Vindicated
Chapter 14: Gaara and Sakura
(end 2nd period-Art-Neji and Gaara)
Gaara and Neji stepped out of the art room together. Neji was talking to Gaara since Gaara didn't really like to talk in school that much, but Neji didn't mind.
"I can't believe, the one time I didn't go with Hiashi-ojisan and Hinata to dinner, they see you," Neji complained, with broad hand gestures. "I mean come on! And then, and then, Kankurou made you all sit together—your father must have been pleased with that. It was a priceless moment…and I missed it!"
Gaara smiled as he listened to Neji rant. It was a priceless moment, seeing dad trying so hard not to explode. Hiashi was very, very talkative and was intent on becoming acquainted with him. Kankurou and their father had gotten in a fight later when they got home, but Kankurou didn't care and the two of them had laughed about it all night.
As a sudden hand landed on his shoulder, he walking motion was halted and he nearly lost his balance. Neji turned to see what was wrong and his smile immediately disappeared. Gaara was frozen, staring back at the owner of the hand.
Itachi smiled down at him. "Hello there," he said, his arm slowly going around him. He leaned down close to Gaara's face.
Neji grabbed Gaara and pulled the thankful boy away. "What do you think your doing?" he demanded, angrily.
"What? I can't say hello?" Itachi sneered.
"You're awfully cocky for a guy who got beat up at the mall by a bunch of prissy girls," Neji said.
Itachi gave him a confident scoff. "Like I would hit a girl," he said, eyes narrowing.
"Never stopped you before," Neji said quietly.
"Don't push your luck, Hyuga," Itachi said, jabbing a finger in Neji's face. "See you after school." With that he walked away, making sure he rammed his shoulder into Neji's as he did.
Neji gave a humph and crossed his arms. He looked back at Gaara who had ducked behind him and smiled. "You ok?"
"I'm fine," Gaara replied, in a squeaky voice. He cleared his throat and said in his normal voice, "really."
"Alright," Neji said, as they continued to walk, faster now so they wouldn't be late.
When they got to Gaara's next class, Neji remembered something that brightened his mood. It was the first day of soccer practice. "Your dad give you a hard time about staying after?" He looked back as Gaara stopped short, eyes wide. "What's wrong?"
"I—I forgot to ask him," Gaara said in a quiet voice. "I'm sorry…"
"What are you sorry for?" Neji asked. "Everyone forgets stuff."
"Well, I don't think I can stay after now."
"Why not?" Neji asked upset, before he could stop himself.
"Cause dad'll be mad."
"Tell him one of your teachers wanted you to stay—"
"I can't do that!" Gaara said, staring at him.
"Why?" he'd never heard Gaara say something so forceful before.
"If he thinks I got in trouble at school…" Gaara stopped, not wanting to think about what would happen. "I'm sorry," he said finally, then turned into his classroom.
"Wait, Gaara," Neji reached out and pulled him back. "Maybe we could think of something and you could still—"
"Neji, I can't…I'm really sorry," Gaara said, sadly turning back into his classroom.
Kankurou sat back and looked at Neji as the Hyuga sat down at their table with his bored cow face. He knew perfectly well that the younger boy wanted him to ask what was wrong, but he wasn't going to give him that pleasure. They just stared at each other, silence only broken between them by Kankurou's random chewing of his carrots.
"You do this just to make me nuts don't you?" Neji finally asked.
"Yep."
Neji sighed and sat back, dropping into his normal expression that instantly turned into an upset one. "Gaara's not staying after today," he stated.
Kankurou looked up form his sandwich, confused. "Why? He's been talking about this like all weekend."
"He said he forgot to ask your dad if he could stay after."
"Oh." Kankurou silently cursed, then propped his chin on his elbow.
"'Oh'?" Neji asked. "Can't you do something?"
"He specifically told you he wouldn't?"
"Yeah," Neji replied. "He said he couldn't."
