"Are you sure you don't want to take an extra jacket?" Yumi asked the red-haired boy standing in front of her. She had been pressing him on this matter for over five minutes already. Why couldn't she just take no for an answer? It wasn't like he was going to freeze to death, but she obviously saw it differently.

Sighing, Gaara took the jacket Yumi had been holding out to him. "I'll take it, just in case," he told her, doing his best to hide his aggravation. The woman smiled and the two of them were on their way.

The car ride wasn't any better. Yumi kept asking him the same questions over and over again. She made sure that he knew what time his curfew was, where he was going to be, who he was going to be with, and how to reach her if he ended up needing anything.

"You never make this big of a deal any other time I go out," Gaara commented.

"Well, tonight is different," Yumi told him. "It's Halloween and there's a bunch of stupid people out partying."

The pre-teen smirked. "It's not like I'm one of those stupid people."

Yumi laughed and nodded. "I know that. I just want you to be safe."

Gaara was dropped off at the Hyuuga manor and he slowly walked up the walkway. Hinata, Kerri, and Neji were patiently waiting on the porch for him.

The redhead looked down at the ground, shuffling his feet nervously. He still hadn't completely gotten over the awkwardness between him and Kerri. It wasn't like he wanted it to be that way, but it was something that couldn't be helped. Kerri was understanding about it and allowed him to have his space, which made things a bit easier.

"So…," Neji started, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "We should head over to Sasuke's so we don't piss off his brother. We're lucky enough that he's willing to give us a ride."

Kerri snickered and Neji glared at her.

"What's so funny?" he asked with irritation.

"You think that being in a car with Itachi as a driver is a good thing?" she asked with a sly smirk.

"What are y-you talking about?" Hinata asked out of curiosity.

"You'll find out!" she chirped as she slowly walked ahead of the group, her cane guiding her down the path.

XxooooooxX

A car screeched to a halt and four kids practically flew out of the car. The blind girl was the only one who calmly got out and smiled at their "wonderful" driver.

"Thanks for the ride, Itachi," she thanked him sweetly.

The older Uchiha waved her away nonchalantly. "Whatever," he responded plainly. "I'll be back for you guys in three hours. Sasuke, if I have to come out and find you, there will be hell to pay."

The younger brother shrugged and turned his back to the long-haired man. "Whatever," he sighed, "we'll be waiting for you then."

With a loud screech, the car flew out of the parking lot and back onto the street, leaving behind the sound of car horns blaring angrily.

"Why didn't you tell us your brother was an insane driver?!" Neji demanded, still looking slightly shaken from the crazy ride.

"Lighten up," Sasuke replied with a smirk. He started walking towards the entrance of the corn maze. "It's Halloween. You should be up for a good scare."

The Hyuuga boy growled, slowly following the raven-haired leader. Kerri and Hinata followed behind Neji with Gaara heading up the back of the group.

"Did you b-bring a flashlight, G-Gaara?" Hinata asked softly. The quietest member of the group shook his head. "Y-You can share with K-Kerri and me."

"Thank you."

The five kids paid their admission and turned on their flashlights, meeting each other in front of the field. The only one who didn't have a flashlight, of course, was Kerri.

"Are we going to split up and see who can get to the other side first, or are we going to stick together?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"L-Let's stick t-together," Hinata spoke up nervously.

Kerri nodded in agreement. "We really shouldn't test your brother's patience. And besides, who knows how long it will take to get to the other side if we end up getting lost."

Sasuke sighed, biting his bottom lip while deeply contemplating what to do. "Whatever, if you want to stick together, then we'll stick together. Itachi hasn't been in the best of moods lately, so I don't really want to go against his warnings either."

"Then let's go!" Kerri chirped, taking the lead. The four behind her watched with amusement as she walked right into the cornfield, missing the path completely. Pouting, the girl kicked the dusty ground. "I already hate this! There's nothing to help guide me!"

"Calm down," Neji teased as he approached the seething girl. "I'll help guide you, but no more temper tantrums."

Kerri exhaled deeply and nodded. "Fine, but if you even think about trying to scare me, I'll take your head off." Hinata giggled at the comment while Sasuke and Gaara smirked.

"I'm not that mean," Neji told her with an innocent smile plastered on his lips. "And besides, there are plenty of people hiding out there to do that for me."

Kerri smirked and laughed. "I'll still take your head off anyway."

"Better watch it, Neji," Sasuke teased. "I think she's out to get you."

The group stopped when the path split into two different directions. One veered to the left and the other to the right.

"W-Which way d-d-do we go?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"I say we split up," Sasuke commented with a smirk.

"I thought we were going to stick together!" Kerri pointed out.

The raven haired boy shrugged. "Well, there are two ways to go. We might as well go a different way. And who knows, it might be more fun that way. I'm going left."

"Then I'm going right," Kerri said with a grin. "I wouldn't want to be stuck with the likes of you."

Sasuke growled, frowning at the girl. "Fine, go whatever way you want. Make sure you take someone with you though."

"Gaara," Kerri began as she pulled away from Neji, "will you please come with me?"

The redhead thought for a moment before holding his arm out to Kerri, allowing the girl to latch on. "Is anyone else coming along?" he asked softly.

"I think I'm going to go with Sasuke," Neji told him. "That gives me more of a chance to give Kerri a wonderful surprise at the end of the maze." Kerri stuck her tongue out at the Hyuuga boy, causing him to laugh softly.

