vampgirl8: Okay, so I wrote this at the beginning of the year as a gag for my friends. Thought you guys might like it. Review please! It's a comedy, by the way. GaaSaku. Full of laughs!

A Puzzle in the Chaos

A Naruto fanfic

Haruno Sakura

Sakura clutched her knees as she panted, craters and kunai scattered across the training grounds she was in. She'd been practicing, of course, and was quite satisfied with the carnage, though she thought she could do better.

She straightened up, hands resting on her hips and glanced around. Yes, she could definitely do better. But she couldn't afford to use up much chakra today-she had duties at the hospital, after all. She'd set to making herself stronger tomorrow.

She grinned wryly at this. She'd been growing stronger ever since Sasuke left. Realizing just how insanely weak she was, she'd opted to change that. If anything, his leaving had been the wake up call she needed. She was tired of being his fangirl, fruitlessly trying to gain the attention of someone who didn't deserve it. And the second she'd come to this conclusion all the feelings she'd had for the emotionless Uchiha vanished. Like they'd never been there.

In truth, they never had been. Everything she'd felt for him that went beyond that of an easy acquaintanceship were instilled by the fact that everyone had liked him, and being as at the time she'd had no friends other than Ino, she wanted to fit in. The end result had been her transformation into a raving fangirl and the loss of the only person she'd called friend.

But not anymore. No, now she had something to prove. Not to Sasuke, not to the village, but to herself. She'd moved on, in more ways than one.

A small smile stretched her lips at the last thought. Oh yes, in the time he'd been gone she'd come to have feelings for him as well. Sabaku no Gaara, the Kazekage of Sunagakure. She began to wonder what he might be doing right now-

A loud, boisterous blonde burst into the training grounds, his effortless grin plastered to his face. "Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!"

She shook her head ruefully and gave Naruto a tolerating glance. In truth they'd gotten quite close these past years, but that didn't mean she had to act all cream-and-sugar for him now. "What is it?"

"Sasuke-teme's back!"

Her eyebrows flew into her hair when she heard this. Sasuke was back, huh? After five damn years he finally decided to come home. And if she knew the village, they would welcome him back with open arms and a light sentence of village arrest and no missions for a prolonged period of time because he was an Uchiha, the last of his line, and a prodigy that had killed Orochimaru. La de freakin' da. The bastard deserved an execution or perhaps a padded cell in her opinion.

Sighing at the blatantly cruel turn her thoughts had taken, she walked past the blonde to head in the direction of her apartment. "Whatever, Naruto. I'm gonna go home and get a nap in before hospital duty, okay? See you later at Ichiraku's for lunch."

He stood there, stunned as she just continued on her way like she hadn't a care in the world. She fully intended on taking that nap, but apparently Naruto didn't want her to have that pleasure as he came back to himself and commenced catching up with her and dragging her forcefully in the direction of the village gates-where apparently a legion of her friends were grouped up to welcome back the Uchiha.

As they approached, the group which consisted of the rest of the rookie twelve broke apart to let them through, glancing at Sakura to see her reaction.

She rolled her eyes mentally. Since he'd left she hadn't shown any signs of even remotely caring about him in the kind of way they expected, so why the hell were they looking at her like they expected it now?

Well, the fact that she hadn't exactly told anyone about her feelings for Gaara, not even Gaara himself, and had no idea if her feelings were reciprocated might play a part.

"Hey Forehead!" Ino yelled at her, coming to her side and draping an arm over her shoulder. "Sasuke-kun's back!"

Sakura gave her a thin-lipped smile. "I see that." Damn, was that all anyone could say today? 'Sasuke's back!' Who gives a shit?!

…oh, right, they do.

By this time she'd reached the front of the crowd, still being dragged along by Naruto, and not five feet in front of her was the raven-haired young man. The rookie twelve all watched expectantly, waiting for her to jump on him like the raving fangirl she used to be.

Too bad she had to disappoint them.

Sakura merely nodded lightly at him. "Sasuke."

He smirked at her. "Hn."

She resisted the urge to twitch. 'Hn.' God, she hated that word. Except, of course, when Gaara said it. Then it was incredibly sexy. She noticed he was still looking at her, like he expected something. For her to add on 'kun' to his name, maybe. Or try to kiss him. Or ask him out.

Idiot.

Sakura glanced to the right at Naruto, who seemed excited like everyone else. She was reluctant to burst that little bubble of his, but she seriously didn't want to be here.

"…Naruto?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan?" His blue eyes gleamed.

"Can I leave now?"

This stunned all present, even the stoic Uchiha and Neji Hyuga had their eyebrows in their hairlines.

"What? Why?" Naruto seemed utterly confused.

"I really do need that nap…"

He blinked. "You want to leave…so you can take a nap?"

Sakura nodded. "Yep."

Ino came out of her daze then. "What! But Forehead, look! Sasuke-kun's back!"

She raised a brow at her. "And I care, why…?"

Ino placed a hand over her heart and clenched the fabric, almost as if she'd struck her. "But it's Sasuke-kun!" She said it like his name should have had an impact.

It didn't. "I repeat, I care why…?" Her shock didn't dissipate. Sakura sighed. "Ino, have I once spoken Sasuke's name with a 'kun' attached to the end since his departure?" She shook her head. "Have I ever said his name in reverence or longing?" Another shake. "Have I ever showed signs of loving, or even caring about him and whether or not he returned?" One final shake. "Then why the hell do you think I care?!"

Everyone was silent for awhile, Sasuke seeming put out while Ino was blinking rapidly. Finally, the silence was broken by none other than Tenten. "So…you've moved on?"

Sakura glanced at her. "I moved on five years ago. You guys just failed to notice it."

This sudden turn of events brought the silence back, and Sakura was suddenly very irritated. "You know what? I gotta go take a nap now. See you all later. Naruto," she looked back at the boy as she walked away, "Ichiraku's for lunch, don't forget!"

With that she was gone, leaving the remaining Jonin behind.

Sabaku no Gaara

Miles away in Suna, Sabaku no Gaara sat at his desk in his office in the Kazekage Tower, posed as if doing paperwork when in fact he was staring at it listlessly, fighting with his inner demon. Most believed it was gone after the incident with the Akatsuki, but in truth it was still there, but so weakened that it had lost virtually all it's power and would never be able to take control again. And because of that, it knew it would never be able to make the stoic red-head kill without reason ever again. So it had decided to do something more productive with it's time that would make them both happy-if Gaara would just give in, that is.

'Come on,' purred the Shukaku, 'it's easy. You know you want to…'

'No,' Gaara refused for the tenth time in the last fifteen minutes.

'But it would be fun! Just think of all the things we could do with her if you'd just go get her.'

'For the last time, no. I will not make up an assignment just to get Sakura here, I will not fake a deathly illness to lure her here, I will not use my sand as a kinky tool, I will not go to Konoha under false political pretenses to see her, and I WILL NOT appear in her bedroom to play bondage games when she gets home from the hospital!'

'Ahhh,' the tanuki pouted, 'you're no fun!'

'And you're a pervert,' Gaara replied, 'now shut up so I can get some work do-'

"GAARA!"

'Seems it's not me you should be telling that to.'

Gaara groaned as his office door was thrown open and his older sister Temari walked in in all her cheerful blondness. She plopped in the seat in front of his desk and crossed her leg over her knee, leaning back with a giant grin. He waited for her to speak, but when she didn't he grew impatient.

"Temari," he started wearily, "what is it?"

Her grin grew if possible. "Oh, otouto."

Shit. She never called him that unless she wanted something. Something big. Hesitantly, he answered, "…yes…?"

She rushed in after that, all innocent pretense gone. "Well you see Kankuro and I bought all this stuff and we wanted to use it for a party but we need your permission to hold a party cause we want to have it at the mansion and we want to invite people from Konoha and we want you to come too and it will be really really really fun please Gaara!?"

