I thought since my First two were about Sasuke, I'd do one about Gaara. STILL don't own Naruto.

Gaara watched as Neji beat the shit out of his cousin, Hinata. 'Pathetic,' he thought 'How pat—'

Gaara, the Kazekage of Sand awoke again, thinking of her. Ever since he had over-heard Temari and that Shadow ninja from Konoha talking to each other as he walked by on the way to Tsunades' office for a conference between Villages about the growing threat of Sound. On his way back to his temporary apartment, he saw Neji and some other brown haired nin with her hair in buns walking in close proximity of each other. When he got to his apartment and was just about to open the door, his long past opponent, Rock Lee ran by, carrying a bouquet of flowers muttering,"Sakura-chan? Where are you?"

Was he always going to be alone? He had changed, and people even started to trust him, and even be his friends. Every time he felt that pull or tug on his heart when he saw couples walking together or good friends training or laughing together, he would remind himself, 'you have people who trust you and even some friends. Don't get greedy.' But now that Shukaku was gone, and people started treated him more like a person, wouldn't that mean he was human? Didn't that warrant a need for contact with others? Friend or otherwise?

Maybe he was wrong about when he started thinking about her more than necessary. Maybe it was when he saw her at first sitting on an upraised tree root not far from the main street watching friends, couples, and others going to meet said people walk by. When he saw her sitting there, he watched her stare forward blankly, when she suddenly covered her ears with both hands, placed her head on her knees, and started to cry. Gaara, shielded from her eyes by the mass of happy people moving steadily by, watched her cry.

It was disturbing. All these happy people who at first glance looked like if they caught you crying, they were there to help immediatly . But that was a lie. These people weren't just happy. It was like they were all desensitized by their happiness.

Without hesitating, he stepped through the throng of people and slowly approached. When he was just about to reach down to ask what was wrong, she must have seen his feet, because she looked up fearfully, like she had been caught doing something wrong. Quikly, he moved his hand away on instinct. People used to take this as a threat, and many still did. She looked away, and wiped her eyes but before she looked back, she got up and ran away.

Maybe he kept thinking of her because she was the opposite sex. Maybe it was a combination of that and because she seemed to need contact with another like himself. In the end he decided to go look for her. Getting of his bed, he looked out the window to be suprised by the water sifting down his window. As he watched, another suprise wandered by in the streets below. Hinata, with her arms wrapped around herself wandered through the rain, tears streaming down her face. As she was about to pass out of view she suddenly sank to her knees in the mud and fell face down.

Without a second thought, Gaara ran out into the pouring rain, scooped her up, and brought her inside. Gently he laid her down on his bed. Quickly, he fetched a 2 blankets and a towel. After putting her hair in the towel, he spread Kankuros' blankets, and the extra 2 over and under her, as to not get the bed wet. Hmmm. Her hair was longer than he remembered. Whatever. Then he used a nearby hand towel to gently wipe the mud and water off her face. As he finished her forehead, cheeks, and nose, and was just finishing her chin he looked at the grit on her lips. It was all that was left, and if she awoke, she had the rest of her face as proof that he had just wanted to get the dirt off her face. He gently dipped a clean edge in a bowl of warm water and gently started to clean her lips when she awoke, and seeing him so near her face, screamed.

It was short, and not a scream of terror, but just one of suprise. She quickly calmed down and looked around at her surrondings before her eyes again came to rest on him. She looked at him, as though he was familiar, then, with a small squeak of suprise, then bent her headand muttered an apology."I-I'm so s-sor-ry G-G-Gaara -sama...u-umm...but..w-what am I d-d-doing here?"

After explaining what he had seen from looking out his apartment window and so on, he asked her why she had been wondering around in the streets when it was raining without a jacket and crying. She said she'd rather not talk about it. When he got up and walked away, she was stunned. Whenever she used that as an excuse with anyone else, they always pressed her intill they found out. His next sentence also caught her off guard. "Do need anything? Water, food, fresh clothes?" Her own response strartled her as well. "U-umm...can I have some fresh clothes?"

"Its there, in the dresser to you left. There are some shirts and pants in the 2nd drawer.

As she reached out of the bed, to try and reach the dresser, she thought 'Oh! I probably look so stupid and lazy reaching out of the bed instead of getting up!' As she continued to mentally reprimand herself she thoughtlessly opened the 1st drawer instead of the 2nd, to be greeted with Gaaras' mesh undershirts and black boxers. She quickly shut the drawer and opened the next, checking behind to make sure Gaara hadn't seen her looking at his personal undergarments. Luckily, he was in the kitchen. She could here the sound of scrolls being unrolled and re-rolled. Quickly, she selected a brown T and a pair of black pants from the drawer. As she prepared to leave the bedroom She spotted an envelope with Gaaras' name on it. Curiosity took root in her mind, and she reached for the envelope, opened it, and read the birthday card to herself. It read:

From: Kankuro

"To my littlest brother,(the nerve!) who has now reached the grand age of 18. Another year down the drain. Hope you enjoy your next few years better than this past one!

PS— Don't tell Temari I gave you these. (Open to find out)

PSS— Also, this is what we call a joke. Don't get too mad!"

While the last couple of sentences should have been warning enough, she opened the card to find 3 or 5 condoms. Some were flavored, and some were ribbed. Apparently one of each kind.

She didn't take that long to examine them.

Quickly putting the card back in place, she walked into the kitchen with the clothes in hand. Before she could ask, Gaara pointed down the hall over his shoulder with his thumb and said, "To the left." 'His voice is deeper than I rememeber.' she thought.