Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke would die, Itachi would rule the world, Sakura would marry Shikamaru, and I would make myself a boring background character. I also do not own any Disney references. Muhahaha!

WARNING! Major OOCness for the rest of the story. Don't like it, then go away.

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Yes! I was so happy! I wanted to jump up and down from relief and joy. I had finally forced myself to talk to Gaara. It all worked out! Of course there is still the problem of him thinking we're "mates" and whatnot. But that can be easily remedied!

Presently, I was skipping down to the bridge to join Naruto and Sasuke in waiting for Kakashi-sensei. Only this time, I would be laughing, telling lame jokes, and, my favorite pass time, beating Naruto over the head.

Ah, it's good to be back.

Only, when I reached the bridge, everything was just as it should be. Sasuke was brooding and Naruto was missing...

Wait... what?

I did a double take.

'Dear God! It's the end of the world!' What should I do? Crawl into a hole and wait for death? No, to simple. Should I scream and run around in circles? No, to enthusiastic. Should I curl up into a fetal position and suck my thumb? NO! To babyish. Wait! I should...

"Sakura!"

"What?" I stumbled back in surprise, jumping into a defensive stance.

"Hn, I've called your name three times." Ah, it was Sasuke. The stick up his ass, human popsicle.

Dropping my guard, I sighed. "Sorry. Where's Naruto?"

Sasuke smirked.

---Sasuke flashback---

The sounds of "Hi ho, Hi ho, its off to work we go," were only interrupted by Sasuke's maniacal laughter as he finished tying Naruto's feet together. Glancing his rivals face, he couldn't help but laugh harder at the completely pissed off look he was receiving.

Dragging Naruto through the kitchen, Sasuke opened the narrow door that lead to the basement. Picking his orange obsessed teammate up, he quickly threw him down the stairs, which caused the singing to stop completely. The seven dwarves quickly stepped into the light, holding their hands in front of their eyes.

"The light!" the named Grumpy whispered, his eyes going wide with joy. "It's so beautiful!"

"I thought I told you to stop singing!" Sasuke shouted down angrily, slamming the door shut.

---End Flashback---

"Oh, Naruto will be out of town for a while." Sasuke said impassively.

I shrugged. "Okay."

Leaning with my back against the bridge, I propped my elbows against the railing. I tilted my head back and stared at the clouds above me, thinking peaceful, happy, wonderful thoughts...

"I know about him."

...and then they all came crashing down. I lifted my head up. "Pardon?"

"The guy in your apartment last night." Sasuke smirked that annoying smirk.

I pretended not to know what he was talking about. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"The guy with red hair."

'Shit! He means Gaara!'

Hoping to pull off the innocent ploy, I remained indifferent. "What guy?"

Sasuke now frowned. I hope I didn't upset him too much. "You do realize that it's illegal to host an unregistered citizen or ninja."

I winced. 'Damn it! Why is he telling me this?'

"So, I've decided not to rat you out."

That damn smirk again! "So, you're blackmailing me?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Blackmailing is such a hard term." Sasuke looked thoughtful, then smirked evilly at me. "I prefer extortion."

'If he smirked one more fucking time... no! This isn't the time to think of such things.'

Might as well get this over with. With a roll of my eyes, I prepared for the worst. "So, what do you want?"

"What I want." Sasuke moved into a thinking pose. "It's not really what I want. But what you want." Ah, he's trying to confuse me. Great.

"What, I want?" This is seriously not normal. 'Since when does Sasuke think of other people?'

He nodded. "Yes."

I raised an eyebrow. "And, what do I want?"

Sasuke smiled smugly. "You want me."

I laughed. Longer and harder then first time Gaara told me I was his mate. Tears ran freely down my face. "God! It's... just... too... FUNNY!"

Finally, at risk of seriously injuring myself, I slowly stopped laughing after I saw the look on Sasuke's face.

Two words.

Pissed.

Off.

'Damn.'

"You weren't joking?" I asked as I wiped tears from my eyes.

"No." He face looked like it was set in stone. He was mad.

I couldn't believe it! "Wait a second." I crossed the bridge and, for lack of a better term, got in his face. "You want me, to act like your girlfriend? For if I don't, you'll tell the Hokage about Gaara?"

A light of recognition shone in Sasuke's eyes. 'Gaara... Gaara... ah yes. Sakura's "friend" from when we were young. I guess she wasn't lying.'

"No." He replied sharply.

I sighed in relief and stepped back in "my side" of the bridge. "I want you to be my girlfriend."