"Then I can't do anything about it, sorry," Kankurou said. "Gaara's not sneaky, he's to worried he'd get found out."
"It's ok," Neji said. "I feel bad. I think he thinks I'm mad at him."
Kankurou gave him a small smile. "I'll talk to him if you want."
"Thanks," Neji said, starting to eat his own sandwich.
"Cause I forgot," Gaara said from where he sat at his place by Kankurou's bed.
"You could have still gone," Kankurou said. "I would have covered for you. You could say Genma asked you to stay after for extra credit."
"But he would think I got in trouble!" Gaara cried.
"Not if Genma wrote a note for you."
Gaara didn't reply. He stared down at his math homework and thought of what Neji was probably doing.
"Neji thinks you're mad at him," Kankurou said, staring up at his ceiling.
"What?" Gaara's head snapped back up. "I'm not mad at Neji! Why would he think that? I thought Neji was mad at me! I—"
"Gaara, calm down," Kankurou said, stopping him from going into panic mode. "I'm just saying, that's all. He asked me to talk to you about it cause he's worried. Tell him tomorrow that you're not mad. Ask dad tonight if you can stay after, ok?"
Dinner that night was one of those rare occasions where all four of them ate together. The seating arrangement was no where near what Temari and Kankurou wanted it to be. Their father sat at the head of the table. To his left sat Temari and Kankurou, while Gaara sat alone on his right. Because of this, neither of them could make sure he got enough to eat. It wasn't like their father would. Dinner was always a silent and nervous one.
Kankurou glared down at his mashed potatoes, peas, covered in gravy, and steak. He caught Temari glancing in his direction, wondering if he noticed the same thing. Of course he had. Directly across from him, Gaara sat, silently nibbling at his barely adequate portion of dry mashed potatoes and peas. He wasn't allowed to have the steak, though he eyed it hungrily every once and a while when he thought his siblings weren't looking. He glanced up at Kankurou and Kankurou gave him a pointed look, nodding his head at their father.
Finally building up his courage, Gaara glanced up at his father.
"…Dad…?"
Their father looked up surprised and blinked. "What?"
"Um…Genma-sensei asked if it was ok if I stay after school and help him at soccer practice," Gaara said quietly and slowly, trying his hardest not to stammer.
The older two looked over at their father, waiting for his reply. He was looked down at Gaara, probably still surprised at his boldness. It faded quickly though and their father scoffed at him.
"More like that Neji kid invited you and you're lying to make an excuse to go."
Gaara shook his head quickly. "Genma-sensei asked me a while ago, remember? He wanted me to stay after and help him with practices and the tryouts," he insisted.
"I don't remember hearing about practices, too."
"I—I guess…I forgot…" Gaara stammered, looking down. "Can I go?" the question was barely audible.
"When?"
"Every day after school."
"No."
Silence.
"What?"
"I said no," their father said, cutting up another piece of meat.
"Why..?" Gaara asked quietly.
"Because you tried to lied to me to get what you wanted."
"N—no I didn't," Gaara said.
"Yes, you did. Don't lie to me now."
"I'm not!"
"Shut up!"
Temari involuntarily screamed. Kankurou jumped up, surprised and angry. Gaara bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, tears forming but not falling as his father pulled the knife away. The man cursed under his breath and tossed it away, taking up Gaara's unused one and finishing his meal. He stood up, saying something about being out late and left. Without a word, Gaara got up and ran upstairs. His brother and sister followed quickly, but he shut and locked the bathroom door.
Temari could see how angry Kankurou was, his fists were clenched and his eyes blazed. He called for Gaara to unlock the door, but the younger boy refused. Temari hurried downstairs and cleaned up from dinner. She picked up their father's knife gingerly between her finger tips and immediately dropped it in the trashcan.
Damn that bastard. How could he do something like that? Biting her lip and trying not to cry from anger, she took a paper towel and wiped up the redness on the table where Gaara's arm had been.
