You were the one behind the mask

Ok, I want to thank SneakyFox,mistress0fyaoi,drmsr,xXKitsuneXx, ednama, Canadian Ginger, Madamdragon,MiraMira and Maxentius : Thank you for your reviews I am really happy you have liked the story so far. I really appreciate it. Ok this chapter comes before the party one...though I am having some problems with Sasuke's , Ino's , Sakura's and Sai's costumes...any ideas?? I would really appreciate the comments and Ideas.





I also want to thank to my beta InosBane for making of this is story something easy to read. Thanks!!



Relax,Read and do not forget to Review!! And enjoy this chapter made for you guys!!





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It was raining outside. The storm that had begun over the weekend had continued almost non-stop into Monday afternoon. As lightening lit up the sky and the sound of thunder roared overhead, Naruto couln't help but think that the weather was a perfect reflection for his current situation.



On his right, Sakura sat brow furrowed, concentrating hard on the exam paper in front of her. Behind them, Sasuke was trying to conceal his answers from a desperate Kiba, while to the left, Neji and Tenten looked as if they were almost finished. Feeling a bit like Jiraiya at a hot springs, Naruto chanced a look in the far right corner of the room. There was Shikamaru lying on his desk apparently asleep, while Gaara gazed out of the window next to him. A small smile crept across Naruto's face when he remembered the weekend. It really had been quite the coincidence running into Gaara like that, and he enjoyed being able to spend some time with him...even if it meant he had to deal with a brooding Sasuke for the rest of the afternoon.



“Naruto!” Sakura hissed.



The blonde boy returned her frown with a sheepish grin before turning his attention back to his exam. It was hopeless, he hadn’t studied and didn’t understand anything about trigonometry…he wondered what the teacher would say when he turned in a blank page? Sakura watched as the grin turned into a look of resignation before casting a glance down at her friend's exam paper. She sucked in her breath sharply and somehow managed to refrain from punching him.



"Not again," she sighed.



After making sure the teacher's attention was elsewhere, Sakura passed a very surprised Naruto her exam paper.



“Don't think there won't be some kind of payback," she whispered.



Naruto nodded mutely, and began copying down some of her answers. He didn't want the cheating to be obvious, so he left a few problems blank. Once outside the classroom, Naruto hugged the pink haired girl, completely oblivious to the glare he was receiving from Sasuke. Sakura briefly returned the hug before slapping Naruto in the head.



“You didn’t study, did you?” Neji smirked as he came up behind the pair.



Naruto shook his head blushing.



“I kind of didn’t have the time.”



“Of course you didn’t," Sasuke mumbled. "What with you spending all your time with that freak.”



Naruto turned to stare curiously at his best friend. Neji rolled his pale eyes when he saw Sasuke in full "Drama Queen Pout". As much as he enjoyed a dumbfounded Naruto, he hated a gloomy Sasuke, and so without further comment continued on to his next class. Sensing that things would end up badly for the two friends, Sakura grabbed Naruto by the arm and dragged him toward the front doors.



“Come on Uzumaki, you still owe me for saving your butt in trig. I'm thinking that you treating me to an ice cream cone should just about cover it."



Naruto glanced at Sasuke one last time before following Sakura out of the school.



Sasuke stood in the middle of the crowded hallway clenching his fists when a voice whispered into his ear, “wow man, you having some seriously bad luck. Not only do you have to compete with Sakura, but now that Gaara too?"



Kiba shook his head, "I wonder if you're ever going to get your chance with Naruto."



Sasuke turned to stare coldly as Ino slapped the boy in the head.



o-o-o-o-o-o



Outside, the bad weather appeared to have finally come to an end and a weak sunlight filtered through the clouds. Sakura and Naruto walked slowly through the large park next to the school. Each was paying special attention to the large ice cream cone they were holding. Naruto peeked over at Sakura with a small smile on his face. This was just like a date and it had been Sakura's idea! Maybe she did like Naruto the same way he liked her. But looking at Sakura's green eyes brought a memory of aquamarine ones dancing into his head. Gaara's eyes. Both pair of eyes had their own special gleam, but where Sakura's emotions played out on her face, Gaara's could only be found in those aquamarine eyes. Is this what Uncle meant when he said that the eyes were the window to the soul?.