He stared at her stoically for a few minutes, hands folded under his chin and elbows resting on the desk as he sorted through what she'd just said. "No."

She gave him puppy eyes. "But Gaara!" she wined. Then a sudden glint entered her eyes and she gave a dramatic, devastated sigh. "And to think I was hoping to invite Sakura too."

Gaara froze, his pen just centimeters away from the signature line on another document. "…Sakura?"

A knowing look crossed Temari's face. Of course she was aware of the secret feelings her brother harbored for the pink-haired medic nin that had only grown stronger with each of her missions here. She quickly put back on the devastated mask. "Yes, Sakura. She would have so enjoyed to come here, too."

Then there was a flurry of action as Gaara shoved the papers away and drew a fresh scroll from his desk, his pen flying across the page. "Temari! Hurry and go set up! I'll get the fastest messenger bird to take this! They'll be here by tomorrow!"

Temari chuckled as she left the room, quickly adding before she closed the door, "Don't forget to invite the rest of the rookie twelve!"

Gaara gave a quick 'hn' for affirmation before continuing in his writing. In his head the demon was screaming it's victory.

'Sakura's coming, Sakura's coming, Sakura's coming!'

Haruno Sakura

Later that day Sakura left the hospital in brighter spirits than she'd entered with. Working with children always had had that effect on her. Now she could look forward to a good lunch with Naruto and…

Sasuke.

What the hell was he doing there?!

Sakura froze in her steps looking at the swivel chairs in front of Ichiraku's, where the rest of the rookie twelve sat with Sasuke in the middle. Wait, what were the other rookie twelve doing here too?! It was just supposed to be her and Naruto!

Clenching her teeth, she walked forward and others took notice of her approach.

"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto called out, waving his hand around over his head.

She gave a tight smile. "Hi, Naruto." She stopped when she stood in front of him. "What's everyone else doing here? I thought it was just us meeting for lunch."

"Oh, right. Well I invited everyone!" He gestured to the others along the row. "I thought it could be a kind of celebration for Sasuke's return."

She closed her eyes to smile again. "Really? Well, there doesn't seem to be much room so I'll just be going now. Bye, Naruto!" She turned around and almost made it from the stand, but a passing nin stopped her.

"Lady Tsunade wishes to see you!" He looked over her shoulder at the rest. "All of you."

Sakura stifled a groan as the other eleven stood to follow her, and they all made their way to the Hokage's Tower. Tsunade sat at her desk, what Sakura was sure was a bottle of sake peeking out from behind it.

"What is it, Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura asked as the last of the group crammed into the office.

Tsunade waved her off. "You've surpassed me Sakura, you no longer need to call me such. Anyway," she grazed her eyes over all present, "I have an assignment for all of you. I know I said no missions for Sasuke for the remainder of the year and village arrest, but this is an exception. The Kazekage of Sunagakure has requested your presence for a celebration his siblings are holding. You have one day to get there and will be staying for one night." There was a comedic silence in the room as the busty blonde let that sink in.

"…so, you're saying that we're going on a mission to Suna that will last for one day…because of a party Temari and Kankuro are throwing?" Sakura was a little more than shocked.

Tsunade gave her a small glare. "No, it is a celebration."

As the silence settled again, Shikamaru summed up everyone's thoughts on having to reach Suna in one day in a single sentence and a sigh. "What a drag."

Sabaku no Gaara

Gaara was still and calm as he stood waiting on the other side of the gates to the village, arms crossed over his chest. To any passers by he looked the picture of ease, when in fact he was a bundle of nerves waiting to explode. He'd been waiting there for hours for them to arrive, and it was now nearing five in the morning. The sun came up early here in Suna, and the first of it's rays were starting to drift above the horizon.

Temari and Kankuro stood next to him, Kankuro looking like he was about to fall over and Temari more hyper than she'd ever been at such an early hour before. It was a bit annoying, really.

"You think they'll be here soon, Kankuro? Huh?" She whacked him on the head when he didn't answer, too busy practicing sleeping standing up. "Jeez! Have some more enthusiasm will you!"

Kankuro glared at her. "We can't all be happy-go-lucky morning freaks Temari!"

The air around her turned black and sparks of electricity crackled from nothing. "What was that, Kankuro?" she asked slowly.

He widened his eyes at her. "Crap."

"KANKURO!" She whipped her fan from her back and commenced beating him upside the head with it, as he tried futilely to get away.

Gaara closed his eyes in an attempt to ignore the idiocy of his siblings, whom his relationship with had grown considerably since the Chuunin Exams five years ago, for the better that is, and focused his attention on the task at hand-waiting for Sakura.

'Would you look at our luck, boy? Now we don't have to go to her or come up with a plan to lure her here-she's coming to us!'

'Hn.'

'Wow, you sure are talkative this morning,' Shukaku spoke with much sarcasm. 'Let me find a container to hold your overflowing and sheer joy.'

'Shukaku if you do not shut the hell up-'

'You'll what? Ha!' He laughed. 'You can't do anything to me.'

'Oh yes I can,' Gaara warned. 'I was considering making my move on our medic nin during her stay, but since you can't seem to shut your trap I guess I'll have to wait until next time. Which will be extremely difficult considering we have no idea how long until she'll be here again!'

'Woah there!' The demon backed off. 'I'll stop, I'll stop. If it's for our rosette maiden I can control myself. For now.' With that small threat the demon retreated to the corners of his mind.

Gaara sighed silently, shaking his head a fraction. How he had to have been the one to get stuck with a blood-thirsty demon was beyond him, but for that demon to also be perverted behind the bloodlust was something only the most evil devils in hell could have come up with.

Gaara glanced at his siblings and was about to tell them to shut up when one of their sentries suddenly appeared in front of him. "Kazekage-sama, twelve shinobi are approaching the village."

Temari squealed when she heard this and began to hop up and down, and Kankuro fell to the ground cradling his abused head. Gaara brought himself up a bit straighter, the most miniscule of smiles upturning his lips. They were here!

Haruno Sakura

The next day the twelve Jonin were tired, sweaty, and aching as they entered Suna around five in the morning. They'd gone as quickly as they could, using as much chakra as was possible without passing out, and stopped only when necessity called-even opting to eat as they run, something quite difficult in it's own right.

As she passed through the gates, she gave a relieved sigh.

'We're here, cha!'

Sakura winced inwardly when she heard the voice. 'Inner! I thought I got rid of you!'

Inner Sakura scoffed at her. 'Got rid of me? Never! I just went away for awhile because nothing interesting was happening, cha!'

She sighed. 'And this counts as interesting?'

'Of course! We get to see Gaara-kun don't we?'

Sakura blushed. 'Wh-what are you talking about?'

Inner rolled her eyes. 'Oh please. You may be able to hide it from others, but I am you! I know these things!'

She sighed. 'Whatever. Just shut up and don't cause any-'

'THERE HE IS! GAARA-KUN!!'

The shout made Sakura stumble over her own feet and she nearly fell to the ground, but a soft bed of sand caught her before she could make contact. Sakura opened eyes she'd closed during the fall, and found herself looking up into a pair of cyan blue ones.

"K-kazekage-sama!" she stuttered, widening her eyes at him.

'Smooth.'

The calm red-head raised a nonexistent brow at her. "Hn."

Inner Sakura swooned. 'Oh dear Lord! So sexy!' she squealed in Sakura's head.

Sakura gulped. "U-umm, Kazekage-sama-"

"Gaara," he interrupted.

She blinked. "Wh-what?"

He blinked back. "I don't like the formal stuff. Besides, haven't I told you before on your previous missions to call me Gaara?"

'Oo la la!'

Sakura nodded slowly. "Okay then, Gaara," a miniscule smile crossed his lips when she spoke his name, "can you let me up now?"

"Hn." With a swift wave of his hand she was set back on her feet…

Just in time for Temari to tackle her to the ground she'd managed to avoid before.

