Disclaimer: i don't own naruto...wish i did tho. that would be freakin AWESOME squeals

yay! chapter 3!

Sakura rolled out of bed. She didn't care to go to school but she didn't have a choice. She did the morning routine (picking out a red shirt that said 'shh, I'm hiding from the voices', black mid-thigh shorts, and her Cons. she ran down the steps and out the door, not bothering to grab breakfast. She had stayed up late the night before and was still tired. Sakura drove to school and made her way to the tree where they usually met in the mornings. Chat arose and before they knew it, the bell rang calling them in. After a while Sakura had some trouble focusing on her work due to hunger. By the time lunch rolled around, she was famished, and happily the first one in line.

Sakura sat down with her friends to eat, away from the rest of the class. The cousins Hinata and Neji were eating with a different class, and Kankuro and Temari ate at a different time of the day, so Sakura sat down with Ten Ten, Kiba, Naruto, Gaara, and Shikamaru. As she took her seat, they all began to eat, only to be interrupted by a pair of hands, resting flat on the edge of the table. Sakura looked up mournfully from her sandwich to see a pair of onyx eyes. She scowled.

"What do you want, Sasuke?" He smirked at her, while her friends glared at him. He ignored them, and spoke only to Sakura.

"I heard you practically bitch slapped Ino on Friday." He said, leaning closer. Sakura's eyes widened. Her friends knew nothing about this, and they listened intently. "A girl who can do that, and has a body like yours deserves some alone time with me."

Sakura gasped. "Are you tying to reward me or something?" she asked disgustedly. He nodded and gave her a smirk that would've made any of his fan girls faint, but it only made Sakura look at him in repulsion. "You worm! That's disgusting! What in the world would make you think I would want to be with you?" she stood up and slapped him. He was momentarily shocked (due to her strength the slap was worse than a normal one), but then looked up with a smirk.

"But I know you want me," he moved closer to her. "You know too." He made a move to grab her around the waist, but she backed up and ran into something. A voice from behind made Sakura jump, and Sasuke reposition his gaze.

"She already said she didn't want you, or maybe you didn't hear her." Sakura turned to see Gaara standing behind her, arms crossed and glaring at Sasuke like there was no tomorrow. She wondered why Gaara was protecting her, but Sakura was glad. Even Gaara didn't know. Sakura and Sasuke both glanced over to the table to see Kiba, Naruto, and Shikamaru all standing as well, with looks of disgust directed towards Sasuke. Ten Ten was glaring at him as well, and Akamaru growled from inside Kiba's jacket. Sakura shot them glances of thanks before turning back to Sasuke and folding her arms as well. Sasuke scowled at them a moment, but then smirked to Sakura. He turned and raised his hand to wave her good-bye (or something like that).

"See ya later, Blossom." He walked away. Sakura's mouth hung open in shock. Her eye twitched a moment, before…

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?" Sakura lunged forward to pounce on Sasuke and punch him senseless. Gaara grabbed her from behind and held her in place, but she didn't seem to notice or care, and only continued to thrash around. "You did not just give me a pet name! Come back here! I'll knock you unconscious, you slimy self-absorbed jerk!" People were beginning to stare at her, and after a moment she calmed down. Gaara released her and went back to acting like he didn't care about anything. Sakura sat down in huff and started to eat. Her friends gave each other questionable glances, but decided to ask her about it later, preferably when she wasn't murderous.

When school finally let out Sakura found some of her friends sitting in the grass. She made her way over and sat down. The rest of the group soon found its way to them and they all sat and talked for a while. Well, everyone but Gaara talked. He just kinda sat there and listened to the others' ramblings about teachers and homework.

Eventually someone brought up the topic of lunch. Sakura sighed and explained everything that had happened between her and Ino. They all listened carefully until she finished her story.

"So then he called you Blossom huh? Not a bad name." said Kankuro shrugging. Sakura shot him a deadly glare, making him back away a little. Temari spoke up.

"Well there's nothing you can do about it now. By saying that stuff to Ino, you've gained not only a nasty enemy, but also an unwanted admirer. I guess you'll just have to deal with it." Sakura nodded wearily, and they started talking about a different topic. Soon Naruto brought up the subject of the band. Sakura listened intently.

"Hey Gaara, when's our next practice, huh?" Naruto asked. Gaara looked over at him as though he was annoyed at something.

"Tomorrow." He replied.

"Cool. So what time should we come over?" Neji asked.

"You think I care?" Gaara asked.

"Well it's at your damn house! We can't just barge in at any time!" Naruto said.

"It's never stopped you before, Naruto." Gaara retorted. It was true the blonde was his best friend, but sometimes he just wanted to smack him.

