Disclaimer: dont own naruto, good charlotte, or clay aiken (strange combination...i know)
olly: yay! thanks to everyone who likes my story! sorry if its really familiar to other highschool fics y'all have read.love my reviewers!
okiedokie then: chapter 5...kinda long...
my random friend in the back ground: kinda long?!?!?
olly: Fine! Really long...anyways hope you like it!
random friend: i hope so...
olly: -glares at random friend-
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"I say we should play one of our best songs for Sakura-chan!" yelled Naruto from behind the drums. The others nodded and got their instruments ready. Sakura smiled at them but then continued brushing Ten Ten's hair. Soon after the music started and she heard Gaara voice. This was there song.
Hard days made me
Hard nights shaped me
I don't know they somehow saved me
And I know I'm making something
Out of this life they call nothing
I take what I want
Take what I need
You say it's wrong
But it's right for me
I won't look down
Won't say I'm sorry
I know that only God can judge me
And if I make it through today
Will tomorrow be the same?
Am I just running I place?
If I stumble and I fall
Should I get up and carry on
Or will it all just be the same?
Cause I'm young and I'm hopeless
I'm lost and I know this
I'm going nowhere fast that's what they say
I'm troublesome, I've fallen
I'm angry at my father
It's me against this world and I don't care
I don't care
No one in this industry
Understands the life I lead
When I sing about my past
It's not a gimmick, not an act
These critics and these trust fund kids
Try to tell me what punk is
But when I see them on the
Street they got nothing to say
And if I make it through today
Will tomorrow be the same?
Am I just running in place?
If I stumble and I fall
Should I get up and carry on
Or will it all just be the same?
Cause I'm young and I'm hopeless
I'm lost I know this
I'm going nowhere fast that's what they say
I'm troublesome I've fallen
I'm angry at my father
It's me against this world and I don't care
I don't care.
The music ended and Sakura clapped with all the enthusiasm a one-person applause could muster. "That was great you guys!" she said smiling to them. "That's a cool song. Which one of you wrote it?" Gaara raised a hand lazily but Naruto broke in. "he wrote it, but Shikamaru put in the 'troublesome'." Sakura giggled. "That's great. Hey do you like Ten Ten's hair?" she asked having finally finished her friend's hair. Everyone looked over to see Ten Ten's usual two buns pulled into one bun in the back. It was held together loosely with two random pencils that were crossed. A few hairs were hanging around her face, making her look much more feminine. They all complemented it, except for Neji who couldn't stop staring. Ten Ten blushed and said, "Thanks."
"Hey Sakura!" shouted Naruto. He really was loud.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Didn't you say that you could sing?" he asked eyeing her evilly. Sakura looked around to find that everyone was looking at her (except for Kankuro who was killing Kiba's video game person while he wasn't looking).
"Well I suppose I did," she said shyly, feeling uncomfortable under everyone's gaze.
"Why don't you sing for us?" Neji said, putting his guitar down. Sakura went pink and shook her head 'no'. She didn't want to sing in front of them. What if she messed up or went higher than she was supposed to or—
Her train of thought was cut off by Hinata. "Don't worry, S-Sakura. You'll do fine. I-It's just us. We won't judge you." Hinata gave her a warm smile and Sakura awed at how she had only barely stuttered when talking. She looked around the room.
"Well alright." She said. They all smiled (except for the emotionless three: Gaara, Neji, and Shikamaru) as she walked up to the microphone. It wasn't that big of a room, so they kept the mic on low. She remembered a song from a long time ago that she had always thought went good with her voice. She took a moment to remember the lyrics but then she started to sing. It was hard without the music, but her melodic voice was able to keep the tune. This is what she sang:
You can try to hide away
From every drop of rain
That's hanging over you
And you can say it's all a waste
Lost your time and space
There's nothing left to lose
Like a broken angel on the ground
Like a symphony without a sound
Turn around
Everything you are
Everywhere you've been
The sinner and the saint
That fight the battle within
Every place you go
Everybody knows
Shadows fall across the sun sometimes
Shine
You are gonna shine
In the mirror of your soul
I know that you know
You are not forsaken
Hey butterfly, open up your weary eyes
And realize it's a trip we're taking
And the world will turn around again
And your shattered heart is gonna mend
In the end
Everything you are
Everywhere you've been
The sinner and the saint
That fight the battle within
Every place you go
Everybody knows
Shadows fall across the sun sometimes
Shine
You are gonna shine
Baby, let's go riding on shooting stars (stars)
(You are gonna shine)
Watch the crescent moon smile to your heart (to your heart)
(Shine)
You are going to shine
(Shine)
You are going to shine
Everything you are
Everywhere you've been
The sinner and the saint
That fight the battle within
Every place you go
Everybody knows
Shadows fall across the sun sometimes
Shine
Everything you are (everything you are)
Everywhere you've been (everywhere you've been)
The sinner and the saint (Oh)
That fight the battle within (fight the battle within)
Every place you go (everywhere you go)
Everybody knows (everybody knows)
Shadows fall across the sun sometimes
Shine
You are gonna shine
She finished and looked at her friends. They all stared at her. Even Kankuro had looked up from his game. Gaara peered at her with his emerald orbs. Sakura took their silence the wrong way. "W-Was it really that bad?" she asked, afraid of their answer. Temari lunged forward.
