AN: 1750+ views already? Just, wow! Thanks so much. I'm so sorry this is a day late! I got swamped with three papers, a cd cover design, and a notebook, all for one class due this morning. And then when I finally got around to finishing it, my internet wasn't working. Go figure. So I'm sorry. BTW, this is the second to last chapter of Part I. Sorry if you think Part I is so short. I'll tell you next week when I'll start up Part II. ^.^ I can promise you Part II is so much longer! Just the stuff that's going to go on then .

And to Me and Gaara 4ever, *hands you a tissue* Hold your head back. I know, too much sexual tension at once can do that…

And to Thomas Drovin, Well, you're right for the most part. It probably won't turn out as most everyone has expected, but it is the most realistic. Also, that was my first Lemon … it was just the first one I ever published. Normally I don't get far enough in my stories to get to them. ^.^ Good thing I'm doing so well with this story, eh? I'm happy you found Temari's tale enlightening. I felt it should be explained but I had to wait for the opportune moment.

And to Repentless Wind, Sorry, but I'm throwing you for another loop. I just keep you on your toes, don't I? I'm glad you liked the bit about Temari. I think you might like her a little more in this one.

And to Kalishnikov, I'm pleased that you like it so much!

And to Azura Soul Reaver, Thanks so much for your review! Please continue when you have a chance.

And to Sessholov4lyf, Here it is. I hope you like it as much as the other chapters.

And to GrimSpeck18, It's a different kind of Chakra rope. SO :P The kind of chakra rope he uses I do believe doesn't take away your chakra… Wait, isn't his called chakra stings, because if it is, this is way different. This is ROPE! Thick and tawny and uncomfortable. It's rope rope, made from ripped blades of a special grass that steals chakra. Make sense?

Special Thanks to Azura Soul Reaver and dsvjr10 for adding me and my story to your faves or to your alerts!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters etc. You know the drill.

Chapter Twenty: Anger, Regret, and Disappointment

The next morning, when Cordi woke up, it was dark. She then realized it was dark because the curtains were closed. A shiver ran down her spine, and she was completely awake. Suddenly, she was painfully aware that she was naked, and she could feel the chest of a man behind her. They were spooning. His hand rested on her shoulder. She could feel his shallow breathing as little puffs of carbon dioxide brushed against the crook of her neck. All of her memories of the night before rushed to her mind, giving her a slight headache. Right after their moment on the Kazekage Building, Gaara had used his sand to transport them back to his room. Instead of leaving for her room like she should have, their drunken stupor had pushed them to go for a second round, after which both passed out.

Upon remembering, she closed her eyes in regret. She had messed up so badly. She had been saving herself. Now what? She felt dirty and sore – really, really sore. She was ashamed of herself. She put the palm of her hand to her head, trying to calm the thoughts running through her head.

Suddenly, she could feel shifting behind her. Gaara was waking up. She tried her hardest not to cry, especially not to sniffle, and seem emotionless. She felt Gaara move his hand that was rested on her shoulder, and then he noticed something and sat up, removing his arms from around Cordi. Feeling slightly dejected, Cordi sat up too, taking the sheet with her to cover herself up. They were both deathly silent and completely uncomfortable. If there was any time for the awkward turtle, it was now.

"Hey, Gaara! It's eleven o'clock in beautiful Suna! And it is time to …" Temari announced, walking in the room cheerily, only to stop when she saw Cordi and Gaara staring bug-eyed at her. Both of their faces seemed void of color. Temari's eyes widened and her face quickly turned a whiter shade of pale. She quickly turned back around and shut the door.

Both Cordi and Gaara stared silently at the shut door. Cordi brought her knees close to her and wrapped her arms around them in a protective position. Gaara looked down in shame. After a minute of sitting like that in an awkward silence, he quietly got up, slowly so as not to spook her, and walked over to his dresser, picking up a pair of boxers and putting them on without a word. He figured she didn't want to streak to her room at the opposite end of the hall. So, he grabbed another pair and handed them to her, without looking. She slowly took them from his hands and put them on, only to find him holding a black three-quarter length T-shirt. She meekly took that too and placed it over her bare torso. It hung off her a bit awkwardly, so he handed her a sash, which she tied around her waist, making sure the shirt was secured.

