When Gaara finally awoke, he discovered that it was a few minutes past when he'd normally awaken. Not wanting to be late, he took a quick shower and dressed for work as best as he could. Thankfully, he made it on time. Nothing happened beyond the usual, unless one counted the fact that he continually worried about Naruka "beyond the usual". By the time Gaara took his break, Naruka had yet to show.

"Gaara, what's wrong?" asked Matsuri.

"Since when did I ever say something was wrong?"

"Come on, I can see it in your eyes!"

"It's really THAT obvious to you?"

"For God's sake, why do you have to be such a brick wall!?"

Gaara sighed. "Fine, I'll talk, but you have to keep this a secret, OK?"

"OK!"

Gaara leaned in a little closer to Matsuri and whispered: "I wasn't very sick, actually. I was just tired."

"Oh?"

"Also, remember the woman I saw here the day before yesterday?"

"Yes, I do."

"I saw her at the Mohr Library in Johnston yesterday. I accused her of stalking me and I…I…"

"Yes?"

"I blew up and told her I hated her."

Matsuri did her best not to shout out loud. "Gaara, how could you!?"

"I don't know, I just…oh god, I hope she's okay; she hasn't come to see me today." Gaara buried his face in his hands.

"Why don't you apologize to her?"

"I would if I knew where…" Gaara lifted his head up "…wait a minute…of course…"

"What?"

"Don't mind me; I'm just thinking out loud."

As he had always done after work, Gaara hit the gym. Unfortunately for him, no matter how many reps he did, no matter how long he spent on the treadmill, Naruka just didn't show up. Eventually, he gave up and hit the shower. He took a little longer than usual as if he was trying to wash away the shame he felt for making Naruka cry. Even that didn't seem to do much, so he just decided that maybe she didn't really kill herself and that he'd run into her sooner or later. It turned out to be sooner when he saw a familiar orange Chevelle in the parking lot.

"Naruka!"

Gaara quickened his pace when he saw Naruka walking towards him. Unfortunately for him, the moment she made eye contact with him, she dropped her gym bag, crossed her arms and turned away from him.

"Oh, it's you," said Naruka, who was wearing a red Aeropostale zippered hoodie in addition to leggings and sneakers. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened yesterday at the library," replied Gaara.

"Oh, you're sorry NOW?" Naruka refused to turn around. "You didn't look very sorry yesterday!"

"Look, if you're mad at me, I understand, but please, hear me out!"

"Hear this: I didn't eat a single thing since after you said you hated me! Not even Sasuke would say anything like that to me! You should be ashamed of yourself, you bastard!"

"I may not have been an accident of birth, but I am indeed very ashamed of myself, and if there's any way in which I can make it up to you, please let me know!"

"Hm?" Naruka blinked, but still held her position.

"Yes, I really do want to make it up to you. I've never met anybody like you before, and now that I think about it, I was hoping to take you out for a drink tomorrow."

Naruka whirled around to face Gaara, uncrossing her arms in the process. "WOW! Really!?"

Gaara smiled. "Really."

"Oh, thank you thank you THANK YOU!"

Naruka rewarded Gaara's apology with a big hug, which he gladly returned. Even with his Schott jacket on, Gaara could still feel Naruka's curves. What he really liked feeling was her cheek pressing against his. The slight hint of Chanel No. 5 was a nice touch as well. She held on to him for so long that he thought he could hear his own heartbeat. Eventually, they backed down from the hug, but Naruka kept her hands on Gaara's waist for just a bit more.

"So, where to, boy?" asked Naruka.

"Hmmm…" Gaara stroked his chin, and then snapped his fingers. "How about the Brewed Awakenings in Johnston at 7:00?"

"Where's that?"

"It's on Route 5, 1395 Atwood Avenue, in the plaza across from BJ's."

Naruka gave a thumbs up. "Sounds great, babe! Here, let me give you my number just in case anything comes up…"

Naruka pulled a pen and pad of sticky notes out of her purse, wrote down her number and handed it to Gaara.

"Here you go!" said Naruka.

Gaara gave her his number as well. "Excellent! I can't wait to see you then!"

"I can't wait to see you too! Believe it!"

"Thank you! Enjoy your workout, and have a good day!" Gaara waved at Naruka.

"You're welcome! Bye!"

The two parted ways.

When he got home, Gaara went to Kankuro – who was watching a UFC match on TV – got in his way and blew a Bronx cheer at him.

"Gaara, what the hell!?" Kankuro leaned to the side to get a look at the TV. "I'm trying to watch the tube here!"

"I'll allow it, but first, I wanted to say, you'll NEVER believe who got a date tomorrow night!" Gaara crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side as he smiled.

Kankuro blinked slowly. "Wait…are you telling me that you got a date…with a woman?"

"That I did!"

"Hey, good going, brother!"

Kankuro and Gaara gave each other a high-five.

"Thanks, Kankuro! I'll let you know how it goes!"

"Yeah, cool!"

Gaara went up to his room again. This time, he fired up his NES and played Super Mario Bros. until he was sick of it. Rather than watching some violent exploitation movie or one of his favorite Orson Welles movies afterwards, he popped in Kiki's Delivery Service. He needed an injection of cuteness to keep his spirits high, after all. Once the movie was over, he listened to some peaceful music, starting with "Jack and Jill" by Raydio. His spirit soothed, he got ready for bed and was able to turn the light out knowing that he'd redeemed himself. Little did he know he was in for the ride of his life…

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.