"That's right." Kankuro said. "You come to our house all the time to play our video games and eat our food and watch our TV and"

"Alright, alright I get your point!" Naruto said hotly.

"But seriously man, what time?" Kiba broke in.

"I thought you weren't in the band, Kiba." Sakura said, confused.

"He's not," Ten Ten said. "We all go to the practices because it's a good time to hang out and help each other with homework and stuff like that." Sakura nodded. It sounded pretty fun.

"Could I come too?" Sakura asked politely. After all this was a close friends' thing and she had barely been their friend for two weeks. Her heart dropped when she saw their faces. They were looking at like she was crazy. She looked away sadly.

"Well, duh! Of course you can come!" Temari blurted out. Sakura's eyes shot up.

"R-Really?"

Akamaru barked and Kiba looked at her confused. "Why did you think you couldn't come? You're our friend too."

"Y-Yeah, Sakura. Y-You d-don't have t-to ask." Hinata stuttered out.

"Don't you want to see us play? We're really good!" Naruto practically yelled.

Sakura beamed. "Ok, thanks!" they all shrugged and smiled to her (except Gaara who was like in his own little world or something). Kankuro told them to all come about five o'clock and the conversations continued. Soon they departed one by one. Both of Sakura's parents worked late so she stayed behind to chat with each remainder. Neji and Hinata left together and Naruto left soon after that. Kiba lived nearby so he put a leash on Akamaru and walked him home. Shikamaru muttered something about 'homework' and 'troublesome' and stalked off to his car. Ten Ten had to go to archery practice so she left. Kankuro and Temari left at the same time, leaving Gaara and Sakura. She wondered why he didn't leave with his brother and sister, but didn't worry about it too much.

Gaara was left with Sakura. He knew Kankuro and Temari had done this to him on purpose since he had his own means of transportation. He glared at their disappearing backs. "Well?" came Sakura's voice.

"Well what?" he asked turning to look at her.

"Well aren't you going home now?" she asked.

"Aren't you?" he asked back. She shrugged.

"My parents don't get home till late so I've waited and talked to everyone as they've left. But now you and I are the only ones. I'm willing to stay and talk if you want, but you don't seem to be the talkative type, so if you go home, I'll leave too." She shrugged again and looked away.

For a moment he took in her beauty. He had never really liked a girl, but against his will he felt a crush beginning. He noticed how the gentle breeze blew through her petal colored hair, and how her eyelashes shimmered when she blinked. Her skin was a milky color, and her cheeks were just the right shade of pink. He couldn't look directly in her eyes, but he could still see the beautiful sea-foam green color. He scowled when she tilted her head so he couldn't see her face.

"So…" she said finally. Gaara stopped looking at her and instead focused on some random spot on the ground.

"So what?" he asked.

"I have a proposition." She said turning to him with a smile.

"Oh really?" he asked with mock enthusiasm.

"If we leave at the same time you can walk me to my car." She said happily.

"And what if I don't want to?" he asked. He really did want to, but he wouldn't let Sakura know that.

"Well that's too bad." She answered. "For you I mean. To me you're quiet, mean, self caring, and lazy. I know you don't like being insulted but that's all I've ever seen from you, even though it's only been two weeks that we've known each other. I suppose you have another side to you that I guess the rest of the group has seen, but I have yet to see it and I wonder why you refuse to try and acquaint yourself with me. I made that proposal in hopes that it might serve as a small bonding experience for just the two of us but I see that you could care less so I'm leaving now." She took a deep breath after finishing her extremely long sentence, grabbed her bag, and turned to walk away, only to be stopped by a tug on her bag.

Sakura turned back to see Gaara holding on to the edge of her bag. His dark ringed eyes were emotionless and his blood red hair waved slightly in the breeze. He felt stupid holding on to her bag like that, but he had been afraid to reach for her shoulder or arm. Releasing her bag he looked ahead and started walking forward. Sakura smiled and walked beside him. They walked in silence. She thought about saying something, but didn't want to annoy him after putting him through a speech about him not being friendly. Sakura saw her car ahead, but something was wrong. Leaving Gaara's side she went to go inspect it. He watched her from a distance as she walked around her car. As he got nearer he saw Sakura was really pissed.

"That bitch!" she practically screamed. Gaara walked closer to see what was wrong. Two of her tires had been stabbed, and a note on the windshield read:

This will teach you to mess with me, you bitch!

-Yamanka Ino

Gaara stared at the note while Sakura fumed. "How the hell am I supposed to get my car home? How am I supposed to get home? Argh! My parents are gonna be pissed!" Gaara remained silent as she rummaged through her bag. "Shit I can't find my cell! Hey Gaara?"

