Hello people :) - been awhile (though not as long as last time so yay :)

thankyou so much to xteenuh102593, Night'sBullet, dailyangel, elfenknight, starlit.kiss7, nomanslandvicki, Merridaine, otaku-freak-16, YuKiOnA-Ga, Raynebow-NinjaChick, Ogami Ga-chan and Lacuna Lily for such lovely, gorgeous reviews that never fail to leave me grinning (or squealing) with sheer happiness :) you really do make his story because i think i would have stopped ages ago if not for the support :) thank you so much cookies for all! :)

i'll be finished school in a few weeks time for the year so hopefully i'll be updating much more often - until then...

recap:

He replaced the cloth on her head with another, this time having placed his entire palm on her skin first to gauge its temperature and finding her only a little clammy. He hadn't wrung the cloth out as much as he thought and caught a stray drip as it trailed over her temple, down her cheek and finally down the soft skin of her neck. Brushing a cloth over the drip quickly, he was surprised to find a large amount of make-up come away from her skin with the fabric. He hadn't realised she was wearing any. Brushing the dampened cloth over her neck again and removing the last of the make-up he couldn't stifle the gasp that escaped him. The bruise in the exact shape of a large thumb print was unmistakable.

Masked Happiness

Chapter 21: Learning a lesson

He saw red. Instantly he was filled with fury. Fury and the intense wish to murder whoever had left the almost black reflection of their thumb on her pale neck. He had to remind himself several times that it could merely be an injury sustained during practice to calm himself down, though it barely worked as he knew it wasn't – no ninja injured another like that in a fight; they were too fast-paced, and especially not in team seven's practice sessions or pathetic excuses for missions. Sasuke just needed a way to calm down and considering this possibility, no matter how improbable, enabled him to control his urge to hurl something at the nearest wall.

No, this mark was left behind as a reminder of some kind. A testament to torment. He knew this wasn't her doing because of the angle of the thumb print; she wouldn't have been able to position her thumb on her own neck at that angle, let alone apply enough pressure to make a bruise that bad. The fact that he had to consider the possibility, however briefly made him glance once, almost involuntarily at her bandaged arm before looking back to the bruise.

The possibilities of what could have happened to her brought all kinds of mental images to his mind and it was through no small amount of self-control that he remained expressionless on the surface as his mind was thrown into turmoil. Sakura had been strangled. He reassured himself that she was still very clearly alive, right in front of him, but it did little to abate his fury. Seconds later, when her breathing hitched and her chest seemed to clench slightly as she winced, he realised that the mark explained this too. Of course she wouldn't have been able to breathe whilst someone was pressing their fingers into her windpipe. He growled unconsciously. His teammate, one of his friends, one of his precious people had hurt herself, starved herself, made herself sick and had been strangled and he had missed it all.

He momentarily considered waking her back up, intent as he was to find answers as to who had done this (so he could hurl something at his wall), before remembering her exhaustion and the fact that she was the victim in this situation. He would get to the bottom of it, but not right now. So he sat beside the bed, watching her breathe softly and reminding himself that for the moment she was safe and that he had done all he could. He quietly sighed. He hated himself for how wrong he was.

After all the excitement during the day and again at dinnertime, it was little wonder that Sasuke was exhausted. He had planned to keep watch over Sakura through the night, just in case she had trouble breathing or got sick again and for his own peace of mind. He needed to reassure himself that whoever had left their thumb print on her neck hadn't succeeded in killing her. He had to know that one of his precious people, the one lying before him, wasn't dead, or about to die – the possibility to him was terrifying.

But at some point in the early hours of the morning Sasuke had given into his exhaustion without consciously deciding to.

When Sakura woke up the next morning, purely because of a routine that her body clock clearly wasn't able to ignore (despite her complete exhaustion) it was to find her hand locked in the grasp of Sasuke's and his head and upper body resting on the bed by her stomach. She looked at him for a long time, face as devoid of emotion as her thoughts while she considered the situation briefly before dismissing it. She was comfortable. Not happy exactly, she didn't know if she was quite capable of that anymore, but she was comfortable. Sasuke's bed was surprisingly soft and as she was lying there she watched Sasuke as he slept. He looked content in sleep, his features for once showing peace.

She studied his face expressionlessly for over an hour, though she didn't realise it, before his face twitched and he mumbled something as he slowly opened his eyes. He was usually so cold and controlled in everything he did that this very normal, everyday reaction to waking up surprised her slightly.