Kankurou stayed outside the bathroom door, persistently asking Gaara to open the door. He was still there when Temari came up when she was finished washing the dishes. She had a plate of rolls she'd saved. They knocked and asked again to be let in. Finally the lock inside clicked and Kankurou opened the door.
Gaara was sitting on the floor against the sink, staring across the room looking dazed, his eyes now dry. His arm was resting on the floor in a rather large pool of blood that he didn't seem to notice. Temari handed the plate to Kankurou and sat down next to him, pulling him against her, holding him tight. Kankurou reached into the medicine cabinet and pulled out hydrogen peroxide, then a wash cloth from the tub. He sat down in front of them and gently took Gaara's arm, carefully cleaning around the cut. He was surprised the younger boy wasn't crying. Temari was though, but she wasn't making a sound as she did, she just let the tears run silently down her face, disappearing in her brother's red hair. The only movement Gaara made was that he cringed and whimpered when Kankurou dabbed the hydrogen peroxide on the cut, but that was all. When he was finished wrapping his arm up, Kankurou sat back.
"I saved you some buns, do you want some?" Temari asked.
Gaara shook his head.
"Are you sure? You should eat some, you know," she persisted.
Gaara again shook his head.
"Are you ok?" she asked quietly.
Gaara paused then slowly shook his head, tears now forming.
Temari pulled him closer and he relaxed in her embrace, giving a shuddering intake of breath as he tried not to cry. Kankurou sat down in front of him and placed a hand on his knee, then held out a roll, giving him a small smile. Gaara's hands shook, but he took a roll and nibbled on it.
Later that night, Kankurou fell asleep on top of his unfinished homework, with Gaara sitting, still in a daze, staring at the small lamp next to him, at his spot on the floor. The light was off, but he found comfort in the tiny lamp next to him His arm still throbbed and pain would shoot up his arm if he moved it, despite the pain relievers his siblings gave him.
He looked up surprised when Kankurou's door opened the rest of the way. It was past two forty, he wondered why Temari would still be up. But it wasn't Temari.
He stared at the man in the doorway.
His father walked in and knelt down in front of him, quiet so he wouldn't wake Kankurou. Gaara felt like calling out to his brother, but his throat dried up and no sound slipped through. He tried backing away, but the bed hindered his movement.
"Dad…I—I'm s—sorry…" but he wasn't sure what he was sorry for. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes slightly and saw his father kneeling in front of him.
He watched as his father took his arm and undid the bandages. He examined the cut on his arm, not looking at Gaara's face. The cut was larger then Gaara had thought it was; he hadn't looked at it. His father pulled something out of his pocket and dabbed the cool smooth substance on the cut. Gaara couldn't stop the tiny yelp mixed of fear and pain from coming out. His father paused when he heard it, but didn't do anything. Finally satisfied his father redressed the cut then looked up at him.
Gaara couldn't look back at him and was content with staring at the lamp. His father sighed suddenly then stood and walked out, leaving the door partially open as it had been. Gaara stared after him, curling himself up to make himself smaller, then he climbed up to curl up next to his brother, and continued to stare at the light.
Gaara was out of it for the rest of the week, always seeming to be in a daze. Temari and Kankurou made sure they passed him at least four times each a day to make sure he was ok. Neji was freaked out of his mind and had no idea what to do or say, even though no one told him what had happened, he could tell something was wrong. By Wednesday he decided that he'd just be there as a comfort factor for him, walking him to each of his classes trying to act and talk normally, but it was hard.
Temari had talked to their father later in the week and he finally agreed to let Gaara go to the rest of the practices and games starting next week. Gaara had lightened up a little bit after that, but he still seemed out of it.
On Saturday, their father went out on a day trip for work, leaving the three of them by themselves. Temari got a ride to driver's Ed with one of her class mates and Kyu had invited Kankurou over to her house. Neji was unavailable that day. Hiashi had gotten him tickets to his favorite soccer team's game. He was going to refuse, so he could stay with Gaara, but the smaller boy had shook his head and said he should go, so Neji went with George, promising to call when he got home.
