Author's Note:

Yay, chapter! To help make up for the lack of updates. Anyway, this is the other part of Gaara. The next chapter will be the bridge chapter I have been talking about, then will return to the Gaara/Naruto narrative.

Moonprincess: Yes, one person knows fully what is going on anyway.

JJ: You always catch on hehehe ;)

I hope you all enjoy this, and as always, reviews serve to inspire ^-^

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Gaara

I had left the cell nearly an hour later, not a single word was said between me and the cell's inhabitant for the remainder of my time there. When I had finally bored of our stare down I had merely gathered my sand and left quietly, leaving the puzzled man I had nearly killed behind. I had stopped at the tower, but thought better of going inside. They had likely not changed their minds about letting me know anything and the confirmation of that would only make me angrier than I already was.

Instead, I went on with my original plan. I went to the hospital in search of Kimiko, if nothing else perhaps she could at least help me with my anger issue. It wouldn't do if I were constantly ready to kill whatever annoyed me, that was something I should have fully been over. Why was that urge getting more and more constant lately?

Naruto, it was likely Naruto. Because he was avoiding me, because he was keeping something from me, because he might be dying, because he made me feel things I shouldn't, because we had done that. I shivered at the thought.

I really hoped he was well. I swallowed as I entered the building and attempted once again to push the worry from my mind. I never had to say a word, the reception desk scrambled around quickly and paged my doctor to my private room. I smirked. The benefit of being who I was, a private examination room was always left unused in case of emergency or the random 'I need to complain about the ache in my elbow' moments. Those moments usually were more that I was bored rather than worried about some annoying ache that would eventually go away. Lucky for me, Kimiko had been my physician ever since I had returned from the dead, found especially for me by Temari who wanted the best in chakra restoration and manipulation due to my situation. She was an excellent doctor, I could never have found a better one if I had ever tried. Well, there was Sakura of course, but that didn't mean I wanted the annoying girl as a physician. Hardly. She was far too brash for my liking, the only reason I ever had any contact with the woman was because of Naruto, and there was always the little fact that she had saved Kankuro when I was off busy being murdered.

I ignored the bustling commotion my arrival to the hospital had caused and headed directly to my room, entered and sat down on the couch that was against the wall, legs and arms crossed as I waited. It was not long before the door slammed back open to reveal a somewhat irritated looking woman completely shrouded in baggy white clothes, the only part of her body visible was a small crescent shaped piece of her forehead. Another thing that I liked about her, she's almost as fully protected from the outside world as I was. "Kimiko."

"Lord Kazekage." Her voice betrayed more of her irritation with me, but I did not care. She usually was irritated by my always impromptu visits - they were one of the few things I never really planned into my schedule. "What do you need this time?" She straightened and shut the door more quietly than she had opened it.

"I've been losing control." Blunt, to the point, "I have nearly killed two people within the last month." Kimiko was one of the few people that knew fully of my anger issues and she served almost as much as a therapist as she did a doctor.

She sighed. "I see." She grabbed a chair and wheeled it in front of me. She gazed at me, or at least I assumed that she was gazing at me, her dark visor never allowed sight of her eyes. She was mysterious and she didn't have a past in spite of Temari's investigations, but she was also the best in her field. I trusted her inexplicably in spite of her lack of a background and I could never figure out why. "This bothers you."

I nodded. "Yes."

"Lay down, I will see if I can help."

I did as she asked and laid down on the couch.

She scooted the chair closer and hovered her hands over my head. I felt a soft tingling at my temple shortly after and I moved my eyes to watch her. I could never try to even read her expression as she never revealed any of her face to anyone. It was almost calming to me that I had a level playing field with the woman. "So it happened for you."

"What happened?" I turned to her when she moved her hands away from me.

"I thought that it could be a possibility, but it was too much of a maybe that they never took my word for it." She moved the chair away to allow me to sit up, "The areas of your brain that process attraction and arousal have been opened. It is possible your increased levels of anger are due to this change."

I frowned at her. "You could tell that?"

She gave a small hum in response.

I felt my face grow hot in embarrassment and I looked away from her. I hoped that she could not tell that I had acted on those new feelings.

