Vindicated
Chapter 6: Feelings
"I don't know why…It's hard to explain, but I like Gaara a lot, not just as a friend…and I just…wanna get to know him more."
Kankurou watched Neji try to explain himself, a smile starting to play on his face. His expression softened and he sighed. "Alright. I'll tell you about us," he said. He paused, thinking out his thoughts, organizing them into a story. He occupied himself with glancing down at his brother then at the other sleeping boys. Finally, he looked up at Neji again.
"My mom and dad met a long time ago in Sunaga. Mom really liked kids, but dad really hates kids but she wanted one and so they had me. Then a year later Temari was born. Mom really wanted a girl, even though she was apparently thrilled with me, so Temari was kinda spoiled as a kid and she's definitely dad's favorite. Then Gaara was born, but he was born really early and mom died giving birth to him. Dad hated Gaara from the moment he found out she died. Dad really loved mom and blamed Gaara for her death, spending all of Gaara's life pounding that into him. To this day Gaara believes that it was his fault. I can't remember him ever taking care of Gaara as a baby, but he must've cause Gaara's alive and somewhat healthy." Kankurou reached over and brushed the hairs away from his brother's sleeping face. A futile effort, as they just flopped right back to his face. "When Gaara turned eight, I remember, that's when 'it' started."
"What started?" Neji asked.
Kankurou was very quiet as he continued to study his brother's face, though he already knew it by heart. "Have you heard that Gaara never dressed for gym and that he's only been recently because Sakura got him a special uniform?"
"Yeah."
"Do you know why?"
Neji shook his head.
"Actually you do, you just don't realize it. Think a minute."
Neji thought then his eyes widened. "The bruises…."
"Yeah. Every single bruise, cut, burn or scar was given to him by our father." Neji's mouth dropped open in alarm and shock. "That's why Gaara's so pale and doesn't like to play sports. He doesn't like people to see, so he tries to cover them."
Flashback
"Come on, Gaara," Kankurou said, hands on his hips. "It's hot out."
"I don't care," was Gaara quiet reply from the comforting shade of the inside of the playground tubes.
"They're not that bad," Kankurou insisted. "Just roll your sleeves up at least. You're gonna get sick." He waited patiently, but no one emerged. "Please? You don't have to play with the other kids, just with me."
He watched as his little brother slowly crawled out of the tube. Kankurou rolled the sleeves up on his brother's long shirt. Bruises littered the small arms and face of the ten year old. Ignoring them, he led Gaara over to the swings and they each got on one, but Gaara just sat as Kankurou swung high. Several kids came over and demanded the swings, but Kankurou said, they were using them, daring them to try and take them from them. He continued to swing, ignoring them, but they grabbed Gaara and dragged him off his.
"We want a turn!" they yelled at him.
Kankurou jumped off his swing, coming to his brother's rescue, but not before the boys saw the bruises.
"Ew! Gross! What happened to you?"
Kankurou grabbed Gaara away from the boys and pushed him behind him. The other boys backed off, though, saying cruel things and laughing about Gaara. They found their other friends telling them what they saw, pointing at Gaara. Soon all the kids were staring at Gaara and the smaller boy turned and ran home, hiding from the stares.
He didn't go to the play ground again.
End Flashback
Kankurou sighed then continued. "Last Sunday—not this past Sunday, but the Sunday before—Dad had a bunch of friends over and they got drunk. Temari's scared of them, even though she knows Dad won't hurt her. Like I said, she's his favorite, and I wasn't home or else I would have stopped them. But Gaara wasn't out with the flu for the past week and half."
Neji sat upright, furious. "What! What the Fuck! He hurt him that—"
"SH!" Kankurou shushed him, looking at Gaara who shifted in his sleep. "Gaara's got insomnia; it's good that he's sleeping now. Don't wake him up."
"Sorry," Neji said quietly, laying back down, very frustrated and upset. "I just—I'm so….angry…How can someone do that to their own son… and to Gaara no less. Gaara would hurt—"
"—A fly," Kankurou finished. "But Gaara's not very brave anyway and does whatever Dad tells him to do. Mostly it's out of fear of being punished, but it's run out of home life and into his social skills. He always afraid that if he makes someone angry, they'll hurt him. It's not a good thing either. Assholes like to take advantage of that too."
"How…does Gaara stand it? Why doesn't he try to make it stop?"
