Ino sat in front of her latest flower arrangement. She felt it was her best yet. However, it was missing something. She looked at its base and looked over to her friend Sakura who was off to the side of the arrangement. Sakura’s short pink hair was held up by the red ribbon Ino had given her. Ino ran her small fingers through her blonde hair and picked out a flower from her arrangement.

Ino showed Sakura the pink, four-leaf flower she needed to complete the flower arrangement she had been working on. Ino smiled through her short blonde bangs and told Sakura that she could find the flowers at the base of old trees in the shade. Sakura nodded and went into the forest.

She looked at the ground around the trees carefully. Ino had told her that they would be there. Sakura became disheartened as she found herself deeper and deeper inside the forest. She felt the deep shadows chill her arms. She hugged herself and ran her hands up and down her small, thin arms. Sakura felt herself fall forward. She tasted the dirt in her mouth and felt her skin sting.

She stood up, sniffling, and walked over to lean onto the trunk of the large tree next to her. She curled up into a ball and began to cry. She wanted to help her friend so much that it tore her up to be unable too. She wiped her eyes and looked up. She saw it. A pink flower.

She ran to it. She did not want it to disappear. She was so focused she did not see a small, round-cheeked boy toddle up to it. He had messy red hair and his eyes were ringed with deep circles. His teddy bear was dragging across the ground until he stopped. He squatted down in front of the flower and grinned. It was the prettiest flower he had ever seen in his whole life.

He reached out with his small, round little hand. He grabbed it by the stem and pulled it out. He heard a soft wail and stared up. In front of him was a pretty girl with pink hair. She wore a dark blue dress and a red ribbon. He felt himself want to run away. She only stared at him.

“That’s my flower,” she said. He picked up his teddy’s arm and looked at her questioningly, “This flower?” He stood up and puckered his lips. He was amazed she had talked to him so forcefully when others would have run away. Regardless, he had found the flower first, so it was his. He looked down at her on the ground. “No. It’s my flower. I found it first,” he told her forcefully.

“But Ino--” she said. He stopped her mid-sentence, “I don’t care. It’s my flower.” He started to walk away from her, half-hoping she would follow him. “Please,” she pleaded, “I really need that flower.” He barked, “No!”

“Ino will be mad,” she pleaded, hoping he would understand. He kept walking, dragging his teddy bear behind him, “So what?” Her voice became worried and dejected, “But she’s my friend!” She was hoping to reason with him.

The red-haired boy stopped in his tracks, Sakura barely stopping quickly enough to keep from running into him. “Friend?” he began, “If she’s your friend, then you have nothing to worry about!” He furrowed his naked brow at her, “She’ll understand!”

Sakura began to shake. She did not know what to do. She began to cry. The boy watched her, unsure of what to do. He had never had to comfort anyone before. He held the flower close to his chest and watched her little body shake. She pouted out her lips as tears streamed down her cheeks, “Please?”

He felt his body go numb. He really wanted the flower, but he did not want to see a pretty girl cry. He looked at her and stepped closer to her, “Well… we could trade…” he began. She looked up at him, her sea-foam eyes reminding him of a puppy’s thoughtful pout. She whispered sadly, “But I don’t have anything.”

He sighed, “I’m not going to give it to you for free.” She took on a new look of desperation as she grabbed at the collar of his white desert shawl, “Please!” He began to blush. No one had ever come this close to him before. He smiled at her, “Alright.” Sakura folded her hands and asked him, “Really?” in the cutest voice she could manage. Inwardly she felt herself doing cartwheels.

The redhead smirked. She did not like that look. He said softly, “Sure, you can have the flower and I’ll take…” He looked her over again, “You.” Sakura felt her hair stand on end as she stood agape at his suggestion. He continued, “If you agree to be my friend for all eternity, I’ll let you have the flower.” He said this smugly like a spoiled brat.

