Vindicated

Chapter 23: And We All Fall Down

!AUTHORESS' NOTE: READ!

Meh…Shu didn't want to update so early, but Junsui Kegasu's going on vaca (again) and I'm leaving on Friday, so I'm posting early. Be grateful! Mwahaha! Jk review please! Reviews make Shu very happy

Also…theres a lot of stuff in this chapter…it really could be two…but one would have been really short. So…try reviewing as you read cause I really like hearing your opinions and such…(thanks for the critique and such Ebony!)

!END OF AUTHORESS' NOTE!

Rain continued to beat down on the houses and streets for the rest of the evening. Despite it though, Neji got out of the car to walk Gaara up to his house. He shivered slightly when they reached the door, but tried not to show it. Gaara was wearing his hoodie and didn't want the red head to feel bad. He smiled at him as he paused, staring at the door handle.

"Gaara?"

Gaara sniffed and turned to look at him. "I—I'm scared…" he said quietly.

"It's ok," Neji whispered, pulling him inside of the door post and someone what out of the rain. "You can spend the night if you want, come home tomorrow…"

A frantic shaking of 'no' flung droplets of water off Gaara's hair. He couldn't speak anymore; Neji could see him shaking horribly underneath the too big hoodie. He waited for Gaara to do something, but he seemed too unsure to do anything, so he turned the handle for him and opened the door, leading him inside.

The family at the table looked up as they walked in. they had been just finishing a very silent, uncomfortable dinner. Temari looked thoroughly relieved to see him and Kankurou gave him a small grin, but as their father turned and fixed an icy glare on him, Gaara looked like he wanted nothing more then to turn and run back to the car.

"Go up to your room."

"W—what?" Gaara asked, blinking in surprise.

"Go upstairs to your room," his father repeated as if Gaara were stupid. "Now." Gulping, Gaara turned and ran up the stairs, leaving Neji alone, watching him leaving. "You. Leave."

Neji turned back to Gaara's father, trying not to hide any anger that was boiling inside him. "May I go tell him good bye?" he asked trying to sound pleasant.

The man glowered at him, then returned to finish the rest of his dinner. Neji took that as a 'yes' and hurried up after Gaara before he changed his mind. He found Gaara standing in front of the doorway directly across from Kankurou's room. He was looking into the room in fear and didn't move until Neji touched his shoulder.

"It's so dark in there," he whispered.

Neji took his hand and led him to stand in the middle of the room. He pulled something out of his pocket and pressed it into his hand. Gaara only had time to register that it was a small flashlight before Neji leaned down and kissed him, holding him in his arms and rocking him slightly.

"I love you," he whispered. "Don't you dare forget that, ok? And don't be afraid to come over if something bad happens or whatever."

"Okay," Gaara whispered back, clutching the flashlight tighter.

Neji kissed his cheek lightly and whispered a soft, "bye," then turned and went back down stairs where the rest of the family was getting up from the table. "I have a game tomorrow," he said watching Gaara's father pause and look at him evenly. "Coach asked me to ask you if Gaara could come to help him."

"Fine," the man said, after a very long pause.

Neji smiled his thanks and waved to Kankurou and Temari. After he left, closing the door behind him, Temari and Kankurou watched their father walk into the kitchen, scrape his plate and set it in the sink, then he calmly went up stairs, said something to Gaara in the door way and went into his own room. They blinked in shock and ran upstairs to Gaara's room.

"Leave him!" came the commanding shout from behind the door at the top of the stairs.

Kankurou paused with his hand on the doorknob and looked at his sister. She sighed, slumping her shoulders, and trudged in a defeated manner back down the stairs. Kankurou thought for a minute then went into his room.

Gaara watched his sister and brother's shadows move away from his door. He was scared and had wanted to see them. The daring and boldness he had that morning was gone, left in the beautiful place in his dreams Neji had brought to life. He almost felt as though it really were a dream. It couldn't have been a dream! It couldn't! It felt like a dream, but a dream does leave you soaking wet, nor the smell of firewood smoke on your clothes. A dream doesn't love you. It doesn't hold you and tell you that you're special and that it cares the world for you. Dreams don't smile at you in a way that steals all your troubles away.