"He doesn't, but he's trying now, cause I found out."
"Found out what?"
"Gaara has been…trying to make it stop….make everything stop." Kankurou held out his wrist and make a little slicing motion.
He looked down, upset about this himself, as Neji's face fell like his heart was broken. Neji buried his face in his pillow and took a few minutes to let that sink in.
"Are you serious?" he asked quietly. "He … he cuts himself?"
"I just found out about it when we went to the mall together. But I've noticed he's trying to find other ways of getting through it. I'm not scared of our dad and both of them know it. Dad also knows I'd beat his ass if we got into a fight, so Gaara usually hangs out with me in my room and listens to music or reads my manga or something. …. A while ago I made a decision that I'd save all my money so that when I turn eighteen I can move out and I'm taking Temari and Gaara with me. I don't care who tried to stop me."
"Where do you get the money?" Neji asked curiously.
Kankurou swallowed hard and thought over if he should explain that to him too. Finally he reaching into his pocket and pulled out four altoid cans. He handed one to Neji who opened it and looked in. Inside were little square pieces of paper.
"You know what that is?" Kankurou asked. When Neji shook his head he handed him the other. "How bout these?" he handed him two others. "Don't sniff that one." He said pointing to one.
"These are steroids," Neji said pointing to the one with little tablets in it. "I can't tell what this is?"
"The first one's acid. The second's steroids for athletes and other who want to enhance their muscles and the third is weed and the fourth cocaine. I know it's bad, but I get good money, selling all this," Kankurou took them back, making sure they were tightly closed and pocketed them again.
Neji stared at him. "You couldn't just get a job?" he asked.
"I'd be away from home to much. I needed to get money and still be home when Temari and Gaara need me. I don't use them myself, but you'd be surprised how many people will pay lots of money to get this stuff." He gave a little scoff and looked away. "I'm not as cool as I was earlier am I?"
Neji wasn't sure how to reply, but was spared the chance when Gaara moaned and squeezed his eyes against whatever dream he was having. He suddenly sat up, gasping for breath, staring around at the unfamiliar environment. He was still half asleep but still staring around, frightened and whimpered for his brother.
"Gaara," Kankurou whispered. Gaara turned to look at him, eyes half shut, searching, yet barely seeing. Kankurou pulled him over onto his bed and brushed his hair away again. "You ok?" he asked, just as quietly. Neji watched unmoving as Gaara nodded and snuggled under the sleeping bag to the warm comfort of his older brother. "Bad dream?"
"..Mmm…."
"Wanna tell me?" Gaara shook his head against him before falling back asleep. Kankurou smiled at him almost fondly then looked up at Neji.
"Why didn't you ever…call someone?" Neji asked, looking away. He couldn't help noticing how cute Gaara looked when he was half asleep, or the fact that he wished Gaara would snuggle up to him like that. The thought made him blush and he was glad it was dark and Kankurou couldn't see it.
"Cause of dad."
"Huh?"
"Dad knows I sell drugs…but then I know he abuses Gaara…it's a horrible cycle. I know I should, but I know he'll tell on me and I'll get busted too and won't be able to take care of Temari and Gaara. I don't know what to do." Kankurou leaned on his elbow and looked out Neji's window.
A long pause followed as Kankurou thought things over. Neji wanted to know about Gaara…and if he really liked him he would want to know things… "Do you remember when you first asked me about Gaara?" Neji nodded. "Remember how I was real surprised when I found out he was talking to you?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"I was surprised because….when he was little…or really…every friend he's had usually finds out somehow about what happens at home. Every single one said the same thing."
Flashback
"I don't wanna be friends with a freak like you. You might hurt me too."
End Flashback
"Kids can be so mean sometimes," Kankurou said. "When Gaara got to middle school things got worse. He wasn't good at hiding the fact that he came to school with new bruises almost every day. Kids use to take advantage of that…and advantage of him, like I said. He'd never tell us what though, but we use to get a lot of calls home about Gaara getting bullied or getting in 'fights'. When we'd ask him if something bad happened, he'd always answer with the same reply."
Flashback
"No, nothing bad. Don't worry about it."
End Flashback
"The calls made things worse at home; Dad use to get mad at Gaara for every little thing. That's when he developed his insomnia; staying up fearing being vulnerable while sleeping and being scared of going to school the next day. In my sophomore year I got my cell phone and I forged a letter to the office that our home number changed. Then they called me instead so Gaara didn't get in trouble from school all the time." He looked down at Gaara again then laid down completely, pulling the warm body towards him in a gentle hug.