"SAKURA!" she yelled happily, right beside Sakura's ear.

Said girl winced, weighing the odds of hearing loss in her mind as Temari drew her to her feet and pulled her to the rest of the group, Gaara following behind quietly.

"Okay guys, let's get you settled in for now and you can all sleep the day away with us! Then tonight we shall partay!"

The exhausted group wasn't as enthusiastic. A few mumbled, 'yeah, sure's and 'whatever's were the majority of their reply. Exempting of course, one final outburst from our ever lovely Green Beast of Konoha!

"Yosh! We shall get some restful rest so we can be youthfully cheerful for our showings of youth at the ever youthful party of the two youth-givers youthful Temari and our own springtime of youth Kankuro!"

Kankuro glared half-heartedly at Lee. "Who you calling 'springtime of youth'?"

Sakura was too tired to even face palm at this outburst of 'youth' and settled for shaking her head. Thank goodness Temari decided it was time to get a move on and put an end to the ever 'youthful' tirade.

'Thank you Temari!'

The Kazekage's mansion was a three story cream-colored building with the works. We're talking indoor pool, game center, kick ass entertainment system, and a ton of other stuff Sakura didn't want to name.

There were guest rooms already made up for them all, and Sakura's was a bed with black comforter and pink pillows, black walls and pink polka dots, and pink carpeting. A black desk sat in one corner next to a long window, pink curtains pulled to the sides. Hers was probably the more decorative of the guest rooms, but she'd stayed several occasions before and had had time to personalize.

Kicking off her shoes beside the doorway, she climbed over to the bed and wrapped herself in a cocoon of blanket and sheets, nodding off almost immediately after she closed her eyes.

Sabaku no Gaara

Gaara, too, had gone to sleep soon after arriving at the mansion, ignoring the cries of his demon to sneak into Sakura's room and ravish her during her sleep.

Something told him that wouldn't go over too well.

When Gaara woke up later it was to the shouts of the eleven others in his house, and he groaned aloud, asking the gods why he had to give in to Temari's request.

That was when he remembered Sakura.

Jumping out of bed he dressed as swiftly as possible in his usual attire, composing himself before walking calmly from his room to the kitchen, where most of the commotion appeared to be coming from. Inside the rookie twelve and his siblings were all seated around a table much too small to hold them all, trying to eat without sticking their elbows in the plate of the person next to them.

He spotted Sakura immediately, and was put into a much happier mood than before…

Until he noticed the Uchiha sitting next to her.

Gaara grimaced. He'd gotten a letter from Tsunade that she sent immediately after the group left Konoha, and it had arrived just hours before them. It fully explained the meaning behind the Uchiha's presence, but it still irked him to no end that the emotionless raven-haired man had gotten off so easy. Or that he currently seemed to be attempting chatting up his medic nin.

'Kill him! Kill him now! Don't let him take our mate!'

'I may take you up on that one,' Gaara replied coolly, and walked forward to place claim to his woman.

Haruno Sakura

Sakura was resisting the urge to check outside the window to see if fire and brimstone was falling from the skies yet.

Sasuke was talking to her.

She grimaced. Perhaps she should put more emphasis on that sentence. She gave it another shot.

Sasuke was talking to her.

Yes, that was better. But the oddest part was that not only was he talking, he wouldn't shut up. Yes, Uchiha Sasuke was chatting her up. And she had no idea why. Maybe now that she had rejected him he found her more interesting? Or perhaps he was just realizing his feelings for her after all these years? Or maybe it was even that male instinct to always want what you can't have?

It didn't matter, she told herself. He wouldn't have a snowball's chance in Hell anyway, no matter what his reasons.

'That's right!' Inner Sakura crossed her arms over her chest as she nodded her head quickly. 'Because we're Gaara's girl!'

'That's righ-' she paused. 'Wait a second! We're not his either.'

Inner scoffed. 'Maybe not right now, but soon enough we'll be his! Just as he shall be ours!'

'How can you say that when you have no idea how he even feels about us?'

'Well he must have some feelings for us.'

Sakura furrowed her brows. 'How so?'

'Seeing as how he's currently standing behind us glaring at Sasuke I'd think it was pretty apparent.'

Sakura jumped and whirled in her seat, and sure enough Gaara had his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed at the Uchiha next to her.

"G-good afternoon, Gaara," she smiled.

He glanced down at her and offered a brief smile in return. "Hn." Then he went back to glaring at Sasuke. His sand pulled a chair from the corner of the room, and then shoved Sakura and Sasuke away from each other to create a space for Gaara to seat himself between the two, making the already crammed table impossibly harder to maneuver in.

'He likes us, he likes us, he likes us, he likes us!' Inner cheered in a singsong voice.

'Don't get your hopes up yet, Inner. This could just be your typical male pissing contest.' Though Sakura secretly wanted to agree with her.

Sakura could see Sasuke glaring at Gaara. "Hey!"

Gaara glanced over at him with cold eyes that said 'what-the-fuck-do-you-want?'. Sasuke glared harder at him and turned away, choosing not to cause a scene. Because everyone knows that when you combine small spaces with food and drama, something's gonna get messy. Or more likely someone.

But Sakura wasn't thinking about that right now. No, she was too busy having her Inner squeal over the fact that Gaara was being possessive and that she was currently crammed closer to him than she'd ever been before. Their sides were pressed up against each other at that very moment.

And she was loving every second of it.

'Oh, he's soooo warm! Squeeze his bicep!'

'I will not!'

'You're no fun!'

'Get used to it!'

This entire episode was being watched by Temari across the table, who had been all eyes for her brother since he walked in. And if she could deduce Sakura's feelings for her brother by her facial expressions, then the girl liked Gaara a lot.

Temari smiled to herself as a sudden plan began to form in her head. Oh, this would be interesting.

Sabaku no Gaara

After the meal the group headed to the living room at Temari's behest, pushing all the furniture against the walls so the group had room to do whatever it was his oldest sibling had in mind.

Gaara was wary to follow his sister's instructions, knowing that whatever she had planned could not be good for him. She always felt the need to meddle in his private life, and he had no doubts now that she was up to something.

In the end the group was told to sit in a circle (Which went like this-Gaara, Sakura, Temari, Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji, Hinata, Naruto, Ino, Sasuke, Lee, Kankuro, Shino, Neji, Tenten, Gaara) while Temari placed an innocent little bottle in the middle. "We're going to play Truth or Dare-Spin the Bottle Style!" she exclaimed oh so cheerfully.

And thus the innocent little bottle became the world's deadliest ticking time bomb to all present.

Unfortunately, none had time to voice their opinions on the matter since Temari started what Gaara referred to in his head as 'the spin of death'. The bottle spun round and round until it finally landed on an unsuspecting Shikamaru.

"Shika-kun!" Temari smiled widely at the younger boy, who sighed and looked bored. "Okay, truth or dare?"

He gave another exaggerated sigh. "Troublesome, truth."

Temari pouted. "Oh, you're no fun! Okay then…," she thought for a few seconds, "have you ever used your shadow manipulation to make people do embarrassing things?"

Shikamaru rolled his head back to look at the ceiling. "What a drag, yes."

Gaara raised his eyebrows slightly. That was…surprising.

"Seriously?" Sakura looked over from her place next to him. "When?"

The bored boy looked over at the girl. "I made Ino dance around the middle of town like Chouji when he misses a meal."

'That does not sound good.'

The pink-haired medic nin laughed and Gaara found himself liking the sound. "I remember that!"

Ino scowled. "Well try forgetting it. Have you ever seen Chouji when he misses a meal? It isn't pretty, and I didn't enjoy impersonating it."

Temari chuckled. "Okay, okay. Let's continue on. Shika-kun, spin the bottle."

Shikamaru complied and the bottle found it's way to none other than Kankuro. "Troublesome, truth or dare?"

Kankuro smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Dare."

He was suddenly worried for his brother.

