olly: hello all! school's finally out! yeh! im going to try and finish up TTWM in the next month or so and then i'd like to start on a new story. prefferably not HS. i'll be glad to take requests, but no yaoi or yuri. not that i have anything against it, im just not sure how i would write it. anyways, enough with the announcements already! on with chapter 12!
neji: this chapter better be good, especially after that last disgustingly sappy one
shikamaru: yeah. buying flowers? that was a total drag.
girls: -collective glare-
naruto: can't they just read the story now?
olly: fine fine! chapter 12!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disclaimer: Don't own naruto.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gaara looked around the room at the same sight he'd seen since four a.m. Hinata and Naruto were snuggled close, sharing half of a couch, still in their clothes from yesterday. The other half of the couch was occupied by Neji and Ten Ten. Neji lay with his head on the arm of the couch, with his arm wrapped around Ten Ten's middle. Her head was resting on his other arm, which was under her head like a pillow. Kiba had been kicked off the couch around 3:30 and he was snoring on the floor and drooling into the carpet, with a half eaten cookie in his hand. On the other side of the couch Gaara was laying on, Shikamaru and Temari were sharing an armchair. Temari was sitting in Shikamaru's lap, with her arms wrapped around his neck. She had his shoulder as a pillow, and his pillow was the top of her head. Kankuro had an armchair of his own, and was sprawled out on it, arms and legs hanging off the edges.
Gaara smirked at his friends and looked down at his 'blanket'. Sometime during the early hours of the morning, Sakura had made her way over to Gaara's couch. She had been half asleep (though Gaara had been fully awake) when she wandered over and fell asleep next to him on the couch. That arrangement would've been perfectly fine, but there wasn't enough space on the small couch, so he had pulled himself to lay under her, and she hadn't cared, and so it had been for nearly four hours.
He sighed and played with the now multicolored locks of Sakura's hair. She nuzzled her head into his chest and mumbled something in her sleep. Amazingly, her make up still looked the same. Gaara looked at her beautiful form. She looked absolutely sexy with her new outfit and hair, but he wouldn't have cared what she wore. Hell, even in paint clothes she looked good. He had realized that yesterday. He played with her hair some more.
Gaara still hadn't told her his feelings. He didn't know what to do. He had never had a crush before, let alone a girlfriend. That was another thing. Was Sakura his girlfriend? Sure it had only been less than a day since they confessed their crushes on each other. Did that count as dating? He'd have to ask Sakura later.
Also, something else was nagging at the back of his head. When were her parents going to get home? It was already almost eight o'clock. It wouldn't be very good if they walked in right now. There was Sakura's mound of unused clothes, make up, empty ice cream cartons, cookie crumbs, and empty plates and glasses littered all over the floor, not to mention the people all around the room. Six guys, four girls, one guy on the floor, one guy in an arm chair, and the rest in girl/boy pairs sleeping together in different parts of the room. Because of the girls' outfits, it looked as if they had gone clubbing and brought home the guys. And the sight of their daughter sleeping on top of a guy would probably give Sakura's parents the wrong idea, even though everyone was fully clothed. Nothing like that had happened last night, but that's not what Sakura's parents would think. He chuckled.
Sakura had said her parents worked a lot. Could it be possible that they worked on Saturdays? Even if by some chance that they did, and the group was able to clean up the house before they came home, Sakura's parents would still be in for a shock. For one, they would find their daughter's room miraculously painted and Sakura's new hair and the hideous cookies all over the kitchen. He smirked at how Sakura would explain all that to them.
Sakura snuggled up to whatever she was hugging. It was warm and soft and smelled good. It was a musky smell and for some reason also had the faint scent of cookies. She liked the smell, and nuzzled her head closer to whatever the scent was coming from. The thing moved and hugged her tightly. What the hell? She opened her eyes.
The brightness of morning made Sakura's eyes squint, and she tried to pull up, only to be pulled back down by a pair of strong arms. Sakura lifted her head a little to look at the smirking face of Gaara. She blinked sleepily at him. Looking around the room, Sakura saw her friends sleeping in different places, and she smiled at the pairs. She looked back at Gaara.
"morning." He said. It seemed as though he said it less as a greeting and more like a 'wow…it's morning…woop-dee-doo' kind of statement. Sakura smiled at him. "morning." She whispered. She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the lips, then rested her head on his chest again. She sighed. It was still early, and she was still tired.
"Sakura?" Gaara asked.
