Haunted
By: Junsui Kegasu
A/N: I return! I am SO inspired right now for no reason, I swear. I was just so mad yesterday when there was no KankyGaa, so I was like "POSTING. NOW. I DON'T CARE!" And yeah. Viva la Haunted. Excuse my probably horrible French. O.o
Oh, and as I'm typing this, the theme song for this story is playing! (twilight zone music) Haunted by Evanescence. If you haven't heard it, here are the lyrics. It's more a song from Gaara to Neji, I guess. (trying to waste space 9.9)
"Haunted"
Long lost words whisper slowly to me
Still can't find what keeps me here
When all this time I've been so hollow inside
(I know you're still there)
Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Fearing you loving you
I won't let you pull me down
Hunting you I can smell you - alive
Your heart pounding in my head
Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Saving me, raping me, watching me
Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Fearing you... loving you
I won't let you pull me down
Although, I'm not raping Gaara in this. Nope. Not this time!
NOTE! Flashbacks are in italicized font. Temari and Kankurou are related, but Gaara isn't. I have named Gaara's mother Kasuka and his father Shichi. They needed names.
Disclaimer: F. U. (angry face) (I hate disclaimers. Grr…)
Crying, Kankurou decided, was not the best thing for Gaara to have done. It had only succeeded in making the younger man sicker, and he was afraid of going to work and leaving him alone.
Again, he looked at the phone in his hands. All he had to do was ask his boss if he could start at 12:30 PMinstead of 4:30 AM – the shift he was supposed to start at. He knew that the man he worked for, Morino Ibiki did not tolerate skipping days, although he did think Kankurou needed more off days. So, he concluded, he could get Temari to watch him when he went to work.
That thought made him feel horrible. Like he was purposely trying to get Gaara babysat, which he wasn't. But, from experience with Gaara's weak immune system, leaving him home alone when he was running a fever of 103, no matter how old he was, was a bad idea.
Sirens. That's all he heard. He didn't know where they were coming from, but they scared him.
"'Ri? 'Ri-chan? Wh-what's going on?"
His older sister forced a smile.
"N-nuffin, Kanky-kun"
"Then why are there sirens? And why's Kasuka-chan crying?"
Temari sighed. The eight-year-old was too smart for his own good.
"Because Gaara-chan got sick. Really sick."
"But wasn't Kasuka-chan there? She always makes sure he gets better." Kankurou frowned. Kasuka-chan ALWAYS was sure to take care of Gaara! Always!
"No…she was at work…she couldn't get out of it, they said."
"Oh…so, is Gaara-chan really sick because Kasuka-chan wasn't there to take care of him?" A horrible thought crossed the eight-year-old's mind. "Is Gaara-chan gonna DIE?"
"NO! No! Th-they're gonna save him!" Temari exclaimed, hugging Kankurou tightly. "They're gonna make him all better!"
He sighed, remembering that day. Gaara had been home sick with the flu, and his mother couldn't get out of work. Her boss was a very religious man, Jehovah's Witness. (I know people of this religion, and I know that they can get really strict about stuff like this. Do not flame me and say that I'm offending said religion, because I'm not trying to.) He didn't like it that she had divorced her husband and was completely independent, being both old-fashioned and strongly religious. He wouldn't tolerate anything like asking for a sick day.
She didn't want to leave her six year old alone, but she couldn't risk losing her job, being a single parent. She had only been separated from Gaara's father for a few weeks, and they were both still adjusting to the new environment. So, she had chosen work, calling every two hours or so to make sure her six year old was okay.
The last call before her lunch break, which was just before she was coming home, Gaara hadn't picked up the phone. She had been worried, but told herself that maybe the boy was just sleeping. He needed all the rest he could get.
In truth, he had slipped into a coma and had been running a fever of 106 by the time had got there. She hadn't known about the coma, but his fever was high enough to scare her into calling 911.
Kankurou hadn't thought about it since that day, but he would've died had the paramedics been later. He glanced down at the completely out of it teen in his arms, and back at the phone.
He wasn't going to let what happened all those years ago repeat. It had scared everyone. Hugging the dazed boy slightly, he dialed the number of the café.
"Maoshimao Café, how can I be of service?" The voice was tired, as if he'd been working all night. Kankurou recognized it almost instantly.
"Hey, Kakashi, is Ibiki in?"
He could almost see the silver haired man scratch his ear and look around, like he always did.
"Nah. Not yet. He isn't coming in 'till 4:30."
Kankurou glanced at the clock. 3:30. "Oh. Well, who can I talk to in order to get a day off?" Never doing this before, he didn't really know whom he could talk to if Ibiki wasn't there.
He heard something that sounded like coffee being spit out in surprise. "Wait, wait, this is Kankurou?"
"Uh…yeah. Last time I checked."
"You want a day off?"
"Uh…yeah."
"WHY? Kankurou, you NEVER want a day off. EVER." He could practically see the one eye Kakashi kept visible through his hair widen in shock.
"Because…I have a friend who came over late last night and he got real sick and I don't wanna leave him alone."
"Kankurou, we're all adults here!"
