Sorry for uploading 2 days late but i wanted to upload it on New Years Day/Eve, depending on which part of the world you're in. Well, i took ages to think of the event that would happen in this chapter. I hope you enjoy and thanks to those who read up until now. And of course, i wish you a Happy New Year! AGain, PLEASE REVIEW. I beg of you! Critcism always welcome. Just don't make me too upset. Since third person got a good response, I'll probably write in this POV from now on, tell me if you object! I'll always listen to your responses and suggestions!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.


Chapter 8: Unveiled

Sakura groggily opened her eyes at the sound of Ino noisily calling her name as she violently shook her shoulders. When she was able to bring herself to creak open an eye to look at the blond woman before her, she saw that her friend showed no signs of weariness from the late night out yesterday. It amazed Sakura to no end that Ino seemed to have everlasting energy when it came to parties, she would never get tired no matter how late it was.

"Come on Sakura, get up!" Ino ranted as she perpetually shook Sakura.

Her reply was a quiet groan.

"COME ON!"

Sakura released her tight grip on Gaa-chan; she had been hugging it during her sleep. She looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. "Ino… It's only 8:00 in the morning. I slept at 1:00 last night, let me sleep in."

"Sakura… I'm leaving tomorrow; can't you spend more time with me than sleep?" Ino nagged.

Sakura fully opened both eyes and stared straight into Ino's face then gave out a long sigh of defeat. "Fine." She moaned as she lethargically got up her bed.

That's right, Ino and the rest of the orchestra was leaving tomorrow night. This may be the last time in a long while for them to spend some time together and just have fun. After all, they were going to be in separate countries from now on; miles away from each other. Sakura randomly put on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts then tied her hair loosely into a short ponytail.

"I'm ready." Sakura called out at the door.

Ino assessed Sakura from head to toe. Her hair was messy, she had eye bags and she was dressed sloppily but it was acceptable, well to Sakura at least. "Are you sure you're ready?"

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Whose fault do you think it is?"

Ino giggled at her response. "Let's go."

Sakura opened the door. "Breakfast first okay?"

"Of course."

Sakura wrapped her arm around Ino's and tilted her head to rest it on her shoulder. They walked to the cafeteria in that position; Sakura walking and sleeping simultaneously.

"So… How was the party for you?" Ino suddenly asked out of the blue.

Sakura smiled and blushed slightly at the memories of her passionate moment with the president. "It was good."

Ino smirked at her response. "I know what you two did yesterday."

Sakura's head instantly jerked up from Ino's shoulder. "What?"

"I said I saw you seducing the president."

"… How much did you see?"

"Not much. Just saw the fact that you were kissing and then I left. Didn't want to disturb your little moment now do we?" Ino grinned sunnily at Sakura.

Sakura groaned in annoyance and in embarrassment that they had been caught. Now Ino was going to ask the details of the whole experience! That was not a very pleasant thing to do; to recite your make out session.

"You are so gonna tell me EVERYTHING while we have breakfast."

Sakura let out another audible groan but nodded her head weakly in response, since Ino was going to force the information out of her if she refused. Once Sakura and Ino reached the cafeteria, they settled down in a table very much secluded from the crowd. There was only one good thing about that; it was quiet.

"Now tell me what happened yesterday." Ino squealed excitedly as soon as they both sat down.

"Can we get breakfast first? I'm sure I'll starve to death before you know what happened." Sakura's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Okay, I'll go and buy it. What do you want?" Ino offered kindly. It was a very rare occurrence for Ino to be nice but Sakura decided to use it to her advantage.

When Ino returned holding their breakfasts, she wanted to get straight to business with Sakura. Sakura forked a sausage and slowly munched it before moving on with the next item on her full English breakfast. Ino was nipping her white pasta but all the while still pestering Sakura for details.

At last, Sakura gave in to Ino's persistence and gave her a brief recount of what had happened, occasionally leaving bits out. Ino was totally engrossed in what Sakura was saying, so engrossed that she forgot to eat. When Sakura finished saying what she had to say, Ino struck her with a question even she didn't know how to answer.

"So, does this mean you two are going out?"

Sakura stopped drinking her coffee. It was true; they had kissed and they felt something special for each other but she wasn't sure that they were going out. Or even more uncertain, whether what she felt for him was love. Sakura stayed silent, her brows furrowed together, showing a slightly troubled expression.

Ino caught on to this. "What's wrong? Is the question that hard to answer?"

Sakura put down her cup of coffee, and gave out a sigh. "I-I don't know Ino. I'm not sure if we are going out."

Ino mirrored her perplexed expression. "What's the matter?"

Sakura habitually reached for the ring placed around her neck and played with it with her fingers. It became a tendency for her to do so when she felt troubled. "I don't know… if he loves me."

