DISCLAIMER--Unfourtunately I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with him.
"Gaara! Get your ass down here now! The red head sighed, and then dragged himself out of bed. He felt dread fill his body with each step he took. It was never good when his day started out like this. "Gaara!" Gaara winced. His father was getting impatient. He made his way slowly down the stairs, afraid of what would happen when his father caught sight of him. He reached the bottom of the stairs, took a deep breath, then made his way into the kitchen.
"Yes, father," he asked, bowing slightly.
"Don't you yes father me, you little freak!" There was a blur of movement, and pain exploded on the side of Gaara's face. He staggered, but managed not to fall. Yondaime glared menacingly at him. "Next time get down here quicker, instead of taking your sweet time. Now, start making breakfast for me and your siblings. But since you seem to think that you're too good to come straightaway when you're called, you'll go without breakfast today." He paused, and his glare got even more threatening. "You got a problem with that?"
Gaara shook his head and tried to back away, but his father's hand shot out and wrapped around his wrist, jerking him forward. "Hmm…I seem to be going deaf. I didn't hear anything. I asked you a question! Answer me boy!"
"N-No s-sir, I d-don't have a p-problem with th-that," Gaara stuttered. He hated how scared he sounded. So weak, so powerless.
"Good," Yondaime growled, pushing Gaara away from him. The redhead stumbled and fell, hitting his shoulder on the end of the table. He felt blood slowly trickle down his arm. "Get started. And if I find out that you took some of the food, you'll be sorry," his father spat out, then turned and stomped out of the kitchen.
When his nerves were under control he walked to the fridge and pulled out the bacon and some eggs. He went to the stove and turned on two of the burners, placing a pan on top of them. When they were hot enough, he started preparing the food.
His stomach rumbled, and Gaara groaned. He hadn't eaten anything since the very small lunch he'd practically inhaled yesterday afternoon. The aroma of the cooking bacon and eggs was torture. His mouth started watering. Gaara tried to force himself not to think about the food, or how hungry he was, but it was impossible.
Gaara often went without food, and was almost always hungry. He was only allowed enough to eat to keep him alive. One of his father's favorite punishments was making Gaara make the meal while denying him to eat any of it. It was cruel. He could get used to not eating if he didn't have to smell the food cooking.
His family's breakfast finally finished cooking, so he divided it among three plates, and poured orange juice into three glasses. Kankuro and Temari walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, watching him with pitying eyes. He hated their pity. If they truly felt sorry for him they would help him. But they're just as afraid of father as you are, even though they don't have a reason to be, he reminded himself.
Gaara sighed, and then started setting the table. Silverware and napkins first followed by the plates. Then he took his brother and sister their juice. He went back for the third glass and was on his way back to the table when his father stormed into the kitchen, walking right in front of him. Gaara tripped, and the glass of orange juice fell to the floor and shattered into a tiny pieces. Orange juice went everywhere.
Temari gasped and looked on with frightened eyes. Kankuro suddenly found the contents of his plate very interesting. The room was silent, and the tension grew thicker with each passing second. Gaara lay shivering on the floor, afraid to move, afraid to breathe.
With a roar Gaara's father reached down and yanked the redhead off the floor. He started shaking him and screaming at him unintelligibly. Gaara closed his eyes and prayed that it would be over quickly. It wasn't.
One minute he was being shaken until he could feel his brain rattling around in his skull, then next he was thrown to the floor. Surprised, his eyes shot open. He barely registered the foot racing towards him before pain exploded in his side, over and over.
He didn't realize that he'd been screaming for help until his father laughed. "You might as well save your breath boy. They won't help you," he sneered. Yondaime turned to Temari and Kankuro. "Will you?"
Kankuro was still staring at his plate. Temari looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car that was about to crash into her. Gaara pleaded with her with his eyes. She got very pale, and glanced from Gaara to Yondaime before closing her eyes. "Who would help a monster like you, Gaara," she asked in a weak voice. A tear fell from one of her eyes, and she hastily brushed it away. Her words cut into Gaara's heart, even though he knew she didn't mean them. His father smiled evilly.
"Get up," Yondaime said in a low, menacing voice. He tried to stand, but the pain in his side made him hiss in pain, and he fell back to the floor. "I said, get UP!" With that he reached down and jerked Gaara to his feet. "Now, take off your shirt." Gaara paled, but did as he was told out of fear of making the punishment worse. "Turn around." Gaara turned around, and held onto the counter in front of him, knowing he would need to support. He closed his eyes when he heard the belt sliding through the belt loops.
The waiting was horrible. The anticipation of the pain was almost worse than the pain itself. Almost. The belt whistled as it flew through the air. CRACK! Gaara's body jerked as the belt dug into his back. The whistling came again, and the leather hit his tensed body. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Over and over again. Gaara's back felt like it was on fire, and his lungs were begging for air. But it was impossible to breathe without screaming, and screaming would only make it worse.
Finally, it stopped, and Gaara fell to the ground. The blood was pounding in his ears, and he lay there coughing and sputtering, tears streaming from his eyes. "Now, clean up this mess and go get ready for school," his father said calmly, then walked over to the table and started eating. Gaara cleaned up the glass and spilled juice, then hurried back to his room, anxious to get away from his family.