hello all :) - its been so so long, i'll try to never take thta long to update ever again... i missed writing far too much :) (not to mention the incredibly sweet reviews i get, thankyou to Riuki, -ShadowBabe-, Designed to Die, Gothic Saku-chan, angstar54, starlit.kiss7, .Wax.Butterflies., xteenuh102593, Starlight - Wild Koneko, Merridaine (whose stories are sooo awesome:), SnowySaku, Rain Chrystal (whose stories are equally awesome and who deserves much credit :) and dailyangel, (yellow daisy still suits by the way :D) - the best friend anyone could ask for, and an amazing writer whose stories everyone should go check out :) -- oh, and say hi to ur group 7 for me if they still like this fic and can stand to hear anymore of it lol :)... this chapter is for you and them :)

anyway, because of the fabulous reminder from Designed to Die, i'll include a quick recap form the last chapter for anyone who doesnt feel like going back and re-reading the last one... although its been so long since i updated (sorry!) that it may be easier to simply skim-read it again anyway :) -- anyway before i do that i just wanna say that ive only been writing fanfics for a few months but the amount of support and kindness on this website is amazing, and that (having turned 18 today...scary lol...) - i couldnt ask for a nicer present than all of the amazing reviews i get for every chapter and the amazing stories that so many of you manage to think up, so thankyou :)

anyway on with the story hey :) -- recap:

Setting her down on the bed, Gaara quickly but efficiently cleaned and bandaged her arm, knowing the dressings would only need to last a few hours as she would no doubt re-do them when she woke up.

Having finished his task, he turned to leave through the window before a faint voice stopped him.

'Hey,' Sakura said softly, still half-asleep and weak from blood loss.

Gaara smiled and walked back to her bedside, taking her hand in his and giving it a small squeeze. Looking up at him with heavy eyelids and feeling completely disorientated, Sakura mumbled,

'I'll see you soon right?'

'Sooner than you think,' Gaara said nodding, 'for now just sleep.'

He went to her window again and as he climbed out he heard a faint voice.

'Thank you' before he disappeared, the ghost of a smile playing on his face.

onwards and upwards!...you know what i mean lol :)

Masked Happiness

Chapter 15: Sooner Than You Think

Sakura slowly made her return to consciousness as beams of sunlight fell lightly across her face from the open window. Opening her eyes she smiled to herself and hugged her blankets closer to her body before stretching languidly beneath them.

She felt completely relaxed and refreshed, knowing she had just had the best night sleep she'd had in weeks.

'Or months?' she wondered lazily as she rolled onto her back and stared contentedly at the ceiling thinking about nothing in particular.

Bringing her arm into her field of vision she noticed that even though it twinged every so often it felt a lot better than it had yesterday. As she looked at the bandages she also remembered Gaara and the events of the previous night.

Knowing she still had a lot of unanswered questions about him, she was still happy in the knowledge that she could trust him. Last night had proved that, especially since she knew she hadn't gotten herself into bed (or even into her house) and that, had he wanted to hurt or kill her, his best opportunity had been then. He hadn't taken it.

Dismissing him as a threat, Sakura dimly remembered words before she had fallen asleep.

'I'll see you soon right?'

'Sooner than you think'

Puzzling briefly over the vague words, she then heard knocking at her door and grudgingly rolled off of her bed. It wasn't until she exited her bedroom, mid-yawn with a hand tangled in her wildly messy hair that she remembered her lack of a front door… still… and found herself looking directly at Sasuke, realising not only that the knocking had been on the outside wall beside the doorframe, but also that she was still in her pyjamas (not that she particularly cared about that because overnight missions meant that they had each seen most of each others sleepwear anyway).

She did however forget her bandaged arm and before Sasuke spoke his eyes fell on it briefly, not recalling an injured arm the last time he had seen her.

'I knew you would lose track of what day it is so I came to get you for school.' He said disinterestedly as he continued to look at her arm.

It wasn't too long ago that Sakura would have squealed in delight or blushed like crazy, doing a perfect likeness of a tomato at the thought of Sasuke walking her to school… or even thinking of her… but instead she shocked him (and somewhere in the back of her mind she realised she had shocked herself a bit), by simply looking at him, vaguely puzzled.

'But its Sunday isn't it?' She said emotionlessly doing a perfect likeness of Sasuke without realising it as she tried to remember in her slightly hazy mind if she had indeed lost a day.

Sasuke shook his head.

'Nope, Monday. After what happened Saturday and when you didn't turn up for lunch yesterday I figured you just slept through it.'

