Chapter 21 – It's A Date!

There was a party tonight.

Sakura bit her lip as she looked down at the invitation in her hands. It was a New Year's Eve party and there was no doubt in her mind that everyone had received an invitation. Would they…?

"Mom," Sakura called as she entered the kitchen. When she heard her mother hum, she continued, asking, "Do you think I could go to this party tonight?"

In an instant, just like she had been expecting, Mebuki was in front of her, all but ripping the invitation out of her hands and glaring at her. "Sakura, you can't–"

"I won't be drinking alcohol." She sighed, sitting down at the island in the kitchen. "I just want to go. I'm tired of staying in the house all day."

"Why don't you go and spend New Year's Eve with Sasuke and Itachi?"

Yeah, like she hadn't already thought of doing that. "They're visiting their cousin. Besides, neither of them are the sort to party, are they? Not to mention that if they hadn't been visiting Shisui, Naruto would be hanging around Sasuke and then it would just be uncomfortable."

Mebuki's eyes saddened as she looked down at the invitation in her hands. She still couldn't believe that Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who seemed to always be smiling, seemed to always be forgiving, wouldn't give her daughter a chance to explain or apologise. Honestly, she had thought that he would be the first person to forgive Sakura, but it turned out that it was Sasuke, which surprised Mebuki greatly. It wasn't that she thought anything bad of Sasuke, it was just that he could be very… Uchiha-like. There was no other word to describe it, unless she used his father as an example.

"You can go on one condition," she told her daughter softly as she sat down across from her. Placing the invitation on the table in between them, Mebuki slid it over to Sakura. "You have to take a friend, one that you know won't leave your side." At her annoyed look, she sighed. "It's just a precaution, Sakura. You can't have any alcohol and no doubt there will be a lot of it at this party. Even though it's for teenagers, I know how these things work."

It wasn't that she didn't have anybody to go with, because Sakura had already been planning to ask a certain redhead to accompany her before Mebuki had even said anything. No, it was because she wanted her mother to have more faith in her. She already knew the risks of drinking alcohol, knew that it not only made her a pretty violent person, but it also didn't mix well with her medication. Nodding, she agreed. "Gaara doesn't drink, either," she told her mother quietly. "He said he doesn't like the effects it has."

"Well, then, it's settled." Mebuki smiled brightly, standing once again. Then, her smile slipped to a smirk. "So, are you and Gaara-kun an item?"

Honestly, Sakura didn't think her face could get any redder. She had had that dream about her and Gaara again last night… had she been calling out his name? The look in her mother's eyes was mischievous, downright evil. Oh Gods… What if she had heard her moaning his name in her sleep?

As though the sexual dreams weren't bad enough, Sakura had also been having dreams where she and Gaara were together, in love. She wasn't denying having any feelings for Gaara, because it was so obvious that there were some there, but love? It felt different to anything she had ever felt before, including her feelings for Sasuke, but could it be love? Yes, he made her heart beat incredibly faster (especially when he smirked or when his eyes locked onto hers), yes, he made butterflies that felt very overgrown flutter around in her stomach and yes, he could make her blush. But surely that didn't mean she was in love with him, did it? What about Sasuke?

"Why would you think that?" Sakura finally managed to choke out, earning herself a rather loud chuckle from her mother.

"Sakura, honey, look at your face. And I've seen the way you look at him or when you're talking about him. It's so obvious that you're falling in love with him. It's nice to see you looking… Well, not like you are now because it looks as though you're not even breathing, but the smile in your eyes is such a beautiful thing to see. I'm happy for you and I know that it wouldn't have changed your thoughts if we didn't, but just know that I like Gaara-kun and so does your father. He's a very–"

Sakura blocked out her mother as her eyes went wide and she stared down at her hands in shock.

No…

Falling in love? With Gaara?

He was going to hate her!

Sakura raised her hand to the door, only to lower it once again and frown.

It had been three hours now since she had learned about her feelings for Gaara. She had accepted it, somewhat, and was ready to at least try to act normal around him (or as normal as she could be). Sakura wasn't an idiot. She knew that something bad had happened to Gaara to make him hate getting close to people, that made him hate being touched. How would he react if she told him she was in love with him?

No, she couldn't tell him. She couldn't lose another one of her friends. Not again.

Just as Sakura went to finally knock on the door, it swung open, revealing a blonde who simply raised an eyebrow at Sakura, placing her hand on her hip and leaning against the door. It didn't seem like much, but damn. This woman was intimidating to say the least. It didn't help that Sakura recognised her instantly. She was the woman from the pictures, Gaara's older sister, Temari.

Oh shit.

She wasn't ready to meet his family yet!

Wait, what?

Shaking her head to try and remove those stupid thoughts, Sakura smiled at Temari. "Hi, I'm Sakura. May I please see Gaara?"

Temari narrowed her eyes, watching Sakura suspiciously. "Why do you want to see Gaara?"