'Isn't that Shikamaru kid a genius?'

'Yes he is.'

'Your brother's an idiot.'

Gaara agreed with him. If the Nara boy was as smart as rumor and personal experiences with him implied, then he would know just how to get at Kankuro's weak spots.

He wasn't disappointed. "I dare you to let Akamaru play with one of your puppets."

Kankuro blanched underneath his hood and Akamaru popped out from his place stuffed in Kiba's jacket. Grumbling, Kankuro stood up and left the room only to return a few minutes later with what Gaara knew as his least valued puppet. But it was still precious to him.

Setting it on the ground, Akamaru jumped out of Kiba's coat and jumped on the pile of wooden limbs, chewing mercilessly on the defenseless objects. Kankuro watched, whimpering pathetically all the while. Gaara chuckled.

Kankuro shot him an evil look and spun the bottle.

Which landed on Gaara.

Karma at it's finest.

Gaara didn't like that glint in his brother's eyes and voiced his answer before Kankuro could ask. "Truth."

Kankuro pouted. "Fine." He took a deep breath and assumed a thinking position, stroking his chin with finger and thumb. "Ah! I got it." He smiled brightly. "Have you ever used your sand for kinky purposes?"

Silence. Then a torrent of laughter burst from all present, even drawing forth chuckles from the quiet Neji, Shino and Uchiha.

Gaara, however, was not amused. 'Have you been talking to my brother?'

'No! That's just Kankuro being his usual perverted self. But he stands no chance when it comes to me. I doubt he's ever thought of taking maple syrup and-'

'Don't even think of finishing that sentence, Shukaku. I do not want to know about you and your perverted ideas.'

The tanuki huffed. 'Fine, meanie.'

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "No, and before you can ask I do not plan to."

Kankuro frowned. "Boring."

Gaara ignored this and spun the cursed bottle, waiting to see what unlucky person it would land on next. It chose Lee as it's next victim.

He chose not to speak, opting to raise the skin of his 'eyebrow' to get his point across.

"Yosh! I choose the youthful truth!" Lee assumed the traditional good guy pose, teeth exposed in a wide smile that all in the room swore made a 'ping' sound as they flashed.

He would later swear that he went blind for 0.6 seconds before regaining his vision.

'What the hell does he brush his teeth with?!'

'I wouldn't be surprised if it was bleach.'

Gaara sighed. "Okay then." He passed a critical eye over the 'youthful' boy. "Have you ever not worn green spandex?" He earned a startled chuckle from the pinkette next to him, relieving him of his previous bad mood slightly.

"Of course not! I always wear this, for it shows my youthfulness with the youthful coloring and allows me to move faster when running laps of youth around Konoha! It helps me show my springtime of youthfulness to all!"

"Hn." He wondered if it was possible to use different forms of the word 'youth' too much.

Lee spun then, and to Gaara's chagrin he found himself on the end of the bottle that was starting to look less innocent and more evil with each spin.

"Okay Gaara! Youthful truth or the even more youthful dare!?"

'Oh oh! Dare, dare!'

'Fine! I'd better not regret this.'

"Dare."

"I dare you to youthfully impersonate Naruto for the rest of the game!"

'DAMN you Shukaku!'

The demon held up hands palms out in a gesture of peace. 'How was I to know the kid had a cruel streak?'

Gaara came back to himself in time to hear the voracious laughter of all gathered and the red face of Sakura as she tried to hold in said laughter. Her emerald eyes looked about to burst from her skull and the pink locks stood out in stark contrast to her face, which was still doing a fair job of becoming a tomato.

"Well Gaara? Let's see you do me!" Naruto was grinning a fool, arms crossed over his chest.

The red head winced visibly and bowed his head, collecting himself for the enormous task ahead of him.

'You'd better be mentally prepared for this.'

'No kidding.'

'But I do have an idea…'

He gave the tanuki a mental squinty eyed glare. 'What?'

'Well…' Shukaku quickly explained the details of his logic to Gaara, and for the first time he found himself glad for the demon's presence.

By the time he was ready the room had gone silent waiting for him to continue. He slowly lifted his head, looked at each of those present, then plastered a huge, foolish grin to his face. "Well? Let's keep playing! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to be the next Hokage, believe it!"

There was a pregnant silence following this, and it was Sakura who broke it. "That's actually…quite creepy." Several nods of affirmation followed her statement.

Gaara turned to the medic with an even bigger smile. This was where Shukaku's logic came into play. "Sakura-chan!" He lurched forward to wrap his arms around her midsection, burying his face in her side. "Come get ramen with me later! I love ramen!"

Sakura' s cheeks looked like two giant strawberries as the others looked on in disbelief at such behavior from the stoic Kazekage. In truth none of them had expected him to actually do it.

"U-umm," Sakura stuttered, "G-Gaara-kun, it-it's your turn to spin."

Gaara reached over with one hand to spin, opting to keep himself glued to Sakura's side rather than move.

The bottle came to rest on Tenten. "Okay, believe it! Truth or dare Tenten?"

"Uh…," the weapon's mistress hesitated, "…dare?"

Gaara inwardly smirked. Sure, there were benefits to impersonating Naruto, he snuggled closer to Sakura for emphasis to his own thoughts, but there were still a lot of downsides to it. Who said he couldn't be vindictive about it?

'Do it boy.'

'With pleasure.'

A huge innocent smile-fake, of course-appeared on his face, and his gaze settled on Tenten. "I dare you to sit in Neji's lap for the rest of this game."

Neji began to choke on his own spittle as Tenten's face became the home of two bright red apples-oh, wait. Those were her cheeks.

Everyone watched, cat calls and 'ooooo's sounding from all around circle, as Tenten whispered a quick 'sorry' to Neji and placed herself in his lap. To the untrained eye it would appear that the Hyuga male was unaffected, but upon closer inspection you could see a slight, barely noticeable blush dusting his face. For a few minutes everyone laughed and talked as the two relaxed from their stiff positions and Tenten gradually leaned back into Neji, resting against his well-formed chest.

"Okay, my turn." Tenten reached forward and took her turn with the glass container of evil. It spun round and round and stopped on Sakura.

Tenten gave a frightening smile. "Okay Sakura, truth or dare?"

Sakura sat up straighter-or, as straight as she could with him hugging her side, that is-and gave a confident grin. "Dare."

Haruno Sakura

Sakura regretted her choice instantly when she saw the sinister smile possessing the weapon's mistress, suddenly afraid for whatever the bun-haired girl had planned for her.

And the fact that she currently had the object of her affections glued to her side wasn't helping her nerves much.

'But you know you like it!' Inner protested in her mind.

'That's not the point!'

"Sakura," said girl came back from her inner musings, "I dare you to go skinny dipping in the mansion's pool."

'Holy shit!'

Jaws dropped, people gasped, eyes widened, and Sakura gave nervous chuckles. "You're joking, right?"

That sinister smile grew on Tenten's face. "Nope. I mean it."

Sakura blinked. "No. Way."

Tenten smirked. "You have to do it Sakura."

Grumbling, she stood up and gently removed Gaara's hands from their position around her midsection, stomping in the direction of the pool as the others stood to follow.

The Sabaku's pool was about thirty feet long, twenty feet wide, and reached a depth of up to twelve feet. A case full of floaties and other poolside toys sat against the far wall, and a slide rested against one side next to a diving board.

"You want me to skinny dip? Fine! I'll skinny dip!" She began to strip down to her birthday suit as the others watched, or well, the girls watched. The males were all being forced to look the other way by the females under penalty of death.

'Take it off, girl!'

When she'd made it down to her bare skivvies, she ran to the diving board and jumped in with a graceful dive. When she resurfaced Sakura pushed her hair back from her face and looked to the group to find all present watching. That's when the embarrassment decided to kick in. She blushed and ducked lower in the water. "Okay guys, can you turn around now? I'd like to get out."

