Vindicated

Chapter 13: A Promise I Intend to Keep

He hadn't known he fell asleep, thinking the horrible things he was seeing were of his own creation from his fear instead of dreams. He rarely went into his room at night anyway. There was no light there and he hated the dark, never being able to sleep in it. But he had. His father woke him up, dumping him off the bed, demanding breakfast be made for him. Gaara questioned where Temari was and was rewarded with more yelling. Something about his sister wasn't a slave.

Gaara scrambled off the floor and ran out of the room down to the kitchen. He pulled a frying pan out of the cabinet, then rushed over to the fridge and pulled out the eggs. He swallowed hard as he heard his father come in and sit at the kitchen table. He felt his father's eyes burn into the back of his head and heard his foot start tapping on the tiled floor. Gaara tried to ignore him and made the eggs, being as careful as he could. His hands were shaking horribly, but he managed to cook everything right.

He took the plate of eggs and toast over to his father and placed it in front of him, then stepped back against the counter and waited. His father sniffed at it and picked up his fork. Gaara watched as he took a taste and then spat it out.

"What the hell is this shit?" he demanded.

"I—it…I thought…I—I mean—" Gaara tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn't work at all.

"Shut the hell up!" his father shouted. "You can't even cook eggs right and the toast tastes like mold! You worthless bitch!"

He picked up the plate and threw it at Gaara. Gaara coward as the plate struck the counter next to him and shattered, spraying eggs and porcelain all over the kitchen and Gaara. Gaara sunk to the floor, shaking and looked down at the mess.

"I—I'm sorry…I'm sorry, dad, I—I thought I d—did it right…"

"Obviously not!" his father said storming over to him. "I have to leave to pick up your sister soon and now I'll probably be late because you can't make something as simple as eggs!"

"I'm sorry," Gaara insisted. He started trying to clean up the mess on the floor. "I—I'll try again. I wont mess up again I promise!"

"You had your chance," his father snapped, grabbing the back of his shirt and dragging him to the door to the kitchen. "You messed up… as usual! Get out of my sight! I'll make my own breakfast. And you can clean up this mess when I'm done and apologize to your sister for making me late! Get!"

He gave Gaara a hard nudge with his foot, knocking him forward onto his face, then turned back to the counter and started making another batch of eggs. Sniffing, Gaara scrambled to his feet and hurried through the living room.

It was nine o'clock. Sunday. Where were Temari and Kankurou? As he turned to go back up stairs, he grabbed the phone and hid in the bathroom. He sat back against the shower stall and held his shoulder, tilting his head to look at the cigarette burn. There was a small circle of red where the skin had been burned. It still hurt when he moved it. He blew on it, as if that would make the pain go away.

Gaara waited until he was sure his father wouldn't follow him and dialed a number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kankurou."

"Hey Gaara, you ok?"

"Where are you guys?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Gaara. I left a note on your nightstand," Kankurou said. "Temari started driver's ed today. Its Sunday so there's an early morning class. I'm getting ready to take a test too."

"What for?"

"License."

"You're getting your driver's license?"

"Yeah, Kyu drove me here. You ok? You sound kinda shaky."

"I'm ok. Dad just…woke me up," Gaara said. "He wanted breakfast…but I messed up and made him late to pick up Temari. I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I messed up," Gaara repeated. "It tasted bad and dad had to make his own and now he's going to be late when he goes to pick up Temari."

"…Oh…no, Gaara it's ok," Kankurou said. "He wont be late, and if he is, Temari wont be mad at you. You know that."

Gaara made an unsure noise and brought his knees to his chest, curling up into a tiny ball.

"…Are you ok?" Kankurou said, worried.

"Yeah," Gaara murmured, nodding, though he knew Kankurou couldn't see him.

"What time'd you guys get home last night?"

"Late. Like around two."

"Damn boy! Sounds like you had fun," Kankurou's voice sounded like he was smiling and it made Gaara feel better. "What'd you guys do?"

