Disclaimer: I own only Nanase and her family and Mana and her groupies.
"Blah" - talking
Blah - thinking
Blah - Gaara's mind person
Stuck in a Blizzard
Chapter Five:
Meeting Mana
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A short sigh passed through Nanase's pink lips, her eyes drooping wearily as she sat in class. She yawned behind her hand and dropped her gaze to the blank notebook in front of her, frowning. She bit her lip as she picked up her pen and began to draw the name of everyone's favorite redhead in big, loopy letters. She smiled as she made hearts around it and a little doodle of a chibi Gaara, letting out a soft laugh.
"Something funny, Miss. Iwamura?" the premature-gray teacher asked.
She burned bright red. "Uh, n-no, Kakashi-sensei," she said and smiled nervously, snapping her notebook closed. She lowered her head until her chin was touching her chest and closed her eyes tightly, berating herself.
"Try not to disturb us again, unless you want to finish this sentence on the board?" he asked with a sly smirk.
She shook her head vigorously. "I'll behave."
Kakashi-sensei seemed be disappointed but shrugged and went back to teaching the class, facing the board.
Nanase inwardly sighed, slumping down in her seat.
"Psst."
She turned behind her and giggled when Ino waved at her, quickly slapping a hand over her mouth and turning around. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned slightly, taking the note that was being handed to her.
Hey Wonderland girl!
Want to go to the mall with me later? A few of my other friends are coming to so it would be great for you to be there.
Your bestest buddy.
She turned and nodded, slipping the note under her binder and focusing her attention on the window. She saw the gym class on the track and smiled when she spotted a familiar redhead stretching, her stomach filling with butterflies. She quickly collected her things when the bell rang and ran out of the room, unknowing of Ino at her heels. She ran to the track, situating herself on the bleachers while trying to catch her breath.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ino asked.
"It's free period and I wanted to watch the track team," she replied.
"Or is it a certain gorgey redhead?" Ino asked slyly.
Nanase colored. "No!"
"Yeah, okay."
"Ino!"
The two girls turned to see three girls heading in their direction, waving frantically.
"Hey, girlies!" Ino yelled with a smile.
"Watcha doin' out here?" a girl with brown buns asked.
"Yeah, Ino-pig?" the one with a pink ponytail added.
"Just sitting with my buddy Nanase," she replied, glaring at Nanase's snicker. "And you shut-up forehead girl."
The pink-haired girl frowned.
"Nanase, this is Tenten."
The girl with the buns smiled. "Hi."
"This is forehead-girl or Sakura."
The pink-haired girl frowned at Ino then grinned at Nanase. "Yo!"
"And this is Hinata."
The quiet girl with short black hair, waved shyly. "H-hi."
"Nice to meet everyone, I'm Nanase," she replied with a grin.
Ino elbowed Nanase. "There's your hubby," she grinned. "He's running next."
"Gaara?" Tenten asked, bewildered. "Is he your boyfriend?"
"No!" she yelled. "He's just my friend."
Sakura grinned. "Yeah, sure!"
Nanase crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "Seriously, guys, he's only a friend."
"He's like the captain of everything," Tenten said.
"Yeah," Sakura added, counting off her fingertips. "Track, kendo, karate, soccer."
"A-and h-he rules d-dentention," Hinata said softly.
"Wow, I didn't know he was that athletic," she said softly, then grinned. "I knew he was a badboy, though."
"And one of the most gorgeous guys in the school," Sakura said. "Along with Sasuke and Neji."
Hinata colored. "Nii-san's n-not that c-cute," she said.
"The hell he's not!" Sakura yelled. "Have you seen him in karate when he takes his shirt off? I just want to, ooh!"
Tenten frowned. "Don't talk about my hubby like that!" she yelled and slapped the back of the girl's head.
Sakura grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. "You know I'm in love with Sasuke," she said.
"Yes, but, forehead-girl," Ino began, "Sasuke will be mine."
"In your dreams!"
The remaining girls sweatdropped as the two argued.
"So, Nanase," Tenten said, "you like it here?"
"It's okay," she said with a smile turning her head to watch Gaara run his laps.
"You like him, don't you?" Tenten asked.
Nanase blushed.
"It's obvious, you have the 'I'm in love' look," she grinned. "Right, Hina-chan?"
Hinata nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, Nani, you're totally in love with that guy," Sakura grinned.
"I have to agree with her," Ino said, nodding her head in agreement.
Nanase blushed deeper, pressing her fingertips together. "It's that obvious?"
"Totally."
She sighed and rested her chin in the palm of her hand.
"You have competition, though."
"What do you mean, Ten-chan?" she asked.
Tenten pointed to a group of about ten girls. "You see them?" she asked, waiting until Nanase nodded. "They're obsessed with Gaara, that's his fanclub. And you see the one with the brown hair? She's a senior out to capture his heart even if he's two years younger then her. Her name is Mana and she is in love with him too."
Nanase watched the tall brunette who sat on the bench inside the large fence, smiling as Gaara ran by her. She watched as Mana's head turned and her green eyes locked with her caramel ones, a frown on her lips. The green eyes hardened into a glare and she raised her finger, running across her neck as her lips set into a straight line.
"And apparently, she doesn't like you to much," Sakura said. "It must be because of the ramen shop incident, Naruto told everyone you were Gaara's girlfriend."
