Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I only own Nanase and her family and Mana and her groupies.

"Blah" - talking

Blah - thinking

Blah - Gaara's mind person

Stuck in a Blizzard

Chapter Seven

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Gaara stared at his ceiling, his mind jumbled with thoughts. He hated himself at the moment, everything was his fault. Maybe if her had told her at the park how he felt, she might've been with him now instead of that Uchiha jackass. He sighed and draped an arm over his face, glaring when his sister entered into his room.

"Gaara, you can't mope forever," she said softly. "You barely even gave it a try and now your laying here in a rut."

"Go away, Temari," he said coldly.

"Gaara, today is her birthday, right?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Then get her a gift to show her you're sorry," she said. "Not just a necklace or flowers or whatever. Give her something that comes from your heart, something that'll mean something to her."

"Temari, she won't speak to me," he said. "She's probably dating that asshole now."

"So, you can still win her back," she said. "Just try."

It'll never work, she hates me, he thought.

Yeah, you really made an ass of yourself now.

Fuck, you're back.

In the flesh - er - mind. He he he.

Not funny.

Oh, come on, don't be a baby. Get over her and get that Mana chick to give you some.

I don't want Mana.

Aw, wittle baby wants his Nanase.

I fucking hate you.

As you've said before.

"Gaara!"

He looked up at his sister. "What?"

"Were you listening?"

"Not really," he replied.

She sighed. "Just get her something special."

Gaara sighed and thought for a moment, his eyes widened and he smiled. "I've got it!"

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Nanase sighed as she walked out of the kitchen from her birthday breakfast, things had returned to normal. Her parents had stopped arguing and her little sister was just as bratty as ever and she, well she was still hurt. Even though she seemed happy when she was with Itachi, she still hurt on the inside. She missed Gaara.

Her fingers played with the necklace Itachi had bought her for her birthday, a frown on her lips. She unclasped it and placed it on her dresser when she entered her room, laying on her bed. She turned on her side and was greeted to the sight of the pictures she and Gaara had taken. She took them from her nightstand and touched them lightly before dropping them on the floor.

"Nanase, come down here," her mother yelled.

She walked down the stairs and into the living room where her mother and father were waiting for her with a camera. She did poses for the pictures, a smile on her lips as Sachi got in some. Sometimes that girl could be cute.

"Here, booger face," she said and handed her a messily wrapped present.

Nanase smiled and unwrapped it, opening the plain box only to scream when a fake spider jumped at her. She growled as her little sister laughed and ran behind their parents.

Then there were times she could be an evil hell child. But Nanase still loved her, a laugh sounding from her lips.

"Cute one, Sachi," she said with a grin. "Wait till your birthday."

The doorbell rang and she ran to open it, seeing Ino and Hinata holding large, wrapped boxes in their arms. They grinned and walked into the house, placing the presents on the ground and flopping onto the couch.

"Nice digs, Nanase," Ino said looking around at the room.

"Yes, v-very n-nice," Hinata said softly. "I l-love the p-paintings."

"They're family heirlooms," Chiharu said.

"Yep, passed from generation to generation," Aki added.

"H-How ni-ice," Hinata said with a smile.

"Hey, you two are really pretty," Sachi said with a grin.

"Thank you, you little cutie," Ino said and grinned at her.

"Yes, you are adorable," Hinata agreed.

Nanase blinked, then smiled. "You guys wanna take her home with you?"

"She stays," Chiharu warned.

"I was only kidding mom," Nanase said with another grin, walking into the kitchen and bringing in a large cake. "Want some?"

"Yeah!"

"I-I'd l-like some."

"Me too, booger face!"

"Don't forget us, Nana-chan."

"I'll have tiny piece, sweetie."

Nanase laughed as she began to cut pieces and hand them out to everyone in the room when the doorbell rang again. She ran over to it and saw Sakura standing with a large box, her grin wide.

"Hey, Nani!" Sakura said and walked in, placing the box on the floor next to the others. "Ooh, cake, I'm starved."

Nanase was about to close the door when a hand held it open. "What the...?"

"Oh, yeah, those punks had something they wanted to say," Sakura said. "Right, Naruto?"

The blond from the ramen shop scratched the back of his head. "Hey, sorry about the things I said," he said with a frown, handing her a small box.

"Yeah, me too," the one with the triangles said. "I'm Kiba by the way."

"I apologize even though I have done nothing wrong," the one with the glasses said, "and I am Shino."

"Come on in," she said and held the door open. "And you are?"

