Oh my! Two miracles for the price of one!
Miracle 1, another update! (dum dum dum!)
Miracle 2, A REVIEW!

My Thank You Corner… er, thingy…
DidiTwitches – for not only putting my story on her Alert list, but also giving me that ever coveted review (a most nice one at that)! Thank you so very much!
Gaarasultimatefangirl247 – for putting my story on her Favorite list. At least I know you're enjoying it enough to fave it. :) dances around
Welp, that's that. It'd be so much bigger if more people actually hit some of those purty buttons at the bottom of the page…

Title: Not All as It Seems
Warnings: Lots of the comedy, lotsa fluff and definitely some sap later on (I'm a romantic girl at heart, what I can tell you?)
Pairings: Gaara/Young (last time I'm saying this; Young is my protagonist for a novel I wish to have published), Shikamaru/Temari (it may be troublesome, but it's so gosh-darned cute!), Naruto/Sakura/Lee (love-triangle, people! Love-triangle! It's really for the comedy) and will attempt Naruto/Hinata (thanks again to DidiTwitches!)

Disclaimer: The fact is that if I DID own Naruto we wouldn't hear Sasuke's name every 5 minutes in 90 percent of the episodes. And also, if I did, I'd make sure it was brought back to Maltese shores, and since it's not been aired here for months and months and even more months, then that means I own nothing! stuffs her Naruto action-figures in her pockets

Be warned, this is going to be a lot longer than the previous chapters! Be sure to have lots of munchies and coffee handy!

Chapter 3
My First Weekend in San Francisco…

7th December, 2002 (Saturday)

"Come on, please! What happened with you two after I went back to bed? Please, please, please tell me!"
Gragh! Naruto must have asked this question a thousand times! He asked me during breakfast, he asked me when I was looking for my clothes, he asked me again while I was brushing my hair. At a point, I couldn't for the life of me find my jacket, which was because the overly imaginative blonde had hidden it and wouldn't give it back until I told. (thank goodness for people like Lee and Gaara, who found it stuffed under the seats of the couch)
Now, we were on our way to my apartment, and Naruto STILL wouldn't back down.
"For the last time, Naruto, nothing whatsoever happened!" I snapped. Good grief, I truly wasn't a morning-person.
"But I saw you two hugging!" he insisted.
"No, we weren't!" I shot back, "I hugged him…!" Whoops…
"Aha! See!"
Rubbing my super-sore temples, I looked to the other two much calmer boys for help. Somehow, even though his heart was in the right place, Lee actually made it worse.
"Come now, Naruto! What is so amusing about this 'love at first sight' that people talk so much about?"
'WHY!'
I stopped in my tracks, turned around so I was facing them and held my hands in front of them. They all stopped, looking at me rather oddly.
"Let's get a few things straight around here. I'm 14 and have no interest in falling in love right now! As for that hug, I was just apologizing to Gaara about a stupid thing I said, that's all! Are we clear on that? Now stop pestering me about it!"
Having said that, I squared my shoulders, held my nose in the air and proceeded my walk back to the apartment building.
"Hey! Hey! Wait up!" Naruto yelled, catching up to me and getting ahold of my arm.
I turned my head to face him, actually expecting him to say something along the lines of being sorry that he misunderstood everything.
"No, seriously, you can tell just me. What happened last night?"
Oh, for Heaven's sake!
With my free hand, I smacked him as hard as I could upside his head.

