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Naruto sat next to Gaara's bed and talked about what happened in school that day.
"Gai-sensei was being impossible as usual today. I think he still thinks we're all in Feudal Japan or something just because almost everyone in this town is descendants of some sort of ninja. The homework is, like, a mountain high! I pity you when you have to do all that homework by the time you get out of here," Naruto said.
Gaara smirked slightly at the thought of spending the few weeks after being discharged doing nothing but homework. It gave him something to do, that's for sure. The red-head winced slightly.
"Naruto, can you quiet down some? My head still hurts," Gaara muttered.
Gaara immediately wished he hadn't said anything because Naruto started freaking out and was about to go yelling for a nurse and morphine.
"It's not that bad. Just keep it down, okay?" Gaara said, trying to make him calm down.
But it was nice to know someone cared about him this much. Well, someone who wasn't related to him. Temari was almost suffocating at times, but it was understandable. Kankuro was more laid-back, but sometimes Gaara wondered if Kankuro was afraid of him at all. Whenever Gaara was in a mood or something, Kankuro always started getting nervous, like his little brother was going to do something unexpected and harmful. He frowned a little.
"Hey, what's wrong, Gaara-kun?" Naruto asked in an almost-whisper.
"Nothing," Gaara lied.
Naruto frowned.
"All right."
Gaara could tell Naruto didn't believe him. They stayed quiet for a while, Naruto fidgeting a little. Gaara looked out of his hospital window. His operation was in a few hours. He glanced at Naruto and wondered if he should mention it to him. Only Kankuro, Temari, and his father knew about the operation he needed to fix his skull. Because there were so many other critical patients, Gaara's surgery had been bumped a few times. The red-head wondered what the blond's reaction would be to it.
"Naruto-kun," Gaara said, but he stopped at the look on the blond's face.
For the split second before Naruto looked up and spread a smile across his face, he looked upset, unhappy, maybe even . . . no, not depressed. Depressed people couldn't even force a smile on their face . . . could they?
"What's wrong?" Gaara asked instead of his earlier question.
"Ah, it's nothing, Gaara-kun! Sasuke and I just aren't speaking to each other right now, that's all."
Gaara blinked and waited a few minutes before inquiring again.
"Why are you not speaking to each other?" the red-head asked.
Naruto's smile faltered and a flash of sadness and guilt crossed his eyes. Gaara raised an eyebrow at that.
"It's not too big of a deal. He'll get over it," Naruto said, suddenly finding his shoes to be very interesting.
Gaara didn't press it. It wasn't like he cared about the Uchiha. He just cared about Naruto. Whatever it was, Naruto probably was fine.
-
Temari walked toward the hospital dressed in the all-black outfit she usually didn't wear. She decided to wear it that day just in case. Kankuro said he was going to be at the hospital later that day. Temari knew that he wanted to get their father there in time for Gaara's operation. She wiped away the tears. She kept reminding herself that Gaara was going to be fine. He had been through worse stuff than this. She just couldn't think of any of them.
"Hey! Temari-chan!" shouted a familiar voice.
Temari turned around, forced a smile on her face, and waved.
"Hi Lee-kun!" Temari replied.
Lee ran up to her, Neji in toe.
"We were just about to go to the hospital to give Gaara-san a visit," said Lee.
Neji didn't say anything, but he did nod. Temari raised an eyebrow at the frustrated look on his face. They walked toward the hospital in relative silence. Only the occasional "how are you?" and "I'm fine" and "what about you?" broke the silence. They reached the hospital in a relatively short time. They reached the elevator and pressed the up button. Temari tapped her food impatiently. Lee fidgeted a little, and Neji kept completely still, glancing at Lee periodically and occasionally at Temari. The elevator doors finally opened and they made their way to Gaara's floor.
Several minutes later, they reached Gaara's room, Temari picked up her pace, and almost ran into Naruto who was exiting Gaara's room.
"Gah! Temari!"
"Naruto, where are you going? Aren't you going to stay for - ?"
"Temari, shut up," said Gaara's voice from inside.
Temari raised an eyebrow, but she decided not to honor her brother's request and completed her sentence.
"Gaara's operation? It's in a few hours."
"What! It is?" Naruto exclaimed.
Neji rolled his eyes.
"Yes, it is," Temari said slowly as though Naruto was slow on the uptake.
The next few minutes were spent by Naruto fuming and wondering why Gaara didn't tell him and Gaara glaring at Temari.
As Temari's visit continued, Lee disappeared somewhere. Temari didn't ask Neji where he went until after the doctors took Gaara away to the operating room. She, Neji, and Naruto were sent to the waiting room.
"Neji-kun, where's Lee-kun?" Temari asked.
