Disclaimer: 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 Eight

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Nanase ran her fingers through her hair as she walked down the sidewalk, briskly. She was nervous to say the least, it had been days since she last talked to Gaara and they had left on bad terms. She bit her lip as she played with the ring on her finger, the wind blowing her hair behind her. "Man," she whispered as the school came in sight, her breathing becoming faster when a certain redhead came in sight. She stopped when she was a few feet away from him, twiddling her fingers in front of her.

"I'm glad you came," he said softly.

She raised her eyes to his face, a blush spreading across her cheeks. His looks never ceased to amaze her and she was left staring in awe once more as the wind blew his striking hair into his eyes, obscuring his tattoo from view. "W-what did you want to talk about?" she asked, lowering her gaze once again while trying to get a grip on her control.

"Nanase," he said as he walked towards her, gripping her chin with his fingers, "look at me."

Once she looked up her resolve faded and she was lost in his turquoise eyes, her mouth agape. "G-Gaara," she whispered, her fingers trembled as they wrapped themselves around his hand.

"I needed to talk to you about the things that have gone on recently," he said, trying his best to sound calm. "The Mana situation and that Itachi situation."

"Gaara, Itachi is nothing to me but a friend," she said, her gaze softening. "He was someone I could talk to when I felt like no one else would listen."

"So, you're not involved with him?" he asked, letting his hand fall to his side.

"I was never with him," she said, grabbing his hand once again in hers. "The only person I could think about was you."

"That was the same with Mana and I," he replied. "Nanase, I...I...this is hard for me."

"Just tell me."

"I...I love you," he whispered. "I thought you deserved better then me but the thought of you with anyone but me makes me angry. I realized I can't just let you go and I don't want to let you go."

Nanase's eyes went wide. "I don't want you to let me go," she whispered as she threw her arms around his midsection. "Please, don't ever let me go."

Gaara let his arms wrap around her, resting his chin atop her head with a small smile of contentment. "I guess what I'm trying to ask is," he said, "will you...will you be my...girlfriend?"

She smiled up at him. "I thought you'd never ask," she whispered, raising herself to her tiptoes and catching his lips with hers. She whimpered into the kiss and tightened her grip on him, gasping when his hands pushed into her sides. He took this chance to slip his tongue into her mouth hungrily, taking in every bit of her taste. She smiled slightly and slid her arms from behind his back to around his neck, pulling him down. After a few more minutes, she broke away for air and smiled at him.

"Come on, we don't need to breathe," he whispered, a smirk on his lips.

"You might not, but I do," she giggled, blushing when he pulled her closer. "School's starting soon."

"So?"

She sighed. "People know you as Gaara, Mana's boyfriend."

"No, they know me as Gaara, free man," he replied. "I broke up with Mana a few days ago at the ramen shop."

"Everyone saw?"

"Yep," he replied. "Now, I can be with you."

She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. "Good."

"Come on, let's go to the roof until school starts," he said and took her hand, walking into the school. They walked through the hallway and up the stairs onto the roof, sitting down against the wall. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she laid her head on his shoulder, her arms around his waist.

"This is nice," she murmured softly.

He nodded.

"I'm glad you asked me to be your girlfriend," she said with a smile, snuggling deeper into his arms. "I...I thought that you never would...I thought we would never be together, Panda-chan."

He smiled at the old nickname. "It's been so long since you've called me that."

She smiled. "It has, hasn't it?"

"I guess I kind of missed it," he replied.

She giggled. "See, it grew on you."

He chuckled softly. "I guess it did."

"Buses are pulling up," she said and stood, picking up her book bag. "Come on, let's get to class."

He nodded and stood beside her, grabbing her hand in his. They walked down from the roof and through the crowded halls. He kissed her cheek when they reached her homeroom, standing outside the door. "Come see me at track practice during your free period," he whispered in her ear.

"Definitely," she replied and watched him walk away, a smile on her lips. She walked into her homeroom and sat down at her desk, a goofy grin on her lips as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand.

"Hey, dopey."

She looked up at Sakura and smiled even more. "Yo, Sakura-chan."

"W-Why a-a-are you s-so h-happy?" Hinata asked, her pale eyes curious.

"Gaara asked me to be his girlfriend," she replied.

"No way!" Tenten yelled from the other side of the room, pulling Neji over to the girls with her. "He did what?"

"Asked me to be his girlfriend," she replied while biting her lip.

"That's why you two were together coming down from the roof," Ino said with a sly smile. "What were you guys doing?"

She blushed. "Nothing like that, we were just waiting for school to start."

"Yeah, sure," Sakura replied as Hinata giggled.

"More good news," Tenten said. "Hinata's got a boyfriend!"