Neji looked from Gaara, who smiled in his sleep and snuggled closer, then up at Kankurou, then back again, sighing. "I'm sorry," Neji said. "I can't tell you that I understand, cause I don't….but I'm sorry…and I hope I can help you guys when ever you need it."
Kankurou smiled at him. "You know what? You already are."
After everyone left, the three siblings helped the Hyuga's clean up from the party, then ate a late breakfast with them. Gaara went into the living room and sat down on the floor in front of his presents, picking each up in turn and staring at it like it was glass. Temari came in and knelt behind him, hugging him.
"Did you sleep good last night?" she asked.
"I woke up in Kankurou's sleeping bag," Gaara commented, staring at the present from Chouji, opening one of the Hershey kisses and nibbling on it. He wasn't quite sure how he got on Kankurou's bed, but it didn't bother him that much.
"Mmm," she murmured. Smiling, she reached behind her back and pulled out a Chinese fan, holding it out in front of him.
He took it from her and opened it, staring at the design of twin dragons and a sun. Smiling, he waved it, blowing cool air at their faces. Temari laughed quietly behind him and took his hand, turning it so that he could see the other side.
'To our favorite brother, we love you so much and we hope you had enough fun to make up for at least a few miserable years. Happy Birthday, Kankurou and Temari'
The black ink was outline with silver ink and it was written in careful calligraphy Japanese, but Gaara only noticed the words. He bit his lip as tears sprung to his eyes, not wanting them to fall. Kankurou had come in and knelt next to them, waiting for Gaara to read the inscription. Now he put his hand on his shoulder, smiling at him, as Gaara whispered his thanks to them.
They packed up their things and walked home with Neji, thanking Hiashi for letting them have the party. Neji noted that while Gaara had been in a very good mood when they left the house, he was now distant and quiet the closer they came. As they walked up the driveway, Neji saw a car parked there he assumed was their father's. Kankurou unlocked the door and they went in.
"We're home Dad!" Temari called.
"All three of you?"
"Four," Kankurou said. "Neji's here."
Neji's first thought as his friend's father walked into the hallway was that he didn't look so bad, but he tried not to let his politeness change what Kankurou had told him. He had noticed Gaara ducking behind Kankurou and himself the second his father's voice sounded. The tall man greeted Neji politely and Neji returned the greeting and shook his hand. He thanked Neji for inviting them to his house. He noticed the extra bag and questioned about it.
"We went shopping after school, before the party," Kankurou said quickly. "I bought it for myself."
"A little selfish, wouldn't you say?" their father said in a polite sounding sneer. Kankurou didn't back down or say anything. "It was nice to meet you Neji."
"Pleasure's mine."
"Can Neji stay for a bit?" Gaara ventured quietly, poking his head out, his soft voice breaking the silence.
Their father flashed him a glare then turned away. "For a little bit."
Kankurou led them upstairs to his room. Temari went into her room and the three boys sat on Kankurou's bed. Gaara took his bag of presents from Kankurou and began looking through them again, smiling happily at them all. He had never gotten so many gifts even if he had put all his birthdays together.
"Your dad's kinda weird," Neji commented after a while.
"………yeah….." was all the redhead mumbled after a moment's silence.
"…You're not going to get in trouble cause I'm here, are you?" Neji ventured, desperately hoping he wouldn't.
"Oh, no! Of course not!" Gaara said a bit too quickly.
Kankurou suddenly stood, gave Neji a look then left, mumbling something about the bathroom, shutting his door on the way out. The two boys looked after him, then Neji got up and made sure it was completely shut. He turned back to Gaara who was giving him a quizzical look.
"I need to talk to you," Neji said quietly.
"About what?" Gaara asked curiously, tilting his head to the side in question.
"…About the bruise on your side and why you weren't in school last week."
Gaara swallowed hard and forced his face into one of confusion. "What bruise?" he asked laughing nervously, hand unconsciously going to his side.
"Don't lie to me."
"I—I'm not—"
"Kankurou already told me, Gaara, you don't have to pretend," Neji said quietly. "You're doing a bad job of it anyway."