Sakura was watching the changes in Naruto’s face with a degree of amusement. First was the characteristic foxy grin, then with the flick of an eyebrow curiosity took it's place, until the face she'd known for years finally settled into a dreamy sort of frown. She briefly wondered what could possibly be going on before giving in to her own curiosity and asking him the question that had been nagging at her all day.



“So, Naruto," she smiled sweetly. "Care to tell me what's going on between you and Sasuke-kun?”



Naruto shrugged, "Che," he replied sounding annoyed. "I don't know what you're talking about."



Sakura watched her friend lick his ice cream for a moment before continuing.



“Come on, the two of you have been acting weird all day," she smiled. "Weirder than usual anyways."



Naruto sighed. He knew she'd persist until he gave her a straight answer.



“I don’t really know Sakura-chan," he paused to lick a bit of ice cream that was going to drip. "He’s been like that ever since we went to the movies with Gaara and Shikamaru on Saturday."



His answer caught Sakura off guard and she choked.



“Sakura-chan, are you all right?”



“Ye…yeah…thanks, sorry about that." She smiled as Naruto patted her back. "It’s just…Gaara? You, Gaara and Sasuke went to the movies last Saturday?"



Naruto nodded.



"Together?" She asked wide eyed.



“Well, yeah," the blonde nodded again. "Gaara was with his sister and Shikamaru, and since Sasuke and I were going to see a movie when we ran into them, well…I kind of invited them along.”



Sakura thought over what Naruto had just said. So after she'd helped him find a costume, Gaara had run into Naruto and gone with him to see a movie. It all made sense now! No wonder Sasuke was moodier than usual, the way he was acting towards Naruto, cold but incredibly possessive at the same time...Sakura wondered just how clueless Naruto really was. When she looked at him he smiled and grabbed her hand.



“Come on," he said, excitement in his voice. "I see something cool!”



Sakura let her friend drag her across the damp lawn to an empty playground. He stopped at a swingset and sat down. When he motioned for her to sit on the swing next to his, the pink haired girl giggled but complied. The rusty chains squeaked in protest as they began to swing.



“So, Sasuke has been angry since Saturday?” She prodded.



Naruto frowned, thinking over his answer.



“Well, yeah kind of…I mean not so much angry as annoyed. Even a bit depressed. It's really weird seeing him like that, all forlorn, like he's lost something.”



Sakura laughed, there was no use fighting it any longer.



“Oh Naruto, you can really be quite dense sometimes!”



Naruto scrunched up his face in confusion.



"What are you talking about? I'm not dense!”



“Yes," she nodded, taking a deep breath so she could explain, "you are. Remember Hinata, Neji’s cousin?”



Naruto snorted and looked down at his feet. It wan't until after she'd left that he found out she'd had a serious crush on him.



“That," he said trying to sound indignant, "was an entirely different situation.”.



“No," Sakura replied shaking her head, "it wasn't. I remember how angry it made Sasuke that she seemed to find every opportunity she could to be near you. She knew you even better than he did."



“Yeah," the blonde agreed. "Sasuke can be a real ass to someone when he wants to."



Sakura nodded but didn't say anything more. As long as they'd been friends, Naruto had been spared finding out just how big of an ass Sasuke could be. He never found out how Sasuke had finally cornered Hinata and told her that as cute as her crush was, Naruto wasn't into girls. How the poor girl was left stuttering when Sasuke, with a smirk on his face, told her that he and Naruto were actually dating...sort of. Sakura would never forget how once she'd told Hinata the truth, the girl had shrugged sadly and with a small smile said that Sasuke had played his cards well, and had won. Sakura and Tenten hadn't spoken to the Uchiha for weeks after that. Hinata wasn't a dirty fighter, she was a nice girl, she hadn't deserved Sasuke's cruelty.



“This is nice,” Naruto said, pulling Sakura out of her reverie.



When she turned, she saw his large blue eyes focused on her while the ghost of a smile played about his lips.



“Almost like a date.”



Sakura saw the small glimmer of hope in Naruto’s eyes and sighed. Yes, almost like the date Naruto had asked her for last summer, and every month or so since.



“You really think this is like a date?”