"Yeah?"
"When are your parents going to get home?"
Sakura gasped and pulled out of his arms. She stood up and started looking around the room for something. Gaara pulled himself into a sitting position. Sakura quietly stepped over things while continuing to search for her…something.
"What are you looking for?" Gaara asked a little loudly. Sakura 'shh-ed' him and pointed to their still sleeping friends. He rolled his eyes. She came a little closer and whispered, "I'm looking for my phone. Honestly I don't know when they'll be home, but if there's any way of finding out, it's that phone. They may have left me a message." He nodded and she turned back around. Gaara's eyes widened and he smirked evilly.
Sakura suddenly felt Gaara right behind her. His hands were at her back, but they slid down to rest on her—ahem—backside. She gasped as goosebumps dotted her body. "Gaara!" she hissed and turned around, only to find him smirking madly and holding her cell phone in front of her face.
"It was in your back pocket." He stated plainly. Blushing, Sakura glared at him and snatched the phone away. She mumbled something about 'pervert' and 'back pocket' and sat down on the couch. She flipped her phone open to see one missed call displayed on the small screen. She called her voicemail and listened to the message.
Hello Sakura, it's mom. We're working today, so we'll see you about (pause) well I'll be home around seven, and your father will home around maybe nine. I'm hoping to cook dinner tonight! So we can all eat as a family. Honey, I'm really sorry, but you know neither of us, your father or me, can miss work. It's fine with me if you'd like to invite some friends over (pause) ok never mind, your father doesn't want anyone at the house, but if you want to go shopping or whatever with your friends that's fine. (pause) your father says no boys. Ok then, we love you, and have fun, and we'll see you tonight. Bye!
Sakura flipped her phone closed and rolled her eyes. "Sorry dad," she muttered. "Too late. Everyone's crashed in the living room." She was talking to herself, and Gaara looked at her questioningly. She looked at him. "Oh, they won't be home until way later, so no worries." She looked around the room. "But we do need to clean this mess." She stood up and walked over to the other couch, only to be stopped by Gaara's hand holding hers.
"Sakura, you look nice," he said sexily (A/N o.O) into her ear. Sakura suddenly realized she was still wearing her clothes from last night. She blushed and he pulled her into a hug from behind. "Really nice." She gasped as he lightly kissed her ear and it made her shudder.
Gaara smirked and at her reaction and rested his head on her shoulder. "Sakura?" he asked in a husky whisper.
"y-yes?" she asked in a cracked voice. She coughed and tried to regain her bearings. Still in shock from the ear kiss, she coughed lightly again and asked a little clearer, "yes?"
He smirked. "Are you my girlfriend now?" Sakura was silent for a moment and he lifted his head in concern. She finally spoke.
"Do you want me to be?" She asked. He rolled his eyes and sighed as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Duh."
Sakura blushed. She had never had a guy ask her to be his girlfriend before. She giggled. "ok." He smirked. "But," He froze. But what? "But do we have to tell them just yet? I'd be so embarrassed by the girls. They'd never stop teasing me." She looked at him a little afraid. "I mean, if you want to tell them. I'm just saying…I mean…I don't know what I'm saying…I just don't want them to—"
He silenced her with a kiss. "It's fine." He said. "I don't want to tell them yet either." She smiled and leaned against him.
"The guys would mock you huh?" she asked with more than a hint of amusement. Gaara glared and it made her giggle. She leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek, which he happily turned into a passionate mini-make out session. Sakura reluctantly made him stop when she motioned that she couldn't breathe. Only after he watched Sakura pant a little did he realize the he hadn't been able to breathe either. He coughed lightly, and Sakura gave him a hug, not trusting him (or herself) to kiss him again.
Gaara inwardly pouted once Sakura released her hug and turned back around. Damn! He wanted to kiss her again! Sakura walked quietly over to where Neji and Ten Ten were sleeping, but Gaara made a sound and she turned around again. Gaara looked over at Hinata and Naruto, and Sakura immediately understood. It wouldn't be very good if Neji woke up to see Naruto sleeping with his cousin. There might be death involved. Sakura turned and instead walked over to where the said were sound asleep. She pondered. Should I wake up Naruto first? Or Hinata? After thinking about it, she decided to wake up Hinata first. The girl's embarrassment would be easier to handle, rather than Naruto jumping up and knocking Hinata to the floor (which would most likely happen). Sakura gently shook Hinata's shoulder. A pair of pearl-like eyes fluttered open.
