Do You Hate Me?

Title subject to change, rating PG13 to be on the safe side.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I do own the plot of this story (for as far as there is one) and the extra characters I may or may not add.

Response to reviews at the bottom be sure to read the A/N's.

Chapter 8 – Memories:

Gaara sat in his room after being relieved by Naruto from his bedside watch over his sister. He was no fool, he knew what was going on between the two of them. He saw the shocked look on Naruto's face when he came home and saw Temari with a small strip of bandage around her head. He also saw that same shocked look turn into absolute rage and killer intent as the blonde boy ran out of the house to go somewhere and blow off some steam. He also noticed the odd glow that had started emanating from his sister ever since the day after Naruto's birthday party. No, Gaara was no fool, but he would rip off the boy's head if he hurt Temari in any way whatsoever.

"You've done well today." A voice cooed

"What are you talking about?" Gaara asked. He knew who was talking. It was the source of the torture he faced in his mind every day. But the torture had lessened a great deal ever since he had been beaten by a certain blonde Genin. Ever since he had realized there was more than mindless slaughtering.

"Such delicious anger. Why did you stop? You know you wanted to continue." The voice said.

"Yes I did."

"Then why didn't you?" The voice asked.

"Because it would make others sad."

"You don't care about that! They need to learn to fear you again, to fear... Us!" The voice roared.

"They do fear me."

"They don't fear you enough." The voice stated simply.

"Yes they do, I don't want to be feared. I don't care. I want to protect those precious to me. Like... him..."

"You know you enjoyed it!" The voice laughed. "You enjoyed the man's screaming as you took away his arm. Didn't you just shudder in delight at the sight of the beautiful blood that spilled from his wounds? You can't fool me."

"No!"

"Oh yes you did you weakling, admit it. You still have the killer instinct. Let it out. Let people fear you. Let it give you the reason to exist!"

"Shut up!" Gaara yelled inside his mind

"GIVE ME MY SACRIFICES! I WANT BLOOD! YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME!" The voice yelled as it completely lost control.

"SHUT UP!!!" Gaara now screamed outwardly and forcefully put the demon inside him back to it's dark corner where it wouldn't be able to bother him anymore, for now anyway. He clutched his head and steadied himself for the painful headache that always came when Shukaku assaulted him mentally. Feeling the pain surge up he closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep for those few and precious hours every night that he was able to keep the demon at bay that lived inside him.

Naruto was biting back tears. He felt helpless, he was no medic and he couldn't even beat up the man who had hurt the girl he... loved? Was it really love? When he found out that Temari had been hurt something snapped inside him. He hadn't felt that way when Sakura was being pinned to a tree by Gaara and then slowly crushed until the two boys with demons inside them had run out of chakra.

He sat there next to her still form, looking down at the slightly older girl. Her four pigtails were starting to loosen up and the strands of hair that refused to stay in place were sticking to her pale face. 'She looks so cute like that for some reason.' Naruto thought and a small smile creased his lips. That was when he broke down and tried to sob as softly as he could, trying not to disturb the sleeping girl. He hated this; he wanted to protect those he loved with all that he had. If he had to use Kyuubi to get stronger, then he would.

He picked up one of her soft hands and stroked it gently across the back with his thumbs. Tears that glittered in the moonlight dropped down on both their hands when Naruto couldn't restrain them any longer.

Temari stirred and opened her eyes to look at the wetness that she felt on her hands. She trailed the tears that dropped with her emerald eyes that were clouded by fatigue and looked up into pained shimmering blue depths. "Why are you crying?" She asked softly.

"Temari-chan." Naruto said hoarsely, startled that she had awoken. When he saw a wince flash across her face, he lowered his voice to a mere whisper. "You should go back to sleep, Temari-chan. I'm sorry I woke you up."

"Why are you crying, Naruto-kun?" She asked again in the same soft tone.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have been there. When I saw you lying here on your bed, my heart hurt so badly." He said and clutched his chest as sobs wracked his body. "I never felt this way before, is this..." He took a deep shuddering breath. "Is this what love is?"