I froze. This was, without a doubt, the worst thing that had ever happened to me. A hundred times worse then what Gaara did. 'Damn it all to fucking hell! Why me? If I say no, Gaara has to leave. If I say yes, I'm stuck with ice for brains.'

But, it was for Gaara. He was my best friend. I'd do almost anything for him.

I huffed in anger and crossed my arms defiantly. "Fine."

Sasuke's eyes glinted with satisfaction. "Good."

Silence ruled between us until the trademark "poof" announce that Kakashi had arrived.

"Yo." He said while he crossed his arms over his head and braced himself.

Nothing.

'What! No yelling?' Kakashi was almost in shock, but I'm sure that seeing me simmering in anger and Sasuke in smugness helped him figure that something was wrong. But he didn't ask.

"Hey," He looked all around himself for all the prank stuff he expected to be happening soon, since Naruto was out of sight. "Where's Naruto?"

I looked confused. "He didn't tell you? He went on vacation."

"He didn't tell me. Oh well." He shrugged. "Our mission today is to hunt for seven dwarves that went missing about two weeks ago."

Sasuke looked around nervously. "Um... dwarves? Haven't seen any. Nope. Not me. Nothing at all." He clasp his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky. (OOC)

'What's with him? Oh well. Who cares?' I just rolled my eyes and listened as Kakashi briefed us.

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(Shukaku, or Gaara.)

He had seen it. He had heard it, and he hated it.

His own. His own! Being "extorted," as Sasuke-teme had put it.

It made Shukaku furious. Gaara's body was trembling in anger.

Oh Sasuke would pay dearly for messing with what was his.

Oh so slowly, Gaara's eyes began to turn red...

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It was this dream again. The white hospital room. The same sickening feeling in my stomach. The same constant pounding in my head.

I tried to call out, but my voice cracked from lack of use and dehydration So, instead, I fumbled for the nurse call button on a remote that was attached to my bed. The nurse came in record time. She was pretty. Blonde hair, green eyes, and a body most kunoichi dreamed of. But, personality is everything.

"What is it, honey?" She asked in a false sweet tone.

"W-wat-water... " I managed to rasp out.

"You're thirsty?" I nodded slowly and closed my eyes as the woman went about her job.

"Here you go." I was handed a cup filled with ice and a spoon. I wasn't even sure if I could hold the cup, much less lift the spoon. But I managed. No thanks to the nurse, who was busying herself with checking my chart.

After a few minutes of eating ice, I got her attention. "Excuse me, what is this?"

She looked at me disbelieving. "It's ice."

'God, can she get anymore blonde?' I thought to myself, trying not to snicker.

"No, what is this?" I gestured to the room around us.

Still, she looked baffled as to what I was talking about. "It's a hospital."

'No duh!'

"Well I shouldn't be here!" I jerkily pulled the IV from my arm and tried to sit up. "This is just a dream!"

"You can't get up yet!" The nurse was frantic. She pushed me back into the fluffy pillows and tried to stick the IV back into my bloodstream.

"You aren't well! You'll be fine if you don't undo damage!"

"What's wrong with me?" I wanted to cry, but I felt so tired. I stopped resisting and watched as she stuck me, then put something into the drip that made me very sleepy.

"I just want to know what's going on... " and I fell asleep.

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Authors notes: I'm starting to put up OOC warnings, cause some people were complaining about it, and saying I was "slacking off." But whatever. I'm trying people! I'm a very sarcastic person, so it's hard to write about silent or happy people. And as another person pointed out, this isn't really a romance, so I'm changing it.

Thanks to all my awesome reviewers:

Suko-chan, silveraqueen, greenhyuga, gin-inu, Gaara's desert blossom, Call Me Amaya, Gaaraslady, Puppyeye1, If-This-Disturbes-You-Then-Walk-Away, SasukesoOoFlower, Kunai-to-the-Heart, Gelayel, Scarlet-Chan(You're the best reviewer ever!), Sora, The angel of the sky, Akahiko, AnimeSenko, 3lagueFyre, Kyo-my-Love, gaaralova, sweet-but-evil, Heartless Ghost, Cat, serpentslayer, loves-winged-dark-angel, the answer is 42, Hao'sAnjul, Ria Uchiha, Sister-of-the-Light(Loved your review!), Temari-Of-The-Sand(Thanks for reading!), Gina01, JovianShe-Wolf, mooneasterbunny, CelestialElegy, and shloop.

Important! I just want you to know that I have nothing against emo people, in fact, I am emo, which is why I can make comments. So, anyone who was offended by chapter 7, get over it.

Again, you guys are the best!

I'll try to pick up the "slack."

Until next time!

blackXheart