Disclaimer: No rights to Naruto

XXX

Yue turned onto her side in bed and felt nothing. She would normally be able to feel her husband beside her but she sensed she was alone through her sleep.

It was 2:30 in the morning. The girl was still too sleepy to open her eyes but she forced herself too. She sat up to have a better look around.

The room was dark but Gaara definitely wasn't there. Yue got out of bed and pulled her knit cardigan closer to her body. It was cold walking down the hall and then down the stairs but from the stairs she saw a light coming from the living room.

She rubbed her eyes as she carefully entered to see who was there. The lamp next to the sofa was turned on so the room was dim not bright.

Yue walked around the sofa to find Gaara fast asleep.

On the coffee table in front of him were numerous documents, reports, and official scrolls. They were all strewn about messily.

Gaara slept with his back against the sofa; still in an upright position. His wife looked at the work and then at him sympathetically. He had been working all night long….

"Gaara…?" She said as she shook his shoulder and then held the side of his face. "Gaara?"

The Kazekage stirred momentarily but he blinked a couple of times and woke up. "What are you doing down here?" He straightened himself up and stretched his arms in front of him.

"I was going to ask you that. Gaara, come back to bed."

"I'm not done with work yet." He started to gather his documents into one pile.

Yue knelt down beside his legs and stopped his hands with hers, "Work can wait until tomorrow. We just got back from Kumogakure. You're tired, aren't you?"

His eyes looked to their hands and then at her. He moved his hands away, "No, you should get some rest."

The girl noticed how her husband didn't want their hands to touch but she figured that he was just irritated because he had too much to do. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, just go back upstairs." His tone of voice was almost stern. Yue was surprised by it and made the decision not to push him.

She stood quietly and walked out of the living room. Before she went upstairs, she looked back to Gaara who was already busy.

He was acting bizarre…

The girl got back into bed and tried to sleep but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do it. She tossed back and forth disturbingly.

Gaara's tone of voice was bothering her. He had never used that kind of tone with her before and it made her wonder what she had done.

She tried to figure it out until the night turned into morning. The room was lit up by dawn's light.

A night without sleep was draining. Yue lazily sat up from bed and took in the moment. It was early but she wanted to return to her routine of cooking breakfast and then going to the office with Gaara. The things she did before everything happened.

Since she was up the majority of the night, she was still sleepy. A morning shower would be able to wake her senses.

The girl got an outfit from the closet and entered the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom. She looked at the shower and then at the spacious bathtub.

A shower would be a quick wake up but she did have time considering it was early in the morning. A soothing warm bath was such a relaxing thought.

Yue filled the tub with hot water and let it cool off a little while she shed her night clothes. As she took off the last piece of her clothing, she caught a sight of something in the wide stretched mirror above the sink.

She turned to the mirror completely when she thought she saw a bruise that was shaped like handprint on the side of her rib. When she looked at her naked body in the mirror again, she saw nothing.

The girl was about to ignore what she thought she saw and head into the bathtub until her eyes glanced toward the mirror again.

Her mind started to flash images of bruises at various parts of her body. Handprints, fist marks, and scratches was plastered all over but she knew they weren't real.

There was no way.

Yue glanced at herself and saw nothing again but then she looked at her reflection and saw the torture marks again. She looked up at her face and saw that her lip was busted open; bleeding.

The image in the mirror was terrifying. It was like she was seeing a ghost of herself in the mirror but how could that be when she was alive.

She snapped herself out of it by shaking her head furiously. Everything was started to spin because she was thinking too hard. Before she could start her hallucinations again, she got into the bathtub and splashed the hot water onto her face.

It was a little too hot because it scorched her skin but she didn't mind that much.

What she had just experienced reminded her of what happened the night before. She heard a voice in the bedroom. It was voice that sounded familiar but she couldn't pinpoint on where she heard it.

Immediately, Yue regretted thinking back to the voice because she suddenly heard it out loud again.

Mmm, you smell good for someone so near death. The girl shuddered at hearing the voice. It sounded so close and it frightened her to no end.

She snapped her head around the bathroom in search for it but no one was in there beside her.

You have a sexy body Lady Kazekage. You shouldn't waste it by wearing clothes. Yue's eyes spread wide when his words sunk in. She was nude in the bathtub and she suddenly felt like there was someone watching her.

She hugged onto her legs to cover herself and shut her eyes tightly. "I'm just tired… It's just my imagination."

Is it just your imagination? My, my, I bet you just can't wait for me to give you those bruises and hickeys again, huh.

