Haunted

By: Junsui Kegasu

A/N: I think I'm having writers' block for this. That'd be very, very bad. Like, I know what I want happening, and I know where it's going, but it's like ehhh….I'm gonna try to force it out for you guys though, okay? Okay. Let's get started!

Disclaimer: …………..(runs off to her room, screams into her pillow, and comes back) All better.

Oh, oh, and just because I feel like doing this before the chapter, some review answers!

Fantastical Queen Ebony Black – Looking back on the last chapter, yeah, I guess it was kind of exaggerated, but he mostly passed out because when he was dragged, it ripped off the newly-formed scab, and the carpet, which isn't exactly soft, ripped it open further, so he passed out mostly from pain and fever, 'cause he's really weak right now from getting sick because of his weak immune system. There's my excuse, but I do think that it was a little exaggerated.

Temari always hated hospitals. They were always so white; it was bothersome. It was like a white death chamber, and that scared her.

At least Gaara wasn't going to the ER or ICU. He just needed stitches, which was what her fiancé was working on now.

Taking a glance at Neji, she couldn't help but glare. She had never liked him. From the start, when it at least looked like Neji had loved Gaara, she could tell it wouldn't work out. Gaara was too skittish about even being embraced, and Neji didn't want to see that. He kept trying to go further.

But, of course, her baby-brother-figure could be extremely optimistic, and his love life was one of those times. He probably still believed that deep down, Neji still loved him and it'd be okay.

Even now, with his boyfriend in the hospital, Neji didn't look concerned. Though Gaara's wound wasn't severe, it was still something that she would be worried about. What if it had become infected? What if he got sicker? If he got sicker, he could really die!

Temari shook her head. She didn't need this. Not now. Now, she needed to stay strong and hope that Gaara would still be able to stay with Kankurou. He had told her that he wasn't letting Neji take him home until he wasn't running a fever, but there might be a change in plans now that the younger man had actually come to take Gaara home.

Speaking of Kankurou, she had yet to tell him this. She supposed she should; he'd freak out on her if she didn't. Sighing and standing up, she pulled out her cell phone, quickly telling Neji that she was going to step into another room for a moment.

The strange-eyed boy merely nodded and continued to stare at nothing. Temari couldn't even tell if he was thinking or not.

She found her way to another waiting room, but this one was completely empty, including the receptionist's desk. She quickly dialed Kankurou's work number and waited.

"Maoshimao Café, can I help you?"

"Hi, may I speak to Kazemiichi Kankurou?"

The voice changed from a business like tone to one she recognized.

"Speaking…" he sounded kind of wary.

"Um…Kankurou, um…Neji came to get Gaara." she started uneasily, unsure of his reaction.

There was silence on the other line for a while. "Oh god…He didn't take him, did he?" Kankurou asked worriedly.

"No…we're at the hospital." Before her little brother could freak out, she added, "His cut got worse when Neji tried to literally drag him home and he needs stitches."

She could practically feel his inner struggle. Kankurou hated upsetting his bosses; that was why he had gotten fired the last time. It had been another Gaara-incident, and the younger boy was in worse condition than he had been this time around. Temari and Shikamaru had been on vacation, and couldn't watch him, so he had stayed home with him. That boss hadn't been too kind about it.

"I'll ask Morino…I'll tell him it's an emergency…I doubt he'll care. Thanks for telling me. I'll be right over." He said. Something told Temari that he was probably scolding himself for not having his priorities right. She'd have to confront him about that.

Kankurou sighed and hung up the phone. Turning back to the register, he was faced with the many faces of his regular customers. Sighing, he told them all to please hold on a moment, and before they could go into an uproar about their coffee, went to find his boss.

"Morino?" he asked, plowing through a crowd of workers. "Morino!" he cried again, seeing him near the back. Making his way through, he noted that his boss didn't look pleased. That wasn't good.

"What is it? Why aren't you at the register?" he snapped. Kankurou sighed. "I…ah…kind of have an emergency…see…my friend…he's in the hospital right now…and I wanted to know if I'd be okay to go there…to be there with him. He isn't fond of hospitals."

Morino Ibiki stared at him, nearly disbelieving. "Kazemiichi Kankurou asking me for a day off? Go ahead, boy, I was assigning you a block of holidays anyways. I don't want to see you back here for another 2 weeks, got it? And your next paycheck will be in your mailbox by tomorrow. Because of all the overtime you've put in, don't even worry about being short on cash. Alright?"