v-v

"Hey! This is one neat building!"
I had to agree with my hyperactive friend. I hadn't really noticed it before, as I was too excited about meeting the other kids in the neighborhood, but now that I was looking at it, I found I really had to crane my neck up to see to the very top of the building.
"Wow! We have no such apartment buildings in Malta! They would never fit!" I said in absolute marvel.
"Well, what are we waitin' for? Let's go in!" Naruto shouted while bobbing up and down on his feet.
Getting the key I was given earlier out of my front pocket, we made our way inside.
Our apartment happened to be at around the middle section of the building (floor 50! Neat!), and everything looked just so posh and fancy. The carpeting looked like something out of an ancient castle and every piece of furniture had the glossiest wood I'd ever seen.
Upon reaching the door to my new home, I swung it open.
"Parents! I'm home!" I called.
Closing the door behind him, Naruto began scanning the place like a whirlwind. Lee looked about him as though this unpacking business was going to be the most exhilarating of tasks, but Gaara was simply impossible to read.
"Hey! Where is everyone?" I called again.
"Claire, we're right here!" Naruto yelled with a tackle.
"I was talking to my parents, you dolt!"
"Oh! Why didn't you say so?"
Never mind…
Leaving the guys for a moment, I noticed a piece of paper on one of the many boxes littering the corridor. I picked it up and saw that it was a note from my folks. It said that they were at the new store that my dad now owned and they wouldn't be back till late at night.
"Sweet! My brother's with them! HA!"
"Wha?"
"Naruto, I've been living here for one day and you've snuck up on me over a hundred times! You really need to quit doing that!"
"That's something you'll quickly get used to," said Gaara (a miracle!) placing a hand on my shoulder.
'Yikes! Did somebody just electrocute me? What's with the jolt I just felt?'
"Girl, your face is SO red! Do you have a fever?" Naruto suddenly exclaimed, feeling my forehead.
"I'm fine, just dandy. Hey, let's check out my room!" I said quickly, eager to get the subject about what color my face was changed immediately.
"Excellent idea," Lee joined in.
Each of us began opening doors, looking for one of the bedrooms that would be obvious it hadn't been slept in.
"Guys! I found it!" I shouted.
We shoved our way inside and I couldn't help but feel this wave of pleasure upon looking around the room. It was much bigger than my old one to start with. Across the bed was a huge window-seat that showed off the most beautiful view in the whole world. The walls were painted a nice pale shade of blue…
"WOW! THIS BED IS SO BOUNCY!"
Well, I was done admiring the room anyhow.
"You should know that you're not supposed to be on any piece of furniture around here with your shoes on, mister!" I mock-warned, grabbing his hands and forcing him back down.
"Shall we begin?" Lee asked, rubbing the palms of his hands together, up and down, up and down.
"Lee, you're making it sound like we're gonna do something really important and serious. We're just gonna unpack a few things," I said.
"A few? We should unpack everything," he said in a somewhat stern voice. Shucks, if this fellow met my mom I just know they'd hit it off!
"Did you see all these boxes? If we unpacked everything at the same time, it'd take all week!" Naruto and I yelled in unison.
With a soft clearing of his throat, Gaara opened up one of the cardboard boxes, which I'd forgotten to mark what I'd put in it. Ah, well…
"What the? Would ya look at all these gaming magazines!" Naruto shouted excitedly.
"Not bad, huh?" I giggled, again proving girls could be gamers too.
"Are you sure these are yours?" Lee asked me, pointing at another now-opened box… The box that contained all my stuffed toys! Oh, man!
"Um… maybe…?" Sheesh, why did I find it so hard to lie? Why didn't I just say I had a little sister and those toys were hers? Better question is, why didn't I have a sister?
My train of thoughts were interrupted with Naruto's explosive laughter. "Jeez, you must have a hundred stuffed toys in that box!" he said between his fits of chortling and guffawing.
"What? So I have a bit of a weakness! So what?" I groused, shoving the box aside. With that, I began muttering some choice words under my breath and in Maltese (just in case).

v-v

It was about five in the evening, and we were all lying exhausted in the sitting-room.
'And we're not even halfway done,' I thought with a grumble. I never realized settling into a new place could be so tiring.
"Hey, at least the TV's up and running!" Naruto cheered, having been a little peeved when I told him I had no stereo system so we couldn't at least put on some music while we worked.
Said blonde was lying on his stomach facing the telly, and he pushed the button to turn it on. Almost as soon as the picture appeared, much to both his and my delight, we heard:

Are ya ready, kids?
Aye, aye, captain!
I can't hear you!
AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN!
Ooh!