Sakura’s shock began to wear off and she felt the heat rise in her face. Her eyes became clear like brilliant gems as she took on a tougher persona, “Oh, I see!” she yelled. “So that’s how it is!” she continued. “‘Let’s all make fun of the Forehead Girl!’ huh?” she accused him. She grabbed his collar in fury, “Well! Forget it! I don’t need you!” she yelled.

The boy’s eyes grew wide in surprise. He looked at the girl who became more than pretty when she was angry. She looked like the statues he read about in books. He began to blush as she brought his face closer to his. She wagged her finger in his face, “Now you listen to me!”

“Just because I’m not like Ino doesn’t mean you can make fun of me! I won’t stand for it!” The boy searched for the right words to describe her. She was more than pretty. “No!” he yelped, “No! That’s not what I meant! I really want to be friends!”

She released him and gaped at him. She eyed him suspiciously, “Do you mean it?” He nodded energetically, “Of course.” He took a deep breath to calm down, “I see no need to lie, and it’s not worth my efforts to fool others.” Sakura looked at his face carefully. He was sincere. She knew what it looked like when people were tricking her, and he certainly wasn’t, “In that case…” she said, “Alright, I’ll be your friend.”

He grinned, showing off his big, white teeth. His blue eyes took on an air of victory as he smirked, “Excellent.” His face softened as he got closer to her. He nestled the flower behind her ear and bent his head down to kiss her cheek. He whispered, “I’ll come back for you.” Sakura blushed.

He walked off after waving goodbye to her. She put her hand to her cheek where he had kissed her. The warmth was rapidly fading under her fingertips. He stole a glance back at her. He had to go back home to the desert. His uncle, Yashamaru, was waiting for him. He knew as the Kazekage’s son, he might not be able to come back to this village for a long time. He burned the image of the fearless pink-haired girl into his mind.




The red-haired boy looked at the unfamiliar tree-line streets of Konoha. It had been six years since he had last been in this village. His red hair was still wild. He now wore a leather sash that held a large sand-colored gourd to his back. He now had the kanji for “love” engraved on his forehead.

He looked around. He spotted a flash of pink and red he immediately recognized. Her hair was much longer now. He watched her saunter over to a boy in a blue shirt with a high collar and white shorts. The boy had black hair that stuck up in the back like a cockatoo’s feathers. She smiled at the boy and asked him if he wanted to train with her. He rebuked her. He said she wasn’t worthy of being called a ninja. She should spend more time training than chasing boys. He said she was even weaker than someone called Naruto. She looked crushed.

The redhead glared at the jet-black haired youth. A blonde haired boy joined the two. He called out “Sakura.” The pink-haired girl told him ‘hello’. The dark boy glowered at the blonde. The blonde yelled at him, “Sasuke! Stop being mean! Stupid sarcastic--” The pink-haired girl, Sakura, told him to stop it. Sasuke said, “Stupid Naruto,” with apathy and vanished in a blur of black and blue.

Gaara felt his older brother and sister flank his sides. Temari wore her dirty-blonde hair in four ponytails at the back of her head. She was pretty with blue eyes. She carried a large folded-up fan on her back. Gaara’s older brother Kankuro, the middle child, wore his brown hair under a cap that made him look like an oversized cat with purple face paint. He had a large, bandage wrapped doll strapped to his back that reminded Gaara of a mummy, not that he would ever tell anyone. Kankuro’s heavy, dark brows furrowed. Gaara led the way. He felt his siblings follow behind him.

He was about to walk past Sakura and her friend when a box-shaped rock revealed three young children. Kankuro walked into one and then lifted up the offending boy by the scruff of his blue cape. The boy struggled. Sakura called her friend Naruto to help Konohamaru. Just then, Kankuro dropped the young boy. Gaara heard a rock hit the street and he looked up into the tree. The dark-haired Sasuke was there.

Sasuke crumbled up a rock and ground it to dust in his bare hands. The dark youth jumped down and stood in front of Naruto and Sakura. He glared at Gaara. Kankuro was about to start a fight when Gaara asked for the youth’s name. “Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha,” he replied; Sasuke smirked, “It’s poor manners to ask someone’s name before giving your own.” Gaara glowered at Sasuke, “I’m Gaara of the Sand.”