Sakura struggled to remember Saturday for a second but thoughts of the previous night eclipsed memories of nearly drowning two days ago and her mind still seemed oddly hazy, although definitely clearer than the day before when it had felt completely waterlogged.

Sasuke grew slightly concerned at her continuing puzzled expression, before she smiled, figuring she would need to anyway like she did everyday so she might as well start now.

'Well thank you so much for thinking of me Sasuke-kun.' She said cheerily, noticing how empty the words and added suffix actually sounded in her own ears now as opposed to how heartfelt it was whenever she had said it a few months ago and almost cringing at the thought.

'Hn.' was his only response and Sakura knew better than to care.

'As if he was actually thinking of me anyway' she thought grimly.

So what he said next startled her.

'Are you ok Sakura?'

He had his back to her already, as though it was merely an afterthought. Deciding not to take it too seriously and knowing there was little chance that he was being sincere, she simply turned as well and answered simply, knowing he probably just wanted to get away.

'Fine.'

With that she disappeared into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

The whole conversation had left Sasuke momentarily stunned and more than slightly confused and as he waited for Sakura, multiple thoughts raced through his head in quick succession. 'Why is her arm bandaged, I wonder what happened… and she seemed really out of it… and the way she said 'Sasuke-kun' sounded so forced… has it always sounded like that?… her eyes looked almost…empty… why do I even care… she is a teammate so I have to make sure she wont slow us down… man, how could I think like that… well she said she was fine… although I couldn't see her face, I'd already turned away… of course I had, its what I do… but I shouldn't even care… she's just another fangirl who just happens to be on my team… but she seemed so vacant, I wonder if its because of Saturday… Saturday… it was like she didn't even remember it… I wonder if she really is ok… but it's none of my business, I should stay out of it…'

As Sasuke's mind whirled with indecision, Sakura was hurriedly throwing on clothes for the day. She had finally remembered her bandaged arm and hoped that Sasuke hadn't seen it. 'Although it wouldn't matter too much if he had… he wont say anything… he doesn't care enough to bother.' She smiled grimly at her thoughts as she realised how cynical (albeit realistic) she sounded and was slightly proud of herself for finally, after all this time, recognizing the truth that had seemed to elude her for so long… that he didn't care.

Still smiling, a fully dressed Sakura grabbed her pack and went outside to find a waiting Sasuke. Upon seeing her smiling, he decided to push aside his concerns and simply keep an eye on her. She continued to smile; knowing it would get easier and look more natural as the day wore on just like it always did as her mind absently drifted back to thoughts and questions about last night.

As Sasuke and Sakura walked through the double doors of the high school and their uneventful and completely silent walk to the school was interrupted by the loud masses of late students running from lockers to classrooms, they parted ways like they always did as each headed to their lockers. As Sasuke walked to his, he noticed the absence of even a simple 'goodbye' from Sakura as he thought about how unusual it was to see her so silent like she had been for the ten minutes it had taken them to reach the school.

Sakura on the other hand had only one thought in her head once she got to her locker.

'How soon is sooner than I think?'

As she continued to ponder Gaara's words and half-heartedly curse him for his mysteriousness, she bundled the books she would need into her arms and slowly walked to her first class, not particularly caring that she was running late.

When Sakura eventually made it to the right classroom Kakashi looked up from his book at the late arrival (as she had managed to be even later than him this morning) but upon seeing that it was Sakura walking dazedly to her seat, too deep in thought to notice her surroundings and her eyes unfocused, a hidden flicker of concern crossed his face before he looked back down at his book deciding to keep an eye on her but not to interfere… not unless it was necessary.

Half falling into her seat, Sakura wondered briefly why her mind felt so foggy before remembering that in the past two days she had nearly drowned and then had sand painstakingly plucked from her arm grain by grain and decided that she was probably lucky that that was all that was wrong with her.

As Kakashi stood, obviously done with that particular chapter of his beloved book and ready to begin teaching, the door opened and Sakura couldn't keep the grin from her face at who she saw standing in the doorway.

'Oh right, I forgot,' said Kakashi as he too smiled through his mask at the boy in the doorway who was looking quite uninterested in everything. Of everyone in the classroom, only Sakura knew that he always looked like that and only she could see the small flicker of slight curiosity in his surroundings that remained hidden to the rest of the class. Tuning back into what Kakashi had been saying she managed to pick up the end of his sentence.

'… will be joining our class while he's in town to keep up to date with schoolwork.' At this Gaara looked slightly annoyed making it clear that it hadn't been his idea that he be 'kept up to date with schoolwork'.

'So if you could find a seat Gaara and just listen in today, I will talk to you after class to catch you up with what we've been doing.'

