Gaara sat at his desk, shading his sketch. Sadness washed over him as the sight-impaired blonde slowly walked past him, her white cane sweeping across the floor in front of her. It had been an entire week and she hadn't spoken a single word to him since that day they were both in the nurse's office. The redhead knew that he needed to say something, but didn't know how to bring himself to do so. Even though he had treated the female like he wanted to be left alone, that was the total opposite of how he felt.

For the past week, Gaara could feel everyone falling farther away from him. Naruto hadn't been talking to him very much, even when Gaara tried to talk to him. He understood that Naruto was always busy because of all the people that were in his life, but he still couldn't help but feel left out. He didn't associate himself with Sasuke very often. The raven-haired boy didn't like being bothered and Gaara didn't like the sarcastic attitude that he used all the time. Hinata was nice but neither of them talked much, and since she was always nervous, it would rub off onto him.

Even Yumi seemed to be fading away in the shadows. She was never there anymore. The brunette was always at work and whenever she would finally get some free time she was whisked away on an emergency call. Gaara only saw her right before bedtime and early in the morning before he went to school. At night, she would end up falling asleep. The pre-teen couldn't blame her. He knew how busy she was. Still, he couldn't help but feel that he was being smothered by a darkness that would soon engulf him for good.

He had been waking up with new nightmares for the past seven days. Each terror-filled dream ended with his death. Sometimes it was bloody and other times it was completely blood free. Four out of the seven nightmares ended with suicide and the other three with murder. Gaara clearly remembered waking up the first night, gently holding onto his throat for fear that his head would fall off if he let go. The second and third night caused him the most trouble. Not only did he end up dying in a grotesque and horrible manner, but he had killed several familiar faces as well. On the fourth night, he had died by Yumi's hands. He could still see her bloodstained fingers. Gaara hung himself on the fifth night and slit his wrists on the sixth, slowly bleeding to death. On the seventh night, his father beat him until he couldn't put up a fight any longer. He climbed on top of Gaara, wrapped his large hands around his son's small throat and strangled him until all the life had left the child's body.

The young boy couldn't understand why he was thinking about death so much. He was afraid to sleep because of the murder and bloodshed that threatened to haunt his unconscious mind. There was no way that he could take much more of it. Not only were thoughts of death picking at him during slumber, but they were also eating away at him throughout the day. He couldn't help but wonder if it would matter if he were alive or dead. The only person that seemed to really care about him was Yumi and he was sure she would understand if he were to take his life. She always understood everything and he knew that she would never judge him. Even so, these thoughts scared him.

The bell rang and Gaara stood up from his seat. He walked straight to the nurse's office. Shizune looked at him with concern, seeing the look of pain masked all over his face.

"I'm not feeling well," he told her softly, locking eyes with her.

"It's the end of the day, sweetheart," she told him gently. "You don't think you'll be able to make it home?" Gaara shook his head, biting his lip nervously.

"I walk home, and I—." Shizune slightly raised her hand, cutting the boy off.

"Walking home probably isn't a good idea then. I'll make a call to your house and see if someone will come pick you up." Gaara nodded solemnly and took a seat in one of the chairs.

XxooooooooxX

Kerri walked beside Sasuke, her hand resting against his shoulder. The raven-haired pre-teen couldn't help but smirk at the grinning girl as she tilted her face towards the sunlight. He knew that she normally got a ride home from one of her neighbors, but since he had nothing else better to do he offered to walk the blonde. It was a nice day after all, and he thought that it would be nice to spend a little time with her since they hardly ever hung out.

Normally, Sasuke wouldn't be hanging around with anyone, with the exception of Naruto every once in a while. This was especially true when it came to girls. They were all annoying in Sasuke's opinion. Kerri, however, was different from all the other women. From the very first time that they had met each other, he felt that there was something pulling him closer to her. Something about her made him feel like she was the safest person in the world.

Sasuke smirked to himself as he remembered how hard she tried to befriend him and how she had been one of the first people to discover his deep despair.

XxoooooxX

Eight-year-old Sasuke stood at the sink, splashing cold water onto his tear-stained face. Bloodshot onyx-colored eyes were mirrored back at him, his reflection looking sadder than he felt. He gently ran his fingertips over the dark bruise that was painted on his right eye. Hot tears began to run down his cheeks again as he thought of all the lies he had been telling all his concerned peers. He was always covering up for what his brother did to him.