Both of us clasped each other's hands and began to bounce around the room, singing along (really badly, I should add) to the theme song of everyone's favorite junk-food-cooking sponge. When we were done, we saw that Gaara and Lee were looking at us like we'd lost our minds.
"What? We've done all that hard work! We have a right to act like kids again!" Naruto said in our defense.
"Yeah!" I added.
With that cleared up, we went back to our original positions; Naruto propped on two fluffy cushions under his tummy, and me lying on the couch with my head resting on Gaara's lap.
'Sweet! This beats sleeping on a pillow any day!' I thought giddily. Luckily for me, we were all too relaxed at the time, and not even Naruto could bring out any teasing words out of his mouth.
"Ooh, ooh! I love this episode!" I squealed as the title card to the episode Krusty Love appeared on the screen.
"Me too! Me too!" Naruto agreed, trying to crawl as close to the TV as was humanly possible.
"How 'bout you, Lee?" I asked in curiosity.
Getting no answer and feeling far too lazy to move even an inch from my heavenly position to see where he was, I tried asking him again.
"Lee?"
"Come on, Thick Brows! You're missing a really funny episode!"
"Thick Brows?" I repeated, somewhat appalled at this nickname.
"My own creation!" he smirked, looking a little too proud of himself.
"Er, good for you."
"Bah! I bet you everything I own he went back to unpack the rest of your stuff!" said Naruto, and I couldn't help but agree, whether he meant it or not.
"Not in my house, he's not," I protested, but still couldn't bring myself to raise my head from where it was laying.
"Leave him to it… Aw, we just missed the part where Mr. Krabs was talkin' gibberish to Mrs. Puff!" he shouted like his world had just ended.
"I'm sure the kettle's unpacked. I'll go and make us some hot chocolate," I said, using chocolate as my incentive to finally sit up… Ouchies, that kink in my neck and shoulders! I cursed myself for the thousandth time today for having spent the night sleeping on a table as I made my way to the kitchen.
While the water heated up I went off to my room, and sure enough, there was Lee stacking all my books in the shelves behind my bed, in alphabetical order no less.
"Say, Lee, you wanna learn 2 new fun things 'bout me?"
"Certainly," Th… I mean Lee answered cheerfully.
"Okay then; fun thing number 1 - I wanted to put my action-figures on those shelves."
"And what's the second?"
"DON'T EVER TOUCH MY STUFF WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.
No sooner had the (extremely loud) words come out of my mouth, then both Naruto and Gaara had raced into my room, fearing something bad must have happened.
"What's with the screaming? Who's dying?" Naruto demanded in a panicky voice.
"Oh, that was yours truly. I was teaching Lee fun facts about me and the dangers of touching my things without asking," I said in an oddly cheerful voice. Usually when I caught people anywhere within even a tiny inch near my stuff, I'd throw a massive fit like I did just then, but I'd stay mad for ages.
With a roll of the eyes Naruto muttered, "Girls are so weird!"
"What d'ya just say?" I shouted back, ready to teach him another most fun (and painful) lesson about me.
"Nothing, nothing! I said nothing!" Naruto said weakly, trying to move my hands away from the collar of his orange sweatshirt. "Guys, a little help!"
While my hands were gently pried out of reach from Naruto and his throat, said idiot was marched back to the sitting-room by Lee, being scolded all the way there.
"Would you like some advice concerning Naruto?" Gaara asked me.
"Ya mean good and effective ways I can kick his butt? I'm all ears!" I said giving my knuckles a good crack (owie! Bad idea!).
"I was going to say you shouldn't take everything he says so seriously," he said with the tiniest of chuckles.
"It's just crazy enough to work!" (I always wanted to say that)
"You should know that kettle's been boiling for 5 minutes!" Naruto shouted from the other side.
Whoops, I thought I forgot something.

v-v

"I simply don't understand how a sponge can talk AND cook," Lee said in wonderment.
"Dude! It's a cartoon!" Naruto pointed out like he couldn't believe his ears.
Just as I was about to let out a witty remark of my own, I heard a tiny, very soft snore coming from above me (yep, I was back to resting my head on my redheaded pal's lap).
"Huh? Gaara? You sleeping?" I said sitting up.
I certainly was hearing correctly. Somehow, without my even realizing he'd moved, he'd managed to lean down to the side with me still resting cluelessly on top of him. He had both hands on the armrest and was using them as a pillow to rest his cheek.
Lee opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted at the speed of light when Naruto started laughing like a complete lunatic.
"AHA HA! He's just beggin' to have his picture taken! I'll do just that and put it on the internet!"
Completely forgetting Gaara's advice about not taking Naruto so seriously, I snapped, "You do that and your camera will find a new home under my boots!"
"Jeez! Chill, I was just kidding!" Naruto said defensively.
"Yes, Naruto doesn't even know how to use a camera," Lee added helpfully; Naruto aimed the most annoyed glare I'd ever seen in the black-haired boy's direction.
"Whatever! There's a game called Sons of Liberty with my name on it! Let's go!"
"Ah, but you know Gaara is not going to be waking up for a while now that he's finally asleep," said Lee.
"Wait. Are you saying he was up all night?" I asked.
Both Naruto and Lee nodded. Shucks, I wish I knew just what a pain in the neck insomnia could truly be. No wonder he didn't protest even a little bit at my sleeping position.
"Welp, you guys go and get that game. We'll drop by as soon as he wakes up," I said.
True, I was beyond eager to see the new Metal Gear Solid (not to mention Snake) in action, but there was no way no how I was going to leave Gaara all alone.
"Cool! Try and convince your folks to let you stay the night again!" Naruto offered.
"Right…" I said, crossing my fingers behind my back almost painfully.

