Yay, updated. Always a good thing. I re-read my first few chapters and wondered if i'd actually written them...and re-did them. =]
So...chapters 1 2 and 3 are all shiney and new and updated xD

Much love- Kitty.x.

Oh...and review! =]

Finally, Sakura was seated in her last lesson of the day. As it was, all her hoping, praying and outright begging to all the gods that was listen was a waste of time since Gaara just so happened to be in every-single-one of her classes. All of them. The only good thing to have happened during the day was that gym was cancelled, meaning she didn't have to go through the embarrassment of once again donning the ludicrous sport 'uniform' of a red spaghetti top and black shot-short-shorts – and how very glad she was at having avoided that particular disaster with the new boy around.

Looking down a few rows down from herself and a little to the right, she caught sight of the blood red hair that stood out amongst the more normal hair colours and indicated Gaara's whereabouts. It was the first lesson in which he hadn't managed to appear in a seat near her and she could see that he was writing with his hand rather than his sand, as he had since first lesson. She wondered why he wasn't bothered about her seeing, but told herself she didn't care and began copying down what the teacher was writing on the board.

"Hey, Sakura."

She quickly finished the part she was writing and turned to the boy next to her, who happened to be Hinata's cousin and shared their families unusual silver-white eyes. His hair, however, was a dark brown and reached his middle back which he wore in a low, loose pony-tail. He was usually quiet but not in the same way as Hinata, she was shy while he just didn't like talking unless he wanted to know something.

"Yes, Neji?" she replied, wondering what he wanted to know about Hinata now, since that was the reason he usually spoke to her. She often thought he might as well as be her father with how much he asked about the girl and checked up on her.

"Who's the new guy?" He nodded his head in Gaara's direction. Sakura blinked, her mind struggling to comprehend that he wanted to know something non-Hinata related.

"Oh..." she started "He's called Gaara, that's all I know."

"Hm..."

"Why?" she asked.

"No reason" He replied, but she could tell by the way he was still watching the red head, as though he was trying to work something out, that there was something.

"If you say so, Neji"

She gave a final glance to the red head, who she hadn't noticed occasionally turning slightly and watching her, before focussing back on her work waiting for the day to end. In doing this she also failed to notice the dark haired boy watching her from the opposite side of the class room.

Unfortunately for her, Sakura was the last to finally leave the classroom after the bell rang, since her teacher decided to keep her back for twenty long minutes to discuss Sakura's lack of work. Needless to say, her excuse of having a headache gained her a rather sceptical look from her teacher, but she couldn't exactly say she'd been too busy watching the new kid to pay attention to what the teacher was doing. After being released from the evil clutches of her teacher she quickly dumped everything but her homework in her locker and set off in the direction of the school exit that was closest to her dorm.

Winter was nearing and so when she stepped outside she found that the bright sunshine that had warmed the earth earlier in the day was getting lower in the sky and taking with it the natural light and warmth. Not wanting to be outside for too long her swiftly made her was down the path and up the concrete stairs at the side of the building, leading to her second floor double dorm.

Fiddling with her keys, anxious to get inside, she managed to drop the books she had been carrying in her arms an they scattered across the floor, one of them opening and a few loose sheets making a run for freedom with the wind. She cursed before successfully ramming the right key in the door and unlocking it. Looking down to pick up her dropped items she was rather surprised to see that they weren't there... and neither were the sheets that had drifted down the corridor. She stood for a second, a puzzled look across her face, trying to work out where they could have possibly gone when she herd a noise behind her.

Spinning round she found her books right in front of her, all together and floating... about 3 feet of the ground, on what appeared to be a thin platform of sand. On the opposite side of the corridor stood Gaara, his hair, eye liner and long black coat making him look all the more demonic in the fading sunlight and she unconsciously took a small step backwards closer to her unlocked door.

"Erm...hi?" her nerves broke through into her voice and a small smirk appeared on his face. He didn't reply. "Why... are you here?" she asked, managing to steady her voice although she was still set to dive into her dorm. He remained silent but his eyes flicked to the books that were still hovering in front of her which she was reluctant to take. "...what?" she asked. He was standing in front of her, staring at her, holding her books with sand and not talking. It was just plain irritating and she was getting annoyed. "Do you know how to talk!?"

"Hn."