They all laughed and left the room, letting her get out and change before heading back to the living room and taking her place again, where Gaara did the Naruto act and resumed his position around her stomach.

Ignoring the snickers of those around her, she spun the bottle and focused on what she was going to make her victim do. Fate must have been smiling down on her, because the bottle decided Ino was a good choice to land on.

'Muahahahahaha! Finally, someone we can actually enjoy torturing!'

'Couldn't agree with you more.'

Keeping her face innocent, she turned to her old rival. "Ino-pig, truth or dare?"

Ino's smirk was confident. "Dare, Forehead."

It was then that Sakura let her features transform into that of insane vindictiveness, a deranged witch cackle bursting from her throat. Everyone around her grew suddenly wary and leaned away just a tiny bit. Well, all but Gaara, who was too busy snuggling her to care. Sakura liked that. A lot.

Anyway, back to Ino. She suddenly didn't look so confident. "W-what…?"

She ceased in her laughter and gave a toothy grin. "Ino, I dare you to do a striptease for Kiba!"

Ino blanched, and Kiba sucked in a surprised breath. "NEVER!"

Sakura blinked prettily at her, all feigned innocence once more. "Ah, but Ino, you don't have a choice. Or…are you too chicken to do it?"

That had the effect she wanted. That old spark of rivalry ignited in her blonde friend, Ino's eyes blazed with determination and stubborn rebelliousness. "Fine! Kiba!" she whipped her head to face the boy, who suddenly looked like a frightened puppy-much like the one hiding from her in his jacket. "Get a chair from the kitchen and then sit in it."

When he came back with the chair, setting it in an open area of the living room, he sat as Ino had instructed. Said girl then stood up and walked over to Kiba, straddling his legs as she sat on his knees.

Sakura watched, rapt, partly from how comical it was, and partly from curiosity. Ino loosed her ponytail and brushed her hands over her breasts, up her neck and into her hair, running her fingers through the strands. She arched her back as she pulled her shirt slowly over her midsection, finally removing it from her person altogether and revealing a lacy purple bra beneath.

Kiba's face was a hilarious shade of red. And when Ino commenced to stand up and walk around him, brushing her hands across his chest and back, before setting one leg across his lap and start removing her bottoms, he began to vaguely resemble the dark red of the shower curtains in Sakura' s bathroom.

Ino was now in her panties and bra, and she straddled his legs once again, only this time pressing close so her body melded to his. When it appeared as though she would go further and reached around to the clasp of her bra, Sakura was quick to end it. "Okay! No one wants to see that, Ino! You can stop now!"

Ino stood up, a triumphant look on her face and nose in the air as she put her clothes back on and sat down in her spot. Everyone was either red in the face, twitching profusely, or giggling uncontrollably. That is, until they all noticed that Kiba hadn't yet moved from his position on the chair.

"Uh, Kiba? You can move now."

No response.

"Kiba? Helloooo? Anybody home?"

Nothing.

"H-his fa-face is get-getting r-redder…"

"Such youthful stillness!"

"Hn."

"It appears destiny has frozen him."

"Neji, shut up about destiny!"

"His face is turning blue, cha!"

"Inner! Get back in there!"

"Dattebayo! I don't think he's breathing!"

"I think Ino's youthful striptease was too much for his youth!"

"If he says any variation of the word 'youth' one more freaking time…"

"Hn."

"So-someone shou-should help K-Kiba-kun…"

"I can make bugs crawl on him and-"

"Eww! Too icky!"

"I can use my sand to squeeze him, believe it!"

"I think squeezing would only make it worse imitation Naruto…"

"Sakura-chan!"

"He's cuddling her again."

"Ah, otouto!"

"That's creepy."

"It's his destiny to do so."

"DAMMIT NEJI! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT DESTINY?!"

"Someone help Kiba!"

In the end Kiba passed out before anyone could decide how to help him, and they had to use smelling salts normally reserved for Hinata to wake him up. He refused to speak of the situation and they game resumed.

Ino spun the bottle, landing on Neji. The stoic Hyuga chose the easy route. "Truth."

Ino tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Okay then. Neji, is it true that you like Tenten? As in, like her like her?"

Neji's jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

'Well that certainly made a reaction.'

'I smell drama!' Inner replied in a singsong voice.

The Hyuga boy mumbled under his breath.

"Sorry, what was that?" Ino cupped a hand to her ear.

He spoke a bit louder.

"Still can't hear you!"

"YES, OKAY?! I like Tenten!"

Tenten blushed and squirmed on Neji's lap, and he was doing his best not to do so as well. Both refused to look at the other.

Ino glared at him. "Fine, jeez. No need to get snarky about it."

Neji ignored her and pursed his lips, spinning the bottle and watching it land on Naruto. "Dare, believe it!"

Neji stared at him stoically, but was obviously feeling the urge to take his frustration out on somebody because he dared something frightening. "I dare you to kiss Uchiha."

There was a pregnant silence and much blinking following that statement. "You're kidding?! I can't kiss teme!"

Neji smirked. "Afraid?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Never!"

"Oh, so your just afraid he'll find out your feelings for him if you do?"

Naruto positively fumed, you could almost see the steam coming out of his ears. "I am not gay."

Neji shrugged. "Whatever you have to tell yourself."

Naruto seethed, then in a quick flash he grabbed Sasuke's arm and pulled him forward, planting a deep kiss on him that sang of teeth and tongue, so as to make it undisputable that he had done his part in the dare. Ino, who sat between them, leaned back and widened her eyes.

Naruto pulled back after a few seconds, pushing the stunned Sasuke back into his place. He glared at Neji. "There! Happy now?"

Neji's eye was twitching. "Actually, I'm quite disgusted." The rest of the males in the group nodded assent to this evaluation.

That was not true on Sakura's part, however.

'Woah.'

'Yeah.'

'That was so…' Inner trailed off, just for Sakura to finish the sentence aloud, Tenten, Temari, Ino, and even Hinata saying it with her at exactly the same moment.

"Sexy."

Apparently, all the females agreed with her.

The boys all stopped their grumblings to look at each girl in turn, and even Gaara paused in his cuddling to cast a disbelieving glance up at her. "What?" They all spoke as one as the girls had.

"Well," Sakura explained, "it's just that I don't think any of us have actually seen yaoi up close before."

"Yeah," added Temari, "and it was strangely-"

All five spoke at once again. "Arousing."

The boys all blinked at their respective friends and crushes, both horrified and curious to the inner workings of the girls' minds that could have led them to this conclusion.

But the topic was broken off suddenly since all decided that this was a subject best not discussed amongst mixed genders, and Naruto spun the bottle to land on Sasuke. "Teme, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Sasuke whispered, just barely out of his daze.

Naruto grimaced at his choice, and spent several moments afterwords thinking about what he could ask him. He groaned. "Okay, dattebayo, since I can't think of anything good here's a stupid question. Is it true Kabuto has asked you in the past to do a threesome with himself and Orochimaru?"

All rolled their eyes, thinking the answer was obviously no. But when the ravenette blanched, it became apparent that was not so.

'Oh. My. God.'

"He didn't…," Sakura gasped.

Sasuke nodded minutely. "He did."

A split-second of quiet, then, "Ewww."

Obviously deciding to keep people from asking him more questions on the matter, Sasuke took his turn and the bottle landed on the silent Shino. "Truth or dare?"

Shino didn't even hesitate. "Dare."

"Hn." Sasuke looked around the room for a second. "I dare you to kill that spider in the corner."

Shino raised an eyebrow before sending out a larger spider from his sleeve to kill the offending creature. It took about thirty seconds total. "Anything else?"

Sasuke frowned. "I though it would have at least made him hesitate."

Shino shrugged, then spun the cursed bottle of hell to land on Kiba. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Kiba answered with confidence.

"I dare you to give Akamaru to Hinata."