Kankurou was about to protest, but then realized how good an opportunity this was and nodded, forcing a smile. "Alright. You won't be seeing me anywhere near here until then. Thanks a lot, Morino!" he cried, sprinting back through the crowd of workers, disgruntled customers, and out the door to his car.

The ride to the hospital seemed to take forever. Kankurou couldn't stop himself from worrying. If the cut worsened, would it get infected? He tried to tell himself that with Shikamaru taking care of it right away, it wouldn't, but he always stopped to consider Gaara's immune system.

'Well,' he mused, 'they'll find out, or clean the cut anyways. Ouch, that must hurt…I hope Gaara isn't really freaking out…'

He shook his head and forced himself to concentrate on the road. Why couldn't he stop worrying? Things like this wouldn't have bothered him nearly as much a year ago. A year ago, he would've been worried, but not this bad. Not to the point where he could barely see straight.

'I think I really do have a crush on him.' he concluded. Finding it didn't surprise him at all, he sighed. 'I really wish I could just take him away…from Neji, and everything else that could possibly hurt him…keep him safe with me…we could move somewhere together and take Temari and Shikamaru with us.'

Kankurou slammed on the brakes at a red light. Mentally scolding himself for getting lost in his musings, he couldn't help but wonder what the hell was wrong with him.

Forcing his concentration back on getting into the hospital parking lot ahead of him, he realized he had no clue where exactly in the hospital Gaara, Temari, and – he cringed at the thought of the younger boy – Neji were. He had never bothered to get a cell phone, trying to save up as much money as possible to get out of the apartment building he was in to somewhere within walking distance from Gaara and Neji, so he couldn't really call and ask.

He didn't have a lot of experience with hospitals. Surprisingly, even with his horrible immune system, Gaara didn't need to go to the hospital a lot. If he did, it was usually for things like a high fever or broken bones. The much-smaller boy was very fragile, and as a child, broke his wrists and ankles very easily, especially during physical education when things like running, skidding, and hitting a ball hard was required.

He never liked milk.

Pulling into the first empty parking space he could find, Kankurou walked into the double doors to the lobby. (Please excuse the probably incorrectness of all this, I've hardly had to go to the hospital, I think the last time I did was over a year ago when my friend got hit by a car, and I don't remember it.) He saw a lady at the receptionists' desk with long blond hair and an overdeveloped figure.

Not taking any time to really think about her, he walked up and, as politely as he could in his anxiety, asked where he could find Tereya Gaara. The lady pulled out a large book and skimmed through the names, finally stopping at Gaara's name and giving him directions.

"If they won't let you see him, there's a waiting room you can stay in," she concluded, her finger pointing in the direction where he would start off.

"Thanks," he nodded, and followed the digit's direction.

"No problem." The lady said after him, going back to her previous task, whatever that might have been.

Kankurou bit his lip. He really hoped Gaara wasn't freaking out.

"G-Gaara…Gaara, calm down!" Shikamaru stammered for the fourth time. "Don't make me sedate you! You're only here for stitches! Calm down, no one's going to hurt you!" the redhead had been hysterical since had he woken up when Shikamaru had left to go get utensils for stitches. Very, completely, and utterly troublesome.

Currently, the man was backed against the wall, eyes wide and breathing coming in ragged gasps. "No…no…I won't…won't let you…t-touch me," he said, his sentence broken by his irregular breathing. Shikamaru tried again.

"Gaara…you know me. It's Shikamaru! Remember? I put your shoulder back into place when you dislocated it…" he said calmly, trying to get the younger man's memory to jog.

"NO! G-GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Gaara screeched, finding a chair and hiding behind it. Luckily, his cut had been bandaged, somewhat, so he wasn't bleeding all over the place, but Shikamaru had already looked at it and cleaned it out. He would definitely need stitches.

Shikamaru realized exactly how troublesome it was going to be to sedate him like this. When he got into this condition, physical contact was completely off limits. It would only send him into a further state of hysteria. No. There were only two people that could calm him like this. One of which he knew was here.

"Nurse! Watch him!" he barked at the lady he knew was in the doorway. "Just make sure he doesn't hurt himself or anything. If you need to, sedate him, but something tells me that isn't going to happen in this state. I know someone here who can get him to calm down."

Not looking to see if the nurse listened to his order, he bolted out of the room and down the hall, attracting odd stares from many of his colleagues. This was very troublesome. Why did he choose this profession again? Oh, yeah, he was smart enough for it and it paid well.

