animekid487: I am SO SO SOOO sorry. I lost my usb that had all of my stories and I had to recover all of my stories on to a new one. Here's the next one!

Recap: They all, minus Kisame, just laughed. I raised an eyebrow at this. These guys are so weird… I rolled my eyes but smiled. This year is going to be very interesting. My thoughts went back to Gaara and his siblings. And hopefully, I can help that family be a family again.

++Next Morning++School++

I walked in to school and spotted a familiar head of bright red hair. A grin made its way on to my face. I rand to catch up with him.

"Ohayo Gaara!" I greeted my panda-looking friend. I glanced at him. He had a sad look in his eyes. "Are you ok?" I asked softly, putting my hand on his arm. He shook his head. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Later," He mumbled. "Coming over again?" He glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes. I nodded.

"Sure," I answered. "I'll see you at lunch, ok?" We had arrived at my Genjutsu class. He nodded and walked off. I watched for a bit before walking in to class. Oh Gaara…I hope you'll be ok… Unknown to me, a pair of onyx eyes were watching with anger and jealousy.

++Lunch++

I exited Ninjutsu and began my walk to meet up with Gaara. I walked to the roof, only to find it empty. That's weird…Baki-sensei's class is right next to the staircase door, he should be here before me… I sighed and sat on the floor. Maybe he just went to get lunch from the cafeteria or Temari… I relaxed and laid on the floor, staring up at the clouds.

CRASH!

"What the hell?" I muttered, jumping up and running over to the staircase. I opened the door to see Gaara on the floor bleeding and Sasuke standing over him, smirking with blood on his fists. Oh no…

"UCHIHA!" I yelled, anger radiating off of me. "What the HELL did you do?" He smirked at me, as if he was proud of something.

"Just defeating a gang leader," He answered casually. "The usual. Why do you care?" I didn't answer. I walked down and stood right in front of him.

BAM!

I punched him straight in the face. He hadn't expected for me to do so, and he flew right into the wall.

"NEVER mess with my friends," I growled at the boy. I knelt beside Gaara, slung his arm onto my shoulders, and begun to drag him, slowly, to the nurse's office. He's lost a lot of blood, He must have been in bad shape if he let duck-butt sneak up on him like that. I spotted his older siblings.

"Kankuro, Temari," I called as I continued to half drag the bleeding boy. They dashed towards us. "A little help here?"

"What the hell did you do?" Kankuro accused, but didn't move to help me. Temari had a worried look but, like Kankuro, didn't try to help. I growled at him, but didn't do anything in fear of hurting Gaara.

"I didn't do this to him," I snarled at him. "And if you BOTH truly cared for him, he wouldn't be in this condition!" I began to continue my trek to the nurse's office.

++Nurse's Office++

"What happened to him?" Shizune-sensei asked as I placed the bleeding boy onto one of the beds.

"Idiot gang leader decided it would be 'fun' to beat him to a bloody pulp," I told her as I began to collect the necessary items to being in bandaging him up. I couldn't find the rubbing alcohol or cotton balls. I turned to Shizune-sensei. "Sensei, would you happen to have rubbing alcohol and cotton balls?" She nodded and handed them to me. "Thank you." I began to clean and bandage his wounds.

"If your gang leader beat him," Shizune-sensei questioned, "why are you helping him?" I smiled at the question, knowing the answer will shock her.

"He's one of my friends," I told her. "I don't let my friends get hurt, and if they do, I will take care of them." She smiled at my answer. "Done." I looked over at her. "Shizune-sensei?"

"You may stay until he wakes up."

I smiled and nodded. I turned back to the unconscious redhead. Gaara...please...please be ok...

++Dorm++6:00PM++

"Kari?" Itachi called as I entered the dorm room after dropping off Gaara to his own. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," I mumbled as I removed my shoes. "I was with Gaara." I plopped onto the couch. "Your idiot brother decided to beat him to a bloody pulp. It doesn't help that Gaara wasn't his best today either." He sighed.

"Ototou-chan is just angry," He told me. "He wants to be the strongest gang so he could defeat me before I leave to college." I glanced at him. "Sibling rivalry." I rolled my eyes. "So...you and Gaara, huh?" My face turned bright red.

"We're just friends!" I exclaimed. Itachi just smirked. "Urgh!" I stood up. "I'm going to bed!" I went to my room and collapsed on my bed. But...do I like Gaara like that? NO! We're JUST friends...right? Ugh...this is so confusing. I should just go to sleep.