'Hn? What the fuck does 'hn' mean?!" she thought, glaring across at the red head. "Oh, forget it!" She grabbed her books from the sand, momentarily forgetting her concerns over the sand and opened her door before stepping inside. The heat rushing from the dorm out of the door warmed her slightly but she couldn't wait to get in properly, get a cup of hot chocolate and ignore the world.

Throwing her books and bag down on the floor just inside the dorm she turned to shut the door only to find that the red head had moved significantly closer, now standing practically in her doorway – if she'd have tried closing it she probably would have failed. A smirk was once again playing across his lips and his almost empty eyes held a slight glint of amusement.

"What do you want!?" She half shouted, clearly frustrated, but was met by silence. "Oh for the love of... Get in!" She glared at the taller boy who raised a single invisible eyebrow at the girl and remained still. "In!" she demanded.

"...why?" He voice was deep and monotone, but not unused. She had expected -if he was to ever speak- that his voice would be slightly broken or quiet due to lack of use, but instead it was rather authoritative, commanding. Not that she actually noticed.

"It spoke!" she exclaimed, the words rolling in sarcasm which she soon regretted when she almost disintegrated under his glare. She sighed slightly, "I'm not standing here with my door wide open, letting the warm air out just so you can stare at me in all your silent glory. If you want to stare at me at least give me the comfort of heat."

She hadn't thought her words to be amusing as she said them, nor had she intended them to be but his glare softened and the smirk returned, along with the amused glint. She was slightly surprised, people didn't usually find her sarcasm funny. Silently, he stepped past her and into the dorm allowing her to shut the door and trap what was left of the heat inside the dorm. She turned round and followed him into the small living area where he stopped and turned to stare at her. Again.

"Right, Gaara. I know you're not the talkative type but can you at least explain why you have been staring at me all day and why you are here now?"

Silence.

"You do know that's really annoying, don't you?"

Silence.

She sighed, exasperated. "I swear, I don't even know you and I already hate you!" She frowned as his smirked widened, but not by enough to be classed as a smile.

"Hn."

Without thinking she gave him a quick slap on the arm, both playfully and in frustration, and suddenly found herself pushed back against the wall and her shoulders pressed against it by a pair of strong hands. The impact had hurt and she found herself winded slightly, unable to say anything or stop the small tears forming in her eyes she just looked at him, wondering what he was going to do. It took her a few seconds to finally reclaim her breath.

"Please... I'm sorry... Don't.... Don't hurt me..." her voice trailed off as her tears stinging her eyes won over and trickled down her cheeks, taking some of her dark eye liner with them. She looked back up at him and noticed his eyes seem to refocus and slowly his grip loosened until he let go and backed away slightly, giving her space. Without his arms holding her up, her legs gave out and she slid down the wall until she was sat on the fall, knees tucked against her chest with her forehead resting on them.

A few minutes later she jumped slightly and automatically tried to shift back, further into the wall when a hand gently brushed her bangs away from her face, revealing that the red head had once again moved closer to her. He was crouched down at her level and deeply hidden in his eyes was a look of concern, which she would have missed had she not been so good at reading people through their eyes. 'Windows to the soul' her father had called them.

"I apologise, Sakura."

She felt her body relax slightly without her permission and while she couldn't understand it after what had just happened she felt kind of safe with him. "It's... ok"

"No, I didn't mean to hurt you. I sh-"

"-It's ok. Really. I... shouldn't have hit you."

"Hn" his reply was softer, more in place of an agreement than actually answering.

She smiled slightly "Back to being silent now, are we?" Without replying he slowly and gently reached out and wiped a tear from her check with him thumb, leaving a small tingling sensation on her face where his skin had brushed hers. "I guess so..." she answered herself. She began to stand up and he raised with her, until they were both standing a few centimetres apart, the red head taller than her by a good few inches.

She looked up and was caught by his misty green eyes, it was the first time she'd truly noticed the colour, and felt a hand come up to caress her cheek before a thumb ran slowly across her bottom lip. "What are you..." Her words trailed off as the red head bushed a careful kiss across her lips. She couldn't quite understand what was going on and before she knew it he had pulled away slightly and was looking deep into her emerald eyes, as though searching, before suddenly disappearing in a whirl of soft, golden sand.

Review please. :)