v-v

The time was 6 o' clock now, and I was bored out of my mind. I was sitting next to my snoozing friend, one hand pushing the channel button on the remote whilst running my fingers in his oh-so soft hair with the other.
"Hm, Barney and Friends - bye bye! The Jetsons - I don't think so, call back another thousand years from now! Pokémon - away with you! The Flintstones - YABBA DABBA DOO!"
Finally settling on something, I raised my cup to my mouth and took a sip of tea.
"Yep, this is living," I said to myself happily.
Somewhere along the way I had found Gaara's bag by the couch and found that uber-soft blanket, so I had gotten it out and covered the both of us in its comforting warmth.
"Wha…?"
"Hiya, sleepy!" I greeted. "Ya hungry? Thirsty? Let me get you some tea, this blend here is real tasty!"
"When did I fall asleep?" he asked looking gosh-darned adorably confused.
"I dunno, about an hour ago. Let me get you that tea."
Refusing to take no for an answer, I poured him a cup from the teapot I had placed on the coffee table earlier.
As I handed it to him I asked, "Wanna call your parents and let 'em know you're here? I bet they're worried sick, ya know?"
"They already know I'm spending the weekend at Naruto's," he said somewhat hastily. What in the world is his story with that old coot of a father of his? Gaara wouldn't tell me anything about him, but I just knew he was really, really mean and I firmly decided that I wasn't going to like him no matter what.
"For real? Then I'll actually reconsider his offer about staying over tonight, as long as I don't room with him that is."
He said nothing and took a pretty big gulp of the tea.
Leaving him to it, I went to my sassy new room to pack a few things. No way was I going to wear that repulsive thing Naruto lent me last night.
10 minutes later found me in a bit of a dilemma. I'd packed my comfiest pair of pajamas, a change of clothes, my toothbrush and my cellphone, no problem-o. But I simply couldn't decide which stuffed doll I wanted to bring (it's a little thing I do!).
"Are you ready?" Gaara asked from behind.
"Almost. Which do you think I should bring, the Aeris doll or the Vivi one?"
"Is it that important?"
"You bet! Which one, which one, which one?"
"Couldn't you just bring both?" he finally suggested, after I'd said 'which one' over twenty times.
"You, Gaara, are a genius!" I said, stuffing the two dolls between the pajamas and clothes.
After I'd written a really quick note to my parents to let them know where I was going to be (best not to phone them at work, knowing just how cranky they could be at hectic times like this), we went on our merry way.

v-v

"I wanna see your house tomorrow," I said suddenly after we'd walked in silence for like 15 minutes.
"What?"
"Well, you saw my place. It's only fair that I get to see yours," I said, finding that logic to be pretty reasonable.
"I don't think so," he said in a stiff voice.
"Come on, please?"
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"No."
"Super pretty please with strawberries and whipped cream!"
"The answer is still no," the redhead said firmly.
"Then I will keep pestering you until you change that 'no' into a 'yes'."
"Go ahead."
"Fine, but you brought this on yourself!" I challenged. Clearing my throat and taking a deep breath I began, "A million bottles of beer on the wall, a million bottles of beer! You take one down, pass it around, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall!"

v-v

"All right, all right! Stop singing!" Gaara screamed, finally giving in. Which was good, as I'd lost count to what number I'd gotten to, and he just might have throttled me if I started the whole thing over.
"Nyuk, I guess you're not calm, cool and collected ALL the time after all," I grinned cheekily.
"You'll pay for that."
"Ooh, scared o' you!"
At that precise moment, I felt something kinda fluffy and extremely cold touch the tip of my nose.
"What the…?" I wondered out loud.
"What is it?"
"Something weird just fell on… There it goes again!"
Looking up at the darkened sky covered in thick clouds, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was surely dreaming.
"Quick, pinch me!" I said with a squeal.
"Pardon?"
"If my imagination hasn't gone wild again, I'm being showered in snow!"
"So?"
How could he be so calm about this? It's snow! Soft, white, fluffy snow! Bending down, I placed a finger on the pavement, which was already getting covered nicely in the stuff.
"You're behaving as though you've never seen snow," said Gaara, still sounding most annoyed with me about singing that (admittedly annoying) beer song.
"Well, buddy, I don't think seeing fake snow on TV really counts," I said, forming a diseased-looking snowball with my clumsy fingers.
"Doesn't it…?" he began, but was interrupted with my misshapen snowball hitting him on the forehead.
"Huzzah! Score 1 for the Gozitan girl!"
"Hmph! Naruto is already being a bad influence on you," he frowned, wiping the frozen water from his face.
"I don't need Naruto's wise teachings to start a snowball fight," I said with a playful shove.
"Let's just keep going."
"Okee dokee then!" I obeyed, wrapping both my arms around one of his. Phew, snow is a lot colder than I imagined it to be. Definitely the last time I'm touching it without wearing gloves.