Without lifting his head he looked blearily ahead which, from his position on the bed, was somewhere by Sakura's shoulder before he remembered everything that had happened and realised he had fallen asleep. Sakura felt him squeeze her hand and saw as he lifted his head, his eyes searching somewhat frantically for hers. She saw his surprise when he registered her staring blankly back at him. She didn't expect his hand to reach out and tentatively touch her cheek, cupping it in his hand as if it were something extremely precious and breakable.

In that moment Sasuke had forgotten himself and remembered only the mark on her neck which, with the absence of the make-up could now be seen clearly, far too clearly. He was thankful that she seemed okay this morning. Withdrawing his hand, he continued to look at her as he sat up straighter.

"How are you feeling" he asked her so quietly that the sleep still evident in his voice made it low and husky as his eyes assessed her.

"Better" she answered just as quietly. After a moment of silence Sasuke thought he might spontaneously combust, he was just too curious and could feel the anger he had felt last night simmering under the surface of his concern. He couldn't ignore the livid bruise or the way he felt it was taunting him and tainting her.

"Sakura, how did you get that bruise" he asked seriously, bluntly, not bothering with subtlety.

She looked at him puzzled for a moment before realizing his eyes were on her neck. Her hand flew to the place where she knew her bruise to be. Before Sasuke could stop her she wiped hard across the surface of it, the pain not registering in her mind as she searched for the feel of make-up that simply wasn't there anymore.

Realizing he knew and there was nothing she could do she instantly turned cold and slightly sullen. She had come too far to tell anyone about this, and if Kakashi couldn't get it out of her she wouldn't let Sasuke either. She would deal with this herself, and she would not open up to Sasuke of all people. She would not be called weak.

Sasuke saw her expression and it only served to anger him more. Did she not want help?

He was silently fuming whilst contemplating what to say next. Then in a quiet voice he asked one of the questions that had been bothering him the most. He was angered beyond reason by her apparent lack of self-preservation but still, this was the worst possible thing he could've done.

"Why didn't you fight back?"

Sakura's eyes flashed dangerously. Thoughts cascaded through her mind so fast they barely registered to her as she slowly lost control. 'Fight back? Fight back?! I TRIED!' She could feel the frustrated scream building in her throat against her will and her eyes clouded, 'How is anyone supposed to fight against that monster anyway!' She was becoming irrational, needing to justify her weakness, 'my mum's gone! She's in trouble somewhere and I can't reach her, let alone help her... He... That held me against a wall by my throat after my own miserable attempt at escape which didn't work for the exact same reason it didn't for mum… because he… he terrifies me! And despite that, despite everything… I still fucking tried!'

The moment the words were out, Sasuke saw his mistake in her eyes. She looked pissed, absolutely furious. And upset, though he couldn't tell from her face if it was entirely at him. And under it all, very very deep, a flickering shadow behind her eyes, was fear. He could tell that fear only pissed her off more. She was trembling, there was a fire in her like he hadn't seen for months but it was for the wrong reasons.

Sakura slid her legs off the bed and moved to stand, stopped only when she felt Sasuke's hand on her shoulder, trying to keep her down. She wanted to bite it off.

"Let go of me." she said in a dangerously soft, venomous voice. After inwardly debating for a moment, Sasuke released her shoulder. 'She shouldn't leave, she shouldn't, she cant, I can't let her, she can't go, she shouldn't leave...', it was a constant hopeless monologue in his head. He hadn't gotten his answers, she was injured, she was sick, and he had just driven her away. He could've kicked himself. Sakura pushed herself up until she was standing, shakily at first but through sheer force of will she pushed herself to stand steady before moving to the door.

"Where are you going?"

She shot him a look of angry disbelief before she left.

Once outside Sasuke's apartment, Sakura leant against the wall exhausted as she fought for breath. She had walked out with her head held high but it had sapped her strength quickly and she already needed a rest. 'Dammit! Where do I go now?' she thought frustrated. 'I can't exactly go home. But what else can i do? As if i was really going to stay there... what day is it? What time is it? I can't let anyone see me like this anyway. Damn, I can't believe I let myself think… even for a second that I might be able to just stay there with… no. That can't happen. It wouldn't have anyway. He doesn't like me. He doesn't care. I'm so stupid!'

More than a little miserable, Sakura made her way home. She knew it would be beyond stupid to actually go in through the front door so she slipped around the side of her house, looking to climb the through her window. A tree stood next to the house and with the ease of practice Sakura hefted herself quickly to the topmost branches before moving along one of the thickest ones to her window. With cold, weak hands she gripped the wooden window frame and at the last moment thought better of her current course of action, deciding to avoid the situation altogether as she used the frame to launch herself upwards, onto the roof instead.