"Uchiha-kun, are you alright?" asked a small, shy voice. The startled child gasped, quickly turning around. Sasuke slipped on the wet floor, fell back against the sink and let out a small yelp of pain.

A young female around his age hurried over to him, her white cane guiding her down a clear path. Her cane eventually came to a stop, letting her know that she was standing before the fallen boy.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, sounding slightly angry. "This is the boy's bathroom, which means that no girls are allowed." The blonde ignored his statement and knelt down in front of him, slowly reaching out blindly in front of her. She gently touched his wrist and laggardly traced her fingertips up his arm, resting them on his cheeks.

Sasuke's body grew rigid, uncomfortable about the fact that someone was so close to him. He stared into her unseeing eyes as she brushed his wet cheek with the back of her hand. Her facial expression changed into a look of worry and concern.

"Are you bleeding?" she asked, sounding slightly distressed. Sasuke swallowed hard and shook his head.

"N-no, it's not blood," he answered quietly.

"Why am I letting her touch me?" he wondered. "Just push her away. She's probably only here because she's a fan-girl or something like that. All she's going to do is annoy you and be like all the other shallow girls in the school. They all say they love me yet none of them even really know me."

Sasuke slowly lifted his arms, intending to shove the girl away. The change in the girl's facial expression from worry to sympathy caused him to freeze.

"They're tears," she whispered sadly. The youngest of the Uchihas blinked, trying to swallow the lump in his throat that had just developed. He bit down on his bottom lip as she lightly traced the bruise around his eye, her lips slightly parted as if she were contemplating something.

"You're so sad," she continued, keeping her voice low, "And you're hurt. No wonder you're in tears. Are you being bullied, Uchiha-kun?" Sasuke felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, cringing slightly at the thought of what was causing all his misery.

"I guess you could say it's bullying," he thought.

"Uchiha-kun, who is bullying you?" Sasuke's eyes widened.

"I didn't tell her that anyone was bullying me. Is she just assuming things?"

"Is someone at school picking on you?" The raven-haired boy said nothing. "Are there problems going on at your house?" A shiver ran down his spine and he felt his stomach sink even lower.

"Just tell her the same story you told everyone else today," he said inwardly to himself. "You're letting her get too close. It won't be long until she hits the nail on the head." He opened his mouth to speak but found that he couldn't lie. Here was someone who knew he was in inner turmoil and actually seemed to care. She didn't care just because he was Sasuke, but because he was a person in pain and in need of relief. He didn't know what it was, but there was something that felt safe about her.

"M-my brother," he stammered, staring blankly into her glassy eyes. "H-he hits me sometimes, but usually only when I don't do what he says." He swallowed hard and felt the female take his hand in her own, squeezing it gently and silently urging him to continue.

"His friends stay at our place a lot and one of them in particular likes hitting me when my brother isn't around and says that if I say anything, I'll end up living in an adoption agency." The girl nodded and smiled meekly.

"Then I won't say anything either," she assured him. "It will be our little secret, okay?" Sasuke forced the smallest of smiles on his face and nodded. The blonde couldn't see him nod, but knew that he had made some kind of movement and figured that he was agreeing.

Sasuke slowly got to his feet, pulling the girl up along with him. He then bent over and picked up her cane, placing it in her hand.

"By the way, my name is Kerri. If you ever want someone to talk, you can trust me." The raven-haired boy nodded again and thanked her.

"Recess is going to be over in a few minutes," he informed her. "I'll take you back to your class before you get run over." Kerri laughed and nodded.

"I would appreciate that."

XxooooooooxX

"Why haven't you been hanging around with that red-haired kid?" Sasuke asked out of nowhere. The girl clinging to his shoulder let out a deep sigh, which he interpreted as meaning there were some problems going on between them.

"I'm letting him be," she stated simply. Sasuke rolled his eyes at her, smirking slightly.

"I can see that, but why? I thought you were the one that goes around trying to make everyone cheerful. It seems like he could really use some of that."

"Yeah, he could use some cheering up, but he would rather not be bothered with the likes of me."

"Heh, you really think that?" Kerri lowered her head in sadness.