Naruto nodded eagerly, "the romantic kind,” he said.



“And who would you like to be with on this date?”



Naruto was about to answer when Sakura held up a hand to stop him.



“I want you to think about your answer first, otherwise I'll have to punch you.”



Naruto gulped smiling nervously. Who would he want to be on a date with? Sakura-chan, duh! That was really obvious, he'd liked her since that day at the beach when he'd taught her to swim. They'd spent all day together talking and laughing. He remembered that was one of the only times he hadn’t spend his entire summer holiday with Sasuke since the Uchihas were attending a wedding in another village. Without Sasuke there, Naruto had the opportunity to spend more time with his others friends, one of whom was Sakura. He'd immediately liked her personality and her hair, her smile and those eyes….those beautiful green eyes that somehow led him to thoughts of Gaara. Gaara really had some interesting eyes, even more interesting than Neji’s. And who can forget that hair? That blood red hair that stood out against his pale skin. The only thing more impressive was the kanji on his forehead, Naruto wondered how he'd done that, it added to the mysterious aura that surrounded him. Then there was that smile. If you looked closely it appeared more like a smirk. Like that moment he looked over at him in class…



“Naruto!”



This time it was Naruto who was called back from dreamland. Blushing slightly, he turned to look at his smirking friend.



“Where'd you go? You spaced out on me for like five minutes!" When Naruto didn't answer right away her smile grew wider. "So, who were you thinking about that's making you blush like that?”



“I…I really don’t know Sakura-chan,” he sighed.



Sakura smiled sympathetically, “well," she said standing up and holding out her hand. "Whoever it was certainly brought a smile to your face."



Naruto took Sakura's hand but kept his eyes on his feet. He could feel himself blushing again.



"Come on then, walk me home like a gentleman,” she teased.



“As you wish Sakura-Hime!” Naruto replied making an elaborate bow.



The two friends laughed as they left the playground. Naruto silently hoping that Sakura was done with her damn questions.



o-o-o-o-o-o



Friday afternoon found Naruto and his classmates running laps around the school's track. Normally it wouldn’t be a problem, but the P.E. teacher, Maito Guy had had them running for the past ten minutes. When he finally told them it was time to stop, everyone with the exception of the Energizer Bunny, also known as Rock Lee, fell to the ground moaning. In fact, Shikamaru wondered out loud between gasps for air, if these weren't his last moments on earth. Professor Guy smiled proudly at his best student, Lee, before turning his eyes to his dying class.



“Okay, I'd say that's enough of a warm up…”



“Warm-up?" Gasped Naruto and Kiba in disbelief. “You call that a warm up?”



“Naruto," Sasuke hissed. "Shut your mouth before he makes us do something worse.”



Much to everyone's dismay, Maito Guy misinterpreted his students' reaction and smiled at them all with his trademark "nice-guy" pose.



“Naruto-kun," he cried happily, "you're right that wasn’t much of a warm up. For that I'm truly sorry. I'll do better next time.”



Naruto gulped feeling his classmates glares burning through him.



"Unfortunately," Guy continued not noticing the giant sweat drop on Naruto's forehead. "We have to move on. I have something planned that I'm sure you'll all love!"



“Yosh, tell us Professor what is this fabulous thing you have planned? I for one, will do my best to persevere until I acquire great skill in this task's execution!” Lee replied, while the rest of the class performed a perfectly executed eye roll.



"You would all do well to display such enthusiasm," Guy gushed. “Get ready everyone, we're going to play soccer!”



Five minutes and many discussions about youthfulness later, only twelve students stood up ready to play. Sasuke’s eyes had a glimmer of malice in them as he looked over at Gaara who smirked as Lee dragged a protesting Shikamaru to his feet. Kiba, who had followed Sasuke's gaze grinned when the Uchiha met his eyes. Soccer's a rough game, anything can happen. Sometimes people even get hurt.



As the students divided into two teams, Naruto looked over where Sasuke, Kiba, Ino, Sakura and Shino were huddled alongside a black haired boy named Zaku. They appeared to be speaking in low tones and every once in a while one of them would look over at his team. When Sasuke finally met his eyes, the Uchiha smirked. Turning his attention back to his own team, Naruto couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. Especially when Shikamaru failed to disguise a large yawn.



