Okay...uh...

This is the sequel to 'The Path of Endless Togethers'

Due to the very popular idea of a sequel, we have typed this up in the last ten minutes. :)

PROLOGUE

In the bright explosions of color lighting up the sky, Gaara had seen a part of her only he could see.

Light could only shine in darkness. They were two completely different beings, opposites, and equally beautiful in their own right.

However, there were those who were both. Those who walked in both, but neither, day or night.

Those who walked between the delicate lines separating the day and night. Those that glowed just bright enough to be seen during the night and were dark enough to cast a shadow during the day.

And there were few who understood the beauty of seeing both, for this gift of beauty only came to those who paid the price coming in the form of pain and suffering.

They were two of the few who had lived through without breaking.

Tomorrow, they would once again become what those who saw them wanted them to be. They would be the light that led those trapped in darkness, and they would be the shadow that cocooned the true evil from those who existed in a light so bright that they couldn't see their own darkness.

However, darkness always trailed behind the light. The brighter the light, the darker the darkness would seem, and the darker it would be.

Once one stepped into the shadows, they would never completely be free. It would forever weigh them down, no matter how light the load seemed.

That was why he knew that darkness was coming for them, just like he knew light would be right behind him.

And he would always stand in between her and the darkness, just like she would do the same for him.

He ran his hands over the empty section of his desk, the only part that wasn't covered by paper and scrolls.

It had been almost ten years since the deal exchange between Orochimaru and the Fourth Kazekage.

Yet, he could still see the young girl sitting on his desk, patiently waiting for him to finish his report so that he continue telling her about the outside world. She would blink at him with blank, emotionless eyes and he would smile back at her.

Because, when he was with her, he had an identity.

He knew he had one when he was with Orochimaru, but this was different.

She had been his emotional anchor to the identity Orochimaru had given him.

Because she didn't have an identity either, he understood her the best. Because she didn't know to judge him for who he was.

A part of him had feared what he was becoming, and so, he had unconsciously handed her his humanity, hoping that she would someone how keep it safe. He had tried to keep her innocent and untainted by the horrifying truth of Shinobi life, filling her mind with the beauty he had seen and heard of.

The blue sky, the endless grasslands.

A part of him had also known, that what he was doing didn't really change anything.

She had been created to follow orders, taught to be as emotionless as one could be. A fake sense of beauty wasn't going to change that.

Still, he had hoped, that perhaps, he would one day be the one to repay her for what she had given him.

That he would be the one to show her the path out of the darkness she had been born into. That, once everything was over, he would be the one to breed the emotions of happiness and joy the world could bring.

He later found out that he was doing this for himself more than he was doing it for her, because being with her made him feel human.

And so, he had allowed himself to be who he could have been before reality and his loss of identity hit him in the face.

A naive part of him had forgotten about the world he was living in, and he had hoped that his daily talks with her would last forever.

And then, she had left.

He had held himself back, because he knew he would meet her again.

That was what he told himself when she was led away by the Kazekage's assistant.

It didn't matter, he thought, he was the only one who would truly be able to understand her.

When he had first seen her after they had split, her arm painful grip of the Kazekage's second son, he had felt a long forgotten emotion of pain on her behalf, and satisfaction.

Only he could truly understand her and see her for who she was.

What he hadn't known, was that Sabaku no Gaara was equally as broken.

In the split second he had looked away, Sabaku no Gaara had taken his place as the only spark of light in the dark world surrounding her. Gaara had broken her out of the shells, and in turn, he had unknowingly bound her to him.

He had known this the moment he had seen the way she looked at the Fifth Kazekage.

Of course he would. Once, he had been the one on the receiving end of her looks. It had been him she smiled at, telling him that he was her world in the only way she knew.

He would take her back.

He had come this far because when it came down to it, he fought only for himself. Because he felt no hesitation and held no regards to those around him as long as it meant that he could achieve his goals.

She was a part of him. It didn't change anything.

Sakura was the beautiful side of his tainted soul, and he would take her back.

You know the drill, if you like it, please leave a review!

Darque 'n Raven~