Splaying her cold, white fingers against the equally cold, white concrete of the rooftop to keep her balance, Sakura slowly stood, surveying the view. Shuffling forward, her legs not entirely under her control as the cold and lack of use made her knees shake, Sakura made her way to the edge of the rooftop, moving forward until the tips of her toes were curling instinctively over the concrete edge, her eyes remaining fixed on the horizon and the many trees and buildings blocking her view of it. She looked down.

It wasn't a particularly long way to the ground and some part of her mind told her that, were she to jump, she would live, though not unscathed. That same part of her mind registered her disappointment in the face of this fact, and how twisted it was for her to be imagining herself mangled and bloody, the way she would look if she did it. Her hands, hanging loosely at her sides twitched and her fingers curled and uncurled reflexively.

She couldn't be sure how long she stood there, imagining what would happen if she took the easy way out. She was surprised that she wanted to. It would be so easy. Her problems hadn't started with his reappearance after all. She couldn't remember the last time she had been truly happy, or a period of time when it had lasted.

Before he came back she had found release from her shortcomings by drawing her own blood. Before that he had been around. She sighed. That was so long ago and yet it was the beginning of everything. He had been around between missions and looking back through the eyes of someone who knew better, she could see those times for what they really were. He had been a terrible father. He had beaten her and her mother and they had only been happy in his absence. That wasn't love. At least she knew that now. She smiled grimly. Brilliant. She had learnt a lesson. Had it been worth it all?

No.

But there was nothing she could do about that. He had disappeared and she had resorted to taking her emotional pain out on her body. Mistake. A stupid mistake. And it had cost her. It had made her weak. Weaker. And lost people's trust. Her mother's, Kakashi's... and Sasuke's. She wondered if Naruto would hate her too. She shuddered. She had come to think of her friendship with him as her last untainted tie with another human being, he was her brother in all ways other than blood. The last innocent tie she had to someone equally innocent in nature. If she lost that, if she lost his trust, his friendship... She didn't think she could stand Naruto hating her too. She wanted to thump him half the time but she loved him... what would she do if he hated her too? She looked down again and knew the answer.

She had to try, if only to hold onto the last fragile tie she had to the last human being left in her world. She had to work on getting the others back into her life, whether by gaining back lost trust or physically bringing them back. She had to avoid the fall.

She shuddered once again before taking a shaky step backwards. Exhausted, she sank down onto her knees before collapsing sideways until her head rested on the rough, frigid surface. Maybe she could just sleep up here? Live up here? It had to be better than down there, surely. She held her knees closely to her chest, curling into a shivering ball as she thought of how, somewhere beneath her, through the rooftop and possibly a few walls he was there. Waiting, no doubt. Some predatory monster waiting in the darkness for his prey, for a victim. 'No, I'm not a victim. Never a victim. That's not me. Just... temporarily… powerless.' She groaned, recognising her own unconvincing denial. She had no idea what to do about him. For all her plans to get around Kakashi's probing and her determination not to tell Sasuke, Sakura didn't know how to deal with the main problem.

Her hands balled into fists around her tightly held legs. She had been skirting the biggest problem by distracting herself with the smallest because she had no idea what to do. 'How childish.'

How weak.

She let out a soft growl. She'd fix this. Somehow. She would find a way. Save her mum.

Save herself.

She just… didn't know how. Yet.

'I'll fix this.' Sakura told herself with no real conviction.

The thought did nothing to comfort her anyway.

She had fallen asleep. She had been sure she could stay awake. The sun had been high in the sky and her various aches and pains hurt enough to keep her from any level of relaxation but as she quickly discovered upon waking, relaxation didn't matter when her body was so exhausted it couldn't maintain consciousness.

She woke to the feel of cold, hard, unforgiving cement underneath her and a warm body sitting beside her. She barely resisted the urge to scream at this realization. 'He couldn't possibly have found me up here!'

Fighting down her panic, Sakura realised that she was still somehow in the same position she had been sitting in, and that her muscles were horribly cramped and aching. Lifting her head carefully she looked to her side and saw red in the moonlight.

"Funny place to sleep."

He didn't look at her but Sakura could tell that Gaara didn't find anything in life particularly funny, let alone her makeshift bed. She chose to ignore the comment in favour of puzzling over how she had managed to sleep for so long. The sun had been up when she'd last checked.

