Hiatus over, let the stories roll in! My thanks go out to all of you who were so patient in waiting on my updates, and a special thanks to kittyahg from Quizilla who sent in the FIRST review on this story. I'm not one of those people who wont update without them, but seriously? I can see in my story stats that there are just as many fans of this as my Lee story, and that one has had plenty of rewiews. Well, ok on with the show. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 4

Sitting on the roof of the Sand sibling's home in the cool night air you can't get the day's events out of your head. I should be thinking about other things, you tell yourself. It's not as if I don't have my own problems to worry about... but still.

When you had arrived after shopping for all the ingredients you would need for dinner that night, you had found the house in an uproar. Standing wide-eyed in the doorway Gaara and yourself had watched as Temari chased Kankuro around the house with a murderous look on her face and her fan in hand. Meanwhile, Kankuro was jumping out of her way with a huge smile on his face and a scroll clutched in one hand.

"That's mine you bastard!" she yelled, reaching back to use one of her wind techniques. You had jumped forward and caught her arm in time.

"Temari! You'll blow everything in the house away!" you said. "Now, just what has he-" but Kankuro had started to speak, getting everyone's attention. He was standing on the back of the couch in the living room at that point and was reading the scroll in his hands in an over-dramatic way.

"Oh, my dearest Temari!" he declared. "Words cannot describe the-ahhh!" He fell off the back of the couch as Temari made a jump for him. "The wind that sweeps your oww! OW! That hurts!" He continued on as they continued to hear a scuffle behind the couch.

You chuckle a bit, remembering how Gaara had wordlessly separated the two while you had started to make dinner. Of course that reminded you all over again about why you were sitting up on the roof brooding. You hated that you let little things get to you, and this was just so... silly! You kicked yourself mentally.

During dinner Temari and Kankuro had been so impressed by your food that they couldn't shut up about it. They had even temporarily forgotten about their fight earlier in the presence of the alluring Shonobi stir-fry. But Gaara...

You stamped your foot on the roof, making a noise of frustration. That stupid Gaara hadn't said a single word! He just sat there, ate, then left to go up to his study. But what were you thinking anyway? It's not as if it matters if I get along with any of them. I can't stay any longer even if I wanted to. Do I want to? Your eyes scanned over the sleeping city of Suna again and you sighed. The peaceful city called to your heart, stirring feelings that you did not think you had anymore. Was it just being in a town again after so long, or was it something else?

You turned your head quickly, hearing someone else on the roof and saw Gaara standing a ways away, looking at you. You couldn't help but marvel at his eyes, whose color were visible even in this low amount of light.

"Would you prefer to be alone?" he asked after a while. You faced front again and shrugged.

"Doesn't matter," you say a little prickly. After another minute or so you hear him walk over and sit down beside you. He seemed to have an uncertain air about him, but you stubbornly keep your gaze off him with your mouth shut.

"The dinner was, very good," he said after an even longer pause. "Thank you Kyo-san." You look over at him with a bit of a surprised look but find that he is leaning back on his hands with his eyes up on the sky. The look on his face was almost an embarrassed one. Well, better late than never, you think as you smile slightly.

"Your welcome," you say, tucking your knees up and staring out across the desert. Staring at the long unending dunes that stretched out into the darkness of the night relaxed you somehow. You closed your eyes and let out a sigh, feeling the tension leaving your neck, back, and shoulders. You could have stayed like that forever, just listening to the wind over the sand, but inside you felt something stir. Something near you was making your demonic blood excited. You looked over and saw that Gaara was holding his head as if he had just a slight headache.

"Gaara-san..." you say uncertainly. He turned his eyes to you and lowered his hand. And there it was again. You begin to feel an almost giddy nervousness in your gut as you work up the nerve to speak.

"Today, earlier I mean. Um, when we were walking through town..." Gaara watched you patiently as you didn't seem to be getting anywhere. You finally looked up to meet his gaze.

"Your people are afraid of you. I could see it clearly enough. Why?" Gaara's face took on a hard expression and he finally looked away.

"Gomen, but..." you said before stopping. But what? You still wanted to know? It wasn't even your business, and you were asking him something personal. You hadn't even known him that long! You began to mentally kick yourself for what seemed like the millionth time when he spoke up.

"They are still afraid of me, yes. They always have been, but I don't blame them." You watched as he sighed and expression came to his face for what seemed like the first time. He looked disappointed, but maybe also a bit relieved.