Ino let out a sigh of relief and chortled at Sakura. "Are you worried that he's just playing around with you?"

Sakura reflected on what Ino had said. Sure, a side of her did worry that he was not serious about her but what plagued her the most was her tentative feelings for him. She was definite that she did not hate him and was more than certain that she liked him. The question was did she love him?

"It's not that." Ino stared at her sceptically. "Okay, well maybe a little. But it's just that, I'm not sure that I love him."

Ino's confused expression intensified. "Huh?"

Sakura continued to fiddle with her ring. "I honestly don't know whether he loves me or whether I love him."

Ino's attention was fixated on Sakura's fidgeting. "Is it because you still want to find your Gaara?"

"No, I mean yes but what does this have to do with anything?"

"You're still wearing the ring he gave you. Doesn't that mean you still have lingering feelings for him?"

Sakura instantly stopped toying with her ring. "…No…" Her reply was slow and hesitant, it gave anyone who heard her, the idea that she still waited for Gaara.

Ino raised an eyebrow at her reply. "Really? Face it Sakura, you still want your Gaara."

"I don't know. When I'm with the president, I feel extremely happy, I get excited, I get nervous. I felt what I felt before with Gaara." Sakura was surprised with her own answer. Was that how she really felt? Did she just see the president as a replacement for Gaara?

"So in other words you're just using him because he's similar to Gaara?"

Sakura continued to drink her coffee. She peered down onto her neck where the ring lay. It had a beautiful ocean blue diamond in the middle, with two separate, smaller clear gem stones by its side. It was simple but beautiful. As she looked at the ring, memories she shared with Gaara and president Sabaku popped up. She compared the two, she admitted she had a lot of fun with Gaara but so did she with president Sabaku. The more she compared the two, the more she saw the different emotions she held for them. Sakura eased her knitted brows as though she had solved her inner conflict.

She confidently looked at Ino who was anticipating her answer. "No. What I feel for them are different. I admit, I may have held special feelings towards Gaara but it's been years since I've last seen him. Aside from that, what I felt with Gaara was not as intense as what I felt for president Sabaku." Sakura took in a deep breath. "I'm positive I love the president."

Ino gave her a small smile, "Well done Sakura, you've finally graduated from Gaara."

"I still want to find Gaara you know. He was my first real friend." Sakura smiled with Ino but a moment later it returned to a frown. "But I still don't know whether he's serious about our relationship. I mean, you've seen rich guys, they're always playboys, how many have you seen that have seriously settled on one girl?"

"That'll come later. I can't help you with that, you'll have to confront him yourself but I believe he's serious about you."

"How do you know that?"

"I saw the way he looked at you at the party. His eyes conveyed immense affection; I doubt anyone can fake that."

Sakura nodded. That's right, I should be confident in him. And myself. "Thanks Ino."

"We're friends right?"

Ino and Sakura both finished their breakfast and went out for a walk. They roamed the streets aimlessly, not heading for a particular destination.

"Hey, have you been to your new orchestra yet?" Ino suddenly asked from nowhere.

"No. Why?"

"Let's go there now?"

"Why?"

"I want to make sure our dear Sakura will be in good hands after I return to Vienna."

Sakura beamed warmly at Ino. Even though Ino always acted uncaring about Sakura, deep down she truly cherished her. "Okay, I want to see what it's like too!"

And so they went to Sakura's intended orchestra. Ino and Sakura stood before an auditorium like any other. There was nothing extraordinary about it or probably because Sakura had been freely entering and exiting one of the grandest auditoriums for the past few years she was already used to it. When they entered, they saw what they expected. Just a hall lined with countless chairs. But Sakura liked it nevertheless; it somehow reminded her of Vienna, which was good because then she wouldn't need to constantly miss the old hall she was used to.

They noticed that the orchestra was practicing right now but not all members were present as there were quite a few missing spots in the seats. Not wanting to disturb them, Ino and Sakura sat aside, listening to the music that poured out from the small group. Sakura had to confess that they were indeed superb and would prove quite a challenge even to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

As though Ino read Sakura's mind, "I think their oboist isn't as skilled as me but overall they're pretty good."

Sakura nodded in agreement. Despite the way Ino acted, she was a top professional in her instrument and was highly regarded in the musical industry. When she said that she was better, she wasn't being sarcastic, she did have a tremendous amount of skill. Now that Sakura thought about it, the musical world was extremely competitive and sometimes no matter how hard you practiced, you just wouldn't be as good as someone because it mainly depended on talent. Music was all about talent. If you weren't born with some talent, you were destined to fail in the music world. Thankfully, Sakura did have some of this 'talent' so she never really came across big hurdles in her career.

