Alright, to clear up some confusion, here are the characters who know that Sakura lives with Sasuke at the moment: Sakura, the Uchihas, Ino, Lee, and Naruto. Only these people know where she lives.

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"She's late."

"I can see that…un."

"I'm sorry!" Almost if on cue, the door ripped open and a frantic looking Haruno Sakura burst into the room. "Please forgive me Deidara-sama! Sasori-sama!"

The two men before her turned to stare, and Sasori let out an exasperated sigh while Deidara observed her with an amused smirk. Sakura looked down at her feet.

"Well," the blonde man gave her a smile. "You're here now, so everything's all right, un."

"Just don't do it again." The redhead besides the blonde told her.

"Y-yes!" Sakura bowed. "Thank you."

"Is she the other model?"

Sakura whirled around and stared up at the boy before her. For some odd reason, the first thing that flew to her mind was STAY AWAY.

Nevertheless, she tentatively offered a smile, and reached out her hand. "H-hi…"

The gesture was not returned. Embarrassed, Sakura quickly withdrew her arm while the boy observed her emotionlessly.

"Sakura, meet Gaara," Deidara stepped between them. "Gaara, meet Sakura. You'll get along fabulously…un."

"We're wasting time," Sasori was already adjusting a camera, his features one of immense concentration laced with impatience. "Get the clothes on and hurry back out."

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"Deidara?"

"What is it…un?"

Sakura looked down, "I was just wondering why someone as…quiet…as Gaara would be interested in working in modeling." It was an hour later, and Gaara had immediately left. Sakura had stayed after to help clear up some equipment.

"Hmph," Sasori answered before Deidara opened his mouth. "It's not like he has a choice."

"A choice?"

"Don't listen to Sasori…un," Deidara glared at his partner. "It's nothing…"

Sakura was curious, but she felt that she shouldn't push her authority on the first day of the job. "O-okay."

"You can leave now," Sasori opened the door for her. "Come tomorrow at the same time. Don't be late."

As Sakura descended down the steps towards the parking lot, vague sounds of soft bickering could be heard in the room behind her.

What was all that about…?

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"WAAH!"

"Naruto…you're killing my ear." The moment Sakura stepped inside homeroom, she was tackled by a blonde blur.

"Sakura-chan!" The blonde cried out in distress. "Is it true?"

Sakura pushed the boy back. "What's true?"

"You're a model now!"

"Yeah, I am," she told the boy. "Didn't Sasuke-kun tell you…?"

"Sasuke knew about this before I did?" Naruto immediately charged over to the Uchiha. "Why didn't you tell me, teme!"

"It doesn't concern you, dobe."

"Guys, why are you always fighting?" Sakura made her way over to them, and turned to look at Naruto. "Is there anything wrong with my job?"

"Uh…not really," Naruto brightened up. "Well, when will I see Sakura-chan on posters and buses and stuff?"

"Not for awhile," Sakura laughed. "I mean, Gaara and I just went to the job yesterday—"

"Wait!" Naruto cut her off, his eyes widening. "Did you just say…Gaara?"

Sakura blinked. "Do you know him?"

"Gaara?" Naruto shared a glance with Sasuke. "Gaara…modeling? That's not possible!"

"Well," Sakura looked between the two boys. "What's so special about Gaara?"

"He goes to Sunagakure Academy in the next town," Naruto explained. "He's the principal's son. And…" the boy paused. "He beat Sasuke in basketball…"

"Really?" Sakura turned to look at Sasuke. Now this was interesting news.

"It was two years ago…" The Uchiha muttered darkly, obviously unhappy with the current subject of discussion.

"Sasuke never got a chance to get revenge," Naruto continued on, as though the raven-haired prodigy wasn't sitting right next to him at the moment. "Gaara abruptly quit his school's basketball team after freshman year. We've hardly heard about him since."

"Well…" Sakura said. "He seemed fine to me yesterday when I saw him. Though there were really dark circles around his eyes, and he was eerily silent."

Naruto shrugged. "The circles have been there for a long time. No one knows why, and no one dares to ask. Lots of people are afraid of him."

"Do you know anything else?" Sakura wanted to know as much about her new colleague as possible.

"Ask Shikamaru," Naruto suggested. "I think he's friends with Temari."

"Temari…?"

"Gaara's sister."

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"This is unbelievable!" Sakura exclaimed on the way back home. "According to Shikamaru, Gaara won the district basketball championship when he was in middle school, even though the competition was supposed to be for high school kids! And he's extremely skilled in all sorts of martial arts and fighting!"

"Does it look like I care…" the boy besides her was still in a bad mood.

"But, Sasuke-kun…" Sakura remarked. "Isn't it amazing?"

"No."

"Now the only question is…" Sakura put a fist to her chin in a thinking manner. "…why'd he quit the team if he was so good?"

"Just because your good at something doesn't mean you enjoy it," Sasuke told her.

"Are you saying Gaara doesn't like basketball?" Sakura asked. "How do you know?"

"Hn." The Uchiha chose to say no more. "It doesn't matter. Besides, he isn't that good…"

"But you lost to him, right?" Sakura realized a second too late what she had just said.

The full force of the Uchiha glare was turned on her. "It was two years ago."

GEEZ, TALK ABOUT SENSITIVE. Inner Sakura scoffed. ATTITUDE PROBLEMS.

They had reached the door.

On sudden impulse, a wave of mischief washed over her.

"You shouldn't be jealous, Sasuke-kun," she said slyly, and suddenly, stood on her toes to peck him on the cheek.

The action was so unexpected that the Uchiha had no time to block the attack.

"I'll see you later, Sasuke-kun!" the girl giggled, before flinging open the door and fleeing into the house.

Sasuke stood on the doorstep, his eyes narrowed.

He glowered, "Who said I was jealous."

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"Wait, Gaara!"

The redhead paused in his steps to watch the girl run down the stairs to catch up with him.

It was the end of the second day of work.

"…go away," he told her.

She ignored his remark, and stretched out her hand, a cheery smile on her face. "I know this is sudden, but we didn't really get introduced yesterday. So…hi! I'm Haruno Sakura."

He stared at her hand, before turning around and continuing to walk on. "I told you to leave."

"Now wait a minute," Sakura caught up to him. "We're going to be working together, so it would be best to get along, right? It's always nice to have a new friend."

"…friend?" the redhead paused in his steps, and turned to face her.

The look he gave her not pleasant, and Sakura couldn't help but shiver at those empty eyes. "Yes, a friend. You know, someone who—"

There was sudden movement, and before Sakura could comprehend what was happening, the wind was knocked out of her and she found herself pressed against the building wall.

"Don't try to be my friend," a feral smile graced his lips. "…I'll kill you!"

Sakura let out a gasp.

…He means it.

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Let's make this clear. GAARA'S FATHER IS NOT A NICE PERSON. Hmm…more explanations as to why he's modeling and the whole basketball history will be explained in later chapters.

I'm a bit rushed right now, so I can't leave a lot of author's comments.

Next Update: Sunday, October 15th

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