Neji wasn't a dream, nor was the time they spent together, or the place Neji took him, no matter how surreal it seemed now. Gaara held the flashlight up and turned it on, pointing the light at his hand wanting to hold the brightness and make it his. Something he could carry with him forever like he wanted to with Neji.

Something quietly tapped on his door and a piece of paper, folded like the one Tsunade had shown him was slid underneath his door.

Gaara swallowed and stared at it.

"Stand there and don't move."

The command echoed through his mind and the nearly empty room. He must obey it, but his father wasn't there to see him if he moved a little was he? Just like he hadn't been able to see him eat more then his share of the food Neji brought when they were hiding under a blanket of rocks, laughing at the rain.

Gaara scurried over to pick up the note and rushed back to the spot in the middle of the floor and opened it.

I'm sorry I yelled at you this morning are you ok?

Gaara looked around for something to write with, but his room was barely used and all he found was an eraser. He stared at the note in distress, wondering what he should do then took the eraser and smudged out the majority of Kankurou's message.

y e s

He refolded the paper and slid it back out. He waited until it came back again, this time with a pen.

Haha clever. But seriously are you ok?

Dad's mad at me

I know it's ok but dad told Neji you could go to his soccer game tomorrow

really? he said yes?

Yeah. Damn this is annoying.

Gaara was about to write back, when he head a door open and Kankurou curse. He hurriedly blackened Neji's flashlight and shoved it in his pant's pocket as the door was flung open. He froze where he was standing as his father stormed into the room and snatched the paper from Gaara's hands. He read it quickly then tore it to pieces and flung them at Gaara, who flinched, then grabbed him.

"You stupid little shit!" he yelled, bringing his hand across Gaara's face, "What the fuck were you thinking? You think you're better then everyone so you can just do whatever you damn well please?"

"N—n—no! I—I just…I—I w—w—wanted—"

His father grabbed a fist full of his hair and yanked him up. "'I—I just…I—I w—w—wanted'," he said in a mocking voice. "You sound like a retard! If you can't talk, don't even try!"

Gaara whimpered in pain, seeing stars as he tried to stand on his toes to relieve some of the pressure pulling at his head.

"What the fuck are you wearing?" his father snapped tugging at the dark grey-near black hoodie. "You stole it didn't you, you little thief!"

"N—no! It's N—Neji's! My shirt was w—wet so he let me wear it," Gaara insisted. "It's his s—soccer h—hoodie…it's got his n—name on it!"

His father scowled and let go of his hair. He yanked at the sweatshirt, tugging it off Gaara's small frame and tossing it in the corner. "Remind me to burn it later," his father snapped.

"No! D—don't burn it! It's Neji's, he—" Gaara was cut off as his head was suddenly yanked to the side.

"What is that?"

Gaara blinked in confused. On his neck? What was on his neck? His eyes suddenly widened in fear. That had been where Neji—

"You fucking kissed him, you whore!

Gaara blushed but didn't know what to say. His father grabbed the back of his neck as Gaara hadn't been wearing anything under the hoodie and yanked him around and dragged him out of the room to the bathroom. Alarmed, Kankurou hurried after them.

"Dad! Stop! You'll—"

His father turned and shoved him away. Kankurou frantically grabbed the railing as he nearly fell down the stairs. The bathroom door snapped shut and locked and all Kankurou could do was stand in front of it, praying he didn't kill his younger brother. He could hear his father yelling at him, calling him horrible names and accusing him of things Kankurou seriously doubted were true. He heard his father give Gaara orders to do something, but he was talking too quietly to hear.

A few minutes later, the door opened and their father calmly stepped out, pushing passed Kankurou and went into his room. Slowly, Kankurou went into the bathroom, hoping Gaara was ok.

His brother was sitting on the floor by the toilet, recovering from gagging and throwing up. A toothbrush and container of hand soap lay on the floor next to him. Kankurou remembered what had happened last time their father had thought Gaara and Neji had kissed. Glancing down at Gaara, he watched him hold his neck like it hurt him, but in a place he couldn't reach with his hand. Their father hadn't hit him, he wasn't stupid, but he had resorted to a different way of making Gaara throw up.

Kankurou shuddered and picked up a cup from the stack in the bathroom cabinet and filled it with cold water and handed it to him. Gaara drank it silently as Kankurou flushed the toilet.