Nanase looked at Sakura with a worried gaze.
"Ut oh, trouble," Tenten said.
"M-Mana's c-coming over h-here," Hinata said, her eyes widening.
Nanase turned, and sure enough, Mana and her groupies were walking over to them. Everything seemed to stop as everyone's eyes watched the group of girls walking across the track. Gaara stopped running and sheilding his eyes from the sun with his hand, his mouth setting into a line.
"You're Iwamura, right?" Mana asked with soft voice, the wind playing with her brown locks.
Nanase nodded.
"You're 'friends' with Gaara-kun, right?"
Another nod.
"Stay away from him," she said, her pretty eyes narrowing. "He's mine."
That's when Nanase got angry.
"Excuse me?' she asked, standing on the bottom step of the bleachers, staring down at the girl. "He's not property and I'll hang out with him if I want to, you don't control me or him."
"You just got here so you don't understand the rules," she said slowly, as if speaking to someone slow, "that's understandalbe." She turned her gaze to the girls around Nanase, making them flinch. "But somebody better teach them to her."
"Leave them alone," Nanase said, her eyes narrowing.
"Don't make me tell you again."
With that she turned on her heel and walked back to her spot on the track, her groupies following behind her.
"How could you guys just sit there?" she asked.
"Hey, Mana's weird," Tenten said.
"Yeah, some other girl tried to mess with Gaara and Mana warned her to," Sakura said, "next thing you know, she was in the hospital."
"Well, she doesn't scare me," she said, sitting back down. "I'm not going to let her keep me from what wasn't hers in the first place."
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Nanase had just left lunch when she rounded the corner, stopping short when she heard Mana's voice.
"Gaara, when can we go public with this?" Mana asked.
"We just started dating a few days ago, let's keep it low a little longer," she heard Gaara's deep baritone say.
Tears sprung to her eyes and she peeked around the corner in time to see Gaara claim the older girls' lips with his own. She held back a sob and turned on her heel, running down the hallway as fast as she could. She slid to a stop in front of the stairs to the roof, tears falling freely down her cheeks. She walked up the stairs and held onto the railing for support, falling to her knees at the top. She walked over to the ledge and sat on the ground in front of it, pulling her knees up to her chest. She pulled the sleeve of her shirt down and traced her finger over the fading scars on her wrist. Please, Kami, don't let me fall back into depression, she thought while falling onto her back. She quickly wiped the tears away when she heard someone coming up the stairs, sitting up to see Gaara.
"Oh, Nanase," he said softly, walking over to her. "Have you been crying?"
She glared up at him and stood, walking over to the other side of the roof.
"Nanase?"
"What the hell do you care if I have been crying?" she asked.
"Come on now, I'm your Panda-chan," he said with a small smile. "I'm supposed to care, right?"
She gave out a cruel bark of laughter. "Yeah, whatever," she said viciously. "Now, all of a sudden, you want to be my Panda-chan."
"What's wrong with you?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.
"What wrong with me!" she screamed, incredulously. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing's wrong with me!" he yelled back, frowning.
"Why do you care all of a sudden?" she asked, wiping at the tears that dripped off her chin. "You didn't seem to think of me when you were kissing Mana, did you?"
"That's what this is about?" he asked. "Mana?"
"Yes, that's what this is about!" she yelled.
"Nanase! You're not my girlfriend!" he yelled.
Nanase's eyes widened and she lowered her gaze to the ground, her eyes hidden by her bangs. "I know."
"Than why do you care?"
"Because."
"Because isn't an answer," he said. "Because why?"
"Because I love you!" she screamed. "I love you okay! I've been trying to deal with it and I can't so now you know."
Gaara was speechless.
"I don't want to be your friend anymore," she said softly. "Because when you truly love someone, you can't just be their friend."
"Nanase..."
She sniffled softly and ran from him, grabbing her bookbag and heading back down the stairs. She ran until she was on the school steps, fumbling around with her bookbag, pulling out her cellphone. She quickly dialed a number and placed the phone to her ear, shifting impatiently. "Come on, dad," she whispered. "Daddy?"
"Yes, Nanase, what's wrong?" he asked.
Nanase wiped at the tears falling down her face and sniffled. "Come get me, daddy."
"Nanase?"
"Daddy, please, just come get me!" she yelled.
"Honey, I can't, I'm at work," he said. "We'll talk about it when I come pick you up."
"Daddy, no!" she said.
"I'll see you when I get there," he replied. "Bye."
"Daddy!" she yelled, throwing the phone on the ground when he hung up. She dropped to her knees and sobbed into her hands, her eyes catching the silver bracelet on her arm. Her dad had given it to her on her sixth birthday as a necklace but it was to small so she wore it as a bracelet. She ripped it off her arm and threw it on the ground, reaching for her phone a dialing another number. "Mom!"
"Hi, you've reached Chiharu Iwamura. I'm not in at the moment-"
Nanase clutched the phone in her hands and pressed them to her forehead, sobbing into her knees. She began rocking her body back and forth, sobbing as she did so. "Why?" she asked in a strangled voice. "Why Kami? Why? Why?"
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Rather deep, don't cha think? Well, gimme the reviews and let me know how much I rock or suck.