Yo! It's been a long time! I'm really sorry, but I'll do a double update today!

Pairing: Gaara x Sakura

P.S. I know how in Naruto Shippuden, Gaara's all giddy giddy happy happy REVOLUTION! kind of thing, but I wanted to use a mixture of the old and new Gaara for more humor. So he's not the evil kid you know, but he ain't that giddy giddy happy happy REVOLUTION! either. That being said, he's probably really OOC 'cause it's been a while since I've last come in contact with him. And it's probably only funny to me...but that's okay. :D I can dream.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

(hold out hand) Would you hold this for me while I go for a walk?

"Hey Gaara! Father gave us that money so we could share! Don't just hog all that lunch money to yourself!" complained my brother. He was one of those people who had a weird fashion sense. He had the strangest tattoos all over his face. Seriously, how was he not in detention?

"Kankurou's right, Gaara. We need to eat too," my sister persuaded. She had weird taste too, having four ponytails sticking out of her head. Just what kind of hairstyle was that? It was almost embarrassing to walk around with her. Almost.

Hm...I could ditch them.

That sounded nice. Some peace and quiet for once.

"Take it." I threw all the bills I had on hand at them. "Now shut up and leave me alone."

"But Gaara-"

"Your lunch-"

I didn't let them continue. I pushed through the crowd of students that was charging into the cafeteria before my siblings could chase after me.

After rounding a corner, my stomach growled. I growled back in response. Great. I forgot. I'm human. Why are humans so weak? Why do we have to eat? It's just troublesome.

I weighed out my options in my head. I could go back and ask them for money, but that would be too tiring, or I could starve, which was less tiring. Starve it is.

It was then that my stomach growled a second time. A second later, I heard a soft voice from behind me.

"Um…are you hungry?"

Of course I'm hungry. Why else would my stomach be growling? Diarrhea? "No."

"Then… does your stomach hurt?"

She thinks I have diarrhea now. Okay. "It's none of your business."

She didn't say anything, so I decided to leave it at that and continue on my way. Too bad she decided to pull me back.

"Hold on. You are hungry, aren't you? Why aren't you eating?"

God, why was she so annoying? "Does it matter?"

"Yes. It's bad to starve." Busybody. "Here's some extra change. Buy yourself something to eat."

"I don't need-"

She slapped the bill in my face. "I saw you give your lunch money to those kids. It was very nice of you, but you need to eat too. Just take the money." She thinks I was giving my lunch money away? Well, I guess I did do that, but part of the money belonged to them anyway.

I tried to pry her hand off my face, but it remained firm. Was she trying to save me from hunger or suffocate me with cash? What a strange woman. I can't understand her. "Alright. I'll take the money." It was spare change. If anything, she's the one losing here. I merely gained a few extra bucks.

She let go. As soon as I did, my eyes scanned the piece of bill. A twenty dollar bill? If I remember correctly, she said this was extra change…

"Great!" she beamed. I would only see if I took a look at her face, which I did. She looked like your average girl, besides the strange features. I mean, pink hair? Green eyes? Was she some kind of flower or something? My eyes narrowed as I continued to ponder.

On second thought, she's a little bit…cute. Just a little bit.

I haven't realized that I was in a daze until someone slapped me on the back.

"Hey Gaara!" What kind of rude, noisy brat would dare slap me, ME, on the-

There was only one rude, noisy brat who'd dare do something like that. "What do you want, Naruto?"

"Sheesh, someone's grumpy."

"Isn't he always like that?" Sasuke added. I glared at him. Of course, he glared back.

"You were just standing there, staring off into space. Just wanted to see if something was wrong," Naruto explained, completely oblivious to the heavy atmosphere. "What were you staring at?"

"A girl." Why did I just say that?

Clutching his stomach, Naruto barked out in laughter. "Ooooo Gaara's staring at a girl! Are you in love? HAH! I would never imagine the day that Gaara- THE Gaara- is in love! This is too funny! So who's the lucky –heh, lucky- chick?"

I was going to tell him that I wasn't in love, just curious is all, but there was no point in explaining this to a dunce like Naruto. He probably didn't even understand the difference between like and love. Not like I did, but no one needed to know that.

"A girl with pink hair."

"Oh, I see! A girl with…pink…hair…" a look of horror spread itself across the blonde's sun-kissed face. "SAKURA?! NO! NO! JUST NO!" Sakura? Was that her name?

Suddenly, Naruto sped off, leaving a trail of dirt and dust behind.

I turned to Sasuke to see that he was horrified as well.

"Hey, Sas-"

"You're sick. What are you, a loli? Get out of my face," was all he said before he silently walked off, mumbling some incoherent words.

What's with those two?

In the end, I didn't buy anything for lunch. The hunger passed, as expected, so I figured there was no need to waste her money. Now, I was just sitting on a bench waiting for the next period to start. Staring up at the sky, I wondered if I would see that girl again.

Taking her money was bad enough, but a twenty dollar bill? That was even worse. I felt the need to return it to her.

Luck must have been on my side, because it was then that she walked past.

"Hey you," I called out to her. She didn't show any signs of hearing me. I tried again. "Sakura!" She turned at the call of her name.

"Oh, it's you," she said.

"Uh, the money."

"You have change? It's okay. Just keep it."

I didn't know what to do. It was hard enough initiating a conversation, but to continue it? When I was with Naruto, he'd be the one starting all the conversations. I considered it training whenever I talked to him. I would jot down notes when I got home too.

Thanks to that, I learned that a great way to start a conversation is when you're walking with the person.

I never imagined that the first time I would use these skills I learned would be on a girl, but here goes nothing.

"Lunch is almost over," I started casually. Me? Doing small talk? Wow.

"Yeah." She didn't seem to be in a hurry…

I'll try using that. I knew Naruto's lessons would eventually come in handy.

I offered my hand to her. "Hold this for me while I go for a walk."

She looked at it, then at me, then back at the outstretched hand. "Um…sure?" She took it.

Yes. It's going as planned so far.

I started walking, but then found that I couldn't move. "I…can't move." Her grip must have been over 100 lbs, which is impressive for a male and even more impressive for a female. I understand now. She's not a flower, but a monster.

"Well, you're the one who told me to hold your hand."

"…" She's got a point there. Maybe I need to do some tweaking to my notes.

"You… done your walk yet?" she asked rather hesitantly.

"…No." Holding hands like this isn't bad. Awkward, maybe, since my hand was in an awkward position, but it was oddly comfortable.

From afar, I hear people arguing.

"AHH! GAARA GOT TO HOLD HER HAND BEFORE I DID! SASUKE, SASUKE, SASUKE! LOOK!"

"I'M ALREADY WATCHING, DOBE! THERE'S NOTHING TO DO ABOUT IT!"

"WE HAVE TO CUT OFF GAARA'S HANDS! PREPARE THE KATANA!"

"WHAT KATANA? WE'RE IN SCHOOL, IDIOT!"

I chuckled a bit. Or maybe I shouldn't be. I'm being targeted after all.

"Um…Are you done your walk yet?" she asked again.

"No."

"Lunch will be over in a minute."

"…Alright. You may go."

Just like that, she slipped out of my grasps.

Oh wait, I didn't return her money yet.

Well, it would be another reason to meet up with her again. I smirked. Yes, I look forward to seeing you again, Sakura.

Thank you for reading! Looking forward to reviews!

Anonymous Reviews:

Dear Guest: Yes! I will be writing more SasoSaku, as well as other couples. Do look forward to them~ ^^

~~~Thank you for reviewing!