AHH OMIGAWD!!!!!!!!!

well, by a stroke of luck i was able to have internet AND my story in close contact with one another, meaning i coud UPDATE! don't get too excited because its only a one night deal, but i wanted to do what i could. its shorter than most of my chapters and it has an awkward cutoff but at least it HERE.

plus i guess this is kind of a Christmas present to y'all...

so i hope you enjoy!

-Olly BaaBaa-Chan

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Disclaimer: don't own Naruto (or a steady stream of internet connection, unfourtunately, for that matter)

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The following Monday both Gaara and Sakura were allowed to go back to school, but Gaara was forbidden to ride his motorcycle for at least two weeks. At first Gaara tried to argue but gave up eventually. Sakura's dad went to the auto shop and got her car which had finally been repaired. Her parents couldn't afford to miss anymore work, but weren't about to leave their daughter alone. They spoke with Hinata's dad and it was agreed that Sakura could go home with Hinata and Neji everyday after school. Gaara was a little disheartened when Sakura told him, but knew it would be for the best. He'd been informed that he was going to have to ride with Temari and Kankuro who were almost certainly going to bombard him with a million questions. Oh yeah, this week was going to suck.

Sakura pulled into the school parking lot. Without Gaara there to keep her up on her timing she ended up being later than everyone else. She seemed to be wearing even more black than usual, signaling she was depressed. Of course, who wouldn't be after what she'd been through? Halfway to the tree, Sakura's beeline was blocked off by Sasuke who stood there as if expecting something.

"Oh," Sakura muttered. "Hey Sasuke." She tried to avoid his gaze and walk around him but he caught her arm and spun her around so her back was to her friends. Seeing Sakura seized by Sasuke made her friends become curious, especially Gaara. They started moving closer to protect Sakura if she needed it, stopping just far enough away to hear what they were saying.

"Blossom, don't walk past me like that. It saddens me." Sasuke said in a mock-sad voice.

"sorry." Sakura mumbled. "But don't call me that."

He smirked. "Sakura, I want you to come to the fall dance with me." He stroked her arm, but she pulled away.

"No…" she replied.

"Why not? I saved your life after all. You can't give me this one thing?" he smirked and went up to touch the ends of her hair.

Seeing Sasuke do that to Sakura was making the group angrier by the second. Every one of the guys was about ready to go up to Sasuke and tell him to fuck off. It would've been Gaara had Kiba not stepped up first, Akamaru trailing along at his heels.

"Back off Uchiha. She can't go to the dance with you because she already as a date." He growled.

Sasuke scoffed. "Oh? And who would that be? Certainly not you. You're going with your stupid mutt aren't you? Such a cute couple." He laughed at his own joke while Sakura gasped and Kiba snarled. She knew Kiba wouldn't show it, but he really was hurt.

Akamaru lunged forward and bit Sasuke's leg. "Argh! Fucking mutt! Let go!" Sasuke shook Akamaru off and kicked the puppy a clear ten feet back to the tree. The poor animal whimpered but then didn't move.

"Akamaru!" Kiba screamed and went to the side of his best friend. Sakura stared in horror.

"You monster! How could you do that!?" she screamed. Sakura tried to punch him but he ducked. She pushed him to the ground and kicked him in the side. He stood up and slapped her. Sakura gasped and held her burning cheek.

"Little bitch!"

She didn't have time to think as a pair of arms pulled her up. Shikamaru stood behind her. "Oh shit…" he muttered. She looked around to see what he was upset about.

Oh God!

Gaara was advancing towards Sasuke with a folding knife. Sasuke was backing away but looked more pissed than scared. "How dare you touch her you worthless shit!" Gaara snarled.

"She likes it when I touch her, don't you Blossom?" Sasuke called to her. She felt like she would be sick, and had to cling to Ten Ten to not fall over.

Gaara took the opportunity to punch Sasuke to the ground while he was distracted. The blade of the knife made a three inch long cut in Sasuke's perfect cheek. He grunted when he hit the ground, and Gaara pounced on top of the momentarily dazed Sasuke. He pinned the onyx-eyed boy's arms with his knees and placed the blade against his prisoner's jugular.

"How dare you say things like that to her!" Gaara growled. He pressed the knife a little harder to Sasuke's throat. Sasuke coughed.

"Idiot. Do you want to get expelled again?" he smirked.

"Shut up. You think I care about getting expelled? I said I was going to kill you. You say one more word and I will." Gaara snarled.

"Tsk tsk tsk. You really should learn how to control your temper, Gaara. All I did was ask her to the dance." Sasuke smirked.

"Son of a bitch! You did more than that and you know it! It only gives me more reason to slice your neck open right now." Gaara nearly made his threat a reality. His eyes were wide with a kind of hunger that Sakura had never seen. Naruto and Neji tackled their friend from behind and pulled him off Sasuke. The said boy scrambled to his feet and stumbled back away from the bloodthirsty red-head who was trying to fight off his friends and kill him.

"Make yourself scarce unless you really do want to die Uchiha, because if he gets loose we'll help him kill ya!" Naruto warned.

Sasuke scoffed at them but nonetheless took the advice and fled the scene. It took a long ten minutes for Gaara to calm down. The entire school grounds were silent, afraid of what he would do next. Every face was turned to their small troop of friends. Gaara's emerald eyes scanned the area and he shrugged his two friends off. He put his knife away and rubbed his temples before walking over to Sakura and taking her face in his hands.