"Why'd he make you throw up?" he asked quietly.

"I ate with Neji," Gaara replied, very quietly. It sounded like it hurt him to talk; he kept swallowing as if trying to sooth the pain in the back of his throat.

"Mmm," Kankurou muttered. He gently reached out and tilted Gaara's head to see the mark and grinned. "Does Neji have one?"

Gaara blushed and nodded slightly.

Kankurou laughed and messed his hair a little. "I'd be disappointed if he didn't. Where'd you guys so? A hotel?"

Gaara blushed darker and shook his head. "N—Neji took m—me to this p—place his parents use to t—take him when h—he was little. He wasn't me to—to see it."

"Aw, that's cute," Kankurou said. "What was it like?"

"It was like…a p—park…all woods and there was a w—water fall. Neji took me down a path too get to the waterfall. H—he went swimming, b—but I just watched. Everything w—was starting to bloom and stuff so it was really pretty," Gaara replied, smiling as he pictured the place in his head. "His f—family owns the l—land…so no one goes there."

"What'd you guys do?"

"Walked around…and talked. Neji told me about what he use to do with his parents."

"That's all?"

"W—well, Neji went swimming. And then it started to rain so we went in this cave thing and there was a place to make a fire—Neji's dad had made a safe place for it—and Neji made one and we ate…and talked some more…"

Kankurou grinned slyly. "I'm sure you got that from talking, yes?"

Gaara blushed darkly and covered the mark. "We just k—kissed…that's all…you think it sounds boring…I had fun," he said slightly defensively.

"I know you did, and I'm not saying that it wasn't," Kankurou said grinning. "I'm glad you had fun. You ate too, didn't you? That's good," he added, but Gaara shook his head. "No? Why not?"

Gaara glanced down at the toothbrush and then at the toilet. "I—I threw up…"

"Dad made you throw up," Kankurou corrected quietly, knocking the toothbrush away. He helped Gaara up and they went into Kankurou's room. "But you still get to go Neji play right? That'll be fun."

"Kankurou?...I—I gotta ask you something," Gaara said in a quiet voice.

"'Sup?" Kankurou asked, sitting down at his desk.

"P—Principle Ts—Tsunade showed m—me the…the thing that Itachi had in his pocket. The one w—with the drug in it…"

"Mhmm?" Kankurou asked, not sure where he was going with this.

"D—d…do y—you do d—drugs too?" he asked in a tiny little voice that reminded Kankurou of a mouse.

Kankurou's eyes widened immensely. "No!" he cried, slightly startled. "I…I did…once…a long time ago in middle school, but I haven't since. What makes you think I do?"

Gaara stared at his feet, unsure of how to put into words what he wanted to say. He seemed unwilling to confront Kankurou about it, but Kankurou was patient. "N—nothing. Never mind, it was stupid t—to ask," Gaara said quickly. "I—I didn't think you were, b—but…"

"But?"

"I—I—I s—saw you—you go t—to school a f—few times with those th—things in—in your p—pockets…" Gaara stammered around the sleeve that was now in his mouth. "B—but you don't have them w—when you come h—home…"

Kankurou blinked slowly and turned away from him. He had known this would happen eventually; with Temari or Gaara he hadn't been sure. Gaara wasn't stupid, he could always notice the little things and put two and two together, even if he didn't confront or voice his conclusions. He twirled back and forth in his chair with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Itachi…bought those drugs yesterday morning," Kankurou told him. "He—he bought them from me."

Gaara stared wide eyed at him, taking in what he hadn't suspected. Memories floated back to him as he remembered things that pointed to this fact.

Flashback

"Ichu Meato." Gaara said. "Who's that?"

"Here," Kankurou took the phone. "Yeah?" he said into it. "….what? are you serious?...when….alright I'll be there." Kankurou hung up and got off the bed. "I have to go. I'll be back later, kay?"

"Where're you going?"

"…out…"

"I thought you would give me a discount cause that was nice of me."

"A discount?" Gaara asked, looking up at his brother.

Kankurou laughed. "He buys candy from me sometimes."

"You," their father said, "better get your sorry ass to school before I forget the deal we made. I'm sure that bastard would love to know the dark secrets of his precious big brother."

End Flashback

"Is that what you and U—Ukon were talking about…and what dad's always threatening you with?" he asked quietly.

