Misconstrue

Chapter Four

-Like Oil and Water-

"I just don't understand what's wrong with him." Sakura pouted, leaning against the counter in Ino's flower shop. "He didn't even seem all that happy to see me yesterday. He just went on about all this weird stuff before storming out of my apartment."

Naruto nodded, seeming to agree with her. "Yeah, when I saw him yesterday he punched me in the face! And all I did was make a joke!" he exclaimed. "It was funny too, one of my best ever." He grumbled, crossing his arms.

"He seemed fine to me when he came in to buy that flower for you." Ino shrugged, unwrapping a lollipop and sticking it in her mouth.

Sakura frowned. "He never gave me a flower." She said softly.

Naruto gasped. "But Sakura-chan! He always gets you a flower! It's tradition!"

"Well he bought you a flower." The blonde rolled her eyes. "Paid for it and everything."

At the even sadder look on his friend's face, Naruto hit the counter. "That's it!" he said. "I'm gonna go and find that idiot and talk some sense into him! You just wait and see!" he pointed into the air before marching out of the flower shop.

Sakura let out a sigh, before looking to her best friend. "Gaara's going to beat him up." She stated, reaching over and plucking a lollipop from the jar before unwrapping it and sticking it in her mouth.

"Probably." Ino nodded, taking hers from her mouth. "I don't know what his deal is, he was fine when he came in and bought you the flower. Maybe something happened after that." She shrugged.

"He just stomped into my apartment saying 'I saw you with him', but then he wouldn't tell me who. Instead he decided to leave, and when I confronted him he distracted me with a kiss." The pink haired woman huffed. "That jerk's always using his body to manipulate me."

"Then why don't you resist him?" Ino sighed. "Or use your body against him? Though…he's not as vulnerable as you are emotionally so that might be a dead end."

She stared at the blonde. "Have you tried to resist Kiba when he decides to get all touchy feely?" she arched a delicate brow. "It's so hard…especially because I don't get to see him that often, so I crave any kind of touch he gives me."

"Well I don't know Sakura." The flower shop owner rolled her eyes, "My boyfriend isn't an emotionally detached psychopath. I only have to deal with normal problems like him forgetting my birthday and not asking me what's wrong when I huff."

Sakura nodded. "True." She said, letting out a sigh and straightening. "I'm gonna head out. My shift at the hospital starts soon." She headed for the door and waved over her shoulder. "Later Ino-pig, tell Kiba I said hi!"

"Whatever Forehead." Ino smirked, touching her finger to her forehead before waving. "Try not to do anything too stupid with that man of yours."

"Yeah yeah, I know." she waved once more, smiling back at the woman before exiting the shop. She sighed, her expression falling once she was outside. She really hoped Naruto could figure out what was bothering Gaara. Because she hated knowing he was in town and not being able to see him. Blowing her bangs out of her face, she decided to push those thoughts aside for the time being. She had work to do and patients to see, and they didn't need to know a thing about her personal life. If Gaara wanted to see her he would come and find her. She hoped, anyways.

Gaara stewed as he walked down the streets of Konoha, not really paying any attention to where he was going. He was still upset, not necessarily at Sakura, but about everything. He hated not knowing, and all the doubts that were filling his head. All because of that stupid Sasuke. He growled lowly. He needed to find out if this was all in his head, or if he really needed to do something about this shady clan head trying to take his precious blossom right from under him. He just wouldn't have it. Especially not before he even had a chance to tell his pink haired woman he was in love with her.

Being lost in his thoughts, Gaara didn't notice when he came a bit close to someone and collided with them. He stepped back, regaining his balance as the other man did the same. "I apologize, I wasn't-" he froze, going wide eyed when he was met with a familiar dark gaze. "Sasuke…" he tried not to seethe.

The Uchiha blinked. "Gaara." He said, sounding surprised. "When did you get here?"

"What does that matter!" the redhead glared, stomping up to him and shoving a finger in his face. "I'm on to you Uchiha…you may think you're so sly, but I'm on you like a barnacle on a whale, so you better watch yourself. Get the hell out of my garden and stop trying to uproot my flower!"

Sasuke seemed confused, before he frowned. "Just what exactly are you trying to accuse me of?" he asked, smacking the redhead's finger away.

"You don't need to concern yourself with minor details." Gaara growled, his glare turning icy. "I know what you're up to and I simply won't have it."

The other man glared right back at him. "Why don't you just come out and say it Sabaku?" he asked lowly, the two men butting heads in the middle of the street. Before anything more could happen, they were interrupted by an annoyingly cheerful voice.