Kankurou brought Gaara, now feeling normal and no longer out of it, with him when he went to Kyu's right after lunch. She smiled brightly when she opened the door for them. They stepped in and looked around, staying near the door. This was unfamiliar territory for both of them. Kankurou could feel the near ridiculously tight grip on the back of his jacket as Gaara hid behind him, looking around. Glancing back at him he watched Gaara looked to his left and found himself looking a dog in the eye. He jumped, yelling in surprise as he did.
"Holy….shit, that's a big dog," Kankurou said, staring at the creature.
The dog was enormous. It was literally as tall as Gaara, with fluffy white fur that slightly covered it's dark eyes. It took a few steps towards Gaara, sniffing him. Gaara whimpered as he backed away, terrified, until he came to a wall and couldn't go anywhere. The dog stuck it's face in his, still sniffing. Gaara squeezed his eyes shut, expecting to be this dog's after lunch snack, but the dog only licked his face, then began nosing his hand wanting to be petted.
"Oh, don't worry about him," Kyu said, smiling. "He loves kids."
"For lunch?" Kankurou asked, voicing Gaara's question.
"No!" she cried. She went over to her dog and wrapped her arms around his neck. "He's my puppy! Yes, him is aren't you, Sabby?" she asked the dog, messing with the dog's ears.
"'Sabby'?" Kankurou asked.
'"Puppy"?' Gaara asked mentally.
"It's short for Saber-tooth," Kyu said grinning.
"Why is your dog's name Saber-tooth?" Kankurou asked, slowly, not really wanting to know.
"Watch. Smile Sabby!" she said.
The huge dog sat back and pulled his lips back, showing his teeth in an unmistakable grin. But the two boys did not notice the smile. They were staring at the huge teeth and enormous canines.
"Hang on I'll be right back." Kyu turned and ran up the stairs and came back down quickly with something in her hands that she held out for Kankurou to see.
"…..where's its nose?" he asked.
"He's got a nose!" she cried.
Kankurou looked down, eye brow raised, at the tiny furless cat that's eyes seemed too big for it's head. It did have a nose, but it looked like the thing had run head first at full speed into a brick wall. It stared up at him.
"Mew?"
"What's it's name?" he asked.
"Killer!" she said proudly.
"Oh!" was all Kankurou could manage.
"Kankurou!" The two turned to Gaara. "Help me!"
Sabby had Gaara completely squished against the wall, continuously licking and nudging him.
"Sabby, enough with the licking," Kyu said, with her hands on her hips (Killer still in hand). The dog stopped and sat back, staring at Gaara and starting whimpering. "Oh, you're such a baby!" she cried. "He wants you to pet him," she told Gaara.
"He'll bite me!" Gaara cried, still clinging to his brother.
"No, he won't. I promise."
Gaara gingerly reached out and put his hand on the dog's enormous head, scratching it's ears. The dog's tail began swishing violently back and forth. A small smile spread on Gaara's face and he continued, more confident now. Kyu and Kankurou smiled at each other and Kyu led Kankurou into the kitchen.
"Sorry, Kyu," Kankurou said to her. "I wanted to be alone with you, but I didn't want to leave my brother alone."
"Oh, it's fine, don't worry about it," Kyu said flashing him a cute smile.
"Yeah, well…I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk or something," Kankurou said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Kyu's face lit up. "Really? I love walks! I'd love to go for one, it's so nice out!" she said as she clasped her hands together and looked outside. "Hm…I don't want to leave your brother out or anything, but I think I have an idea to let us be alone," she added, smiling widely.
Kankurou raised as eyebrow, as Kyu turned and went into the living room where Gaara was now sitting on the floor, petting the dog, whose head was resting on Gaara's lap.