"Mhmm…I didn't want you to know…Temari doesn't know either. I guess I like being a cool big brother to you two. I didn't want you to think less of me because of it."

"That's w—where you get all that money from? The money you buy my clothes with? A—and the make up and stuff for Temari?"

"Yeah, that money is for you guys and whatever you need. I'm saving up so I can take you two away from here. You don't deserve any of this; none of it. You have no idea how happy it makes me that you had fun with Neji…that you have Neji," Kankurou told him, with a smile.

"And you have Kyu! And Temari has Shikamaru!" Gaara said smiling.

"Yea—what? Temari has what?"

"Shi…kamaru…"Gaara said, blinking in confusion.

Kankurou stared at him with a blank face. "Who?"

"Sh—Sh—Shikamaru!" Gaara stammered.

"Who's that?"

"T—Temari's boyfriend…"

Kankurou stood and walked out of the room. "Temari!" he shouted.

"What?" she called from the kitchen.

Kankurou stormed down the stairs, ignoring their father's shouts for silence, leaving Gaara alone in the room staring after him. With a sigh, he looked down at himself and realized he wasn't wearing a shirt and automatically wrapped his arms around himself. Peeking out of Kankurou's room, he searched for signs of movement, then quietly snuck across the hall to the room there. Swallowing nervously, he opened the door and looked in. Neji's hoodie was still lying on the floor where his father had thrown it. Shaking slightly in fear, Gaara ran into the room, grabbed the hoodie and ran back out to Kankurou's room and hid behind the bed, hugging the material, still damp from the rain close to him.

Burn this he would not!

When Kankurou came back upstairs from his interrogating his sister, which ended up with Temari showing her evil side, which ended up in a shouting match, which ended with their father coming down and yelling at them to be quiet, Gaara was sleeping on floor on the opposite side of the bed closest to the window. Kankurou went over to him and saw that he was tightly hugging Neji's hoodie to him, and smiled. Bending down, he gently lifted Gaara up off the floor and placed him on the bed then laid down himself. Gaara sniffed and opened his eyes sleepily.

"Hey…Go back to sleep," Kankurou said, patting his arm and turning the main lights off. "You like that hoodie dontcha?"

"Neji's…" Gaara mumbled, eyes half closed.

"I know," Kankurou said smiling.

"I love Neji," Gaara's sleepy voice murmured.

"I know you do," Kankurou said. "He loves you too."

"He told me he did…" Gaara whispered before falling back asleep.

Kankurou's smile widened and he laid back staring at the ceiling. He felt very happy, but something was bothering him. It was a little tiny nagging thing in the back of his mind, but he dismissed it and closed his eyes, thinking of Gaara and Temari and of Kyu. Quite happy indeed.

The next day was very quiet for the three of them. None of them did much at all. Gaara went back and forth from Temari and Kankurou's room, trying to entertain himself. It didn't really work; Kankurou wasn't doing much other then reading and listening to music and he didn't really understand what was going on in Temari's chat room. Kankurou had laughed at him as he came in for the fifth time and said that he'd never seen him so restless.

"There's nothing to do," Gaara mumbled.

"Call Neji." Kankurou suggested.

Gaara made an unsure face and looked away. "I don't wanna bother him again…"

"Call Haku, he'll be thrilled."

"I don't know Haku's phone number…"

"It's in my phone."

"I don't wanna talk to Haku…"

Kankurou propped his head up on his elbow and gave him a look. "You're just excited about tonight, you know," he said. "Call Neji, he'll wanna know you're ok."

"But, I don't wanna bother him…"

"Gaara," Kankurou said, giving him a look. "Think about it. You won't be bothering him."

Sighing, Gaara left the room again and went down stairs to find the phone.

Later that night, Kankurou felt his phone vibrate against his leg. He turned his head phones off and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"I want to make a purchase," said the voice on the other end. Kankurou recognized it, but couldn't place it. "Meet me at the usual spot by the Graffiti alley."

Kankurou sighed. "When?"

"Now would be good. I need some shit."

"Fine. I'll be there. Ten minutes."

Kankurou hung up and tossed his phone to the side. Stupid druggies. He was ok to leave though. He wouldn't have to worry about anyone being home alone with their father. Temari had already left to go to a party and he could be back long before she was. Their father had already said Gaara could go to Neji's soccer game and he would probably stay with Neji afterwards as well.