"We saw a movie…then walked around and talked."

"Awesome," Kankurou's smiling voice pushing the good feeling back into Gaara as he listened. "Hey, hey…was he awake when you got home?"

"….yeah he was…" Gaara said slowly, the good feeling gone.

"Shit. Sorry, I tried to stay awake."

"It's ok. You shouldn't have to."

"What'd he do?"

"…Nothing."

"Gaara, please don't lie to me about this. You've never slept in your own room before, you looked like you didn't sleep that much last night and you looked like you'd been crying when I came in this morning. What was that red mark on your face?"

"Nothing. I'm ok!"

"Did he hit you?"

Gaara bit his lip. "…once……twice…" he finally admitted.

"Gaara, please tell me."

"He...made me spit out what I ate last night," Gaara said quietly.

"You mean he made you throw up? How much?"

"Everything…"

"What else did he do?" Kankurou asked.

"…He…he locked me in…the dark place," Gaara replied quietly.

"Oh…god. Are you alright?" Kankurou sounded really concerned now. "How long?"

"I don't know," Gaara mumbled. "I can't remember anything."

"That's ok, you don't have to," Kankurou said. "You want me to come home?"

"B—but…you're taking your test."

"So? I can come back some other time. You want me to come?"

"No, I'm ok," Gaara said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Gaara insisted.

"….Alright. Have you eaten yet?"

"No, I don't want to leave."

"Where are you?"

"The bathroom."

Gaara heard a girl's voice on Kankurou's end asking who he was talking to. Kankurou said 'my brother'.

"Who's that?" Gaara asked.

"It's Kyu," Kankurou said, leaning against the wall. He sighed as he thought for a moment. "Ok….um…Where's dad now?"

"Eating I guess."

"What bathroom are you in?"

"Upstairs."

"Ok, he should be leaving to pick Temari up in about…five minutes. When he's gone, make some soup or something. You don't want anything big cause you got nothing in your stomach right now ok?"

"Ok."

"Alright. Hey, I gotta go now, I'll talk to you later," Kankurou said as his name was called.

"Good luck," Gaara said before hanging up the phone.

Kankurou sighed and hung up. He didn't want to be here now. 'Crap…' he thought to himself. He shook his head and cleared his thoughts. He couldn't think about that now. He had to pass this test and get home as soon as possible.

"Is your brother alright?" Kyu asked, concerned.

"He's…not feeling well that's all," Kankurou said to cover up.

"Aw! Poor thing," Kyu said. "I could go over to your house and make sure he's ok while you take your test."

"That's ok," Kankurou said, smiling. "Gaara's really shy around strangers. And usually likes me to be there when he's around strangers."

"Oh, ok then," Kyu said, understanding.

They followed the instructor outside out to the car Kankurou would be driving. Kyu waited on the sidewalk as Kankurou and the instructor got in the car. Kankurou took his time adjusting all the mirrors and seat then buckled his seat belt. His instructor also buckled his seatbelt then waited patiently, clip board ready.

Kankurou exhaled slowly and listened as the instructor explained what he had to do to pass and explained how he was to be graded. It had been a while since he had driven, but as he shifted gears and eased onto the course, it all began to come back to him. He forgot that Gaara was waiting for him at home. He even forgot Kyu was watching him from the entrance, trying not to cheer out loud and distract him. He thought she would be a distraction. He got through the entire course. When he parked the car the instructor smiled and wrote some things down then handed him a piece of paper.

"You're a little rusty," he said. "But you did say it's been a while since you drove. Other then that, congratulations."

"Thank you so much," Kankurou said, unable to stop smiling.

"Pass," he said to Kyu as he approached her.

She let out the breath she'd been holding. "Congratulations!" she cried, flinging her arms around his neck.

Kankurou blushed darkly, then Kyu realized what she was doing and quickly let go of him, blushing too. They went inside and Kankurou filled out all the papers he needed to and got his picture taken. After everything was done and he had his license, they walked outside together.

