A/N:

I have decided to break this story into two acts. Act I, which tells the story of Gaara as he tries to put himself back to together after suffering years of mental and physical abuse from his father. This chapter is the conclusion of that tale. The sequel, Act II, will tell the story after five years have passed.

Oh, and before I forget, even though I rated this story as M, it is actually supposed to be rated T, since I decided to put it in two Act's. Sorry for the confusion. Also, Act II will definitely be rated M for sexual content.

Thanks to all those who've reviewed so far. I enjoyed reading your comments. Hope you enjoy reading this last installment, and now on with the story.

Warning: This is a maleXmale fic. It is rated M for language, and adult themes. This is an AU fic, and characters are mostly OOC.

Neji X Gaara

Sasuke X Naruto

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor will I in the foreseeable future.

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A Breath in the Dark

"Such a waste," Kidomaru murmured to himself as he became an audience to one of Kimimaro's attacks. While his Captain was giving him orders over the phone, his illness had unexpectedly flared up and he had dropped the cell phone as he coughed up clots of blood. Still on the line, Kidomaru heard as Kin tried to calm him down. Not wanting to hear the rest of the drama, Kidomaru hung up and looked at the back-seat at his unconscious captive.

"You're lucky Kimimaro ordered me not to play with you…." He sighed. "It would have been fun hearing you scream my name as I took—"

RIING! RING! RING!

Kidomaru scowled as he heard the damn cell go off, but he picked it up, knowing it was news concerning Kimimaro's current condition.

It was Kin.

She relayed Kimimaro's orders since their captain was unable to do it himself.

After he received his orders Kidomaru called an associate who knew how to go about procuring a metal cage.

Two hours later, Kidomaru placed his still unconscious victim inside the metal cell Dosu had procured for him. He made sure the red-head's cell was turned on and placed it back in his pocket where he had first found it. After locking the door, he waited for Neji to call.

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Kin smiled a cruel smile as she finished talking with Kidomaru.

She had been in the vicinity when Kimimaro's coughing fit occurred but by the time she had gotten his medicine, Kimimaro had already started coughing up blood. Soon after, he lost consciousness and she had to call someone to help her put him in a bed. Once Kimimaro had been taken cared of, Kin retrieved the phone he had dropped and called Kidomaru.

It was fate. This was the perfect opportunity to get her vengeance for all the grief that bastard had given her, so saying she was relaying orders from Kimimaro, she told Kidomaru exactly what she wanted.

She only hoped that Kabuto would not ruin her fun.

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Kabuto looked at ruined Hyuuga and had to mask the smile that threatened to appear on his face. He couldn't believe how easy it had been to get Neji to turn his back on everyone that cared about him.

Across from him, Neji sat with blank look on his face as they made their way out of Konoha. After Neji followed him to the limousine, Kabuto had instructed the driver to head back to the hotel he was staying at in order to get the soaking and muddy Hyuuga a pair of clean and dry clothes, as well to check out of the hotel.

While he was taking care of business, Kin had called him to ask for a favor. He listened to her proposal and agreed. Though knowing Kin had proposed the idea out of her own cruel revenge, he could not help but agree with her: all bonds must be cut.

He needed to utterly shatter any thoughts Neji had about staying in Konoha, he wanted the Hyuuga to be utterly alone and the only way to accomplish that was to cut any lingering strings that may bring him back.

Bringing his thoughts back to the present, Kabuto looked at the Hyuuga in front of him. He had given the teen enough time to think things through, and let the reality of the situation sink in. It was time to execute Kin's plan.

Turning to the quiet Hyuuga, Kabuto spoke. "What is your answer?" Kabuto asked him. "Do you want me to help you rid yourself of that cursed virus, or would you rather return back to your father's murderer?"

At the mention of his father's death, Neji's hands instantly clenched in rage. He would never go back to the Hyuuga Mansion—that he knew without a doubt, but the only way to accomplish that was to find a cure to that damn virus.

He stared at Kabuto through solemn eyes. "Even if you can eventually find a cure, I would be long dead by the time you made a breakthrough. In order to survive, I need the medication that is given to every Hyuuga. Without it I will die."

Kabuto looked at him and allowed himself a small smirk. Yes, they had picked well when it came to the Hyuuga. He was a perfect pawn, easily manipulated. Even when talking about his potential death, he was calm—giving known of his feelings away.

"I have already synthesized the medication that you speak of," Kabuto told him, and watched as Neji's eyes widen in shock. This was really too easy he thought to himself.