When the music stopped, Ino and Sakura walked up to the conductor. This conductor seemed as apathetic as Shino, though he differed greatly in appearance. He was young, his eyes were dyed a lovely light lavender but they were hard with seriousness. His brown hair was also long and tied at the bottom opposed to Shino's short and spiky hair. They were all aware of Sakura and Ino's approach as they had seen them during their practice session.

The young man turned around to greet Ino and Sakura. "I'm Hyuuga Neji, is there something I can help you with?"

"I'm Haruno Sakura, I'm soon to become one of the violinists here."

"Haruno-san, yes, I know of this but you're set to come next week. You're a few days early."

"I know, I just wanted to familiarise myself with my to be work place that's all."

"I see. Unfortunately, I cannot take you around as I have a busy scheduled. Please ask one of our fellow members." With a polite bow, Neji walked away.

"I can't believe your future conductor has the same personality as Shino!" Ino hooted.

Sakura rolled her eyes at her, maybe Shino was a little socially disconnected but he was an excellent conductor and teacher. He was wise and offered great advice; Sakura got the feeling that Neji would be the same. Hopefully. The mini crowd was slowly dispersing, most members coming to respectfully greet them before quietly leaving. Two girls came to them, both were young and attractive.

"Would you like us to take you around?" The girl standing in front offered. Her dark auburn hair was fashioned into two buns on both sides of her head.

"We would be delightful if you did." Ino responded before Sakura.

Sakura held out her hand, initiating a handshake. "I'm Haruno Sakura and this is Yamanaka Ino. Pleasure to meet you."

"Just call me Tenten. I'm a flutist." She grinned at them both, returning Sakura's handshake.

"And this is?" Ino asked, gesturing towards the girl shyly hiding behind Tenten.

"This is Hyuuga Hinata. She's our oboist." Tenten kindly introduced. Ino and Sakura didn't need to be told that she was the oboist since they had been paying her some attention during their practice session.

The girl had long violet hair, which was let down. Her eyes were a light lavender hue just like Neji's. To put it plainly, she was regarded as beautiful.

"H-hello." Hinata timidly stammered, her eyes fixated on the wooden floorboards.

"Yes, hello." Ino and Sakura collectively replied.

"I'm sorry but are you somehow related to Hyuuga Neji-san?" Ino questioned the bashful girl.

"Y-yes, he's my cousin." She replied softly.

Ino and Sakura both nodded in understanding. No wonder they looked so similar and had the same surname.

"Okay, let's get moving." Tenten called out cheerfully.

With that the group of four set off on a short tour around the auditorium.


Gaara sat on his desk, facing a mountain of papers that needed to be filled out during the day. As he was doing his work, he quietly cursed his father for retiring so early. Now that he thought about it, it was no wonder why his father retired so early, this occupation was extremely stressful, of course he would want to get out of it as soon as possible. Gaara had been forced on the position of president as soon as he gained his economics degree.

Suddenly, a young woman barged into his room uninvited. Her blond hair was tied into four pigtails around her head, two on each side. Gaara let out an irritated sigh. He didn't need to look up to know that it was his sister Temari; no one else dared to barge into his room without knocking.

"What is it Temari?" Gaara asked coldly, his eyes never leaving the contract forms in front of him.

"Gaara, should I have an orchestra playing at my wedding?" She asked as she sat down on the chair in front of his desk.

Gaara let out a sigh. Do I have to do this? Why couldn't she bother Kankuro? "Well, every other wedding seems to have one, so why should yours be the exception?" He answered anyways, wanting to get rid of her.

"Do you have any good suggestions for orchestras? I liked the one that played at your birthday."

Gaara stopped what he was doing. Sakura… He couldn't forget the heated kiss he had with her; in fact he couldn't sleep all night because he kept thinking about it. He would never forget how she tasted, how she felt when he held her close to him or how she smelt. Throughout the day he got random urges to just go and see her. He thought that a kiss would satisfy his want for her but it only increased it, making him hungry for more.

"GAARA!" Temari yelled, reprimanding him for not paying attention to his sister.

"I think the Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra would do a fine job." He said before he went back to work.

"You know Gaara, my dear brother, even though it was your birthday party yesterday, I didn't see you at all until the end of the party."

Gaara stayed silent. He didn't know what she was up to but he was positive it was no good.

"I saw you with that girl. The pianist. I believe her name was Evergreen."

Gaara stilled, crap, I was caught by another person? Exactly how many people saw us? Gaara looked up into his sister's dark teal pupils, his eyes with a glint of malevolence.

Temari was by now adapted to her little brother's frequent death glares. "I'm just interested to know, which girl has captured the heart of my heartless brother who never dated or caused every girl that confessed to him to run away and cry."

Gaara surrendered; there was no way he was going to get away without spilling anything to her. She always had her way with him. Usually, it was either through threats or blackmails. "It's Sakura."

