Hey everybody. Sorry that this chapter took so freaking long. I've had it half done for weeks now but never had the drive to finish it. Hope you enjoy it

I'll try and get the next chapter out after I finish my other story

Thank you all for your patience

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It was raining the next few days. Sasuke had to go back to school and Mika was left all alone in her apartment to wait until Sasuke came to visit her. Yesterday had been the football tryouts and even though he was reluctant to go, the Uchiha went back to the school during the homeroom hour to try out for the football team. He would find out today whether or not he made it.

She felt like a lost puppy waiting for her owner to come back home. Mika groaned and listened to the pattering of the rain against her window.

'This fucking sucks'

Mika looked over from her bed to see her pain medications on her desk. She wrinkled her nose. She never did like pain medications. They always made her feel weird and sleepy. She needed them the first two days since she got the broken rib from Karin but now she honestly felt no pain. She didn't know why. It wasn't normal but she healed unnaturally faster than any other human.

'I'm so weird. What is wrong with me?'

She wondered if it had anything to do about what Orochimaru had done to her years ago but blocked it from her mind. She didn't want to think about that bastard.

Instead she breathed in and smiled. Sasuke had come back to see her yesterday after the tryouts and with no expression on his face, told her that she made the Volleyball team and Temari would just have a stand in for her and save a place for her on the team.

Mika had been ecstatic. She almost gave Sasuke a heart attack when she jumped from the bed and ran around the apartment. Sasuke was so mad that he had to drag her back to bed and make her watch movies until supper.

She felt like a bad pet who had gotten in trouble for getting too excited.

'This is going to be a long month'

She groaned and face planted into her pillow.

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Sasuke was in school looking out the window, the rain splattering in the trees making the leaves rattle together loudly. He was in English right now, his first period class. He almost groaned, not wanting to wait. He wanted to go see his Mink now but if he missed anymore school, his mother would kill him.

He tapped his pencil on his desk, waiting for the bell to ring impatiently. He wasn't even really paying any attention to what Mr. Umino was saying.

'Is she taking her medicine? She better be'

The bell rang and Sasuke grabbed his things to go to his math class next. He repeated the process of tapping his pencil quietly until the bell rang.

Finally when Lunch came he went to the regular table with the gang and he sat next to Kiba and Shikamaru.

"Hey man, how's the little squirt doing?" Kiba grinned.

Sasuke sighed, "Fine I guess." He took out his phone and texted her.

'U take ur pain meds yet?'

He only had to wait a few minutes until she texted him back.

'Maybe'

'Take the fucking pill!'

'I will! :P'

Sasuke smiled despite himself.

"Hey Sasuke!"

The black-haired boy mentally groaned as Sakura and Ino ran up to the table with their lunch and sat by him, pushing Kiba and Shikamaru out of the way. The two boys rolled their eyes and sat on either side of the girls.

"Sasuke! How's Mika today? Is she feeling better?" Sakura asked him.

Ino scoffed, "Oh who cares about her?! Sasuke the dance is coming up! Would you like to go with me?!"

Sakura growled, "Shut it Ino-pig! You know I was going to ask him!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I think she's fine. And no, I won't go with you, Yamanaka."

Ino looked like she would cry, "What?! Why?!"

Kiba laughed, "Yeah I mean seriously! How could you turn down this beautiful Blondie?"

"Shut up Kiba!"

"Ha!"

Sai walked up to the table and began to eat quietly listening to the conversation.

Meanwhile, Hinata was eating, no one really noticing her, Tenten and Neji were muttering to each other, Lee was around the lunch room talking to other people animatedly and Choji was still in the lunch line.

Sasuke smirked, "I'm going to ask Mika to the Homecoming Dance."

Everyone stopped talking and eating and just stared at Sasuke. The raven haired boy actually had the decency to turn a little pink, "As a friend, I mean."

Shikamaru scoffed, "Yeah sure, as a friend"

Kiba laughed, "I knew you liked her!"

Neji hummed, "She'd never go with you."

Sasuke stopped in mid-bite, "What?"

Neji leaned in the table, "Well think about it. Mika is just so ignorant anyways she doesn't think of you in that way. She only thinks of you as a friend. If you ask her to the dance, then you'll just confuse her and make her rethink her whole relationship with you."

"Hm. Well too bad for you, you got something wrong in your little observation, Neji."

"What's that?"

"I'm only asking her to the dance as a friend!"

The whole table went silent as the bell rang for the next class.

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In the last period of the day, gym class, Sasuke and the others were in the locker room getting ready for class. Sasuke couldn't help but to glance to Gaara's locker. He stopped in surprise.

He wasn't there.

"Uh. Guys?"

Kiba, Lee, and Sai looked at him.

"What man?" Kiba asked him and Sasuke glared at Gaara's locker.

"Where's Subaku?"

Then they all wondered the same thing.

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Gaara stood in front of Mika's apartment door. He just stared at the door. He was soaking wet from walking to her address in the rain but he didn't care. He just thought about what he'd do next.