Kankurou stared at the two people in the waiting room. While Temari looked worried – that wasn't new, Temari always worried – appropriately, Neji looked like he couldn't really care less.

This angered him. How could he, Gaara's boyfriend, not care? Why? Why was this angering him so much, anyways? Choosing to block it off, he took a seat in between the two, greeting Temari.

"Hey…" she managed weakly. She was really worried. Kankurou took a minute sense of relief in this, realizing that he wasn't the only one. "I really hope it's not infected…" she mused aloud, putting her head in her hands.

Kankurou frowned. "They're gonna clean it out anyways…he's not going to get sick…" he assured her, as well as himself, putting a caring hand on the slumped-over woman's back.

Turning back to Neji, he couldn't help but glare. The boy wasn't even remotely concerned. Truthfully, he looked like he didn't want to be here. His anger sparking, Kankurou couldn't help his thoughts being vocalized.

"Don't you care?" he snarled, causing the white-eyed boy to look at him. "Well?" he asked when no response was given.

"The bastard's weak enough to be here for a simple cut. That's pathetic," he said finally, completely and utterly emotionless.

Leaping to his feet, Kankurou felt his jaw drop. "He can't help that! He's always been like that!" he yelled, causing the receptionist to give him a look, but not say anything.

"He's always been weak, then?" Neji reciprocated, getting to his feet as well. "A little baby?"

Kankurou growled low in his throat. "He's strong. Just not in ways that most people are. He's gotta be strong to live with a bastard like you!"

"I'm a bastard? I'm not the one who's cheating on his boyfriend."

"HE'S NOT CHEATING ON YOU!" Kankurou screeched before he could stop himself. The receptionist told him to quiet down. Apologizing, he sat again, glaring daggers.

"Then why is he always with you?" Neji demanded smugly, also sitting, his tone never changing in emotion or volume.

"Because as strong as he is, he can't take abuse all the time. Why the hell do you care if he's cheating on you or not?" Kankurou snarled, quieter than before, but still loud enough to get his point across.

"He has his uses," was the simple reply.

"Yeah, as your punching bag?"

"He cooks," Neji said simply, inspecting his nails.

"Only for you apparently! He thinks he's fat!"

"He is."

Before their argument could continue, a doctor burst through the double-doors: Shikamaru. "Kankurou? Oh, good God you're here, someone needs to get in there! He's freaking out!"

Kankurou stood. "I'll go," he offered instantly.

Neji stood with him. "No, I'll go. He's my boyfriend," he added smoothly.

Kankurou glared at him. "Not a chance in Hell. Shikamaru, you know he trusts me more than anything."

Shikamaru nodded. "Sorry Neji, I hardly know you," he said simply, glad he didn't need much more an excuse than that. Anything else would've been troublesome.

Leading Kankurou through the double doors, he sighed. "I have no idea why he's freaking out. It's like he doesn't recognize that it's me, which doesn't make sense unless he's having a panic attack. Is he prone to them?"

Kankurou stared. "Well…yeah, he has them every so often, but he's not really prone to them. Aren't you supposed to look at this stuff before you do all this crap?" he demanded, in a snappy mood after his argument.

"Too troublesome," was the reply. Before Kankurou could contradict him further, he added, "I thought it'd be an easy job. He was unconscious when he got here."

Turning into Gaara's room, Shikamaru wasn't surprised to see the boy still hiding behind the chair, this time shouting at the nurse.

"C-COME ANY CLOSER AND I'LL SCREAM! I'LL SCREAM SO L-LOUD THAT THE DEAF PEOPLE CAN H-HEAR IT!"

Kankurou quickly made his way across the room, kneeling in front of Gaara.

"Gaara! It's me, Kankurou! It's okay, please calm down!" he started, hoping that the sound of his voice might shake him out of the attack.

"D-don't come any closer!" Gaara said, his voice broken with panic, scooting back until he was against the wall.

Kankurou moved with him until he was only a couple of inches away from the shaking man.

"I-I'LL SCREAM!" he warned.

Disregarding the threat, Kankurou reached out and embraced him tightly, pulling the small, trembling frame against his chest. Gaara struggled at first, and then seemed to recognize Kankurou's voice from the soothing tone he was using, going still in Kankurou's arms. He was still shaking, and very tense.

"Does this have to be done like…right now? At this instant?" He asked tentatively. If he could, he wanted to see if he could get Gaara to loosen up a little bit.