Kiba frowned, obviously expecting something more difficult. "That's it?" Shino nodded. "Okay then." He handed Akamaru over to Hinata, who tucked the puppy in her jacket.

'Well. That was anticlimactic.'

'Booooring!'

Kiba spun then, and landed on the nervous Hinata. "Alright Hina-chan. Truth or dare?"

"T-truth, please," she added on the end in a whisper.

Kiba gave a lopsided grin. "Is it true you like Naruto?"

Hinata's flush was ten shades of red. "Y-y-y-yes!" Then she immediately ducked down to fiddle with her fingers.

The girls were proud of Hinata for her admittance, and the males were watching with amusement as a small blush colored Naruto's cheek bones. Then the timid girl reached out a slightly shaking hand and took a turn with the 'wheel of death'. It landed on Chouji, whom everyone had almost completely forgotten about in all the drama and chaos of the game.

"T-truth or da-dare?" Hinata glanced at the rounded boy.

Chouji, who'd been eating chips the whole game and not really paying much attention at all, blinked a few times and answered in between a bite. "Tru-," gulp, "truth."

"Is it-it true tha-that in a life or de-death situation yo-you would go b-back to sa-save the f-food?"

Chouji nodded. "Yep." As if to accent his point, he took a particularly large handful of chips and stuffed them all at once in his mouth.

'That's strangely amazing.'

'No, that's gross! And you say I'm the weird one.'

By now it had gotten late and it was decided that one more game would be played before they went to bed.

"What shall we play?" Tenten asked Temari, who appeared to be the master of games for the party.

Temari smiled. "Why, Seven Minutes in Heaven of course!" She looked at Sakura. "Are you aware that you've been stroking my brother's hair since you got back from skinny dipping?"

She blinked and looked down at her hand. Sure enough, the traitorous limb was buried in Gaara's locks. Blushing, she swiftly removed it.

Temari chuckled. "And Gaara? You can let go of Sakura. The game's over, you don't have to act like Naruto anymore. Same for you Tenten."

The two in question froze in what they were doing, then Tenten scrambled off Neji like he was on fire, shooting apologies at him in rapid succession. Gaara merely placed a calm mask over his features and pulled away from Sakura, crossing his arms over his chest with an almost imperceptible 'Hn'.

Temari rolled her eyes and then proceeded to pull out a hat from one of the closets, putting in pre-made paper slips. "Okay, what I've done is written out the numbers one through seven twice on fourteen slips, so one at a time each of us will pick a slip and, without showing it to anyone, go to the closet indicated. The slip also tells which closet that number is, so you know where to go. Then the next person will draw, and so on so forth. Unfortunately since there's an odd number of us, someone's going to have to sit out. But that person will also alert the others when the seven minutes are up."

Chouji raised a hand. "I'll do it."

She smiled. "Thanks, Chouji. There's a speaker system in the house, so just press the button on the wall by the door and speak near that little metal speaker next to it okay?" He nodded. "Alright then. Oh! And you're not allowed to speak or turn on the closet lights, so you don't know who you're with until it's over. And knock on the door before you enter so that if anyone else is inside they can close their eyes as the other person enters and the person entering shall close theirs as well. Everyone understood?"

All but Naruto nodded affirmation, but after having Hinata gently explain it too him as simply as he could he got the gist of it and nodded as well. Sakura took the last slip, smiling to herself.

'This might just be fun.'

Inner laughed exuberantly. 'Let the games begin!'

With Group 1:Naruto & Shino

Naruto stood, bouncing on the balls of his feet, his eyes unseeing in the dark. His partner stood across from him, but he had no idea whatsoever who it could be. Was it Sakura? Ino? Kankuro?

'Please stop with your incessant babbling! You're giving me a head ache.'

Naruto stopped bouncing. 'Who're you?'

The fox facepalmed. 'Kyuubi! I'm Kyuubi! You know, nine-tailed fox? Sealed in you as a baby?'

'Oh right!' Naruto paused. 'Hi!'

Kyuubi twitched. 'Shut up. Anyway, if you want to know who you're with, why not just reach over and find out?'

'Good idea!'

Naruto put out his hand, and felt it hit something flat. He squeezed a bit. It felt slightly soft. A chest? It was clothed…so either he was with a guy or a flat-chested girl. Tenten, maybe?

He was about to bring his investigations further, but a sudden stinging sensation on his hand made him pull back with a yelp. Then the burning itch continued upward, as something crawled over his face and arms. He began to bat away at it as fast as he could, hearing the squelching noises as he squashed whatever was on him.

'Bad idea, bad idea!'

The Kyuubi gave an embarrassed chuckle. 'Oops.'

Shino stood in the closet, the darkness intensified by the sunglasses he wore, his back to the other person in there with him. He was stock still, not moving or making a sound. He honestly didn't care much about whoever was in there with him, it made no difference.

When he felt a hand press against him, he was jarred mentally. Someone was touching him. And that was definitely not his back.

The hand squeezed, clenching Shino's ass a bit tighter. And that's when Shino lost his cool.

Even he had a breaking point.

He let his bugs out to swarm over the closet's other occupant, and the hand retreated with a yelp. A very male yelp. Shino found himself blinking rapidly. He'd just had his ass squeezed by a guy.

Suddenly, the intercom system sounded in the speakers on the closet's ceiling. "You can," munch munch, "come out now."

Shino flung the door open like a bat out of Hell and whirled to see who had been with him. He found Naruto staring back at him.

"Shino?" Naruto was shocked.

"Naruto," Shino acknowledged, his tone icy. "Do you make it a habit to grope people's asses on a daily basis?"

Naruto paled, and rubbed a bug-bitten hand behind his head, which was also quite bitten. "Oops."

With Group 2:Sasuke & Gaara

Sasuke's arms were cross over his chest. He didn't know who was with him, but he sure as heck wasn't going to be the one that initiated contact to try and find out. The room was pitch black, and he couldn't see well enough to find an outline to tell if it was male or female.

He didn't want to take any chances.

Instead, he stewed over the problem he was having in his mind. That Sabaku no Gaara had hung off Sakura for nearly all of Truth or Dare. Who did that sand brat think he was?! Sakura was his. She always would be his. She must have just been feeling ill when he came back, he decided. How else would she have been able to resist him when he walked into the village?

He nodded to himself. Yes, that was it. He was Uchiha Sasuke, after all. He had fangirls that outnumbered over half the guys he knew. He was irresistible.

Reassured, Sasuke went to step to the left to reposition himself more comfortably and slipped on something to fall face forward into the other person in the closet.

Gaara had his eyes closed to the other resident of the closet, not caring who was there. Right now his attentions were focused inward.

'You did good boy,' Shukaku complimented. 'She was soft wasn't she? Now if you'd just get her in bed and lock the door-'

'I do not want to hear this Shukaku,' Gaara replied, annoyed. Then his voice was a bit softer, more embarrassed. 'She was soft though.'

The tanuki laughed. 'You see, what I tell you? My plan worked out fine.'

'I suppose it did,' he conceded.

'Now all we have to worry about is the Uchiha.'

'What do you suggest.' Gaara took a moment to reflect on the fact that he was asking advice from the being he most hated in the world-besides Sasuke, of course, who was attempting to steal his woman-but it was soon forgotten when the raccoon dog demon answered.

'Is killing him an option?'

'I don't think so.'

Gaara's eyes shot open when he felt something fall forward into him, finding it to be his partner in the room. The person was grabbing at his arms to keep from falling, and Gaara winced at the close contact with an unknown person.

The intercom came on then. "You can," munching, "come out now."

Gaara pushed off the other person, sending them to the floor, and kicked open the door. Whirling around now that he could see, he twitched when it was the Uchiha looking horrified up at him.

'Can we kill him now?'

He narrowed his eyes. 'Perhaps.'

With Group 3:Lee & Ino

Lee was excited. That's the only word that would describe it. Well, that or youthful. He positively shook in his spandex. He was shrouded by darkness, but his fiery youth would light his path! He would prevail in this test of his spirit! For Gai-sensei!