"…Kakashi, why are you complaining that I'm asking for a day off?"
"I'm not, I'm not. Alright. I'll tell Ibiki that you called in for a…"
"No, no, I don't want the entire day off. Can I come at 12:30 instead of 4:30?"
"Kankurou, you are SUCH a workaholic."
"I need the money, what can I say?" he said, sheepishly.
"K-kank'rou…"
The slurred speech turned his attention to Gaara, who sat leaning his entire weight on him. He didn't weigh a lot, so he really didn't mind. Plus, the redhead didn't seem like he could support his own weight right now.
"K-kank'rou…please…please don't ch-change your schedule f-for me…"
He sounded so pathetic. That only strengthened Kankurou's decision to stay with him until Temari could watch him. "No, Gaara, I'm not leaving you home alone like this. And you're not going back to Neji's until you're better."
He heard Kakashi on the other line. "Eh? Kankurou? Did you hear me?"
"No, sorry, could you repeat that?"
He heard a crash that sounded like the older man had fallen off his chair. "I SAID you could come in at 12:30 if you really wanted, and Ibiki will call you if he thinks otherwise when he gets here, aight?"
"Alright. Thanks Kakashi."
"Bye, you ass."
"…" he was about to question the insult, but Kakashi had hung up on him. He shrugged. That was okay. Kakashi was probably just tired. Not everyone had insomnia.
He looked back down at Gaara. The younger man had said that the chances were he wasn't going to fall asleep, but his eyes were drooping shut now. Kankurou wasn't sure, though, it might've been an effect from his fever. Just like how his face was flushed and the rest of his skin seemed paler than usual.
Sighing, Kankurou decided to watch television quietly, seeing as he really couldn't move from his spot with Gaara attached to him. Not like he minded, or anything.
'Okay, mind, this is getting very random. Do I really like Gaara in…that way?' he asked himself, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. Unlike Gaara in his younger teens, he wasn't schizophrenic.
Remembering it, he nearly shuddered. It had really scared him when the younger boy would talk to himself and hear things that had never been spoken. He was glad Gaara was over it.
He watched some mindless movie where these two African American men dressed up as blondes and tried to win some contest.
Stupid.
But it took up time, and he'd rather keep his mind on that than other things right now. Partway through the movie, at around 5:00, he noticed that Gaara had fallen asleep on him, his breathing even, but shallow. He was also shivering gently in his sleep, despite the too-big hoodie and blanket that had pooled around his waist.
He picked up the teen gently and set him on the couch, tucking in the blanket around his thin frame and deciding that now was a good time to start working on fixing the space heater.
Not very technologically advanced, it had taken Kankurou three hours to finally get the small contraption to do its job right. By then, sunlight had flooded most of the rooms, although it was still cold. Setting it up by where Gaara was on his couch, he realized that he still hadn't called Temari and her fiance, Shikamaru. Shikamaru was also aware of Gaara's situation with Neji, and Temari had been not quite as close to the redhead as Kankurou, but nearly there, so she knew everything as well.
Not really caring about the fact that his older sister was DEFINITELY not awake yet, he pulled out the phone again, and checking to make sure Gaara was still asleep, dialed Temari's number.
He got the machine.
"Hey, Tem', it's me. Uh, I-"
Midway through the message, someone picked up. "Hey, Kankurou."
"Hey, Shikamaru!" Out of all of Temari's high school boyfriends, Shikamaru had been the only one that Kankurou had remotely liked. He was very pleased when she chose to marry him because of the fact they got along so well.
"So, what's up? Why are you calling this early? You know that we hate mornings!"
"Yeah, but I kind of have an urgent thing…"
It must've been the tone of his voice, because all jest dropped from Shikamaru's. "Oh…what's up?"
"Well…" Kankurou contemplated how much he should tell him. "Uh…Gaara kind of came in last night…and he got real sick and I don't wanna leave him alone."
In the background, he could hear another voice. "Is that Temari?"
"Yeah. Here, talk to her about this; I need to get ready for work. My shift is at nine."
'…Why the heck was he still asleep, then?' Kankurou pushed the thought aside.
"Kankurou?"
"Hey, Temari."
"Oh! Hi! God, you haven't called in so long!" she almost started rambling about how they hadn't seen each other in 'forever', but Kankurou cut her off.
"I kind of have a situation…"
"What…kind of situation?" she sounded worried.
"Oh, it's not that bad, but Gaara came in last night real late and he got really sick and I don't want to leave him alone, but I have to get to work at 12:30. Do you think you could watch him for me? I hate to sound like he needs a babysitter but…" he trailed off. Temari remembered what had happened. She had been just as scared as him.
"Oh…oh…yeah, I'm not working today, I'll come over! Do you want me over now or just when you leave?"
"Mm…whatever works for you. He's sleeping right now, which is a good thing. His insomnia is worse than mine."
He could practically see her nodding vigorously in that 'Temari-way' she always did. "Mhm, sleep is good for him! Oh…I haven't seen Gaara-chan in so long! Longer than you! It'll be good to see him again, even if he is sick. Alright. You still live at the same place?"