Temari remarked that the Uchiha was as handsome as everyone had said. Gaara winced and looked at Sakura. She was beautiful. Her hair was long and it shone in the afternoon sun. Her eyes were as clear as ever. He smirked in her direction. He ignored the blonde’s bickering and watched Sakura’s eyes grow wide with realization.

Her mind flashed back to the little boy she had met in the forest. Aside from the red tattoo that read “love” on the left side of his forehead, he looked almost the same. Something just seemed wrong about him now. He was no longer sweet. She sensed something dark, almost sinister about him. Her breathing grew heavy and she tried to step back. She heard Naruto ask if she was okay.

Her body began to grow numb and she swayed backwards. Naruto caught her with his hand behind her back. She felt a drop of sweat run down her face. Naruto called her name again. She could barely hear him over her raging heartbeat. Sasuke turned to Naruto, “Is she okay?” He was cold, but he was still worried about her.

She turned to her teammates. Her skin felt clammy and she guessed she was pale by the worried stare Naruto gave her. She whispered, “Fine… I’m fine.” She added, “Everything will be alright.”

Gaara and his siblings left after they had finished their introductions. Sakura freed herself from Naruto’s hold and walked home. She ignored both his and Sasuke’s pleas for her to tell them what was wrong.

She barely felt the ground beneath her. She felt herself panting. She could feel the heat drying her throat. However, she had to go home. She felt tears trail down her face. She was afraid. He was not like before. Six years had passed. She wasn’t the same either.

She pushed the door open. She walked up the stairs and roughly threw open the door to her bedroom. The promises of children should not be kept. Fate and destiny did not exist. The futility of her dreams of being with Sasuke hit her. She fell to the ground on her hands and knees and cried. She had given up her friendship with Ino for a chance to be with him.

“I’m so sorry Ino,” she whimpered, “I’m so sorry I hurt you.” She pressed her face into the carpet and cried. The red-haired boy she had stopped dreaming of had come back for her. He was no prince. He was like The Beast, if anything at all. She hiccupped when she wondered if he would whisk her away. She laughed; it was only a matter of time.

She looked at her towering bookcase. She remembered how Ino once told her she would never get a boyfriend if all she did was read. Her gaze fell down to the bottom shelf and to the left. She held the worn, tattered spine of the book. She tapped on the very top of it to bring a corner of it free from the surrounding books.

She took it by its freed corner and held it to her breast. She placed it in her lap. She opened it to the page and stared at the pink flower. It was dried flat and it resembled used wax paper. Sakura ran her fingers along the petals. She grinned as she felt the stem beneath her fingertips.

“I hate this place anyway,” she whispered hoarsely. She thought about how she wanted to be stronger. She had told her teacher that. Kakashi only turned away from her and ignored her in favor of Sasuke. Kakashi didn’t spend time with Naruto either, only Sasuke. She had the innate desire to become stronger, but she needed a teacher who would actually help her learn.

Her mind fell onto Naruto. She honestly cared about Naruto as more than a friend. She knew she could never think of him as a boyfriend though. She knew he cared about her. However, they were more like brother and sister. Naruto was exciting and accepting. Sasuke was nothing towards her. He never said anything nice to her. He didn’t care about her at all.

She had given up Ino for him nonetheless. She began to cry again. The yellowed pages soaked up her tears like desert sand. She had given herself to someone without thinking it through. She belonged to him. But what would happen now?

She must make amends with Ino. She must let Naruto know how much she loved him. And Sasuke… he wasn’t worth her time anymore. Nothing could come of it anyway. Sakura read the first lines of the story she had found the flower on.

“Once upon a time, there was a lonely, green-eyed girl. She had grown up lonely and none of the other children would play with her. One day when she was in the forest, she saw a handsome boy. The two played together. When the boy had to go, he promised the girl he would come back for her with a kiss.”

