Chapter 4

Gaara had never been one to partake in the "wonders" of sake. Mostly because he never had a taste for it, the hot, scorching feeling of the liquid running down his throat wasn't exactly something he liked and after seeing some of the stupid things people tended to do after getting "wasted" only kept at him at a further distance from the distasteful drink.

Until now, anyway.

"Gaara, I really think you should put the bottle down now. I don't think you want to end up like Tsu-!"

The redhead threw the bottle at his older brother, who dodged and allowed the glass to shatter against the wall.

"Shut up." He fluffed his fingers through his hair and dropped his head on the desk with a groan.

It was all a lie. It had all be a fucking lie. Yashamaru had never betrayed him. It had been an imposter. His father locked Yashamaru up and sent an imposter hoping to break him. Did the scar on his forehead and any sort of meaning anymore? This was one huge disaster… Karma must have really hated him.

He pulled out a fourth bottle of the clear, alcoholic liquid. He uncorked it roughly, only for his arm to be held down by his brother's hand.

"That's underage drinking, you know."

He shrugged the puppet-user off. "I don't care. I'm the fucking Kazekage, I'll do whatever the fuck I want." He hissed, swinging the bottle up to his lips and taking a particularly deep swallow.

Kankuro frowned in disapproval before swiping the object out of Gaara's hands. He dangled it in front of him. "This isn't going to solve anything, little bro."

"Give me the damn thing back." Gaara demanded.

The puppet-user pulled the bottle out of his reach. "No. Snap out of it. Drowning your problems in sake isn't going to do anything but give you one hell of a hangover in the morning." He sighed, running a hand over his painted face. "Look, Gaara, I know what you're thinking about this whole deal. Yashamaru…" He ignored Gaara's flinch. "None of us were expecting anything like this to happen. I understand perfectly how you feel about him being…"

"Don't you dare." Gaara growled in a rare display of emotion. "You have no idea what it's like for me. You didn't sit there and watch him die right in front of you. You didn't lash out and attempt to kill him. You weren't forced to sit there and listen as he told you that you were nothing more than a monster. You didn't…"

"It wasn't really him, though, Gaara! We…"

"It was to me, Kankuro!" He shouted, standing up. "It was real to me! This damned scar shows how real it was. If it weren't for that night I never would have cracked as a kid!"

He whisked the bottle out of Kankuro's grip and smashed it into the wall. He gripped his head and flopped back down into the chair. He buried his face in his hands.

"Get out of here. I need some time to myself." He said quietly.

Kankuro opened his mouth and closed it again, thinking it better not to say anything. He simply nodded and walked out of the room, clicking the door shut behind him.

End Chapter 4