HOLY HELLHOLE.

HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN? OVER A YEAR? AM I EVEN IN CIVILIZATION ANYMORE? ARE YOU ALL A MIRAGE?

... Yeah. I, uh, I really have no excuse. I think it was mainly the fact that I went on a Transformers bender that lasted waaaaaaay longer than I thought it would. Plus, Naruto and I had a falling out with each other.

Shukaku: But now she's back, and HERE SHE COMES, BABY!

Me: ... I thought we agreed you'd stay out of my A/Ns, you overgrown raccoon dog.

AWRIGHT. So hopefully next chapter, I'll begin some of the *gasp* PLOT FROM THE ACTUAL SHOW. I gotta scour my hard drive to see if those clips of the episode I need dialogue from are still here... I've changed laptops so many times and I may need to go on a search with my old one if I don't have it. XD

Now, I wouldn't blame you people if I got no reviews at all... but I am hoping you'll take mercy and that you haven't forgotten me and my humble little story.

I hope you like this long overdue chapter!

When I finally woke up, I was lying in a bed. My vision was blurry at best, but after a few seconds, as I blinked, it got better. I could see, and I could now feel as well. And what did I feel? A tiny, sweaty hand holding my own rather tightly.

I groaned and looked over to see Gaara holding my hand. He sat in a chair that was scooted as close to the bed as possible, and his cheek rested on my arm. He looked really tired, if I had to name the look on his face. Looked like he was about to fall asleep.

"Hey Gaara," I chuckled, "is it just me, or is this total déja-vû of our first night together?"

His head jerked up instantly, and he threw his arms around my neck, ecstatic to the point of practically choking me. "Kame-chan!" You wouldn't believe me if I told you just how relieved this kid sounded.

I fake-gagged and hugged him back. "Woo, boy! I think that's the most sleep I've gotten in, what - four months now?"

I could feel him nuzzling his face into that area between my neck and my shoulder. It literally felt like he never wanted to let me go. "I-I was so scared, Kame-chan! I thought you weren't gonna wake up!"

"Hey, no worries, babe." I rubbed his back gently, resting my lips against his hair. "I'm fine." I carefully pried Gaara's body away from mine, though I continued to stroke his hair. "I'm not in the hospital. So obviously whatever happened wasn't too serious."

"We couldn't take you anyway," Yashamaru spoke up from the corner where he was standing with Takamine - holding hands, of course. "They won't let Gaara in, remember? And he wanted to stay with you."

I pouted. "Oh yeah. Mark up some blonde points for me, then." I twirled a chunk of Gaara's hair around my finger. "What happened anyway? All I can remember is passing out on stage while I was trying..." Suddenly struck by a sharp pain, I grabbed my head. "Owww, sonuva bitch! What happened?"

"You got overheated," Yashamaru answered. "And yes, Kame, you did pass out. You also hit your head when you fell off the stage. Takamine-chan changed you out of that dress and into some of my clothes."

"Aww, I can't believe this," I muttered, rubbing Gaara's back lightly. "I would be the only one to pass out on stage. Che, that sucks." I flipped my hair back. "Who won, anyway? Did you guys get anything?"

Takamine blushed. "First place."

Yashamaru's arm tightened around her waist. "You got fourth. Nanten-kun got second."

"Fourth. Figures, since I'm Gaara's babysitter." I rolled my eyes. "Well, at least Nanten got recognized. Oh, and you guys too." I sighed and patted Gaara's head. "Takamine Sensei, will you please walk Nanten home? My aunt's going to be freaking out, especially if she finds out where Nanten's been."

Takamine nodded, carefully drawing away from her boyfriend and reaching down to take Nanten by the hand. "C'mon, Nanten-chan - back to your mommy, okay?"

"'Kay!" Before Nanten left she leaned over and pressed her lips lightly against my charge's cheek, grinning and blushing. "Bye-bye, Gaara-kun! I'll see you later!"

As Nanten and Takamine walked out, I looked over at Gaara. Just in time to see his face light up, completely pink, even all the way out to his ears. He quickly scuttled over close to me, and carefully whispered in my ear, "K-Kame-chan? N-Nanten-chan... is really nice..."