Her own heart swelled so much that it felt like it would nearly burst as she heard his confession. Pain flashed through her body as she moved on her side but she ignored it. Confusion was written on Naruto's face as he saw her move but he remained silent. Lifting her blanket, she patted the empty space she had created. Instincts took over when the blonde boy lied down beside her and allowed the blanket to cover them both. They both held each other that night, allowing their warmth to comfort each other. When the tears had finally dried up, Naruto nuzzled Temari's neck and she placed her chin on top of his head and the two of them fell asleep with a final contented sigh.

Temari dreamed that night on how she had started to care so deeply about the boy that lay next to her in her room.

"Temari... Kankuro... I'm sorry..."

That had started it all. After the fight with Uzumaki Naruto, the blonde boy that no-one acknowledged, Gaara had changed. Kankuro had been utterly dumbfounded but not as much as his sister, Temari. She had been surprised when that loud-mouthed brat had defeated Neji who was a genius from the supposedly strongest family of the Hidden Leaf; the Hyuga. But when the same annoying brat had also defeated her younger brother, the boy with the feared raccoon demon; Shukaku inside of him, she was shocked to put it very mildly. 'What kind of person is he? What kind of power does he possess?' She wondered.

They had been rushing through the forest that surrounded Konoha for days. Occasionally they stopped for a few hours of sleep and something to eat but no doubt they would be expected to be back at their own village as soon as possible. For the first time in her life, Temari was truly scared to go back. They had failed their mission and brought shame on the Hidden Sand, what could the possible repercussions be?

When they finally reached the edge of the massive forest they noticed it's subtle transition from lush greenery into the harsh heat of the desert. Just a few more steps and they would enter the Wind country. Exhausted, Temari sat down in the shade and closed her eyes for a few moments.

Feeling someone sit down next to her, she spoke up. "Kankuro, what will happen to us?"

Her brother sighed. "I don't know, sis. Gaara never failed anything before."

Pausing for a while, Temari tried to enjoy the coolness of the Fire country before they would be running under the glaring sun and hoping that their pitiful footwear would provide enough protection from the burning sand. She glanced at her youngest brother, Gaara. As always he was sitting silently but instead of having his usual uncaring look in his eyes he seemed to be locked in an internal struggle. 'Gaara... what has happened to you...' She mentally asked her brother.

Temari would have liked to sit there for a little while longer to rest her weary legs and wait for the night to fall but her brother tapped her on the shoulder as a signal to get moving again. She knew they had no choice and after making sure her battle fan was securely strapped on her back, all three siblings seemingly disappeared and ran as fast as they could towards their village.

"We have been forced to surrender to the Leaf." An old and weary voice said.

Immediately cries of outrage and disbelief echoed through the great cavern hewn out of a sandstone cliff that overlooked the village of the Hidden Sand. When the three siblings had returned to their village, windswept and with sand and dust filling every pore of their body, their sensei; Baki had shown up and told them without a word of welcome that they were expected in the presence of the village elders.

No-one dared to disobey a direct summon of the council under the penalty of death, so now they sat amidst a large group of Sand Shinobi who were reacting quite strongly to the fact that they would surrender.

"We should attack them again, the Leaf will crumble!" A man in the back yelled.

"This is a disgrace!" A woman, dressed in what seemed to a bleached toga, shrieked hysterically.

"Silence!" The voice came from an old man with a wrinkled face as he brandished a large metal ball that caused sparks to fly as he smacked it hard on a metal plate fastened on top of a large and long wooden table. He looked to the left and then to the right at the other old figures that sat beside him. "The decision has been made, the Sand has been dishonored. One of the three legendary sannin; Orochimaru, killed the Kazekage and fooled us into making a temporary alliance. We all thought that, together with the Sound, we could defeat the Leaf."