“Um, you are planning to stay awake for the game right, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked innocently.



Gaara snickered at the question while Neji regarded Shikamaru with a frown. For his part, Shikamaru stretched his arms over his head, opened one eye and glared at Naruto.



“I'll stay awake, but I'm not going to run all over the field chasing a stupid ball."



“So you can be the goalie?" Tenten suggested.



Shikamaru mulled the suggestion over a moment before shrugging.



“Yosh this is so exciting!" Lee exclaimed, "now, we need a plan in order to use our youthfulness to defeat the other team."



The only two who didn't sweat drop at that remark were Gaara and Neji who glared.



“Well," Shikamaru said smothering another yawn. "Since you seem to have as much energy as Naruto, the two of you should be in the front along with Gaara. Neji and Tenten, the two of you can play defense behind them." While everyone regarded the otherwise lazy boy in surprise, he merely shrugged. "Let’s end this," he said simply.



Sai had never thought of soccer as a particularly violent game, but then he wondered if his misgivings had anything to do with the way Sasuke and Kiba were playing it. The pair seemed to delight in the prospect of shoving Gaara to the ground any chance they got. Sai could see by the expression on the redhead's face that his patience was getting stretched thin. He also noticed the exasperated looks Sakura was shooting the two boys,and the frown on Naruto's face. The fact that Sasuke's team had once again failed to score a goal, thanks to that lazy boy's goalkeeping abilities did nothing but serve to further piss off the Uchiha.



Shikamaru glared at the black-haired boy from the opposite team. There was no question, Sasuke really was an ass. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gaara heading down the field in possession of the ball, Naruto just a bit ahead. Sasuke was closing in on the ball, but it wasn't until after Gaara had passed it to Naruto that the redhead's legs flew out from underneath him. Spitting out bits of mud and grass, he looked up into the Uchiha's smirking face.



“Oops, my bad,” they black haired boy grinned before running off after the ball.



Gaara sat back on his heels and closed his eyes, oblivious to the activity around him. He took a deep shuddering breath and reminded himself that he needed to calm down. That even if Sasuke was a complete asshole he was also Naruto's best friend, and therefore couldn't be murdered...even if he deserved it.



“You okay, sandman?"



Gaara opened his eyes and was blindsided by the smiling face of Naruto. He nodded.



“Good," the blonde said offering his hand to help Gaara up. "Then let’s kick their asses!”



Ten minutes later the game ended in a draw. As the now exhausted players made their way across the field, Gaara heard someone coming up behind him. He thought nothing of it until a split second later when he was shoved into a mud puddle. His cry of surprise caused most of his classmates to turn around.



“Gee," Kiba snickered nastily to Sasuke as they stood next to the puddle, "I don't think a mud mask is going to do much to fix that hideous thing Gaara calls a face."



“Well," Sasuke grinned, "at least he's where he should be, at my f..."



Sasuke, in his amusement, failed to notice the look in Gaara's eyes and the way he'd balled up his fist. His comment was cut short when that fist made contact with his left cheek. Tired of the continuous harrassment, Gaara had reached his breaking point. He was going to kill that boy, if Naruto hated him forever because of it...well, so be it. The Uchiha was going to die.



“Oops, my bad!” Gaara mocked the black haired boy who was now sprawled on the ground.



Sasuke struggled to his feet, intent on striking back when a strong hand came down on each boy's shoulder. Maito Guy's eyes shone with disappointment.



“That wasn’t very nice of you Gaara-kun,” Guy said looking seriously at the redhead. Sasuke only had a moment to smirk before Guy's large black eyes were focused intently on him. "And you, Sasuke, that was very bad sportsmanship. The game was over, there was no call for you to shove Gaara like that.”



The rest of the class watched silently as Guy stood between the two glaring students. It was no secret that there'd been bad blood between them since Gaara's first day.



“You're all free to go," Guy said addressing the class. "but you two," his fingers dug into Gaara and Sasuke's shoulders, "you two have some more laps to run. Knees high, no walking, and no stopping until I say so."



Naruto stood for a moment watching the two boys begin their laps before he shook his head and walked slowly towards the locker room. Shikamaru, Sakura and Sai followed..



