Gaara had taken to making rounds around the village at night. There was nothing better to do, and now that he was in charge of the village, he needed to know what went on at night. He had passed several closed shops, a block of houses where someone had thrown a rock at him to make him leave. Gaara knew it would be a while before everyone in the village trusted him, but that had hurt a bit. He was about halfway through his walk when he passed the usual noisy bar. There was a figure staggering away from the bar, probably sober enough to reach somewhere but just barely. It was a girl, with short, brown hair... it took Gaara a while to realise that he recognised that girl.

"Matsuri-san?" He called the name of his one-time student, to see if she would respond. She looked at him with bleary eyes that brightened considerably when she recognised him.

"Gaara-sama!" She flung herself into his arms, and Gaara stumbled back before he caught his balance. Matsuri was not supposed to be at a bar. She was underage, heck he was underage, and this was not good, knowing Matsuri's personality. Gaara sighed and picked her up, deciding to carry her to the palace, as he didn't know where she lived.

Temari had given him a very strange look when he knocked on the door of his own house, and an even stranger look when he walked in carrying a drunken girl that he most definitely did not have when he left. She didn't say anything, though, and he carried Matsuri- still conscious and increasingly squirmy- to the guest room, where he sat her down on the bed.

"Gaara-sama, Gaara-sama..." She seemed to be... singing. Gaara made a quick mental note that he would never touch a drop of alcohol in his life. "Gaara-sama saved me..."

"Yes... Matsuri-san, I saved you." Gaara humoured her, not really sure what to do with a drunk Matsuri. In all honesty, he wasn't really sure what to do with her when she was sober. That wasn't to say he didn't like the kid, because he did. He felt the inexplicable need to track her progress as a ninja, and Kankuro simply explained that you never forget your first student. Especially not when she runs your fan club.

Matsuri hiccupped. What was he supposed to do, leave her there? Sit staring at her all night? It was strange, having a fan girl in the house. Except that Gaara didn't really count her as a fan girl. She had been the first. He had to give her a little respect, seeing as her crush on him dated back to way before he won over most of the village. It took some real courage to go against the entire village to stick up for him like that, which was why she deserved a bit of kindness now and again. But not too much, he didn't want her fainting like that little one from the Leaf...

And speaking of fainting...

"Matsuri-san?" Gaara put a hand on each of her shoulders to keep her from falling off the bed. Then she raised her head and grinned at him, apparently not passed out yet.

"I'm okay!" She broke out of his grip and started bouncing. Gaara made a mental note that he would never, ever touch a drop of alcohol in his life. Instead, he watched, unamused, as the girl bounced on the guest bed.

"Matsuri-san, could you stop that?" This was obviously (hopefully) her first time drinking. For God's sake, didn't she have anyone looking after her? At least a friend to go and make sure she didn't pass out on the streets? Her parents... did they know she was out? Most likely, seeing that she spent a lot of time out of the house. "Do your parents like me?"

"What did you say, love?"

Gaara chose to ignore the 'love' part. "I asked if your parents like me." He repeated.

"Um, sure!" She giggled. "Why do you wanna know that?"

"I'm just figuring out whether I'm taking you home tomorrow or sending you with Temari- What are you doing?"

Matsuri was, at the moment, pretending to be an airplane. Complete with fake airplane noises. She spread her arms out and launched herself off the bed- Good grief, how did they mistake her for someone old enough to drink?

"Sit down!" Gaara caught her in mid-air, by her waist, and sat her back down on the bed. Matsuri pouted. "Look, I'm not your sensei anymore. I'm the Kazekage, and I have better things to do than play babysitt-"

She kissed him. Matsuri pressed her face to his and gave him a very passionate kiss. Unfazed, Gaara unlaced her fingers from the back of his head and pushed her back. "I told you to stop it." He passed a hand over his face, and sighed. "God, I hope you remember this when you're sober."

Matsuri wasn't as cheery anymore. She had her hands folded on her lap, and was using the puppy-dog look that Gaara remembered so well. "I'm sorry." she slurred.

"You should be." He replied. "And you should feel really damned lucky that I found you on the street, and not some random pervert. Do you realise what kind of things would have happened to you? You're not even old enough to be at a bar yet? How did you get in?"

"Fake ID." She mumbled. "I'm sorry, Gaara-chan." Gaara-chan? She didn't usually call him 'chan', but she was obviously taking some liberties at the moment. At least it was better than 'love'. "I'm sooorry..."

Gaara was tempted for a second to kill her. Just for a second, though, and that was Shukaku talking. Gaara wouldn't kill Matsuri. That would be like killing Temari. That would be just like killing Temari.

Gaara released her from his grip (something in his eyes had scared some sense into her. He didn't think Matsuri had ever seen him get angry), and went into the hall before any more murderous urges could overcome him. He didn't trust himself, not one bit.

He shook the thoughts out of his head, though he found trouble finding something to replace them with. The next thought process happened to be about Matsuri's kiss, and a very unfamiliar flavour that might have been sake. It really tasted like the scent on the Hokage's breath and what was he talking about?

Matsuri had brothers. She used to mention them when he was training her. She had two little brothers, who were in training to become ninja. That was why he couldn't kill her, even if he hadn't liked her. That meant she had someone to go home to, just like Temari did. And if her brothers looked at her the way that he and Kankuro looked at Temari, that would be two future nin that wouldn't forgive Gaara.

"Gaaaara-baa-chan..."

Did Matsuri just call him Granny?

"Are you okay?" That was a dumb question. She was far from okay. She was drunk off her ass. But she was alive, and Gaara wanted to keep it that way.

Matsuri threw up. Gaara knew that before he re-entered the room. He found her sitting on the floor, holding the wastepaper basket and looking a little green. She looked up at him, opened her mouth to speak, and threw up again. Gaara sighed. "All done now?"

Matsuri nodded. Luckily, Gaara didn't have to take her to get herself cleaned up, so he decided to empty the wastepaper basket. When he came back to find a very wet Matsuri draped over the bed, he regretted leaving her to get cleaned up by herself. He went over to tuck her in properly, and she stirred, managing to get her arms around him while barely awake. "Mmm, I love you, Gaara-sensei."

She fell asleep.

Gaara made a mental note to never, ever, ever...

Oh, screw it.

He needed a drink.