Going to a seat in the back left corner of the class as it was the only seat that wasn't occupied, he sat down and glanced around the room noticing that Sakura was sitting at the back as well but in the right corner. Sakura still couldn't keep the grin from her face as she fought not to laugh and when he saw her she could have sworn she saw the ghost of a smile.

'Much sooner than I thought.'

When the bell eventually rang out through the school and deafened everyone who heard it as usual, the class rose to their feet as one and fought to get out of the room as fast as possible, heedless of Kakashi's half-hearted reprimands.

'You are only to leave when I have excused you! Oh never mind…' he muttered as he flopped down into his chair and picked up his little orange friend, opening it to the exact page he had left off from with practiced ease.

Noticing that both Gaara and Sakura were taking a little longer to collect their books together he realised he needed to speak to both of them. Knowing that Gaara would wait because he had already been asked to, Kakashi decided that Sakura could go first and prayed that Gaara would stay out of earshot until they were finished.

'Sakura, could I have a quick word please?' He called, shaking Sakura out of the daze she had yet again fallen into and nearly causing her to drop her books. After the momentary shock and elation that Gaara's arrival had brought, Sakura found herself feeling a bit spacey again and noticed that the classroom seemed to be a little out of focus so she had sat quietly for the rest of the class, hoping that the odd feelings would dissipate. 'Maybe I should take it easy for a few days… just until everything stops spinning so much' she thought to herself as she made her way between the desks towards the front of the room.

Kakashi was relieved to see Gaara staying at the back of the class, clearly realising that they needed to talk without anyone listening in and so opening a book and sitting down looking quite uninterested in everything. Unknown to Kakashi he was actually quite curious as to what they needed to talk about (possibly because the room was completely devoid of anything that was anywhere near as interesting), and so under the pretense of pulling out a book and reading, he watched Sakura and Kakashi out of the corner of his eye.

Standing in front of Kakashi's desk and looking at him curiously, she waited for him to say something but he had kept reading once he had called her over and now she was indignant to find that he seemed to have forgotten she was there. Coughing quietly to get his attention she was more than slightly annoyed when he looked up amusedly and said quietly,

'Yes, what would you like Sakura?'

Even though she glared at him, both knew full well that he was only doing this to lighten the mood of the stifling classroom a bit and he could clearly see a smile fighting the glare on her face.

His face became more serious after a moment as he said 'Are you ok Sakura?'

This time she had expected to be asked, but it still made her think as a grim smile began creeping over her face, 'heh, second time I've been asked that today, I must look really awful… at least I know he actually means it…' at the last thought her face softened and she smiled a small genuine smile.

'Everything's fine, honestly.'

Seeing her smile as she said it, his face softened as well and he decided to stop worrying quite so much.

'And you'll come and talk to me if you need to?' he asked quietly, still aware that they were not the only ones in the room. Sakura chuckled quietly.

'I told you that I would last time, remember?' Kakashi smiled.

'Alright, go and have your lunch then. Oh, and Sakura, look after yourself ok?'

Deciding that she must truly look terrible this morning, Sakura nodded and smiled before turning on her heel and leaving the room with a quick glance at Gaara on her way past. As she looked at him, Gaara's eyes flickered upwards and they made eye contact briefly before she disappeared through the door. He had watched them both and heard their muffled talking and concluded that they must be close considering their body language, the small laughs he had heard and how at ease they both looked with each other. 'Interesting' he thought as, without a word, he closed his book and picked up the rest of his things before making his way to the front of the classroom.

Deciding not to do the same thing to Gaara as he had done to Sakura when she had first walked up to his desk, 'I highly doubt that he would get the joke' Kakashi thought as he scanned the boys face and noticed that he had no laugh lines and that, judging from the serious expression on his face, if he did laugh his face might actually crack. Instead Kakashi decided to get straight down to business, after all he was halfway through a whole new chapter now and he could hardly leave it there.

'Ok, so far this term we've covered…'

Quickly ditching her books in her locker, Sakura then headed straight to the girls bathroom and looked in the mirror, surprised to see that other than looking pale, she looked perfectly fine. 'So why do people keep asking if I'm ok?!' she thought exasperatedly before conceding, 'well ok, Sasuke I can understand, last time he saw me I looked a little worse for wear, but why Kakashi?... although he might have noticed that I'm completely white, he does pick up on everything.'