"You drive!" she said cheerfully, holding out her keys.

"…You sure?"

"Why not?" she said smiling.

Kankurou grinned and took the keys. They climbed in Kyu's car and Kankurou pulled out. As they drove around, Kankurou had an inner battle, but won it.

"Hey Kyu?"

"Yeah?"

"Um…I was wondering…if maybe you'd let me take you out for a late breakfast as a thank you," Kankurou said.

Kyu stared at him before smiling broadly. "I'd love to!" she said.

"Cool," Kankurou said, grinning.

They drove in silence for a while, and then Kankurou reached down and turned on the radio, switching it to a hard rock station that was playing Rammstein.

Kyu glanced down at the station and immediately changed it back to a pop station.

Kankurou sprouted a vein mark and changed it without looking.

Kyu frowned and did the same thing.

"How is that any better?" he demanded, already getting a headache. "Its frickin' Backstreet boys! How are the Backstreet boys better then Rammstein?"

"What's Rammstein?"

Kankurou changed the station again. "That's Rammstein."

Kyu listened to it for five seconds then switched stations. "They're not even speaking English!" she cried.

"Duh, they're a German band and they sound cool," Kankurou said, coming to a stop at the stop light. He pulled a roll of duct tape he'd taken from Gaara to stop him from duct taping everything in his room out of boredom and stuffed in his pocket a few days ago and switched the stations and duct taped the buttons.

"Hey!"

"—is for horses," Kankurou said automatically. He use to say that to Gaara when he was little, he never got it, but it did stop him from ranting. He wondered if it sounded stupid and Kyu would think he was a retard.

She stared straight ahead then started laughing. "I haven't heard that one before," she said, smiling broadly.

Kankurou sighed and mentally thanked the heavens. 'Oh great holy deities, thank you for making her a ditz.'

He took her to a diner their father had taken them to a few weeks ago. It was some little place called New Towne, but its food had the Sand-nin-gurl/H-R/Kyuubi and Shukaku stamp of godly approval. He parked her car and they walked in. When they were seated, Kyu said she had to go to the bathroom and slipped away to the ladies room. Kankurou took the opportunity to run into the men's room.

Kyu whipped out her cell phone and dialed.

"Hey! Guess what!"

"What?"

"I'm on a date sorta!"

"With who?"

"That new kid, Kankurou."

"Whoa, what? He's really weird!"

"I don't care he's really nice and I think he likes me!"

Kankurou pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"I know you're expecting me home sooner, but is it ok if I stay out a little longer?"

"….Sure…"

"Ok…um I need your help."

"With what?"

"I'm on a date of some sorts with Kyu."

"Uh-huh…?"

"What do I do?"

"….Talk to her…I guess…why are you asking me?"

"I don't know. I was on autopilot!" Kankurou cried.

"….ok…talk to her…and pay for her food."

"Ok, thanks. I'm gonna go. Thanks bye!"

Gaara put the phone down next to him on the kitchen table, giving it a weird look. 'That was weird…'

He poured the soup he'd made into a bowl and brought it over to the kitchen table. Taking up his spoon, he stared down into the gold broth. He bit his lip, shaking a little. This was bad. Why did Kankurou tell him to do it? He didn't know and couldn't think of an answer. He almost ran to the sink and dumped the soup out, thinking he'd tell Kankurou that he ate it anyway, but he didn't. His stomach hurt from having nothing in it so he dipped the spoon into the broth and started eating.

Gaara jumped when he heard the front door open. He quickly glanced around the kitchen to see if anything was out of place. He had cleaned up everything from breakfast and washed the dishes he'd used and put everything away. He didn't want his father to know he was eating between meals. That was 'bad'. And, even though Kankurou told him too, he would still be punished for it. He didn't want his father to be mad at him for something else.

He stood silently as his father and sister walked in.