"No Sakura! That was beautiful! I haven't heard someone sing like that since…since…" she couldn't think. Sakura blushed.
"Really?" she asked. They all nodded. She blushed harder. "Thanks."
"You wanna join our band?" Naruto blurted out. Gaara hit him on the back of the head. "I told you we weren't deciding on that yet, dumbass!" he said. Naruto rubbed his now forming bump. "But Gaara she's so good!" he whined.
"It's alright, Naruto." Sakura said. "I wouldn't know what to say anyway." Naruto pouted, but then his short attention span got the better of him. "Hey let's play a game!" he said. Neji scowled. "Dude, do we look like six-year-olds to you?" he asked knocking poor Naruto on the back of the head again. The fox boy whimpered, holding his aching head.
"We could play a game for older people," Kiba said wagging his eyebrow suggestively. Ten Ten punched him in the arm. "Kiba, you perv!" she said. Temari shrugged. "I don't think it's bad idea. I'm actually kind of bored." Kankuro stood up. "Let's mix some games together and make a new one then."
"Spin the bottle, truth or dare, and seven minutes in heaven." Everyone turned to look at the speaker. It was Shikamaru, looking bored as ever with his arms crossed. Seeing their bewildered expressions he shrugged and said, "What?" They all shrugged.
Naruto stood up, and forgetting about his headache he said, "Ok. The way we play is someone spins the bottle and the person it lands on has a choice of doing a dare or doing seven minutes in heaven. The person who spun the bottle chooses who the victim has to kiss." Some of the girls blushed, but the shook it off and they all went to sit in a circle. Temari grabbed a glass bottle and washed it out. Before she sat it in the center she said. "Ok, this is just a game between us friends. The kissing is nothing else than making it interesting. It doesn't necessarily mean someone likes someone else. Everyone clear on that?" they all nodded. "And no pairing of the families!" she said setting the bottle in the center. She spun the bottle. It landed on Neji. "Neji, heaven or dare?" she asked. He hesitated a moment before shrugging and said, "heaven." The girls squealed.
"Really?" Temari continued. "Ok…you'll have seven minutes in heaven with…Ten Ten!"
Ten Ten squeaked and Neji just barely turned pink. "Yeah! Way to go Twenty!" Kankuro saluted her as the disappeared into a closet with Neji. They closed the door and set the timer. After seven minutes they banged on the door and Neji and Ten Ten emerged. Neji was smirking and Ten Ten was blushing madly. There were a few wolf whistles but then they continued with the game. Neji spun the bottle and it landed on Kankuro. "Ok," Neji said. "Heaven or dare?"
Kankuro shrugged. "dare." Neji thought a moment.
"Go give yourself a swirly." He said finally. Kankuro jumped up and they followed him to the bathroom. He got down on his knees and stuck his head in the toilet. The all laughed and made disgusted noises at the same time. His hand found the handle and he flushed it. They heard him gurgling and everyone but Gaara laughed out loud. When the swirling stopped Kankuro pulled his dripping head out of the water and shook it like a dog. The girls screamed as the water flew in their directions. Kankuro only laughed at them as he grabbed a towel. They all walked back and sat in the circle. Kankuro spun the bottle and it landed on Naruto. "Heaven!" the boy chirped before Kankuro could ask. Everyone looked at his fox grin before they all shrugged. "Ok," Kankuro said. "You go with Hinata."
Hinata turned red instantly. Neji's eyes narrowed in a glare towards Kankuro but then to Naruto who was still grinning stupidly. He gave him the 'you-do-anything-to-my-cousin-and-I'll-kill-you' look. Naruto only stood up and waited for Hinata to join him in the closet. Once they were both inside, Temari locked the door and set the timer. Neji glared at anything and everything for the entire seven minutes. When the alarm went off they banged on the door and out stepped a very red Hinata and a grinning Naruto.