"You've done something about them?"

My eyes widened but I did not move beyond that. My heart thudded in my chest almost audibly.

"You have. Maybe you should act on it more to relieve the other issues you have."

I jerked my head to her. Was she suggesting...? "I can't."

She sat silently in the same position. "The person you desire is out of your ability?"

I pursed my lips and nodded stiffly. "You could say that."

She answered with another hum. She stood without a sound and moved to the door.

"Wait." I stood up abruptly, not ready to be done with her. She hadn't addressed my anger issues yet.

She looked over her shoulder at me, or at least her head moved enough to determine that was likely what she was doing.

"What can I do to control this? Can't you do anything?"

She gave a deep laugh at the question, "Hardly." She tilted her head, "I can however suggest self medication."

"What do you mean by-"

She cut me off, "You will figure it out, Lord Kazekage. I have faith in you. Enjoy your day!" I could hear the smile in her voice as she left the room, leaving me alone a little bit confused.

Self medication? What in the hell did she mean by that? I growled and left the room even more agitated than I had arrived. This was not my day. So much for my doctor alleviating my symptoms, what in the hell good was she? With a groan I headed back to my other headache, the Kazekage tower where I would hopefully be able to convince someone to help me with my need to find out information about the Hokage.

However, Kankuro was standing outside of the building, looking quite grim when I had arrived. "Kankuro?" He had been in there. He had information. I needed that information.

"Gaara..." He trailed off, his voice sounded tired.

I grabbed him by his collar. "Tell me, what is going on, it is Naruto, isn't it? Something has happened."

He pulled away from me. "I don't know what is going on with Naruto, Baki wouldn't say. Said something about there being some sort of memory seal keeping the information hidden."

"Then why-"

He interrupted me, "I have to go to Konoha."

I stared at him. What? "I will go with you."

"No, he said the note specified that I was the only one to come. Gaara... Something did happen."

My heart beat wildly in my chest, that sense of dread returning. "What is it?"

"Seems like I have to verify the worthiness of your new wife."

Wait.

Wife?

What?

I stared at him a moment knowing he had to be bluffing. Naruto would never pull such a stunt. Would he?

No, he wouldn't.

Would he?

I blinked and managed to speak, "What?" Not elegant, but at least it was a discernible word.

Kankuro narrowed his eyes into a glare, "Looks like the Hokage ordered you marry some girl from Konoha in order to keep our treaty intact, there was some weird clause in the last one you looked over. Wouldn't happen to know what that would be, would you, Gaara?" His voice was acidic, accusatory.

My mind wasn't working. What was in the contract I signed anyway? Nothing seemed that off about it, but I hadn't really read it at the time, I was a little... Distraught at that moment.

What had Naruto done? Did he really want to be rid of me so badly that he would-

No.

Naruto wouldn't. Not the Naruto I knew, but with the Naruto that was acting as Hokage, it made it a possibility. He had been so off, angry, broken. That had not been him though, it had been some sort of clone. Finally I shook my head no to Kankuro's question. What had I done? If I only had not allowed my emotions to cloud my judgement I would not have to take some random woman as my wife. I wondered if Kankuro found the woman acceptable, how soon I would have to marry her. I wondered if Naruto knew about this. I wondered if he would care. I wondered if he would still want me, if he even did in the first place. Could I even go through with such an arrangement? I had no interest in letting some strange woman into my house. Why would they-

I felt myself pulled forwards and the strong crushing feeling of arms wrapped around my body and I noticed that I had been trembling. My breath hitched as I comprehended the hug that Kankuro had me in. Why was I being hugged so much lately? Why was I letting them hug me?

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure whoever it is probably isn't worth your time. It will be fine, I'm sure of it, so don't worry."

"Kankuro." I took a deep breath and pried myself out of the man's arms. "While you are there, find out what is going on with Naruto?"

He gave me a curt nod, "Yeah, I will find out for you. I won't be long. A week at most. I promise, alright?"