"You ok?" he asked. She nodded. "If he ever does anything like that again, you tell me. Understand?" she nodded. He sighed and his gaze wandered away for a moment but it founds its way back to Sakura's eyes. "Did I scare you?" he asked. Sakura tried to blink back tears as she nodded. She had seriously thought he was going to kill Sasuke. He looked guiltily at the ground. "I'm sorry." His hands left her face and sunk into his pockets. Sakura mumbled something but turned away. That's when she suddenly remembered Kiba and Akamaru. She pulled Gaara by his arm over to where Hinata and Kiba were hunched over the lifeless-looking puppy. The rest of the group seemed to remember too, and followed suit to go check on them. Kiba looked like he was going to cry. The small dog was barely breathing and each breath was followed by a small whimper. Sakura pulled out her phone and called Kiba's home, where his sister picked up.

Sakura explained what had happened with Akamaru and Kiba's sister agreed to drive down to the school, pick up Akamaru, and take him to the vet. It was only five minutes before her car pulled up. Kiba carefully carried his friend to the car where he wrapped him in some towels. He begged to go with his sister, but she refused and drove off leaving the empty-hearted and broken-looking Kiba behind.

All the girls seemed to crowd around Kiba in sympathy. The guys just kinda stood around them in a semi-circle. Kiba took a deep breath, and then started walking. Ten Ten grabbed his jacket and tried to pull him back.

"Where are you going?" she asked. Kiba didn't move. He mumbled something about going for a walk and started walking again. Sakura was worried at what Kiba might do while on his walk, but when she tried to follow him she was pulled back by Neji. The group stood there in silence as one comrade was driven to the vet while another sauntered away in the opposite direction.

Sakura made a point to stay close to her friends that day. Gaara didn't say a word to anyone, even his desolate girlfriend. The other four guys made a point of staying near him though, incase he lost it again. Thankfully, nothing else happened that day, except for the fact that their little group that had once been over looked by all others was now the center of attention from students and teachers alike. In English class Kakashi-sensei didn't read his book and actually went in front of the class to go through their notes. Sakura suspected maybe he just wanted to be in front of the class so he could clearly see if anything erupted from Gaara, Neji, Hinata, or herself. In gym Gai-sensei didn't make them run laps but let them go straight to basketball practice.

Sakura was even pulled aside by the principal Tsunade between class changes. "Sakura may I have a word with you?" she asked. Sakura cast a quick glance toward her friends but nodded and followed the woman to her office. Sakura was still somewhat new, and had only once or twice spoken with the large-chested, blonde-headed woman. It was only once they was safely in her principal's office that Sakura questioned, "what is it Tsunade-shishou?"

Tsunade gave a small smile. "Sakura, from what I've heard about you I know you're a very bright young woman. All A's on your assignments and a nice person all around. You remind me of myself when I was your age. I understand you've had a rough few first weeks her in Konoha, but you have a good group of friends…from what I know of them, they are all good students, but there's one person I'm particularly interested in talking with you about."

Sakura could already tell where this was going. She sighed. "It's Gaara, isn't it?"

Tsunade folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. "Yes Sakura, it is."

Sakura knew Gaara didn't have the greatest reputation in school, but she had seen the tender side of him. The caring side…the side that loved his friends…and herself. She leaned forward and tried to protest. "Tsunade-shishou, I know Gaara's had some trouble but he and I just had a horrible event happen to the both of us. He just got out of the hospital, and—"

Tsunade cut Sakura off, "Sakura, I know all about your little accident last week. I know Gaara was only just recently discharged from the hospital, and I understand you and he are what one may call friends, but Subaku no Gaara is not quite the man you may think. His actions on the school grounds this morning were not overlooked. The only reason we did not call the police and have him arrested was because we saw what Uchiha Sasuke did. It was hardly justifiable, but it still gave Gaara no reason to attack him. We have already spoken to Sasuke, but Gaara is somewhat less easy to talk to."

"Where are you going with this?" Sakura asked. "I know Gaara's not the star student, but you said yourself you saw what Sasuke did! He hit me, insulted our friends, and sent Akamaru to the animal hospital! He hurt Kiba so bad on the inside that we haven't seen him since he walked off this morning." By this point Sakura was standing over her principal and nearly yelling. Said woman sighed and stood up from her seat. She walked around her desk and pulled the surprised Sakura into a hug.

"Like I said, you remind me of myself. Subaku no Gaara can be very dangerous at times. I witnessed his first major attack about two years ago. He was expelled for nearly a year before he came back to school."

Sakura pulled away from the face full of breas—(A/N –ahem-) Sakura pulled away from the hug and gazed into her principal's eyes. "Attack?"

Tsunade sighed into a smile and released Sakura. "I just want you to be careful. I understand you'll be going home with Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji?" she verified while making her way back to her seat. Sakura nodded. "Good. Now don't be late to class." And with that Tsunade dismissed her.

That had to be the strangest conversation Sakura had ever had with any teacher, let alone a principal. She made her way back to class. Ten Ten looked up when she entered, as did Naruto, but neither of them asked her any questions.

Sakura walked out with Hinata and Ten Ten and they found the rest of their friends by the usual tree. Gaara was out of site on his favorite tree branch. "Sakura, father wants us home as soon as we're out of school." Hinata stated a little shyly. Sakura nodded and waved good bye to all her friends. She walked to her car and from there followed Hinata and Neji to their home.

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right, so, hope y'all dont mind that sticky drama that almost all hs fics end up having, even this one. (if you didn't get the hint, it involves the 'attack')

anyways, like i said, sorry its short. i promise i'll update again next time i get a clear chance.

so Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka, or if you just prefer 'Happy Holidays'. Happy New Year too, just incase.

review, please!

-Olly