His dead eyes glared at the door. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted to show her who the boss was and that he wasn't turning soft just because of a few sad stories she told him.

He growled and crunched his knuckles, 'She'll pay for underestimating me.'

Gaara kneeled to the ground and searched under the door until he found it. The spare key.

'Idiot girl. Such a predictable location.'

He softly opened the door, keeping quiet as to not make a noise.

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Mika was getting thoroughly bored. She had laid in bed all day and she felt as if she had done nothing and it bugged her. Her mind wandered to the dance that would be coming up soon in a few weeks. Already it was in the beginning of September and the homecoming dance would be September 30. It really didn't make sense to her. She really wasn't all into sports as she pretended to be. She had no idea how football worked.

'Should I go to the dance at all? What if someone asks me?'

She scoffed, 'Oh who am I kidding?! No one will ask me!'

Mika's mind wandered again to Gaara, 'I wonder if he made it on the football team.'

Her thoughts went to the small gutter that had slowly been developing in her innocent mind. The muscles on Gaara's body were just amazing and it sent chills down her spine when she thought about them. When she accidentally touched him in the janitor's closet. . .

Mika blushed and sat up in bed shaking her head vigorously, 'Quite it you stupid brain!'

She sighed and sat there until something happened.

'Grumble' 'Grumble'

Her stomach was grumbling indicating her hunger. The girl shot up out of bed, ignoring the stings in her abdomen as she raced to her kitchen.

She walked in only to realize that something was wrong.

Normally before Sasuke left he would clean the apartment for her all spick and span. Since Sasuke had left after checking on her this morning, she hadn't entered the zone at all. Now there was a pan on the stove with water simmering in it, a mug off to the side and a packet of hot chocolate mix on the counter.

"What the?"

She cautiously ventured into the kitchen, keeping her ears and eyes open for anything overly suspicious not that the hot chocolate starting wasn't enough.

"S-Sasuke? Are you back already?" she was getting scared and her voice faltered.

A deep chuckle sounded behind her and she turned around fast to see someone she definitely wasn't prepared to see.

"Gaara?!" Mika grasped her abdomen and bumped her back into the counter.

The red-headed Goth smirked, "Uzumaki." He frowned, "This is a special occasion you know."

Mika gulped, "Huh? What are you doing in my apartment?"

Gaara harshly breathed out, "Shut up." He reached over and almost gently grasped her neck in his hand, giving her plenty of time to escape but she figured that if she tried she'd get worse treatment.

"My father left again on a business meeting. He won't be back until Christmas and do you know what that means?"

Mika shook her head, unable to really speak.

Gaara smiled hideously, "I can do whatever I want to you and I won't get in trouble for it from my father! I have nothing to fear! You're mine now!"

Gaara's grip tightened on her throat and Mika choked, "B-but Gaara! I-I thought that we w-were getting along!"

The boy laughed, "You're mistaken then!" He let her go and suddenly high kicked her in the stomach.

Mika gasped and fell to the ground holding her gut, "G-gaara"

Gaara merely poked her with his shoe.

'Something's not right. She should be screaming and begging for mercy already! It's only been two fucking days!'

Gaara flipped Mika onto her back and kneeled down to sit on her lap to keep her down as he lifted her shirt to look at her 'wound'.

His eyes widened.

'What?!'

He glared at Mika, "What the fuck is this?!"

Mika whimpered as he leaned over her still sitting on her thighs, "What do you mean?"

The boy tsked, "Seriously? You look as if nothing happened now! There's no bruise even!"

Mika sighed, "I don't know. It's always been like this. I've always healed super-fast and I can't explain it. I'm a freak"

Gaara's face fell and he placed each leg on each side of her to straddle her still sitting on her thighs.

They were quiet. Just staring at each other in silence.

Gaara narrowed his eyes in suspicion and tilted his head, "It's certainly strange. Does it have anything to do with Professor Orochimaru experimenting on you like you said before?"

Mika's heart stopped and she looked away from the boy on top of her, "I don't know. Perhaps."

There was silence again so Gaara decided to take this awkward moment to look around. He had noticed it before and it made him uneasy. No home was like this and it confused him. There was nothing like it. It only meant one thing.

"Uzumaki?"

Mika raised her eyebrows at him to convey that she was listening to him and he continued.

"Why are there no pictures in your apartment?"

The girl wasn't expecting this question. She had never thought of a way to answer it before. What should she say? She was at a block so she stalled.

"What do you mean?"

The boy sighed, "Usually in a home, there would be at least one picture of a person's family. But you haven't a single picture of anyone anywhere in your apartment. Not one." Mika's breathe sped as he continued, "Now I have to wonder. . . Why is that?"

Mika swallowed, "How do you know I don't have any pictures in my room?"

"That's another thing. I've snooped in your apartment. There is only room here for one person, not a family. There is only one bedroom and one bathroom. Can you explain that?"

'Shit'

No one had even come this far before. She didn't know what to do exactly, "Uh . . . Umm"

Gaara waited for her answer almost patiently.