"Hey, Gaara, I have a question," she said, sitting next to him.
"What?" Gaara asked.
"You wanna make some money?"
Gaara glanced sideways at her. "You want to be alone with Kankurou?" he said, smiling inwardly.
Kyu gasped like she was offended. "I'm not going to pay you for nothing! It's just that, you see, my car is filthy and I haven't had time this week to take it to the car wash."
Kankurou glanced outside at Kyu's blue car sitting in the driveway.
Kyu's car: sparkle-sparkle!
Kankurou: "….."
In the living room, Kyu continued, "and I thought you might be bored cause there's no one here for you to hang out with. I'll pay you I promise!"
Gaara raised an eye brow. "How much?" he asked.
"How's…ten dollars sound?" Kyu said. "Ten dollars for the outside and an extra five if you do the inside too."
Gaara thought for a moment. "Ok."
"Great! Thanks!" Kyu said, giving him a small hug.
She got up and found him a bucket and rag and led Gaara outside to her car. She took out from her trunk the car cleaning stuff and set them next to the bucket. Gaara had no idea why she needed so much cleaning stuff for her car if she took it to the car wash. She had buckets of the stuff: soap, window cleaner, inside-car cleaner, tire cleaner, bumper cleaner, license plate cleaner, the list went on, but he didn't say anything. She brought the hose out and handed it to him.
"Have fun!"
Gaara watched Kankurou and Kyu walk down her driveway and turn away onto the street. They turned and waved before they disappeared. Gaara looked at Sabby who had followed him outside. He rolled his eyes and nodded his head in the two's direction. Sabby barked and shook himself as if he was agreeing. Gaara went back and turned the hose on, getting started.
Gaara washed the outside and inside of Kyu's car. He didn't notice that Kyu's car was already clean (he's just that kinda dense). He even found the vacuum in Kyu's house and brought it out and vacuumed the inside floor. Just as he was finishing, Kyu's parents drove up.
"Hello," they said, giving him odd looks (who's this and why's he washing our daughter's car?)
"…hi…" Gaara said.
Uncomfortable silence.
"Who are you?" Kyu's dad asked.
"I—I'm… Kankurou's brother…" he answered, not quite sure how to answer.
"Who's Kank—"
"He's that boy, honey," Kyu's mom said. "The one Kyu likes."
"Oh, I see, sorry," Kyu's dad said to Gaara.
"I—it's ok," Gaara said shrugging. "Kyu and Kankurou are going for a walk right now. They wanted me to clean Kyu's car so I wouldn't have to go with them," he added, turning back to the car, chewing on his finger.
"Are they paying you?"
"Fifteen dollars."
They laughed at this. "If you wash our car, we'll pay you for it. Same amount for the same work," Kyu's dad said, tapping the car's hood.
Gaara turned and looked back at them, surprised. That was thirty dollars all together… "Sure."
"Ok thanks," they waved then went inside.
Gaara finished Kyu's car then started on her parent's. As he was finishing the outside and starting on the inside, he wondered where the heck Kankurou and Kyu were. They'd been gone for about an hour. He heard something on the driveway and footsteps. Thinking it was them he looked up, but was surprised to see a complete stranger standing there with another car.
"Hi…" Gaara said, nervously.
"Hey there, you washing cars?" the man asked.
"Uh..."
"Cause my car could use a good washing," the man said. "What do you charge?"
"….fifteen dollars…"Gaara replied, with no idea what to say.
"Good enough," he said. He tossed Gaara his keys. "You almost done with that one?"
"Y—yeah," Gaara said, glancing at the car. Where was Kankurou? People were coming up and talking to him. It was freaking him out.
"That's perfect," the man said. "I'll be back later."
And he was gone.