Sakura began to cry. She knew the story so well. She had dreamed that the red-haired boy was her prince and she waited for him everyday to come back to her, just like the girl in the story. Children can only wait so long though. Within a few years, the brooding Sasuke Uchiha had caught her eye. And the red-haired boy became like a mirage.

Now he had come back to make good on his word. However, he wasn’t like the prince at all. Something was wrong with him now. Something was broken in him. She shivered. The sun was just beginning to set. “A promise is a promise,” she said.

The girl in the story was surprised when the boy came back for her. He came in, riding on a white horse, into the town square. He wanted to know where the girl with green eyes was. Dressed as a prince, plenty of girls, lucky enough to have green eyes, cooed to him that they were the girl he was looking for. He became angry and asked each one how they had met. Each girl spindled a lie. Furious, the prince was about to leave.

He then saw a girl holding firewood. She tripped. He ran over to help her. When she turned her face up to him, her eyes were closed, but her beauty took him. The girl wore tattered and dirty clothes and dirt covered her face. She reminded him of the girl in the forest. She opened her eyes. She saw the prince and backed away. She stood up to curtsy to him, but fell backwards.

He caught her and stared into her green eyes. She recognized him as the boy from the forest. He walked her over to his horse and called out that this was the girl he had been looking for. The two rode away, married in the castle, and lived happily ever after.

But Sakura was going to be spirited away by The Beast. All she knew was that it was inevitable. Sakura stared out the window. The sunset was almost over. She stood up and set the book, open with the flower resting on the page, and walked to her bed. She curled up on the bed. She pulled her teddy bear close to her and rested her head on it. She couldn’t cry anymore. She had to be happy now. She belonged to Gaara of the Sand now. She let herself go. It was blissful and frightening to feel nothing at all.



The sky had grown dark now. She felt a chill run up her spine. She heard her window creak open. She heard a rustling and whipped her head around. Gaara was sitting on her windowsill. The sand made upward-spiraling rivulets around his slim body.

He was cool and impassive. He tried to smile, but only one corner of his mouth turned up. She felt the sand around her body. It encircled her arms and legs. It gently ran across her face. Her eyes went wide. Clutching the teddy bear, she watched him walk across the floor of the room with all the grace of a predatory beast. ‘I’ll be alright,’ she thought.

Gaara’s red hair swung to the side as he tossed his head. He let his gourd dissolve into living grains of sand that swirled and caressed her body. He felt her skin through the sand. She was beautiful. More beautiful than any flower. A true Beauty. He came for her as promised. He skulked towards her like a giant cat. “A flower for a flower,” he said calmly, “A deal is a deal.” He felt the left corner of his mouth turn up again as he said her name, “Eh, Sakura?”

He took her hand. It was still so small in his. His fingers, now long and slender, caressed her wrist and hand. The sand made a ring on the second-to-last finger of her left hand. Sakura felt him put his cheek to hers. ‘Yes,’ she thought, ‘A deal is a deal.’

He pulled down the zipper of her dress to expose her pale chest. Gaara shivered as he lightly ran his fingers across Sakura’s skin. He let the sand whirling around his index finger tattoo her skin. He had done it subconsciously, like when he was a child and his village had betrayed him again, and he kissed the mark for love on the skin just below the recess of her collarbone. He felt Sakura quake beneath his touches. He withdrew from her and slid off his thick leather sash.

He felt his eyes grow wide as she slid off his black shirt and his tight fishnet undershirt. She looked at him, her eyes blank and a half-smile on her lips, and he felt heaviness in his chest. The strong Sakura he cared for, as a child was no longer there. She had lost her luster. He sat down on her bed, the lights going out, and she went to him. She sat on his lap. He fingered the raw tattoo on her chest and pulled a flower from his white sash.

He had traded the same kind of flower for her. He slipped it behind her ear. She looked at him, and he saw her eyes flash brilliantly in the moon light. She rested her head on his bare shoulder and crossed her legs. He left his large hands on her chest and inhaled her perfume. Sakura looked up at the disappearing moon. This was the beginning of a new life for the two of them.