graychalk: (Yondaime)
Téa ([personal profile] graychalk) wrote in [community profile] inkcanvas2007-04-08 02:59 am

[One-shot] Naruto: Sand Speak

Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Gaara/Sakura (subtle)
Rating/Status: G / 500 words, complete
Timeline: Post time-skip, likely right after the Gaara-rescue mission
Summary: Actions speak louder than words. Or in Gaara's case, sand speaks the loudest.

Author's Note: The last paragraph of this fic was actually written on a scrap piece of paper almost a year ago. I accidentally found the paper earlier today, hence the birth of this ficlet. I'll warn you now that the style is littered with tons of run-on (and probably grammatically incorrect) sentences. It's also angst-free, nothing deep, and with a likelihood of OOC. :D Written very quickly, without much editing, but all in good fun. It is, however, the first Gaara/Sakura anything that I've ever shared with the public though. Can't help feeling a little nervous about that.


Sand Speak


Heat was beating down on her neck, there's sand everywhere, Naruto was being much too loud, and Haruno Sakura was getting really annoyed. The desert, she thought, had a serious way of grating on her nerves, mission successfully completed or not. Well, that or it could just be the blisters forming at the soles of her feet from the sand that wouldn't stop collecting inside of her shoes.

Wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand for the hundredth time, Sakura had half the mind to start stomping her foot childishly, if only to release some of her irritation. Instead, she reached down, also for the hundredth time, to pry at the base of her sandals so that she could attempt to shake at least some of the sand out yet again.

Hopping on one foot to keep moving, she eyed the boy walking calmly just a little ahead of her, to the left and with gourd missing. Well, there's one who's in his own element.

I bet his sandals are sand-free, the bastard.

With an aggravated huff, Sakura, still hopping, switched her sand-removing efforts to the other foot as she narrowed her eyes at the mop of red hair and the pale skin that looked suspiciously absent of sweat. She wondered if he'd take it in a horribly bad way if she asked him to command the damned sand away from her feet.

And then he turned around, not completely but just enough for one of his eyes to focus in on her without warning. Sakura froze instantly, mid-hop, with one foot in the air and three fingers lodged between toes inside her sandals... and all thoughts of inappropriate favor-asking was just simply gone. Vaguely, she was aware of how this wasn't quite the position she wanted to be caught in. But then he was staring, eyes roaming down to her feet and back up to her burning cheeks, and Sakura did the only thing her embarrassed brain knew how to do at the moment. She stared back, which lasted about four seconds before...

"Saaaaakura-chan! What're you doing?"

"Ooohh! Such power of youth! Sakura-san must be training by crossing the desert on one foot!"

And even that was all just fine, until Naruto, in his full idiotic glory, slapped her a little too hard on the back in greeting as he jogged up to her. By the time Sakura clambered back onto her feet, punched Naruto to some far off distance, and remembered what she was doing before her face was buried in sand, he had already gone back to walking in that infuriatingly impassive manner of his. Casting one final glance in his direction, she violently swatted some sand off her arm and grumpily plowed forward once more.

About seven steps later, though, Sakura found that she had sand in her hair, under her nails, on her face, and even between her chest bindings... but her feet and sandals, now those were curiously and blissfully sand-free for the rest of the journey.


/End

Thank you for reading, and as always, comments and concrit are very much appreciated. :)
ext_98676: ((silly/perverted) No clothes on [Naruto])

[identity profile] riza.livejournal.com 2007-04-07 07:53 pm (UTC)(link)
XD So cute. But now that the sand in her shoes is gone, the sand all over the rest of her will be that much worse.


Very nice. Short and lovely. Just what I needed today. :D

[identity profile] ankukotenma.livejournal.com 2007-04-07 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Too cute! Gaara being nice by getting rid of the sand on her feet! She didn't even need to ask he just knew!! ^.^ Thats our Kazekage!

Lee always makes me laugh no matter what! "The Power of Youth!" right on lol!

... yeah

[identity profile] renaliner.livejournal.com 2007-04-07 08:29 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm sure that Gaara had nothing to do with the sand on her chest. None what-so-ever.

Too cute. :)

[identity profile] gaarasyami.livejournal.com 2007-04-07 08:32 pm (UTC)(link)
lol that is cute! I love what Lee says. Sand is so icky to have on you! >.<

[identity profile] leilia.livejournal.com 2007-04-07 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
That was very cute. Gai's response was bloody perfect. And I loved the end to pieces.

You were definitely right about the run-on sentences, though. ~_^

[identity profile] leilia.livejournal.com 2007-04-08 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
The run-ons didn't bother me. The only place I would have made changes was in the first paragraph since most of Sakura's complaints are independent thoughts/clauses. But it isn't a necessary change.

It's interesting how these little flashfics tend to hinge on either the opening or closing line (and sometimes both.)

I can be either one and oddly I didn't even think of Lee even though I know he was on that mission. It may have been that I just finished reading something else that had more Gai in it than Lee - or maybe I equate Gai with more obliviousness than Lee. *Shrugs* Either works and either is funny.

