Haunted

By: Junsui Kegasu

A/N: OH, MY GOD! Love me, I am finally updating this! Wh00t!

Disclaimer: I own my ickle version of fanfic Gaara. God forbid that I ever write him in character.

In the week that had passed after Gaara's hospital incident, Kankurou found he had been very bored. It wasn't that he wanted Gaara to be hurt and have to resort to him again, but he did kind of wish the redhead would visit. It was worrying him.

'Yeah…that's all…it's worrying me. It's not like…like I like him like that and I really want him to live here…' he tried to tell himself, failing miserably.

Sighing, Kankurou sunk into the armchair he was currently residing in. Over the week, he had also been able to assess that his new emotions on his best friend was definitely a crush.

'And just that!' he assured himself. 'Gaara's not single anymore! Though…I wish he was…' His eyes widened in alarm. '…Because…Neji's…an ass! Yeah…yeah, that's right! That's why…really…'

Great. Now he had a headache. Pushing himself off the couch, Kankurou made his way over to the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of painkillers. He shook it once, and frowned when it was empty.

"God dammit!" he swore aloud, throwing the pill container across the room. It wasn't like he couldn't get more; the painkillers he used were a cheap over-the-counter kind. Lately, however, he had been very irritable very quickly.

He blamed this on not being able to go to work for two weeks. He thought he was going to go insane. Something told him that somehow – no matter how careful he was – he was going to run out of money before his break was up.

Rummaging through the cabinet again, he looked for another bottle of painkillers, practically tearing everything out and throwing it across the room in his frantic search. He didn't want to have to buy it; he'd run out of money! Okay, so Ibiki had given him a fair amount….but two weeks was a long time, dammit!

None of this was really making his headache any better, so he decided to try to sleep it off, walking back out of his now demolished looking kitchen and plopping down into the armchair.

Ten minutes later he discovered that armchairs were not very comfortable and made his way to the couch. Ten minutes after that he realized his couch was very lumpy and hard to sleep on. Not really feeling like going to a bed, he opted to not sleep and hoped for his headache to go away.

He turned on the television, hoping to find something – anything – that could take his mind off his headache, and Gaara. He finally found Mad TV, as stupid as it could be, and settled for directing his hatred at the characters there.

Great. Now he was in a bad mood, and he had no idea why. This temper could be very dangerous.

Gaara woke up at 11:30 that morning, sat up straight in bed, and felt a horrible pain rip through his body. He couldn't remember Neji hurting him last night so…

Wait…

Last night! Beaming, Gaara jumped out of bed, fell over because he was still in pain, got up again, and ran into the bathroom. A minute later, he ran out, got clothes, and ran back in. Kankurou was so not going to believe this!

He yanked his shirt over his head and ran a comb through his unruly hair. 'I need to get a trim,' he thought, but he knew he wouldn't. His hair looked nice long.

Applying his eyeliner carefully, although, somewhat anxiously, he finished up in the bathroom and practically skipped out into the kitchen. He would've literally skipped out there, but at the moment, it hurt to walk, and he was therefore walking with a limp.

Not even bothering with breakfast, Gaara glanced around. It appeared that Neji had already left, although, Gaara didn't think he had work that day, so he left a note and almost ran out the door before he remembered his pain and limped out instead.

Kankurou's house was a good distance away, so that forced him to take the TARTA bus over to the apartment. Waiting at the stop, he dug around in his pockets and managed to come up with ninety cents. Thanking the TARTA people for only charging eighty-nine cents a person, he waited for fifteen minutes until a bus got there.

Those fifteen minutes had been rather cold, because he had an interesting habit of forgetting his jacket, so the comforting warmth of the heated bus seemed even more welcoming than it would've normally.

Limping up to the main section, he beamed when there were still a lot of empty seats in the front. He had always been on the short side, only making it to 5'1", so standing and holding on to the yellow bars jerked him around a lot.