"Neji, I'm Hinata's cousin," he said and gave her a slight bow. "Happy Birthday."

She took the box that he handed her and closed the door behind him, placing the box with the others. "This is great," she said with a smile, cutting herself a piece of cake. "Thanks you guys, for coming."

"Hey, it's no problem," Sakura said, "You're our friend and we get free cake with this."

Ino slapped her in the back of her head. "Don't say that, you idiot!"

"I-I expected t-that from N-Naruto-k-kun," Hinata giggled.

"Me too," Kiba said.

Another knock on the door.

"That must be Tenten," Ino said.

Nanase ran to the door and unlocked it, letting Tenten in.

"Whoo, it's freezing out there!" she said and placed the box with the others. "Ooh, gimme some cake!"

"You pig!" Naruto yelled only to be hit by Neji.

"Yeah, that's right, talk about me now," Tenten said before kissing Neji's cheek. "Thank you baby."

He blushed and gave her a nod. "You're welcome."

Nanase leaned over to Sakura. "You're right," she whispered. "He is smokin'."

"I would just tear him up if I could," she whispered back. "Mm, he is smexy."

Nanase giggled.

"You talking about my Neji again, Sakura!" Tenten yelled and chased after the pink-haired girl with a fork.

"W-wow," Hinata whispered.

Nanase and Ino burst out laughing, clutching their stomachs.

"Sweetie, open your presents," Aki said.

Nanase wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. "Hand 'em over."

"This is from me," Tenten said and placed a box on her lap.

Nanase tore the wrapping paper off and took the lid of the box off, gasping at what she saw. "Ten-chan, it's so pretty!" she said and pulled a beautiful, red kimono dress out of the box, holding it to her body. It had a black dragon from the bottom of the dress circling around it until it stopped where the head was on her chest. "I love it!"

"Open mine!" Sakura yelled and placed a large box on her lap, clapping giddily.

Nanase ripped the wrapping off similar to last time and lifted the top off, giggling while she pulled the large, gray teddy bear out. It had a velvet, green vest on and a black bowtie around its neck with a rose in its hand. "It's so cute, thank you Sakura."

"I thought you'd like it," she replied.

"N-now m-mine," Hinata said and placed her large box on the girl's lap.

"Ooh, it's heavy," she said and took the paper off to reveal a white box with a large picture of a boom box on it and bright blue letters. "Thank you, Hinata!"

"Here, my gift goes with hers," Neji said. "They told me you liked it."

She took the wrapping off to see several Nami Tamaki CD's stacked together and squealed. "I love Nami Tamaki!" she yelled and placed the CD's next to her.

"Here," Naruto said and gave her the tiny box.

She unwrapped it to see a velvet box, opening it to see beautiful ruby earrings. "They're beautiful, Naruto," she gasped and hugged him. "Thank you so much."

"My mom says to get girls earrings when you can't think of anything else," he said with a shrug.

She giggled. "Well, I love them."

"Here, me and Shino put our money together to get you a gift," Kiba said and placed a long box on her lap.

She unwrapped it and opened the box, gasping when she saw a beautiful painting of her name in Japanese. "Thank you," she said and held it up, examining the beautifully painted letters closely. "I love it, thank you."

They smiled.

"Mom?" she said as she saw her mom plugging the boom box in.

"Well, what's a party without music?" she replied, putting in one of the Nami Tamaki CD's.

"Now let's get this party started right!" Naruto yelled, pulling Sakura up. "Dance with me, pretty lady."

"Hey, who can argue with that?" she asked and began to sway to the music.

Hinata blushed when Kiba pulled her up.

"Yay!" Tenten yelled and began to dance with Neji.

"Come on, Shino, dance with me and Ino," Nanase said and pulled the two up, swaying to the beat.

The doorbell rang and Nanase walked over to it, pulling it open and looking at an empty doorway. She looked down and gasped when she saw a stuffed panda bear with a folded note in its arms. She picked it up and smiled, opening the note and picking up the ring that fell out. She blushed as she read the note.

I want to talk to you, meet me in front of the school on Monday at 6:00. Please come, it's important.

She looked around and saw a redhead walking down the sidewalk not to far away, biting her lip. "I'll be there, Gaara," she whispered hoping that somehow he's heard her.

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Nanase walked towards her bed after she placed all her gifts away, stooping down to pick up her pictures. She placed them on her dresser and smiled, a blush spreading across her cheeks as she thought about what he might have to tell her. I hope it's want I want him to say, she thought before settling down to go to bed.

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Finally! A new chapter. Well, gimme some feedback.

Yoko Touma