"Wha…mmm…huh?" Hinata mumbled, trying to gather her bearings. "Good morning!" Sakura whispered cheerfully. Hinata could only blink at her. She turned to look behind her and nearly fainted. I mean, who wouldn't turn bright red and nearly faint to see a slightly snoring Naruto drooling onto the couch and mumbling something about ramen in his sleep? Oh yes, very macho. She then tumbled to the ground, almost kicking Kiba in the head. She didn't even need Naruto to knock her down, Sakura thought. She rolled her eyes and helped the shaking girl to her feet. "I-I…s-slept…N-Nar-ruto…" Hinata was having trouble speaking, so Sakura shut her up. "Don't worry, nothing happened. Look, everyone did it."
Hinata's gaze swept around the room, lingering on Neji and Ten Ten and Shikamaru and Temari. "Oh," Hinata said dumbly. Sakura laughed lightly and moved over to Naruto. He was surprisingly harder to rouse than she had thought before. She tried shaking him, but it didn't work. Becoming frustrated, Sakura looked over to Gaara.
"Could you wake the others, please?" she asked him. He arched an 'eyebrow' and looked around the room. Kiba was lying in front of him. Gaara kicked him in the side.
Kiba grunted and sat up, holding his side. "What the hell?!" he demanded angrily. Gaara only shrugged and said, "get up." Sakura was still having trouble waking Naruto up, and Hinata touched her arm. "Let me try," she said shyly. Sakura nodded and Hinata bent down to whisper something in Naruto's ear. He shot up like a rocket and yelled, "RAMEN? WHERE?"
Sakura laughed out loud and smiled to Hinata, who returned the gesture and went to wake up Shikamaru and Temari. Kiba, who had gotten over his stomach ache surprisingly quickly, was continuously poking Kankuro in the forehead, but to no avail. The sandy-haired boy only continued to snore.
Hinata gently shook Temari's shoulder. She mumbled something that sounded like "Shi-ka-ma-ru" and nuzzled her head closer to the boy she was holding. Shikamaru cracked one eye open at hearing his name, but didn't move. Hinata smiled at the two. "Time to get up you guys." She said. Shikamaru only grunted.
"It's too troublesome to get up right now." He said, not moving at all. Gaara suddenly appeared out of no where and glared at Shikamaru and his sister. Kiba was still poking Kankuro's forehead, and apparently having a good time too, because he burst out laughing. This woke Kankuro up, and he tumbled out of his chair and onto the floor. He sat up and looked around the room. Everyone's attention was momentarily drawn to him (A/N except Neji and Ten Ten . they're still asleep). Kankuro's gaze, however, was on Shikamaru and Temari, and he stood up to assist Gaara in his death glaring. Shikamaru grinned sheepishly at the two angry men in front of him. "If you want to live to see the light of day again, I suggest you get up…now." Sakura said to Shikamaru, eyeing the two angry brothers.
Shikamaru (for once in his life) looked worried, so he removed his arm from around Temari's shoulder. She mumbled again and sleepily opened her eyes. "Hi Shika-baby." she said quietly, still not aware that practically everyone was watching them. Shikamaru turned pink.
"What?!" Naruto nearly yelled. Gaara and Kankuro's eyes were twitching. Kiba pushed his way through the small crowd and stared in disbelief at the now very confused Temari and the still pink Shikamaru. "Shika…baby?" he asked. Temari turned red and hid her face in Shikamaru's shirt. Sakura suddenly felt bad for the two in the chair.
"Come on you guys, we still have to wake up Neji and Ten Ten." Sakura said. They all looked at each other, than back to Shikamaru ad Temari. Gaara and Kankuro stopped glaring, and everyone turned around to give the embarrassed couple a little peace.
Amazingly, despite Naruto's outbursts and the fact that no one was whispering, Neji and Ten Ten were still asleep. "Aww! They're so cute together!" Sakura exclaimed…quietly. Hinata giggled and nodded. The guys just kinda looked at the pair.
Temari, who kinda made her way to the middle of the crowd, grinned evilly. "Let's get their picture for blackmail!"
Kiba thought it was a great idea, and mimicked Temari's evil grin. "Wait, I have a camera." He took out his cell phone and held it up. They heard a click. "Got it."
Yeah ok, Sakura is a nice girl; considerate of others, smart, pretty, the whole she-bang. Yet, buried deep down below all the cuddly pink cuteness of her heart, there lies a dark evil.