"Of course. I'm working on getting enough money to move out, though, so I'm putting in a lot of overtime at the café. You should stop by sometime."
"Sure! I'd love to! Alright, I'll be right over."
"Okay, thanks Temari."
He hung up and almost smiled. His sister was still the same as ever. That was good. As a teenager, it had been his greatest fear that when they all grew up, they would change and stray from each other. They really hadn't. Temari and him just didn't see as much of each other as they would've liked. It was okay, because when they did see each other, it was like nothing had ever changed.
Temari didn't see much of Gaara at all, but she was always willing and glad to do so. Kankurou had kept very close contact with the boy, and vowed to let him stay with him if Neji got too rough.
Gaara's mother didn't know about what Neji did to her son. All she knew is that they were together. Every so often, she'd visit him, Gaara said, but it wasn't a lot, and she wished that her son would move back in with her.
Gaara said that he didn't want to get in the way of her job, and his mother, being in the same mind-frame, protested until they got nowhere and Gaara still lived with Neji. That's just how it was.
He smiled gently when one of Gaara's small, pale hands made a tiny fist in the blanket. He looked so much younger than eighteen when he slept. So much more peaceful.
A knock sounded at the door. Kankurou moved from his place in the living-room to the door, opening it and letting Temari come in.
"Hey. He's asleep on the couch." He said, quietly.
Temari nodded and removed her shoes and jacket, quietly taking a peek in. "Oh, wow…he doesn't look a day older than 15…He's still so small…"
Kankurou nodded in agreement. "You can watch TV, watch him, do whatever you want. Make yourself at home." He said casually. "It's only about 8:15, and I don't need to go anywhere 'till about noon, so feel free to do whatever you want."
Temari nodded, apparently content with staring at the redhead's sleeping frame. After a moment, of silence, she spoke again. "He's too thin…" she whispered.
Kankurou sighed. "I know he is. There isn't really anything I can do about it, either. He's told me that Neji, the bastard, is convinced he's fat, so he's trying to keep himself in check."
Temari shook her head. "That boy…he's way too concerned about what people think of him sometimes…like now." She said sadly.
"It's always been like that. High school just made it acute." Kankurou explained.
"Speaking of, isn't Gaara still in school?" Now she was just trying to make small talk and catch up whatever she had missed.
"No. High school was seriously doing nothing for him. He did the work just fine, and it bored him. He talked to his mom about that and she let him drop out a little before his 17th birthday. That's when he moved in with Neji." He felt a fist clench at the mention of the boy. Gaara wouldn't leave him, no, but if the man was going to hit him, why didn't he just break up with the younger teen? It didn't make sense. He obviously didn't want anything romantic out of Gaara.
"What about Neji? Wouldn't Neji have been in high school too? Didn't he go to school with us?" she asked, frowning at the probable answer.
"Neji dropped out too. When he was sixteen, so before he met Gaara. He met Gaara about a month after Gaara turned sixteen and then everything just kind of happened and they were happy back then." Kankurou said somberly.
Temari gave the sleeping figure a sad smile. "Yeah…Hey, when he wakes up, he's gonna need something to eat. Do you have chicken soup or anything?" she asked, changing the subject.
'…Crap.' He hadn't managed to go out and get anything. "I've been doing so much overtime lately, there is nothing edible in this apartment to eat. I can go out and get groceries, if you want."
"Yeah, that'll work. Uh, he's going to want something like chicken soup because he's sick."
".…and because he hasn't eaten in four days." Kankurou said bitterly. "Neji's fault, I can imagine."
Temari's eyes widened. "Oh…boy…you go really fast with those groceries!"
"He probably won't be awake anyways, but I will. I'll pick up some coffee-to-go too, alright?" His insomnia had caught up with him and now the only way he'd be able to stay awake was with a good, strong cup of coffee.
"Yeah, coffee would be nice. Thank ototo-chan!" she said as he walked out the door, trying to bring more cheer into the apartment.
Sighing, she turned back to Gaara, watching him sleep.
'What has life become?'
Wh00t! I am SO good! I'm updating so quickly it's not even funny. It's like…magical. Alright, next, I'm to work on the 18th chapter of LaF and then I'll get to the third one of this, alright?
With all this chapter stuff, when am I gonna have time to get my Gaara costume ready? .
Oh, random reviews that I HAVE to answer.
Kanky-chan – My sanity? Dude, that was loooong gone. I'm friends with SAM and…(kind of) related to YOU! Dwindling sleep time? INSOMNIA ENDED LAST NIGHT! YAAAAAY! GO HAVING HALF YOUR BLOODSTREAM SUCKED OUT BY MOSQUITOS! Alright, I'm better.
Fantastical Queen Ebony Black – The story behind that (and I'm not sure if I'll actually explain it, so I'll tell you) is that Neji had called Gaara fat in a drunken rage and told him he didn't like fat boyfriends and he would leave him. This scared Gaara and while Neji obviously wouldn't feed him, he made no attempt to feed himself either, because he really loves Neji and even though he hits him, he would never leave him.