Yue's eyes shot open and followed the voice right away. Her eyes finally landed onto the corner of the bathroom. A young looking man was standing there with crossed arms and an evil smirk on his face.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! GAARA!" She yelled at the top of her lungs while trying to cover herself with her arms.

Her husband had just finished going over a scroll when he heard Yue screaming for him. He was on his feet right away, sprinting up the stairs.

I can do you better than your husband ever will. The voice whispered next to her ear. Yue could feel his breath at the side of her neck.

She quickly tried to get out of the tub but she was being too careless and tripped at the edge. Her hands frantically reached for something for support.

Her hand managed to get a hold of the bath curtain but it went down with Yue when she fell completely to the tile floor. Her side pulsated in pain from the fall but she bit through it.

Gaara barged through the bathroom door and found his wife sprawled on the floor naked. The curtain covered her back and her bottom but her pale legs showed.

"What happened?" Gaara knelt down to her to help.

Yue tried to sit up with her husband's help but she was tangled up in the curtain like a mummy. Gaara helped unwrap the mess from her body. She held the bath curtain to her chest to cover her nude body as she sat up. Her back was bare as Gaara held her forearms.

The Kazekage looked at his wife to see if she was hurt. Nothing appeared to be wrong or different besides that her cheeks were tinted pink. "What happened? Why did you scream for me?" He asked worriedly again.

The girl held the bath curtain closer at her chest and tried to figure out how to explain it. What was she going to tell him?

She was hearing voices and seeing someone that weren't there…

He was already acting different around her… How would he act if he thought she was crazy? If anything else it would make him worried for her.

"Hey, did you hear me? What happened Yue? Tell me." Gaara questioned again when he noticed his wife dazing off.

Yue looked back to him almost frighteningly. "I-I…I fell and I couldn't get u-up."

XXX

The Kazekage was truthfully worn out but he tried his best to fake through it. He was in their bedroom waiting for his wife to come out of the bathroom.

Gaara had left Yue to change on her own. He didn't feel like he should be in there with her even though he was clearly worried about leaving her alone, especially after her fall from the bathtub.

When he saw her on the floor like the way she was, he almost couldn't deal. For a second then, he saw her like how she had been when that bastard raped her.

Naked and helpless.

It wasn't that he didn't want to touch her. It was that he was being careful. Every time his eyes fell on her or if he had touched her, the guilt would almost consume him alive and then he would be on the edge of spilling the truth out.

When she would accidently lean against him in bed the night before, he came close to waking her up and telling her the truth of what happened so he would at least be at ease with his conscious. Her very touch was able to bring him back to that very moment where he couldn't do anything to help her while the monster took away pieces soul.

He was able to distract himself by going downstairs to get started on his Kazekage work. It was a slow night but Gaara felt like he would have to get used to those sort of nights…

Gaara stood at the wide windows to look out into the village's view. Yue emerged from the bathroom dressed in her outfit. Her face was a little pale from the scare she just had and she was a little dazed but she smiled when she came into the bedroom.

Her husband seemed distracted because he didn't even notice her come in. His eyes were glued intensely at the view before him.

Yue just assumed that he was tired from working through most the night and smiled understandingly. She went over to his side and hugged onto his waist. "Are you going to stay home today? We did just get home from yesterday."

Her arms around his waist gave him a few seconds of enjoyment even though she surprised him. The seconds were up too fast and he started to feel uncomfortable. He pushed her arms away from him and moved away. "I have to. I'm going after I take a shower."

The girl was surprised at his actions. He looked almost like he was disgusted because she touched him.

But… They were never really affectionate toward each other before because it was an arranged marriage and they never really explored their feelings but for some reason she thought it might be different now.

Obviously not…

Yue tried to say something without sounding hurt. "Oh.. Well you better get ready. I'll be downstairs." She left his side and closed the door behind her when she walked out of the bedroom.

Her husband was acting strange. Yes, he was never physically attentive but he was never that cold or that distant from her. It reminded Yue of what happened earlier in the morning when she tried to get him to come back to bed.

His demeanor was hard to read. He appeared to be like he was angry with her and almost grossed out.

Yue tried her hardest to figure out what she had done but there really wasn't anything that came to her mind; after all she was unconscious up until a day or two ago.

She attempted to put her thoughts at the back of her mind and went into the kitchen to get started on breakfast.

A sigh of happiness escaped her lips when she looked around the kitchen. She never thought she would be able to be there again or cooked for her family once more.

The air was soon filled with the ambrosial smell of cooked food. Yue was having a good time with cooking and it took stress off.