“I don’t understand, why does Sasuke hate Gaara so much?” Naruto asked the trio next to him. "I mean he's not a bad person, he's actually really cool, not to mention pretty cute." The blonde didn't realize what he'd said, but Sakura exchanged a look with Sai, while Shikamaru smirked.

As the boys entered their locker room, Shikamaru scratched the back of his head.



"You know, maybe Sasuke's problem isn't that Gaara's a good or bad person, maybe it's that Gaara's so gosh darn cute."



Naruto was grateful that the shirt he was pulling over his head hid his crimson face.



o-o-o-o-o-o



Once Gaara pulled the shirt down over his head he glared at Shikamaru.



"He did," the dark haired boy crossed his heart. "I swear, he said you were cute!"



Gaara rubbed the towel over his head again before walking to the bathroom to hang it up. When he'd finished his laps he decided that he would just shower at home. He'd had enough of school and just wanted to get the hell away from it. Unfortunately, Temari was home when he got there, and he could tell that she didn't believe his story about being clumsy. Still, Naruto had mentioned that he was cute. That in itself was enough to warm his insides and make him very glad that he hadn't actually gone ahead and killed Uchiha.



“You know," he said walking back into his room, "my sister said that for a lazy ass, yours is pretty cute."



Turnabouts being fair play, it was Gaara's turn to watch as Shikamaru blushed.



“Are you aware that everytime I try to talk seriously with you, you bring up your sister?"



Gaara shrugged crossing his heart, “she really did say that.”



“You two really are idiots.”



The boys heads whipped around to find Temari standing in the doorway smiling, a mug in each hand.



“I made hot chocolate, thought you guys might like some.”



Gaara grinned as he took the cup from his sister. Shikamaru, blushing furiously mumbled "thanks."



Temari's eyes sparkled briefly as she sat down on the bed.



“So, you’re ready for the party tomorrow," she asked nodding at the costume in the closet.



Gaara rolled his eyes, he'd been getting this question every day since he bought the costume. Still, he nodded, “I like that boy, he's really …I don’t know, enthusiastic? Happy?”



“You don’t know the half of it,” Shikamaru commented finishing his hot chocolate. “Personally, I'm more interested in what you're going to give him.”



“That’s right," Temari nodded a dreamy expression on her face. " If you really want to impress him and make him notice you, you'll have to give him something special.”



Gaara wanted to stick a finger in his ear and shake it. Once again his sister surprised him by being extra girly. It wasn't that Temari wasn't feminine, this was just way out of character for her.



“I have something, but it's a surprise,” Gaara smirked.



Shikamaru's eyebrows raised in surprise, "what is it?"



“Like I said, it's a surprise, though I'll admit, I had a little help.”



Gaara's confession caused a look of concern to flutter across Shikamaru and Temari's faces.



“Who?" They asked at once.



Gaara smiled as he shrugged his shoulders. “Tomorrow, I'll tell you both tomorrow.”



o-o-o-o-o-o



“Oh, look at this," said an amused Deidara. "Our little Sasuke-chan is old enough to get in fights now."



Sasuke was on the verge of kicking his brother's friend when the elder Uchiha brother walked into the hall. Itachi lifted an eyebrow as he took in the mud and scratches on his brother's knees, but it wasn't until he looked at the large bruise on Sasuke's cheek that he showed the slightest bit of emotion.



"You're right Deidara," Itachi agreed smirking. "Only I wonder why he didn't have the good sense to avoid getting hit in the face like that?"



Sasuke narrowed his eyes, bristling at his brother's attitude, "shut up!" He shouted at the smirking pair



“Oops," Deidara commented wide-eyed. "I'd say you touched a nerve Itachi-kun." Leaning closer to Sasuke he asked in a stage whisper, "so you lost huh?"



Sasuke growled and turned cotinuing down the hallway when his brother called out to him again.



“You'd do well to get a shower and hide any evidence you were in a fight before mom gets home."



Sasuke turned at the bathroom door and appeared to be waiting for Naruto to accompany him when Itachi laughed out loud.



“Sasuke," he mocked, "here I thought you were so grown up, yet you need Naruto to help you wash yourself?"



Deidara snorted as Itachi continued, "Unless you plan on doing more than just bathing."