A week without Kankuro? I felt cold. I hadn't been that long without him there. I would be alone. I looked away and I nodded slowly in response. I didn't like it, not that it mattered, but I really didn't like it. Who would I talk to while he was away? Who would I take my frustrations out on, who would help me deal with this odd new prospect, who would keep me calm when I worried about Naruto, who would buffer my talks with Shinki, who would-

"Gaara." His voice was firm and I forced myself to look at him.

I was afraid that my panic at his leaving, the worry from everything contained in that note, for Naruto - would show on my face. I refused to say anything, not sure if what I would say would betray me no matter the words I chose. I didn't need him.

I did.

I never liked to admit it, but I was sure that he knew how I really felt.

"Trust in Shinki, bond with him while I'm gone or something, will ya?"

I gave another nod, feeling as though my throat was completely constricted. Married. They were going to force me to marry someone from Konoha.

They would actually go through with that? What in the hell had faux Naruto put in that damned contract in order for them to even consider... By order of the Hokage?

Was this marriage arranged by that damned thing? Did it even know about what happened between me and-

Probably. Might be why he did it. 'Make Gaara happy' or some such rot. Idiot. Didn't he know if it weren't with him I would prefer to never get married? I froze at that thought. What in the hell was I even thinking?

Marry Naruto? That wasn't even a possibility. He was a man, and he was the Hokage and he was my best friend and...

And he was making me think without correct grammar. That bastard. I blinked as realized Kankuro was already gone. His absence left me alone in the terrible heat which was threatening to bake me from inside my sand armor. The stuff helped keep me cool when I was in the shade, but in direct sunlight, not so much. I quickly ducked into the tower and made my way up to my office, taking the stairs instead of the lift.

Which was not a brilliant idea at all. I hate stairs. What in the world had I been thinking? By the time I reached the top for my office, I was out of breath. I stopped at the very top, hunched over with my hands on my knees and gulped for air, hoping that nobody happened to be up there to witness their all powerful leader succumbing from a climb of twenty stories worth of stairs. Why was this building so large anyway? Did we really need this much room to run a city? Probably, otherwise I would end up looking as exhausted as Naruto who brunted the majority of all the work his village needed. I at least had a small army of people working on the less important government tasks due to the large amount of civilians that lived in Suna.

Naruto, I wish I could stop thinking about him, but that seemed to be impossible. Had I really thought about the possibility of marrying him instead of the strange woman they would bring to me? Would the fact that I found the prospect far more appealing than marrying some strange woman? To most I am sure it would be. I straightened myself, sighed and headed into my office. "Shinki?"

The boy was sitting on a couch near my desk, fully lounged back, now in his usual full face paint. "Hey."

I openly gaped at the boy, confused to why he was there. He never sought me out unless... "I am not going to assign you a mission until your uncle has returned."

He sighed and sat up fully, swinging his legs over the edge. "That isn't why I'm here."

I frowned and moved to my desk where I sat down. "Why are you here then?"

He looked over to the window and I could see his shoulders tense at the question. "Uncle Kankuro called me. Said something about fetching me a new mother. What exactly was he talking about?"

I groaned. I couldn't even consult my own son about such things? He had to tell him for me. Wonderful. "I just found out myself. It would seem Konoha finds it necessary that I need to marry some woman of their choosing to keep peace."

I was answered only by silence for a few minutes. I had started to flip through the random paperwork as I tried to distract myself from my errant thoughts about Naruto. That the council thought it necessary to keep me in the dark about what was going on with Konoha. That I was somehow going to have to be ok with this odd farce of a marriage and how I genuinely didn't want to be married in the first place. I had given up on such ideas years ago, and with Shinki I had no reason to get married in the first place anyway.

What were they playing at? I did not need some woman to keep me happy. I had my job. I had Kankuro and Shinki. Honestly, what more did I need beyond that as long as Naruto agreed to remain my friend?

"It bothers you."

I moved my eyes from the paper I was pretending to read to my son. "Perhaps."

He frowned, "Then why let them do that?"

I shrugged, "I have not seen what the full demands are yet. I will know more when your uncle returns, besides he tends to be rather protective. I have no worries that if he finds her satisfactory, she will be worthy of being my wife."

"Father, that isn't what I mean."

