Note: Yeeks! Where have all my reviewers gone? At least I still have some of my devoted fans! ahem Um Kyuubi PandoraChan, thank you for your um….insight on the word 'nasty,' but that's really besides the point….; I'm just glad you reviewed! I also wanna say thank you to Sariachan-Marina! LOL! Of COURSE I hated Ribu too but what kind of author would I be if I didn't have a character whom people hated? It would be BORING! ;) Anyhoo, I hope you two will continue to read my fanfic and keep reviewing!

Chapter 13 – What Heaven Feels Like...

Darkness loomed over the land and the only light that managed to shine upon him peeked itself from behind the tall trees. It was dead silent back in Sand Village and he figured there would be shinobis running around, making sure no one else would come inside the building to assassinate the Kazekage. After what's happened to his father's trusted advisor, who was supposedly the next Kazekage in line, Gaara figured there WOULD be men keeping watch over the entrance gates. Gaara made his way to the very essence that kept Sand Village straight, keeping a low profile and making sure that nothing would get into his way.

And as he finally descended down to the main hallway where the throne would be, he took a long deep breath and made his way towards there.

He didn't really know how to approach this situation. Now, he was standing right in front of him…a figure in the shadows just waiting for an explanation.

"Hello son," he finally spoke after a few moments of silence.

This was the moment….a father and a son, in a confrontation that will forever be remembered to be just a faded memory in a dream or maybe a nightmare.

Gaara took a few more steps and stopped just at a right distance from the Kazekage. It's been too many years that he has hidden in the darkness, controlled by a man whom he called his "father." Standing beside him was his two other children…his own flesh and blood- Kankurou and Temari.

The Kazekage gave a familiar smirk towards his son and said, "Welcome home."

"Why?" Gaara questioned, frowning. He watched as his father's lips turned into a frown in which mimicked the way Gaara was looking now. "I want to know the answer to why you've kept me alive? Why didn't I die with her…my mother?"

"Because Gaara, you are special…" he answered, standing up. "You have always been and your mother knew that." He approached Gaara and lifted up a hand to touch his son's cheek. "Most of all…the tanuki wanted you. From the very beginning, HE knew you had the potential to be his prime vessel."

Gaara turned away. "So that's the answer isn't it? I am just someone you can USE to help you win the fight against other villages?"

The Kazekage glared at him and grabbed Gaara's chin, forcing him to look at him. "What's going on with you? Why are you talking back to me?"

Gaara just stared at him.

He stared at his son for a few moments, finding for the answer, yet all he could see was the face of a young woman from his son's mind. "No…." The Kazekage took a few steps back, shaking his head in disbelief. "That's impossible. SOMEONE has touched you! What has she done to you?"

"She didn't do anything…"

"STOP! Stop talking back to me! You have no right to talk to me!" He jerked his head back at him and glared at him. After a few moments, he seemed to have calmed down. "So…what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to release me from HIM."

The Kazekage laughed as he sat back down on the throne. "That's impossible…you are part of him and he part of you. You were born that way."

"Release me from it..." Gaara glared at his father.

Surprised at this defiance, he smirked and stood up. "And that is what you wish?"

Gaara said nothing.

The Kazekage smiled, clapped his hands together and performed a seal, while at the same time murmuring some words that Gaara could not understand. However, before he had a chance to figure out what it was, smoke surrounded him in which later turned into steel bars around him. "Do not forget your place, boy! I am your father, the Kazekage and I RULE OVER YOU!"

Gaara gasped as something came out of the ground like some sort of hand and began choking him. He fell to his knees and began coughing as the hand continues to choke him to death.

"Tch! You are a nuisance to the family! When have you ever decided things on your own whether you want to be set free or not? Look what the girl has done to you! You have lowered yourself into a pathetic human without any conscience…without any strength. She has taken that away and turned you into no one special! YOU ARE NOT MY SON!"

Temari gasped and watched in horror as Gaara's life was slowly taken away. She was about to run to him when Kankurou's hand suddenly blocked her way. She looked at Kankurou, who in turn shook his head.

"You're wrong…" Something sharp hit him at the side. He winced and glanced down at something metallic and sharp that pierced him, blood spilling on the ground.