Shikamaru considered it. "Well…while he's calm, I wanna try to do it right now…can you try to keep him talking? It might distract him from the pain of this numbing shot." He whispered, not wanting to really disturb the now-relaxed redhead. He wasn't sure if the boy was paying attention; he had managed to get the bandage off just fine.

Kankurou nodded. "So, Gaara, are you feeling okay? Like, are you feeling any sicker than this morning?" he asked quietly, shifting the boy in his arms so Shikamaru would have a better angle of the back of his head.

"W-well…my head kinda hurts now…" Gaara mumbled. "Mostly where the cut is…a-and…my throat hurts too…wh-what happened?" he asked, unsure of why he was now in Kankurou's arms.

"You had another panic attack…it's okay. That might be why your throat hurts, but we'll get your temperature soon, okay?"

"Done." Shikamaru cut in, throwing the used syringe in a bin.

Kankurou nodded and set him back on the operating table. While Gaara was still tense, especially in the neck and back, he looked like he wouldn't be able to keep himself up very easily, but Kankurou backed off anyways.

As soon as Gaara saw he was leaving him, he made a small noise that sounded much younger than his 18 years and reached out, grabbing a fistful of Kankurou's shirt and clinging to it.

Kankurou looked back up, smiling gently. "It's okay, Gaara; Shikamaru's here to help. Don't worry…" he said, trying to coax the boy away from himself.

Gaara made the little noise again and clung tighter, fear evident in those jade orbs he called eyes.

Shaking his head a little to keep thoughts of Gaara's gorgeous eyes out of his head, Kankurou moved back again, into clinging distance of the smaller man. As soon as he was near enough, Gaara leaned his head on Kankurou's shoulder. He was obviously tired.

Shikamaru shook his head. "I can't do it if he's like that…sorry," he said sheepishly, adding the apology at the fearful glance from Gaara.

Kankurou nodded, the initial shock from Gaara willingly telling him with his actions that he was feeling weak, and something else he couldn't explain wearing off.

"Gaara…" he said slowly, patting the man's head gently, slightly surprised at his actions. He blamed it on being sick and tired. "Gaara, it's okay. Shikamaru is safe." He tried to assure him, sitting Gaara up again and backing away a little.

Gaara made the noise, but seeing Kankurou seemed to calm his obvious fear of being in a hospital. He seemed out of it, or more like his panic attack hadn't completely faded yet. Kankurou just hoped it wouldn't get stronger, if that was the case.

He watched intently as Shikamaru's deft fingers worked their way over Gaara's head, sewing up the gash in the back. When he was finished, he applied a bandage, tying it tightly, then told Gaara he was free to go.

Nodding slightly, the younger man hopped off the table, wobbling, but not falling. Seeing this, Shikamaru frowned.

"You know what, it might be a good idea to take your temperature," he mused aloud. "Is that okay?" he added softly, as if trying to persuade the boy that it was safe, and that he wouldn't force him to do anything.

Gaara looked wearily at Kankurou, who nodded. "Go ahead. He's not going to hurt you."

He considered it, and then nodded. Smiling, Shikamaru opened the door. "I'll be right back," he said. "Kankurou, you can stay here if you want."

Kankurou nodded, not sure if it was wise to leave Gaara alone in a room when he got like this. He sighed. He hated making Gaara seem like a baby, but he just seemed and acted so fragile sometimes.

Gaara hated hospitals.

Turning to the object of his thoughts, he couldn't help but notice how tired looking he was. "You know," he began, slightly unsure of what to say, which surprised him, seeing as he always had words for a situation such as this. "If you fall asleep, I don't think Shikamaru will mind." He said.

After a while, Gaara shook his head, saying that he'd slept enough that day and that Shikamaru would get mad.

Kankurou frowned. "Gaara, you know Shikamaru. He's not going to get mad at you for falling asleep…no one would. You need the rest."

The redhead mumbled something so quietly it took a moment for Kankurou to decipher what he had said.

"Gaara, Neji doesn't count, okay?" he said, embracing the smaller man again.

Nodding into his chest, Gaara spoke again, hardly audible, "It u-used to…"

"I know it used to. But that was a while ago," Kankurou said shortly, not liking to remember the better days of Neji. It even hurt him to remember how kind hearted he had been towards Gaara. That's what the redhead needed.

"Why c-can't it be like that again?" Gaara's voice was broken, like he was fighting back tears.

"I…don't know…I really don't…" Kankurou confessed, massaging his back gently.