"I have a better idea for blackmail." Sakura stated. Her eyes were wide and she had a smirk that would've rivaled Gaara's. Hinata and Kiba backed away from her as her smirk grew.
"What is it?" Kankuro asked. "You'll see." She replied.
(A/N Time goes by-la dee da dee da-blah blah blah-yadda yadda yadda- zippidee do dah...ok!)
Sakura stepped away from her work with pride. The rest of the group could only stare at her. It was so simple…and yet…so brilliant. She had tied a string around the necks of both Neji and Ten Ten. If one or the other tried to get up, they would be, much to their surprise, brought back down to the face of the other, resulting in, dare I say it, a kiss! And if not a kiss, a very painful head-but. Either way, the group would get some laughs, and a blackmail picture.
"And now my friends, we wait." Sakura said smugly, crossing her arms. Kankuro arched an eyebrow at her. "Where'd you learn such a dirty trick?"
Sakura shrugged. "at my old school, two of the teachers were found napping on a couch together and so some students did this to them. It was hilarious. Not only were they quote-on-quote kissing in the picture, but their faces were priceless."
"I thought you said you went to a private school." Hinata said. She was little confused at to how such a thing could happen at a proper school.
"I did but…oh wait! Ten Ten moved!"
Everyone's attention snapped on the sleeping pair. It was true. Ten Ten was wiggling around, but seemed to be restrained my Neji's arm. She made a noise and wiggled some more. The movement was obviously bothering Neji. He was lifting his head a little…a little more...
BANG!
He felt the tug of the string. Ten Ten felt it too. They both opened their eyes.
The whole room was completely quiet. It seemed as though all Neji and Ten Ten could see was each other. The rest of the group was holding their breath, amazed that they hadn't been discovered. And then…
BAM! BOOM! BANG! POW! COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!
Whatever interjection you feel like using right now, use it.
Three words.
Neji kissed Ten Ten.
Ok…here's the reaction from all their friends…
Sakura: O.O (faints on the floor anime style)
Gaara: o.o "…"
Temari: O.O
Shikamaru: -.- (it's too troublesome to care)
Kiba: O.O "…"
Kankuro: o.o
Hinata: -chibi face- "Yay!"
Naruto: XD (trying to hold back laughter)
Neji's eyes were closed, but Ten Ten's eyes were wide open in shock. Poor Ten Ten. She was going through what Sakura had gone through the day before. She couldn't breathe. Everyone watched as the helpless girl's face went from normal to red to blue.
It seemed as though Shikamaru was the only one who had any sense at the moment, so he took his phone out and took some blackmail pictures. All the girls were staring at the couple, gushing over how cute they were. Well, except for Sakura. Her eye was twitching that her plan hadn't worked, per se. They kissed, but her string plan was unneeded, so that took the humor away for her and she was understandably fuming. The guys…well…a few were blushing…Naruto was having a mental battle on whether or not to laugh out loud…Gaara was just staring…and well, it seems Kankuro and Kiba were with Naruto on this one. As said before, Shikamaru didn't seem to care, but he did put his arm around Temari's shoulder and smirked.
Finally, Neji pulled up, allowing Ten Ten to get some much needed air. She was gasping and staring at the man above her. Of course, all good things must come to an end. A very loud, unintentional snort was let out by none other than,
"Naruto!" Temari yelled. "Way to ruin the moment!" she whacked him on the head and Naruto started making gasping sounds between laughing and crying.
Neji and Ten Ten's faces snapped to face the small audience. Ten Ten went bright red and she hid her face. Neji's face, however, drained of all color. For the first and only time in his life, Neji started stuttering like his cousin.
"W-wha…y-you…uhh…" poor Neji couldn't even manage a simple sentence. He resulted to blinking continuously.
Hinata, Sakura, and Temari were smiling brightly, while some of the guys were giving him thumbs up.
"What the hell?" the voice of Ten Ten asked. They all looked at her, to see her pulling at the string around her neck. Sakura squeaked, "oh shit!" and hid behind Gaara.
Well, it was delayed, but Sakura's plan did work after all. Neji pulled his head up rather quickly, only to have it pulled back down to bump foreheads with Ten Ten. His eyes narrowed, but Ten Ten spoke first. "What is this?" she asked angrily. "Which one of you jerks put this around our necks?"
For a happy moment, Sakura thought she would be defended by her friends. Her wonderful, loving, caring friends (plus boyfriend). They would stick up for her. They wouldn't leave her alone to face the wrath of Ten Ten and Neji. She would be safe.