"You…you have the antidote?" the young teen asked him with pure astonishment in his voice. It had taken decades for hundreds of Hyuuga scientist's to come up with the antidote to the virus that infected their bodies. How could the grey-haired male in front of him speak so casually about discovering how to synthesize the antidote? If he could find the antidote in less time than it had taken all those hundreds of scientist's then maybe, just maybe he could find the cure.

"Will you accept my help Neji?" Kabuto asked him one last time.

Neji nodded his head, eyes filled with resolution. "I will."

Kabuto smiled. "I have only one request," he told him. Neji nodded, knowing he would do anything requested of him as long as he could stay with the medical genius in front of him, for he knew the grey-haired medic was exactly that—a genius.

"I want you to sever all ties with everyone in Konoha. From now on, you will be free of the ties that kept you tied down to this city—kept you a prisoner in that gilded cage."

Kabuto handed him a cell phone and looked at him expectantly. Without a second thought Neji called the Hyuuga Mansion.

Unsurprisingly, the butler answered, and Neji asked for Hiashi. After the butler retrieved the head of the Hyuuga Clan, Neji quickly got to the point and told him he would not be returning. He refused to return to the home of his father's murderer.

Hiashi heard every cruel word that came out of his nephew's mouth and said nothing. He could do nothing but accept his nephew's decision. After all, hadn't he just seen the digital recording of his brother's own death a mere hour ago?

After he had recovered from the momentary grief that overtook him, Hiashi had discovered the digital footage, along with the rest of the papers his nephew had received that day. After watching and reading the evidence that he had no doubt Neji had read and watched he could do nothing to stop his brother's son.

No wonder Neji had been in such a state. To find out about his father's death in such a cruel way was unfathomable. He could only guess how much Neji hated him, and the worst thing was he had every right in the world to hate him.

Guilt stopped him from reacting to Neji's harsh words of good-bye—he did nothing to stop him...just like he had done nothing to stop his brother's death.

Long after Neji hung up with him, Hiashi held the phone to his ear, unaware of the world around him. He had finally lost the last remnants of his beloved brother.

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After giving his cold good-bye to Hiashi, Neji hung up the phone.

From across the seat, Kabuto looked at him expectantly. "You still have one call to make," Kabuto informed him.

Neji looked at him with a hint of confusion. He had already cut his ties with his family who else was there…then it dawned on him—Gaara.

He looked up at Kabuto and instantly knew that Kabuto expected him to call Gaara…but what would he tell the red-head? How could he tell him that he was leaving forever?

...How could he hurt him that way? For a moment Neji's resolve came perilously close to shattering. He couldn't hurt Gaara, couldn't leave him without any explanation. The young male didn't deserve such a thing.

From across the seat, Kabuto immediately recognized the doubt that crossed the Hyuuga's features.

"So, Kin was right," he thought to himself. Gaara was a threat that needed to be eliminated. Without second thoughts, Neji had severed his ties to his family, yet his resolve crumbled when it came to severing his ties with the red-head.

"Having trouble Neji?" Kabuto asked him.

Neji pulled himself from his internal battle and looked up at the grey-haired medic.

"Do you really think it would be fair of you to stay with Gaara knowing of your illness? Tell me, have you told him you're sick?" he asked him, knowing full-well that it was forbidden to tell anyone outside of the Hyuuga Family.

Neji shook his head. "He doesn't know," he whispered.

"Do you really think he would stay with you knowing you were sick? I'm sure you're aware how a person's attitude quickly changes once they know you're ill. Eventually, he will leave you. Why don't you do yourselves both a favor and break it off now before it becomes more painful later on."

"He's right," Neji thought to himself. "I always knew that once Gaara found out about the virus, he would eventually leave me…And even if he decided to stay with me, he would end up hating me…for infecting him."

Knowing Kabuto was right, Neji dialed Gaara's cell, fully ready to destroy what they had built together. He would rather face Gaara's hate than destroy his life by getting him involved in a situation that was his to face alone.

Kabuto smirked.

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"If you don't stop thrashing around, I'm going to knock you out again," Kidomaru warned the red-head.

Once Gaara came too, he had been delirious for a few seconds that is until he discovered where he was.

The Cell.

"It can't be!" he thought to himself, freaking out at the mere prospect of being back in the metal cell down in the basement in Suna. "Father's dead, I can't be back in here!!" the red-head thought to himself as he remembered his younger years in which his father had locked him in a metal cell for hours at a time.

As his memories of his bleak past resurfaced, he immediately began to thrash around. It was instinct and nothing else.

He was claustrophobic.