v-v

"There you guys are! What took ya?" Naruto exclaimed, quickly pulling us inside.
"She had a bit of a doll-crisis," Gaara said oh-so calmly. Har di har har! So that was how you were gonna make me pay, huh?
"Oh yeah? Well, you're… you're… You're real dumb!"
"Wow, you're tough!" Naruto teased. What is this? Gang-up-on-the-European-kid-day?
"You know somethin'? Sometimes boys are insensitive twats," I said while pointing at the two meanies.
"You did bring some games with you, right?" Naruto asked, ignoring my last remark completely.
"Well, I left my copy of Parasite Eve in my bag, so yeah. But what about Sons of Liberty? How cool is it? What neat features does it have? Does Snake still sound husky and sexy?"
"Say what?"
"Come on, does he?"
"How the heck am I supposed to know THAT? I'm no chick!"
"Fair enough, but you can still answer my first two questions," I practically pleaded.
"Actually, I can't," he said.
"Why not?"
"'Cuz a certain thick-browed someone has hidden my PS2 until I finish my homework!" Naruto said extra-loudly.
"Ouch, rough. Have you finished it now?"
"Nope. Let's play that game you got!"
"Is it just me or does Naruto have the attention-span of a pencil-sharpener?" I whispered to Gaara.
"No, it's not just you."
"Good, just checking."
"You're not playing anything until you've finished your work! Do you want another detention?" suddenly came Lee's smart voice.
"That one wasn't my fault! The old coot provoked me!"
"No one made you draw that rude picture of him and label it 'Big Fat Meanie' for all to see," Gaara joined in.
(Big Fat Meanie? Had he been watching a little too much SpongeBob?)
"He provoked me way before I wrote that! See, that's why I called him a big fat meanie!"
"Guys, guys!" I shouted in an attempt to get their attention.
"You're on my side, right?" Naruto asked, giving me a friendly punch on the shoulder.
"How should I know? I wasn't there," I pointed out.
"Oh, yeah. Still, you're on my side just the same!"
"Whatever floats your boat."
"Awesome! Now let's have a look at that Parasite Evening."
"That's Eve, not Evening," I said, handing him the box and warning him to be careful whilst handling the discs.

v-v

"You said nothing about it being a horror game!" Naruto complained. He was as white as a sheet of paper after the first scary scene in the Carnegie Hall had played out.
"So it's a horror game. So what?"
"Naruto isn't really all that good with anything scary," Lee said.
"But you like Resident Evil, and that's way scarier," I said, unable to believe that hotheaded Naruto, who claimed he wasn't scared of anything, was terrified of horror games and such.
"I never said that," he argued.
"Sure you did. You even said Nemmy is cool."
"I did say he's a cool villain. I said nothing about liking the actual games," he grumbled.
Hm, now that I think about it I don't recall seeing a single horror title in his gaming collection when he'd shown it to me.
Fishing around in my bag, I saw that I'd left another game at the very bottom. Getting it out, I saw that there was no way he'd play it, still…
"Um, well, I found another game," I tried, showing him my extremely worn copy of Final Fantasy VII.
"Anything's better than that scary game. Might as well find out what the hype is about this thing, anyway."
Wow, he must really have found Parasite Eve scary if he was willing to try out a game he'd sworn not to play, ever.
While Naruto busied himself with my game, I turned to the other two and asked, "Did he really call one of your teachers a big fat meanie?"
"He has pulled worse stunts than that, unfortunately," Lee answered.
My eyes practically lit up with interest. I wasn't the kind of student that would start some kind of trouble in class or anything like that, but I always enjoyed hearing about a good escapade or two that someone else had pulled off.
"Do tell!" I begged, hands clasped together under my chin.
"Well, there was this one occasion where he set up a stink-bomb during Math class," was Lee's scolding answer.
"A stink-bomb in Math class? That's pure genius! Why didn't I think of that!" I squealed. I hated Math with every ounce of my being and it certainly didn't help matters that I was absolutely and embarrassingly awful at it.
"Would you rather get 2 months' worth of detention in order to miss 1 Math lesson, though?" Gaara put in.
"Ouch! How did he get caught? You didn't tell on him, did you guys?" I demanded.
My answer came in the form of the two of them looking at me like they wanted to smack me a new one but had enough willpower to hold themselves back.
"Yikes! I'll take that as a no!" I squealed taking a couple of steps back.
"But someone did give him away, you're right about that."
"Yes, and I would advice you to stay as far away from her as you can," said Lee clasping both of my shoulders.
"Er, alrighty then! I'll do just that!"
"HEY! THIS GAME IS SO COOL!" suddenly came Naruto's loud and excitable voice.
I left the others and rushed to join him, wanting to see which part he'd gotten to. Ah, he's fighting Guard Scorpion already? He's doing pretty well for a guy who never touched an RPG before.
"But how come Mr. T is in this game?" Naruto asked. Somehow, I saw that question coming, but I can't say I blame him. The resemblance between Barret and Mr. T himself is truly uncanny.
"That's not Mr. T, but he sure is a lot like him, huh?"
Before Naruto could say anything back, we were horrified to see the screen go completely black.
"No! I was winning!" the blonde screamed in agony.
"What gives?" I said groaning at the sheer misfortune of what just happened.
After a few seconds we could see just why the machine had shut off without warning. Lee had taken out the plug from its socket and was now dangling it from side to side in his right hand.
"Why you double-crossing jerk! Wait until I get my hands on you!" Naruto screamed, chasing Lee around the room ready to pound him into next week.
"You were supposed to be doing your homework!"
"I'll shove my homework right down your throat!"
"Whoo-hoo! Isn't this fun?" I beamed at Gaara. When I stopped to really watch them run around in circles, I saw that it was downright hilarious.
"Yes, very amusing," he said, sarcasm heavily lacing his voice.
"Aw come on, lighten up!" I chuckled, wanting to give him a noogie but couldn't, considering he was twice my size and all.
He didn't answer and made his way to (what I assumed to be) Lee's room. Naruto had now successfully tackled Lee to the floor; laying with his knees on top of the suicidal one's back, my fellow-gamer was pulling as hard as he could on both his arms. Welp, the funny part's over and done with, and I never did see what Lee's room is like…
Sidestepping the two roughhousers, I followed after Gaara (he sure is making me act weird and just so unlike me…). I admit I was half-expecting to find him back at his work that I'd interrupted the other day, so imagine my surprise when I see him sitting on the main bed with music pounding out of the earphones he now had on.
Closing the door so I wouldn't hear the rather bad words Naruto was screaming at the top of his lungs, I made to join him. Hmph! He didn't even notice me!
I gave him a light tap on the shoulder and he finally opened his eyes and saw me staring at him. Ah, at least he had the good manners to take the earphones off seeing he wasn't alone anymore.
"I thought you of all people would know the hazards of playing music that loud outta those things," I pointed out.
"I had to drown Naruto out somehow," he said defensively.
"Right, good cover. So what were ya listening to? Do share!" I said, bringing out my love for music in my excited tone of voice.
No response…
"I promise I won't tease," I said, my curiosity becoming obvious now.
Without saying a word he placed one of the soft buds in my left ear, and I was greeted with a really cool and pulsing beat along with a most gorgeous female voice.
"Awesome! That's Nightwish!" I cheered.
"You like them?"
"Of course! Who doesn't?"
"I'm sure there are those that don't," he said matter-of-factly.
"And those that don't are livin' under a rock if you ask me," I replied.
To my delight, he gave me that little smile that he had when we talked last night. But all that was short-lived as we heard a loud thump against the door.
"Golly, Naruto sure is angry," I said, now sounding worried.
"This happens all the time," was Gaara's disapproving answer.
Just as I opened my mouth to say something in return, my stomach chose that insanely inopportune time to let out an animal-like growl. My face couldn't have become more flushed, but it did just that when my friend laughed softly.
"Ah! Be quiet!" I grumbled, grabbing the nearby pillow and smacking him lightly with it on the chest.
"Let's go," he said like nothing happened.
"Where? I'm not going anywhere near those two!" I moaned wincing at the sounds of the clobbering that was going on behind the closed door.
"We're going to get something to eat," he simply answered, his bag already slung over his back.
My eyes went as wide as saucers. He wasn't…? Nah! But was it…? Of course not! Then again, it was going to be just us two… Oh, please!
'Please, Lord! Tell me this is a date!'
Out loud I said, "W-what a te…terrific idea! L-let's go… indeed!" (great, now I'm talking like Porky Pig! Oh, what next?)

