I knew I was going to get a lot of yellings to have Gaara live… I feel really bad for what happened, but it's something that had to happen I guess. At least to fit with the way the story is going. Poor Gaara. :'( And poor Neji… I never thought I'd have a death in one of my fics because I'm usually the one going nuts when a character dies in a book/fic. Gomen.

ruby-sama aura-chan the neko-jin's yami – The moment the gourd is lying shattered on the ground, it doesn't look too good for our beloved twisted redhead. At least he got to experience a few moments of life free of the demon. He would rather have that than to live the rest of his life bound with Shukaku. Then again, he'd rather be free of the demon and run off with Neji, but life isn't perfect.

Burning tree – Everything happened so fast after the sand defenses vaporized that no one really had time to react. Neji was the only one who fought his way through the sand and wind so that he was so close to where Gaara and Kanaroe were fighting.

Silent Grey – Gaara is an awesome character. I adore him. And I feel bad that he died, but it was something that had to happen before the sequel. Things would've gotten much too difficult/complicated if I made him live. And I'm glad you like my writing style…even if I killed a character. 'guilty'

Sinn – There (should) be a lot of yaoi in the sequel. Unfortunately, Gaara wont be part of that. 'made herself sad' Death does tend to strike down suddenly and unexpectedly.

Yaoilover S – Neji: Why isn't there a goddamn payphone anywhere in this town! Call an ambulance!

shalanar: 'falls over and spazzes' Gaara dies in the manga? AAAHHHHHHHHHH! NOOOOOO!

Hurricane-rider – Wow you guys are guilting me as much as I'm guilting myself. But it is something that had to be done. Sometimes…you've just gotta say goodbye… 'bawls'

kawaii kitsune-kun – Just as a sneak peek, the sequel will be a SasuNaruNeji, like its prequel was supposed to be.

Chapter 28: Goodbye

"Gaara? GAARA!" Neji screamed at the limp form in his arms. "FUCK, GAARA, ANSWER ME!" The brunette began to shake as tears started to flood from his eyes. Still Gaara did not respond.

"NEJI, LOOK OUT!"

Sasuke's voice all of a sudden pushed Neji out of his daze and he quickly moved to the side to miss Kanaroe's fist. He suddenly noticed Sasuke was standing near him, clutching his wounded side, but also holding his kunai and looking deadly. Naruto was beside the Uchiha with his fists clenched. Temari approached Neji from behind and looked at her unmoving brother in the nin's arms. With a flick, she unfolded her fan and approached Kanaroe.

"You bastard." Her voice was hard and calm, but Neji could detect an underlying wavering in her words. Kankuro was not far behind her.

It seemed that the tables had turned, and now it was Kanaroe fighting one against five. Neji looked down at Gaara in his arms and gently lay him down. When he got up, his Byakugan was fully activated.

"I am going to kill you," he snarled at Kanaroe.

Kanaroe narrowed his eyes and backed away slightly. He drew out yet another knife from his robes, though he did not appear as confident as before as the five angry nin surrounded him.

"You're the cause of all this," growled Neji, approaching Kanaroe. He could feel his heart pounding in his head from all the anger that was completely overtaking his senses. Images of Gaara covered in blood and lifeless on the ground swirled around his head. "You did this to Gaara. You put that demon into him, and you're the reason he ended up like he did. Then you used him, and killed him. I'm not going to let that sit unavenged. You wanted my Byakugan so much; well, you're going to die for it now."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Kanaroe while Neji was talking. The man was powerful, and it was still possible that he could defeat them all. Both Sasuke and Naruto were not in the best of shape, and he wasn't sure what else Kanaroe had up his sleeve. Perhaps he had some way to counter Gaara's siblings, like he was able to with the redhead. They still needed to gain an upper-hand to ensure victory. In a few moments, Sasuke knew what he had to do.

"Naruto!" he signaled to the blonde.

The fox-child wasn't precisely sure what Sasuke was planning, but he figured he was to be the diversion. He darted at Kanaroe's legs, ignoring the splitting pain that shot up his muscles. Kankuro and Temari were closing in on the exile, as well as Neji. With so many attacks coming at him from all around him, Kankuro was left open to Sasuke's assault. The Uchiha rebounded off Naruto and drove his kunai into Kanaroe's left eye.

Kanaroe screeched and flung Sasuke away before clutching his bleeding eye socket. The dark-haired nin was caught by Neji.

"Good work." The brunette released him and stalked towards Kanaroe.