As if on cue, Gaara knocked and came in sitting down on the floor. He'd just gotten out of the shower so his hair was still wet. Kankurou smiled at the back of his head. Gaara had been doing that for a very long time now; just randomly come into his room when he was there. He'd sit down on the floor next to his bed and just stay there. Sometime he would talk, but usually he just sat. He'd started doing it at night when he was little, Kankurou remembered. When he developed his insomnia from the nightmares his father left him with, he'd come in and just sit by his bed. As they grew older and his father got worse, he came in more often. He felt safe with Kankurou even if they didn't say anything to each other. It made Kankurou feel good, knowing Gaara, who rarely trusts anyone anymore, trusted him.

"Hey," Kankurou said, moving over to look over the bed at him. "What time are you leaving?"

"Fifteen minutes," Gaara replied as if he'd been counting down the minutes and seconds.

'Shit..' He must have made a weird face as he rolled back to the middle of the bed because Gaara turned around to face him and asked what was wrong. "Nothing," Kankurou replied. "I've just gotta go somewhere in about five minutes."

"You can go," Gaara said. "You don't have to stay with me all the time."

"I know," Kankurou said. "I just don't want anything to happen. I donno why, I just got a bad feeling."

"Go, I'll be fine," Gaara said frowning. "Its only ten minutes and I can leave early if you want. I'm just walking to the school."

"You sure?" Kankurou asked, giving him a stern look.

"Yes."

"Ok," Kankurou said, slipping his head phones back on. Gaara looked at him judgingly for a minute then turned back around to face the door.

"You're going with that stuff aren't you?"

Kankurou closed his eyes, pained, and stopped himself from turning his music back on. He slipped the headphones off his ears again and turned back to Gaara. "Yeah," he said quietly. "Are you upset?"

"I—I donno…" Gaara said, looking down at his knees. "I don't like it…but I'm not your boss…"

"I care about what you think."

"B—but it's a good thing you're doing with it…I'm all confused…" Gaara told him.

Kankurou grinned lopsided at the back of his head. "I'll stop if you want me to…"

Gaara shrugged slightly and left it at that. After the short five minutes were up, Kankurou got up and grabbed his coat and cell phone. Gaara watched him, his face blank, not letting anything he was thinking get out. Kankurou smiled down at him and ruffled his still damp hair as he turned to the door.

"Have fun," he said.

"'kay," Gaara said, smiling back.

Kankurou left going out the back door and cutting through the backyard since it was faster.

Gaara sat in his own silence for the next few minutes. He didn't know what to think about this. Drugs were bad. Very bad. But Kankurou was using them to help Temari and him, so it was good, but still bad. He was worried Kankurou would get hurt, but Kankurou could take care of himself and wouldn't do anything that would hurt him and Temari.

Kankurou had finally gotten a clock in his room and Gaara glanced at it. All thoughts of Kankurou disappeared when he realized it was time to leave. He got up and left the room, pulling Neji's hoodie on over his long sleeve t shirt so he wouldn't forget to give it back to him. Smiling happily to himself, he headed down stairs.

Just as he reached the last step, the front door opened and three men walked in.

Gaara froze. No warning. No where to hide.

Why were they here?

His father's friends.

They saw him almost immediately and sadistic grins spread across their faces. Gaara turned and tried to run, hoping to get out the back door, but they grabbed him and held him down.

"Where're you going?" they demanded.

"My dad knows I'm going!" Gaara cried. "He said it was ok!"

"Yeah, sure he did," they said sarcastically, dragging him up the stairs. They opened the door to his father's room and tossed him on the floor. His father looked up from where he sat on his bed with his lap top. "You're letting this kid leave?" they asked.

"He's going to some shitty school thing with his boyfriend," his father said, waving it off.

"What are we suppose to do then?"

"We can't have some entertainment?"

Gaara glared at the floor as he slowly stood. They called beating him for stupid reasons they randomly came up with entertainment?

The man closest to him seemed to read him mind. He moved up to Gaara and grabbed his chin. "Not that kind of entertainment," he said. "Not tonight at least." Gaara gave him a confused look then gasped as he reached down and groped the inside of his legs. Gaara tried moving away but the other two came and held him down. "So you like boys do you?"