"Sakura? Seriously? Wow…" Temari was speechless, she never expected her brother to find that girl again. When they had just gotten Gaara as a child back home, he kept crying, saying that he wanted 'Sakura-chan'. Their family had suspected that she was non-existent but he finally found her.

"Yes, I have a lot of work to attend to so if you'll please excuse me." He said as he looked back at the sheet of paper in front of him. "If you need to confide in someone, please, look for someone by the name of Shikamaru Nara, your future husband." He added as he saw her open her mouth in complaint.

Temari grunted. "Your future brother-in-law is a lazy ass who doesn't give a damn about how the wedding is to be held."

Gaara smirked at his frustrated sister. Shikamaru was the owner of another company. Shikamaru's company specialised in selling toys. It's a transnational corporation. It was quite ironic really, Shikamaru was a lazy person who hated anything that would be a bother, despite opening a toy store for kids, Gaara had the feeling that Shikamaru couldn't be bothered to have kids of his own. Though it may not be true because most men wanted kids. Children were after all, supposed to be the product of the parent's love. Gaara wondered if Sakura wanted children. He surely would want a few of his own with her; little kids running around with coral pink hair and jade eyes or red hair and emerald eyes. A combination of them both.

"I'm gonna go and check out the Japan Phil- whatever orchestra now. So see ya!"

Gaara let out an elongated sigh as he heard the door slam shut. Finally some peace and quiet.


Temari rushed to the auditorium, wanting to quickly get an appointment as she was booked for lunch with Shikamaru. When Temari entered the auditorium there was not a person in sight.

"Hello?" She called out, her voice echoing throughout the walls of the hall.

There was no reply.

Temari clicked her tongue in annoyance and meandered around the place, not knowing where she was going. Her eye caught the movement of a door around the corner and she followed it until she saw the group of four.

"May I help you madam?" Tenten questioned in a mannerly tone.

"I want this orchestra to perform at my wedding, I was wondering who I should talk to for that."

"That you'll have to talk with Hyuuga-san, but sadly, he was busy today and left. Why don't you come back tomorrow? I'll make sure to tell him."

"Yes, that would be great." Temari was about to turn and leave when she caught sight of the ring around Sakura's neck. "That ring you have there…" She pointed. "May I see it?"

"Um, yes, go ahead." Sakura confusedly replied.

Temari lightly picked up the ring, inspecting the stones embedded on the silver hoop. She was sure that this was her mother's ring which was supposed to be given to Gaara. When Gaara was first born, their mother had died after childbirth but before she passed away, she gave Gaara her ring which was a family custom. She knew that she was going to die when she held Gaara in her arms; she wanted to give him something that would remind him of her. Temari was puzzled as to why this girl had it.

"Is there something wrong?" Sakura asked softly.

"This ring… I'm sure it was my mother's."

"Eh?" They all exclaimed in unison.

"That can't be, I was given this ring by an important friend of mine." Sakura defended.

Temari watched Sakura. It was the first time she took a proper look at her. She was sure she had seen her somewhere before.

Then it hit her.

She was the girl she saw yesterday with her brother. She was Sakura. No wonder she had Gaara's ring, it all made sense. He must've given it to her during their stay at the orphanage. Temari giggled.

"You must be Sakura right?"

Sakura was astounded that she knew her when she didn't recognise this woman at all. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"No, but my brother knows you."

"Eh? Sorry, who is your brother?"

"I am Sabaku Temari. I am Gaara's sister."

Sakura's eyes widened into saucers and Ino was too shocked to respond. Hinata and Tenten stood on the sidelines, totally oblivious to what was happening and what this meant for Sakura.

"… Gaara?" Sakura whispered still unbelieving what her ears heard.

"Yes, Gaara, the ring you're wearing was his. It was given to him by his mother."

Sakura grabbed onto Temari's arms. "Where is Gaara?"

Temari raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean? You were with him just yesterday."

Sakura shook her head. "I didn't see him."

"No, that's impossible, I'm so sure you were with him. I saw you two together."

"The whole night yesterday, I was with president Sabaku."

Temari was getting confused. She didn't know she was with her brother Gaara all this time? Just what is my baby brother thinking? "Yes, my brother, Gaara IS president Sabaku."

Sakura felt her heart stop and her blood run thickly. I was with Gaara this whole time?I told him everything yet he kept quiet about his identity?

He lied to me.


So, how was that chapter? I'm sorry there wasn't much GaaraSakura moments in this chapter but i'll be sure to put some in, in the next chapter. PLEASE REVIEW! I really want at least 10 reviews for this chapter, if i do get this much, i'll update the next chapter a week earlier. How does that deal sound? Again, thanks to all my supporters!

What do you think Sakura's reaction is going to be when she sees Gaara? Hehe, i'll be evil and keep it a secret. XD