When Sasuke looked at his brother's face, he was crimson with embarassment. This only caused Deidara to laugh harder, and even Naruto gave in and started laughing.



The younger Uchina gritted his teeth and muttered, "you'll pay for that," before turning to his friend who was holding his sides, trying not to laugh. "Traitor," he growled slamming the bathroom door.



“Hey! I'm not a traitor, but...the way you blushed was funny. Aww, c'mon Sasuke-chan, do you really need my help in there?"



Kisame,who was inside Itachi's room could be heard laughing alongside Deidara. While things being slammed around and muttering echoed from within the bathroom.



“Man, you know just which buttons to push," Naruto grinned at Itachi. The older Uchiha smiled back and motioned for Naruto to follow him into his room. Inside, the blonde found Kisame playing a game on Itachi's computer while Deidara was sprawled on the floor watching TV.



“So how was school today Naruto?" Itachi asked sitting down on his bed.



Naruto shrugged, “it was good, I guess. I'm just more focused on tomorrow.”



“Oh yeah," Deidara looked up, a creepy grin making it's way across his face. "It's your birthday party huh? Just you wait to see what we have for you, you're gonna love it.”



“Oh, uh...thanks?” Naruto replied, a hint of nervousness in his voice. He knew from experience that when Deidara had that look on his face it never meant anything good.



“Don’t worry kid, we won’t let Deidara do anything stupid,” Kisame said noticing the look on Naruto's face.



“I don’t do stupid things," Deidara grunted. "That’s Tobi’s job!”



Naruto sat down beside Itachi while Deidara and Kisame quarreled.



“So, who did he piss off to get hit like that?” Itachi asked Naruto.



Naruto’s eyes opened wide in surprise.



“How'd you know it wasn’t the other way around?”



“Please," Itachi sighed. "I live with him. I know my brother and his temper, he's always pissing off someone."



"Well, he was bothering a friend of mine, a new kid named Gaara. And, well..." Naruto shrugged. "Gaara didn't feel like putting up with Sasuke's crap."



Itachi nodded, "I know the feeling," he muttered quietly. “You staying for dinner? Mom would love another chance to complain about how thin you are, and how irresponsible Jiraiya is for leaving you to fend for yourself. She'll probably make you stay the night."



Naruto smiled, he didn't mind so much when Mrs. Uchiha fussed over him.



“You coming Dobe?” Sasuke's voice drew the blonde's attention. He was leaning on the doorframe, his hair was wet and lay flat on his head. He was wearing a black shirt, sweat pants and a sour expression.



Naruto nodded and followed Sasuke to his room. Once inside, they lay side by side on Sasuke's bed staring up at the ceiling listening to music. From time to time Sasuke would shoot a sideways glance at his best friend, wondering what was going on in that blonde head.



“Why do you hate him so much?”



Well that was unexpected. Sasuke didn’t need to ask who Naruto was talking about. He grimaced, Gaara. That redheaded bastard was going to pay for what he'd done to him.



When Naruto turned to look at his best friend, he noticed an odd expression in his eyes. A sadness. Not his usual pouting, there was something more intense.



“Why do you care so much?" Sasuke finally answered. When he looked at Naruto this time, the blonde was flustered.



“Well, uh, I don’t know...I guess you were right, Sasuke.”



Sasuke's eyebrows shot up, and he tried to school his expression. “What do you mean? Right about what?”



Naruto sighed deeply, as he prepared himself for Sasuke's reaction.



"That maybe I don’t like Sakura-chan as much as I thought, and that maybe…”



Before Naruto could finish, the bedroom door flew open and a smiling Mikoto Uchiha entered the room.



“Naruto! Itachi said you were here, good. Then the ramen I have downstairs won’t go to waste.”



At the mention of ramen, all dark, heavy thoughts were forgotten as Naruto followed Sasuke's mom puppy-like from the room. Sasuke didn’t know if he should be happy or not that his mom had interrupted what was a serious conversation, though deep down he knew it was probably for the best. He really didn’t want to know what else he'd gotten right.





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So, this is the fifth chapter hope all of you had liked, it is getting really hard to write since summer vacations are over. Anyway, do not forget to review and tell me what you think about it !