A painful silence followed after these words had been spoken. Their Kazekage was dead? Orochimaru had tricked them? They had betrayed their ally, the Hidden Leaf, for nothing? Although the news that their father died at the hands of Orochimaru made the three siblings angry, it wasn't because of their last remaining parent dieing. He didn't love them and so they didn't love him back. To him they had only been a tool, nothing more than to help him gain greater power. That's why he had purposely let Shukaku possess Gaara in the first place.

An old woman with colorful sharpened nails who sat next to the old man facing the large crowd gathered in front of them spoke up next. "We must appoint a new Kazekage as well as take care of certain other things." She said and looked sternly at the three siblings who sat in front. "While potential candidates are selected for the tournament, Baki-san will be appointed as steward of our village."

Life was harsh in the desert and this was reflected upon the village. You did what you were ordered to do or you died. Everyone pulled their own weight and no one was allowed to slack off. Unlike in the Hidden Leaf, Kazekage's were tested to prove their strength and leadership capabilities. This was usually done by a gathering of would be contenders who would beat each other in combat. Although killing was not necessary and preferably avoided, the tournament was known to be brutal and bloody. When a winner was declared, he (females were considered a weaker sex in the Hidden Sand and therefore not allowed to enter) would receive additional training to become even stronger.

Temari was shocked, their sensei was chosen as the steward, a temporary replacement for the Kazekage? That meant he would be unable to teach them anything until the new Kazekage was chosen, and that could take up to two years! She fumed and was about to shout something when unexpectedly, Gaara laid a hand on one of her balled fists.

"Do not worry." He said in a soft voice.

Temari gaped at her youngest brother. Was he actually comforting her? Things had taken a very different turn lately. Finally having regained her senses she nodded dumbly and tried to focus on the elders again.

"Everyone is dismissed." The old man that sat in the center said and slammed the iron ball on the iron plate once more.

When the three siblings had made their way out of the cavern and walked through the deserted streets of the village towards their own home, Temari shouted some colorful remarks that her brother, Kankuro would not have dared to repeat.

"How dare they! How the hell are we going to get stronger now, what the hell is going to happen to us!" The girl with four pigtails shouted when she had calmed down somewhat.

"God, shut up already would you?" Kankuro growled at his sister, he was in no mood for this. He kicked one of his sandaled feet into the sand that was, of course, everywhere and caused it to fly up and then into his eyes as the wind suddenly picked up.

Temari whacked her insolent brother over the head and opened the front door of their house that they had finally reached. Out of sheer habit, Temari and Kankuro stepped back to allow Gaara entry first. Stepping inside after him they looked around. The house was simple like everything in the village; every available resource was used in the most efficient way possible. The desert didn't forgive brash luxury easily. Save for some painted fans, the walls were completely bare. All the furniture had the same sandy color and only a rug with some holes in it adorned the floor. The house had only two floors, ground floor included. And all the rooms, save the living room and kitchen were as small as possible. Even being the children of the Kazekage didn't offer perks where living space was concerned. Larger things caught more wind and were worn down more easily, or at least that was what their father had always said to them. The only truly impressive building stood in the center of the village and that was the building where the Kazekage resided.

The three of them had barely sat down when someone rapped loudly on the front door. Grumbling loudly, Temari got up and opened the door. "Baki- sensei!" She exclaimed. "W-what are you doing here?" She knew perfectly well what he was doing standing in front of their house; he was to pass judgement on them for failing their mission. And from past experiences, Temari knew that failure was costly. Gulping, she bowed slightly and stepped back to let her sensei, the new steward of the Hidden Sand, step inside their house.

As always, Baki was all business. "I am not going to be your sensei anymore. You will call me Baki-sama from now on. As you heard in the meeting, the Hidden Sand has surrendered to the Hidden Leaf. The repercussions of that will be made known shortly. Even though we were fooled by Orochimaru, you three still failed your mission, therefore we can not allow you to do missions until we deem otherwise. You are... advised to remain in your house." Without giving any of the three a chance to respond, Baki walked out of the house and slammed the door shut.