"Sakura did it!" blurted out Naruto. Sakura's eye twitched and she whacked him on the head extra hard. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Naruto cried, holding his head which now had two sore spots. Sakura resumed her hiding place behind Gaara.
Ten Ten and Neji were completely motionless for a moment, until Ten Ten turned to Kiba and asked sweetly, "Could you hand me a pair of scissors, please?"
Kiba looked scared. "We know it was a mean trick Ten Ten, but killing Sakura with scissors isn't the answer."
Her eyes narrowed. "IT'S TO CUT THE STRING, YOU IDIOT!" she yelled. Even Neji looked scared. No one dared to approach Ten Ten, so instead Neji felt for the knot and simply untied the string. The pair sat up and rubbed their necks. "Thank you Neji." Ten Ten said calmly.
Neji looked confused for a second but then he answered, "You're welcome." They stood up and looked for Sakura, only to find her cowering behind Gaara. "Sakura?" Neji asked, looking at her with his cold white eyes.
"Yes?" she whimpered.
"You have ten seconds."
"What?"
"Nine."
"I don't under—"
"Eight."
"Oh! You want me to run."
"Seven."
"Shit!" Sakura tore off in the other direction. Neji and Ten Ten glanced at each other then finished quickly in unison, "six-five-four-three-two-one!"
They ran after Sakura in the same direction. It wasn't long before the three were running in circles outside Sakura's house. Surprisingly, Sakura was a very fast runner. However, Ten Ten was active in sports, so she wouldn't run out of breath as quickly, and Neji…well he's Neji. Both he and Ten Ten were running about the same speed, only steps behind Sakura. The others couldn't tell, but Gaara was just a tad worried. What would they do if they did catch her? As her boyfriend, shouldn't he do something protective?
But, no one else knew. He was supposed to lay low, right? And that's where the cycle of uneasiness repeated itself. He could only watch as Neji and Ten Ten chased his Sakura up a tree, which didn't do her much good, because Ten Ten hopped up and pulled herself into the tree to continue the chase(which by the way is a very big feat, considering she's still wearing her miniskirt). Neji stayed on the ground, supposedly to get Sakura if she jumped out of the tree…or maybe he just couldn't climb up like Ten Ten. I guess we'll never know.
The remaining people that were inside just watched the girl being chased by her angry friends. Ten Ten made to grab Sakura's arm, but she moved it, almost knocking herself out of the tree. Instead she swung backwards with a yelp, making Gaara shuffle his feet. He had faith that Sakura was a strong girl and was capable of taking care of herself, but he still felt somewhat…scared? Gaara was never scared. Oh well… he thought.
Sakura pulled herself back up and stood up carefully. With a mighty leap, she flung herself at the next tree over (which was a big tree, by the way). Amazingly enough, she was actually able to catch a tree branch and hang on for dear life. Neji ran over under her and Ten Ten didn't seem to trust herself on flying to the tree like Sakura had done. She climbed down and joined Neji underneath Sakura.
It was actually kinda funny in its entirety. Sakura and Ten Ten looked as if they had gone clubbing and Neji had bead hair (A/N lmao). Sakura was clinging on to her tree branch and Ten Ten and Neji were shouting at her from below. Temari glared at Naruto and whacked him on the head a third time. "You really are an idiot." She said. By now, the pain in Naruto's head was already overwhelming so he didn't even feel her hit him.
"It was an accident!" Naruto whined. Kankuro sighed. "I guess we should save her, right?"
"Yeah, that'd probably be the right thing to do. Ten Ten seems murderous." Kiba agreed.
"But still, she had a good idea. It was pretty damn funny." Temari stated grinning. It was true; they had gotten what they wanted. "Anyway," she continued, "c'mon Hinata. If we're going to save Sakura, I'd rather change first." Hinata nodded, and the girls left the room, leaving Gaara, Kankuro, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kiba.
"Why don't you go save her, Gaara?" Naruto grinned. Gaara almost said something in agreement. Key word: almost. Instead he remained silent.
"Shut up you dope!" Kiba hissed, whacking Naruto on the head for the fourth time that morning. Gaara wondered if the poor boy was going to develop brain damage. Oh wait! Naruto already has that. Never mind…
"What?" Naruto yelped, holding his throbbing head. "He likes her, doesn't he? Why shouldn't he save her?"
