As usual, Gaara was up and heading toward school before any of his siblings. And as usual, he was thinking constantly about Hinata Hyuuga. Within the past two weeks they had always found a couple of minutes to talk to each other, but never for very long. Still, Gaara felt an attraction to her. He slipped into homeroom and took his place in the back as usual. He saw the timid Hinata take a seat near the very front of the room. Gaara sighed silently. All his life he had loved nor liked anyone, not even his siblings. So why did he feel this was whenever he saw the Hyuuga girl? It was a mystery. He didn't pay attention at all as Kakashi sensei entered the room, very late as usual. Gaara dazed for the rest of the day until lunch.

"Umm, Gaara-kun?" A hesitant voice called out. Gaara turned around to see a very red faced Hinata calling him. "Umm, I was wondering if you wanted to, well, if you wanted to sit with me and my friends at lunch." Hinata motioned toward her table where Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, Ino, and Choji were sitting. Gaara shrugged and nodded. He followed Hinata over to her table.

"Hi Gaara!" Ino exclaimed, Sakura rolled her eyes at her friend's flirtatious attitude. Sasuke turned Ino around and gave her a kiss. "Oops! Sorry Sasuke!" Ino giggled at Sasuke, giving him a big grin. Sasuke seemed to immediately forgive Ino.

"Umm this is Ino. And the pink haired girl is Sakura, Choji's sitting next to her, Sasuke's the black haired one, and Naruto's the blonde one." Hinata introduced everyone. Everyone gave Gaara a 'hi' in return. He sat down and nodded at them in acknowledgement. Everyone was pointing and whispering at Gaara. The clique was probably the most popular in the school, with Ino as the leader. Within two days of going to the school, Gaara had been accepted into the group.

"Has Hinata told you about the party tomorrow? It's going to be at the all and wonderful Hyuuga mansion. Eight a clock." Ino giggled. Gaara noted that Ino giggled practically every other sentence. "I'm coming with Sasuke, and guess who asked Sakura?" Sakura turned bright red, but Naruto simply grinned.

"Sakura and I are going to the party together." Naruto announced, giving Sakura a goofy smile. Ino laughed and continued.

"So, Shikamaru is going with Temari, no surprise there. They've been flirting for the longest time, I wish he would just ask her out! Oh, Hinata you really should ask someone. Choji, you don't have a chance with anyone!" Ino laughed, and Choji looked very indignant at Ino's last sentence.

"I'm just too good for all those girls!" Choji retorted, and everyone at the table except for Gaara began to crack up. Choji lapsed into silence for the rest of the lunch while the others discussed the party.

"O fuck! Hinata, can you get the drinks? My dad thinks I've been drinking too much lately." Sakura rolled her eyes at her dad's foolishness.

"Of course I can. My dad hardly cares about what I do." Hinata replied. "And don't worry Ino; I can't be dateless at my own party."

"Thing about you is your too shy Hinata. Loosen up and find a nice guy for you." Ino scolded. Hinata looked over at Gaara, but turned away quickly.

"Oh yeah, so you know that girl, what's her name again? Um. The one that's been really annoying lately." Sakura piped up suddenly.

"Oh! Tenten? Anyways, I've heard those two guys, Kankuro and your brother Hinata, they're totally crushing on her." Ino replied, rolling her eyes. "And speaking of crushes Hinata, Kiba, Shino, and Lee totally have the hots for you."

"I don't like them, so don't even think about trying to hook me up Ino." Hinata replied firmly, Ino pouted.

Gaara spent the rest of the lunch listening and mostly looking over at Hinata, she really was quite cute. Lunch passed without anything interesting occurring, and the bell rang in no time at all. Gaara barely listened to Anko sensei as she lectured during science. Jiraiya sent the class to work on page 221 while he 'researched' on the internet. In his last period, Gaara was sitting right next to Hinata. He could see her blushing out of the corner of her eye. Iruka told the class to do whatever they wanted all period, and Gaara was soon talking to Hinata. He actually found himself smiling at Hinata, which was extremely unusual of him.

"Are you going to go to the party Gaara-kun?" Hinata asked. Gaara noted that she was the only person in the school who said 'kun' to him.

"I'm not really sure. I might." Gaara replied. He could imagine going to the party with Hinata, arriving there with her, and spending the night with her. Hinata's voice broke through his daydreams.

"I- I was wondering if y-you would g-go t-t-to the party w-with m-me." Hinata managed to stammer out. She turned bright red and buried her head in her hands. Off of an impulse, Gaara lifted her face up and cupped her chin in his hand.

"Why wouldn't I go with you?" Gaara asked her, smiling at her. Gaara, for the first time in his life, felt truly happy. Here was someone he truly felt comfortable and at ease with. In the last forty-five minutes Hinata had broke down all of Gaara's barriers, but he had no problem with it. For the last sixteen years of his life, Gaara had never met anyone who could take away his barriers. Not even Temari or Kankuro could do it, he never expected a girl he had just met to awaken another part of him. For the first time, he felt like a person, and not like a social outcast. "Thank you Hinata." Hinata looked up at him.

"For what?" Hinata asked, looking slightly confused.

"For coming into my life." Gaara answered, squeezing her hand slightly. Hinata gave him a shy smile.

"So I'll pick you up at 7:30, okay? You'll be at Sakura's house, right?" Gaara asked her, Hinata nodded.

"And um you're the only one who can drive so they were wondering if you could give all of them a ride." Hinata asked him. Gaara nodded. The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Hinata and Gaara left the room together. Kiba, Shino, Lee, and many other guys were giving Gaara 'the evil eye.'

"Well, see you tomorrow Hinata." Gaara said, once they got to the parking lot, Neji was already waiting for Hinata. She left Gaara's side and slid into Neji's car. Gaara smiled at Hinata's back, today had been a great day.

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The next chapter is going to be the party D Beware, a bit more than teen content, but nothing gross. R&R please!