Temari and Kankuro looked at each other and then nervously at Gaara. Who had remained silent and motionless throughout the whole time, Baki had been speaking. This was going to be difficult...

Several weeks had passed and Gaara and Kankuro were often gone for days on end to train, Temari knew it was best to leave them to their own devices and not interfere. She herself had also trained vigorously out in the open desert and had even signed a summoning contract with a creature that called itself 'Kamaitachi'. He was a huge ferret with markings strangely similar to what a panda would have. He had been impressed by the sheer force of Temari's; Dai Kamaitachi (Cyclone Blade) and he was amused by the fact that her technique had the same name as him. After having a, for Temari very disturbing, talk with the creature, it had imbued her fan with a strange power to make it more durable and she would only need to streak it with a line of blood to be able to summon him.

They had also found out exactly why they had been advised to stay inside their own home. Everyone in their village had by now heard that the Hidden Sand had been forced to surrender and they weren't happy at all. They needed someone to blame and unfortunately that role had always fallen on Gaara. Since they knew that they couldn't attack him without suffering a gruesome and bloody death, they attacked the next best thing. Gaara's brother and sister couldn't walk the streets without people spitting at them or attacking them one way or the other, be it by throwing harmless clumps of wet sand or kunai. For the last two weeks they had been able to defend themselves but one day, they were told that they weren't allowed to carry their weapons anymore.

When Temari and Kankuro returned home after shopping for food, they staggered through the front door where Gaara was sitting in the living room, they were scratched, bruised and covered in dirt. They both winced when they sat on one of the couches and closed their eyes out of pure exhaustion.

"What happened." The red-haired boy asked as he stared at them unblinkingly.

Kankuro groaned. "Those damn villagers and a couple of Genins attacked us. Since we weren't allowed to carry our weapons anymore, we couldn't defend ourselves as well as we normally can."

"I will kill them." Gaara said simply and was already halfway to the door when Temari called out to him.

"Please don't, Gaara! It will only cause more trouble, it's nothing." Temari pleaded, desperate to stop her little brother from going on a killing spree.

Gaara merely looked back over his shoulder and wordlessly turned around to walk up the stairs towards his own room, to do whatever it was he did, as he couldn't sleep properly at night.

"C'mon Temari, we'd better get some sleep. Maybe Baki-sama will tell us something tomorrow." Kankuro said hopefully. He then hoisted himself from the couch and trudged up the stairs to sleep and hoped that his body wouldn't be as sore in the morning as it was now.

Temari however decided that she would take a nice and long relaxing shower. Unlike Kankuro, she always valued a proper hygiene. She didn't know what Gaara did to keep himself clean but then again she didn't want to find out either. She walked up to her room and picked up one of her most precious possessions. It was a luxurious fluffy light blue towel she had bought when she and her brothers were on a mission in a village somewhere at the eastern border of the Wind country. There they could afford to be luxurious as they lived close to a forest and a large lake. It had been one of the best times of her life, she had even managed to take a swim and have a little fun before they returned after their mission was completed.

Clutching the towel and some toiletries, she made her way to the small bathroom. She placed her things on a shelf away from the shower to keep it from getting wet and turned a knob to let the water flow from the showerhead. The jets of warm water bounced off of her as she moved her hands all over her to remove the filth and grime that had piled up over the last few days. When she was finished, she undid her pigtails and let her sandy-colored hair spill over her shoulders. She stuck her head under the water and grasped blindly for the shampoo bottle. Squirting out a significant amount, she massaged it firmly into her hair and scalp. After letting the white foam remain in her hair for a few moments she rinsed it out. Normally she would have done this as quickly as she possibly could to preserve water, but today she couldn't seem to care. Her mind was a turbulent mass as she thought about how Gaara had changed; he had even listened to her just now and went up to his room. Thinking about this her thoughts went to a certain blonde boy. 'Naruto...' She didn't know why, but he had changed her brother somehow. She was intent to find out exactly how he did it and for some reason she really wanted to thank him. This new and improved Gaara could only be for the best and it was all because of that hyperactive boy who she had thought of as a worthless Shinobi.