"I don't know what to think of him. I really want to befriend him, but every time I try to reach out he pushes me away. Unless he talks to me and tells me otherwise, I'm just going to leave him alone."

XxooooooooxX

Yumi entered her apartment, flipping the light switch on the wall so that she could see. It was past eleven o'clock at night and the psychologist was extremely exhausted. She dumped her stuff down on the chair and switched the light off again before heading to her room. Seeing light shining from beneath the door of Gaara's room, she made a side trip.

The woman lightly tapped on the door and waited for the young boy to let her in. Since he had gotten into the habit of locking the door, she couldn't just enter anymore. Gaara would have to let her in, and that's if he even wanted to. Lately, he had seemed rather depressed.

Yumi entered when she heard the sound of the lock click. Gaara was sitting at his desk, hunched over his work. The brunette was somewhat perplexed about him still being up. He had never had to stay up this late to finish his homework before.

"What are you working on?" she asked softly, trying not to sound too instigative. "You should really be sleeping by now since you have school tomorrow morning."

The redhead looked up at her, holding a tube of 3-D Glitter Glue in his hand. From the looks of it, the teen hadn't even taken his shower yet. This wasn't like him at all.

"I'm not sleepy," he lied. Yumi narrowed her eyes at the boy as he looked down at the ground with shame. He hated lying to her, but he didn't want to talk about it.

"Don't lie to me, Gaara," she sighed, running her palm down one side of her face. The intelligent teen could see the exhaustion written all over the woman's face. "If you don't want to talk about it, then just say so. I really hate it when you lie to me."

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I just don't want to sleep and I don't want to go into any explanations about it." Yumi nodded in understanding.

"Then do you mind telling me what you're doing? It doesn't really look like homework." Gaara looked sadly at the note he had been spending hours on.

"Kerri hasn't spoken to me since that day in the office," he began. "I want to apologize and talk to her, but I can't."

Yumi smiled slightly at the boy, knowing that he had trouble with approaching people. Even during their doctor-patient sessions, she was always the one to start the conversations. Gaara was extremely introverted and needed a little nudge in the right direction when it came to social situations.

"I see," the female simply stated. "So what does that have to do with what you are doing now?" The sea-green eyed boy chewed on his bottom lip, still staring at his work.

"I'm writing her a note so that I don't have to say anything." Yumi cocked an eyebrow at him, giving him a weird look.

"How is she going to read it if she is blind?" she asked curiously. Gaara looked up at her and smirked.

"I've already thought about that and I think I've fixed that problem." Yumi smiled and nodded, chuckling softly.

"I'm sure you have. I'm not going to force you to sleep if there's something that's bothering you. We need to talk about it later if this keeps up, though." Gaara nodded. "Make sure you get a shower before it gets too late. I, on the other hand, am going to sleep."

"Good night," he whispered, smiling ever so slightly as the woman turned her back and left the room.


I'm so sorry about being a day late! . I just got it back from my beta-reader and I posted it immediately. I hope you all enjoyed it though. I already have chapter 30 typed up and my wonderful beta-reader will be sending it back to me shortly. I'll probably post it around the 16th of February because I won't be writing for close to an entire week. I'll be getting my wisdom teeth pulled on the 19th, so I'll be out of it for a good 5 days at least. Also, I have been starting on a completely original composition and that is going to be taking up a lot of my time, but don't worry. I'll make sure to leave time for writing this. I am completely determined to see this story through to the end.

An extra-special thank you to the following people that reviewed last chapter:

Gaara frenzy, kitkat kezia, Cuzisme, panda-sensei, MidniteCurse4Eternity, and pizzaslices.

It makes me so happy. Also, I got the idea for this chapter from the review Cuzisme sent me in Chapter 27 about being interested in Sasuke and Kerri's relationship. I thought that it would be interesting to clear up how the met and why Sasuke doesn't dodge her like he does with Sakura and Ino. XD I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!! REVIEW!!!!!!!! IT MAKES ME SUPER DUPER HAPPY AND HELPS ME GAIN EXTRA MOTIVATION FOR WRITING THE CHAPTERS. SOME TIMES THEY EVEN GIVE ME IDEAS!! XD

REVIEW!!!!! PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!!