Neji sighed and looked at Temari, his pupil-less eyes piercing through her. She tilted her head to the side, wondering why he seemed so serious about the subject.
"Gaara isn't the only reason he's here," Neji said, sitting down and crossing his arms. "He doesn't like talking about it, either. Both of his parents are alcoholics, but his mother's worse. She ended up completely ruining her liver and is currently in this hospital. The doctors say that if she'll go to AA meetings and stop drinking, they'll give her a new liver, but she doesn't want to stop drinking, so Lee's stuck with waiting until she dies. He comes here everyday just to make sure she's still alive."
Neji waited for this information to sink into Temari and Naruto who had decided to listen in. Naruto stared up at the ceiling with an awed look on his face and Temari looked at the ground, her face full of surprise.
"His visits usually don't go well, either. She's not the best mother in the world. He won't talk about it, but it's rumored among those who know that she didn't even want to have any children. I say it's bullshit and that she's just mad she can't get any booze in the hospital," Neji finished, looking over at Temari.
The blonde frowned. They sat there in silence for a while. Lee arrived in the waiting room thirty minutes later and the four of them waited. Temari kept glancing at her watch and glancing at the door. After an hour, she stood up, walked to the door and stomped her foot huffily.
"Where is Kankuro? He's supposed to be here by now!" Temari said, crossing her arms. "He was supposed to get Dad, but it couldn't take this long!"
"Where does your dad work? Maybe I can bring him back here," Lee suggested.
"He's probably lost. You guys have only been here a few months," Neji guessed.
Naruto just shrugged and looked at his watch too.
"Damn it. Guys, I'll be right back. I have to call my dad and tell him I'll be late for dinner and why," Naruto said and he left to find a phone.
-
Kankuro sighed as he leaned against a brick wall. He had dropped by the bank where his father had said he worked, but the people at the bank said they had never met the man. After that, he just walked into random stores asking if he worked there, and they all said no. He looked at his watch. It was six thirty-five. Temari was going to murder him for being so late, but he couldn't help it.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea hit him. He could call his dad on his cell phone! That would be a good thing to do. He could also ask where he was and why he had lied about working at the bank. Kankuro pulled out his cell phone, turned it on, and started dialing his father's phone number. He waited for it to ring, and it did, but there was a second ring very nearby. Kankuro looked to his right and heard the ring from the other line and the second ring again. He walked over to where the second ring was coming from and looked down the alleyway. He quickly terminated the call. His father was standing in an alleyway with some strange-looking guy with long black hair and extremely pale skin. They were whispering, and Kankuro could barely hear his father saying "sorry about that. It sometimes happens. Now, is there any way that we can avoid it happening ever again?" Kankuro didn't know he meant the phone ringing or something else, but the pale-skinned man gave a low laugh.
"Why so anxious? Though I am wondering why Zabuza would target his number one customer, I'm more concerned about where that boy of his is. We haven't seen him around, and he didn't show up to help you move, now did he?"
"No, he didn't, but I'm not complaining about it. It would've been hard to explain if any of my children saw that someone around Gaara's age was helping me with my 'work'."
"Difficult or not, he still is a valuable asset to our plans. But, what are you going to do about Water Shadow, boss?"
"I'm thinking, Orochimaru, but I can't think of anything. I don't even know who this Water Shadow is, and that's saying something considering that I'm – well, you know."
"You've been more secretive that usual. No one's around to hear you."
"Well, I thought that no sexual harm would come to any of my children, let alone Gaara, if I just kept you and everyone else like you away from them, but you know what happened that made us move."
"I'm flattered you think I'm such a danger. But the fact that his body is missing is rather disconcerting."
"I know. Dead people just don't get up and walk away."
"Unless he wasn't dead."
"Do you really think he can fake death that well?"
"My associates have done it time to time when necessary. It's merely a manipulation of the pulse. Doctors have been known to do it as well."
"Okay, okay. Now, I can't stay here any longer. Temari will be concerned about where I am, and knowing Kankuro, he's probably looking for me somewhere. I just hope he hasn't already found out that my banking job's a lie."
"Oh yes, the youngest's operation is today. Speaking of the dear red-head, do his siblings know about his - ?"
"No, Gaara doesn't like having personal things just thrown out there. Kankuro and Temari tend to have big mouths in addition to that, so it was just a bad idea."
"By the way you go on about Gaara, you'd think he'd be your successor in the business."
Kankuro's father sighed.
"Goodbye Orochimaru-san."
"Goodbye Wind Shadow."
Kankuro ran in the opposite direction. His father was the head of the Mafia?
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Red Roses2: Sorry it took so long, and sorry if it's a little boring this time. You know the reviewing drill.