"What are you doing in here?" their father demanded.

"I was…waiting for Temari to come home…" he managed to stammer out.

"Why?" his father crossed his arms.

"C—cause…I wanted…to—"

"Shut up, I don't want to hear your idiotic stuttering," he turned and walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"I was waiting for you," he insisted in a quiet murmur to Temari.

She smiled at him.

"I—I'm sorry I made dad late," he said quietly hanging his head.

"oh…Gaara, dad wasn't late," she said. "I'm not mad at you at all."

She walked up and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a warm embrace. She smiled into his hair and rocked him back and forth until he reached up and hugged her back.

"How was driver's ed?" Gaara asked when she finally kissed the top of his head, then pulled away.

"Boring…as…hell," she said, dropping her purse and notebook down.

"Really?" he asked, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Yeah," she opened a cabinet and took out two glasses and filled them with orange juice. She set one on the table then sat down with the other before continuing. "All they do is talk and talk and they want you to take notes down and stuff and they make you take a test like every class. But the stuff's like easy. Like: What does a red sign in the shape of an octagon mean?"

"…stop?"

"That was what we discussed today in class," she said. "And there's this really annoying kid that sits next to me. He is the laziest person I have ever laid eyes on! All he does is sleep! I mean there has to be a limit to how much one human can sleep!"

Gaara watched her over the rim of his cup, trying not to laugh. There was a small smile there, though, and his eyes were scrunched up from trying not to. Temari noticed this and gave him a sarcastic look.

"Why are you laughing at me?" she demanded.

"I'm not," Gaara said hurriedly, putting his empty glass down to show her he was indeed, not laughing.

"You are inside," she said, smiling at him. "You should smile outside more often."

Gaara took his glass over to the sink. "People don't always like it when you laugh at them."

"So? People don't always like it when you insult them, but Kankurou and I still do it," she said. When Gaara didn't reply, she changed the subject. "Where is Kankurou?"

"He's taking Kyu out for a late breakfast or something," Gaara replied. "He said he'd be back later."

"Oh, ok," Temari said, not sure of what else to say.

There was a long uncomfortable silence then Temari mumbled she was going up to her room to talk on the phone and left. Gaara looked around the kitchen, still hungry. He climbed up to kneel on the counter and opened a cabinet. Listening for any sounds on the stairs, he pulled out a box of crackers and took out a few, not enough to be noticed, and then went out front to wait for Kankurou on the steps.

Kankurou and Kyu stayed out until four in the afternoon. Gaara was still waiting on the steps when Kankurou pulled up in Kyu's car. He watched them get out, both laughing and talking about something he didn't understand. Kyu went over to the driver's side and gave Kankurou a hug. Turning she waved to Gaara before getting into her car.

Gaara gave her a little wave in return as Kankurou backed away from the car.

"Gaara, I love you!" Kankurou said after Kyu pulled away, waving before she disappeared around the corner. He pulled his little brother into a bone crushing one arm hug. "You have made my day!"

"Welcome?" Gaara replied, not sure what he did.

"Dude, she's amazing!" Kankurou continued.

He started describing to Gaara about the brunch date and what they did afterwards and what they talked about. Gaara wasn't really sure yet if he liked Kyu, but she made Kankurou happy so she couldn't be that bad. He was glad Kankurou had a good time; he always seemed really stressed out and tired. Gaara believed that it was mostly his fault and Kankurou just didn't want to admit that to him. But Kankurou always got mad when Gaara said that, and told him that it wasn't true. Neji had told him that too.

Gaara sighed. He listened to Kankurou talk about Kyu until Kankurou realized how much and how long he'd been talking and stopped.

"Hey," Kankurou said, suddenly remembering something. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine!" Gaara said a little too quickly.

"You weren't this morning," Kankurou stated. "Did you eat the soup?"

Gaara nodded. "And some crackers."

"I see that," Kankurou said, grinning as he brushed crumbs off his brother's shirt.