"I have a demon inside me Kyo. That's why they're afraid of me." You managed to suppress your gasp. "Shukaku, the one-tailed demon is sealed, in here," he said, placing a hand on his stomach. "I used to think that I was fine with everyone hating me. I swore that I would love myself enough for their absence. I sought meaning in mindless blood and murder. Until..." he paused. "That guy, he showed me that there was more to life. It was the same time I became the Kazekage that I decided that I wanted to protect the people of Suna."

You couldn't believe it. You were on the verge of tears. You had never heard of such a thing as a demon being sealed inside a person, and couldn't imagine the things he would have had to deal with in his life. At least you had always had your mother who loved you no matter what you had done. You looked down at the roof and willed your tears to go away.

Gaara's P.O.V.

You sat there in disbelief. You had only planned on saying a bare minimum of an explanation, what had made you go on like that? Shukaku was still complaining inside you but you forced his voice out of your head. You admitted finally that you liked being around Kyo. She was always open with you and had never showed a sigh of fear, and you couldn't keep such a secret from her. It was all so confusing in your head, but at least it was out now.

For a long while you both sat in silence until you finally shifted your gaze over to her. Of all the things you were expecting, none of them were what you saw. Kyo was sitting beside you with tears in her eyes. Her gaze was out across the desert and she had a hand on her heart, with an almost pained expression on her face. You really weren't sure what was going on.

"Kyo, are you ok?" you asked. She made a sound and blinked a bit before turning her gaze toward you. You saw that the tears were almost all gone. Not one had fallen.

"I'm sorry," she said with a little embarrassment. "You... you must have had a difficult time growing up, because of it. I'm sorry." And she looked right in your eyes. She wasn't afraid. Why wasn't she afraid? You asked yourself. But your internal debate was interrupted.

Kyo leaned forward and said, "Gaara, I... I..." Her cheeks were slightly flushed but she couldn't seem to get whatever it was out. She seemed to think twice and stood abruptly.

"I have to go to sleep, excuse me," she said and retreated off the roof quickly, leaving you staring where she had been. You laid back on the roof and looked up at the night sky. You couldn't even begin to wonder what that had been about. But that wasn't what was on your mind. The way her face had looked, tears brimming her eyes, clutching her heart... She was just so different from anyone you had met before.

___

Your P.O.V.

The next morning, you sat up in bed feeling miserable. If anything, last night had convinced you that it was time to leave. I have to go before I get any more attached to this place... or these people, you thought more miserably. You were scared again. Scared of the hunters catching up with you and everyone finding out your secret. Better just to disappear and them to remember you the way they knew you now. But even that was a ridiculous thought you realized. The ANBU would most likely end up here anyways in their search and then everyone would know anyway. You bit back your frustration at the thought of what Temari would think of you when she knew that you had been lying to her this whole time. You couldn't even guess what Gaara would think. Part of you hoped that because of his own demon he would not think of you as a monster, but another part told you that he would resent you all the more for it.

Yes, you told yourself. Only one thing to do. Getting dressed in the new outfit that Temari had bought you, you packed up everything you would need and left a note on the table by your bed. With a sigh you jumped out of your window and began making your way stealthily to the edge of town, ready to leave Suna forever.

Earlier that day at dawn...

Gaara appeared on the top of the gates of Sunagakure that were barred shut, a few shinobi standing guard in front of them. Baki was standing to his right as they all looked at three figures approaching in the early light. Gaara narrowed his eyes at them.

They were all wearing dark robes that were a little worse for wear, probably due to a rough journey through the desert. But this was the least of Gaara's thoughts as he surveyed them carefully. The thing most prevalent in his mind at the moment was the masks that all three were wearing.

"AMBU, Gaara-sama," Baki said and looked over at him, awaiting his reaction.

"Let's see what they want," Gaara said and made a motion with his arm, beckoning them. They held their hands up a bit, showing they were friendly and approached the gate. As they got closer Gaara saw that all of their hitai-ate bore the symbol of Amegakure. This peaked his curiosity further, as well as his suspicion. He didn't know why they were there, but he already sure that it was not for good.

"Greetings! We didn't expect a welcome from the Kazekage himself, but we're grateful all the same," the middle ANBU member called up to Gaara when they stopped in front of the gate. Gaara merely stared down at them with his arms crossed in front of him. The ANBU member pushed his mask back off his face and looked back up at Gaara.

"Amegakure has no quarrel with Suna Gaara-sama, be assured. We are hunters who have merely lost track of our prey. It may be that they died in the desert, but there's a chance that they made it here. They're very dangerous, you see so it's important that we find them again," he said.

"Who are you looking for?" Gaara asked. He was giving the man a very unfriendly look.