"You really are an idiot, Naruto." Shikamaru stated blankly. Through this whole conversation, Gaara remained silent. Suddenly, all the guys were in his face, with looks of concern. His eyes swept across the row of four guys and finally resolved to glaring.
"What?" he asked, a little annoyed.
Kankuro arched an eyebrow. "How are you doing?" he asked in a big-brotherly way.
"What?" what are they all worried about? Gaara wondered.
"I mean, with you and Sakura? How are you?" Kankuro tried again. Gaara blinked a few times.
"Err…"
Kiba shrugged. "It's ok, man. You don't have to tell us about it if you don't want to. We don't always get who we want." He continued on into a story, thinking it would help. "You remember when I had a crush on that girl….in like…sixth grade? And she poured milk on my head when I asked her out? Yeah. That made me feel like shit, but I'm better now. You'll get over it soon enough too."
"Uhh…"
"You think that'll make him feel any better? God, you're as stupid as Naruto." Groaned Shikamaru. At this both Kiba and Naruto shouted, "Hey!"
None of this was clicking in Gaara's head. What the hell are they talking about? He asked mentally.
Naruto shoved his blonde head a little closer. "Well, I know you'll probably hate me for asking this or whatever, but did she really reject your flower?"
Naruto's question slowly processed through Gaara's head. Reject…my…flower? He thought. "Uhh…"
Naruto gaze shifted a little towards the ground. "Sorry for asking." He said quietly, and the group backed away from the confused Gaara, who, on the other hand, was slowly beginning to understand what was happening. They thought Sakura had rejected him, because she hadn't come out last night with her flower. Well, maybe it was better if they thought that. He wouldn't know what to say if they knew the truth.
"What are you guys doing?" asked the voice of Temari, who was now wearing her clean paint clothes from yesterday. Hinata followed her into the room in her clothes from yesterday as well.
"Ah, nothing." Kiba shrugged. "Shall we commence with our rescue mission then?" he asked. They all nodded and wandered out the door.
Sakura was still clinging to her tree, but had since climbed somewhat higher. Unfortunately for her though, her leap of faith had been the only way to reach the big tree she was now in, for the lowest branch was much higher off the ground than the tree they had been in before. Neither Ten Ten nor Neji could get into it.
"I'm really, really sorry! Please don't hurt me!" Sakura called down, while hugging the tree trunk.
"That was a really low thing to do Sakura!" Ten Ten called back. Neji nodded in agreement.
"Just cool it you guys." Gaara muttered. Kankuro nodded. "You guys kissed on your own, remember? The only thing Sakura's string did was make you bump heads."
Both Neji and Ten Ten blushed. This thought hadn't occurred to Sakura, and when she thought about it, it was true. "Hey they're right! My string didn't do anything bad! Why are you intent on murdering me?"
"Because they don't want to admit that they kissed on their own." Kiba called, answering Sakura's question. Neji and Ten Ten glared at Kiba, but Temari cut in. "Gaara's right. Just calm down. You don't have to get all angry. Besides, you've got Sakura pretty much cornered. She has no way of getting down."
Ten Ten and Neji looked up at Sakura, and Sakura looked at her own state. It was true. She was trapped. "shit." She muttered.
"Are you sure you can't get down safely Sakura?" Hinata asked, a little worried. Sakura looked around. She didn't want to admit it but…from this height…
"Uhh…" Sakura wondered aloud. "Crap…uhh…DAMN YOU TEN TEN!" Ten Ten crossed her arms. "Sorry, but it's not my fault anyway." Sakura groaned.
Naruto wandered into the conversation. "Ok, either Sakura can jump and someone catch her, or we get the best tree climber to go help her down…or we can call someone to get a ladder."
"Why don't we try the stupidest one first?" Shikamaru asked rolling his eyes. "This is going to be such a drag."
"Shut up Shikamaru!" Temari snapped. She was really worried about her friend.
"C'mon you guys don't fight. You don't want to anger your Shika-baby do you Temari?" Kankuro asked jokingly. Neji and Ten Ten (who hadn't been awake for that particular incident) looked at Temari and Shikamaru in utter shock. Temari gave Kankuro a rather sharp punch to the arm. "I hope that bruises," she growled. "Just so I can hit it again."
Kankuro groaned in pain and created some distance between him and his fuming sister. Gaara sighed. They would never get anything done if everyone started fighting.