"Sasuke! Gaara!" Naruto shouted out from down the street.

They both grimaced, before moving apart and focusing their attention on the blonde as he stopped before them. "What's up guys?" Naruto smiled, looking between the two.

"Ask the psychopath over here." Sasuke grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Go away Naruto." The redhead snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I really do not wish to deal with you today."

Naruto ignored his words, instead wrapping his arms around each of his friend's shoulders. "Guys, I have decided that we're going to hang out today!" he exclaimed. "You both look like you need to have some fun. Especially you Gaara, cause' you're acting weird." He nodded, hugging them to him.

Sasuke struggled in his grasp, which for some reason was stronger than it normally was. "You idiot, I don't want to be forced to spend more time with you today."

"And I simply refuse. I am in no mood." Gaara said, sounding angry as he dissolved into sand and appeared in front of the two. "Now leave me alone." He ordered, before turning around and heading off.

"Now Gaara…" Naruto chuckled. "We wouldn't want that photo of a certain two people during the celebration ceremony to get out now, would we?"

The Kazekage went wide eyed and stopped dead in his tracks. Naruto simply smirked. "That's right…those were some interesting positions you guys did. Lucky for me it was in a room with a security camera."

"You swore you would never speak of that!" Gaara yelled, turning to face the fox, a tiny hint of pink dusting on his cheeks.

Naruto simply sighed, scratching the side of his head as he released Sasuke. "Did I? I can't seem to remember…maybe it's because you don't hang out with me often enough to remind me not to speak about it." he shrugged.

Sasuke shook his head, picking up clues based on their word choice. "Oh that is low." He said.

Gaara just crossed his arms over his chest as he glared off. He was going to make Naruto pay for this one later, after he'd gotten rid of the evidence. "I loathe you…"

"I know." The blonde smiled, a pleased look on his face.

"Well I'm outta here." The ebony haired ninja said, turning to walk off.

"Ah, ah, ah teme!" Naruto beamed. "If you leave, I'm going to tell everyone what you confessed to me that night two weeks ago. You know…when you were drunk off your ass." He snickered.

Sasuke's gaze narrowed dangerously. "I despise you."

"Good! You're both almost back to normal!" the blonde man said happily. "Now, what should we do on our day of fun? You two better come up with something, because if I do, you're going to hate it."

"I say go to a movie." Gaara nodded, hiding his smirk, since there he could escape and place a sand clone so it appeared as if he were there the whole time.

Sasuke frowned. "Three guys going to a movie seems kind of gay." He said.

"You'd know wouldn't you Sasuke?" Naruto cackled, rubbing his hands together.

"I will kill you dobe. Chakra seal or not, I. Will. Kill. You." the Uchiha glared.

"Well considering I have a girlfriend and Naruto has a fiancé…it's not really gay except for you. Which, I'm oddly okay with." Gaara smirked.

A hint of a blush came to the ebony haired man's cheeks, and Naruto's laughter increased. "Why don't we just go eat?" he suggested, wanting to get the conversation away from his sexuality. "It's almost noon anyways."

Gaara just scoffed, but didn't object, considering how fast Naruto ate, this would fly by. Naruto's laughter slowly died down, and he nodded. "Okay. We'll go eat. Hinata-chan showed me this great place last week that she likes. They serve almost everything. I actually got full." He smiled, leading them off.

Sasuke and Gaara followed, though neither looked happy about it. Gaara stared off, not wanting the Uchiha in his sight. "So Naruto, have you and Hinata had sex yet?"

"Nah, Hinata-chan is all classy and stuff, so she wants to wait until after the wedding." The blonde said, glancing back at him. "You're going to come, right?"

"I guess so…" the redhead grumbled. "Though, I've some things to take care of first…" he said, glancing over at Sasuke.

He nodded, seeming to understand. "Of course." He smiled. "I'm so glad she finally picked a date. And it's even more perfect now that my best men are available for the job."

Sasuke blinked, looking at his friend. "Best…men?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah." Naruto said, glancing back at them. "You guys."

"Excuse me?" Gaara glared.

"Well, I couldn't pick which one of you I wanted to be my best man, so I decided to go by unconventional means and use you both!" he smiled at them. "Since you're my best friends and all."

"That…sounds utterly stupid." The Uchiha said.

Gaara looked a bit confused. "Wait…who's the maid of honor?"

"Hinata-chan's little sister, Hanabi." Naruto said. "Hinata-chan couldn't pick, and she didn't want to offend anyone by not choosing them. So all of her lady friends are bridesmaids."