Hinata blushed.

"Really, Hina-chan, who?" Nanase asked.

"Yah, who?" Ino chimed.

Hinata poked her fingers together as two arms wrapped around her waist and a chin was placed on her shoulder.

"Me."

"Kiba!" Nanase and Ino yelled in unison.

"Aw," Sakura said. "But you could've picked someone more interesting."

Kiba frowned. "Shut up, forehead-girl!"

"What?" she yelled. "You shut up!"

Hinata sweat dropped as Kiba argued over her shoulder.

Nanase giggled along with Ino and Tenten at the comical display, that is, until the teacher walked in.

"Hey!" Anko-sensei said. "Sit your lazy butts in a chair and shut up!"

Everyone immediately sat down.

"Good," she said with a wolfish grin. "Now, let's get to work."

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Nanase sat on the bench as she watched Gaara run around the track, holding his water bottle loosely in her hands. She smiled at him, her cheeks coloring a slight pink.

"Well, well," a voice said behind her. "If it isn't the bitch."

She turned around to see a furious Mana glaring at her. "Go away."

Mana growled and lunged at her, knocking her and the bench over. They rolled around on the ground before Mana ended up on top and began to choke her.

"Hey, cut it out!" Sakura yelled and ran over with the other girls. Mana's groupies stood in their way and it turned into an all out war.

"Get off me, you stupid bitch!" Tenten yelled while punching some girl in the face.

Ino was smacked by a short girl before tackling her to the ground and bitch slapping her several times. "Stupid whore, don't you ever mess with me!" she yelled between smacks, a glare on her face.

Hinata grabbed Mana and began to pull her off until two big girls pushed her to the ground. Tenten jumped in it and helped Hinata to fight the girls off, throwing them both to the ground and punching them.

Nanase gasped for breath as she clawed at Mana's hands, slowly losing consciousness. She screamed when Mana had begun to slam her head into the ground, her world turning black as she passed out.

"Get off her!" Gaara yelled and pulled Mana off Nanase. "What is wrong with you?"

"You're supposed to be with me!" she yelled, tears in her eyes.

"Get over it," he said and picked the unconscious girl up and running into the school. He burst into the nurse's office and placed her on the bed in the corner. The nurse came running over and examined her before calling the hospital.

"What happened, young man?" the nurse asked, while placing a towel against Nanase's bleeding head.

"She got into a fight with Shinohara Mana and it turned ugly," he said, giving her the abridged version. "Will she be okay?"

The nurse sighed. "I'm not sure."

Gaara waited with Nanase and rode with her to the hospital when the ambulance came. He sat in a chair beside her bed, holding her hand loosely when her parents came in.

"Oh my god!" Chiharu said.

"My little girl," Aki said softly, while holding Chiharu in his arms.

"Is sis gonna be okay?" Sachi asked Gaara.

Gaara nodded. "The doctors say she's in a light coma and should come to within a few days."

Chiharu wiped her tears. "The school said she got into a fight," she said softly. "Nanase never fights."

"It was my fault," he said. "My ex-girlfriend fought her because of me."

Aki frowned. "You're Gaara, right?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"Look, it's nothing personal," he said, "but I don't think you should see Nanase anymore. Nanase has depression problems and she can't take to much pressure, I feel that you're endangering her."

Gaara was made for a moment before he sighed. "I...I never meant for any of this to happen," he said while caressing her hand with his thumb. "What do you mean she has depression issues?"

Chiharu sighed. "When she was younger, her and her older brother always fought," she said. "Well, one day, they got into a serious fight and Nanase pushed him into the street. He got hit by a car and was in a coma for two years. Nanase fell into depression; she didn't eat or sleep all she did was stare at the wall."

"She finally snapped out of it when he awoke from the coma and told her he forgave her," Aki said. "Her therapist says she can fall back into depression at any time and it only takes a little push. Not to be rude, but ever since you came into her life, things have been hectic and we don't want to see our daughter that way anymore."

Gaara looked down at Nanase. "Gomen," he said softly.

"If you truly love her," Chiharu said, "you'll leave her alone."

Gaara stood abruptly. "Fine."

They watched him leave the room and walk down the hallway.

"Do you think we did the right thing?" Chiharu asked.

"Of course, it's for our daughter's well-being," he replied.

"Yes, your right," she said, a smile on her lips.

He watched as she walked over to Nanase and took hold of her hand.

"We just want to protect you sweetheart," she whispered. Have we made a mistake?

Sachi watched her parents with confused eyes. Why'd Gaara-san leave? Is he ever gonna come back? Wake up soon, sis, so you can fix whatever mom and dad have done. Please.

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Hope you enjoyed. Tell me what you think.

Yoko Touma