"Would you all just shut up?" he commanded a little more than asked. The group looked at their unpronounced 'leader'. Gaara shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked over to the smaller tree. They glanced at each other but then followed him. He looked the tree over, and found a branch that was pretty low to the ground. By now he was an expert at pulling himself into trees, so he did so, and easily made his way through the branches until he found the spot where the two trees were closest.
"It would seem you got in deep this time, eh Sakura?" he called mockingly. She maneuvered through the branches of her own tree until she was in front of him.
"Oh yes. Very funny, Gaara. Hilarious in fact. You're such a kidder." Sakura retorted sarcastically. The others followed along with the plan and drifted underneath Sakura in case she fell.
Gaara rolled his eyes and reached out an arm. "Can you reach me?" he asked. Sakura wandered a little further on her branch. It was a steady branch, but she had nothing to hold onto above her head. She lifted her right hand from its spot and reached out towards Gaara's hand. She was still too far away.
Sakura cast death glares down at Neji and Ten Ten. "Thanks a lot you guys!" she growled. Neji and Ten Ten returned her glare. "It's not our fault you decided to leap into a tree that you couldn't get down from!" Ten Ten argued.
"No, but it was you guys who chased me up a tree in the first place!" Sakura called back angrily.
"We wouldn't have had to chase you if you hadn't pulled that stupid string trick!" Neji stated.
"How many times do I have to tell you guys to shut it!?" Gaara snapped. He made a sound in between a gasp and a growl before moving out a little more on his branch.
Sakura followed example as best she could without losing balance. They reached out their hands again, but to avail. Sakura was still too far away. Gaara sighed. There wasn't a reasonable way to do this at all.
"Maybe you should jump again!" Naruto yelled to Sakura. She glanced at the space still distancing her from Gaara. It looked a lot further away than before. She sat up in her branch and crossed her arms. "God, this sucks." She muttered.
Actually, Sakura's annoyed state seemed to amuse Gaara. He smirked at her cute pout and sat down himself. He sighed, but then an idea came to him.
He stood up and stood out as far as he could on his branch. Sakura watched him but said nothing. Gaara observed his surroundings and climbed a little lower.
"Sakura," he called. "Jump to the branch and swing down."
Sakura stared at him as though he were insane. "Are you crazy? I'll fall!" she cried.
"I'll catch you."
Sakura looked over the situation uneasily. She saw how Gaara had figured everything out. If she was to successfully jump to the branch above him and swing forward, he would be able to easily catch her. However, if she missed the branch, it was a straight drop to the ground, and Sakura doubted her ability to create a good landing. She groaned.
"You can do it!" Kiba called up to her. The others joined in encouraging her. Gaara nodded to her with his mesmerizing eyes. If she could just focus on his eyes, she wouldn't be afraid…
Sakura took a deep breath and stood as far out as she could on her branch. One step…two steps…three steps… Sakura counted in her head. Sakura wasn't afraid of heights. In fact, she rather enjoyed climbing trees and such; but this was new to her. One slip and it was a straight forward drop to the cold, hard ground.
The tree branch seemed to far away. So…far… Sakura held her breath and closed her eyes…
"It might be better if you keep your eyes open." Gaara stated plainly. Sakura blinked her eyes and muttered something like 'oh yeah'. This time she kept her eyes focused on the tree branch and counted to her self ready…steady…go!
She was flying, and she felt the tree in her hand, but her body kept going forward. Her hand slipped off the tree. She gasped as her foot twisted and she was staring at the ground. Oh god, she was going to fall. She was definitely going to fall. No doubt. She could feel it. The air started speeding past her again.
Err…wait…scratch all that. Sakura wasn't moving at all.
Something was holding her up. Sakura twisted around and hid her eyes into Gaara's shirt. Gaara let out a sigh of relief and made a mental note to next time get a ladder.
Poor Hinata. She had already fainted. Kiba, Naruto, and Kankuro were cheering. Ten Ten and Neji were looking on in worry, and Temari was trying to wake up Hinata. Shikamaru was…well…standing there.
Sakura was shaking. Gaara shifted his weight so that he had a little more balance. He sighed again. "Next time don't head for the tree. Go for the street instead." He muttered.
Sakura looked at him and arched an eyebrow. "Oh yeah Gaara. The street. Getting hit by a speeding car is much better than getting stuck in a tree."