Gaara looked down and blushed, starting to brush them off himself.

"You sure that's all he did?" Kankurou asked, thinking of what Gaara told him over the phone.

Gaara nodded, not looking at him.

Kankurou took Gaara's chin and tilted his head so he could see his face better. "What's this?" he asked, brushing the red mark on his forehead. Gaara didn't answer or look at him. "It's a burn mark isn't it? Did he hold you under the faucet or something?"

"The sink…" Gaara bit his lip then brought his hand up to chew on his sleeve. "It was...hot…"

"Why?"

"He—he thought I…" Gaara blushed darkly again at the thought of kissing Neji and didn't continue.

"What else?" Kankurou asked, deciding not to press.

Gaara looked away, not wanting to say, but couldn't stop his hand from going up to cover his shoulder. Kankurou sighed and went up to him, taking his arm away.

"Let me see," he urged kindly. Gaara tilted his head to the side and let him pull his shirt away at the collar. "Egh…what's that?"

"C—ci…"

"Cigarette? He burned you with a cigarette?" Kankurou asked, frowning. "Again?" he hadn't meant to say again, but the word just slipped out.

Gaara nodded slowly, reaching up to put his hand on the burn again.

Kankurou sighed, closing his eyes and counting to ten. When he opened them again, Gaara was staring at his feet, looking very upset, chewing on his sleeve. "Gaara, what's wrong?"

"I—I'm sorry…" Gaara stammered around his sleeve.

"What for?" Kankurou asked, surprised. He reached out and took Gaara's hand away from his mouth so he wouldn't chew on his sleeve.

"You…you can't always…do the things you want to do," he managed to stammer. "You always have to—to worry about me."

Kankurou stared at him, but before he could say anything, Gaara continued.

"And you get in fights with dad a lot and you shouldn't have to….and…I don't want you or T—Temari to get..hurt." He glanced up at Kankurou and looked away quickly.

Kankurou looked upset as he looked down at his brother. "Gaara…." he stared, but found he couldn't continue. "Why….do you…?"

"It's true," Gaara said. "I'm just a—"

"You're not a burden to me!" Kankurou shouted, not meaning to. He saw Gaara automatically cringe at the sound, his sleeve going back to his mouth. "You have to stop thinking that! I don't care about taking care of you! I'm your brother! I want to!"

"But you never get to do what you want to!" Gaara cried back, turning to face him fully.

"So? What would I do if I wasn't helping you?" Kankurou asked.

"I don't know! You could hang out with your friends and be with—with Kyu more!" Gaara insisted. "You always have to stay home cause of me!"

"Not cause of you!" Kankurou shouted. "It's cause of dad! It's not. your. fault!"

"If I wasn't around you'd be happier! It's true! I always ruin everything! You'd be happier if I was gone!"

Kankurou involuntarily grabbed a fist full of the front of Gaara's shirt and shook him hard. "Shut up! Don't ever say that again! It's not true!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry!" Gaara whimpered and recoiled, bringing his arms to cover his face, thinking Kankurou was going to hit him. Kankurou realized what he was doing and let go.

Gaara backed away from him, afraid. He was scared and being scared of Kankurou was a new feeling that terrified him. Kankurou mentally hit himself. He couldn't believe he exploded like that at Gaara.

"Gaara, I—" he took a step towards his brother, but Gaara backed away further. "Gaara, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled."

Gaara didn't answer; he was still eyeing his brother warily.

"I'm sorry Gaara, please…" Kankurou looked at Gaara, worried. "Don't—don't be scared of me."

Gaara quickly looked away from him and stared at the ground. He was terrified. Kankurou bit his lip and sat down on the stone garden hedge thing. He placed his hands over his face and ran them up his face and then through his hair. He sighed, angry at himself. He cursed himself, standing again and walking back to the house. He passed Gaara and stopped turning to look at his back.