Naruto stayed a good distance away from Neji as he made his way back to the circle. He spun the bottle and it landed on Shikamaru. The boy only rolled his eyes and muttered, "Troublesome". Naruto frowned.
"Well fine then, if you won't pick then I'll pick for you. Seven minutes in heaven with Temari." Naruto said trying to pick up Shikamaru off the floor. He closed the door behind him and Temari and locked it. They set the timer and waited. Soon the seven minutes were up and Naruto went to retrieve the two. Temari stepped out looking very proud of herself and Shikamaru was blushing. He sat back down and lazily spun the bottle. It landed on Kiba. The dog boy chose dare.
"Ok," said Shikamaru thinking. "Strip down to your boxers and run outside around the house three times." Kiba took off his coat, shirt, pants, and shoes (making the girls yelp and hide their eyes) and they all went upstairs. He stepped outside and started sprinting. They watched him fly by three times before he stumbled back to the front door, out of breath. They gave him back his clothes and laughed at how stupid he looked. They made their way back downstairs.
Kiba took the bottle and spun it. It landed on…Sakura! "Sakura, heaven or dare?" Sakura thought about the previous dares, and was scared to think of what they might make her do, but she was afraid to choose heaven, because it would be her first kiss. Looking at all the guys individually she smiled. They were all nice guys, so she shouldn't have to worry.
"Um…heaven I guess." She chose heaven. No way to take it back now. Kiba grinned evilly.
"Ok, you have seven minutes in heaven with…Gaara!" (A/N gasp surprised?). Sakura yelped helplessly, but there was nothing she could do. She stood up slowly, and waited for Gaara to accompany her. Gaara however, was busy giving Kiba his infamous death glare. Finally he stood up and they walked to the closet. Kiba grinned and shut the door behind them. They heard the click of the lock. Sakura and Gaara stood in silence for a moment. It was a little hard to see in the closet, but he could tell that she was blushing madly. Sakura made a small whimpering noise. Gaara looked at her to ask what was wrong, but got the surprise of his life.
Sakura had leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. He stood there in shock a moment before his brain was able to fully register what had just happened. He looked at her. She mumbled a "sorry" and looked away in embarrassment. Gaara scowled. He wanted more.
Carefully he took her chin in his hand and made her look at him. Before she could say anything her speech was cut off by his lips on hers. She took a sharp intake of breath and it took her a moment to remember what was happening. It was a soft sweet kiss, just right to be her first. Honestly it was Gaara's first kiss too, but no one knew that, and he preferred to keep that to himself. Her arms wrapped around his neck and his hands rested on her waist. After a while they broke the kiss for air. She blushed and he smirked.
"That was my first kiss." She said quietly.
"I know. He said. "Do you regret it?" he echoed his words from that morning.
"No," she said, and kissed him again.
(Outside with everyone else)
"The seven minutes is up." Naruto called looking at the timer.
"Wait I have an idea!" Kiba said. "Dim the lights!" They all got his plan immediately and did as told. They inched over to the closet. It would be an absolute miracle if it worked. Carefully Kiba turned the lock so it wouldn't make too loud of a noise. He silently turned the knob and cracked the door open. Thanks to the dimmed lights, Sakura and Gaara couldn't tell a difference in their environment. They had their eyes closed, and were feverishly kissing each other. Gaara held Sakura tight around the waist and Sakura played with his blood red hair. Kiba silently cheered that his plan had worked, and the whole group watched as their two friends continued making out (A/N the pervs). Kankuro was fighting against the urge to cheer on his little brother, and the rest of the group gawked wondering where the hell Gaara had learned to kiss. Ten Ten and Temari were trying not to giggle and Naruto had to run away to keep from laughing out loud. Hinata scowled at all of them with beautiful white eyes. She carefully stood and silently shut the door, despite the others' silent protests. She frowned at them.
"This is wrong and unfair!" she whispered to them as she walked over and turned the lights up. "I'm ashamed of all of you!" she made a path through their disappointed faces and knocked politely on the door. "Your seven minutes is up!" she called. She turned back to the group. "If you lot say anything, I'll tell them the whole story so they can beat you up themselves." They all nodded and sat back in their circle. Hinata opened the door for Sakura and Gaara to come out. Sakura came out fist, blushing bright as ever, and Gaara came out second, smirking as Neji had done. The rest of the group made no sound whatsoever. Gaara arched an eyebrow but shrugged it off and they sat down.