Gaara whimpered and tried to squirm away from them, but they held him tight. They looked at his father in question.

His father shrugged and lit a cigarette. "I don't care," he said, before turned back to whatever he'd been doing.

Neji stepped out on the field and stood in his position, totally focused on the game. He stared the other team members down, getting into a stance he could move quickly in. He glanced back at his other team mates. Any differences were settled here; they weren't important now. The crowd was cheering loudly, but their faces were blank blurs to all players on the field. Breath was baited as the ref slowly walked out onto center field, placing the white and black ball in its starting position.

The ref spoke a few words for the players, but Neji didn't hear him. He'd heard the words before and didn't need to hear them again. He'd memorized them. The ref brought the whistle to his lips, but didn't blow it right away. The crowd watched, quiet for once, waiting for the whistle to blow. Neji felt as though he could break the tension in the air just by blowing on it.

Damn he loved this.

The ref blew his whistle and the battle began.

Kankurou trudged grudgingly down the street with his hands shoved into his pockets. It was pretty warm out for an evening. He didn't need to take his coat; it was just out of habit. He let his thoughts drift around as he walked. His feet knew where to go. His thoughts fell on his brother and sister and why he was doing this in the first place. It was stupid he knew. But it was all his mind could come up with when he first sold someone stuff he'd stolen out of his father's cabinet and realized how much this stuff made.

Temari was guessing, he was sure. She wasn't stupid and he knew she heard the rumors at school when he got expelled…the first three times. If she didn't get that she was denser then he thought. But she said anything to him. He never told her either. He wouldn't have told Gaara if he hadn't asked him. He didn't want to get their hopes up. They were so close. They could leave, be free.

The guy he was meeting wasn't there. Maybe he was running late. Kankurou didn't think about it and it didn't bother him. He leaned against the graffitied wall and looked up at the sky. Waiting, his thoughts wandered again.

Temari didn't bother to knock as she entered the house emitting loud music and shouts of teens. No one else was knocking. As she entered so smiled and greeted the people standing by the door. The host of the party ran over to her squealing in delight then led her deeper in the house. Temari passed her classmates, some she knew from school some she'd never seen before, all drunk or high or near to one or both. But they were all here to have fun. She was to, but it was for a different reason. She took the glass the host handed her, smelling strongly of alcohol then turned and looked for a place to sit and drown her troubles.

Kankurou frowned. His druggie was late. He stared at his watch for the sixteenth time, glaring at the time. He was about to leave when he heard footsteps tapping on the gravel around the corner. Kankurou half turned towards the noise, eye brows rising, first in surprise then in anger.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Gaara screamed. He couldn't help it. They told him to be quiet, he'd always listened before, but the pain had never been like this. Each time he screamed, another blow came, followed by more of the torture. He ran out of tears to cry but his face was still soaked and his ears were ringing with the laughter of his tormentors. It hurt so bad, it was beyond description for him. Something wet was running down his legs and he highly suspected that it was his own blood. His throat was raw from all his shouting. Calling desperately for his brother, but Kankurou wasn't home, wasn't in the area. He didn't know where he was. The four around him reminded him of this constantly, laughing at his pain. They jeered and laughed and hit him and hurt him. Not stopping, not giving him any peace.

He would have preferred being alone in the dark place.

"What would your precious Neji think of you now?"

The words hit him harder then anything. They made him die inside. His insides crumbled and began to feel cold and numb. He wrapped his arms around himself trying to get warm again, but couldn't. He wasn't physically cold.

Neji.

'…no…'

They hit him, seeing he wasn't paying them attention, and yelled. Some one else grabbed him and the pain started again afresh. His arms were wrenched from his sides, rendering him helpless against everything.

He would have preferred being alone in the dark place.

Kankurou got off the wall and glared at the boy standing by the entrance to the alley.

"I thought I told you I didn't want to see your face again," Kankurou said angrily.

"Oh, I know," Itachi said, smirking. "It's just that…I had to see your face."

"What?"

"I wanted to see your face…when it gets arrested."

