Alrighty, here we go! Chapter four of the funniest idea I've thought of to date! I mean, seriously! Don't you wonder how the school girls might react to seeing them walk in at the same time? Of course, that would be normal under…normal circumstances, but these are paranoid, jealous school girls that are trying to get Gaara's attention, and suddenly he's side-by-side with some nobody! WTF?!

…But, yeah. (sweatdrops) That's their POV on the situation. I'll let you see for yourself, though! (grins wickedly) Heheh, this is payback, Gaara, for when you pulled me out of that tree with a fishing pole! (glares daggers at Gaara)

Summary: That girl suddenly popped up into his life. And she piqued his curiosity, too; she held a secret, and he wanted to find out what it was.

Sharingan High

As soon as they walked into the school, the nightmare began.

"Ohemgee, is that Gaara?!"

"And there's Naruto, too!"

"Over here, Gaara-chan! Look at me!"

"I'm right here!"

Both of the males' eyes twitched in irritation, and they walked quickly down the hallway with the others trailing behind them. Gaara realized that the only real thing that he and the blonde would ever agree with would be the fact that they hate fangirls. They stole into the classroom as quickly as possible to avoid the grasp of a gaggle of giggling girls (DL: Heh, try saying that three times fast! No, Aoki, I didn't mean literally!) and sit down in their respective seats. Aoki and Sakura couldn't seem to help but giggle at the sight of both of them sighing in frustration, with Gaara's eye still twitching and Naruto letting his forehead meet the desk. They both snapped to attention, though, when Kakashi entered the room, looking a bit perturbed.

Gaara sent Aoki a questioning glance. She tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Well, class," Kakashi began, giving the entire group a sour look half hid by his mask, "it seems that we will be unable to do our lesson because I have lost my lesson plans for the day."

Aoki snickered quietly to herself behind Gaara and whispered something only Gaara and Naruto could hear, "If by 'lesson plans', you mean your Icha Icha Paradise books…" It was answered with a giggle from the blonde and a twitch of Gaara's mouth.

He sent a cold, harsh glare at Aoki, as if he had heard her, and she sank into the seat in an effort to disappear. "If anyone knows why, feel free to tell me." His visible eye twitched in silent fury, and he grumbled as he put his feet onto the desk in front of him and crossed his arms. Taking that as a cue that class was over, all of the students began talking at once.

"Isn't he, like, the hottest?"

"Oh, like, totally!"

"The only one hotter than Naruto would have to be, like, Sasuke, or his brother!"

"Yeah, but, like, Gaara beats them both!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!"

Gaara sighed at the usual chatter around him and turned in his seat to search for some welcome distraction from the gossiping around him. He found his wish in the form of Sakura, Naruto, and Kankuro huddled around Aoki's desk as they whispered quietly to themselves. Curious, Gaara scooted his chair closer discreetly and kept an ear out for their conversation.

"No way, Naruto!" Aoki sounded confident and smug. "I could so beat you at 'Super Smash Brothers Melee'!"

"Phhbt, as if!" He sounded just as proud as she did, except he was more aloof and relaxed. "I'm the best there is with Link!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, I'm a Ness Master!"

"So? Link's sword is a lot cooler than Ness' little yoyo!"

"Hey, 'brains over brawn', baka!"

"You're the baka!"

Despite the way they argued, they weren't as vicious and relentless as Naruto and Sakura or him and Sasuke fighting. In fact, they seemed to be teasing each other, and when Gaara glanced at them they had playful looks in their eyes. This was just a normal little scrap between friends that meant nothing. Feeling a bit annoyed by how close of friends they seemed to be, he tried to pull his attention back to his work.

'5p – 4 3p + 6. Feh, that's easy –'

"Don't you go disrespecting Yoshi, Naruto! That's just wrong!"

'Half of the money collected at a show was donated to charity. Tickets cost –'

"But he's a freakin' dinosaur! Since when did Mario ride dinosaurs?"

'Find bif 3b/4 –'

"Just because he's verbally challenged and can only say his name doesn't mean you have the right to make fun of him!"

Sighing, he snapped the book shut and gave up on working on the homework, deciding that he would turn around to watch the room. Unfortunately, doing that gave him a full view of Aoki's desk behind him, and of the other girls in the room staring at him. He made sure he didn't make eye-contact with any of them, instead choosing the lesser of the two evils and looking at the group behind him to examine them.