"Well then Sasuke can be best man and walk the little girl down the aisle." The redhead smirked, looking over at Sasuke. "Pedophile."

Sasuke glared at him. "Oh no, there's no way I'm letting you out of this. Either we both walk the child down the aisle, or I'm not going at all." He said.

Gaara scoffed. "Please, I'll be walking my gorgeous girlfriend down the aisle."

"Um…guys…" Naruto interrupted. "It's not really that big of a deal…"

"Why do I have to walk some little girl while Gaara gets to walk Sakura?" Sasuke huffed. "I should get to walk her since I've known her longer."

The two butted heads once more. "Well seeing as I've fucked her, I think I know her a little better than you, you pitiful Uchiha. She's my woman, and I will walk with her!"

Sasuke sneered. "As if. You may know her body better, but I know her soul."

They were pulled apart then, Naruto's serious face coming between them. "Hey guys, if I'd known it would cause such a fuss I wouldn't have brought it up. Let me just see what Hinata-chan wants to do, and then I'll tell you who you're walking down the aisle with." He said.

Gaara shifted his hate-filled gaze to Naruto. "Well let me give you this piece of advice. If that idiot walks with my Sakura, I won't come. Simple as that. I will not stand for this arrogant prick touching what's mine!"

"You don't own her!" Sasuke said. "She was my friend before she was ever anything more to you than someone else to kill, so just lay off!"

"I am about five second from ripping your tongue right out of your mouth Uchiha! You have no right to anything you traitor!"

Naruto tried to intervene once more, before things got worse. "Okay now! You two need to calm down! This is stupid, and-" he blinked, looking past them at a face he hoped wasn't really in the crowd that had gathered around them. "Sakura-chan?" he asked softly, making the two arguing ninja stop and follow the blonde's gaze.

There, with a mixture of shock, hurt, and confusion displayed on her face, was Sakura. "I can't believe you…" she whispered, her voice breaking as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Either of you." Her watery gaze shifted from Gaara to Sasuke, before she turned and pushed through the crowd, running off in the opposite direction.

"No! Damnit!" Gaara yelled, glaring back at Naruto. "This is all your fault!" he snapped, leaving them as he ran after Sakura. "Sakura! Wait!" he called, shoving past the ones around him.

She shook her head, not even looking back at him as she continued to flee. She couldn't stop, not here. Not in the middle of the street where all of these people would get to witness her complete and utter humiliation. And so, in an attempt to lose her pursuer and get away from the crowd, she ducked into an alleyway and quickly hid behind a garbage dumpster, curling into a ball and continuing to cry as she sat there on the ground.

Gaara stopped at the mouth of the alleyway, letting out a tired breath, mentally screaming at himself for being such a moron. He walked in, looking down at her once he was beside the dumpster. "Sakura…I'm sorry." He said softly, kneeling beside her and resting his hand on her back. "I was just…getting defensive…I'm an idiot."

"Why'd you have to go say it like that?" she hiccupped, looking up at him. "That we fucked. It sounds so crude…" she sniffed, wiping at her face.

"Because I'm a douche…" he frowned, moving his hand to the small of her back and scooping his free arm under her legs so he could hoist her up into his arms. "I'm so sorry Sakura…you know I care about you so much…I get defensive…especially because Sasuke was saying he knew you better than I…I just lost it…please forgive me."

She let out a sigh, before laying her head on his shoulder and letting him hold her. At least this way she was off of the gross floor. "You know he was only goading you." the pink haired medic pointed out. "Besides, how could he know me better, when you're the one who awakened all of my hidden desires?" she asked, reaching up and brushing the back of her fingers against his cheek.

He looked down, his expression full of shame. "I know…it's just hard to believe sometimes…"

"What is?" Sakura asked, her brow drawing together in confusion.

"That…you're with me…sometimes I think I'm going to wake up and it was all just a dream I had." He admitted.

A small smile came to her face at his words. "What a wonderful dream…to get to be your woman." She said, pulling herself up as best she could and kissing him quickly. "I forgive you." she murmured, keeping her face close to his.

"Sorry I've been such a freak lately." He sighed, leaning down so he could nuzzle against her. "You know me…I'm me." He smiled slightly.

Sakura giggled. "And I wouldn't have you any other way." she declared, giving him a chaste kiss. "Now you have two choices Sabaku no Gaara. You can either set me down and let me get to work, or you can take me back to my apartment and ravish me." she smiled, resting against him a bit dramatically.

"Hmm…that's a tough one." He smirked, pulling her closer as his sand wrapped around them. "I'll take door number two…right into your bedroom." He snickered as they both disappeared without a trace.