Somehow she would return to the Hidden Leaf and find him again. With that firm resolve in her mind, Temari turned off the water and dried herself off, allowing the fluffy piece of cloth to caress her skin gently. Tying it around her body, she went back to her room and went to sleep, her dreams being only about a blonde boy whom everyone underestimated.

The next day, the three siblings were summoned to the Kazekage's building. Two of the three were clearly dreading what was to come but Gaara, as usual, didn't show any emotion at all. When they entered the building and stood before Baki, Temari and Kankuro knelt and touched their hands and forehead to the floor respectfully, Gaara simply remained standing and folded his arms in front of his chest in clear contempt. Baki, knowing this would happen, didn't say anything about it. He sat on a large red pillow and motioned them to sit down normally.

"The Leaf has a new Hokage, her name is Tsunade, one of the legendary three." Baki said.

'A woman?' Temari wondered in amazement.

"Although it is a custom of ours not to let women become Kage, we have to respect their customs. From what I've heard she is a very powerful Kunoichi. She fears another attack from that traitorous snake, Orochimaru, and has therefore requested our help." He said and looked at the three that sat before him. "I have mobilized a Jounin team and two Chuunin teams to help them. They will remain there for five years to aid the rebuilding of Konoha and accomplish missions on their behalf. I am however looking for another team consisting of Genins." Baki already knew what was coming and wasn't disappointed when Gaara spoke up without looking at him directly.

"We will go." He stated, without any emotion.

"What?!" Kankuro yelled, surprised. "But, Gaara, that's five years we're talking about!"

Gaara looked at his brother and repeated himself. "We will go." Emphasizing the 'will'-part this time.

Even though his brother was showing signs of change, Kankuro was still very much afraid of him and remained quiet.

Temari however was inwardly pleased. This way they could get away from those damn villagers and walk the streets without being attacked. Or at least that was what she hoped. Not to mention, she would be able to see a certain boy whom she wanted to thank.

"When do we leave Baki-sama?" She asked.

Kankuro's eyes bulged as he heard his sister. 'Am I the only one who doesn't want to go?!' He thought angrily.

A ghost of a smile seemed to appear on their former sensei's face. "You leave tomorrow, pack only necessary clothing and weaponry. Housing and other accommodations will be made available for you when you arrive."

After asking for a few more details about their new assignment, the three were dismissed and went home to pack a few meager belongings and get a good night's rest before they would be returning to the village that they had attempted to destroy less then a month ago.

"Temari, wake up!"

"Nngh, wha?" Temari said groggily as she bolted upright in her bed when someone had entered her room and shouted at her.

"Wake up, now!"

"Kankuro! What the hell is going on?!" She asked angrily. Temari did not like to be woken up very early in the morning when she was having a good dream. Especially not by her annoying brother.

"We have to leave, Baki-sama received an urgent message from that new female Hokage... Apparently that Uchiha-character is a traitor and just left Hidden Leaf, she sent a team of Genins after him and some Sound-nins and wants us to help them." Kankuro said quickly and was already pulling a black shirt over his head and strapping his puppets on his back at the same time.

Temari looked incredulously at her brother for a moment then slammed the door in his face and got dressed in record time. She snatched up her bags and her fan, ran out of her room, down the stairs and out of their house and met up with her two brothers who were already waiting for her outside in the near darkness of the desert morning. Not wasting any words, they looked at each other for a moment and then disappeared in a blur of speed as they made their way to the Fire country.

"AARGH! WHAT THE HELL?!" Kankuro was shocked, he was terrified, he was... he was... angry! "What the #$% is HE doing here?!" He roared.