Unconsciously swinging his legs to the beat of some unknown song (and not caring, for once, that his feet didn't make it to the floor), he couldn't wipe the goofy smile that he knew he was wearing off his face. He couldn't help it, he was just so happy! He hoped Kankurou would be happy too, but he might be upset that Gaara was in pain…

Well, he could always try to hide his limp, right?

Kankurou's mood had yet to change, even though he had managed to find his favorite show playing, Mind freak. Watching Criss Angel attempt his insane stunts always took his mind off things. Today, however, was an exception. He couldn't stop worrying about everything: Money, Gaara, Gaara, money, Gaara, Gaara, money……Gaara…

Shaking his head and scowling at the screen as though it was it's fault his mind wouldn't leave him alone, he changed the channel to some creepy children's show, then became rather disturbed by it and turned the TV off. He had finally found a comfortable position in his armchair and he was about to drift off to sleep when persistent knocking started at his door.

He groaned and made his way over. He knew he looked a mess; his hair must have been sticking out in a thousand angles and all he was wearing was a pair of loose pajama pants and a dirty, gray t-shirt.

Not really caring too much about his appearance, Kankurou opened the door, not at all prepared for the beaming, painfully happy face to jump out at him.

"KANKUROU, GUESS WHAT!" Gaara cried in a moment of energetic euphoria.

Kankurou blinked, stared down at the happy face, and then blinked again. Realizing he had yet to speak, he blinked.

"G-gaara?" he asked, feeling rather stupid. "Gaara, what's up? What are you so happy about?"

Gaara tried to bounce, but nearly fell over. "GUESS!" he cried, being louder than Kankurou had ever heard him be in months, years even.

"Um…you…got a job?"

"No!"

"You…went to get your license?" This was a stupid guess, as Gaara hadn't even gone to drivers'-ed yet, but still.

"Nope!"

"Neji's dead?"

Gaara gave a gasp of horror, clapping his hands over his mouth and his eyes wide with fear. Kankurou immediately felt bad.

"No, no, I'm sorry…I'm sorry…does it have to do with Neji?"

Gaara nodded slowly, his hands still pressed against his mouth.

"Okay…he…uhh…decided he was a prick and left?"

Gaara whimpered, his mood drooping a little bit. Mentally kicking himself, Kankurou sighed.

"I give up. If it has to do with Neji, then…I really have no clue."

"I lost my virginity!"

"YOU WHAT?"

"I did it! I really did!"

Kankurou stared at the younger man. No wonder he was so happy.

"To who?" He couldn't believe that Neji would ever do something like that with his friend without hurting him.

"Neji!" Gaara said, as if it was obvious. When Kankurou merely stared at him, he wrapped his arms around the older man's chest and cried, his voice muffled by the material, "He said he loved me! He did!"

Kankurou sighed. This was suddenly very depressing. Of course Neji said he loved him. It was sex! "Well…that's great! It really is!" he tried to sound happy for the smaller man. "We should celebrate with something to eat! We could go out!" Something told him that Gaara still wasn't eating properly.

Gaara seemed to consider it. "W-well…I…I don't know…I don't want to waste your money…a-and eating out is r-rather fattening…"

"Gaara. You are not fat." Kankurou said sternly.

"B-but…"

"No buts. Now, what do you say?"

After a while, in which Gaara appeared to have a mental war with himself, he nodded. "But! I don't want to waste your money so if it's cheap, then that's fine with me!" he insisted, waving his hands in front of his face.

"Gaara, it's my money. If I want to blow it on you, I'll blow it on you," he said defiantly. Part of him, the sensible, money-hording part was crying on the inside, but this was a small part, and the rest of him really wanted to take Gaara out to get something to eat.

"So, hey, let's get going!"

Gaara considered it again, poking his fingers together and keeping his gaze down, before seeming to decide. "Alright…"

"Good. I didn't plan on taking no for an answer," Kankurou said cheerfully.