They all decided they were tired of the game and the band went to work on their new song. Kankuro and Kiba picked up the game where they had left off (Kiba became very pissed when he learned that he had been killed three times since he had stopped playing). Temari brought in some popcorn and the four girls helped each other with homework. Before long they realized it was ten p.m. The band members put everything away and everyone started departing. Gaara was Sakura's ride home, so she waited patiently until he was ready to go. After everyone else had left Gaara strode over to his bike and waited for Sakura. As she sat behind him, Sakura heard Kankuro yell, "you two have fun!" he was waving stupidly and Temari's hand shot up to smack him in the back of the head, making him wince. Gaara revved his bike, and Sakura snapped back to reality. She pulled on the helmet and hugged Gaara around his middle, letting him know she was ready. The bike lunged forward and he made his way to Sakura's house.
Sakura saw her house ahead, and Gaara herd her say, "oh shit!" As he took a good look at her driveway he saw a man standing there waiting for them. It was her dad. He figured if he was ever going to get close to Sakura he would have to deal with her father sooner or later. He pulled up in front of the man and turned off his bike. Sakura was rigid with fear. Sakura's father glared at him questioningly, as if asking how this boy had the nerve to pull up on a motorcycle with his daughter clinging onto this strange boy's back.
Gaara looked at Sakura, who looked at her father before carefully releasing her hold on Gaara's middle. She removed her helmet, as did Gaara, and looked at her father. "Um…hi daddy." She said quietly trying to smile. Gaara got off the bike and help Sakura off, because she was too afraid to move.
"Who the hell is this? Why were you out so late with him? Why are you riding a motorcycle? You think I will stand for this?" her father's questions started pouring out as he glared at the blank faced Gaara.
"Daddy this is…" Sakura started quietly.
"Be quiet Sakura! I want his boy to tell me himself. How the hell did you figure it would fine and dandy with me if you just started carting my daughter around on the back of motorcycle?" he said turning around and talking to Gaara again. "And why are you dressed like some type of devil child or something with those black eyes. I—"
"sir." Gaara said. Both Sakura and her father froze. Gaara held and outstretched hand, waiting for her dad to shake it. "My name is Sabaku no Gaara. We were out late with the rest of our friends working with music and homework." Gaara was answering all of Sakura's dad's questions one by one, still holding out his hand. "Sakura's car repair has been delayed so I offered to give her a ride home. This motorcycle is the only means of transportation that I can support. Sir I honestly didn't expect you to be happy with the fact that we were riding my bike, but it's all I can offer. With all due respect, sir, I am not a devil child and the black rings around my eyes are from lack of sleep because I'm an insomniac. Please forgive me for driving off so suddenly this morning. I can tell I've left you with a lot of questions."
Sakura nearly fainted. She had never heard Gaara talk so much at once. He had chosen his words carefully, so as not to upset Sakura's dad. Gaara had realized after their seven minutes in heaven that he really liked Sakura, and wanted to become even closer to her. The last thing he needed was to be on bad terms with her father. Her dad just stared at him with his glare, only to be faced back with Gaara's blank expression. He didn't like the look of him, motorcycle, black clothes, tattoo on his forehead. How did he even have a tattoo? He wasn't eighteen, was he? He was the perfect picture of someone you try to keep your children away from, but Gaara kept his hand outstretched. Sakura's father was a natural gentleman. He sighed and took Gaara's hand. Sakura just stared. Had her father just accepted Gaara?
"So what is your relationship with my daughter?" Sakura sweat dropped. Nope. He hadn't accepted Gaara, but at least he was less angry. Gaara let his hand drop.
"We're just friends, sir." Gaara said.
"Well we've only known each other for two weeks, dad. What did you think he was my boyfriend or something?" Both men turned to look at Sakura. She had folded her arms and was looking at her dad accusingly. Her comment pained Gaara's heart, but it was true, so he ignored it.
"Music and homework, you say?" Sakura's dad asked, turning to face Gaara again. Gaara nodded. "I play in a band, and Sakura sang for us. You should be very proud of her. She has the most beautiful voice." He said turning back to Sakura and nodding. It may have been just to be more personal to her dad, but Sakura still blushed. Gaara's complement worked like magic. Sakura's dad smiled and nodded.
"Yes she does have a pretty voice doesn't she?" he said, standing straight with pride. Sakura was getting fed up with this 'manly' conversation. She sighed lightly, but Gaara caught it.
"With all due respect, sir, I'm expected back at home, so I'll be leaving, now. Sakura, I'll see you tomorrow morning. Remember, seven o'clock." Gaara said, climbing onto his bike. He gave a final nod to Sakura and her father and drove off.
