Chapter 10
His siblings were staring at him. Like they always did. He didn't really understand why they even wasted their time here with him, what were they waiting for? For him to suddenly become 'sane' and hug them while exclaiming how much he adored them?
If that's what they wanted, they were in for a bitter disappointment.
His brother stared at him from across the room, eyeing him with those dark orbs that reminded him so much of his father. His entire frame was identical to the man that had once been known as their father, maybe Kankurou wouldn't end up dead like him though.
His jade eyes glanced over his older brother, looking for any significant differance in the appearance of him and their deceased father. At first look, he couldn't find any, which frustrated him. He didn't want any part of his father near him.
But then, if you looked hard enough you could see the way that the Kankurou's face structure was different. At least a little bit. The man before him now didn't have the cold look of hate or the planes of his face set in a scowl of disgust that his father had when he gazed at his youngest son.
Kankurou's mouth was set in straight, firm line. His eyes were warm and welcoming, but gaurded. His face showed a caring person, but also a wary, practical person. One who didn't jump right into things without thinking it through.
"Gaara..." a soft voice called him.
His gaze shifted to his sister standing at the table in the middle of the room. He could see the emotion battling in her eyes.
He didn't know much about his mother. Hell, he didn't even know what she looked like, save from an old photo he had seen when he was younger. But he did know that his sister had his mother's soft gaze.
The blonde had her mother's cheekbones and small sad smile, to. The tiniest lift of the lips, showing what she couldn't say. How much she wished she could so something to help. How she felt helpless. How she wanted to understand, but for the life of her, couldn't.
Her blue-green eyes shifted from his piercing gaze to the table top, where her thin fingers traced patterns into the surface that weren't there. Funny how she seemed so delicate now, but she wasn't. Temari was as big an enigma as himself.
They all were. The fake fronts they put up fooled everyone, that is, everyone but themselves. Funny how they could lie to the world, and try to lie to each other, but the truth always showed in the eyes. The eyes of a person where an open book, so easy to read. Maybe they were just better at hiding the pages than anyone else.
"Can you just talk to us, Gaara? Please?" His brother said in a defeated tone.
He almost smirked. Why did they want him to talk? What was the point. To just spit out false tales about his living arrangements and what he did when he was left to his own devices? Not likely. He knew he shouldn't resent them for what happened when they were younger, it wasn't their fault. But it's not like they tried to stop it either.
The dark shadows of his past seemed to replay more often in his head with them around. He could hear the voices again, the screaming and crying. But most of all, he could recall the image of his Father's face on one particular night. The last night.
He didn't even stop the malicious smile that split his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his sister flinch back. His eyes snapped to her, and she froze. She showed no fear. She never did. But he could see the emotions in her eyes. An open book.
His brother took a step foreward, his jaw set, ready. Gaara's eyes slid to meet his, and the brunette's movements stopped. Odd that him, the youngest of the three, could make his older siblings stop dead and rethink what they were about to do.
"Gaara. We wanted to wish you a happy birthday." Temari's voice was shaky, but only barely. Just enough for only the red-head to hear. It caught his attention, and calmed him down.
"Happy twenty-third birthday." Kankurou mumbled as he slumped his shoulders and sat on the edge of the table, staring into Gaara's jade orbs.
Hesitatingly, Gaara relaxed slightly, watching as his siblings did to. It seemed that the hardest part of the visit had passed without incident. Again. It had been like that for a few years now, actually he couldn't remember the last time he tried to attack them when they came to see him. It had been awhile.
Temari took a small step in his direction, and he watched her face carefully. After a few seconds of stillness, she walked toward him, her face determined. In her hand was a small package. His eyes followed her movements like a predator calculating it's prey before it went in for the kill. She upheld her composure.
She stopped before him, not to close, and not to far away either. Outstretching her slim arm, she offered the wrapped, flat, square in her hands. Her eyes stayed on his face, watching his reaction. He continued to stare blankly at the proffered gift, wondering inwardly what it was and why she was handing it to him in paper.
"It's from Kankurou and me. We...We thought you could put it up in your room if you want." She explained softly.
He continued to eye the package.
Kankurou rose from his sitting position on the table, tensing when Gaara's green eyes swung swiftly to him as the red-head stiffened in response to the brunette's movement, and slowly walked to his small family.
With his hands in his pocket, Kankuruou gazed at his younger brother. "It's a present, Gaara. For your birthday. You're supposed to open it." his usual gruff voice quiet.
Temari glanced up at her youngest brother, cautioning him with her teal eyes, before she hesitantly reached out with her hand and took hold of his larger one. Immediatley, Gaara tensed and went on gaurd, his eyes glancing swiftly back and forth between the two older beings before him, looking for a trap, a threat, anything.
Sensing his uneasiness at the contact, Temari rubbed her fingers soothingly over his skin. Slowly, cautiously, she moved his hand to the small package and softly transfered it to his rough hand. She held her breath as she watched him retract his hand, holding the package a little ways away from his body.
He glanced up at his siblings, seeing them watching him with wary and curious eyes, and then returned his gaze to the gift in his hands.
After a minutes hesitation, he slipped his finger under the edge of the colored paper, and tore it off with one quick pull. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his sister bite her lip with her nervousness. It was so unlike her to be so vulnerable like that.
The wrapping paper fell harmlessly to the floor, and he held a small frame in his hand. It was a picture of three people, toddlers to be exact.
He recognized the three in the photo immediatly. Mostly because of the eyes, they never changed even through all the people had been through, the eyes stayed the same. Held the same pain they did back then.
It was him and his siblings. They sat on the floor mashed together in a bundle of childish happiness. It was one of the few times they were actually smiling in their childhood, together.
A baby Gaara sat between his toddler siblings on a fading beige colored carpet. The Kankurou in the photo held the young red head in his lap, a childish grin of delight splitting his face as his eyes took in the sight of his sister mashing her lips to Gaara's cheek. The green eyed baby had a blush dusting his pale face as his orbs were captured in a widened state of shock.
But, his lips formed a noticable grin that looked so innocent and pure, it seemed unreal that that baby in the photo belonged to the same man that baby had grown to be.
It was a point in their life, frozen, captured, treasured. He believed that was the last time he had truly smiled when he was younger.
"Do you want us to put it up in your room?" Temari asked as her teal eyes scrutinized his face for a reaction to the picture. Only his eyes softened. Barely.
Kankurou stepped next to Temari, putting himself in front of his younger brother. Gaara glanced up at him, and his jade eyes locked with Kankurou's dark hues.
"Come on Gaara. We'll go put it up." Kankurou gave a lopsided smile.
Gaara blinked slowly, then shifted his gaze to his sister. With a nod, he took a step away from the wall he had been leaning on, and followed his siblings out of the room.