v-v

Looking at my wristwatch for the zillionth time that evening, I saw that it was still 7:30. Last time I checked it, it was 7:29. Tucking the watch back under the sleeve of my jacket I resumed with fiddling my fingers on the table.
'Where's that waitress with my orange soda?' That ought to cool my nerves, surely.
"Why are you acting so nervous all of a sudden?" Gaara asked, actually looking a touch worried.
"Who me? Nervous? I don't even know what nervous means!" I said, fiddling my fingers even harder.
"Here we go! 1 orange soda for the young lady and tea for the handsome fellar with her!" came our waitress' cheerful voice. "I sure hope the two of you are having a good time here at our Starry Night Coffeehouse!"
'Hmph! You don't even wanna know, lady!' I couldn't help but feel extremely annoyed at the flirty way she was looking at Gaara, and I wanted her to leave right away.
"I changed my mind!" I piped up with the soda glass in hand, "I want a chocolate-cappuccino instead!"
"The customer's always right!" the lady said with a smile, and finally she was gone along with my beloved orange soda.
"What was that about?"
"Nothing. She was just really ticking me off," I answered, my nervousness completely gone now.
"Dawn's always like that. She's actually pretty nice," he said with a chuckle.
"If you say so," I said shortly but not really believing him. Why should I like that overly-happy waitress girl, with her dirty-blonde hair and black highlights (obviously fake!), her light blue eyes and upbeat personality? Heck no! I wasn't going to like her a tiny little bit!
"There we are! 1 chocolate-cappuccino! If there's anything else, don't hesitate to let me know!"
"Right. Thanks, Shawn," I answered sweetly, saying the wrong name on purpose.
"Dawn."
"Okay, Joan."
"Here are your menus!" she said, not feeling the least bit down at my rude behavior whilst she handed us the thin menus.
When she was gone, Gaara felt the need to check again by asking, "Are you certain you're not nervous?"
"100% tip-top!" I answered.
Opening my menu I saw that the place offered all sorts of cozy dishes you'd expect to find in your grandmother's house, complete with the most mouth-watering pastries imaginable.
"Sweet! Ravjul for me!"
"What?"
"Whoops, I keep forgetting! I meant the ravioli."
"Have we decided on anything?" came that irritatingly cheerful voice yet again.
'How about some duct tape over your mouth?'
"I'll have the ravioli, extra cheese," I said trying my hardest to keep my voice on a polite level.
"Excellent choice! And your devilishly handsome friend?"
Oh, what I'd give to strap her to a rocket and send her to the moon!