"I'm g-going with N-Ne-Neji," Hinata told him. "T-take my f-flashlight, Gaara." The shy girl held out the light and Gaara thankfully took it.

"Then let's go!" Sasuke called out in a bored tone, leading the way. "We'll meet you guys at the end!"

Gaara sighed and took the path to the right with Kerri walking beside him. Once he was certain that the others weren't anywhere near them, he finally spoke to his companion.

"You got Sasuke to do that on purpose just to get me alone with you," he stated. It wasn't a question. He knew all too well that she had probably planned out everything ahead of time.

"We haven't said a single word to each other for several weeks," Kerri told him sadly. Gaara nodded, biting his bottom lip and stopping when the path split into different directions again. "I think we had enough time sorting out our thoughts. We really need to talk."

"Okay." The young boy heaved a sigh as he came to a split in the path. "Do we keep going straight or turn right?"

"Right," Kerri answered confidently. The two of them turned down the path to the right and continued walking. The girl could feel Gaara's nervous energy, making her want to get this over with quickly. "Is everything between us still okay? You're not angry with me or anything, are you?"

Gaara looked at the blonde with slight shock. "No, I wasn't," he told her firmly. "What about you? You could've come to talk to me at any time, but you waited this long to say something."

"I wasn't angry, just a little confused," the girl admitted, "but I think I finally came to a conclusion." Kerri smiled gently and looked down at the ground.

"And that would be…?"

The blonde nervously bit her bottom lip before answering. "I really like you."

The slightly shorter pre-teen slowly came to a halt, his cheeks growing warm. He wasn't sure what to say. Even though he had spent an endless amount of time thinking about it, he was still confused about his feelings. After all, nothing like this had ever happened to him. All these emotions that were swimming through his mind were so foreign.

"This is new to me and…" The nervous teen went silent upon feeling Kerri give his arm a small squeeze. He looked at her with confusion in his eyes.

"This is new to me as well," she told him softly, still squeezing his shoulder gently.

"So… does that mean we're a couple?" Gaara's blush deepened as he spoke. He wanted to pull away from Kerri and wanted to put some space in between them. It was awkward to be asking something like that. Just having someone to call a friend was new to him. Referring to someone as his girlfriend was new to the second degree. He wasn't even sure what that type of relationship entailed and he sure as hell wasn't going to ask Yumi about something like that.

Kerri's blush deepened as well as she thought for a moment. "Gaara…my boyfriend…," she murmured to herself.

Gaara's eyes widened and his face reddened even more. The teen was sure that his face was the same color as his hair at that point.

Kerri sighed and shook her head. "I don't like it."

The redhead stared at his friend in confusion. A part of him was relieved that she felt that way, but at the same time, he could feel his heart sinking. Nothing had been this bewildering before. He knew that he really liked Kerri a lot, but something about referring to her as his girlfriend didn't feel right.

"Gaara…I love you and all, but it's kind of awkward thinking of us as boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Yeah," Gaara agreed with a light sigh, "I know what you mean."

"Do you feel the same way about me?"

The boy looked down at the ground with nervous sea-green eyes, shuffling his feet in the dirt. "Love… I don't…" Gaara sighed and ran a hand through his hair in slight frustration. He couldn't answer that question with any true confidence. Was love the right word to use? Did he really love Kerri?

"Gaara, it's alright if you don't love me."

The boy shook his head. "That's not it. It's just… I don't really know right now." Kerri nodded in understanding, sensing how deep Gaara's confusion ran. "I like you a lot, but…"

"It's okay, Gaara," Kerri interrupted, smiling gently. "I've got my thoughts cleared up for the most part, and soon, yours will clear up as well."

Gaara smiled very slightly and nodded. "So… we are…"

"We are two people who care about one another," Kerri finished, "and let's leave it at that. If something is going to happen, then it will happen. I just like being with you and knowing that you'll be there for me when I need you."

Gaara smiled and the two of them started walking again. "I do too," he whispered. Suddenly, they came to a dead end. The redhead scowled and Kerri giggled.

"I hate mazes," the boy grumbled.

"You're only saying that because you didn't go the right way," the blonde teased.

Gaara smirked. "Maybe, but you don't have any proof."

Kerri laughed as they headed back the way they came.

Yay! I was able to post this before I left! WOOT! It's kind of surprising, actually, since I re-did certain parts of this several times. I'd like to thank my wonderful Beta-Reader, NeferNeferi, for the suggestions to help improve this chapter. I hope I was able to improve it a little more. Lol.

I have no idea how I came up with the corn maze idea. I'm kinda planning the chapters out based on a month to month basis, and that was the last of the October stuff. And plus, I love corn mazes! ^.^ They are so much fun, and they are even more fun when you are trying to get "unlost". Hehe.

I started writing the next chapter, but I think that I'm going to be using it as a later chapter instead of for chapter 38. I'd say to start looking for it around Friday, July 31st. I'll hopefully have something completed and beta-ed by then.

Now, a BIG special thanks to the following people for reviewing:

Me and Gaara 4ever, Akasuna no Akane, Thegoldenlock, Gaara-frenzy, ProfilingXCSIXMyXCareer, Black Claided Cat, SakuraDreams92, MidniteCurse4Eternity, and Kit-Kat Punk-lover.

Thank you all. I loved reading all of your reviews and especially enjoyed the specific comments that people made. It makes me so happy and gets me so pumped to start writing another chapter. Thank you all again. ^__^

REVIEW PLEASE!!!! THANK YOU!!!!! :D