"A monster," he replied. "See for yourself." He pulled out a scroll and held it up. Without a word Gaara reached out with his sand and lifted the scroll up in front of himself. He rolled it open with one hand, reading the wanted poster with a tight jaw. He tried to stay calm while he read the list of charges, and also where it said 'Sentenced to death.' There was a picture as well, but he had only needed a glance.

"She looks like a woman though right?" the ANBU called up. "But don't let that fool you. She's an abomination, and the sooner we carry out her sentence the safer we'll all be." Gaara rolled the scroll back up while Baki watched him apprehensively. "Not to mention that I'll be able to sleep a lot better knowing there's one less monster in the world."

"So what do you want?" Gaara asked, sending them the scariest death-glare yet, causing them to take a step back.

"Well, we'd like to be able to search the village. With the cooperation of your shinobi of course Kazekage-sama," the lead ANBU said.

"No," Gaara replied instantly. The ANBU exchanged looks with each other before he continued. "Although, as you said, we have no quarrel with each other, we also have no set peace agreements. I wont have ANBU in my village doing as they please, even if it is to catch a criminal." He was glaring at them, but was speaking in a calm manner. "We will conduct a thorough search, and surrender the criminal back to you if we find them. Until then, you may wait." The ANBU didn't look too pleased, but didn't object. Gaara turned to Baki who was still looking at him uncertainly.

"Gaara-sama..."

"Get some more guards out here to keep an eye on them Baki. I don't want them inside the walls. I'll take care of this," he said, clutching the scroll in his hand. Baki nodded and disappeared. Gaara turned towards his city, not sure how to feel. Things were clicking together in his brain at an alarming rate. Your appearance, the charges against you, the ANBU's frequent use of the word 'monster', and even your last statements the night before. She seemed like she had been trying to tell me something, Gaara thought. And now he knew what. He had spoken confidently to Baki but he was not at all sure how he was going to handle this situation. One thing was sure though, he needed to speak to you.

As he walked through the hallway towards your door he slowed his pace. The sun had fully risen now, sending beams of light cutting through the house and it occurred to him that everyone was still asleep. He brought a hand up to knock, but hesitated. Finally he moved his hand to his eye and concentrated, using his sand eye technique to conjure his 'third eye' inside your room.

You were lying in bed in your underclothes, with your covers twisted and knotted around you. It looked like you had a rough night. Moving his eye closer he could see wide tear stains down your cheeks, and your eyebrows were knitted together. Did she cry herself to sleep?

You stirred restlessly and let out a light moan.

"...Gaara..." you said in a pained voice, as fresh tears streamed from your eyes and you continued to toss in your sleep. Gaara took a step back form the door and leaned against the wall, discontinuing his technique. He placed a hand on his chest, trying to work through the feelings coursing through him. That one call of his name had brought up a strong protective instinct in him. He cared about you, that was clear enough. And he certainly didn't trust the word of those ANBU hunters. He stood up straight, deciding what he would do, and then how he would handle you when he returned. He glanced at the door once more before departing the house to look for Baki. They had a lot of work to do.

___

Gaara returned to the house a few hours later. They had just finished putting on a big show of conducting a search of the village. Then he had had to go and report their 'findings' to the Amegakure ANBU and convince them that their search was better pressed to comb the desert where the fugitive's dead body was likely to be. He sighed and opened the front door, preparing questions he would be asking Kyo soon, but was surprised when he was met quickly by a teary-eyed Temari.

"Gaara! Gaara, I just woke up and... she's gone," she said, trying to put on a brave face while holding onto the note that you had left. Gaara stared at the note in his sister's hand and took it slowly.

"I knew that she would leave, but Gaara, oh I thought she'd stay a bit longer," Temari pressed on. "But there are some water jugs missing, so she's really gone to move on." Gaara looked up at her after those words. If you were out in the desert, and so were those ANBU... Temari didn't even get out a protest as he ran out of the door.

___

So, you're starting to stir up some new feelings in Gaara? Will he be able to find you before the ANBU hunters? Tune in next time for the exciting next chapter of Demons!

LoL, well I hope everyone enjoyed that, I wrote it almost completely straight out yesterday, but those last few paragraphs were hard. My boyfriend got home from work and kept inventing new lyrics to songs and singing them at me as a way to complain that I wasn't spending time with him. So I kept having to yell 'I just have two more paragraphs! Damn it shut up!' OMG, seriously.

Oh, and I will be posting a sketch of your character on Quizilla with the next chapter, so I'm mentioning it now in case I forget to link it.