Gaara's expression changed to that of suppressed fear and panic. He turned away from Neji, blushing, and stared at the manga in his hand. He took a few deep breathes, trying to regain his composure. "Why'd he tell you?" he demanded angrily.
"I've been asking for a while now—"
"So? It wasn't any of your business anyway! And I never said he could tell you!" Gaara interrupted him. Though he was angry and speaking strongly, Neji noticed his stammering was very noticeable, seeming unuse to voicing anger. "I didn't want you to know! I wanted you to be my friend!"
"Gaara, I'm still your friend…" Neji said quietly.
"You wont be later," was the sad, yet determined reply. "It always happens like that. No one wants to get involved with someone like me." Gaara clenched his fists together, shaking slightly.
Neji looked at him sadly and sat down behind him on the bed. "Look. Kankurou told me everything. About your dad and your old friends. And you know what?"
Gaara glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Neji wondered how Gaara's lip was still attached to his face, as the boy had been chewing on it since they started talking. "What?"
"I don't care. I still like you."
Gaara turned to face him and stared. "You do?"
"Duh!" Neji said placing his hands on his hips. "I don't know what kind of 'friends' you had before, but they were jerks. We're not like that."
"'We'?"
"I think that you should tell some of your other friends. You don't have to," he added, seeing the startled and terrified look on his face, "but I think they'd understand. Hell, Sakura would form a protest against your dad and I don't even want to think about what Haku would do…" Neji laughed to himself. "But…" He reached out and touched Gaara's cheek lightly. "I don't want you to think that you have to hide things from me. I want to be here for you when ever you need me. You see….I think…I'm starting to like you more then a friend would…Like…I love you…" he laughed nervously as Gaara stared at him.
Long pause.
"Please stop looking at me like that!" Neji said, turning his back to Gaara. "I know it's kinda weird to hear me say it…but I guess you really can't help who you love… I'm sorry."
Gaara stared at his back then down at his hands. Not one had ever told him they loved him before. He really wasn't sure how to respond. He was blushing darkly and stammering more then Neji'd ever heard him.
"I—I like you too, Neji," he said quietly, blush creeping across his face.
"Not like I like you though, huh?" Neji asked, continuing to stare at the wall.
Gaara looked up again. "I do like you! You were my first friend in a long time. So's Sakura, but I like you different from Sakura. It—it's like I like Temari and Kankurou, but… still ….different…."
Neji turned back to him giving him a quizzical look. "Really?"
"Yeah!" Gaara insisted.
Neji turned back to him smiling. Then he looked up at the ceiling and scratched his chin. "So…you'd be willing to go on a date or something…?"
Gaara nodded, giving him a tiny, shy smile.
Neji looked away from Gaara and gave the 'camera' a look of relief. 'Yes!' he screamed inwardly. He turned back to Gaara. "Did you have fun last night?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah. Thanks for—"
"Gaara!"
Gaara jumped and pushed his presents off the bed away from the door. He scooted away from Neji to the end of the bed just as the door opened and his father stepped in.
"Neji needs to go home now. I'm sorry," he said to Neji.
"It's ok," Neji said, giving Gaara a funny look when his father wasn't looking. The two boys went down stairs to the front door. Neji handed Gaara a slip of paper. "If you get in trouble...ever...or if you just wanna talk, call me ok?"
"Kankurou already has your number," Gaara said, pocketing it.
"That's my cell," Neji whispered as Gaara's father came down. "Bye. Thanks for letting them come over yesterday," he added to Gaara's father.
Gaara waved and closed the door behind him.
"You invited him over?"
"Kankurou did," Gaara replied honestly, fiddling with his fingers and hem of his shirt. "Um…Neji wanted to know if I could go with him to his soccer tryouts. Not to try out, just to watch."
"You've been hanging out with him a lot," his father said, glaring down at him. "When?"
"All next week."
"……fine….."
"Thanks," Gaara murmured before turning and starting up the stairs, but his father caught the back of his shirt and pulled him back down.
"If you tell him anything I'll make you wish you never met him."
Gaara swallowed and tried not to look scared. His father let go of him and he ran up the stairs panting heavily as he came in between his and Kankurou's door. He went into Kankurou's room and sighed in relief. He looked at his brother oddly as he began laughing.
"What?" Gaara asked.
"What'd you say?" he asked.
"To who?"
"To Neji, duh. He asked you out right?"
