Yay! The ruler/line thing is working now! Sorry for the slow update, I have homework, extra curriculum, etc. etc. But that's all in the past!

Don't forget to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Shikamaru tomorrow and Ino the next day! YAY! cough cough

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Gaara was having a very strange dream. He was a small boy again, and was reliving his past.

"D-Daddy…" Gaara trembled. "W-What are you doing?"

His father had a psychotic look in his eyes. "It's too much trouble to have kids. Now that you're mother is gone, there's no reason for any of you to live!"

Kankuro and Temari backed away from their father, terrified.

"You're first, Gaara!"

"N-No!"
Suddenly, a ray of light blinded Gaara. When he opened his eyes, his father was gone.

"And…I feel sad…that you've closed…your heart."

"Hey! Hey! Wake up!"

Gaara sat up, his sweat was cold. He glared at Lee who had come back. That idiot was shouting his head off.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked. "I was having a nice nap…"

"Were you sleeping so nicely that you didn't notice someone leave?" Lee demanded. "Where is Nori?"

The boys looked around then realized that they were short one girl.

"Where did she go?" Shikamaru said aloud.

"How careless of us!" Lee wallowed in self-pity. "We, as the men have the duty of protecting the female! Now we've let her slip through our fingers! I am SHAMEFUL! DON'T LOOK AT ME! DON'T LOOK AT ME!" he wailed.

"Shut up," Gaara and Shikamaru said at the same time.

"We just need to find her, that's all," Gaara said, getting up. "There's no use killing yourself over it."

"But it's snowing dreadfully out there!" Lee protested.

"You left that part out!" Shikamaru exclaimed.

The boys ran over to the opening of the cave. Lee was right. It was snowing heavily outside.

"Our teachers sure know how to plan a field trip…" Shikamaru groaned. "This is so troublesome…"

Meanwhile…

The teachers and students were all at the top of the mountain and were all temporarily residing in a small house. One group of students were extremely nervous about the situation.

"This is so bad…" Naruto said. "Nori and Gaara and Shikamaru and Lee are trapped outside in the storm!"

"Shut up Naruto! That's not something that you shout about!" Sakura exclaimed, knocking him upside the head.

"Kakashi-sensei will count everyone to make sure we're all here soon…what're we gonna do?" Ino asked.

Naruto groaned and rubbed his head. "This is all you're fault, Sasuke! If you hadn't challenged Tenten to that stupid contest, we'd all be here!"

"Hey, if Neji—"

"You can't deny that it's your fault, because it is," Neji said stubbornly.

"Stop it already," Tenten said. "We all know that we're all at fault in some way…mostly Sasuke…but that's besides the point!"

"Does everyone hate me?" Sasuke wondered.

"We don't, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura and Ino chimed.

"Great…"

"There's no use in hiding it anyway," Kiba said. "What'll we do? Dress up and pass ourselves as them?"

They looked at each other and grinned.

Kiba slapped his forehead.

A while later…

"Sakura, have you seen…Lee, Shikamaru, Gaara, and Nori?" Kakashi said, reading off the missing names from the list.

"Oh…yes," Sakura said. "They're um…over there!" She pointed to the mentioned four…or what looked like them.

"This is so stupid…" Kiba said. "And this lipstick itches!" He rubbed his forehead.

"Stop it, you'll smudge it!" Ino hissed. "You have to look like Gaara!"

"Well you don't look too much like Nori, so I wouldn't be talking," Kiba said.

"Why do I have to be Shikamaru?" Neji asked.

"Because you have the closest hair color!" Ino said.

Neji scowled. "I hate wearing hats."

"Well maybe if you cut your hair once in a while," Sasuke said.

"Shut up, Lee," Neji said.

"That's another thing," Sasuke said. "Why did you guys have to ruin my hair?"

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Ino said. "But…you were the only one with black hair. I'll fix it!"

"I don't want you to touch my hair," Sasuke said.

"This won't work," Neji said. "We can't fool Kakashi with this lame act."

"Then what about Gai?" Kiba said. He pointed to the teacher approaching them.

"Gai?" Neji said in disbelief.

"Hello, my students!" Gai exclaimed. "I see that you are all here! Lee, you look incredibly angry at something, what's wrong?"

"Uh…nothing Gai! Er, Gai-sensei!" Sasuke said as Lee-like as he could sound.

"All right, then! Let your youth shine through the darkness and cold of the storm! We will be back at school before you know it!" Gai hollered passionately as he jogged off.

"Okay…" said everyone.

"I don't…believe that worked…" Neji said.

"Our gym teacher's the most clueless guy on the planet," Sasuke said.

"That's why he's our gym teacher I guess," Kiba shrugged, rubbing his black-lined eyes.

Meanwhile…

"Where the heck would she go?" Shikamaru said. "I mean, we have no reception and no idea where we are. There's nowhere she could get help…"

The boys were currently at their ankles in snow. Their collars were pulled up and they were attempting to see through the storm.

"Do not panic!" Lee warned.

"I wasn't panicking," Shikamaru clarified.

Gaara narrowed his eyes. The cold was unbearable and the gust was quick and stinging. Where was that crazy girl? Making them go through this just because of something stupid. If the storm didn't kill her, he swore he would.

Nori had been walking around, trying to find a signal, help, anything that would be able to bail her and her friends out of this situation. It seemed that nature was against her, because when the storm started up there was no hope in getting anywhere.

She was trying to find her way back to the cave, but that wasn't working too well. Every so often she came across the same place, over and over again. The area looked the same. White. White. White.