His attention snapped back to her. She averted her gaze. "Yeah?"

"Do…do you have a cell phone that maybe I could use? I can't find mine." She turned away, as though embarrassed. He hated to let her down, but he didn't carry his cell with him because his friends always made prank calls to him. He shook his no. She turned pink. Looking at him, she said, "I'm sorry for what I said before. I can't find my cell and my parents aren't home. Do you think maybe you could give me a ride?" she asked shyly, as though afraid of his answer. Frankly she was afraid of his answer. I don't know if you've noticed, but Gaara and Sakura aren't the best of buds.

He blinked a few times. This was going to be awkward. "Well I guess so. Where to?" he asked.

"My house I guess. Or maybe a place that can come get my car?" she said. He nodded. Leading her away from the car he rounded a corner to a part of the parking lot that seemed to be pretty much cleared out. Sakura became exceedingly confused as they passed the few cars that were there, one by one. Sakura looked around. Where was he going?

Then Sakura stopped in her tracks. Dead in front of them was a black motorcycle. Gaara didn't notice her stop and continued on to the bike. "Are we riding that?" she asked nervously looking at the bike.

Gaara looked at her, then at the bike, then back to her again. "No, we're going riding the pony hidden behind it." He said sarcastically. "Of course we're riding it! Now do you want a ride or not?" She glanced nervously at the bike and ventured a little closer. "What are you scared or something?" Gaara asked with a smirk.

"No I'm not scared!" Sakura said defensively. "I've just never ridden a motorcycle before." Gaara rolled his eyes and straddled the bike.

"You're lucky I have two helmets." He said, handing her one. She took it and pulled it over her head. Gaara motioned for her to sit on the bike, and showed her how to keep her legs up. "Put your arms around me." He said.

"What!?" her response was muffled from under the helmet but he still heard her surprise. "Well you better do it or else you'll fly off once we go forward!" he said pulling his own helmet on. She hesitated a moment but then wrapped her arms around his middle. Gaara unintentionally shuddered at the touch, and prayed that she didn't notice. He turned on the bike and revved it once or twice to let her know to prepare herself. He then let the throttle go and they lunged forward. Sakura yelped and hugged her arms tighter around Gaara. The sound was blaring in her ears but she soon relaxed a little. The cold wind was whipping past and her bare arms felt numb. Gaara's senses clouded over and he didn't resist the urge to let one arm leave the handle bar and caress her arms that were around him. She felt a jolt of shock as he gently stroked her hands and arms, but there was nothing she could do about it. After a while his hand went back to the handle bar and he pulled into an auto shop. He brought the bike to halt and waited for Sakura to get off first. Once she was off he followed example and turned to face her, only to see her angry face.

"What the hell was that!?" she asked angrily, referring to her arms. Gaara tried not to let his anger rise.

He shrugged. "Payback." He answered casually.

"Payback?" she was still angry. "For what?"

"For making me fall out of the tree." It was the first thing that popped into his head, but he went with it. Sakura immediately went pink. Sakura now had two choices of response:

Well I couldn't have Temari making me all embarrassed on the spot like that so I said the first thing that came to mind to throw her off guard. It worked didn't it?

Well it's true; your body is hot! I'd like to see you without your shirt more often baby, yeah! (A/N Omg Austin Powers! Lmao)

Sakura looked away and settled with an, "oh." She looked around for an entrance to the auto shop she hurried inside. Gaara waited patiently outside, thinking about what he had done. How could I have been so stupid? Am I insane? Don't answer that question. What the hell? I'm talking to myself! No I'm not. WTF I am insane! Gaara continued with his mental battle until Sakura came out.

"They said they can pick it up tonight, fix it, and have it ready to go by tomorrow." She said happily. Gaara was secretly happy that she was in a better mood; she looked prettier when she smiled.

"Alright so to your house then?" he asked handing her the helmet again.

"Yes please." She said politely, taking the helmet from his outstretched hand. He got back on the bike, as did she, and they put their helmets on. Her arms slid back around him as if she had done it a million times. He barely suppressed a groan. It just felt so…right. He shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind and started up the bike again, revved it, and they were off.

Sakura didn't know what to think of this man. One minute they were the most distant people on the planet, the next she was getting rides from him on the back of his motorcycle. Secretly she enjoyed it, for she had once envisioned herself having a badass boyfriend and riding on his motorcycle, but she also didn't like it, because she barely knew him, and he wasn't exactly the nicest of the bunch. But when she put her arms around him the second time she shuddered because it felt like she belonged there. She was scared of the feelings that raced through her mind and body, yet she ignored them and repeated it's just a ride and nothing more over and over again in her head.