She looked up to see him fully dressed and about to walk out. She shouldn't have, but she stopped him. "Gaara," she said quietly. He did stop, his hand on the door, but he didn't turn to face her. "I think I deserve to know now if you want to be in a relationship with me or not." He remained silent. "Gaara, do you have feelings for me? A slight inkling?" she asked hopefully, her brown eyes shining at his back innocently. When he stayed silent, she pursed her lips then continued. "Gaara, I gave you my first kiss and my virginity. I think I've earned an answer," she practically growled.

He paused a couple seconds before saying, "I honestly don't know." As he said this, he turned his head slightly towards her a confused frown set on his face mixed a little with guilt. It was obvious he had regretted what had happened the night before.

She took in a shuddering breath as she set her jaw. He could practically feel the heat of her glare burning a hole through his head. "Talk to me when you do," she ordered. He could hear the venom dripping from each word as they spilled out of her mouth. He tightened his lips into a thin line, wanting to say something, but not able to think of what. "Leave now," she snarled dangerously. He still wanted to say something in his defense, but he knew she wasn't going to listen to a word he said now for obvious reasons. He nodded, observing his defeat, and quietly left the room, not seeing her silent tears fall from her lids.

Temari had walked downstairs to the kitchen, where everyone else was already awake and waiting, slowly, trying her hardest to figure out the puzzle the sight she had just witnessed presented her with. Her face was contorted in confusion, which drew the attention of most everyone at the table except Naruto, Ronni, and Kiba. "What's up, Sis?" Kankuro asked.

Temari blinked a couple times and furrowed her brow before saying, "I just walked in on Gaara and Cordi." Hearing this, Naruto, Ronni, and Kiba looked up. Now everyone in the kitchen had their faces contorted awkwardly to show their utter confusion of what was going on.

"Doing what?" Ronni asked, biting her lip a little.

"Well," Temari started, "uh. They were both naked?" She added the last bit of information more as a question than a statement, letting everyone's mind wander.

Rox looked shocked while Ronni obviously pondered what Temari said. "Nah!" Ronni laughed. "Cordi wouldn't sleep with Gaara. Cordi wouldn't sleep with anyone … well, not unless they were married. That's just not her."

"Well, we thought the same of you," Rox growled. "Then there was Chad." Ronni glared at Rox.

"Wait, you're not a …?" Kiba began to ask. His eyes were wide at this new information.

"No," Ronni interrupted before he could finish his question. Everyone's eyes had started to follow the argument. "That was a low blow, Rox."

"Really? I thought him giving you head was a low blow," Rox replied, laughing a little at her play on words.

"I'm lost," Naruto muttered to Shikamaru, who just shook his head.

"Are you guys ever going to let me live my relationship with him down? That was four years ago, and back then I was a stupid teenager jacked up on hormones," Ronni stated, glaring at her good friend.

"Uh, no," Rox smirked. "Because the fact is, you dated that asshole for a year. And everyone who had known you better than anyone else, even you, told you to get away from him because we could all tell he was an asshole. Especially to Cordi, who was your closest best friend. It took you a year to figure that out, even though it was obvious and everyone was telling you how he was treating the people closest to you."

"Look, I got it now. Chad's an ass. He will always be an ass," Ronni stated, tired of the argument.

"Good thing we got that settled," Rox stated. "Anyway, the point is Cordi might have slept with him. Remember she and Gaara left halfway through the reception and weren't heard from again."

Gaara walked in, just as she said the last bit of information, grabbing a seat at the table head. He shot everyone a look, telling them to shut up before they could even open their mouths. And they were for a couple minutes. It was one of those really long lasting awkward silences. That was until they heard Cordi making her way downstairs. "Aw, man! I've got sand everywhere!" Cordi groaned, fidgeting uncomfortably as she walked into the kitchen.

"He forgot to remove his Sand Armor again?" Matsuri asked. She ignored Gaara's murderous glare from the opposite end of the table.

Cordi pursed her lips then asked, "So, Temari's already told you huh?" smiling nervously around the table until she reached her sister's menacing glare. Cordi's mouth twitched in slight fear, but she masked it.

"How could you?" Rox growled. "Don't you have any self respect?"

"You know what Rox?" Cordi started, "I'd rather not talk about it right now. I'm really tired …"

"For obvious reasons," Rox interrupted.

"Stop both of you," Gaara growled, hands on his head trying to push away his extreme headache. It was silent for a while, which surprised Gaara. He looked up to see Cordi and Rox making hand seals he had never seen before. Everyone was looking at them nervously except for Ronni."No, jutsus in the house please," he growled.

