Sweet Dreams?

"See you tomorrow, Kazekage-sama."

"Hai," Gaara nodded as the last person left the office for the night. He was probably going home to his family, to sit down to a nice meal while they talked about their day. Gaara gazed wistfully after him. He wished he could have the normality that everyone around him had. Though things had gotten better between he and his siblings, meaning he had stopped threatening to kill them in their sleep, the three of them alone in a room was still a bit...well...tense. He straightened a pile of already organized papers and stood up to head home himself. Not that he really wanted to. He just didn't feel like being alone. A rare smile graced his lips. It was funny how quickly he had gotten used to not being alone. He silently thanked a certain shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. Gaara's thoughts turned back to the present as he exited the building, slowly making his way in the general direction of his home. It was twilight. Time for the world to shut down until morning. Time for the world to sleep. Except for one ninja. It wasn't as if he longed for sleep. Having no prior experiences with sleeping, or none that he could remember, he couldn't miss it. You can't miss something you never had. Gaara paused as he passed an open window. He could hear people moving about inside the room. My people. My people to protect.

"Come on, Suki, time for bed."

"Aw, mommy, can't I have five more minutes?"

"Sorry, sweet. Not tonight. Sweet dreams, Suki."

"Sweet dreams, mommy," yawned the child. Gaara continued walking.

I wonder what it's like to dream, Gaara mused. He'd never really thought of it before. He thought it must be nice. People always spoke so fondly of dreaming. Maybe he'd ask Kankuro or Temari. It would be nice to find out what it felt like. Gaara surpressed a shudder, knowing the consequences of finding out. No, he would never endanger his people by allowing himself to sleep. But still...

"Hey, Gaara," greeted Kankuro. Gaara nodded an acknowledgement and asked if he knew where Temari was.

"Her room, working on some paperwork or something. Why?"

"I wanted to ask her something."

He figured he would have a better chance asking Temari about dreams. Women seemed better at answering questions involving emotions. Dreams seemed like they would fit in that category. He knocked on her door out of politeness before entering.

"Hey, Gaara. Something wrong?" Temari asked, immediately noticing the pensive look on her brother's face.

"No, everything's fine. I was just wondering...what it's like to dream..."

Temari blinked in surprise, and felt a swell of pity for her brother. She had never really realized that Gaara had never had a dream in his life.

"What's it like to dream? That's a tough one," she began. "It's sort of like...letting yourself go...like freeing your mind. You can do things in dreams that you can't do in real life. You can live out your secret wishes and fantasies. Does that make any sense?"

"Kind of," Gaara replied hesitantly. "When I meditate, I imagine things. I think of what it would be like if I didn't have this demon in me. I think of how my life would be different. Is that like dreaming?"

"In a sense, but dreaming is much more...more...I don't know. It's just more. I'm sorry I can't explain it any better," Temari apologized.

Gaara turned to leave. "Good night, Temari. Have pleasant dreams."

"Good night...brother."

So that night as Gaara meditated, he thought about dreams.

I wonder what Temari dreams about. I wish I could dream just once to know what it's like. Maybe someday I'll be able to dream. Maybe one day I'll own a bed. That would be nice. Me and Temari could talk about dreams whenever we wanted. Kankuro, too. I wonder what Kankuro dreams about. Maybe I'll ask him tomorrow.

That morning, as the sun came up and Sunagakure began to stir, Gaara was more silent than usual. His siblings noticed. Temari didn't say anything because she knew the source of his somberness. As Kankuro was fastening his three summoning scrolls to his back, Gaara caught up with him.

"Hey, Kankuro, what do you dream about?"

"Erm, what?"

"...Nothing."

Owari

Just a short little drabble about Gaara and his lack of being able to dream. It occured to me that no sleep means no dreams, and I thought that was very sad. Reviews, please. They make me happy.