The completely blinded nin slashed out wildly all around him. Then he seemed to reconsider, and stood, trying to listen for any movement approaching him. Sasuke picked up and fingered a large rock. He locked eyes with Temari and she nodded. Sasuke drew his arm back and flung it at Kanaroe. The exile whirled around and deflected the rock, leaving himself open to Temari's attack from behind.

The fan hit him hard, causing him to go flying into Kankuro. The knife flew out of Kanaroe's hands as Kankuro kicked him down. Neji ran and picked it up, moving quickly up to plunge the blade into the one who had taken Gaara from him.

Kanaroe gurgled as the knife slammed in between his ribs. His hand went out and clutched the top of Neji's head.

"Hyuuga," his voice growled. His grip tightened on the brunette's head, intent on crushing it.

Naruto slammed into Kanaroe's side, breaking his grip with Neji and causing him to go skidding against the ground, driving the knife even deeper. They all stood and watched, but Kanaroe did not get up.

Walking over, Neji pushed Kanaroe over with his foot. The exile's sightless eyes were opened up to the clear blue sky and a stream of blood trickled steadily out of his mouth. His limbs were rigid, as if he were nothing more than a grotesque statue.

"Is he dead?" Sasuke questioned, walking over.

Neji nodded and turned away from the morbid sight. Slowly he walked over to where Gaara's body lay. His siblings were already there. Temari had her face buried in her hands as she crouched by her brother, and Kankuro stood stoically, looking down at the redhead.

Neji knelt by Gaara and ran his palm over the boy's cold cheek. His eyes began to burn and he withdrew his hand to wipe at the tears. He would normally refuse to cry in public, but all that seemed insignificant now. The sand-nin's face was relaxed and peaceful, and a small stream of blood had run along the symbol for love on his forehead.

"You finally got to sleep," Neji's voice cracked, burying his face in the nin's still chest. "You don't have to apologize, I forgive you. Just…just don't leave me." His chest heaved with uncontrolled sobs as he gripped onto the redhead tightly.

"Neji," a soft voice said. The Hyuuga felt warm arms wrap around him and pull him gently away. "Neji, you have to let go."

The brunette resisted as his sobbing intensified, but finally gave in to the gentle tugging. Neji buried his face into Sasuke's chest as the tears continued in an unending flow.

Sasuke looked down at the lifeless body of his rival. He had cursed the boy so much, and wished him dead several times, but now looking at what should be his wish come true, he felt no joy. Instead there was a sense of hollowness. If everything he had heard was correct, Gaara was just as much of a victim as the rest of them. He never had to come back and help, but he did. He gave his life for Neji. His efforts were not going to be in vain. To him, Sasuke would always be grateful.

They buried Gaara with the shattered remnants of his gourd. The entire proceeding was carried out in silence, except for the occasional sound of crying. The sunset glowed a blood-red like Gaara's hair and the still leafy green trees in the fading light reminded Neji of the sand-nin's brilliant eyes.

Finally, Neji was able to stop the outflowing of tears. His throat hurt and eyes burned from crying for so long. Now he found himself staring at Gaara's fresh grave almost as stoically as the sand-nin was himself before. Gaara had died to save him, so that he could live, and Neji was not going to take that for granted. He would keep living for Gaara, for Sasuke, for everyone. Willing himself to turn away from the patch of earth that concealed the sand-nin from him, he faced Temari and Kankuro.

"Will you be coming back with us?" he asked them.

Kankuro shook his head, and Temari spoke. "We're going to be heading back to our own village now, to give news of Gaara's death. After that I suppose we'll just travel. I doubt we will be welcome back into your village."

Neji shook his head. "I will make sure you are welcome. Without your help we would not have been able to defeat Kanaroe. We may have started out as enemies, but I hope that now, we can consider you as friends." The Hyuuga held out his hand.

Temari blinked at it and then smiled. She took it and shook. "Yes. Maybe we will see each other again. My brother has always been a good judge of character. I know you won't let us down. We will be sure to drop by some time."

Neji smiled sadly and looked down at the grave once more. "Goodbye, Gaara," he whispered softly before turning away and walking home with Sasuke and Naruto.

I know Kanaroe died pretty fast…I just didn't want to have to write another long fight scene. 'sweatdrop' I think I ruined it with the rushed-ness. Oh well… And I can't apologize enough for the angstiness of Gaara dying. My stomach hurt a lot after writing it. One more chapter to go and then the sequel. I have an idea of what to happen in it, and I'll try to keep all the characters alive this time. Hopefully there will be a lot more yaoi-ish scenes in it as well. Pairing to come will be SasuNaruNeji.