Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto

Altered Shippuden

Legend: ""talking, ~~ thoughts

"Temari, where's Gaara?"

Temari couldn't look at her puppeteer brother because she was busy with her boyfriend Haku setting up the decorations on Christmas Eve at six o' clock in the evening, but she heard Kankuro loud and clear from the doorway. After putting the ornament with a photo of her current family on the tree, she got off of the step stool and walked over to Kankuro, leaving Haku to put up some other ornaments.

"I think he's still at the tower. He even said that he could be late today because he wanted to help decorate the offices, since they were still bland," replied Temari. She walked over to the kitchen for something to drink. "Haku, Kankuro, would you two like something to drink?"

"I'm okay; thanks, though," were the responses to her question. Haku went back to work putting up the garland of fresh popcorn and cranberries while Kankuro decided to help him. His over worked older sister took a well-deserved break, and he was glad.

The front door was suddenly opened at ten o' clock, revealing a redheaded, tall, lean figure in a blue and white robe. Gaara noticed movement in the other room, and decided to investigate. Turning the corner to the living room, he saw Kankuro, Temari, and Haku taking a break for dinner. ~I thought Haku was visiting tomorrow, not staying the night. Maybe the Mizukage Zabuza decided that Haku deserved a break with his girlfriend, ~ thought Gaara to himself. Before he could get his greeting in, though, Temari rushed up from the couch and hugged Gaara, causing him to almost fall on his rear.

"Gaara, what were you doing?" she asked, shouting the question in his face. "You couldn't possibly have been at the tower the whole time you were gone! I was getting anxious enough to call a jounin meeting! You could have been assassinated, kidnapped, or poisoned, for crying out loud!" Temari started to cry with worry and happiness, glad that he was at least safe. She had lost him once, and she didn't want to repeat the scenario.

"I'm sorry I worried you, Kankuro, and Haku, but I had to pick some things up for Christmas-" he began, but was cut off by Haku's voice.

"You could at least have called- you actually partially lied to us. I know that you wanted to keep it a secret, but you broke her trust, and I know you don't like it because it's also happened to me before," informed Haku, using a tone that meant absolute seriousness.

"Gomen," whispered Gaara, tears flooding his vision. He used his sand to teleport himself to his room as fast as possible. Gaara carefully placed the bag on his desk, took off his robe to reveal his fighting uniform, and threw himself on his bed to cry himself to sleep. He didn't hear the footsteps outside his room, walking to his sanctuary away from most people. The door opened before he could give a pathetic "Leave me alone".

"Gaara-sama, what has made you so upset?" came the voice of his former teacher, Baki.

With his turban around his head, he still looked the same as he did three years ago. Gaara could faintly see the other side of Baki's covered face.

"I hurt Onee-sama, Onii-san, and Haku-san's feelings the way I was hurt. I didn't mean to, and I thought that they wouldn't worry about me. They know that I can take care of myself!" Gaara started to cry into Baki's shoulder, unaware of the other presences in the doorway able to watch him break down.

"Although you are no longer a bijuu-holder, your emotions are still muddled, so although it is right to you, they may not think so," Baki stated, trying to calm the sixteen-year-old. Gaara knew that his emotions were messed-up, but he thought that he out grew it. "I know that you were just trying to help, but please remember that you are still human, and we still care about your safety."

"Yes, sensei. I'm sorry that I wasn't being good. I just… I'm not good with emotions," commented Gaara, wiping away his own tears. Baki just let him calm down, but motioned Temari, Kankuro, and Haku closer. They all gave a large group hug with the sand master in the center.

"Gaara, we're sorry that we yelled at you. We are just really concerned for you, you know? We didn't mean to yell at you- we just wanted to make sure that you knew, okay?" said Kankuro, knowing that it was on everyone's minds.

Gaara nodded, turning his small form toward his desk for the bag. He reached his lean arm across the mass of four and grabbed it, opening it for its bounty. He took out one blue wrapped package, softball size, and gave it to Temari. He then got a black package, and gave it to Kankuro. For Baki, a white package was given. Haku received a brown package, and they were told to open them.

What were inside were memories that they would never forget, because in the packages were ornaments; hand-drawn pictures of each of them were in their globe ornaments. Each of the pictures had them posing with their signature weapons. The pictures were colored in dyed sand, giving each one a vibrant finish. The globes were burned so that a large whole was in the bottom, leaving space to replace the image if desired- but no one wanted to ever replace it. Gaara waited anxiously for a response other than silence, and he was rewarded with an even larger hug. What surprised them on Christmas Day, however, was the note on the back instead of a signature of the artist, with one phrase, the same for each of them-

Merry Christmas- Gaara

P.S. Artist wishes to remain Anonymous

Although the last line was written, Gaara could tell that they knew who drew the pictures.