Gaara stared after him, then down at the keys in his hands. '…cool…'
Sakura sighed as she came out of her room and went down to the kitchen. 'A Saturday with nothing to do. How shitty is that?' she thought to herself. Ino was working, Haku was working…everyone was working. Except her. She wasn't going to get a job until summer started. It would interfere with her school work to much. She opened the back door and stepped out with a can of soda. As she did she glanced over at Kyu's house next door.
Gaara handed the man his keys twenty minutes later. The man smiled widely and complemented on how nice his car looked. He handed the blushing Gaara fifteen dollars, then got in his car.
"While I was at the deli at the corner of the street," the man said to him, before closing the door, "I saw a friend of mine and he said he's going to bring his car for you to wash too, so don't put your things away yet. Thanks, see ya."
And he drove off.
Gaara looked down at the money in his hand. He'd never really had money of his own before. His father never gave any of them allowances and Kankurou always bought him the things he needed. He felt proud of himself to earn his own money and shoved it deep in his pocket.
"Gaaaaaaaaaraaaaaaa!"
Gaara looked around, searching for whoever called him. Sakura came running up to him from the house next door. She glomped him, smiling broadly.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, happily, turning to hug Sabby as well.
"Kankurou's here to see Kyu," Gaara told her quietly. "They're paying me to wash the cars to get me out of the way."
"Who was that?" she asked nodding to where the man had driven off.
"I donno. He just pulled up and asked to have his car washed," Gaara said. "He paid me too."
"Cool! You have like, your own little job!" Sakura said. "That's so cool!" she paused in thought for a moment. "Oh..my..god! I just had a great idea!"
"What?"
"What if you got more customers? You could get more money then…and—and I could like set up the table and chairs from my backyard and set them up in my yard and I could sell like drinks and stuff. We could both make money!"
"I donno…this is Kyu's stuff…" Gaara said, looking at the car cleaning stuff.
"So they don't cost much anyway," Sakura said. "You get loads of the stuff cheap at the super market down the street. You could pay her back for using it all later with some of the money you make."
Gaara stared, thinking for a moment. He didn't think Kyu would get mad if he used up all her stuff. And he could ask her parents if they minded. …and he found he wanted the money.
"You should ask Kyu's parents first," Gaara said.
"Ok! I'll go do that!" Sakura bounced over to Kyu's house and went in.
Another car pulled up and a man came out. He said he was the friend of the first man and asked if Gaara would wash his car. Smiling awkwardly, Gaara managed to stammer out a 'sure'. Sakura came out and said Kyu's parent said it was ok with them. She smiled at the man.
"I'm gonna set up a place where you can wait if you want," she said smiling sweetly.
The man nodded and followed her. Gaara washed his car too and accepted the money from him as well. Sakura squealed and clasped her hands together.
"We should make a sign!" she said. Before he could say anything, she ran back in her house. She came back out later with a big piece of white cardboard and markers. She made the sign and set it up at the end of Kyu's driveway.
Gaara spend the rest of the after noon washing cars, while Sakura made and sold drinks and snacks. She did help him with one enormous truck though. The man pulled up looking sheepish as he asked them to wash it. The whole thing was covered in a thick layer of mud, from it's monster wheels to it's antenna. They sprayed most of the mud off with the hose then went to work with the soap and wash clothes. Sakura did the inside to help the work go faster. The man was generous though. He told them fifteen wasn't enough for that big job and paid them each fifty dollars (Sakura's fifty included what he bought from her stand). They were just about to call it a day when two black cars pulled up. Gaara blinked in surprise as two Hyuga's got out. One was Hiashi, who he greeted hurriedly.
"Afternoon, Gaara," Hiashi said, giving him a small bow. "Sakura."
"Hi," she said smiling.
"Are you two washing cars?" he asked.
"Gaara is," she said. "I'm just selling refreshments."
"Would you mind washing two more?" Hiashi asked smiling.
Gaara smiled shaking his head. Sakura went and took the sign down then took the men over to the chairs and table while Gaara started washing their cars. When he was finished he put Kyu's stuff away and laid down with Sabby on the grass in Kyu's yard, his head on Sabby's stomach. The dog curled up with him and licked his hand, then laid his head down.