Kankurou's eyes widened as the sound of a police car siren. Itachi turned and darted away, down a side alley. Kankurou darted after him, knowing that was the safest route out. He didn't get far though, as a pair of hands grabbed him from behind, pulling him off balance. He shook the hands off and started running again. This time several pairs of hands grabbed him from all angles and pulled him down. He fought, but there were more of them and he soon found himself pinned face down, nose bleeding, and his hands being cuffed behind his back. Desperate, he tried to think of a way out of this, but nothing came to him.

He was caught.

Temari glared at the fourteenth boy that sat next to her, trying to hook up with her. Disregarding all previous methods, she kicked him where it counts and let him slump away clutching the pained area groaning. Temari rolled her eyes and finished her drink, then got up and walked over to get more. She found a more deserted area and crawled into it, thinking of her brothers.

Kankurou and Gaara dealt with their problems together. They were each other's security blankets of a sort. They both always made sure that she was ok, but she could tell that she was more distant then they were to each other. She was jealous of it, but she knew that they needed it, especially Gaara. This was her way out. She glared at the cup in her hand. She was already feeling strange.

How many had she had so far?

Four large glasses?

She didn't care anymore and started drinking the rest of her glass.

Gaara fell to the ground as the man holding him pulled himself out of him and threw him to the ground. He shivered and shook with pain. Blood was running down his legs and onto the floor, but no one seemed to care. His nose was bleeding, so was his mouth, it was hard to breath.

Cracking his eyes open, he saw a pair of feet near his head. He looked up and saw his father looking down at him. With a shaking hand he reached out and took the edge of his father's pants.

"Please….dad….it hurts, daddy…please stop…I'm sorry, I'm sorry!…please…"

His father stared down at him, his face emotionless, not answering. He glanced at his friend as he reached out and picked Gaara up off the floor, laughing. Shoving Gaara's face into his waist he laughed harder as Gaara whimpered, but complied, too hurt to care.

"Stop. That's enough."

The three men stopped laughing and stared at him, then backed off. Gaara's father took him from his friend and stood him up onto his feet, but Gaara couldn't support his own weight and fell back to the floor with a dull thud.

"Gaara!" his father snapped sternly. "Get dressed and get out. Now."

After some how getting most of his clothes on, Gaara crawled away, out of the room and into the bathroom. Hurt, pain, disgust, shame. That was all he knew. Blood was quick to soak through his clothes and drip onto the floor, but Gaara didn't see it.

'What would you precious Neji think of you now?'

'No…' Gaara sobbed, shaking all over. They stole him. They stole him from the one person he had ever loved. He was broken inside and so dirty outside. He would never be able to clean it off.

Why was he so weak?

Why couldn't he ever fight back?

What did he ever do that was so wrong?

Neji frowned as he darted through the crowd of people. Many were trying to congratulate him, but they were only getting in his way. He ran up to his uncle and two cousins; he hadn't even bothered to change out of his uniform.

"Where's Gaara?" Neji asked, panting.

"Hello to you too," Hanabi said, sourly in her eight year old-trying-to-sound-older voice.

"He's not here," Hinata replied in her soft slow voice. "He didn't come."

"What do you mean he didn't come?" Neji cried, panic spreading across his face.

"He's not here, Neji," his uncle told him. "Perhaps…he…" he stopped, Gaara wouldn't have forgotten, "…couldn't make it."

Neji's eyes widened and he turned and ran away from them, rushing towards the street. Someone grabbed his arm, yanking him back. Turning angrily, his eyes fell on his uncle who was looking at him in confusion.

"What the fuck?" he shouted. "Let me go!"

"Neji! Calm down!" Hiashi said, shaking him slightly.

Neji was beyond calming down. "I need to get to Gaara's!"

"I'll take you, come on."

Light blurred. Dark blurred. Sound blurred. Everything blurred. It was like looking through a magnifying glass at the wrong angle. She was in a car. One of the host's friends who hadn't drunken a drop of alcohol was driving her home. She had tried to call Kankurou, but she couldn't find the number in her drunken mind and the buttons were unfocused. She was sitting in the passenger's side, vaguely aware of the seat belt holding her down and the motion of the car. She stared at the lights as they went by, dazzled by their brilliance. She smiled at them and pointed one out to the girl driving.

The girl screamed.

Glass shattered. Metal scraped. The light blinded her.

Temari's world went completely black.