"Because I'm his friend?" Hearing how bitchy her reply probably sounded, Sakura quickly added, "And there's a party tonight. I was wondering if he wanted to come with me."

The words seemed to make Temari very happy as she suddenly grabbed Sakura, not even giving her the chance to react as she literally dragging her into the house and pulling her into the living room. When she all but threw her down onto the sofa, the blonde quickly followed, sitting down next to her with an ear-to-ear grin, one that had the pink haired girl sitting back slightly. "A date?" It wasn't a question because Sakura had no time to answer. "This is great. I never thought Gaara would ever have a girlfriend, let alone go on a date. He's… well, you know. He's not a big fan of being touched and that's one of the main things in a relationship."

Temari once again looked Sakura over. "Seems my baby brother can choose his girls, too. Not that I'm surprised. Everything has to be 'perfect' to him." Like only hours before, she felt herself growing very red. "Hm…" The blonde looked thoughtful for a moment, but just as Sakura was about to say something, she quickly cut her off. "Looking at that invitation in your hands, I'm guessing it's one of those 'upper-class' type of parties, right?" She could only nod. "That's fine. He doesn't seem the type to wear them, but Gaara has a couple of suits. What colour were you planning on wearing tonight? I think you should wear red, or crimson. Yes, definitely crimson. Gaara has a tie that'd match perfectly. What kind of–"

"Temari."

At the sound of his voice, both girls tensed. Sakura didn't even dare to turn around and look at the person standing right behind her. Even though the arm of the sofa was separating them, she could practically feel him, feel his warmth. He was standing right behind her. Oh Gods… those stupid butterflies were back.

"Gaara." Instead of seeming scared or shocked, Temari grinned and stood up. "You're going on a date tonight."

His eyes snapped to Sakura's tensed form and narrowed. "A date?"

"Yeah," she replied airily. "Which is great, because otherwise you'd be staying here on your own again. As you already know, I have plans and so does Kankuro. This way, you can spend New Year with a friend." She then added more slyly, "a girlfriend."

"Get out," he told Temari in a rather cold voice, one that made her eyes widen before they snapped down to Sakura's form, as though she was worried about her. "Now."

Knowing not to push her luck with her little brother, she quickly disappeared, though she kept wondering if leaving Sakura on her own with Gaara was a good idea. Once she was gone, he stepped around the sofa and stood right in front of her, making her look up at him before her eyes shot back down to her legs. He knew that he would be coming across as intimidating, but Gaara honestly had no idea how he was supposed to act right now.

"What is Temari talking about?"

Sakura looked back up at him, biting her lip before giving him a small, nervous smile. "I came by to ask you if you wanted to come with me to a party tonight." Then, looking down at the invitation in her hands, she continued, saying, "It doesn't have to be a date if you don't want it to be. We could just go as friends."

He was silent for a couple of moments. The words Gaara wanted to say sounded awkward to him, sounded weird on his tongue and lips. "…Do you want it to be a date?"

Her head snapped up, eyes wide before a more genuine smile graced her lips. Was that Gaara's way of asking her on a date? Before she could even stop herself, Sakura was on her feet and throwing her arms around Gaara's neck, crushing him against her. She didn't know what surprised her more. The fact that he didn't push her away, or the fact that his own arms wrapped around her waist. Sure, he was hesitant and unsure and his muscles were tensed, but he–

Wait.

Gaara had muscles?

Oh Gods. He did have muscles. Sakura could feel herself about to melt into him, but she didn't want to pull away, she didn't want it to end. He was so warm. And despite how he acted, he was gentle, too. Yes, it was only a hug but this was Gaara. Gaara didn't touch people, let alone hug them.

"So, is that a yes?" Sakura asked as she tightened her hold ever so slightly, not wanting to startle him.

He didn't reply vocally, but she felt him nodding as his own hold tightened, slowly but surely relaxing into her embrace.

A/N – Chapters will be getting longer soon, don't worry!

And for those of you who will probably be thinking 'well, that was quick' with the whole falling in love thing... Well, if you think about it, Gaara is one of the only people who has stuck by her and has been a friend to her. I also mentioned quite a few chapters ago that he could make her blush, butterflies fill her stomach and her heart race. I know that doesn't mean you're in love, but a friend can't do that to you, can they? Not any of my friends can! Oh and I mentioned quite a few things that made it a little obvious that Gaara cared for her, but considering that he's Gaara, he didn't notice these things. I hope you all did, though!

I forgot to mention this on chapter twenty, but I got a review from a guest. I didn't get offended by anything, because they had a fair point and stuff, but it did bug me a little. Just so you all know, Sakura isn't being an attention seeker, she doesn't get around (even though it seems that way), isn't using her friends and isn't looking for pity. There is something that is seriously wrong with her, but she just doesn't know how to tell people because she doesn't think they'd understand or believe her. You'll find out why in a few chapters!

HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! :-)