Aoki sat at her desk with the others gathered around her, staring straight at where Gaara had had his back turned. When he turned, however, she quickly adverted her gaze away from him, blushing slightly as she asked (with a st-st-stutter) Sakura the time. He smirked, wondering why she had been staring at him, but he shrugged it off as a 'female thing' and decided to ponder that morning.

'I wonder what that talk concerning Language Arts was about,' he mused as he watched her hair's sheen turn pink as Sakura leaned closer to talk to her. 'It seemed as if it came from personal experience, like it was a speech from the heart.' He shook his head and mentally scowled at the way he had put it, but he continued his train of thoughts nonetheless. 'She had spoken it with such sorrow, and yet she avoided explaining how she knew so as if it was a secret or something.'

"Aoki?" He blinked as Naruto's concerned voice cut through his thoughts. Aoki's eyes had strayed over to the window, and she had remained silent for a while until he had spoken up. "Are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah," she waved his concern off with a smile. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He frowned at her. "I mean, I was talking about going out for ramen tonight and you didn't say a thing!"

"Not everyone has a strange craving for ramen like you do, Naruto!" Everyone laughed as Sakura whapped him in the head, although it was done with a lighthearted smile as he pretended to scowl and rub his head with feigned hurt. It was all the normal going-ons of a group of friends, and Kankuro seemed to fit in with them just fine.

Other than that far-off look Aoki had.

'She has a secret,' he deduced as he watched her, trying to read her mind. 'And I'm going to find out what it is.'

(DL: Another time-skip! YEAH! (does happy dance) This is now noon, during lunch. Hope you're enjoying this so far!)

12:05

Math, History, Science, and Art before Lunch (D), and Orchestra, Computer Skills, and Language Arts afterwards. A full day. That was Gaara's schedule.

Math, History, Art, Foreign Language, Lunch (D), Foreign Language (2), Science, Language Arts. Yeah, confusing. But that was Aoki's schedule.

Gaara arrived at the cafeteria to see the usual mob of people grouping near the entrance and near the lines. Most tables had at least a few people sitting there already, so he searched for his brother, although he already had an idea of where he was. His suspicions were confirmed when he spotted Kankuro hanging out with Naruto and the others at a table in the far corner of the opposite side of the cafeteria.

Now, he only had to get there in one piece.

Hmmm…

"Gaara! Ooh, look over here, Gaara!"

"(Gasp) No, look at me! I'm right here, Gaara!"

"Where's that hunk of a brother of yours, Gaara?"

He only had to get there in one piece…

Eventually, many fangirl mobs later, he found himself at the table just as Kankuro said something about finishing his homework. Gaara rolled his eyes. 'Of course; he had been too busy goofing off yesterday and getting ready to be late today. No time for homework until lunch.' Sakura said something along the same lines, although Gaara had more faith in her than his own brother (which is sad), and so there was only Naruto and Aoki left when he decided to sit down with them. As he set his tray down, Naruto looked up at him with his trademark ridiculously huge grin on his face. "Heya, Gaara! How are you?"

"Fine," he stated dryly, his eye twitching at the mere thought of the fangirls he had to get through. He had to abandon his jacket just to escape, for crying out loud! Somewhere in the lunchroom, there sat a group of girls drooling and fighting over who would get to touch it. He sighed irritably, glaring at Aoki when she laughed at him. "What's so funny?"

"It's just – you look so –" She held her stomach as she laughed, as if it was starting to hurt, and Naruto looked at her with panic and began to pat her on the back hard, yelling, "Breathe, Aoki, breathe!" After a moment or two, Aoki finally calmed down enough to take a deep shuddering breath, but when she looked at Gaara again she started back up. Naruto groaned and hit his head onto the table, before he sat back up and grabbed Aoki's shoulders, shaking her slightly. "Calm down, Aoki! It's not that funny!"

"Yes – haha – yes, it is!"

Gaara's eye twitched as she continued to laugh at him. It was as if he was entertainment. 'Her giggling is starting to get annoying now.' He crossed his arms and glared at her. "I still fail to see what's so funny."

"I'm – I'm – oh, God! – oh, I'm sorry!" She put her hand on her heart and took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. She wiped the tears from her eyes as her laughter reduced to a small smile directed towards the redhead. "I'm sorry, Gaara-san! Really!" She cleared her throat and began to open her mouth, but Gaara didn't want to take any chances (she could start laughing again), and so he shoved her apple into her open mouth before she could say anything else. She was surprised for a moment, but then she cast him a glare as she took a bite of the apple, which Gaara ignored in favor of his own tray.