Gaara stared wide-eyed, terrified at the closed bathroom door as the door to his father's room opened and the four men stepped out. 'Please don't come in here!' was the only thought screaming in head. He didn't want them to see him like this. They would find it amusing, his pain, but then he never wanted to see them again anyway.

They didn't come in though. They went downstairs and left the house. He heard their cars pull away.

He didn't know when he stood up, but he suddenly found himself staring into the mirror over the sink. He found himself hating the creature that stared back. It's scrawny, scared and vulnerable body shaking like a scared dog. Red hair was plastered to his forehead from sweat, or hanging lank and lifeless from his head. Green eyes, red from the salty tears that soaked his face, showed every hurting emotion he felt like a book. He realized that putting his clothes back on had been a useless movement. His father and his friends had torn at them to get them off of him. His shirt and pants were in rags, showing his scars and burns. Neji's hoodie was still in his father's room somewhere.

He held up his shaking hands and looked down at them, then back up at the mirror.

"I hate you!" he screamed at the creature in the mirror, who silently screamed back. He grabbed the mirror in a blinding fury, tearing it from the wall and threw it on the floor. It shattered, sending glass in every direction. There were pieces in his bare feet and legs, but he didn't notice. He screamed in pain from the hurting emotions that filled him to the brim, spilling over and obscuring his thoughts. Dropping to the floor, gasping for breath, he noticed a rather large, jagged piece not far from his hand.

Neji nervously chewed on his thumb nail as Hiashi drove him to Gaara's house.

Something had happened. Something big, and something very bad. Where was Kankurou? He wouldn't have let him miss the game. Kankurou would have made sure he was there, even if his father said no. They were almost there, but they hit the last red light.

Neji silently cursed. This light always took forever. Groaning loudly, he quickly took his seatbelt off and opened the door. Hanabi freaked out and yelled at him to get back into the car, but he ignored her. As soon as his feet hit the ground he took off, causing screeching cars and angry drivers as he ran across the road, but he didn't hear them. He ran all the way to the house.

As he turned onto Gaara's street he saw four cars turning out. One was Gaara's father. He didn't see Neji though, and Neji didn't want to waste any time. He ran up to the door, pulling it open and darted inside. He paused, not sure of where to start looking for Gaara. He heard a shatter and a scream of agony from upstairs. Mounting them three at a time, he reached the top and grabbed the bathroom door, yanking it open.

Though what happened next only took about six seconds, it felt like forever to Neji. When he opened the door, he saw Gaara sitting on the floor, bruised and torn, bleeding badly with glass all around him and embedded in him. He had a piece of glass in his hand, ready to cut himself open, stopping the physical and emotional pain he was obviously going through. He seemed delirious and didn't answer when Neji called to him. As he called, he ran over and grabbed his hand, preventing the blow.

"Stop it Gaara! Don't do it!" Neji shouted, wrestling the glass from the boy's hand, accidentally cutting his own hand in the process. He didn't know why he shouted. Maybe he was scared, or thought Gaara wouldn't hear him if he didn't.

"No!" Gaara screamed, breaking the grip on his wrist. He cowered away, sobbing as he did. "D—don't hurt me! Don't touch me! Please don't touch me!"

"Gaara stop! It's ok! It's me, Neji!" Neji said.

Gaara stared at him like a scared child. He seemed to realize that it was him, but that made it worse. "No! Go away! Don't look at me!" he cried, covering his face with his arms and trying to back away from him. "Please! I'm disgusting! Don't look at me! Don't touch me!"

Neji pushed the glass away from the floor and knelt down in front of him. "Why Gaara? What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"Leave me alone!" Gaara screamed. "Don't look at me, Neji, please! I'm disgusting!"

"What are you talking about?"

Neji tried reaching out to touch him, but as soon as he did, Gaara freaked and moved away, cutting his hands and body on the glass. Neji wrapped his arms around him and held him tight to keep him from cutting himself further. The smaller boy thrashed around, desperate to get away, screaming to not be touched, but Neji didn't let go and he was stronger. Gaara soon lost his energy and collapsed in his embrace, but continued sobbing and begging in a quiet, pitiful voice to not be touched.

"Oh, my God."

Neji looked up at his uncle, standing in the doorway, staring in horror at what he suspected, but never knew. Neji choked on his own sobs and held Gaara tighter, tears streaming down his face.