"You weren't in school." She stated just as blankly as he had as soon as the thought entered her mind . He looked at her then; his expression was odd and unreadable.

"Yes I was, you weren't." Sakura's mind, still hazy from sleep processed this piece of information before coming to the conclusion that she must have stayed at Sasuke's longer than she thought. Thinking back on it she reasoned it was fairly obvious, she should have realised sooner.

"Oh." Was all she said blankly.

Silence.

"I see you changed your bandage finally."

Looking down blearily she muttered, "Oh yeah, that happened too."

He took in her appearance carefully, briefly considering the idea that she might be drunk or drugged. He didn't think so but it wouldn't hurt to keep a closer eye on her, he reasoned. It defeated the purpose of his presence otherwise.

As though talking to herself Sakura muttered faintly, "What time is it?" Before she sighed and put her head back on the ground, not really caring about the answer.

The silence dragged and Gaara noticed that even in the brief time he had known her, Sakura had deteriorated. It was obvious she was physically weaker but what made him take notice was her emotional state which was much worse for wear. She often spoke – she was chatty by nature – even last time they had been on a rooftop together, his rooftop that time, she had spoken much more than she was now.

She was less alert. As though she was on autopilot. Numb. He wondered why she felt the need for detachment. He had been through plenty of ups and downs (more of the latter) and knew all about detachment. He also knew how easily it could be turned on and how hard it was to turn it off. How it takes work to numb oneself emotionally but it's near impossible to undo it. He wondered if she knew this yet. If not, she would soon.

He sat under the moon with her as she drifted in and out of consciousness and contemplated what her reaction might be when she discovered how hard it was to be happy again. Of course, he mused, they would have to wait for something to actually cause her to be happy before they found out. And that, he knew from recent events - both hers and his - could take forever.

Gaara seemed quite content to sit soundlessly, motionlessly through the night. She blearily wondered, in one of her more alert moments through the night, if it was because he had had a lot of time-outs whilst growing up and the childlike nostalgia it brought back for him was too good to pass up. The thought made her, quite uncharacteristically want to giggle. Either way she was glad of the company.

At some point in the night she had stretched her legs and groaned. The hard cement underneath her had frozen her limbs and offered no gentle transition for her legs when she straightened them. She also immediately shivered. As pitiful as the warmth had been when she was rigidly holding her frozen legs to her chest, it had been warmer than this as the cool air now assaulted her unprotected legs and chest and the quakes quickly took over her aching body. If she hadn't been miserable before, she was now. Of course she was always miserable lately so she found it kind of hard to differentiate.

She had no idea where he had pulled it from or if he had had it all along, but suddenly Gaara was draping a blanket around her shoulders. She looked down with wide eyes. It was hers. It wasn't because he had left her here alone, no matter how short a time it was. It wasn't because he had been so inhumanly quick that in her semi-conscious state she hadn't noticed.

It was because he had been in that house. The house below them. He had been in the same house that he was in. The thought went straight through her, piercing as an arrow, and made her tremble more than she had been without the blanket. She noticed Gaara turn his head to her, looking at her oddly again, but she didn't have the energy to offer any kind of reassurance. Mostly because as much as she would have liked to say the opposite, she was not okay.

If she had had the presence of mind in that moment to consider the situation, she would have realised that it was probably the strangest moment after all that had happened in the past week or two for her to go into hysterics over.

She was the furthest away from okay she had ever been. 'I'm so stupid!' she thought as she realised as if for the first time that she couldn't tell anyone about her situation. She could have no outside help. The thought made her shake with fear. She was afraid for so many different reasons. Her mother, where was she?! She would have to face her father to find out. To have any hope of rescuing her. And she was afraid for herself. She had no idea what lengths her father would go to, what he would do to her. And she had no idea why, why he was doing any of it. And not knowing why was worse because not knowing his motivations made him unpredictable.

The thoughts went through her mind and made her shake bodily; every part of her was trembling. Gaara's gaze assessed her quaking form. Her shoulders shook and she was unconsciously rocking backwards and forwards slightly, her hands were shaking like leaves in the wind and her face was pale and frozen in a nameless expression of blank fear as her hair shook around her trembling form in pink waves that shimmered in the moonlight.

Acting on instinct Gaara drew her close with one arm, tucking her small quivering body under it and wrapping it around her as if to shelter her and ward of the cold. He held her so that she was pressed to his side and could feel his warmth through the layers of fabric between them. Whether because of the added heat or the comfort of another person being so close, Sakura calmed a bit and pressed further into his side. He was slightly surprised when she clung to him but didn't pull away.

