Light green eyes slowly opened in the soft, orange-ish glow of the room. Gaara lay where he had for two days now, out cold despite the sedatives wearing off. Moving his arm, he noted that he was strapped to the bed, an IV running next to him as well.

He sighed, of course. He was practically all back to square one, so far from where he wanted to be. He really just wanted to go home, to be in his bed, with his blades, those pills, anything that would take him away from this hell that his life had become. In all honesty, he didn't even know how it had gotten to this point, but he knew he wanted it to end.

A sudden stirring to the side of him made him jump, a head of spikey blonde locks catching his attention.

Naruto.

He could hardly believe the other was there. He should be in his own bed sleeping, and yet here he was, passed out in a chair with his head on the bed. He was such a dork, and yet this simple, stupid action made Gaara feel better than he had in a long time. It was as if Naruto cared about him, even if it was an illusion.

Shaking his head, he pulled on the restraints, wondering if he could slip out, though he soon found out it was not an option. It was a pity too.

Defeated, he pressed the nurse's button that had been placed next to his hand should he wake up, looking over at an unfamiliar woman as she came in with something of a nervous smile. She was obviously nervous. She was probably new.

"May I be untied?" It was a simple question, and yet Gaara feared he would have to repeat himself, his voice raspy to the point that the nurse could barely hear him; however, she smiled sadly as she registered what had been asked, "I'm sorry, but only the chief doctor, Tsunade-sama, can decide that. I can help you though if there's anything you need. Are you hungry?"

There it was once again. Gaara knew she meant nothing by it, but that sickeningly sweet voice that people always seemed to use on him was getting old. He didn't need people to walk on eggshells around him. It wasn't like anything they said could make him any worse than he already was, so why bother?

Shaking his head, he turned it so that he was no longer facing her, his way of saying the conversation was over. She seemed to understand though as she nodded and left; however, some people were not as bright.

"Are you sure you don't need something?" came a tired yawn.

It was Naruto, the whiskered man now sitting up in his chair and stretching this way and that, loud pops sounding throughout the room as he readjusted himself. He should have known to expect something like that from him. Normally, he would feel a bit better at the fact that someone was indeed caring for him, but at the moment, it was nothing but a useless waste of time.

". . .Fine, don't answer me." That same voice spoke, "But I'll have you know that you take really long naps. I think the longest I've ever slept was a day, and this chemo shit really wears you out, ahaha."

Of course, here Gaara was, giving Naruto and the rest of the world the silent treatment as he was feeling sorry for himself when really, he should be thanking every single person. They had kept him alive and were attempting to help bring him back to a happier time. He was such a terrible person.

After a long pause, Gaara finally spoke up, still choosing to look away, "Sorry."

"Naw, no worries man. I get ya. You're one of them strong silent types. I had a friend like that once. His name was Sasuke. We never got along very much, but somehow I think we were important to each other; at least, he was important to me." Naruto gave a shrug, but it wa obvious it meant more to him, "He moved away though; overseas to America to find his brother Itachi and try to get some revenge. Said something about the company business."

Time seemed to continue like that for hours despite Naruto rambling for only a few minutes, the blonde seemingly hooked on the subject of his friend before he realized what he was doing.

"Ah, sorry, I talk a lot." He yawned, "But hey, go back to sleep. Imma head back to my own room. Sakura-chan said she'd hurt me if she found me here at night. Later Gaara."

And just like that he was gone. Silence immediately flowed into the room, leaving the red head to his own thoughts again, which were only belittling to himself; however, the teen was getting a familiar feeling, one he didn't get too often. It was the feeling of friendship. Naruto was still there for him, ignoring the bad and focusing on what mattered most to himself and others, and it dawned on him that that was where he should be as well. He wanted to get better, wanted to be happy, to let the scars fade into nothing but white.

He wanted to be normal.

Gaara had made up his mind, like so many times before. Tomorrow would be his first real day of recovery. As long as he had that blonde in his life, he was sure he could do it.

. . . .

Boom, look at that, an update. Looks like I can finally start moving this forward a bit faster and get some real stuff happening.

As always, remember to leave a review!