So, I've now officially had someone slam my story. Unfortunately, said individual did a very poor job. If someone is going to insult my story, they should at least do so intelligently. "Stupid and gross" are very poor choices for insults. Something like, "This is an offensive, boorish piece of shit," now that has an intelligent ring to it.

Now, on to picture discovery.

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Gaara turned and ran. He did not look back. He kept running until he got into his car and slammed the door. Then, he jammed the keys into the ignition and kept running.

He finally stopped the car at his favorite spot. A turnaround point on a local mountain from which you could see the entire town in the valley below. At night, all the lights appeared like tiny stars in a sea of black. Gaara got out of his car and sat on the trunk, looking out over the valley.

"He must hate me now because of what happened." Gaara fell back against the car and listened to the radio, hoping to drown out all the chaos in his mind.

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Neji stared at the picture, thoughts racing through his head, but then he heard Gaara's footsteps. He saw Gaara disappearing around the corner of the hall. "Damn." Neji snapped the book shut and took off after Gaara, yelling at him to slow down. He reached the parking lot in time to see Gaara speed away.

"Why…" Neji reopened the book and looked down at the page. Who is this? Neji looked at the road Gaara had sped off on. "I have to find him."

He got in his car and headed to the diner.

To Neji's disappointment, Gaara wasn't there. He was about to leave when Naruto popped up from behind the counter.

"Hey Neji! Gaara's not here!"

Why is he being so loud, and why is his face red? "I know."

"So why are you here then?" Naruto said with a slight hint of impatience.

What's with him? "He ran off."

"Oh…why?" Naruto asked cautiously. "Gaara usually isn't the type to run."

"He ran after I saw this." Neji handed the sketchbook over to Naruto opened to the page he had stopped on.

Naruto stared at the page in disbelief. Then he said in a whisper," I never knew he had a picture of her…"

"…but Naruto, who is this?" Neji looked down at the page in which a girl with brown hair and soft green eyes was hugging Gaara from behind. They were both smiling. "She reminds me of someone, but I can't say why."

Naruto took the book from Neji, eyes still wide and began to flip through the pages. He's drawn this much! He stopped again on the page. He did really care about her. He continued flipping forward, noting when the pictures began to take on a more depressed light. This must have been when…Naruto shook his head. He was looking at Gaara's life, his feelings. He noticed when the images started to regain a feeling of hope. The last page that had been drawn on made Naruto smile wide.

"What, What is it?" Neji had been standing there patiently the entire time, and nerves were getting to him.

Naruto smiled wider. "You've got nothing to worry about. Gaara loves you." Naruto handed the book back to Neji opened to the last page. At first, all Neji could do was stare at the image. It was of him and Gaara that first night in the park. Their first kiss. Neji's fingers traced the outline in awe. But…

"Still Naruto, who is that girl?"

Naruto shook his head and turned around. "That's for Gaara to say."

"But I don't know where he is."

"Try one of the turnarounds on the mountains. He likes to go there to think."

"Which one?"

"Hard to say." Truly, he always goes to the same one, but you both need time to think.

"Naruto…"

"You might want to get started if you plan to find him before nightfall," Naruto said with a smile over his shoulder.

"Argh, see you later." Neji ran out of the diner.

Naruto smiled softly as he watched him go. "You'd better tell him Gaara. Otherwise, he'll go insane."

"That's Neji for ya," Sasuke said coming up from behind the counter. "So who is that girl anyways?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "No one really." Naruto turned around and started to wrap silverware. He felt Sasuke walk up and put his arms around him, stopping his quickly wrapping fingers.

"Naruto," he whispered breathily," You're a terrible liar."

Naruto leaned back into the embrace, allowing himself to relax.

"Tell me," Sasuke whined.

Naruto sighed. "You know I can't say no, don't you?"

Sasuke nodded against his back. " So when are you going to tell me?"

"Over dinner okay?"

"That's fine." Sasuke pulled away. "At dinner then." He turned around, then looked over his shoulder with a smile. "I won't forget."

Naruto watched as Sasuke left. Then returned to wrapping silverware. I know you won't. That's the problem. This was supposed to remain buried forever. Naruto thought back to Neji's worried expression. Please tell him Gaara. He deserves to know.

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Gaara laid on the trunk of the car watching the sun as it slowly sunk towards the horizon. Vaguely, he realized that he had missed work. "Oh well." He fell back into deep thought, but the sound of an approaching car interrupted his meditations.

He looked up to watch the car pass, but then he noticed the familiar hum of the engine. The car pulled up next to his and cut the engine. He laid back down and closed his eyes. He heard the slam of a door and the crunch of feet on gravel. He opened his eyes when he felt a shadow cast over him.

"It's been a while Gaara."

"Yeah it has Haku."

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Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, look what I did, and you all thought it was Neji. (Laughs at your expense) I guess I'm feeling really evil today. A cliffie of sorts, and a short chapter.

I'm having typing problems today, so excuse my errors, and many thanks to the ones who reviewed the last chapter. I'm over sixty. (dances around in circles)