Through the rest of the night both of them were thankful for the added warmth the other offered as the early morning hours brought with them the coldest hours of the day. Sakura clung to his side even in sleep. Gaara could tell when she was dreaming and despite the obviously serious situation he found it amusing when she mumbled unintelligibly or wriggled slightly in her sleep. He found the sound of her calm breathing against his rib cage soothing and was quite relaxed by morning. It was together in this way that they watched the sun come up.

"I have to go."

It had been so long since either of them had spoken, since any sound besides the first call of the stirring birds had split the morning air that she jumped a little. School. Of course. Or were they training today? She couldn't remember anymore. She couldn't remember what day it was, let alone what she was supposed to be doing through it. Did it matter? She certainly couldn't have cared less. She wouldn't be going anyway so she didn't think it mattered which one she would be missing.

Going to school would be stupid - she was sick. Even she knew that. Even so, if it was training, well, that would just be ridiculous, she'd have to be insane to go. She needed to eat and wash and take a day to make herself look normal again, otherwise Kakashi and Sasuke would only be further encouraged to solve her 'mystery', to find out what was wrong. What was wrong. She also needed time to right what was wrong. She knew what her next move was. She finally had the beginnings of a plan. This thought made her feel somehow lighter, filled her with purpose. She was sure that without that motivation she wouldn't have been able to stand and face this new day.

She looked up at Gaara, even managing a small but real smile. He noticed. Of course.

"Are you coming to school today?" Oh, so it was school after all. Still...

She shook her head once, though it was unnecessary, he knew the answer would be no when he asked. With a slight nod he conveyed his understanding, clearly thinking that it was probably a good idea too - she looked fairly ill - and without another word he leapt into the air gracefully, disappearing from sight as he left the rooftop.

"Showoff." She muttered, smiling when she thought she heard a faint chuckle on the breeze.

She was only here for a moment. She wouldn't need to stay. She wanted to laugh at the stupidity. Of course she wouldn't stay, she couldn't. He'd find her if she did.

She shivered. She was tiptoeing her way across the floor of her bedroom, having stealthily slipped through the window. She wanted to cry when she saw it - it was only a few days since she'd been in here but it felt so much longer and it looked it as well. The way her belongings were sprawled around, the very very fine layer of dust on some things. It reminded her of when she had last been in here and at the same time she missed it enormously. Her eyes prickled. Why couldn't her mum just be here? Why couldn't her dad have just stayed missing. She hadn't been entirely happy before but compared to the way things were now she'd love to just go back in time.

But it wasn't possible and the reason she was here seemed to scream at the complete impossibility that was her life returning to normal. She was here to find and pack as many of her (essential) belongings as she could, because she couldn't stay here.

She moved to her wardrobe as quietly as she could manage. This, she supposed, made training worthwhile at least; though she doubted the reason behind so many shinobi's existence was because each of them were avoiding their fathers... if so then a lot of people had some major issues. Like her. Dammit.

She found what she was looking for without too much digging through the massive two door wardrobe, taking the extra painstaking minutes to make sure she didn't make a sound. It was nerve-wracking work. Eventually she got what she was looking for out from underneath items of clothing and precariously placed books that at the time she hadn't bothered to set right and now she berated herself for - she would never be messy again.

She opened the pack she had retrieved and started shoving bits and pieces of clothing, a blanket and her pillow inside, working quickly. She had to get out of here. Coming back at all was a risk but she needed the essentials. She stopped for a minute. She had thought of her mum earlier. But surely the way to get her back would be in this house. Her father would have had to have planned what he did to her. Her mum wouldn't have gone too quietly and she had grown since he disappeared - unless he had underestimated her he would have had to have planned for her capture - and he obviously hadn't underestimated her or she'd be back. Her fingers curled into a trembling fist.

Wherever she was, whatever that monster had done to her, she was alive. Sakura knew it, she just... did. She wasn't dead, and as long as she wasn't dead, Sakura could bring her back. She could save them. And she would.

But, as much as she really hated herself in the next moment of startling clarity, she knew that for now, she had to run. Not literally, no doubt that would provoke a chase from him, but she couldn't look for anything yet, any hint as to where her mum might be being held. She needed to plan for that. She needed to be able to defend herself for that . She needed time. She hated how pathetic that sounded but it was true, she couldn't do it yet. So, with regret so deep, so consuming that she felt its burden as physically as the pack slung over he shoulder, she left the way she had come.

