a lot stupider than I thought." Gaara smirked, moving forward. His hand wrapping tightly around the clone's neck and slammed him against the wall. Sand crept slowly around his dangling limbs and solidified. "Now Sakura, you can come out now and face your rapist." The redhead glanced back to the closet. The door slid to the side, revealing the pink haired woman.

She came forward until she was next to Gaara, looking at the fake before her. She crossed her arms and looked into his eyes. "Drop your henge, or I will do it for you, and it will not be pleasant." She said, her voice hard.

"B-but how?" he gasped out, looking between the two.

"Because you're terrible at pretending to be me." Gaara said darkly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And Gaara actually knows the proper way to make a woman sleep with him." She said with a smirk that quickly vanished. "Now drop it, unless you have a thing for pain." She repeated.

"You would know." The fake smirked, making Gaara grimace. He then grabbed his neck, ripping him from the wall and slamming him onto the ground, the sand quickly following to hold him.

"Don't you dare speak to her like that!"

Sakura looked down at him impassively. "Gaara, you're going to want to move out of the way for this." She warned, cracking her knuckles. He let go of the imposter and stepped back, watching her carefully.

"Don't hold back."

"Didn't even cross my mind." She said without looking at him, gathering chakra to her hands. She performed a series of hand signs for breaking another person's henge, and, letting out a shout, she raised her fist, lowering it quickly and punching the imposter square in the chest, the sound of his bones cracking audible as he made a pained noise. Sakura stood and swept some of her hair out of her face as his disguise began to shimmer and fade, revealing none other than Shino.

He cried out, straining to move to hold his sides since his body was in an enormous amount of pain. "That will only make it worse." Sakura said uncaringly. "I broke your sternum in half and cracked at least six ribs."

"It's always the quiet ones." Gaara sighed, crossing his arms.

She looked at the redhead, and then back down to her attacker. "This may be difficult for you to say, as I'm sure breathing is extremely painful, but I want you to tell me why." She placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. "And the longer it takes you to tell me, I will break a finger, joint by joint."

He gasped out. "I…I liked you…but…you always rejected me." He winced and wheezed, coughing up some blood. "And you said yes…to him. Don't you remember…he…he tried to kill you."

"So." She frowned. "That was a long time ago, before we became friends."

"And as psychotic as I was and am, I would never do what you have done. That is despicable." Gaara snapped, glaring hatefully at the wounded bug master.

"Besides, you never asked me to do normal things. And I absolutely hate bugs." She shivered. "They creep me out."

"I…I just wanted your so…ft skin." He managed out with another hack. "And having…sex with you was so amazing." Gaara walked up and kicked him in the head, kneeling down beside him and grabbing his hair tightly, jerking Shino's head up.

"You didn't have sex with her. You raped her. Like a pathetic and pitiful man. Don't ever confuse the two."

"Why did you rape me Shino? If you liked me, then why would you do something so horrible? And why would you frame Gaara?" Sakura asked.

"You were never going to do it with me willingly…" he glared from behind his shades. "And who wouldn't believe that Gaara could do it."

Sakura glared at him. "Tons of people." She looked at Gaara then. "Do you want me to call in Kakashi-sensei? Or would you like to turn him in?" she asked.

Gaara stood up and glanced back at her. "Sasuke and Kakashi are already on their way right now. I told them to come here forty five minutes after I disappeared."

She nodded. "Okay. I should probably patch up his sternum a bit. I don't want it to puncture his esophagus or anything and cause him to die before he goes to trial."

"No," he took her wrist and kept her beside him. "I don't want you to touch him. He can be healed by someone less experienced, just giving him enough not to die."

"Alright." She said softly, looking up at him. "Thank you. Again." She smiled slightly.

He nodded and led her down the hall and into the living room, since his sand was keeping Shino pinned to the ground. "I told you he would not harm you again."

"I believed you." She said as they stopped at the doorway. "So, what now?"

"Want to watch a movie and make some popcorn?" he suggested with a small shrug.

She smiled at him. "Okay, you pick something out while I go start the popcorn." She said, heading off into the kitchen. He sat down on the couch and looked around the room.

"No you can go ahead and pick. I don't really mind what we watch."

Sakura made the popcorn and went into the living room, handing him the bowl as she moved and put in a movie. About halfway through the beginning, Sasuke and Kakashi showed up, finding the young couple on the couch, Sakura curled against Gaara with his arm around her shoulder. They bound and hauled away Shino, assuring them that they would inform Tsunade.

By the time the movie ended, Sakura was fast asleep with her head in Gaara's lap. One of his hands was resting on her head as if he had been running his fingers through her hair and the other along the back of the couch. Even he was asleep, with his head back, breathing easy.