Being in a very nice mood, Kankuro had decided to be a good little brother and bring his bedridden sister a nice cup of soup. However, when he had walked upstairs and opened the door to her room, read to say a cheery 'good morning' and everything, he saw the new annoying and perpetual thorn in his life; a pest by the name of Uzumaki Naruto, sharing the same futon with Temari. Kankuro's sister Temari.

Naruto was currently unaware of all this, fortunately he was always in a very foggy state of mind when he just woke up and wouldn't understand what was happening to him until at least a half an hour had passed. Temari however, found herself clutching her head while experiencing a throbbing headache and was just about to scold her little brother when she realized exactly what kind of compromising situation she was in.

Her eyes wide, she uttered the only thing that came to mind. "Ah crap..."

Songs that helped during the writing of this chapter:

Kidney Thieves – Before I'm Dead
Dolce Triade – Prayer for Love
Unloco - Bruises

A/N: Many thanks to my beta "refused". Without him this chapter would probably be riddled with errors and mistakes. I'm going to have to let him go over my first six chapters, hehehe.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I certainly enjoyed writing it. Please forgive me if I didn't go into that much detail everywhere, I didn't want this to take two chapters. Also I took a bit of creative liberty (together with the help of my beta) on how Shukaku would talk to Gaara, which I think it turned out pretty good, and on how Temari received her summon.

Next up: How will Temari and Naruto explain their being together in the same room? What will happen when Temari takes Naruto shopping? Why is Kumiko suddenly standing on the doorstep of the house where Naruto and the three siblings live? And much more, well maybe not much but a little anyway :P

On to the review response!

bananamufu: Haha, surely it isn't all crap? There are tons of Naruto/Hinata fics out there that are an awesome read. Thanks for the kind words though. ;)

Gopu: Thanks!

Black Fyre Dragun: Yeah it turns out he is a raccoon demon. I always thought he was a badger or maybe I wanted to believe that. Because I mean, come on, a raccoon? Thanks for the review!

Inferno-Dragonz: Yeah that would be funny as a drawing. :D

kashisenshey: Should I be insulted? :P But anyway, here is the update.

Ice Dragon XXI: Why would Naruto beat the crap out of Gaara? But don't worry, he will beat the crap out of someone in the next chapter. Thanks for the review!

MC-88: Thanks a lot :)

Kyo Tetsuei: Thanks! No I really mean it, I live in the Netherlands and all I have is a crappy online English – Japanese online translator thingie. When I use the other techniques I thought up in my future chapters don't hesitate to point out any grammar mistakes or if I'm using the wrong words.

blaboy: Sorry, Naruto won't leave Team 7 in the foreseeable future. Kyuubi will probably play a bigger part later on in the story, at least I have some things planned out that involve him. Thanks for the review!

weirddramagirl: Oh don't worry, things will definitely heat up between Sakura and Lee. Thanks for the review!

omnidragon: Thanks!

Ramen Fox Box: I haven't decided yet if he'll be related to the Yondaime. Maybe Naruto will have a bloodline limit he'll find out about but I haven't decided on that either. But for now he only knows his family is dead and he's more of a hard work guy like Lee. Thanks for the review!

ookami-kun: Yeah it's a great pairing I think. Thanks for the review!

Anime Lance: I have a lot more where that came from. Thanks for the review!

One Azn Dragon: Naruto will go ballistic in the next chapter, I promise. Thanks for the review!

hinanaru: Thanks!

Kuwabaras pupil: We will definitely find out more about Kumiko's past and why her clan has been slaughtered, I don't know when yet but she'll eventually entrust her secrets with Naruto. No, she isn't related to Kakashi, sorry. Thanks for the review!

Grand Admiral Gin: Thanks!

LostDeasertWolf: Thanks!

Max Knight: Don't worry, things will happen to make Temari truly realize her feelings towards Naruto, not just in this chapter. I reviewed one of your stories as well. Thanks for the review!

As always I really appreciate the review. Let's all make the number go past 100 ok?