And stopped. What would she do now? She really had no where to go and for a second a strange sense of displacement took over, making her sway. She decided to get herself back onto the rooftop. Whether it was her new home or a temporary pit stop she needed a break and some space to think. And the view was nice enough.

Sakura had spent the day thinking. At one point, after going through her pack - what she could now assume was the extent of her belongings until she got her mum back - she had taken out the blanket she had packed and set it down on the rooftop, over the one Gaara had brought to her last nigh, weighing them down with the rest of her belongings to stop them from blowing away on the breeze. She had jumped down the tree with an ease afforded by practice and the beginnings of habit and she had made for the main marketplace of Konoha.

She had precious little money, having removed every small amount she could remember stashing strategically in her bedroom, and knew that she could only afford essentials. She had no idea how long she would have to last on the small amount of money she had so she would just have to make do with staples.

Walking around the stalls of the outdoor market and soaking up the relaxed atmosphere of the lunchtime lull, when people had stopped to eat leaving the street itself relatively empty with very little foot traffic, Sakura made her way from stall to stall. She enjoyed looking around, remembering a time when she could (and would) have bought the nice silver ring at one stand, or the distinctive kunai with the decoratively engraved leaves and blossoms on the blade at another. She wasn't depressed whilst she remembered these things like she thought she would be. It filled her once more with that purpose, the one that propelled her to act, to ignore the emptiness of her stomach that she had really been feeling these past few days and the slight throbs and twinges of her arm.

She spent a little of her money instead on a small loaf of bread and a few apples. She had nothing to cook with, no way to make anything at all so she bought instead things that could be readily eaten and would last as long as possible. She was definitely glad of her training now too, she was keeping a level head despite, to all intents and purposes having just moved out of home, and she had a flask for water that she usually used in training and on missions. It would save her having to buy a new one at least.

Taking her meagre supplies back to the rooftop - her new, semi-permanent home for the time being - she spent the afternoon thinking and strategising - thinking of her mother's strengths and weaknesses, the ones her father would have known about and might have used against her and where he might have stashed any hints in the house below that would tell her where her mother was now.

When Gaara arrived she was hardly surprised. It was clear that he didn't sleep a lot. It was probably just nice for him to be able to talk to someone at night - something to do to pass the time. Knowing she had very little food and money as it was she handed him a chunk of bread regardless. She was hardly going to be rude after everything he'd done for her. He took it without comment.

"How was school?" Sakura asked, feeling very slightly like a mother welcoming her son home from school, the mental image lifting her mood slightly. He seemed to think the same thing as, for a moment, she could see the shadow of a smile at the very corner of his mouth.

"Not bad." At her sidelong look he added, "Not good either." She smirked. "How was your day?"

"Not bad." She echoed, not needing to say the rest as he took in her pack, contents spilling over the edge and the blanket they were sitting on. Not to mention the food - or lack thereof. He frowned slightly.

"Camping out?" He didn't mean for the slight hint of disapproval in his voice and her strange half-smile only served to worry him.

"Kinda... why, wanna join me?" He looked at her oddly for a moment, face inscrutable yet filled with some emotion she couldn't name. It looked a bit like shock. Or incredulity. Whatever it was she could tell he was surprised by the question itself, she just didn't quite know what his reaction to it was. She had asked without considering but she knew she'd rather spend the night with him there. She wasn't totally happy with the idea of staying up here on her own.

He didn't answer her question, choosing instead to lean back, bracing his weight on his arms as he watched the serene late afternoon sky. She supposed he would stay or not stay depending on what he felt like and she couldn't blame him - it was pretty much what she was doing anyway.

They sat and watched the sun sink slowly in the sky, Sakura's thoughts drifting between the house below them and all the places her mother might be, Gaara's thoughts following a surprisingly similar track, though neither of them knew it. The view became a night scene before them and they both sat. Eventually, under the blanket of their comfortable silence and without feeling the need for speech, Sakura drew the sleeping bag out of her pack and set it up next to Gaara's unmoving form on the blanket still beneath them.

Sitting, watching the stars as they sparkled into life one by one with Sakura asleep beside him, he thought that this had all the makings of a newly forming habit. He couldn't say he minded.

i was aiming for cute and realistic... i think i got OOC and predictable... what do you reckon?

Im a bit naughty... i waited for an extra two days after this chapter was finished so that i could update on my birthday (im 19 now... well technically i guess im 19 in about 6 hours but same difference :) - so please please please review and make my birthday even happier :)

have fun and thanks for reading :) cookies cookies cookies