Finding himself wanting to share his youth with his companion, Lee reached out and grabbed the person's arm, pulling them forward and bringing them with him as he danced and twirled in the small space.

He jumped up, the person coming with him, as a rainbow suddenly appeared from nowhere beneath their feet and he lifted his friend against him as he spun in circles. He flashed a bright smile down at the person who was with him, his teeth flashing a bright white light and making an audible 'ping!' sound.

He ducked and jumped, opting to do that for a while as a sunset appeared in the background.

And Lee danced on.

Ino resisted the urge to sigh as she waited for these seven minutes to be up. She didn't know who she was with, but it didn't really matter to her right now. She wanted to get out of here and try to avoid any awkward situations-

And it was then that she was pulled forward suddenly against a flat, male chest.

This person spun her, twirled her, dipped her so low her ponytail brushed the ground, and then did it all over again. Then he jumped, and she was in the air for a few seconds just to find herself 'dancing' some more on…a freaking rainbow?!

The boy she was with pulled her tighter to him, lifting her off her feet and she was suddenly spinning in circles. Her stomach lurched with all the fast movement, rejecting the treatment her body was receiving. A flash of white filled her vision, making her even more blind than she already was, and a loud 'ping!' reverberated through her ears.

Then the rainbow disappeared, and they were once again on the floor of the closet. She relaxed a bit, thinking that whoever it was would release her now, but she had no such luck. Because seconds later they were ducking and jumping, ducking and jumping, over and over in a continuous version of a bunny hop. A sunset had appeared behind them.

Wait, a sunset? Suddenly things clicked together in her mind. The dancing, the rainbow, the white flash, the 'ping!', and the sunset. There was only one person she knew who could possibly be the cause of all this…

"You can," Chouji munched, "come out now."

The person who's identity she'd discovered opened the door and they twirled out before finally coming to a stop.

Lee!

Said boy released her. "That was youthfully fun Ino-san! We should definitely do it again!"

Ino turned green at the thought, almost matching his spandex.

She might never dance again.

With Group 4:Tenten & Kankuro

Tenten stared at the ceiling, her mind anywhere but on the place she was currently in-one of the house's larger closets, there was plenty of room for her to move comfortably.

Currently her thoughts were focused around Neji. She was delighted with his confession earlier. Now she knew for a fact that her feelings were reciprocated on his part. It was just a matter of waiting for him to ask her out.

She frowned. But what if he didn't? Knowing Neji, that would be like him. Ever stoic, he would most likely continue on as if nothing had happened between them, as though he'd never said anything at all.

She almost groaned. So did that mean she should ask him? Or would he think she was being too forward? Maybe she should just confess to him and leave it his hands, that way the fear of rejection wouldn't play into the situation. Yes, that sounded good.

Smiling, Tenten felt happier now that she had a plan, but that happiness flew out the window like a cannon shot when a hand sudden clamped down on her breast.

Kankuro was bored. Utterly and totally bored. There was nothing to do in this damn closet!

He glanced over at where his closet companion stood. A sudden idea raced through his mind. What was Seven Minutes in Heaven without a bit of fun? He grinned lasciviously. He wasn't called the perverted sibling for nothing.

Moving slowly, he approached the figure and reached out a hand to where the person's chest should be. He was delighted when his fingers found a fleshy mound covered by thin cloth, that meant he was in here with a girl.

His excitement was short lived.

After tensing for a second, the girl sprang at him, knocking him to the ground as she slashed at him with a kunai she'd pulled from who knew where.

Kankuro rolled around, trying his best to avoid the sharp edge of the blade. He felt it slice his cheek, and his hood was shredded. Small nicks and cuts spotted his arms as he used them to block his face as best he could after her initial assault.

"You can," crunching, "come out now."

As soon as he heard the intercom Kankuro reached for the door and opened it, knowing if he didn't his life could very well end here. He tumbled out with the other girl straddling him, who he found to be Tenten.

The weapon's mistress glared down at him, her kunai pressed to his throat. "If you ever try something like that again you will wake up one morning to find yourself castrated."

Kankuro gulped.

With Group 5:Neji & Hinata

Neji leaned casually against the wall, knowing it was Hinata who stood with him in the closet. She knew it was him too, because she'd inclined her head at him when he walked in. They could sense each others presence like that, being relatives.

They both opted to ignore each other during the time in here, and Neji spent his time with more productive thoughts.

Tenten. What was he to do about this? He was a gentleman, so was it proper to just ask her out? Or would she think that old fashioned? Should he wait for her to ask him?

Then came the worst thought. What if she rejected him? That was probably his most immediate problem, because he definitely didn't like the idea of rejection. He could wait until he knew for certain which way her feelings went for him, then ask her or not.

Yes, that sounded good.

It came out of nowhere. One minute he was just standing there, minding his own, and suddenly there was a big ball of barking fluff attached to his skull. He yelled and lurched from his position, and he saw the silhouette that was Hinata jump from her seated position to try and help him.

Hinata sat staring at the wall, not knowing what to do with her time. She knew what she was going to do about Naruto, just wait for him to make a move. She'd done her part, now it was his turn.

Feeling slightly warm, she unzipped her jacket a bit, completely forgetting that Akamaru still resided there. The dog jumped from it's confines, landing agilely on Neji-nii-san's head. He yelled and fell forward a bit, and Hinata had a moment to wonder at the height the dog had managed before jumping up herself to help him.

She tried to pry Akamaru off the top of his head, but the stubborn thing would not let go. His tail wagged swiftly, whacking Neji upside the head repeatedly. When the intercom came on it wasn't a moment too soon.

"You can," loud chewing, "come out now."

The door was thrown open by Neji who then toppled to the ground. Hinata followed after, looking down at him.

"Neji-nii-san, a-are you al-alright?" she asked worriedly.

Neji looked at the dog now resting on his chest, then at her, then at Akamaru again. He sighed. "Dammit."

With Group 6:Sakura & Kiba

Sakura was speaking with her Inner as she stood in the closet with her unknown someone.

'It's easy! All you have to do is tie him to the bed-'

'You are not helping matters any, Inner.'

'You are so stubborn! I swear if you just locked yourself in a room with him, ropes, and a half-edged sword then let me out, I'd have him screaming our name.'

'You are sick. And where the hell am I gonna get a half-edged sword?!'

Inner shrugged. 'What do you want to bet Kankuro owns one?'

'I wouldn't take you up on it, because it's likely you'd be right.' Sakura glared mentally. 'Now be quiet so I can enjoy this time in relative peace.'

Inner rolled her eyes. 'Fine, fine.' She disappeared.

Sakura shook her head. Inner could be such a hassle sometimes.

She froze when she felt something run along her jaw. A nose? Someone was sniffing her.

Suddenly Sakura saw red. It didn't matter what they were doing, they were way too close. She began to pump chakra into her hand.

Kiba shifted from foot to foot, attempting to entertain himself. But there was very little to do in a closet with someone who's identity you were unsure of.

He glanced over at the person in the room with him, sniffing the air. There was a feminine scent to it. So he was here with a girl.

Unable to resist his dog urges with the scent heightened in the confined space of the room, he moved slightly closer to the girl, sniffing all the while. He got close enough so as to sniff along her jaw, his mind completely out of it and not comprehending exactly what he was doing or to who.

That is, of course, until a chakra infused fist smashed into his stomach and sent him crashing into the door, breaking it down even as Chouji's voice came on the intercom.

"You can," chomp chomp, "come out now."

He looked up as he came back to himself, his eyes finding Sakura standing over him with her arms crossed, eyes blazing and right hand still faintly glowing.

"Don't ever do that again. Understand?"

Kiba nodded. "Yes." What else could he say?

After all, he valued his life.

