Gaara's "Firsts"

Chapter 1: First sleep

"Okay, Kazekage…" Temari snapped gently to her red-haired sibling at the desk, "today you will try to go to sleep, paperwork or not."

The redhead snapped his head up from the paperwork he had just finished and shot an icy glare. Shukaku had been out of his body for about a month, and already he was pressured into sleep?

"I'm not tired." Temari looked at her sibling's face, pale and red-eyed, and said: "Well, I believe your face tells me otherwise. I don't understand what you're so afraid of. It's just a few hours' rest. Now let's go." She pulled Gaara out from behind the desk, much to his surprise, and led him into his room, which stayed clean and unused.

"Now Gaara, I propose at least six hours of rest. Any less and I'll have you locked in here until you sleep the full six. Kankuro here will keep watch," Temari said with a motion to their older brother. Kankuro froze at the sight of his youngest brother, whose aura and glare began to shoot in daggers and a gust of sand.

"Uh…are you sure this is a good idea? I feel danger…" Kankuro queried uneasily. Gaara plopped himself on the bed with a huff and laid there, continuing to glare at his siblings with red eyes. Temari shut the door, oblivious to the deathly glares, and placed her hand on Kankuro's shoulder.

"Well brother, I'm counting on your iron will. Make sure he sleeps." Kankuro felt his eye twitch uncontrollably as Temari left him in front of the door. Dark, angry aura swept under the door in droves, causing the elder brother to shudder. After an hour passed, the aura vanished, and all seemed quiet. Kankuro pressed his back to the door quietly and sighed in relief.

Gaara lay silent in his room, his Kazekage robes lightly folded on his small desk. Irritation and boredom swept over him, but he knew it wasn't much good.

"They're like cockroaches…never leave me alone." He got off of the bed, his back cracking out of exhaustion, and removed his shirt. He did a few stretches, letting the bones crack back into place, and he sat upon the bed once again. Feeling bored again, he positioned himself to stand, but found his legs shaking under him and causing him to drop to the floor.

What? Gaara went to stand again, but found his legs were too weak to support him, and he landed again with a small thud. His eyes became blurry and his body felt heavy. Gaara found he was no longer able to lift himself, and now lay helpless on the floor.

"D-Damn…it…" He tried even harder to get up, but to no avail. Eventually, he grew exhausted and dropped down the rest of the way. He felt his eyes becoming heavier, blurrier…

Kankuro sat silently for three hours, only moving to use the bathroom or to get food. A thumping sound from Gaara's room jolted him to a stop as he came back from the kitchen, but he felt it was just Gaara throwing a small fit. He sighed and replaced himself in front of the door, nibbling on a turkey sandwich. Another thump made Kankuro jump again and this time, he opened a small crack in the doorway.

The small figure of Gaara was passed out on the floor, breathing quietly to show he was alive. Kankuro tiptoed silently, sandwich in hand, and bent down to check if his young sibling was hurt. Instead, he was shocked to see the young Kazekage sleeping, spread out along the floor, in an almost peaceful manner. Kankuro smiled to himself, and went to fetch Gaara a blanket when he spotted his brother's lack of a shirt and his sudden movement to curl into a ball.

After tending to his brother, Kankuro left the room to wait out the other two hours. Temari and Baki were outside the door, waiting to hear the news.

"Well, he's asleep, but I'm telling you, I think he was trying really hard to fight it. I mean, he WAS curled up on the floor," Kankuro stated silently. Temari and Baki both let out relieved sighs and left Gaara alone. Even Kankuro went off to do some of the paperwork in Gaara's place while he slept. All was well and good…

…until Gaara woke up.

Kankuro and Temari silently played some Go Fish in the living room, when Kankuro caught a shadow out of the corner of his eye.

{Kaaaankurooooo….Temaaaaariiiiii….} The angry snarls filled the room, and the two siblings froze in their places. Kankuro dropped his cards, letting them scatter on the ground. The dark aura once again seeped in, ready to strangle the two elder siblings, when-

"….Th-thank you for the rest. It was very…refreshing. I'm going back to my paperwork now. Feel free to go back to your game."

As the red headed sibling turned and left. Kankuro and Temari eyed each other fearfully.

"Was it wrong that I almost pissed myself?" Kankuro asked. Temari could only grin uneasily.

And from then on, Gaara the Kazekage always made sure to sleep when need be. And the paperwork still got done.