[identity profile] kitsuneasika.livejournal.com 2007-04-07 11:04 pm (UTC)(link)
This was sooo cewt~! I loved it~!

[identity profile] sazu-uchiha.livejournal.com 2007-04-07 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Aww, so cute >w

[identity profile] findingbliss.livejournal.com 2007-04-08 02:44 am (UTC)(link)
You wrote GaaSaku?! GAARA/SAKURA???

Okay it's official. I really REALLY like you now. XD

♥♥♥

Seriously, I like it! I like how subtle your GaaSaku is. They're so in character here. ;)

[identity profile] findingbliss.livejournal.com 2007-04-12 01:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Of course I approve! GaaSaku is one of my fave pairings in the Naruto fandom. That and KakaSaku. :D

Oh oh do post it! If it's written by you I'm SURE it's still great, whatever you may think of it. And just for the record, I'd love to read the rest of your fics. ;)

[identity profile] findingbliss.livejournal.com 2007-04-15 12:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I didn't mean to promote the ship or anything like that! Hehehe! ^_^; I really like GaaSaku, honest. ;)

I guess that's what happens when girls are lacking in a series. :p
Yes, that's so right! LOL!

Making the pairing work... Hmm... I guess once you start on a fic it'll work out eventually. But I do understand where you're coming from. I've started this NejiSaku fic a long time ago, thinking that I'll be able to pull it off. Uhmm... but I've abandoned it now coz I don't think the plot will work. ^^; I don't mean to discourage you though! By all means, please do continue GaaSaku! :D

[identity profile] findingbliss.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 01:52 pm (UTC)(link)
KakaSaku... there are a few good ones. You can try these if you want:

Duty before Honor:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2923653/1/



don't you hate it when you have a great idea for a fic, and then it just somehow doesn't want to work out?
YES! That's what happened to my NejiSaku. Yes, I actually got it out in my ff.net account. I had it done up to 2 chapters only. LOL! ^_^; At first I really thought I could pull it off. I mean, it's not that a very unique plot and if you think about it, it's quite easy for NejiSaku to happen in it. But... it's got a lot more complicated than I imagined. When I was writing the 3rd chapter, I was thinking that it really wasn't working. :(

Perhaps I should try to find a beta or someone to talk to the fic about. Hmm.
Yes you should! Hehehe! This fandom needs more GaaSaku love! XD



aack!

[identity profile] findingbliss.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 02:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Here are the other KakaSaku recs:

A Lesson in Chemistry:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3026289/1/

Fated:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2144296/1/

The Nature of the Game:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1946811/1/

A bit of warning... Those three are dramatic and full of angst. ^^;

Hindsight's 20/20:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1862739/1/

This one's AU and more of Sakura-centric. But it has mixes of KakaSaku and ItaSaku.

Glass Castle:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1879007/1/

Sandly, that one's on hiatus. =/
To Mend this Dream:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1796093/1/

The Butterfly:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1825522/1/

The last one's a house of angst, but well-written fic nonetheless.


There. I hope you enjoy. ^_^;

And sorry about that. I hit the submit button a little too early. ^^;

[identity profile] moonwitch.livejournal.com 2007-04-08 05:32 am (UTC)(link)
:D Gaara would be like that, too. His nice actions are never accompanied by his own acknowledgement of performing said actions. :3

[identity profile] moonwitch.livejournal.com 2007-04-12 12:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Other than Gaara/sand, of course! Omgz OTP XD;

[identity profile] moonwitch.livejournal.com 2007-04-14 07:45 am (UTC)(link)
I am willing to bet that somewhere in the depths of FF.net there is a Gaara/Sand fic. X3

[identity profile] reyairia.livejournal.com 2007-04-08 09:53 am (UTC)(link)
Cute fic. <3

[identity profile] randomsome1.livejournal.com 2007-04-09 11:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Cute. I see where you've made some contractions in order to make the word count, but look out for those contractions resulting in tense slips. Snipping some of the passive tense (was this, was that) might help break those up.

[identity profile] randomsome1.livejournal.com 2007-04-14 01:12 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah--I think I tripped over one or two instances of that.

It's nice when the numbers work out that way, huh? XD Anyway, good flow, good focus on feeling and placement.

[identity profile] randomsome1.livejournal.com 2007-04-14 02:43 pm (UTC)(link)
I can't find anything in my CMS for verification. :( It looks like it might be a technicality, but opens things up for confusion--kinda like 's versus just ' as a possessive ending on singular words ending with the letter s. Working on passive tense would clear that up, though.

:)

[identity profile] randomsome1.livejournal.com 2007-04-15 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
Heh, I hear you--I had what basically amounted to an authorial tic for a long while and am still trying to completely break the habit. Good luck to you! :)

[identity profile] dwlikeebeinlost.livejournal.com 2007-04-11 06:16 am (UTC)(link)
Aww... I like subtle.

xD

Gaara has a heart, he just shows it differently.