I laughed, running my fingers through his hair. Great, my little bubbling cupcake of cute and awkward had a crush. How was I gonna handle this...? Well... maybe handling it with maturity would work. "I know she is, hon. She really likes you."

His face flushed even more, if it was possible, and he rubbed his arm, almost self-consciously. "I... I like her too..."

After a few more seconds of standing there, the blush in his face faded away. He then turned to me and started tackle-hugging me again. He nearly hopped up onto the bed, burying his face in my neck and squeezing as hard as he could. "I'm so glad you're okay, Kame-chan..." I felt him close his eyes against my skin. "I... I was really worried about you."

I wrapped my arms around him and smiled, rubbing his back. "Aww, Gaara. Don't... Don't get all mushy on me, will you?" Feeling a few tears pricking at my eyes, I kissed the side of his head. "You're gonna make me cry."

He giggled against me, though I could tell he'd started to cry a little bit. "I-I'm sorry, Kame-chan..." Something wet suddenly rushed down my neck where he was, but I wasn't sure if it was tears from his crying or slobber from him trying to kiss me like I'd kissed him. "It's just... you're my best friend and..." He sniffed, hugging me tighter. "I-I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here."

I sighed, and when I blinked a few tears slid down my face from the action. "Well, hon..." I barely managed to swallow past the lump that had formed in my throat. "Goes for two of us..."

"I don't get you, Yasha."

Somehow, Yashamaru and I had wound up alone in the house together. He'd just dropped Gaara off at school and had walked in the door. I doubt he appreciated being bombarded with my... whatever I was doing... as soon as I walked in. But he had to sleep so he could get ready for his next cycle of work, and I didn't have long to talk to him. I've always been the kind of person who, if she has something important to discuss with someone, I'd rather not beat around the bush.

He closed the door, tiredly and without a slam as usual. He hardly even gave me so much as a glance as he passed the couch where I was lying. "I don't feel like talking about this right now, Kame. All I want to do is have something to eat and get some rest. You should sleep too, you've got to pick up Gaara in-"

I may not be the skinniest person around, but damn if I don't move fast when I'm determined. I was up from the couch with my hand around Yashamaru's arm in less than five seconds. For the briefest of moments I wondered whether or not I'd make a good ninja with reflexes like that, but I abandoned that thought. Focus, I told myself. No time to get distracted. "I don't care what you feel like, Yasha. I never get to talk to you about anything important, and you're not going to refuse me. Now, I'm going to say this one time, slowly, so listen up. We. Need. To. Talk."

His pale eyes narrowed at me for a minute, then moved down to where I was grasping his arm. A bit too tightly, probably. "Fine. But can you let go of my arm first?"

"No." For whatever reason, my cold voice was back. I hadn't noticed myself using this tone since the incident at Hana's. "You might try to run."

He sighed, sound frustrated beyond anything. "So what do you want? What don't you get about me?"

Shaking my head, I pulled him closer, just so I didn't have to grip him hard enough to bruise him and strain my fingers. "I just don't understand you, Yasha. For starters, you probably look more like a woman than your girlfriend."

In return, he offered me a sneer. "Fiancé."

"Whatever, you're girlier than her. Just getting that out of the way," I clarified. "Look. I really don't appreciate my charge being lied to."

He raised an eyebrow. "I've never told any lies to Gaara. I would never-"

"So you haven't lied with words! Big deal, Yasha!" I finally let go of his arm, pushing it back toward its owner so hard I'm surprised I didn't give him arm-whiplash. "Words are only one way you can lie to people, you know. You should know." I was this close to just kneeing him in the balls and calling it a public service, so I didn't have to deal with him anymore and so he couldn't reproduce. He wouldn't stop; he was still lying through his fucking teeth. Well, I'd show him that lying to me was the worst mistake he'd ever make in his life. "You lie to Gaara every day with your actions."