Gaara blinked a few times in realization but then 'hmph'ed and loosened his grip a little around Sakura. The thought had occurred to him that they were still 'under cover'. He watched Sakura take a few deep breaths and then he started to climb down. Sakura followed, a little hesitantly. When she reached the bottom branch she had a little trouble summoning courage to jump down. They finally convinced her and she landed with a slight stumble. Ten Ten ran up and hugged her.
"Look, I'm sorry for getting you stuck in the tree." She said plainly. Sakura nodded and said. "I won't pull any more tricks on you." They hugged again and wandered back to the rest of the group. Temari was finally able to wake up Hinata and the joined in the conversation on the way back into the house.
"Hey Twenty! Next time you chase Sakura up a tree I advise you to change out of your miniskirt." Kankuro stated matter-of-factly. He didn't even look at her, but kept his eyes focused straight ahead. Ten Ten's eyes widened and she turned a dark shade of crimson. "What?!" she demanded angrily. Kankuro shrugged. "I'm just saying. Why do you think Neji stayed on the ground?"
This time Kankuro had to duck for a punch from Neji. Ten Ten didn't even have a comeback for that one, and could only watch as Neji tried again and again to land a blow on Kankuro.
"He was just kidding, Ten Ten." Temari put in. Nevertheless, Ten Ten ran inside and they didn't see her again until she had chained into some pants.
Sakura was still a little shaky, so the group helped her inside. She sighed and said sarcastically, "well that was fun." They all looked at her in confusion, so she added, "But we need to get this place cleaned up."
Kiba took one glance at the room and made a dash for it. Temari caught him by the collar. "No way are you getting out of this one dog-boy. You made most of this mess anyway, with all the cookie crumbs."
Kiba whined like a dog and let his shoulders drop in a pout. Shikamaru shrugged. "But you girls are always telling us about how we can't clean."
Ten Ten rolled her eyes. "That's no excuse. Besides, we're here to direct you." Shikamaru glanced mournfully at the rest of the guys and said, "I tried."
As agreed, the girls led the march in cleaning. The guys helped pick up all the bowls from popcorn and so forth. Hinata cleaned the dishes (Naruto would've helped her, but they didn't trust him around breakable objects). Shikamaru and Temari went upstairs to clean up and throw away the empty paint cans. Ten Ten and Kiba cleaned up the kitchen from the cookies. Kankuro, Gaara, and Sakura went around to the other rooms and put the final touches on making them look descent again (Gaara and Kankuro had to make sure Sakura didn't find any of the cameras of microphones). After about an hour so of cleaning, the group gathered back into the living room and crashed on the floor.
Naruto moaned. "I'm tired!" Hinata sighed and added, "me too." Kiba nodded. "ditto." Sakura looked at all her friends. "Thanks you guys! I had a great time, but we all need some sleep, I think." Temari smiled and nodded. "Alright, if we don't see you tomorrow, we'll see ya Monday."
They stood up and started walking back to door. Hinata left with Neji, and Temari and Kankuro left together. Shikamaru walked out after a quick wave. Ten Ten left, and then Kiba. Naruto kind of stood there until Gaara glared at him and he jumped off towards his car. Sakura turned to Gaara.
"I guess it's just me and you again, huh?" she asked with a smile. Gaara's expression softened and he smirked. "Yeh."
Sakura leaned up to kiss him, but he turned away. "They're watching." He muttered. Sakura murmured a soft, "oh." She hugged herself and looked at the ground. Gaara suddenly felt guilty, but he saw Naruto watching from behind his car. The idiot thinks I can't see him, he thought rolling his eyes.
"Well, bye." Sakura said, turning to go back inside her house. Gaara kept his eyes forward, but said, "I'll be back later." Sakura turned around to ask why, but he was already halfway down her drive way, so she just went inside.
---hey look! a division line! woot!---
Gaara pulled into his driveway and brought his bike to a halt. He really felt like shit for leaving Sakura like that, but what else could've he done? He sighed and pulled his helmet off. How could she affect him like this? It was a completely new feeling. He sighed again and walked inside his house. Making his way to the kitchen, he heard Temari on the phone. Kankuro wasn't anywhere to be seen.
Gaara opened the fridge and grabbed a soda. As he closed the door he almost jumped in surprise. Kankuro had appeared out of nowhere and looked worried. "Gaara!" he whispered urgently, so Temari wouldn't hear, "we left the cameras!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------olly: uh oh! DRAMA! alrighty, i hope everyone liked it.
kiba: it was ok.
ten ten: i can't BELIEVE you put me in a miniskirt!
olly: yeah, sorry about that. R&R please!