Flashback

Ten year old Kankurou walked out of the house and down the driveway. He hated school, but he had to go. It was better then being at home, though. He was about to turn out onto the sidewalk to walk to the elementary school, when he heard someone softly say his name. He stopped and looked around.

Kankurou saw his almost eight year old brother hiding in the thorny desert plants surrounding their yard. He looked like he had thought about reaching out to him, but stopped.

"What are you doing?" Kankurou asked, turning to him.

Gaara put his hand down and glanced away back at the house, where their father's car sat. The little boy bit his lip and looked down at the ground.

"Can I go to school with you?" came the barely audible question.

"No," Kankurou said. "I go to school for ten year olds," he reminded him. He paused then frowned. "Come out of there, you're gonna get yourself all scratched up."

He waited while Gaara crawled out from under the plants, but as careful as he was he still scratched his face and hands. He didn't seem to notice care about it though, the only reaction was a slight wince.

"Please?" Gaara begged when he was finally standing in front of his brother. "Daddy's not going to work today. I want to come! I'll be good, I promise. I'll be good."

"School sucks. You wouldn't like it."

"It's better then…home…" Gaara gasped at his own daring to say such a thing and covered his mouth with his hands.

"Daddy yells a lot, but the teacher's at school do the same thing!" Kankurou insisted. "At least Daddy doesn't stay home all day."

"He does when he doesn't go to work," Gaara mumbled.

"Don't worry, just play quietly in the living room or in the backyard," Kankurou told him. "He wont bother you."

"Kankurou?" Gaara asked quietly.

"What?"

"Why does daddy hate me so much?"

End flashback

The words and Gaara sad face haunted him still to this day. That had been the first time that Kankurou found out their father had hurt Gaara while yelling at him when he and Temari were at school.

The man had held onto the smaller boy's arm to keep him still as he yelled at him for watching TV before he was allowed to. It had been to tight a grip that it left a small bruise where his hand had been, and on his shoulder where he hit the ground after being smacked. Kankurou had come home from school that afternoon and found Gaara hiding under the dining room table, crying. He had promised to Gaara that day that he would never hurt him. He had almost broken that promise out of frustration.

"Gaara, I promised I wouldn't hurt you ever," Kankurou said. "Remember?"

There was a pause then Gaara nodded.

"I'm sorry I lost it, but I still wont hurt you. That was a promise I intend to keep. People can be upset with each other and not hurt each other," Kankurou said. The thought seemed foreign even to him, but he knew it was true. He watched Gaara slump his shoulders, then quietly added, "But you know, it hurts me a bit when you say it's all your fault."

Gaara turned and looked at him in surprise.

"Everything being your fault, is a really heavy thing to bear. I carry the same one," Kankurou admitted. "Sometimes, when I'm lying in bed I think to myself: 'I can't believe how stupid I am to let these things happen. It's all my fault.'"

"It's not your fault!" Gaara insisted, sounding frantic.

"It's not yours either," Kankurou said. Gaara looked down at his feet. Kankurou reached up and put a hand on his shoulders. "It's impossible for everything to be one person's fault. Ok?"

Gaara nodded. "Ok…"

Kankurou looked hopefully at Gaara, looking for some signs that he wasn't afraid. Gaara responded with a small smile, which Kankurou returned.

They looked up when Temari and their father stepped out of the house. They're father barely glanced at the two boys, but Temari turned and called that they were all going out to dinner. The two shared a look of surprise. This was rare...

Temari always sat up front so the two boys climbed into the back. They drove to what was apparently a good buffet restaurant. They went in and waited to be seated.

Temari smiled down at Gaara and asked what he wanted to drink.

"Water," his father said, before Gaara could say anything. He hadn't even glanced in their direction since they got there.

"But…dad…Kankurou and I are drinking soda…"

"I'm not spending extra money on that piece of shit," was his reply.

"Then I want water too," Kankurou said, crossing his arms.

"Suit yourself."