She had just finish when Gaara entered into the kitchen. He was dressed in his white Kazekage outfit, looking as handsome as ever.

"Oh Gaara, I made breakfast-"

"I'm not hungry. I just came in here to tell that I will be leaving now." He interrupted and started walking out of the door.

"Uhm Gaara wait. I'll go with you." Yue said which made him stop before he got to leaving the kitchen. She got close to his back but stopped a few feet away.

"You stay home." Her husband demanded blatantly. "You're not well enough yet."

She frowned slightly. "I feel fine."

"Just stay here." Gaara said again and left kitchen before she could argue back.

Did that just happened?

If Yue wasn't paranoid or hurt after that then she wasn't human. She sighed and started to bring Gaara's empty plate, bowl, and mug to the sink.

Temari and Kankuro walked in; still in their night clothes. Right away, they saw the lovely breakfast on the kitchen counter and smiled.

"Smells good, Yue!" Kankuro exclaimed as he hurriedly jumped onto a stool and immediately started his breakfast. "We haven't had any decent cooking in awhile."

His blonde haired sister closed her eyes and shook her head at Kankuro's manners. "It's too early in the morning for this."

Yue smiled from the sink, "It's good to be home."

"It's good to have you home Yue. We've missed you." Temari said while sitting down next to Kankuro at the counter.

Yue brought the porcelain tea pot from near the stove to fill their mugs with tea. "I missed you all too." She rubbed her arms warmly, "I never thought of how good it would feel to be back in Sunagakure."

Her sister-in-law held her mug up near her wide lips, "Where's Gaara? It's still pretty early, don't tell me he's sleeping in."

"No.." The girl crossed her arms on the counter and frowned a little, "He already left for the office."

"Oh, does he have a meeting today?" Kankuro asked with a stuffed mouth.

"I don't know really… He left so fast that I didn't get a chance to ask him."

Temari took a sip of her tea before answering, "He probably needs to check in with The Elders."

"I'm sure that's it…" Yue replied.

"I'm done." Kankuro's fork and spoon dropped onto the plate as 'clinks'. He stood up from the counter, "That was some good breakfast Yue. Great job! I better go get ready for work!"

"Thanks Kankuro." Yue said and grinned as he left out the door. He waved a hand in the air as a goodbye.

Yue went to his place at the counter to clear his plates and mug.

"He never changes…" Temari muttered.

Her sister-in-law tried to smile when she came back to the counter from the sink. "Yeah…"

The blonde woman noticed something was wrong. She eyed Yue skeptically. "You okay there Yue? Are you feeling well? Maybe you should go upstairs and rest for today."

"I'm fine…" Yue enclosed her hands on the counter and looked down. "I really do feel fine…"

"Then why do you look so down?"

The girl wondered if she should tell Temari about her problems with Gaara or not. It wasn't anything that serious and it was their business but Temari had been in a relationship for a longer time than she had.

She looked up to her, "Temari? I was wondering if you know whether or not Gaara's mad at me?"

"Mad at you?" Temari lifted an eyebrow. "Why would you think that?"

"Well… Maybe I'm just over thinking it but ever since we came home yesterday… He's been acting…distant from me. He's almost mean in a way."

The Expert Fan Wielder knew what she was talking about. She didn't think that her brother would change his attitude toward Yue that much but she was wrong. "He's just tired Yue."

Temari looked down to her mug to avoid Yue's eyes. She knew the truth but it was really getting hard to not say anything.

"Really?" Yue questioned. "It's almost like he doesn't want to be around me…."

"That's not it Yue. I assure you, Gaara is not mad and you did nothing wrong." She replied and quickly changed the subject. "I better get ready too. I'm..spending the day with Shikamaru…"

Yue grinned at Temari's blush, "I see. Are you two making up for lost time?"

Temari went even redder. She hopped down from the counter and walked closed to the door. "We were almost close to losing each other… So yeah…"

"I'm surprised Shikamaru has not asked you to marry him yet."

The blonde looked down for a second and then up at Yue. She showed her left hand ring finger shyly. A silver diamond ring was wrapped around it.

Yue's eyes blinked twice, "I-Is that?"

Temari nodded happily as she jumped up and down giggling in tears.

"OH. MY .GOSH… TEMARI!" Yue screamed in excitement. She ran to her older sister-in-law and hugged her tightly. They both hopped up and down in joy. "OH MY GOSH YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED!"