Now and again Gaara would motion questioningly on which direction to turn, she would point, and he would go that way. After about fifteen minutes, they reached her house and Sakura saw her parents still weren't home. She sighed with relief. Gaara halted the bike in front of her house and turned it off. She climbed off and removed the helmet.

"Thanks so much Gaara you're a life saver." She said with a smile. He took of his helmet to talk to her.

"It's fine." He said. She suddenly felt bad for the things she had said to him earlier.

"Would you like to come inside? I could make us some tea. I really feel bad for the things I said earlier and I want to make it up to you." He began to say no, but she didn't notice and added a quick, "please?"

Gaara looked down. He was slightly afraid to be alone in her house with her, but she had said please, and only wanted to make an apology. He sighed and got of the bike, kicking down the stand so it wouldn't fall.

"Alright." He said. Sakura smiled and led him to the front door. She fished out her keys and opened it. Gaara looked inside. It was a nice house with cream colored walls full of framed pictures and drawings. There was a blue and white couch and large TV positioned by a fireplace. Adjacent from the room he was in (which was the living room) he saw the kitchen. It had the same cream colored walls but instead of blue, the second color of the room was green. In another direction he saw a dining room and a staircase leading upstairs. It was much nicer than his own home, but there were lots of boxes laying here and there labeled 'living room' and 'kitchen'.

"Sorry about the mess." Sakura said, as she saw him eyeing the boxes. "We've just moved in, you know, and we've only been here a couple weeks. With mom and dad at work it's hard to get everything unpacked." She smiled and headed into the kitchen.

"Well it's better than my house, and we've lived there for years." He said. At first Sakura said nothing, but then her eyes shot up.

"Was that a joke?" she asked. Gaara looked around stupidly, as if to see if she was talking to someone else. Actually he had meant it quite literally, but reviewing his words he saw how there could've been some humor to what he said. He blinked a couple times before he said, "yeah. I guess."

Sakura smiled. "I thought so but it was hard to make sure. What kind of tea do you like? Regular? Green? We even have black tea somewhere but I don't know where for sure." She started looking through random drawers and cabinets.

"Regular is fine." He said, taking a seat on the couch. He watched her as she hurried around, filling the kettle with water and sitting it on the stove. As she waited for the water to heat she came back to the living room.

"I'm sorry." She said, turning to face him. He merely raised a (nearly nonexistent) eyebrow at her. She continued. "I called you quiet, which you are, but it's not in a bad way. I called you mean and self caring, which you proved me wrong by going out of your way to bring me home. I called you lazy, which is completely irrelevant because anyone can tell you're not lazy. I accused you of being distant to me on purpose and I was disrespectful to you the day I came and I feel extremely foolish because I've only known you for about two weeks. I guess I'm used to people warming up to me quicker and it's my fault for not realizing how high my expectations were. I just wanted to apologize and thank you for taking me to the auto shop and now home. And also, I never did give you a proper thank you for protecting me at lunch today, so that too." She finished and looked away, waiting for a response.

"It's fine." He said. Sakura smiled, but then frowned.

"Are you sure?" she asked. He nodded. "Well alright. I think the tea is ready, I'll go get it." She said smiling again. God, he loved her smile. He reflected her words; he had never had someone apologize to him like that. Sakura came back with a tray with two mugs, some sugar, and some cream. She sat the tray down between them. Handing one mug to him she put two scoops of sugar and some cream in her mug and stirred it with a spoon. She watched as Gaara but spoonful after spoonful of sugar into his cup before stirring it.

"I see someone has a sweet tooth, eh Gaara?" she said smirking. He smirked back.

"I've never really liked tea that much unless it was really sweet." He said taking a sip. He exhaled his satisfaction and took another sip. They drank their tea in silence, and soon they were done. Sakura took the tray and mugs back into the kitchen as Gaara stood, getting ready to leave.

She walked him to the door. "Thanks again, and thanks for having tea with me. I feel better now." She said opening the door for him. He nodded and turned to face her.

"I'll be here at seven tomorrow morning, ok?" he said fixing to turn and leave again. Sakura was confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked quite honestly.

"Well don't you need a ride to school and then to the auto shop again?" he asked, only turning his head back to look at her. Sakura had forgotten about that.

"Oh…right," she said. "You really don't have to go out of your way," she started.

"It's fine." He said turning a final time. "Seven o'clock. Don't be late."

"o-ok," she called. "Thanks!"

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i want to say thanks to all my reviewers! if its your first time reading the story, a review would be nice points toward the purple button hintfully