Hiashi came up next to him and knelt down, sitting on the grass as well.
"Neji's been worried about you," Hiashi said, reaching over and petting the dog.
"I know," Gaara mumbled shortly, never knowing how to respond to adults when he was alone.
"It's not often he would try to turn down going to a game. Is something going on with you that Neji would be worried about?" he asked, smiling kindly at him.
Gaara chewed on his sleeve and shrugged. He wished Sakura would come over and sit with them and start talking their heads off. He liked Hiashi and all, but he still didn't relax near him. He knew Hiashi suspected that something was going on at home, and was trying find out what that was. He couldn't let him know though. He would be punished. By who, he didn't care. Gaara was just tired of being punished. That's what his father always told him. If anyone found out, he would be punished by someone; put in a dark place for the rest of his life.
"Are you alright?" Hiashi asked.
"I'm ok," Gaara said. "Just tired."
"Are you going to practices with Neji?"
"Mm-hm. Genma-sensei asked me to be his helper."
"That's nice," Hiashi smiled at him.
"Hiashi-sama, it's time to go," the other Hyuga said, coming up to them, a cookie still in his hand.
"Alright," Hiashi said. He reached into his pocket and handed Gaara the money for both cars.
Gaara shook his head. "You helped us out before," he said. "You don't have to pay."
"I helped out cause I wanted to," Hiashi said, giving him a look. "Please take it."
Gaara swallowed hard, ducking away from the look and took the money grudgingly, stuffing it in his pocket.
"Good bye," Hiashi said as he turned and got in his truck.
"Bye," Sakura and Gaara said.
As they pulled away, Sakura sat down and started talking about all the things she wanted to buy with the money she got. She told him about every sale that was at the mall right now and the clothes that were in style and what clothes weren't. He listened to her until her mom came home from work and asked her to help carry groceries inside. Gaara thought he should have gotten up to help, but his body was tired to he stayed where he was, curling up to the white monster and waited for Kankurou and Kyu to come home.
He woke up later that night and had no idea where he was. There were soft blankets over him and a fluffy pillow under his head. He looked around and recognized Kankurou's room. He was on the window side of the bed where the extra outlet was. A light was plugged in there, chasing away the smaller shadows and dimming the darker ones. He sighed and stared at the light.
"Hey, you awake now?" Kankurou put his comic book down and glanced over at him.
"Mmph…" Gaara replied, still tired.
Kankurou laughed quietly. "I can't believe you slept that long," he said. "We took you home in Kyu's car. I left the money from Kyu in your pant's pockets by the way. They're on the floor by my desk."
"Thanks," Gaara said rolling over, away from the light, feeling safer with Kankurou.
"Hey, where'd you get all that other money?" Kankurou asked suddenly.
"Um... Is…is Kyu mad?" Gaara asked.
"Why? Should she be?" Kankurou asked frowning. He refused to believe Gaara had stolen the money. The only thing he knew Gaara was guilty of stealing was little bits of food from the fridge. "Where'd you get the money?"
"Sakura came out and we had a car wash thing. I used Kyu's soap and stuff," Gaara said, apologetically. "Is she mad?"
"A car wash? Really?"
Gaara nodded. "But—but is she mad I used her stuff?"
"I don't think she noticed," Kankurou said. "I don't think she'd care either. She was worried you'd be bored."
Gaara shook his head. "I like her dog."
"I know you do."
"Did you see how much money I got?" Gaara asked, frowning with his eyes still closed.
"Yeah," Kankurou said in a 'whoa' voice. "Dude, you made like two hundred forty-five bucks."
Gaara opened his eyes wide, staring.
Kankurou said goodnight later and turned his night stand light off, letting Gaara relish in the nightlights shine. He rolled over and closed his eyes. 'Damn…I am in the wrong business.'