21. Different Names for the Same Thing

Sakura and Gaara arrived at school with only minutes to spare. The grounds outside the school were almost completely empty, with one or two late students scurrying over the grass.

"Come on!" Sakura told Gaara. Still holding his hand, she pulled him towards the school building. "Hurry up! We're late." Gaara sighed, but held onto her hand, and let her drag him into the building.

Sakura and Gaara had barely made it into the building, before the bell rung. Taking off in a clumsy run, restrained by their intertwined hands, they made it to the classroom at the exact same time as Iruka.

"Ah… Sakura. Gaara." Iruka looked at them in confusion and amusement, as they skidded to a stop in front of him, panting heavily, and sweating slightly in their thick coats. "You're just in time."

Iruka gestured with his hands for the two of them to enter the classroom. Sakura nodded and walked in, pulling Gaara behind her by the hand. Temari and Kankarou, who were sitting next to Shikamaru in the middle of the class, looked at their intertwined hands with wide eyes. Sakura blushed, and hurriedly went to sit down, releasing Gaara's hand as she did so.

Temari flashed a knowing smile over her shoulder.

The school day went by in a daze.

Sakura kept spacing out, her mind clouded with confusing, but pleasant thoughts concerning her redheaded table mate. She couldn't stop thinking about the heart to heart they'd had the night before, the talk they'd had this morning, the hug they had exchanged, the way they had held hands while walking to school… Sakura looked over at the boy in question, blushing furiously when she realized that he was looking at her as well.

She had never felt like this before. She had never been so distracted by something or someone to the point where she couldn't concentrate, couldn't think, couldn't even focus on something for a few minutes. Sakura had been spacing out in class so much lately that she wasn't even sure which topic they were on in the respective classes anymore. Her thoughts had been so filled with Gaara for a long time, and they continued to be filled up with even more of Gaara as time went on.

Stop yourself, Sakura, she thought with a sigh, as the bell rung at the end of the day. Gaara calmly rose from his seat, slipped his textbook into his backpack, and carefully zipped the bag, causing Sakura to stare at him, before she managed to shake it off. She stood up, packed her bag, and cleaned up the table, all the while shaking her head at her own weird behavior.

Sakura and Gaara finished up in the classroom, put on their coats, and began their walk home; however, they had barely made it out of the building, before they were halted to a stop by a loud, shrill voice.

"Hey! Gaara! Sakura!" Temari, dragging a reluctant Shikamaru behind her, was running towards them with a big smile on her face. "Wait up!"

Sakura turned around in surprise. "Hi, Temari," she greeted. "What's up?"

Temari's smile only widened. "Oh, nothing," she said dismissively. "I was wondering if you wanted to walk home together today?"

"Oh." Sakura blinked in surprise. "OK." She frowned, looking between Temari's wide smile, Shikamaru's annoyed expression, and Gaara's bored face. "I suppose we could…"

But before she could even finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a cranky voice. "Why would we want to walk home with them?" Shikamaru asked Temari, his expression tired and sour. "Sakura's house isn't even remotely close to mine!"

Temari sent him an irritated look. Sakura looked between the two of them in confusion, before shrugging it off. "You do have a point," she offered, earning a sarcastic grimace in return. "After all, we can't really walk home together, since we're pretty much splitting up at the first street outside the school…" She sent Temari a smile. "But if you want, you can come boxing with me tomorrow?"

Temari sighed. "Alright… I suppose that's the only option," she said, eyeing Shikamaru scornfully. "Let's go boxing tomorrow. Should we meet up at the gym?" Sakura nodded, and Temari flashed a smile. "OK, then. See you tomorrow!" She waved friendlily at Sakura and Gaara, before turning around and walking in the opposite direction. Shikamaru followed suit, grumbling crankily under his breath.

Sakura sighed, and turned to Gaara. "Let's go home."

She couldn't have been surprised, when Gaara slowly stepped forward, and hesitantly reached for her hand. "…. Yes," he said, carefully curling his fingers around hers. Sakura lifted her head to meet his eyes and immediately felt her heart starting to race and her cheeks starting to burn. Oh, God… Sakura tried to look away, but his intense, turquoise eyes were hypnotizing. What is happening? she thought, staring hypnotically into his eyes, her heart pounding heavily in her chest, sending her blood out to every nerve in her body, leaving a warm, buzzing sensation behind. What is wrong with me?

To Sakura, it seemed like they stood there, holding hands, and staring into each other's eyes for an eternity. When she finally managed to tear her eyes off of him, she felt like she was having a heart attack, with her hammering heart, red cheeks, and suddenly dry throat. I must be having a seizure. "Y-Yes," she managed to croak out, willing her wobbly legs to move, and pulling the redhead along behind her. Either that, or I'm going insane. "C-Come on. Let's go."

A/N: The twenty-first chapter is up!

I'm seriously sorry that it took so long to get it up… But I've been so swamped with school and work and other annoying things, so I simply didn't have the time. Luckily, I've just started my semester break, so I should be able to wrap this story up by the end of next week; however, I promise nothing…

Thank you so much for all your alerts, favorites and reviews! You're so wonderful to keep replying to this story, even though I'm not updating very often. Your support is very much appreciated! :3

ANSWERING REVIEWS: BladeDancer123: Thanks for reviewing! At this point, the Suna students have been in Konoha for eight-nine weeks, so the exchange student program will be over in a little over three weeks. (:

Please review!

Love to you all!