Gaara glanced up from his father to his brother, then tugged on Kankurou's jacket. Kankurou stopped glaring and glanced down at him, eye brow raise.

"You don't have to have water," Gaara said quietly. "You can have soda…"

"Nah, I like water better."

"B—but you hate water," Gaara said quietly.

"Shut up," their father said, finally turning to glare at Gaara.

"Sorry…" Gaara mumbled, staring down at the floor.

As soon as his father turned away from him again, Gaara inched to duck behind Kankurou and hid in his shadow. Kankurou clenched his fists tightly, but didn't say anything.

When they were seated, they left their coats at their places and went to the buffet. Their father stopped Gaara, pulling away from his brother and leaned down to him, pointing a finger in his face.

"Look, its real cheep to feed you here but I don't wanna see you pigging out like a fucking fool like you usually do at home. Understand?"

Gaara nodded quickly. Kankurou had stopped when he saw Gaara wasn't with them and heard what their father had said. He glared at his father enraged.

Gaara pigging out? Gaara never 'pigged out' at dinner. The measly portion his father allowed him usually went completely untouched because Gaara could barely hold his fork steady, on account of his father's angry words and insults. Kankurou had learned to block out the insults so that they fell on deaf ears. Gaara hadn't learned that yet and each harsh word hit him like a sledge hammer. Crying only made it worse too and that was also something Gaara couldn't control yet. Sometimes afterwards, his father made him to the dishes and would stand over him, breathing down his neck until he was finished. Like that made things any better for him.

He watched as their father gave Gaara another warning glare and a warning flick on his cheek that made Gaara flinch horribly, then let go of him. Gaara hurried away, running towards him and stood once again in his shadow. Kankurou placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him closer. Gaara gave a small sigh and followed him over to get a plate. Kankurou watched as he chose his food, noting that he was trying to be very conservative about how much he was taking. Glaring over at their father, Kankurou took Gaara's plate from him and piled more on his plate.

"No...Kankurou I—"

"Nuh-uh," Kankurou said, handing his plate back to him, now laden with large helpings. "Don't listen to him. I want you to eat as much as you can, alright?"

"But…I'm not that hungry…"

"Gaara, I wish you wouldn't lie to me," Kankurou said, his eyes boring into his little brother. "You can tell me if you're hungry or if you're hurting. I want you too. I know you're hungry now and I want you to eat ok? I'm worried you'll get sick from not eating."

Gaara hung his head and glanced over at their father. "Ok…" he said quietly.

"Good," Kankurou said, giving him a proud smile. "You want a roll?"

"Sure…"

They turned to go to another counter.

"Hello…Gaara."

Kankurou and Gaara freaked out and jumped. Hinata looked at them solemnly until they caught their breath.

"What are you doing here?" Kankurou asked. "Did the Hyuga family go bankrupt or something?"

"My father brought my sister, Hanabi and I here to get away from the stresses at the main house," Hinata said in her slow, emotionless voice. "Neither my sister nor I have ever eaten somewhere that wasn't so fancy. It is very interesting."

Gaara instantly looked around for Neji, disappointed when didn't see him anywhere.

"No, sorry," Hinata said, reading his thoughts. "Neji decided to stay home tonight."

"Oh."

He blinked when a girl as tall as him with long black hair and white eyes stepped in front of him. He suspected this was Hanabi.

"Are you really Neji's boyfriend?" she asked without an ounce of shame.

Kankurou bit his lip as hard as he could to keep from laughing as he watched Gaara's face turned beet red. Before he could say anything she continued.

"Are you really gay? You don't look gay. Why are you so skinny? You're not anorexic are you? What's up with your makeup? Have you and Neji kissed? Have you had sex? Why aren't you answering my questions? I know you can talk. You talked to niichan. Why do you wear all black? Aren't you hot? Are you goth like my sister? You don't look it. When are you coming over my house again? Do you play soccer too?..."