Nori, you idiot…Nori thought bitterly. What is wrong with you? Why do you do this all the time?

Flashback

"Nori, you can't come," her mother said sternly.

"But there are lots of scary things out there…" Nori said. "And it's dangerous! I wanna come to protect you!"

Her mother smiled. "Don't worry. We'll be fine. Just stay with Uncle, all right?"

"Okay…"

A few minutes later, her parents were gone.

"I'm gonna go ride my bike, okay Uncle?"

"All right, but be careful!"

"I will!" Nori promised.

End Flashback

Nori fell. It was no use. She was way too tired…and the cold bit at her skin. Everything went black.

"Mother! Father!"

"Don't look, Nori," Uncle said gravely. "You shouldn't have come. I told you to be safe."

Nori's eyes were wide and tearful. The heat of the fire had slightly burned her skin. Her parents were gone.

Nori blacked out.

"Nori! Nori! Wake up, Nori!"

"Wake up."

"Uh…huh?" Nori opened her eyes to see Gaara staring down at her with an expression on his face. She couldn't tell if he thought she was stupid or if he was worried. "Gaara? What…what're you doing here? And where's Lee…and Shikamaru?" She looked around to see that they were still in the terrible snowstorm. She could barely see anything.

"We went looking for you. Shikamaru thought that he may know where the parking lot was, so he said he'd mark a trail so Lee and I could follow. Lee's still looking for you. What were you thinking?"

"Well I…was thinking that I could find some hel—achoo!"

"That's just perfect," Gaara muttered. "Now you've come down with something."

Way to go, girl, Nori thought bitterly. She sniffed a bit and said, "It's nothing. I'll be fine."

"We should sue the school for this," Gaara said angrily. "I'm sick and tired of all that's happened."

"I'm sorry," Nori said softly.

Gaara turned around, his expression a little softer. "It isn't your fault."

"Yes it is," Nori said. "Don't try to make me feel better." She shivered.

Gaara instinctively wrapped his arms around her. "Don't worry. We'll get out of this."

Nori sighed under her breath and rested her head against his chest. "I hope you're right."

Gaara stood up, Nori still clinging onto him. "We have to go. I'm sure Shikamaru found a trail by now."

"Gaara…if I hold you back…will you leave me?" Nori asked quietly.

Gaara looked down at her with warmth in his eyes. "No. I won't let go of you until we're out of this mess."

Nori smiled.

The two trudged through the snow gradually, blocking themselves from the sleet and hail. Gaara held onto Nori tightly and she returned the favor. They were moving along pretty well until—

"Ah!"

Before Gaara knew it, he was holding onto a shrub hanging off a cliff. The beating snow was so thick that they hadn't seen the edge and had forgotten to turn. He struggled to hold onto Nori who weighed about as much as he did. He strained as he tried to somehow get back up, but it seemed impossible. He grunted. "Nori, are you all right?"

"Gaara…" Nori had tears in her eyes. This was way too much. "Gaara…"

"I won't let go, don't worry," Gaara murmured. He thought hard, but he couldn't think of anything that would help their predicament.

"I'm so sorry…for everything that's happened…" Nori said, looking down sadly. "A-And…I-I can't do this anymore…I-I cause way too much trouble around here…"

"What are you saying?" Gaara demanded harshly.

She looked up at him, smiling through her tears. "I can't stand being trouble in this world…I'm sure that you…and the others would be better off—"

"If you let go, I'm coming down with you!" Gaara shouted.

Nori was startled. She had never heard Gaara shout like that.

"I-I…I told you that I wouldn't let go…until we're out of this mess," Gaara said. "I'm not going to let you keep me from my promise."

"Gaara…thank you."

Suddenly, the shrub seemed to start to give. It started uprooting out of the wall, bit by bit.

Gaara narrowed his eyes. He knew very well that even without one of them holding on it would just evacuate from the cliff. He cursed.

CRACK.

The shrub broke off and Gaara and Nori were about to be sent tumbling down farther.

"Hey!"

"Huh?" Gaara looked up to see Lee holding onto his arm with all his might.

"Lee!" Nori exclaimed happily.

"What…are…you two…doing…down…here…?" Lee grunted, pulling Gaara and Nori up.

"We fell," Gaara said. "How did you know where to find us?"

"I didn't. I heard you guys talking," Lee said.

"Oh…." Gaara and Nori turned red.

"Come on! I know the way back! It's getting awfully thick here…" Lee said. "I'll lead the way!"

The three set off down the mountain safely this time, Nori and Gaara behind Lee.

"Um…Gaara…" Nori said quietly, rubbing her arm.

"Mm?"

"Thanks for...holding on," Nori said. "I know you've been through tough things…and I can understand why you're the way you are now…but, for you to do what you did without thinking…well, I could never pull something like that off. Thanks. You're…you're my best friend."

"You're mine too," Gaara said, smiling faintly. He slipped his hand into hers.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lee saw the two. He smiled.

Later…

"What do you students have to say for yourself? Tricking a teacher and not following directions, especially on a field trip!" Gai raged.

The whole gang was sitting in desks in Kakashi's classroom after school. Nori, Gaara, Lee, and Shikamaru were sneezing or sniffling.

"I, for one, am very disappointed in you all!" Gai declared. "Especially you, Lee!"

"Forgive me, Gai-sensei!" Lee sobbed.

"I will! But what do you have to say for yourselves?"

Everyone looked at each other, back at Gai, and narrowed their eyes.

"Worst. Field Trip. Ever."

Meh...if you sat through that crap I call romance then I'm very happy! Please R&R!

-TTF