I returned my gaze to my papers. It didn't matter. All this was political anyway. Just because my body suddenly started to work with just the thought of Naruto didn't mean it would work with some random woman, nor did I have the remote desire for it to. I had no interest in anyone, and I wasn't even sure yet if I actually had that sort of interest in Naruto fully. Or at least, an interest I was willing to admit to. "It would be a platonic and political marriage. I have no interest in such things with-" I sighed, "It would not be the first time they have tried to marry me off for political reasons. I have always been thankful for being able to adopt you as it stopped that nonsense. This, however, is something different. This is to solidify a peace that should never have been able to have been breached, yet it has."

"They can make you do something like that just because it makes sense politically?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"I don't like it."

I moved my eyes away from the paper I still had not brought myself to read, "Neither do I."

"Then don't." He flopped back onto the couch, his arms crossed. "I don't really want a mother. I never needed one before, don't really need one now."

I frowned. He was affected by this as well, it wasn't just about me. I set the paper down. I wasn't necessarily in the mood to work anyway. "Would you like to go with me to the gardens?" The place always calmed me some and it would help me come up with ideas for my project.

"The gardens?" He sighed, then shrugged. "Why not?" He pushed himself off the couch and looked at the window, a smile creeping onto his face. "Hey Dad, thinking what I'm thinking?"

My eyes widened. He just... Called me 'Dad' and... I looked at the window. I hated stairs. Was he thinking about... "I will have to hang onto you." I usually didn't allow him to jump with me, jumping was far too dangerous, he didn't have mindless control over the sand. What if he panicked and I had to end up scraping his body off the ground below?

That would never be an option. Shinki was one of the few people I was fiercely protective over, but if I jumped with him, and I was holding onto him while I did... It would afford me his good graces for a while, and I needed that at the moment since Kankuro was taken from me for a while. I sighed. I had made up my mind. Out the window it was. All twenty stories of it. I spared a glance his way and felt my insides mush a bit at the large grin on his face. I hadn't seen that on him enough, usually it was in a frown that mimicked my own lately. It sort of disturbed me. Had I allowed him enough time to simply be happy? I was not sure.

I held my hand out to him and he almost bounced over to me. I smiled at him. I had not spent enough time with him, it really was about time. I had been half obsessed with the boy when Kankuro had first found him after receiving reports about an orphan manipulating sand at just four years of age. I had immediately decided that I would adopt him, show him how to control it. The move would also fend off the council members who wanted Kankuro to get a wife after it was deemed it was impossible for me to truly father any children. He had been thankful, and I had a new family member who suddenly needed me. It had been far too much for me to handle, but it was something I welcomed easily in spite of my shortcomings.

I grasped the eager boy to me tightly, hugging him for the first time since I had brought him into my home. I lifted him off the floor with the help of my sand and ran for the window and leapt from it. I smiled at the yell that Shinki made as we started to plummet and twisted myself mid air as we fell. I took a breath and closed my eyes, allowing the sensations of the fall to fill my senses. It was always a welcome feeling, falling. I felt the sand gather beneath me, buffering the fall, slowing us until we were firmly on the ground, safe.

Shinki gave a small 'woop' sound and jumped in the air. "I am doing that again, that was amazing!"

I glared at him. "You are not. Now let's go."

He groaned. "I knew that wouldn't last long." He followed me, the grin still lingering on his face.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

We hadn't spent much time in the greenhouse when there was a small commotion outside. We both headed out to see what was going on and we were informed that there had been a team of ninja reporting from Konoha heading to the Kazekage tower. They had rushed through insisting that the matter was highly important. The pleasant feelings of spending time with Shinki fell away in an instant as my worry for Naruto was remembered. I looked to him and he nodded to me in understanding. I was surprised when I heard footsteps behind me as I ran through the streets, ready to intercept them so that I could finally figure out what was happening. That sick sense of foreboding returned full force. This wasn't just about a marriage, I knew there had to be more. I quickly rounded corners, mentally preparing myself for the worst, knowing that even with any amount of preparation, I would never be able to handle it.