They ignored him, continuing their hand seals when Ronni piped up and said, "They aren't hand seals. It's sign language. They have a relative who's deaf, so they learned how to speak it."

Gaara looked at her, confusion etched on his face. "They're talking – without talking?" Ronni nodded. "Can you tell me what they're saying?"

"No, sorry. I don't know that much," Ronni shrugged, looking up at him innocently. They watched the silent argument, confused as to how to stop them. Ronni's minor ADD finally kicked in as she turned to Gaara and asked, "So, are you guys like together now, or have just a friends with benefits relationship?" Gaara could only blink and give her a strange look.

"I am not jealous of you! Take that back!" Rox ordered as she shot up from her chair, making it screech against the floor.

Cordi just leaned back in hers with a smug smirk. "No, because it's true. You're jealous because I got my first kiss and slept with someone before you've even had your first kiss," Cordi replied with every ounce of a cocky attitude she could muster. She knew that this was nothing to be proud of, but she was getting sick of Rox's crap. So she decided bait her instead.

Everyone turned to Rox to see how she was going to parry that blow. Shikamaru was looking at her with the most interest. He was perplexed why Rox hadn't gotten her first kiss yet. She was by no means hideous. She probably had guys clamoring to be with her back at home.

Rox's eyes looked murderous. Her fingers and right eye started to twitch. Both Ronni and Cordi recognized the glint in her eye, and both looked on in fear. Cordi hid hers the best, but it was obvious her self-conscience had reached the fight-or-flight stage. Cordi jumped up and ran out of the kitchen. Rox snatched a wok that was drying next to the sink, holding the handle in a death grip, holding it as if it were a weapon. With lightning speed, Rox launched herself over the table and shrieked, "YOU'RE DEAD YOU INSOLENT BRAT!!!!!" Rox tore after her sister down the hall, who had just sprinted into the spacious library at the opposite end of the hall.

"RUN, CORDI!!! RUN!!!" Ronni screamed to her best friend, laughing a little at the two sisters. She couldn't help but chuckle and sigh, "Ah, sisterly love." Everyone turned to gawk at, Ronni who couldn't help but smile. "They always do this," she explained. They still gawked at her. "Geez, haven't you guys ever heard of Sibling Rivalry? Trust me, they'll be cutting up and joking in five seconds."

"GET BACK HERE YOU WHORE!!!" Rox shrieked, just before everyone heard a crashing sound come from their direction, making them turn to see what was going on.

They saw Cordi run out of the library laughing as she called back to Rox, "You missed me!" She also stuck her tongue out to bait her sister a little more. They suddenly saw Rox jump out of the library, slamming the already dented wok on the stone floor where Cordi had just been, as Cordi jumped to the left, dodging the blow. Rox swung her right leg around, to pull Cordi's legs out from under her. Cordi yelped and jumped again, dodging her sister's leg. Rox straightened herself and swung the wok at her sister's head, only to have it caught by Cordi's hand.

"Rox, honestly, I've been doing this to you for years. You haven't caught onto when I'm baiting you or not?" Cordi laughed.

Rox sneered, and threw her free fist at Cordi's face, which Cordi didn't notice until it was too late. Cordi was knocked down onto her but, rubbing her cheek where Rox had hit her. "You're punch was sloppy," Cordi remarked.

"Oh, like your dodge?" Rox laughed, knowing she had won that little bout. Cordi nodded, accepting her defeat with a small smile. "Cordi, why are you always such a bitch?"

"Oh, this coming from the queen of them?" Cordi laughed, baiting her a little more. Rox just glared at Cordi, and tapped her feet impatiently. "Sorry," Cordi chuckled. "Because you were so worried about this changing me like it did Ronni. There was only one way I knew of to assure you that it was still me. Snarky, sarcastic me," she explained quietly. Most everyone in the kitchen had issues catching it.

"Could you have done it not at my expense?" Rox growled, frowning at her little sister.

Cordi screwed up her face in deep thought until she said, "Nope."

"You probably could have. You just didn't," Rox muttered. Cordi just grinned innocently. Rox helped pull her sister off the ground, letting her dust herself off before walking back to the kitchen with her. Cordi side-kicked her butt, only to get Gibb's-smacked on the back of the head by Rox. Other than that, they quietly retreated to their seats. The rest of the breakfast was quiet.