With Group 7:Shikamaru & Temari

Shikamaru studied the silhouette of the person in the closet with him, trying to identify who it was. He could vaguely make out who four ponytails and a feminine figure if he looked hard enough. So he was here with Temari.

A slight smile came to the lazy genius's face. Not a full one, because he was too lazy to make the effort. So she was the one in here with him, huh?

He thought of his options. He could ignore her, pretend like he didn't know she was in here. Or he could take this for the opportunity it obviously was and make his move on the wind mistress he had feelings for.

He rolled his head back. Why did things like this always have to be so troublesome?

Mind made up, Shikamaru stepped forward to swiftly plant his hands on her shoulders before leaning forward and kissing her.

Temari also was studying the silhouette of the person with her. She recognized instantly the outline of the pineapple like ponytail that belonged to Shikamaru.

Her heart skipped in her chest. He was here! In the closet with her! Did he know it was her? Most likely, he was a genius after all. So what did she do? What could she do?

She saw his head swivel back to look at the ceiling. What was he thinking? Did it have to do with her? Why did things like this always have to be such a complicated mess?

Suddenly Shikamaru stepped towards her, putting his hands on her shoulders. She had a brief second to wonder what he was going to do before his lips crashed into hers.

Temari felt a jolt of pure electricity wash down her spine. Shikamaru was kissing her! What did she do? What did she do?!

Kiss him back, obviously.

She slid her hands up his chest and around the younger boy's neck, pressing closer and moving her lips against his. Her eyes closed against her will, and she felt rather than saw Shikamaru's hands glide down her sides to settle around her waist.

"You can," eating sounds, "come out now."

They pulled apart slowly, eyes opening at the same time. They stared at each other for a second, then Shikamaru opened the door, taking her hand and pulling her gently through with him. As they walked down the hallway, he paused in front of her suddenly.

He glanced back over his shoulder and squeezed her hand slightly, the lightest of blushes on his cheeks. Then he looked forward again and kept walking as he murmured, "You aren't too troublesome."

Temari smiled.

Haruno Sakura

By the time everyone had gathered in the living room again they all looked well ready for bed. Well, most anyway. Temari and Shikamaru were seated on the couch, Temari leaning against his shoulder with his arm around her. They were the only ones who seemed fine.

Neji had dog scratches on his forehead, and bits of dog drool in his hair. Hinata held a guilty looking Akamaru. Naruto was covered in bug bites. Shino was twitching uncontrollably. Sasuke wasn't too bad, just thoroughly dazed. Gaara seemed extremely pissed. Kiba was pained in the stomach, of course. Lee was Lee. Kankuro had his hood in shreds and cuts and scratches all over his arms and on his cheek. Ino looked positively green. Tenten was livid. And finally Chouji appeared to have passed out from all the food.

Sakura shook her head. Only her friends.

Then something interesting happened. Tenten spotted Neji and marched up to him. Grabbing hold of the front of his shirt, she pulled him forward until he was eye level.

"Hyuga Neji," she stated, voice firm, "I like you. As more than friends."

'Way to go Tenten!'

Silence came over the room as everyone awaited his reaction. He stared at her for a second, then grabbed her and pulled her to him to press his lips to hers. His answer was obvious. Whistles and hoots and hollers came from the watching crowd.

'Ooooh, there's gonna be some rumble in the jungle tonight!'

'Pervert.'

When they were done, it appeared Naruto decided it was his turn to do something drastic. He stood in front of Hinata, his face red and eyes filled with determination. "Hinata I like you, believe it!"

Hinata eyed him for a split-second, then in a flash she had jumped into his arms and was kissing him for all she had.

'Woah Hinata!'

'Who knew she had it in her, aye?'

Apparently it was a night for confessions, because unexpected to everyone Ino had traversed the room to stand in front of Kiba. She practically threw him to the ground and straddled his waist. "Kiba I like you!" Then they too were kissing.

Sakura stared. What the hell was going on?! Had they all decided to make this an unofficial hook up night and she'd somehow missed the memo?!

Apparently so, because next thing she knew Sasuke was in front of her.

"Sakura," he said, in that voice that would have melted her when she was twelve, "I like you."

She blinked.

She blinked again.

WHAT?!

"Sasuke," she sighed, "I'm sorry. I don't like you that way."

'I barely like him at all.'

'You said it girl.'

Now it was his turn to blink. "What?"

She groaned, shaking her head, and opted to ignore him and go to her room and try to get some sleep. Lord knew she was going to need it after having to live through a day like today.

Sabaku no Gaara

Gaara watched Sakura leave the room, his mind whirling. She'd just rejected the Uchiha. That was a good sign for him, wasn't it?

'I swear boy, if you don't go up there right now and ravish her I will never leave you a moment's peace for as long as you shall live!'

He agreed with him, excepting the ravishing part. Disappearing in a swirl of sand, he reappeared outside her bedroom door. He hesitated for just a second before knocking on the smooth wooden surface.

Sakura answered, already in a nightgown and her things packed beside the bed for the morning's journey from Suna. Her eyes widened when she saw him.

She stepped aside to let him in. "Gaara! What are you doing here?"

He nodded at her as he entered, glancing around the room as he tried to figure out what he should do now.

'Well, look at what the others downstairs did. It worked for them, didn't it?'

Gaara nodded. Made sense. Actions speak louder than words, after all.

He turned on his heel and faced her back as she closed the door, and the second she turned around he had her pinned to it by her wrists.

"Gaara!" she gasped out, shocked with his actions, no doubt.

He looked down at her, her emerald eyes that enchanted him so easily with such little effort from her. Her pink hair, so soft and smooth it made silk look like steel wool. Her creamy skin that was so warm and free of blemishes. She was beautiful. She was an angel.

She was his.

He moved slowly, so it was obvious to her what he planned to do, and gave her time to stop him if she wished.

She didn't.

When their lips touched it was like two pieces of a puzzle fitting together. Perfect. Eternal. Right. They melded together like they'd done it before, like their lips had always been waiting for just this moment. They didn't even have to take it slow. Tongues slid between parted lips to touch tentatively at first, then dance and twine together in some erotic and complicated dance as old as time itself.

When they parted their eyes met and locked, and both smiled at the same time. For a moment everything was perfect. They were together, and that was all that mattered.

Of course, the moment was effectively ruined by an extremely happy Shukaku.

'Can you feel the looooooovvveeeee tonight!'

'Shukaku, you cannot sing.'

'Nope, but I can show you a thing or two about se-'

'Don't even think about it.'

The tanuki grumbled but retreated, and it was just him and Sakura once again. He held her to him, and she gladly wrapped her arms around him as he buried his face in her hair.

"I have to go back to Konoha tomorrow," she whispered.

A flash of pain came with the realization of her words. That's right, she would have to leave. He breathed in her sweet smell, and if comforted him. His mind cleared as he smiled.

"It's alright," Gaara assured, "we'll figure it out. We'll find a way. It will work out."

And they would, because now that the pieces of the puzzle were together, not even hell itself could take it apart again.

Sakura left the next day as she said she would, but Gaara was right when he said it would work out. Two months later Sakura moved to Suna, and within the year the two were married. Complications arose as they will, for it is only natural in the way of the world, but they overcame them together.

Shukaku and Inner remained, of course, just as perverted and odd as ever. But they were welcomed, because if not for their help the two might have never found the courage to find each other.

Two years after their wedding, Sakura became pregnant. She had a little boy with red hair and emerald green eyes. He had his father's strength and his mother's heart. He made friends with the children of all the couples in Konoha that formed on that party night so many years ago, and also with his cousin born of Shikamaru and Temari.

As for Sasuke? Well, he ended up with a random fangirl. Shocking, yes, but it turns out that all he ever wanted after all was for someone to completely and totally obsess over him and that would cater to his every whim.

Who would of guessed, right?

…okay, so just about anyone, but it's the thought that counts.

And so as the saying goes, they lived happily ever after in their little puzzle pieces of perfection.

The end.