v-v

Aside from Dawn's constant interruptions, dinner was actually pretty enjoyable (except it was hardly as delicious as the ravjul my grandma makes from scratch).
"Hoo! I couldn't eat another bite!" I said with a little moan of pleasure.
"You mean you don't want dessert?"
Why is it that men can be so clueless at times?
"Of course I want dessert, you silly! What's a meal without one?" The chocolate-cheesecake on the cover of the menu had my name printed all over it.
Suddenly, I heard my cellphone ringing loudly from the front pocket of my jacket. Now what? Fishing it out, I saw Naruto's name flashing on the screen.
"Uh oh, it's Naruto," I said, not wanting to be the next one to face his wrath.
With a look that told me I should just answer it and get it over with, I flipped the phone open and hesitantly pressed it to my ear.
"Er… hello?"
"WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU TWO?" Naruto bellowed from the other end, effectively making both my ears throb painfully.
"Uh… having di… I mean, coffee! Yes, that's it! Coffee!"
"YA EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT?'
"What…? (fizz) I can't (fizz) hear (fizz)…! Losing (fizz)…!" With that, I quickly turned off the phone, closed it and shoved it back in my pocket as far as it would go.
"You do realize you've only made things worse," Gaara said with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Well, this was your idea! I'll just tell him that this was all your fault and he won't have to beat me up like he did Lee!"
"Very commendable of you."
"Don't I know it?"

v-v

"All right, who wants to go first?" came Naruto's furious greeting at the door.
"Uh, we brought you some chocolate éclairs and cannoli," I tried, holding the pink cardboard box in front of him like an offering.
"You're bribing me with pastries?"
"Apologizing with pastries," I offered.
"Then… LET'S EAT!"
"Say what?" I managed to utter after my jaw had dropped to the floor.
"Nothing says I'm sorry better than chocolate-covered food!" the blonde said throwing his arms around each of our shoulders.
"Attention span of a pencil-sharpener," I repeated in a whisper to Gaara.

v-v

Even though Naruto had pounded the living daylights out of Lee, there were no hard feelings between either of them. So it was decided that since Naruto snores (he still refuses to admit to it) and Lee is an extremely heavy sleeper that they'd room together in the blue-eyed one's room, leaving me with…
What were the chances!
Having just stepped out of the shower and now in my cozy blue jammies, I practically begged Gaara to let me use the blanket just once more. He was more than happy to give it to me. With that, I had one last request before I hit the sack.
"You want me to braid your hair?"
"So it won't get all messy come morning."
"Why don't you do it yourself?"
"Uh, because you're so nice and sweet and always willing to lend a hand?" I attempted. Heh, good thing it's all true.
Without another word being exchanged, he was sitting behind me and running his fingers through my hair to get all the tangles and knots out.
Ignoring that spark I felt from before, I failed to do the same when he came across a pretty big knot. "Ouch! Careful!"
"Sorry."
All tangles successfully smoothed out, he now proceeded in parting the wet strands into three separate locks and before I knew it, my blue hair-tie was tied round the tip of a perfect (in my opinion) braid.
"Nice! Thanks!" I said gratefully, flinging the braid across one shoulder, then the other.
Leaving the room so that I could brush my teeth I saw Naruto was back to playing Final Fantasy VII (he sure had a change of heart!) and Lee doing his usual exercises. I guess his earlier pounding did nothing to dampen his spirits.
Since both were too engrossed with what they were doing they didn't even see me, so I kept on going to the bathroom. With my teeth brushed, I reached for the mouthwash, poured some in a disposable cup and began the annoying process of gargling it. Just as I was bending down to spit it out, I felt someone pat my back pretty hard.
"I beat the first dungeon!"
With spots dancing in front of my eyes I began to jump as I choked on the minty liquid. I pounded hard on my chest and after a couple more sputtering coughs, the disgusting liquid went down my throat.
"What is the matter with you! You made me choke on the mouthwash! Now I swallowed it!"
"Uh… sorry?"
"You'll be really sorry when I get through with you!" I screeched, grabbing the nearest hard object I could find (the scale) and chasing him around with it held above my head.
15 minutes and 2 lumps on Naruto's head later found me on the spare bed in Lee's room. Sitting cross-legged on the rather plushy mattress, I got out the Aeris and Vivi dolls and placed them on the pillow. Hm, maybe I should have brought some action-figures? Oh well…
Wrapping myself up in the blanket I saw that Gaara had already fallen asleep. Boy, I sure hope his insomnia won't act up again.