"How'd you—"
"What?" Temari asked appearing behind Gaara.
"Neji's gay," Kankurou explained, like he knew this all along. "He asked Gaara out."
"How'd you know?"
"What'd you say?" Temari asked.
"How'd you—"
"WHAT'D YOU SAY!"
Gaara stopped then looked away, blushing.
Temari squealed loudly and jumped up and down excitedly. "He said yes! He said yes!" she squealed. She glomped Gaara and started going on and on about something random, that he wasn't listening to. His face almost matched his hair now, and he desperately wished that he could go crawl under Kankurou's bed and stay there for awhile. But that wasn't possible as Temari was latched on to him.
"What are you squealing about, Temari?"
Temari instantly stopped and turned around, facing their father in the doorway. "Sorry Dad, I didn't mean to be loud," she said, nervously.
"What did the brat say about what?" he inquired, stepping into the room.
"Please get out of my room," Kankurou said sitting up on his bed.
Their father glared down at him. "This is my house, Kankurou."
"This is my room and I don't want you in here," Kankurou said, glaring back.
Temari and Gaara looked from one to the other, both terrified of what ever would come out of the fight. They continued to argue and yell. It ended with Kankurou being grounded for a while. Kankurou didn't care though, he could leave if he wanted. Or just do his business out the back door. He had long found ways around being grounded and didn't care one bit. But then something bad happened Kankurou didn't count on.
"What that fuck are you staring at?" their father demanded, noticing Temari and Gaara. Deciding to vent his anger on a more effective object, he reached out and grabbed the front of Gaara's shirt. "You're pathetic! Hiding behind your brother all the time!"
"Hey! It's not his fault!" Kankurou said, getting worried now. "He was here when you came in!"
"Stop defending him all the time!" their father said. "Can't he take care of himself?"
"He would if you leave him alone sometimes!" Kankurou shouted.
"Don't tell me how to take care of kids," their father said. He shoved Gaara out of the room and started to follow. Gaara scrambled to get up so he could get away but slipped.
Kankurou started after them. "Wait!"
"Shut up!" their father turned and shoved Kankurou down, back into his room and shut the door.
Gaara called for Kankurou as his father grabbed and dragged him down the stairs to the basement. Gaara kept trying to get away, grabbing onto anything he could. He was scared. His father was pretty ruthless when he was mad at him, but he was really mad at Kankurou and taking it out on him.
He grabbed the railing to the basement as they passed, but their father beat his hands with his fist until he let go, leaving them bruised, bleeding and him unable to make a fist. He took Gaara into the back of the basement and threw him down to the floor. He picked up something long and hard, Gaara wasn't sure what it was, and started hitting him with it yelling the whole time. Gaara tried to curl up into a ball and make him self smaller, but his father grabbed him arm and held it up, leaving his left side completely unprotected.
Then it stopped as someone else's voice shouted.
Looking up Gaara saw Kankurou wrestling a pipe out of their father's hands. When he did their father shoved Kankurou into a bookcase. After recovering, Kankurou grabbed him and they both went down, punching and kicking. Kankurou knocked their father away and turned to Gaara.
"Get out of here!" Kankurou ordered before he was knocked down again.
Gaara got up painfully and ran upstairs. Temari met him in the hall and pulled him into Kankurou's room. They crawled into a corner and Temari held him tight, sobbing into his hair.
They didn't know how long they were there. Kankurou didn't have a clock in his room and his shades were down. They stayed where they were though; Temari had stopped crying and both Gaara's shoulder and back had stopped throbbing. His left side was filled with white hot pain each time he shifted, though. Temari was holding his bruised and bleeding hands, gently stroking them, kissing them every once and a while before burying her face in his hair again. They tensed up as foot steps sounded in the hallway. The door opened and Kankurou stepped in.
"You guys in here?" he asked.
"Right here," Temari said quietly.
Kankurou sighed and turned the light out. They were hurting his eyes and he didn't want the two of them to see him. He sat down on his bed, wincing slightly, though his siblings couldn't see it. "You guys ok?"
"We're ok. What about you?"
"I'm fine," Kankurou said smiling at them, though he couldn't see them in the dark, trying to sound cheerful. Stretching, he laid down on his bed. Glancing at his watch he saw that it was only almost three. Oh well, a good time for a nap. "You sure you guys are alright?"