Be ok, be ok, be ok. The words played continuously in my mind until I finally reached the tower, gathered my sand and headed up to my open window, forcing it to go straight up without hesitation. I heard the metallic shift below me, the only thing that alerted me to the fact that Shinki was following me. I had barely made it back to the room when the door was flung open, a team of four ninja appeared wearing Konoha fashion, a team I had left there to keep tabs on Naruto. I swallowed.

"Report, now." I quickly gathered the sand around me, pushing it into the shape of a gourd, landing the object onto my hip.

The jounin of the group stood forward. "News of Naruto Uzumaki, Hokage of Konoha."

I nodded, "Continue." Finally, news.

The other three exchanged a brief look and their jounin continued, "A large scale attack was made on Konoha to which the Hokage and his team of elite ninja entered into battle. They were pushed back, but as always they started to have the upper hand. The explosions came to a close, and-" The man's voice squeaked and he looked away from me. He took a breath, one that made my heart beat rapidly in my chest and a lump formed in my throat. "Just before the close of battle, Naruto Uzumaki was killed in action."

I stared.

What.

What did I just hear?

Naruto... He was... I must have misheard him. "Repeat that." I didn't want him to, but he was incorrect, this intel was wrong, Naruto could not simply be killed in battle. He wouldn't let it, he healed too fast, this was wrong. It had to be.

He repeated it, but the words were dull, hollow and echoed inside my head.

"Dismissed." The word was strained.

"Lord Kazekage-"

"Dismissed!" I hissed the word out, allowing my anger at the news to show on my face. Was this why they wanted me to marry some damned woman from the village? Because Naruto had-

No. He couldn't be. It had to be that damned clone. Had to be. Naruto had to be alive. I braced myself on my desk and stared at the dot there as my breath escaped my lungs. No.

I had to focus. I had to...

I had to...

I needed to go to Konoha. I didn't care if they didn't want me. I had to know if he was really gone. I had to see it for myself. I had to make sure that the real Naruto wasn't just in hiding yet.

He would have been smart enough to hide, wouldn't he? He wouldn't have just charged into battle feeling the way he was would he?

"Father?" His voice was tentative, concerned.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I pushed it away. "Stay." It was the only word I could say. I jumped back out the window, this time forming a platform and using the momentum of the fall to push me forwards. I could make it in a day if I pushed myself. I needed to get there. I needed to get there quickly. The real Naruto could still be alive and nobody knew, maybe...

I had to find him. I wouldn't allow him to be dead. Maybe I could figure out that damned jutsu that old woman had used on me. Part of my own existence was formed from his energy anyway, it would be fitting to give it back. Suna could live without me. Shinki could run it with the help of Baki.

Naruto had to live. The world couldn't go on without him, they could however go on without me.

I didn't deserve life, he did. He deserved everything.

I rushed forwards as fast as my sand could take me. I would exhaust my chakra by the time I got there by travelling this way, but I didn't care. I didn't remotely care. I had to get there. Quickly.

I had made it to the passage in minutes, I never bothered to tell the guards I was leaving.

Almost out.

The light was always so bright when leaving after being in the steep cliff passageway that kept Suna connected to the outside world. I squinted my eyes, staying crouched, pushing forwards.

I barely noticed the sand as it moved on its own to protect me, but I noticed as my platform suddenly dissolved, forcing me to land on the ground below me as it swooped around quickly to fend off the attacks of someone who had enough stupidity to attack me. I growled. I did not have time for this.

I stood straight and crossed my arms, my anger boiling up. Finally. Something I could kill. I smirked. Unlucky idiots. To choose such a time as this to attack me. I was in no mood. My sand lashed out at the assailant who was moving quickly, and somehow successfully maneuvering around the sand, breaking it up, getting closer. I frowned. What sort of this was this, it was as though the person was cutting directly into my chakra connection to-

I stopped my attack. It couldn't be, but it was too much of a coincidence for me to ignore the possibility. There was only one clan that I knew of that had that sort of ability, and only two that would be good enough to use that ability against me, and one of them was already dead.

I swallowed, my eyes widened as my assailant stopped their attack and stood before me.

A woman with a determined look to her, jet black hair, white eyes.

I was being stopped by none other than Naruto's own wife, Hinata.