Shocked beyond words, the hand that was squeezing Gaara's life seemed to have loosened a bit. "What?" the Kazekage gasped in disbelief.

Gaara forced himself to stand up. "She has not taken away anything from me…she has given me something. She has given me hope, feelings and the one thing that you have NEVER given me…"

"Oh? What's that? LOVE?" He stared at his son as he turned to look at him. "LOVE? AHAHAHAHA! Love is just a myth! Someone like you can NEVER be loved by anyone! Do you even know what love is? Give me an answer now, Gaara…"

Gaara could not reply to that. He really didn't know what love was, but he knew what it felt like.

"See? You cannot even answer my question can you?" He gripped his hand harder and the hand that surrounded Gaara's neck did the same. Gaara coughed and gagged, sagging back down on his knees.

"STOP! Please father! No more! He's had enough!" Temari pushed Kankurou out of her way and ran to her father's side and began tugging at him. "Please father!" She watched as Gaara's face slowly began turning blue.

The Kazekage watched his youngest son trying to fight his way to live and for a few moments of watching him, he admired the way Gaara was struggling, was fighting for his life. And why? It was probably because he was thinking of the girl so much for him to want to live so much. "You're pathetic…" He murmured before unclenching his fist.

Temari took a deep breath and watched as the shadowy hand let go of Gaara's neck and disappear. The steel bars also disappeared that surrounded Gaara like a puff of smoke and soon he was no longer caged.

"You want to free yourself so bad from the tanuki? The decisions that you make affect how much the tanuki can get a hold of you and so far, you're doing well for yourself in freeing your heart and soul from him…" the Kazekage explained, jerking his sleeve away from his daughter's grasp. He turned away, his back towards Gaara.

Gaara glanced at his father. "Nani?" The sharp metal thing slowly removed itself from his side. The red haired man cried in pain, the sound of clattering metal echoing in the silence of the whole room.

"Now get out my sight….I don't want to see you ever again." The Kazekage sat back down on the throne and watched as his son slowly stood up. He stared at his father for a few seconds before turning around to leave the palace for good, leaving a trail of blood.

"Aren't you going after him?" Kankurou asked, watching his younger brother closing the door behind him.

"He is no longer my son," was all the Kazekage's reply.

Temari sighed in relief.

"Temari…" her father called. The young blond woman turned to look at her father, who was glaring back at her. "Don't you ever do that again," he said, giving her a warning tone. He stood up and left without another word.

"She's been staring towards the gate for two straight days now..." He sighed and turned to look as his blond companion who was helping him keep an eye on Hinata. Neji frowned as he noticed that Naruto was no longer with him…he had already fallen asleep with his mouth open and a drool dangling at the corner of his mouth. "Oh God, no wonder you don't have a girlfriend," Neji murmured to himself.

"Shut up…" Naruto opened one eye and wiped the drool with his arm and groggily stared out the window. "Is she still there?"

Neji nodded. "She hasn't moved from her spot."

The blond young man sighed. "Maybe we should go and tell her to come inside now?"

The long haired man agreed. Hinata just recovered from her previous injuries and for her to have lack of sleep was not healthy at all. She needed rest, but all she's been doing was staring at the gate, waiting for Gaara's return.

"I sometimes wonder whether Gaara would come back," Naruto suddenly said, changing the subject. He moved his feet from the table and stood up to stretch his arms and legs.

Neji just stared at Hinata out the window. "Have you seen the way he looked at her?"

The blond shook his head. "Not really…"

"They really love each other and what makes love interesting is the way it pulls you straight to it, like a huge force attracting you. So despite how much fault Gaara has had and despite the differences the two have, their love for each other makes no difference."

"Wow, you really thought of this hard, haven't you?" Naruto sat back down on his seat and rubbed the back of his neck slowly. "Hey, aren't you dating that TenTen girl?"

Neji glanced at him and when he noticed the blond grinning at him, he turned away and blushed. "Where- where did you hear that?"

Naruto continued to grin. "Hey, I'm friends with Lee remember?"

The Hyuuga curses the day that Lee and Naruto became friends. He looked out the window again, back to where Hinata had been sitting…….wait a minute. Neji sat up from his seat and looked around. "Hinata-sama?"