"I d-d-don't even r-remember what I d-did wr-wrong!" Gaara was crying now; he could feel the redhead's tears through his shirt and his shoulders shaking.

"Shh…you didn't do anything wrong…he's the one who turned bad…"

"No! I h-had to have done s-something bad t-to make him hate me!" Gaara exclaimed, taking a fistful of Kankurou's shirt and clinging. "It m-must've been a-at…a-at his last b-birthday…"

Kankurou frowned. "That wasn't your fault! God, Gaara, do you really think he would hate you for something like that?" he asked, harsher than he meant to.

Gaara whimpered into his chest, nodding like he was afraid to tell him that yes, he thought that Neji hated him for what he had done.

Kankurou sighed. "It wasn't your fault. If anything, it was his fault. It could've been repaired, I told him."

"Come on, Neji! We need to hurry!" Gaara exclaimed, tugging on the older man's shirt.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Neji was rather amused that Gaara was so impatient about the two of them getting back to their apartment. Gaara had moved in with him nearly two months ago, he knew that the living space was nothing special.

"Why are you in a hurry, anyways?" he asked the teen, smiling at him. Gaara put up his innocent face and shook his head. "Nothing…"

"Is it for my birthday?" He asked coyly, watching Gaara blush. He knew he had guessed right.

"Y-you'll see!" the redhead exclaimed, pulling him into the direction of the door again.

"Alright, alright," Neji pulled out his keys and unlocked the door. "Why's it so dark in here? We always leave at least one light on…" he mused, turning on a light switch.

"SURPRISE!"

Neji jumped a foot in the air. In his living room stood Kankurou, Temari, Kasuka Hatake Kakashi, his cousins Hinata and Hanabi, Rock Lee, Ten Ten, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and even Uchiha Sasuke.

Grinning from ear to ear, he couldn't help but ruffle Gaara's hair. "You planned this, didn't you!" he exclaimed, hugging the smaller boy tightly. Gaara, obviously thrilled to have pleased his lover, nodded, laughing.

"I thought you'd like it!" the redhead proclaimed, delighted his plan had worked. "I should go make the cake…I know you like it fresh from the oven."

Neji nodded. "You're such a sweet-heart, Gaara-chan." He gushed, and then turned to his guests.

"You guys…" he started. "You really didn't have to."

"Oh, but we did!" Lee said, striking a ridiculous pose. Naruto hit him. "Stop scaring people, Lee!"

Neji laughed. "Still…you really didn't have to…" he insisted. His gaze traveled across the room and settled on the large pile of presents. "You guys! Really! This is too much!" he exclaimed. "It's only my 19th birthday! 19 isn't even all that special!"

From the kitchen, he heard Gaara's hesitant voice. "But isn't it? I m-mean, it's still a birthday! And…I guess in our custom, that in itself is something to celebrate!"

Neji smiled. "Yeah. I guess you're right, Gaara-chan."

The rest of the day had gone by very well. Everyone forgot about everything else in his or her lives, such as Kankurou being fired and evicted, Ten Ten's encounters with drugs, Naruto's unrequited love for Sasuke, and Gaara's father, who at that point was suing his mother for one reason or another and just had fun.

Gaara had left the cake in the oven, saying that it would be a while before the dessert was finished. They had been playing random, very adult-ish party-games when he smelt it: the burning stench.

"Oh! The cake!" he exclaimed, rushing into the kitchen. Neji followed hot on his heels, both skidding to a stop in front of the doorway.

"Th-the cake!" Gaara repeated, rushing to the smoking oven and yanking the door open.

"The oven!" Neji said at the same time, rushing to turn it off. Through the smoke, he could make out the burnt remains of the cake and the damage done to his stove. "I don't think it'll ever work again! Do you have any idea how expensive a new one is going to be?" he exclaimed angrily, ignoring the fact that Gaara was choking on all the dark smoke surrounding them.

"I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorry!" he stammered between coughing fits.

Kankurou, sensing the alarm in Gaara's voice, rushed in, pulling him out of the cloud of smoke and back into the dining room.

Neji had been angry for days after that, even when they bought a new oven, which had been very expensive. It didn't help that Gaara didn't have a job; no manager would ever hire the scrawny, short, pathetic looking redhead.

"It wasn't your fault." Kankurou repeated, rubbing circles on Gaara's back. He stayed with the smaller boy until he fell asleep and Shikamaru came back, now unable to take his temperature, but deeming him able to go home.

AND IT'S FINISHED! Here you are, dearest H-R-chan! Heart you!