Gaara stood up quickly. "I'm fine!" he insisted, but yelped in pain and fell over again. Getting up slowly, he limped over to the bed. "Are you ok?" he asked.
"Yes, Gaara I'm fine," Kankurou assured him. He sat up, reaching out and resting a hand on Gaara's shoulder. "You're not."
"I'm ok!"
"Gaara, he was beating you to death with a pipe," Kankurou said angrily. "Let me see it."
Gaara shook his head. It hurt to move, he didn't want to do anything that involved more movement.
Kankurou glared at him. Biting his lip as he suddenly thought of something, he grabbed Gaara's arms and turned him to the bed, forcing him, somewhat roughly to lay down on his back. At Gaara's unsure whimper and moan of pain, which Kankurou ignored, he told Gaara to take his shirt off.
Gaara shook his head and didn't move.
"Now, Gaara," Kankurou said, impatiently urgent.
Gaara again shook his head.
Kankurou's sigh was more like a growl of annoyance as he began tugging Gaara shirt off. Gaara whined and protested, but Kankurou blocked it out, forcing the shirt up over Gaara's head, but not completely off, so that Gaara's arms were now out of his way. With a hand on Gaara's chest, Kankurou held him down and examined him. Temari realized what he was doing and came over to help. They exchanged glances when they saw how easily they could count his ribs. Gaara froze, arms still held back by the shirt and unable to see what they were doing for the same reason, as they traced their fingers along each of his ribs, paying the most attention to his left side. Kankurou's finger barely brushed his skin on the area, but Gaara cried out in pain, panting heavily, begging them to stop.
Temari bit her lip and looked at Kankurou, as he ignored his brother's cries. "Is it broken?" she asked, barely a whisper.
"I'm not su—Gaara! Hold still!"
"It hurts!" he sobbed. "You're hurting me."
"I'm barely touching you," Kankurou insisted. The anger from the fight in the basement had left him moody and impatient.
"But it hurts! Kankurou please stop! I'm ok! You're hurting me!"
"Gaara! Shut up!" He had banged his head on something hard during the fight in the basement and Gaara's begging was making his headache worse. He began to instruct Temari on something, but Gaara kept squirming and trying to get away from under his hand. "Temari try—Gaara!"
"Sorry!" Gaara bit his lip and held his breath as a way to stop moving. He waited, biting back sobs and cries, as they ran their fingers along his left ribs. When they were done, satisfied that nothing was broken, Temari pulled his shirt back down. He instantly moved away from them to curl up at his usual spot on the floor against the bed. His thin frame was shaking as silent sobs racked his body.
Silence followed between them. Kankurou debated apologizing for being rough, but was spared the moment.
"I'm sorry, Kankurou."
Kankurou looked over at him quickly, surprised that he was apologizing. "What for?"
"For…being such a … a wimp and a chicken. He's right, I always do hide behind you and Temari…" Gaara said looking down at the floor.
"No, your not!" Temari said going over to him.
Kankurou looked down at them, then scoffed. "It's my job, being here for you guys to hide behind. If you didn't, I wouldn't be doing a very good job as a brother, would I?" he rolled over, wincing himself at his own pains and laid down on his pillow. "I'm gonna take a nap now, don't wake me up. You can stay here though, if you want."
He closed his eyes and fell asleep. Temari laid down on the floor and took a nap as well. Gaara didn't, his fear of their father coming in made him unable to sleep. And he was debating calling Neji or not. He didn't want Neji to worry about him so much..
Flashback
"I don't want you to think that you have to hide things from me. I want to be here for you when ever you need me."
End Flashback
Gaara hung his head. He was torn between telling Neji and not. He really wanted too, but fears of Neji turning his back on him held him back. After contemplating it for a while, he decided to call him. He tried to get up, but pain sheered through him. It took all his will not to cry out and perhaps wake his siblings up. Instead he crawled over to the door just as their father came up stairs and went into his room. Gaara then realized how much he really didn't want to leave the room.
Monday came without any more confrontations. Kankurou wasn't as ok as he said he pretended to be, but neither was their father. Both pretended that their injuries were minor but they were both hurting pretty bad. Sucking it up, Kankurou put on a brave face and went to school. Gaara was especially excited about staying after with Neji to watch the tryouts. Gaara himself was still hurting badly, but Temari had wrapped tight bandages around his chest so it suppressed some of the pain and stopped too much accidental movement. He was still upset about not calling Neji and ran to him after first period.
