Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Sorry for not updating sooner. But anyways Read & Review! This story is ending soon by the way. I am not pleased with it, but I will finish it. The next chapter will hopefully be longer and be the end. I don' know. But I do promise a happy ending.

Hinata sighed, racking her fingers through her hair and trying to cover her frozen mouth. It was already November and the temperature had changed drastically, leaving her prone to shaking and shivering as she raced through the halls. More then that was the feeling of her heart being frozen.

Gaara had been her first love, her only love and to have to give that up was horrible. Whenever Kiba or Shino told her about him, she couldn't help but want to desperately burst into tears. She held them back though and she still kept her resolve. Gaara had talked to her a tad on the phone but had gotten off quickly each time. Losing him as a future lover was one thing and then losing him, as a friend was another.

Not paying attention, Hinata hadn't noticed Sasuke slip up behind her. When she did, he grabbed her hand and rubbed her knuckles, leaving her blushing like no tomorrow. Sasuke was a good guy, she had come to find out, but he just wasn't and never would be Gaara.

"Good morning, Hinata," he said, dragging her off with him.

Shyly, she nodded at him. "Good morning Sasuke," she replied, extracting her hands from his tight grasp. He scowled but didn't let her see it.

"What class do you have next?"

"Art," was her simple answer.

"Oh," he said, walking with her. Unnerved, she watched him trotting with her like he had always done it, instead of shunning her and making fun of her cousin.

They walked in silence until they reached the art room. Sasuke watched her slip into the room, leaving him with nod and a small smile that tore at his heart. It was a friendly smile; not the smile he wished she could give him.

That red head…he makes her smile so big. If she would only smile like that for me. But I am not the one she loves…he is. And he always will be from the look of things. I can't help but feel selfish, unloved…I feel like such a bastard. To make her live with me as her husband, while she loves another…that has got to be hell.

Sasuke scowled again, his eerily pretty face screwed up in concentration. Biting on his right thumbnail he wondered to his math class, almost being marked late. Naruto greeted him loud and clear, having recovered from his severe beating. Sakura clung to his arm, pushing her flat chest against him. Sighing, he ignored both.

He knew what he had to do; but that didn't mean he had to like it.

After school Gaara paced in his kitchen, a habit he had taken up. Temari had jokingly said he would burn a hole through the floor and he almost felt like he would. Grabbing an apple out of the fridge, he coughed up some of stray bits as his cell went off in his pocket. The number that was flashing across the screen. It was unfamiliar to him and he wandered briefly if it was that pink haired whore that was calling him again. He growled low in his throat and flipped the phone up, saying harshly, "What?"

There was a pause of silence but on the other end someone finally said, "Sabaku. Meet me at Leaf tomorrow. It is concerning someone that you care about a great deal."

Gaara paced around the circle impatiently, his hands behind his back. The students passing by him were throwing him odd looks, but he ignored them, facing the ground instead. When he heard the distinct footsteps he whirled around, his aqua eyes blazing.

"What the hell did you call me here for?" he asked coldly, eyeing Sasuke.

Sasuke stopped in front of him, paler than normal. If Gaara had cared, he would have noticed the dark circles around the Uchiha's eyes that almost matched the red head's.

"I don't want to fight," Sasuke said wearily, clenching his tie and refusing to look Gaara in the eye. "I want to talk about Hinata."

"Why?" Gaara asked, stepping closer, now only an inch away. "You already took her away from me. She doesn't even love you."

"You don't think I don't already know that!" Sasuke whispered harshly, digging his pale fingers into the fabric wishing to tear it. He couldn't very well attack the red head.

"Then why are you marrying her?" Gaara asked, his voice lowering, a bad sign.

"I'm not," Sasuke said, his face contorting to show his inner struggle for a moment. "You are."

Gaara, taken aback, retreated and replayed his words in his head. "What do you mean?"

" I mean," Sasuke said, measuring his words carefully, "that I am pulling out of the marriage agreement. My family can't do much about it. Itachi is heir anyway. Then you and Hinata can be together."

Gaara flickered his eyes to meet with the Uchiha's. The dark orbs held many emotions. Gaara could even see love laced in among jealousy, anger, regret and other harder to read emotions.

"I though you loved her?"

"I do. That is why I am letting her be with you."

Gaara folded his arms across his lean chest. "Explain."

A shimmer of the old Sasuke burst through as he smirked. "You idiot. She loves you, just as much as you love her."

Gaara's heart suddenly slammed against his chest, and he clutched his shirt, feeling the thin fabric pulsate with his heart. He couldn't contain the small smile that crept up onto his lips as he faced the other boy and did something he hadn't done in a long time; thank him.

"Thank you, Uchiha," he whispered, careful to his keep his voice low as the other students walked along the tree lined path.

Sasuke grunted. "I'm not a cold hearted bastard," he said, thinking it over. "On second thought I am most of the time, but one good deed a year should cure that."

Gaara gritted his teeth. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I would only marry her if she loved me back. She doesn't. I can't force her."

"And if her father tries to pull another arranged marriage…?"

"Itachi and I have it all set for that," Sasuke smirked and then waved his hand. "Leave already. Everything will be taken care of and you will get the girl. So go before I kick your ass."

"You wish."