Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Wouldn't want to, honestly, but that's just my opinion.

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Alright, guys. Ready to hear it one more time???

I'm trying to finish it.

I mean it this time. I hope, anyways. I've already gotten through A LOT to finish it up. I've even made it up to what some may consider the 'last' chapter. Course, you know me, I don't deliberately set chapters anywhere, so tough cookies.

Anyways, just wanted to letcha know.

-Olly

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Gaara made sure to park his bike a good ways away, so as not to alert Sakura's parents. He crossed through the wooded area around her house until he made it to the back. He could see her window.

But of course, Gaara was so determined in his mission that he forgot one minor problem: Sakura's room was on the second floor…and he was on the ground…and he had no obvious means of getting to her window…

The thought of throwing pebbles at the window to get her attention flitted through his mind briefly, but he shook it out immediately. Doing that kind of thing would ruin his entire incognito Secret Agent Man moment.

But oh! By a twist of fate, there was a wall of lattice by which to climb up!

Gaara eyed the lattice suspiciously. Who was to say that it would hold his weight like it did in the movies? What if he fell? Her parents would find out…and Sakura would flip out…and he'd probably have to go back to the hospital, a situation at which he would go by any means to avoid.

Another glance at the window to her room put new determination back his bones, and Gaara slowly edged toward the house, praying that they didn't have yet another weird security system around their yard to catch him. To his surprise he made it to the wall safely, hunching low below windows so no person might see him. Now the lattice was his only obstacle. It eyed him ominously, laughing at him, taunting him. Daring Gaara to even try.

The red-haired boy grabbed the wood and shook it experimentally, but quietly. It seemed sturdy. Gaara could only hope that his judgment would be accurate. He took a breath and began to climb.

He took it slow, managing only a few inches at a time. No way in hell was Gaara going to rush something that might render him hospitalized. The window. It was so close…

From inside the room, four fingers were visible just below the windowsill, and then a hand. Then Gaara poked his head up, glancing around the room cautiously before pulling upward a little more. From this view, the young man looked quite composed and ready for an intellectual conversation.

From the outside, he must've looked pretty damn stupid dangling like a strange black animal beneath Sakura's window.

Unfortunately, the center of Gaara's entire mission was already asleep. Sakura snuggled against her pillow. Gaara's eyes squinted in annoyance and he thought about knocking on the glass to wake her up. But she just looked so peaceful. Suddenly her phone went off, ringing that familiar tune that Gaara couldn't quite recognize. Out of nowhere, he realized it was the same melody he'd been strumming on his guitar not that long ago. She must've recorded it on her phone that day they had practice…

Gaara squinted at the still ringing phone. Through the window and the darkness he was able see the caller ID. It started with a T…probably Temari looking for him. The noise was beginning to bother Sakura. She was turning her head in sleepy awakening. Finally the tune stopped but then started up again. This time Sakura was reaching coherency. She started mumbling short, muffled phrases proclaiming her hate for "that stupid phone". All of a sudden, Gaara feared for her to wake up. What would she think about him hanging outside her bedroom window? Romantic? Disturbing?

What was I thinking? Gaara growled to himself. What kind of stupid idea was this? He started to carefully climb back down so she wouldn't see him out her window. He could still hear vaguely the sound of the phone stopping and then Sakura's voice echoing softly through the window: "Temari?...No, he's not here…He did what?...What do you mean, 'don't worry'?...Well give me a call when comes home…Ok, bye."

Then there was silence. Gaara thought about her voice when she was on the phone. She sounded worried, so… Maybe she does still care. I knew it. Feeling just the tiniest bit better about himself, he climbed down slowly and quietly made his way back to his bike.

When he stalked back through the door of his own house Temari was waiting for him, accusations and wooden spoon in hand. He only regarded her with an amused scoff and tugged playfully at one of her pigtails. "I'm still alive aren't I? Calm down."

His older sister scowled disapprovingly as he raided the fridge for the orange juice. "Well then where were you?" she demanded while he poured a glass.

"Nowhere. Just wanted to go for a ride."

"You liar! I know you went somewhere." Temari countered. "Did you go to Sakura's?"

Surprised that his sister would reach that conclusion so quickly, Gaara tried to remain composed. "Why would I go to Sakura's?" he asked uninterestedly.

"Oh, like it's not blatantly obvious that you like her." Temari said sarcastically.

Wanting to end this conversation quickly, Gaara put the carton of orange juice back and the fridge and turned mockingly to his sister. "Yeah I went Sakura's. She pulled me in and we fucked like mad."

Kankuro, who had just entered the conversation, seemed utterly confused. Temari was stunned. Gaara took advantage of his sister's momentary shock to slip past her and grab a couple oatmeal cookies that were residing on a plate behind her. Temari didn't realize what had happened until Gaara was at the foot of the stairs and heading up to his room. Anger and embarrassment flushed across her face. "You sick little…"

"If you want I can give you all the horny details sometime." Gaara called back. He ducked just in time to avoid the spoon that was soaring through the air towards his head. It connected with the wall with an empty 'tack'. Gaara chuckled all the way up the stairs. He had only walked a few feet into his room when Kankuro appeared at the door.

"You mean you really…?"

Gaara threw the nearest thing he could reach (which was a shoe) at the door. "Get out," he demanded. Kankuro, still confused, retreated. Gaara sighed and laughed lightly in spite of himself.

A wise man once said, "We are all fools in Love."

Then again, not many people would refer to Gai-Sensei and his youthful adoration sermons as wisdom…

Gaara sprawled out on his bed, chewed on a cookie, and sighed. He missed her again. This was becoming unhealthy. His mind wandered back into her room, where she lay, untroubled, asleep on her bad. A soft smile tugged at the corners of Gaara's mouth. She had looked to peaceful while she slept, not burdened by the world, content to dwell happily in her dreams. Was it possible that he was perhaps part of those dreams? The thought pleased him. However, he was jealous of that peace. He could never achieve it. At least most of the time, if he was awake, he was able to keep his mind together; but there was just something about sleeping that he just didn't understand. Something about the serenity of sleep eluded him. Even when he used to watch Temari or Kankuro sleep, he could never comprehend it. Sometimes, if he tried, he could relax his body nearly to the point of sleep, but he was always still awake, still aware.

He wondered what would happen if he slept. What would he dream? Would he dream about Sakura? That prospect surprised him nearly to the point of excitement. Dream about Sakura? Well he thought about her practically all the time…it only made sense that his dreams would be filled with her essence too. Experimentally, he got up, fetched the bottle of Nyquil that rested in the bathroom, and brought it back to his room. After three quick gulps that nearly made him sick, he lay back down on his bed and waited for the sleep to come. Once the drug had entered his system, the dregs of sleep started pulling at his conscious. Ok, Sakura, here I come.

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Yay!

Can you guess what happens next?

Go on, I'm curious. Review if you think you know what's coming. I'll publish a shout out to anyone that gets it right. It's pretty easy to figure it out, I think.

R&R

-Olly BaaBaa-Chan