Realising how hungry she was, she quickly pushed all other thoughts to the back of her mind as she made her way back to her locker to grab her lunch. Feeling like her head was swimming again she reached out and opened her locker, searching quickly for her lunch. After looking for a few minutes and growing increasingly annoyed (and hungry) she realised she must have left it at home and thinking back she remembered the last time she saw it in her minds eye. On the kitchen counter. Sighing and then closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in an effort to abate the sudden dizziness that had washed over her, Sakura closed her locker and took a step forward, her eyes still shut as she realised she would have to go home and get her lunch.

Any other day and she would have gone without, but today she knew she needed to eat something to give her enough energy to be able to avoid passing out in her afternoon classes.

Feeling as though everything was moving in slow motion and suddenly sure that her head must somehow be underwater for it to feel like this she opened her eyes as she continued walking, only to walk into something warm and quite solid before beginning to pitch backwards from the impact.

Caught by strong arms before she hit the floor, Sakura blinked a few times as she looked into the sea green eyes of her newest classmate. Gaara pulled her back into a standing position and let go of her, only to have to instantly dive forwards again to stop her from collapsing into a heap as her legs trembled before giving way completely.

Helping her stand for a second time but this time not letting go of her shoulders as she slumped slightly, Gaara watched as Sakura shook her head slightly and took another deep breathe before standing up straighter. After a moment in which he quickly assessed her to make sure she wouldn't collapse again, he let go off her shoulders warily and took a small step back to give her some space.

Looking up into his eyes Sakura smiled her thanks.

'Sorry about that, and thanks,' she said, feeling slightly embarrassed at the sudden thought that he had seen her so weak so many times already. He seemed to understand her feelings in the tone of her voice and looked meaningfully at her.

'Don't worry about it.' And she knew he meant the previous night as well as what had just happened. She smiled gratefully and he returned it with the flicker of a smile that was just for her, knowing that she saw it.

'So are you enjoying your first day of school?' she asked teasingly as he shot her an empty glare that concealed what would have been a laugh and stayed silent. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually laughed but this girl was coming awfully close to making him and he loved how easy they already were with each other. 'Funny what a form of torture can do to bring people together' he thought grimly as he glanced at her arm and frowned as a thought struck him.

'I'll take that as a yes then.' She continued, smiling brightly and giggling before flinching slightly as Gaara grabbed her arm and raised her sleeve to reveal the bandage. She turned to look at him to find him staring intently at it before he raised his eyes to hers.

'You should have changed these bandages, I was in a rush last night and your arm really needs to be rebound properly.'

'Oh it's alright; I was in a rush myself this morning and I didn't have time but I'll do it tonight. Don't worry.' She added when he didn't release her arm. He looked at her for a long moment as though analysing her and she began to feel slightly uncomfortable about being under such close scrutiny before realising his eyes were gentle and worried and that this was just his way of caring. She confirmed it when she smiled up at him and he continued to look worriedly at her before releasing her arm and giving a very small, slightly strained smile. 'I think I'm going to have to keep an eye on this one… make sure she's ok… she never said why her arm was… we never talked about…' his thoughts were whirling out of control as they continued their walk together down the hall to the grass outside where the students ate their lunch, 'and the reason I'm here, in Konoha in the first place… she doesn't even know… know about…'

'Oh!' The small sound broke Gaara out of his thoughts as he looked down to find Sakura had begun walking back the way they had come. After a few more steps she turned back to him as though she had only just remembered he was still there and said,

'Sorry, I forgot my lunch and should really go home and get it.' He looked at her oddly for a second, slightly worried about her again.

'Oh I'm sorry, do you know where to go to have lunch and your next class and everything?' she asked, mistaking his concern for her and thinking he simply didn't know what to do or where to go next.

'No I'm fine, did you want me to walk there with you?'

Touched by his kindness, Sakura smiled kindly at him.

'Thank you for the offer,' she said genuinely 'but its only ten minutes away, I'll be fine, you go and have lunch. Oh and… thank you, for before.' She added and smiled again before turning and walking away, leaving Gaara to drown in his thoughts.

'Definitely need to keep an eye on her,' he thought grimly before a light smile touched his lips, 'and change her bandages myself if she forgets again.'

ok, 15 down... amazing how big this fics getting... my baby lol... anyway im off to continue celebrating my new found adulthood lol... quite a good day actually, girly day with mum, fish and chips (and vodka cruisers) by the beach (my goodness seagulls scare me lol) -- and tonight... just relaxing and stuff... oooh and im gettin a new camera for my birthday!! yay :)... anyway enuf bout that lol... please make my perfect day that little bit more memorable and special and leave a review... pleeeeease:) (ooh, and a cookie goes to whoever gets the 100th review... i cant believe i'll have that many reviews... thankyou all and hope you liked this chapter :)

thanks for reading:)