"Hey, Neji. What are you doing here?" Lynne asked as she and Fred were walking around town. They could see the brown-haired bombshell with long silky brown hair walking through the market district of Konoha, window shopping.

"Nothing much, just taking a walk. You?" Neji asked, stepping away from the hypnotic window to look at them.

"Same," Fred stated, smiling at him. "You want to join us?"

"Would you mind?" Neji asked. "I told Lee I had to ditch practice with him because I was meeting up with somebody. Knowing Lee, he's probably following me to see who I had to meet." Lynne and Fred nodded sympathetically to the older Hyuuga.

"There you are!" a female called. They all turned to see the pink-haired kunoichi herself, Sakura. "Lady Tsunade needs to speak with you three immediately." With the urgent look on her face, none of them wasted any time getting to the Hokage's office.

"Ah, Sakura was able to find you," Tsunade sighed as they walked into the bright office.

"Well, she said it was urgent … or so we figured," Fred explained to the Hokage. Lynne noticed Sasuke standing against the wall, separated from the rest of the group. Lynne waved to him with a smile, but he paid her no attention, making her frown. The Hokage turned to them. Her face held a perplexed expression. She crossed over her desk, so she could talk to them more properly.

"Yes, well, ever since you arrived, I've been looking through our archives to see if they had anything on other worlds, seeing if there was a way we could return you there. Obviously your families are missing you," Tsunade explained. Fred and Lynne frowned, remembering the people back at home that were probably worried sick about them. With everything that was going on here, they had kind of forgotten about them. That fact made them feel guilty that they could ever do such a thing. "This morning, I was looking through our archives again when I found something interesting. I figured that I should tell you that I have set up a meeting with you all tomorrow, and I'll tell you more about what I've found then. But I need to ask you to send Cherokee and Saryu to Suna to pick up the rest of the people in the meeting. I've already sent an eagle with my message telling them to come post haste."

"Why have you asked me here?" Sasuke growled, obviously bored about being there and not being told the reason.

"Well, you and Neji need to be at the meeting. As does Gaara, Kankuro, Shikamaru and Naruto. It's not just the girls," she explained, scowling at the Uchiha's impatience. "Could you please send them. I'm not sure Aleera, Gryffin, and Nessie can hold all of them." Lynne and Fred nodded, sending a mental message to Cherokee and Saryu to fly to Suna to pick up everyone else.

It was nearing four o'clock in Suna, and everyone was waiting for the Cherokee and Saryu. They had decided that Gaara would ride with Cordi on Aleera, Naruto and Hinata would be on Cherokee, and Kankuro would ride Saryu by himself. Everyone else would stay the same. They hadn't taken long to pack after receiving the message right after finishing their breakfast. It was decided that Matsuri would stay behind, and Temari would help her out if she needed anything. Gaara had to talk to the council, and made Temari acting Kazekage until his return. And that's what led them to be there waiting for Cherokee and Saryu.

Hearing roars in the distance, they all looked up to see Cherokee and Saryu gliding in and sliding their landing, spraying sand everywhere from impact, most of it getting on Aleera. She frowned and said, "Thanks a lot guys." She shook some of it off, but kept her shoulders steady so Cordi and Gaara wouldn't fall off.

"Oh, it was no problem." Saryu grinned. He turned his head to Gryffin to say, "See you're girlfriend hasn't changed one bit."

"I'm not his girlfriend," Aleera growled, blushing a little.

At the same exact time, Gryffin had growled, "She's not my girlfriend," also blushing.

"Jinx," Cherokee laughed, making Nessie frown because she was just about to say it. "Ha! Now, neither of you are allowed to talk for the entire trip." Gryffin and Aleera let out guttural growls at the emerald dragon. "So, Nessie, how did you fare by yourself with these hot-tempered goons?"

"Pretty well, considering I balanced them out with my cool-temper," Nessie replied, smirking smugly.

"As fascinating as this is, we need to get going," Kankuro muttered, having already clambered onto Saryu's back. The dragons nodded their understanding, and waited for Naruto and Hinata to climb on top of Cherokee, except Aleera, not so patiently. She was tapping her foot, ready to get to Konoha and hear the urgent news. As soon as they had, the dragons leapt into the heavens, letting out five roars. This was the first time they had ever flown together as a group, and they were excited.

AN: And that's the end of chapter 20! I hope you've enjoyed it. The next one is the last one until I begin Part II!! Yay, exciting! Please remember to review!