"See dad, isn't he nice?" she asked her father. He scowled and murmured, "I suppose he's a nice boy. Very respectful," he looked at her. "What did he mean, see you at seven tomorrow morning?" he had already guessed the answer, but Sakura said it anyway.
"Oh um, because my car is still at the auto shop, so he's coming back in the morning to take me to school. You know, like he did today." She looked away shyly, because she knew her father would be mad.
He was. "Sakura! What do you mean? He'll be taking you to school on that motorcycle again? I don't trust him."
"But dad! How can you not trust him? You met him, and you saw how respectful he was. You insulted him, and he still took it politely. Gaara may look bad, but he's really not!" Sakura said, defending her new found friend. Her dad only shook his head.
"Sakura one polite meeting is not enough to convince me that he isn't dangerous in at least one way or another. I want you to call him and say that I will take you to school tomorrow, understand?" he looked her in the eye. Sakura couldn't believe that after Gaara was so polite her dad wouldn't accept him.
"Dad I don't have his phone number, but that's not the point. I can't believe after he was so respectful to you, you won't even think about accepting him. He went out of his way to take me to the auto shop and then bring me home. And he was so polite. How can you think he's like that?" she turned away. "Besides, you wouldn't be able to take me anyway because of your oh-so-important job. You wouldn't have time for me. You never do, so what does it matter? He's coming to get me in the morning and that's that." Sakura's eyes were watering by now, and she ran upstairs to her room.
It was something she usually liked to keep to herself, but every now and again, it would come out. Both of her parents worked hard hours at work, and were hardly ever around to be there for her. In the mornings she always had to go to school, and in the evenings she usually ended up going to bed before either of them got home. Sakura knew they loved her, but sometimes she felt forgotten. Occasionally her father might get off early and they would do something together, or her mother would take Sakura shopping once in a while, but for the most part she never saw them. Sakura had learned to cook, clean, and take care of herself, but it didn't help with her loneliness. That was the reason Sakura had been so grateful for friends, because she had someone to share her time with. She sighed and fell on her bed, instantly falling asleep.
Gaara pulled into his driveway. He decided not to tell Temari or Kankuro about his meeting with Sakura's father. He had been forced to use proper grammar. It wasn't something Gaara liked to use very often. It made him feel like he had to try too hard to impress. He sighed. He had done it for Sakura. If he was ever going to get any closer to Sakura the last thing he needed was to be on bad terms with her father.
He entered his house and made his way to the kitchen. He grabbed a soda and started towards his room. Gaara passed by the basement door and heard voices from downstairs. He recognized them as belonging to his siblings and smirked. They were most likely downstairs cleaning. If he remained quiet they wouldn't be able to make him help. He started to walk away, happy to get out of house work, when something caught his attention. It was Temari's voice.
"We are not going to tell him, got it?" Gaara stopped, and listened more intently. Tell who what? He inched closer to the door.
"But I wanna know where the hell he learned to kiss!" It was Kankuro that time. Gaara was confused. Were they talking about him?
"No, we can't ask him. He deserves a little something personal to keep to himself. It wouldn't be fair to him if we started invading his privacy with questions like that." Temari argued.
"But Temari, the guy's the most secretive person we know. I can't ask him that one question?" Kankuro asked.
"No, asking him that would be like telling him the whole thing. 'Oh hey Gaara, we opened the door during your seven minutes in heaven and we saw you and Sakura making out. By the way, where'd you learn to kiss?' Kankuro, he'd kill us!" Temari shot back. Gaara was frozen. His sister's words echoed over and over in his head. They did what? No that was impossible. How could Sakura and him not have noticed? He suddenly felt something dripping on his foot. He looked down to see that his fist had clenched so tight around the soda that he had punctured it and it was dripping freely. Gaara shook his head. They…they must be joking. He chucked the soda can in a nearby trash can and made his way to his room.
Shutting the door behind him, Gaara took of his shirt and flopped on his bed. Why did he feel this way? All he could think about was Sakura. Her hair, her lips, her smile, her eyes. He rubbed his eyes. What was wrong with him? He was fully aware he had a crush, but he felt there was something more and he couldn't figure it out. He knew the only way he would found out is by confronting her, but how? He turned on his side and stared at his wall. He had all night to plan.
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olly: phew! looooooooooong!
friend in background: its finally over!!!
olly: shut up! -smiles sweetly at readers- please review!
friend in background: it better be a good review...or i'll ... uhh -thinks of something bad-
olly: oo'