Soon enough his fear took hold of his mind until he couldn't tell his past from the present. Eventually he became that little boy who was scared yet consoled by the dark, for he knew that he was safe in the dark, yet hated the emptiness that was forever his companion in the dark basement.

He thought he heard someone in the room, but ignored it, hoping it wasn't his father. His father had often ridiculed him when he locked him in the metal cell. He didn't want to hear his words, not anymore. They were already burned in his mind for all eternity—words of hate and disgust.

After what seemed like hours, he heard a familiar sound—it was his phone. He retrieved the electronic device from his pocket and looked at it as if it were the first time he had seen such a contraption.

"Father's dead. He died in a car accident…I killed him," thought the red-head as he tightly closed his eyes against the images of his father that slowly dissipated from his mind's eye. Remembering that his father was indeed dead, Gaara managed to calm himself down enough to remember what to do with the device.

With shaking hands, he answered, only to have the phone fall out of his jittery hands. Eyes still closed, he franticly searched around the steel cage for the phone. Hands groping for the phone in the darkness, he heard a familiar voice. He immediately pin-pointed the direction of the voice and picked up the phone.

"Neji… help me," he managed to whisper in his panic.

Hearing Gaara's scared voice on the other line made Neji's heart stopped for a second. But he recovered a moment later. "It's for the best," he reminded himself as he steeled his heart.

On the other line, Gaara clearly heard Neji's response.

"Gaara it's over. I no longer have any ties with you."

It took Gaara's fear-gripped brain a second in order to process what Neji told him, but once he did, he felt a resounding pain rip through his heart.

Too shocked with Neji's words, Gaara said nothing. The long-haired male used this pause to continue on. "I only wanted your body, nothing else," he cruelly said, not knowing why he said such a thing, but it was too late to take back the words. After all, he needed Gaara to hate him.

"I have to be cruel," he thought to himself. "Gaara deserves better than me, someone who's not ill and broken…he deserves someone who can bring him happiness."

Hearing Neji's words almost broke the red-head, but he managed to get a few words out. "Why…Why? Neji why did you…you…I thought you truly cared…," he hoarsely stuttered out.

"You were wrong. I never cared about you. I only wanted you to warm my bed."

"I-I-I need you…I-I-I'm in the darkness," his voice hitched from his panic. He could feel as the walls of the cell slowly enclosed him and he was dangerously close to losing his mind. "I'm back in the cell!" he screamed in his mind, but Neji could not read his thoughts.

Neji gripped the phone a little tighter, "Find someone who cares, Sabaku. I'm no longer interested in you. I never loved you."

With those parting words, Neji let the phone slip through his fingers and watched as it fell to the floor, disconnecting the call as it did so.

"It was for the best," Kabuto said as his eyes glinted with mirth.

"If only you knew…" the medic thought, as he gave the driver instructions.

Neji paid no heed to his words. He had no idea that it would hurt this much telling Gaara such lies. The worst one being his last words, for now that he knew he had ripped apart any ties he had with the Sabaku, he realized just how much he truly loved him.

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"I'm sorry Naruto," Sasuke said as he finished telling the blonde that he would not be returning—ever.

"B-B-But…Why?...Why are you so cruel!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke didn't flinch at the blonde's outburst, "I'm simply stating the facts, Uzumaki. I'm not being cruel."

"You call me to tell me your never returning to Konoha, and that I should forget about you, when only a month ago, you told me you would be returning. How is that not cruel?!"

"Get over it Naruto. I changed my mind. I never promised you more than a few moments of pleasure."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? YOU BASTARD!!!" The blonde yelled, too angry at the Uchiha to realize that his heart was breaking.

In a cold tone Sasuke answered him, "I never promised you anything. If you had some delusional idea that we would be together for longer than a year or two, then you're even a bigger idiot than I thought. It's over, don't ever call me again."

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD—" But that was all the blonde could get out before the Uchiha hung up.

"BASTARD!" He yelled out as he threw the phone across the room, and watched as it broke into pieces.

Moments later he heard as his guardian ran in his room, "Naruto! What's going on here?" Jiraiya angrily asked him, but stopped the next words of reprimand when he saw the blonde's azure eyes filled with unshed tears. Not knowing how to deal with tears, Jiraiya hesitantly walked up to the teen. "What's wrong?" he asked in a gentler voice.

Naruto's entire body shook as he tried to hold back the sobs that threatened to escape. But he lost it when he felt Jiraiya's arms embrace him in a fatherly hug. Jiraiya was not one that expressed his feelings through physical touch like the blonde did, but sometimes when Naruto was needed it the most, he would bring him into a fatherly embrace. Naruto always broke down after Jiraiya hugged him, but he would only ever let a few sobs escape him; however, this time he poured his hear out.