He had picked the turkey and mashed potatoes just so he could push his spoon into the center of the big mound and make a huge dent in it, forming a 'gravy volcano'. He made it as deep as possible (the bottom touching the surface of the tray) so that the gravy pooled into it, and he flicked a turkey cube and watched as it landed with a 'plop!' in the gravy. He usually didn't eat much anyways, so this was one of his pastimes at lunch.

He had a lot of time on his hands.

He got a few more 'goals', earning him strange looks from the other two. Naruto had to flick a bit of gravy off of his orange jacket and stared at the redhead. Gaara, however, just stared at the spot the gravy had been.

If that jacket was black and red and had an hourglass-like symbol on the back, it would look just like his…

"I liked that jacket…" He grumbled sourly to himself, fuming, not really expecting anyone to have heard that. But, Aoki must have, because she patted him on the back with a kind smile and told him, "Don't pout! I think you look better without it on, anyways!"

'But I liked that jacket – and I do not pout…' Thinking over what else she had said, however, he turned to face her and asked, "So you think I look hotter without clothes on?"

"W-W-Wha? No! I mean…"

"So, you like how I look in black tank tops and baggy pants?"

"Err…what I mean is…"

"Or do you hate my jacket because it covers my muscles?"

"I – it's not that!" He liked to mess with her, and he was rewarded as her face grew red with frustration, making him smirk inwardly as she tried to explain herself. "What I mean is – it's not that you don't – you don't need it to – argh!" Her head met the table with a 'thump!' as she groaned.

"You really should learn how to bail yourself out of these situations," Gaara told her casually, earning a look from a confused Naruto. He ignored him, instead leaning over to whisper in Aoki's ear, "You would think that someone as clever and attractive as you could make an escape plan, or at least get a boyfriend."

"You would think…" She muttered in reply, seemingly ignoring that last comment on her appearance as her face remained down on the table as if to hide it from him. This made Gaara expose his smirk to the world, getting yet another look from Naruto, and he told her, "What is your next plan, anyways? Perhaps I could help you."

"None of your bee's wax."

"Fine." If she didn't want his help, then that was her loss.

3 p.m.

Gaara glanced at the clock. 'Just fifteen minutes…fifteen more…'

"Hee hee, isn'the ca-YUTE!"

"Oh, yeah! I've always lovedredheads!"

"They'vegotit going ON!"

His eye twitched. 'Fourteen…'

"I bet he can dance, too!"

"Well, duh! Of course Gaara-chan dance!"

"He's probably a professional dancer!"

"I'd love to tango with him!"

'Thirteen…'

He was going to kill someone. He just knew it.

"He'd just look so handsome with a rose in his mouth!"

"Ooh, talk about romantic!"

Ring!

"Oh, I've got a call…hello? Who is it, I'm really busy –" Pause. "…What?! How dare she? Ugh, hold on, I'll be right there!" 'Click!' "Ugh, I can't believe it!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"Some chick's trying to steal Gaara's jacket from us! That little brat – we got it first!"

Gaara smirked at that. 'Females are all the same…'

"Alright, so while I deal with that freaky red-eyed girl, you stay here and keep an eye on Gaara-chan!"

"You can count on that!" Lots of random giggles.

Gaara shook his head as he watched the girl leave the room. It seemed that he was the most popular kid in school, with Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, and (can you believe it?) Kiba close behind. 'Girls can be predictable sometimes –'

Then, something registered in the back of his mind. 'Did she say red-eyed girl?'

Immediately, he followed the girl, ignoring the squeals coming from the girls who tried to follow him. For some reason, the loudmouth blonde came to his rescue (damn him) and stood before them, distracting them long enough for Gaara to make his escape. 'Damn. I suppose I'll have to thank him later…' He shrugged it off as he began to turn a corner, but then he quickly hid behind it again to instead peek around and watch the scene unnoticed.

Several girls were ganging up on Aoki, backing her up against the lockers; one of them was Ino, someone that Gaara only recognized because she had once walked up to him and Sasuke in an attempt to ask one of them out. In the end, she couldn't decide, so they made their escape before her posse could overwhelm them. It was one of the few days they worked in collaboration. Beside her, all of the girls cracked their knuckles and looked at Aoki threateningly with glares that would shiver normal people to the bone. Aoki wasn't normal, however, for she just smiled brightly at them and said, "Hey, girls! How's it going?"

'She really can't get out of these situations, can she?' Gaara shook his head, but as he did he noticed something in Aoki's hands behind her back. There, she held his jacket, protecting it as if it was something precious to her. He realized that, although she held a smile on her face, they didn't quite reach her eyes, which were filled with something that could only be called pure hatred. There was a sort of untainted malice behind that wicked smile of hers.