"I'm sorry!" he said the second he Neji came out.
"... What for?" Neji asked confused.
"I didn't called you! I'm sorry!"
"Eh!" Neji stared in confusion as they walked up the stairs to their Art class. "Why did something happen?"
(2nd period- Art-Gaara Neji)
"So what happened?" Neji asked as they started their projects.
"Dad and Kankurou got into a fight on Saturday," Gaara said, fiddling with the pencil he was supposed to be using to sketch a design for a painting. Kankurou had wrapped the ugliest looking part of his hands up so it was hard for him to hold a pencil but that was the least of his worries. "Dad got mad at me and started— ….anyway, Kankurou stopped him and they got into a fist fight and I think Kankurou's hurt, but pretending not to be." He sat back and gave Neji a helpless look.
"Esh…" Neji put his brush down and thought a bit. "Those don't look so good either." He added, nodding at Gaara's hands.
Gaara looked down at his bruised and cut hands before slipping them under his desk. "They don't hurt anymore."
"They hurt a little don't they?" Neji asked, giving him a patient smile.
"… a little…"
"I don't think your ok," Neji said frowning. He noticed Gaara give him a fleeting look, then stare down at his sketch book. "Gaara, you barely made it up the stairs. What hurts?"
There was a long silence, before he received an answer. "My side," was his quiet reply as his reached over and touched the pained area. "But I don't know what to do about Kankurou," Gaara said. "I don't want them to get hurt because of me."
"You know, it was Kankurou's choice to fight him right? It wasn't your fault," Neji said.
"But Kankurou said that he had to cause he's my brother."
"So? He still chose to help you. Brothers aren't always good ones. Uchiha Sasuke brother's a real ass. Don't get mixed with him if you can help it."
(C lunch)
Kankurou blinked as Neji slumped down onto his seat with the funniest look on his face (Haru's bored cow face). Kankurou sipped his drink, not saying anything as the Hyuga continued to stare at him. Neji twitched after a while.
"Aren't you going to ask why I'm staring at you?" he asked.
"Nope."
"….why….?"
"Cause you look really funny."
"…." (vein mark)
Kankurou sighed. "Why are you staring at me like that?" he asked.
Neji dropped the bored cow looked and took out his own lunch giving him a concerned look. "Gaara told me about Saturday. Are you really ok? He's worried."
Kankurou looked down at his sandwich, making a 'pft' sound through his teeth. "He should be worried about himself. Damn bastard almost broke Gaara's ribs."
Neji swallowed and continued to look questioningly at Kankurou.
"I've had worse. I've been in fights before and they were worse then this. Gaara's just never seen me in a real fight before, though he knows I have," Kankurou replied.
"You've been in a 'not real' fight?" Neji asked, confused.
Kankurou laughed. "The last 'friend' Gaara had made fun of him in front of like the whole school and embarrassed him real bad. I found out and beat that PUNK ASS KID INTO THE GROUND!" Kankurou said rather loudly, with a maniac expression. "I got expelled and Temari got in trouble too cause she cussed out the officers who took me to the office." Kankurou took a bit of his sandwich. "Gaara tried going to school without us, but it was real hard for him, I think some things happened, but he wont tell me. He just did what he always did when something happens at school….just smiles it off to us and says 'nothing bad, don't worry about it'. He stopped going after a week or two. So we transferred again. Then dad had to move cause of his job, right as I got weeded out with my…stuff and expelled again. And we came here." Kankurou finished, continuing to eat.
"You guys really do have it rough don't you?" Neji said, staring.
Kankurou gave him a funny glare and made a pointing motion at him. "Don't worry about it so much. You have try outs today remember?"
Neji smiled and tried to push the thoughts out of his mind. "Yeah…"
Chronic fever: Ahh…gomen gomen. I was being extra careful with the author notes cause it said something on the thing that I got that told me Vindicated was taken off that Author notes weren't allowed. I think they mean randomly placed in the fic.
Midori-chan: u stalk me anyway don't you? Well….not stalk…it's just u know where my house is ur the first to know about updates….etc etc….lol on the other hand…I know all that about u so I guess we stalk each other! (gai pose)
Sakuryo: hee! I love that line too. I watched the Naruto episodes with Ukon and Sakon and I was like…..yeah….cant picture it…it was funny.