Jiraiya was surprised by the blonde's heart-wrenching sobs. Naruto had never cried this much since he was a child. Something was defiantly wrong, and he was going to find out exactly what. But for the moment, he simply held the boy in his arms as rivers of tears soaked into his shirt.

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Kidomaru made sure that the red-head was securely locked-up before leaving.

After the red-head had received the Hyuuga's call, the young teen had stopped his insistent trashing, and just sat there, head huddled on his bent knees as tears slipped from his eyes.

His job was done. "I wonder how long it'll be before someone finds you?" Kidomaru said aloud to no one in particular as he left the red-head in the abandoned warehouse located in the outskirts of Konoha.

Back in the cell, Gaara's memories resurfaced with a vengeance.

"Father? Why? Why me?" he whispered to himself in a hoarse voice, as he remembered his father's hate-filled eyes directed at him.

"Why does everyone hate me?...What did I do wrong?"

"Find someone who cares, Sabaku. I'm no longer interested in you. I never loved you."

Neji's cold words reverberated through his mind. "Why can't anyone love me!" he cried out as Neji's face came to mind.

The steel walls enclosed around him and his already fragile mind began to fragment into a million cracks.

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Two days later, a long-haired teen ran into an old warehouse with laughter bubbling from his mouth as he ran from his boyfriend.

"Haku!" Zabuza yelled out in annoyance. "How did I ever end up with such a guy?" he asked himself for the 100th time. Sighing to himself, he ran after the young teen, knowing his part in the younger male's game.

However, something was wrong. Why had Haku's laughter suddenly stopped?

Imagining the worst, Zabuza ran into the warehouse at full speed. Once inside, he made an abrupt stop as he saw Haku's still form looking at a metal cage located in the middle of the building.

"What is it?" the older male asked.

Haku pointed to the steel cell, "I think someone's in there," he said, concern lacing his words.

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For two days, Gaara remained in the metal cell. For two days, his memories haunted him. For two days his mind slowly fragmented.

Before he moved to Konoha he had been merely a shell of a person: emotionless, impassive, detached and cold. But once he immersed himself in the city and its occupants, he learned a great many things, including a range of emotions he had never known he possessed. He discovered laughter, jubilation, concern, peace, friendship, and love. And now, he had discovered heart-break.

Naruto had found him drowning in an abyss of darkness. A darkness that threatened to break him at any moment, so that he couldn't take a simple breath in the dark. Naruto had seen this and reached for him, but being the stubborn fool that he was, Gaara had refused the offered help. So, Naruto simply stood there on firm land as he watched him struggle in the sea of darkness as he desperately tried to take gulps of air that kept him from drowning in the murky dark waters.

It pained the blonde to see Gaara's struggle, so Naruto gave up his spot in hopes that someone else could get through to the red-head.

Taking Naruto's place, Neji stepped onto the sandy shore, and simply watched him from afar.

Not wanting to seem weak, Gaara used all of his strength to reach the sands on which the long-haired male stood. After what seemed like an eternity, he was finally able to clearly see each grain of sand where Neji waited for him. Staring into his smiling pale-lavender eyes, Gaara felt peace over take his struggling soul.

Neji smiled at him as he knelt down and grasped his tired arms in a firm grip. Surprised by the Hyuuga's action, Gaara let the long-haired teen pull him up to the sandy shores. Neji was going to save him, hoping it was the last time he would feel the murky dark waters, Gaara took in a lung-full of air thinking it was his last breath in the dark, but before his hand touched the grainy substance, Neji bent down and kissed him softly on the lips before shoving him back into the murky dark waters. Too shocked by the Hyuuga's action, Gaara didn't notice as his mind fell even farther down than he had previously been. He was surrounded by darkness on all sides. He couldn't breathe.

As he plummeted further and further down through the dark water, he remembered a poem he had once read, but never understood until this moment.

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.
1

"Neji," Gaara whispered before his mind shattered.

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(1) Alone by Edgar Allan Poe

So this is the end of what I suppose is Act I. This is the prequel to the story I was originally thinking about writing. Act II will take place five years later. Naruto and Gaara have moved on and lead a semi-happy life. Naruto begins to fall for his red-headed friend, but will Gaara return his blossoming feelings? And what will happen when Neji and Sasuke unexpectedly return to Konoha and enter their lives once more?

Read and find out.

Reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks ;)