I like You

i made this for the Young Authors' Contest and it's my first completed story! i might do more short stories like this. tell me if you like it.

"Kumari."

"Who said that?" Kumari looked up to see Gaara hanging upside down from the branch above hers. "Oh! Hey Gaara."

"What are you doing?"

Kumari started back writing. "Working on my mission."

'Tsunade said that she didn't have any missions.' he thought. "What mission?" he asked curiously.

"You promise that you won't tell anybody."

"Who would I tell?"

"I don't know, you and Naruto are good friends and you know he can't keep his mouth shut." she thought aloud. "Anyway, this is my oldest, most important mission that I have yet to complete..." she held the notebook up in his face, "operation get Rock Lee to like me!" she smiled.

Gaara blinked as he looked at the page. 'Rock Lee', in big green letters, was written in the middle surrounded by green swirls. Stars, doodles, chicken scratch, and hearts with their initials in them covered the rest of the page. "You still like him." he said disgusted.

"You say it like it's a bad thing." Kumari pouted.

"It is." He pushed the notebook out of his face.

"Don't tell me you still don't like him." Kumari groaned. "I thought you two became friends after you helped him defeat Kimimaro or whatever his name is."

Gaara narrowed his eyes at her. "How do you know that?"

"Uh...I uh...just uh...smart. Yeah, I'm just smart like that." He rolled his eyes. "Now, why don't you want me with Lee again?"

"He's with that pink-haired girl."

"But they broke up."

"What makes you think they won't get back together?"

"What is up with all this negativity? It's bringing me down man...it really is." She glanced back at her notebook. "After years of trying to get him to like, or even notice, me, I've come up with a sure fire plan that just has to work."

"What are you gonna do, dye your hair pink again?" he laughed.

"That's not funny! How was I supposed to know that my hair was too dark to turn pink? My ends are still dark red. I'm going to tell him how I feel."

"You've had a crush on him since you were twelve." Kumari nodded. "So, it took you nine years to come up with that."

"So!"

"That should have been the first thing you did."

"Shh! I hear someone coming." They looked down and saw Lee and Sakura walking towards the tree they were in.

"Sakura-chan," Lee started, "there's something that I've wanted to tell you, for along time now."

"Yes, Lee."

"Sakura-chan," Lee slowly got down on one knee, "will you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?"

'What?!' Kumari was shocked but what shocked her even more was Sakura's answer.

"Yes."

Kumari fainted.

"Where...where am I?" Kumari groaned, waking up. She saw Gaara sitting beside the bed that she was in. "Gaara, wh-what happened?"

"You fainted after Lee proposed to Sakura so I brought you back here, to your house." he stated. "You've been out for a couple of hours. How do you feel?"

"Other than like an idiot, I feel fine."

"Good 'cause I need your help with something."

"What?"

"There's this girl I like but she li-"

"Who is it!" Kumari exclaimed, sitting up. "Is she from Konoha? Suna? Does she work for you? Is she a Chuunin? Jounin? ANBU? How did you meet? Do I know her?"

"That's enough." Gaara gently pushed her back down.

"Well, could you at least tell me something about her so I can help you?" Kumari sighed.

"Okay."

"Yay!" She propped herself up on her elbows and stared at him. "You can start now."

"Um, where do I begin?" Gaara took off his gourd and sat on the bed next to Kumari. "She loves animals especially stuffed ones, thinks laughter is the key to life,"

'What else is there?'

"loves to sing and dance, and acts crazy when she wants attention. Her favorite color is purple but she looks good in blue."

'Ino?'

"She's pretty random too. One minute she'll ask you for something and when you give it to her she either doesn't want it or she'll say that she wanted something else and she has a crazy personality."

'Sounds wacko.'

"Bossy, temperamental, funny, friendly, controlling, strong, smart, and she has the attention span of a fly." Gaara looked at Kumari. "What do you think?"

"If you ask me, I'd say that you have weird taste in women but I'm not one to judge. Telling her would be out of the question 'cause she probably wouldn't even listen." She thought for a minute. "I suggest you kiss her to get her attention and then tell her."

"I see."

"Now on to more important things, who is s-"

Gaara kissed her. "Kumari, I like you."