XXX

Lady Kazekage set the last dish onto the dinner table in the dining room and looked at the clock hanging over the exit. It was near 7:00 P.M. which meant everyone would be home for dinner soon.

She went out of her way tonight for dinner. After breakfast, the girl went to the market and brought home a lot of groceries. She was excited for Temari and wanted to make a magnificent dinner for her and Shikamaru.

Temari was going to officially announce it to her brothers about her engagement to Shikamaru and Yue told her that she was going to cook a fantastic dinner.

Another reason why she did so much for dinner was that it was able to distract her mind from negative thoughts about her husband.

Yue bit her bottom lip when she started to think about him again. She pushed the thoughts away when she heard her family coming in from the front door.

"Wow, what smells so good!" Kankuro's voice was heard rushing down the hall to the dining room.

Lady Kazekage smiled at him from where she stood near the table, "I made dinner for everyone."

Temari and Shikamaru appeared behind Kankuro when he came closer into the room. "Lady Kazekage." Shikamaru greeted Yue.

"It's Yue, Shikamaru." Yue corrected him and glanced at Temari who mouthed the words 'thank you,' to her.

"Everything looks great!" Kankuro clapped his hands together, "This is what I call a dinner!"

Yue waited for a moment for the sight of her husband but he didn't show up. She looked around carefully before asking, "Where's Gaara?"

"Oh…" Temari started difficultly, "He said that he's going to be staying late at the office tonight, there's lots for him to do…"

Huh…? Is it just a coincidence or…he just doesn't want to come home….?

XXX

It was late but Yue kept on looking at the alarm clock on the night stand next to the bed.

12:30…

Gaara had never stayed that late at the office before and it started to make Yue worry. She didn't want to get paranoid or over analyzed things but it was almost like Gaara was purposely avoiding her.

She curled up onto her side and surrounded her mind with questions and thoughts.

He didn't even come home to dinner…

Despite the fact that Gaara wasn't there, Temari made the announcement to Kankuro and settled for Yue to tell Gaara or for Gaara to find out himself. She knew that her little brother had a lot on his mind and didn't want to burden him.

Kankuro was in the middle of sipping on soup when Temari told him. He sprayed the soup right onto Shikamaru who was sitting in front of him at the table. He was surprised but when he finished choking on his soup, the news finally sunk in.

The Puppet Master first threatened Shikamaru that if he ever hurt his sister, then he would be in for it. He then went on congratulating with sincere words.

Yue smiled at the thought but her smile faded when she thought of how Gaara wasn't there to share the joy. She couldn't help but feel like it was her fault that he wasn't there.

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep. All her problems were stressing her out and she knew that she wasn't healthy enough yet to be in that sort of state.

Not long after her eyes closed, the door to their bedroom open. Gaara came inside quietly. He was successful in finishing all The Kazekage work at the office but he had to force himself to do it and force his focus on the task at hand.

It exhausted him mentally and he was glad to be home. He could have left his work for tomorrow and came home earlier but it was his reason to not to come home.

He knew he was staying away from Yue on purpose… It was working because he didn't feel as guilty when she wasn't around him. He would be able to forget their troubles for a few minutes and that was bliss.

The Kazekage adjusted his eyes to the dark of the room and walked to his drawers to get his night clothes. The sound of the shower was heard from the bathroom.

Yue wasn't asleep at all so she knew that he came home. She kept still and pretended to sleep.

Gaara came out of the bathroom comfortably in his night clothes. He lightly got into bed next to his wife. He left a wide space between them as he turned over onto his side and faced the wall.

About twenty minutes passed by when Gaara found himself still up. He was wiped out but yet his mind was still awake. He turned onto his back and looked up at the ceiling hoping that sleep would come to him.

Even though her eyes were closed, Yue could feel her husband was awake. She took a chance. "Hey Gaara…?"

"What is it?"

Yue sat up and turned to him. His eyes stared at her silhouette. "Are you hungry? You didn't come home for dinner."

"No, I ate at the office." He flipped over onto his side again so his back would face her.

His behavior was so cold to Yue that she could feel it chilling her bones. She continued to try to talk to him, "Uhm..Well you missed out on something exciting at dinner."

"What?"

"Temari and Shikamaru got engaged. Isn't that exciting?" Yue said with enthusiasm.

Gaara smirked, "It was expected."

"Oh… Kankuro was really happy…. Aren't you happy too, Gaara?

Her husband shut his eyes, "I'm too tired to be happy. Go to sleep Yue. Please…"

The girl sighed discreetly to herself and laid back down. Inside, she began to have a feeling that there would be more nights like this..