The blond stared at him. "What?" He glanced to where Neji was looking and blinked. "Where did she go?"

Neji stood up and walked out the door. "Hinata-sama!" He looked ahead, towards the gate to find Hinata running towards it. Naruto joined him seconds later, wondering the same thing he was wondering.

"That doesn't make sense…" Naruto spoke. "I don't see anyone by the gate, why is she running to it?"

"She knows…"

"Knows what?" Naruto glanced at Neji, his eyebrow lifting curiously at the older man. The older man didn't answer, instead he watched as Hinata ran to the gate and asked for the gatekeepers to open it before running out.

"Hey! Aren't we supposed to be looking out for her?"

He was so close…he was almost there. He reached out his hand to nobody, his eyes now unfocused. Was he really going to die like this? Was he going to die without being in Hinata's arms? Maybe this was his fate after all….to die without the warmth of a woman's touch. But Gaara knew this was coming, he was ready even before he knew he could be free from the tanuki's grasp. Death has always been part of his life…

"Gaara!"

He heard it…her voice. Someone up in the sky must be kind enough to let him hear her voice one last time before he lost his life. Gaara leaned against the nearest tree he could find and let himself slide down on the ground, his arm around his torso where the bleeding would not stop. He allowed his eyes to open for a bit to see a figure approaching him.

"Gaara!" Hinata kneeled down in front of him and smiled. "I knew you would come back!" Tears fell from her eyes and she raised herself up on her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck, embracing him long enough to smell her hair. "I never doubted you once!"

He winced. "Hinata…." Gaara whispered in her ear.

Hinata pulled herself away in arm length to look into his eyes. She smiled, surprising Gaara a whole lot. She smiled as if she knew he would live. And when she smiled, it made him calm… it made him forget the wound at his side.

This must be what heaven feels like…

...A week later...

Sometimes it was a good idea to let go of all the grudges you've held for so long in your heart but…

"HEY GAARA!" A smiling Naruto approached him suddenly and wrapped an arm around him. "Congratulations on being the citizen of this village! I'm proud of you man!"

Gaara might have forgotten his fight with Naruto, beating him to a pulp, but a man's pride was important. It was already bad enough that he had no place to stay in Konoha, but living with Naruto was pure torture. Every morning he would wake up to banging sounds coming from the kitchen, followed by a loud cry of pain. Gaara had gotten used to the fact that Naruto would be half asleep walking to the kitchen, finding something to eat and banging his head on the fridge. It was like a daily routine for the blond and all Gaara could do was close his eyes and imagine himself choking Naruto, but that wouldn't be good. Hinata would probably scold him for that if Naruto was found choked to death in his own kitchen floor. But then again, he can always explain that Naruto didn't die of choking…no no…Naruto died by hitting his head on the fridge too many times that he managed to have brain damage over the years.

But right now, he had other things to worry about…

It was the staring eyes of the Konoha villagers who wasn't used to the idea that an enemy was living among them.

Naruto gave him a pat on the back before being distracted by a bunch of his friends who were asking him whether he wanted to go eat ramen at the ramen shop. Seconds later, he was gone from Gaara's side and he found himself walking alone in the darkness of the night. But he didn't mind the silence…for once. He always bumped into Naruto wherever he went, the noise level going up from his usual silent walks. Today, he hasn't seen Hinata anywhere, because she had explained to him she was busy helping decorate for the upcoming festival that the whole Hyuuga family was involved in.

Gaara silently walked down the street and looked around him. No one was around. He stopped just below a bright street lamp and stared down at his hands. Somehow they were a lot brighter to him. It was a wonderful feeling to be standing in the light and not be afraid of anything.

"What are you doing?"

Gaara slowly glanced to where the voice had come from and noticed Hinata standing there, looking at him. From where she stood, it looked as though the light were reflecting around her and for a moment, he noticed bright wings coming out of her back.

And for the first time ever, he smiled…

Hinata blinked.

The red haired man glanced back down at his hands, his feet and his body. He was surrounded with light. He was no longer afraid.

"This must be what heaven feels like…" he murmured.

GoodGurl: Yeay! FINISHED! XD PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! Thanks to the readers who have been with me through thick and thin in this story! Next: SasuSaku! XD