v-v

Mm… What's with the shaking…?
"Claire?"
Mmm… I wanna sleep some more, Mom… Can't school wait…?
"Claire, are you awake?"
Nooooo… Go away…
'Wait, since when does my mom have a guy's voice?'
Struggling to open my eyes I tried to rub the sleep from out of them. Just barely making out the digits on the radio-clock next to Gaara's bed I saw that it was still midnight.
Stretching my arms above my head, I looked to the side and as I suspected, there was my redheaded friend with one hand still on my shoulder.
"Can't sleep again?"
He shook his head looking rather apologetic for waking me up. Ah, but what are friends for?
"Good thing there's still some cannoli left. Let's go," I said stifling a yawn behind one hand while clasping my Aeris doll with the other.
Within minutes we were on the couch with the blanket wrapped around us both, each of us holding a mug of hot chocolate and quietly watching TV (how lucky were we to catch the Christmas episode of Mr. Bean at this hour?).
"Aren't you angry?"
"You asked me that over a hundred times already. Each time I've told you I'm not. What more do you want from me?" I answered whilst trying to hide my explosive snorts at the part where Mr. Bean was playing with the Nativity Scene. At the same time, Gaara let out a few appreciative chuckles of his own. (is it even possible for someone to NOT laugh at Mr. Bean's antics?)
'I could get used to nights like this.'

v-v

"Who's tickling me had better cut it out," I mumbled in a sleepy voice.
"Aw, but don't you wanna see this picture of you? It came out so 'cute'!" I heard Naruto's teasing voice say.
Picture?
"What are you talking about?" I managed to get out but refusing to open my eyes. I was still so sleepy.
"After a lot of fiddling with the camera I was able to get proof that there IS something going on with you and Gaara!"
That got my attention! Snapping my eyes wide open I saw the position the two of us were in. I had my cheek pressed to one of his shoulders while his head was resting on top of mine. Like this, it's not a wonder Naruto would get ridiculous ideas into his fuzz-filled head!
"Stop fooling around and help me get him off!"
Still chortling to himself, he did just that. Afterwards, he began waving a photograph in front of my face that showed just how we were sleeping mere minutes ago.
"I swear it's not what you think! We fell asleep watching TV!"
"Sure, sure!" he said with a wink.
"We've been through this already!"
"Come on, I wasn't born yesterday!"
"I'm really beginning to doubt that!" I retorted, trying to get the picture from Naruto's hands but failing miserably. After several attempts, I gave up and went to the kitchen to have breakfast.
Let him imagine what he wants, I'll just keep denying everything.

End Chapter 3

Wowee, this chapter came out much longer than I myself was expecting it to be! I really enjoyed writing that scene at the coffeehouse. And I couldn't help mentioning my Nanna's (that's Maltese for Grandmother) ravioli - ravjul is indeed the Maltese word for ravioli, they're just so delicious.
I dunno why, but I somehow see Gaara as liking certain groups like Nightwish (I love 'em myself). A true shame Ms. Tarja is no longer with them, though. Just so you all know, my favorite group in the whole world is The Black Mages (I was so upset when I read they broke up. WAH!).
Oh yeah, the thing with the plushies. I truly do have a massive weakness for them (though it's not as bad as it was a few years back). I also always take at least one with me whenever I travel, especially if I have to be on a plane. It cost me an arm and a leg to get the Aeris doll and she's one of my most prized possessions.
Tee hee, I absolutely couldn't help adding the "husky and sexy" bit about Snake. I shall admit this here and now, I'm a bit of a Solid Snake fangirl (have been since I was 12) and in my opinion his voice-actor, David Hayter, has THE sexiest voice on the planet. (right now, Liam O'Brien definitely ranks a close second as far as sexy voices go! If only he and Mr. Hayter would work together I'd be in paradise!)
On the next installment we should see more familiar faces (some unwelcome ones as well). Oh yes, the girl I had Lee mention that got Naruto in trouble is not, I repeat, NOT Sakura! So all you Sakura-haters better get that idea outta your heads. The girl I have in place for this role of evilness is one of the creepiest and meanest gals, called Meno. She's not in the anime but unique to the game Konoha Spirits. She, I find, is perfect to play the role of evil gal that brings lotsa trouble wherever she goes - I absolutely enjoyed the scene between her and Gaara in the game. It was so cool!
Now, please drop me a wee review! That one I got made me insanely happy. Another one would make me feel like that again but ten times more.