He rubbed at his wrist where I'd been holding him, and looked genuinely confused. I would give him a little credit - he was a liar, sure. But he was a very good liar. "Kame, I assure you, I'd never lie to him. And whatever you think I'm doing, I'm certain it's just your imagination because you haven't been getting enough sleep. When you're sleep deprived it can cause a host of-"

"Shut up!" I turned around, curving my hands near my head. "I hate your voice! You're such a whiney little bitch! You lie and you lie and you think you can get away with it! You think because you're a medic you can play the 'I'm smarter than you' card! But guess what? You can't! I've caught on to you, Yashamaru." I whirled back around to face him, glaring daggers. This was the first time I'd ever used his full name. "I told Gaara I would protect him from everyone who hated him. And if that means you too, I won't hesitate."

He took a step toward me, reaching his hand out. "Kame, please-"

"No!" I stumbled back, falling onto the couch. "You disgust me so much. You go out there and - and talk to Gaara like you love him, and you pretend to like me. And underneath all that, you despise us both. I don't know what he's ever done to you, but he's the sweetest kid in the world. Coming from someone like me who usually thinks kids are little brats, I swear that should make some kind of headline. And let me tell you something else, you don't deserve someone like Gaara in your life because seriously-"

"I hate him."

The room suddenly felt a lot colder. All I could do was stare up at Yashamaru, open-mouthed and wide-eyed. I almost couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe he'd actually admitted his true feelings. I couldn't even think of anything to say to that. What... What was I supposed to say? Was there a legitimate follow-up to that? He'd just told me to my face that he hated Gaara. That he hated that kind little boy who wanted friends, who would do anything just to prove his worth to everyone in this village, and most importantly to his uncle.

He'd probably hated Gaara for years. He'd kept it all bottled up, putting on this little show. All while I had struggled to earn Gaara's trust at first. I'd come in and thanks to Gaara, I discovered what love was. In a very short time, I had learned to love Gaara because he was the sweetest, cutest, most affectionate person I'd ever known. And even Yashamaru couldn't see how amazing and good the kid was?

Tears pooled in my eyes, and I slowly shook my head at him. "You..." I was completely horrified that he would actually own up to it. Wasn't that what I had wanted? For him to admit that he hated Gaara? But it didn't make me feel any better. It made me feel so much worse. There was someone besides me who Gaara thought cared about him, who I thought was just short and snappish because of all his work but was a nice guy deep down...

And everything we thought about him was utterly wrong.

I pushed myself off the couch, tears streaming down my face by this point. This was ridiculous. Could nobody in this fucking village but me see that Gaara wasn't bad? He wasn't the awful creature in all those stories that everyone made him out to be. Hell... he was the only decent person in the entirety of Sunagakure. "Gaara's not the monster. He's - He's not."

I pointed a shaky finger at Yashamaru, barely able to see straight, much less walk it. I was heading for the door. "You are." I opened the door with force I didn't even know I had. The cold tone in my voice was back, mixed with the voice of a scared little kid. "All of you!" Holding back from sobbing, I managed to back myself out of the house. "All of you who can't even see Gaara for what he is! You all see the monster he's forced to carry, that you all inflicted on him in the first place! You can't even take responsibility for giving him that demon! None of you can! You don't want to get to know him because you're afraid that he's not as bad as everyone says!"

Yashamaru didn't move, but he did look down. He couldn't even look me in the eye. He knew how stupid he was being, how horrible and judgmental this entire village was. Including him.

"Good!" I screamed, hoping everyone could hear me. "You should be ashamed! Hating a poor innocent child who hasn't done anything wrong to you at all, and then manipulating his feelings like you don't even care what it's doing to him! I hate you, Yashamaru!"

With that, I ran out of the house, slamming the door as hard as I possibly could. I swear the entire building rattled. I didn't even care what Yashamaru thought, or whether he was angry at me. Why the hell should I care about what he had to say anymore?

I gotta get out of here.

WOWEE. Another cliffhanger much? Not too bad but... XD Yeah well.

I won't make this A/N longer than the one at the top, and I don't have much to say except HOLY MUFFINS Gaara is the cutest child to ever walk this universe's Earth. Just sayin'.

So then... hope you all liked and haven't abandoned me!

Thanks for reading! ^^