It was almost as if she was pulling a Gaara!

"Nothing's going anywhere!" Ino took a step forward, trying to intimidate her. When that didn't work, she huffed and held out her hand and ordered, "Give that jacket back!"

"No!" She looked down at the jacket, feeling the material for a moment, before looking back at Ino with the same evil smile. "I rather like how it feels. Maybe I should try it on…"

"No!" Nearly all of the girls screamed at her, but before they could do a thing Aoki threw it around herself and put her arms through the sleeves. As she slipped it on, her smile turned into a cruel smirk. "It feels comfy." She raised an arm to rub the material across her cheek, her eyes never leaving Ino's as the blonde's hands clenched in fury. She only widened her smirk as Ino began to yell at her. 'She's doing it on purpose,' Gaara realized (DL: Took ya while, huh, Gaara? Ow! That hurt! (grumbles) Stupid sand-in-the-pants…) as her eyes twinkled mischievously.

"You shouldn't be wearing that, you whore nobody!" Ino pointed an accusing finger at Aoki. "You're trying to get to Naruto-chan and Sasuke-chan, too! Slut!"

"Look who's talking!" Suddenly, Aoki didn't look so happy anymore. In fact, she looked rather angry. She spat, "And why would I want to go out with my friend? That's all Naruto is; a blonde, loud, obnoxious friend!" Eyeing Ino with a sudden glint in her eyes, she added, "Besides, Sasuke's hair looks like a pink duck sat on his head!"

"It does not!" That insult seemed to have hit a raw nerve in Ino. "It's your fault, anyways!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Aoki's grin was back, some of the malice gone as she probably thought of her accomplishment. She ignored the temper of the girls around her as she chuckled and said, "It was probably an improvement."

"Why you little –" They all lunged forward to grab her, but suddenly Aoki leapt up and round-kicked Ino on her side, knocking her over into the others. She quickly leapt over them while they were stunned, and she came around the corner Gaara hid behind and bumped into him. While she was stunned, he quickly grabbed her hand and ran down the hallway, dragging her behind him. He only stopped when they were a safe distance from the girls, and she panted slightly while he just remained silent the entire time. After she regained her breath, she looked at him in quiet awe before she asked, "Why…?"

"Teaming up on someone isn't right," Gaara told her as if he was telling a two-year-old. Honestly, who didn't know that? Aoki, obviously, as well as those girls. 'What has become of the world?' Then, as another thought came to him, he added, "And you never seem to be able to get yourself out of those messes, anyways."

Aoki scowled at him, but then she smiled and said, "Thank you." Her warm smile was back, not the crazy and wicked smile she gave the girls. That wasn't a smile. That was a promise; a promise to make their lives a living Hell.

He waved it off, however, by saying, "It's the least I could do after what you did." To himself, he added, 'It's not like I need anymore debts or IOU's…'

She must have just remembered that she was wearing his jacket, for she blushed slightly and started to take it off. Suddenly, he stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder, making her freeze to look at him. The action had been instantaneous, something he didn't even think about, and so when he realized what he did he quickly slid it off and said stiffly, "Keep it."

"…Wha? But, you…"

Gaara shrugged, staring at her from the corner of his eye. "It's just a jacket."

She blinked, frowning at him for a moment, before she gave him a grin and nodded. When she thought he wasn't looking, she rubbed her face against the sleeve again, which made Gaara smirk to himself. He suggested, "If you wore it, and could keepit on, maybe those girls would leave you, hopefully me, alone."

She looked a little shocked at the offer, but she seemed to recover instantly as she nodded again to show she understood. "Yeah. Thanks, Gaara-san."

"Besides…you probably look better in it than I do."

She blushed a lot at that comment, but he quickly covered it up by adding, "After all, I'm hot without it on. You said so yourself."

"No, I didn't!" She playfully pushed him a little, something she received with a bit more force. Her face was flushed as she persisted, "You just wish I said that!"

"No, I heard you loud and clear. 'You look better without it, anyways.' That's what you said."

"But I didn't say you were hot!"

"So, you're saying I'm not hot?"

"No, you are! I mean, no, I'm – I…I…" She bowed her head to hide her face and told him, "Shut up!" He just smirked at her, his mood lifted from the earlier annoyance (aka the fangirls). It was good to have Aoki around; she lifted his spirits considerably, and she was fun to poke at.

Besides, maybe she would tell him her secret one day, or teach him her awesome pranking skills.