A tear ran down Mika's cheek, "I . . . I don't-"

'Knock! Knock! Knock!'

Mika's voice was interrupted by a sharp knocking on her door. They both jumped slightly at the sudden noise and Gaara sighed, "Fine. You got out of it this time" he slapped her cheek a few times. It wasn't exactly gentle but the slaps weren't harsh either but left a pink mark on her cheek.

"However before you answer that door. How are you going to explain your fast healing to everyone else?"

She looked confused again and he explained, "What I mean is if they found out that you healed completely after only two days, then won't they be a little suspicious and frightened of you? They'd want answers. A lot of them."

"So what should I do then?" she seemed to have gathered his point and he smirked.

"Well" Gaara tapped her stomach gently, "I could beat the shit out of you where your 'broken rib' should be for the next month or so? That way everyone will just assume that you still hurt from the Volleyball game."

Mika thought about it. She really didn't want to be hit every day for that long but did she really have a choice? This was probably just some sick plan of his to get fix too though.

She sighed, "Fine."

The red-head smirked again and nailed a hard punch into her gut, making the girl cringe and groan in pain, "Ah! You could have warned me you bastard!"

'Knock!' 'Knock!' 'Knock!'

The knocking was getting louder.

Gaara got up off of he pulled her up by the back of her orange shirt easily. He pushed her softly towards the door with him behind her, letting her open the door.

It was Sasuke.

"Hey Sasuke. You're here early." Mika grinned at him, albeit a little fake as her gut still hurt.

Sasuke was about to reply when he saw Gaara behind her, "What the fuck are you doing here and why weren't you in school?!"

Sasuke pushed himself in and came up to the red-head threateningly. Gaara smirked.

"I don't have to answer to you Uchiha." Gaara pushed past him and slid a finger down Mika's cheek seductively, "See you later my little virgin"

With that, Gaara left the apartment with a big smirk on his face, knowing he pissed off the Uchiha boy to no end.

Sasuke slammed the door behind Gaara and huffed, "What the hell was he doing here Mika?!"

The girl blushed, "Uummmm . . You know what I really have no clue. We didn't really talk much. He has just been here for a few minutes before you got here."

Sasuke visibly relaxed and groaned, "You need to be resting Mink"

Mika groaned, "No! I'm fine!"

But she couldn't let Sasuke know that she was already healed. That would mean explaining why and she really didn't want him knowing that their professor in high school used her in scientific experiments when she was nine years old. She told Gaara only because he was like her. A freak. And if Gaara knew, so what? It's not like he'd treat her any different. However, if Sasuke knew there's no telling what he would do. Would he still want to be her friend?

Sasuke glared at her, "Go to bed and take your medicine. I'll bring you some dinner."

"But! . . . . Oh! How did tryouts pay off?! Did you make it in Football?!"

Sasuke merely just nodded, "Now go to bed and take your medicine!"

Mika stuck her tongue at him but ran off to her room anyway.

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September 28th came around quicker than anyone thought it would.

Mika was still bedridden thanks to Gaara, who was more than happy to pummel her every day after he got out of school.

Gaara, Sasuke, Sai, Kiba, Lee, Neji, Jugo and Jirobo were on the varsity Football team and the Homecoming dance was in two days.

'I have to ask her' Sasuke paced around terribly in Mika's kitchen, 'It's now or never'

Sasuke closed his eyes and glared, mostly at himself, 'I can do this'

He walked into Mika's room, "Mika." He tried to speak confidently as the girl just stared at him with innocent wonder, "Will you go to the dance with me?"

Mika didn't know what to think, say or even do she was so flabbergasted, "Wha?"

Sasuke groaned inwardly, truthfully terrified of her answer.

"You" Mika paused, "You want to go to the dance with me Sasuke?"

He realized how much trouble he was in, "No! I mean yes! I uh. . . I mean as friends! Friends, you loser!"

Sasuke noticed how stupid he sounded but Mika merely smiled a bit, 'Is that a good sign?'

Mika bit her lip, "I'm sorry Sasuke. I'm afraid I can't go to the dance this year."

Sasuke gulped, "Why not?"

Mika glanced around her room, "Well for one Sasuke, I hate being around crowds. Two: I still hurt from Volleyball tryouts a couple weeks ago."

"Oh." Sasuke's hope plummeted, "Yeah. Yeah okay"

"Sasuke?" Mika asked concerned.

"Yeah?"

"I'm flattered you wanted to ask me and all. . . but maybe you should ask Sakura? Your friends with her too. She'll love it."

Sasuke looked away, "Yeah." He put his hands in his pockets, "Yeah, okay. Good idea Mika" he sounded miserable, "I'll see you later alright? You come back to school Monday right?"

Mika nodded, "Yeah. See you Sasuke. Have fun at the dance Friday night."

Sasuke nodded with a disappointed look on his face and walked out of her room and out of her apartment to his own home.

'Dammit Sasuke' he chided himself.

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R&R

Sorry this little chapter took so long :P heheh