"I know you didn't."

Kankurou made his way to the door, but caught sight of his reflection in a mirror he kept near the door for the sole sake of there being nowhere else to put it.

"Ah…Gaara, I'm still in pajamas, you can have a seat on the couch while I go get dressed, though."

Gaara nodded and turned to make his way to the couch. He had taken three steps when Kankurou noticed something wrong.

"Gaara…" he started slowly, "you're limping."

Gaara stopped, flinching very visibly. "I…I know…" he said, rather lamely.

"He hurt you?"

Gaara didn't like the tone in Kankurou's voice. It kind of scared him.

"N-no…he…didn't really hurt me…it was just…y-you know…rough…" Gaara explained, stammering. Kankurou was hardly convinced.

"Gaara, did it hurt at all?" he asked, suspecting the answer.

Gaara opened his mouth to speak several times, seemed to decide against it, and then mumbled his answer: "Only…o-only a l-little…"

Kankurou stared at him. "Gaara…he hurt you," he said, absently.

"Y-yeah…b-but just a little! R-really!"

Kankurou sighed. "Did you tell him to stop?"

At this, Gaara's shoulders slumped towards the floor, his shoes apparently very interesting. "No…" he mumbled, finally. "H-he…he w-was enjoying it…so…I l-let him…a-and it g-got a li-little better later o-on…"

"A little better? Gaara, it's supposed to get a lot better! If it didn't, you should've told him to stop!" He was nearly infuriated, but he didn't know why.

'Are you jealous?' asked a little voice in his head. He quickly shook it away. He didn't need this now.

"Bu-but Neji w-was enjoying it! I c-couldn't just tell him to stop!" Gaara cried, sniffling once. It wasn't supposed to have turned out like this.

Kankurou felt bad when he realized how he – and really on his own selfishness – had absolutely demolished the mood.

He sighed, taking a step towards the younger man. "Gaara…I'm sorry," he whispered. "I ruined your moment."

Gaara shook his head frantically. "Oh, no, no! I-it's alright…I wasn't r-really having a moment…" he trailed off, staring at his feet.

"No, it's not. I feel horrible, now. I completely destroyed the mood," he said, reaching out and gently embracing the redhead and holding him close. Gaara didn't cry, but his breath did hitch once or twice.

"K-kankurou…. he really d-doesn't love me…does he…?" The redhead asked miserably, seeming to know the answer. Kankurou merely tightened his hold on his friend, rocking him gently. "Of course he does, Gaara…he's just…uh…sick," he said after a while, fumbling for his response. He didn't want to tell Gaara flat out that Neji didn't love him; it would only depress the redhead further.

Gaara was silent for a while, the only sounds being the hitching of his breath, which was becoming more frequent by the minute. Just as Kankurou's fears were pointing to a panic attack, Gaara spoke again, his voice barely a whisper and cracking.

"Why d-doesn't he love me?"

Kankurou swallowed the lump in his throat, clutching Gaara to his chest. "I don't know, Gaara…I really don't know…" And then, he wasn't really sure what had happened. "But I do…"

Gaara raised his head from where it was buried in the soft folds of Kankurou's shirt to look into the taller man's eyes. His own green ones were glazed over with unshed tears and cloudy with sorrow. The mere sight of them, however sad, was still beautiful enough to make Kankurou's heart skip a beat.

"R-really?" he whispered, his breathing calming out, now.

Somehow, Kankurou's face was very close to his; their lips were mere inches from each other's.

"Yeah…I do…more than that bastard ever did."

Kankurou leaned in, still really not sure what he was doing. When his lips brushed Gaara's petal-soft ones, he broke out of his trance, gasping sharply. He tried pulling back to apologize for what he had just done, but Gaara's hand had found it's way to the back of his neck and pulled him in closer for an actual kiss.

He felt shivers run down his spine. It was as if Gaara was some natural energy source, and it was all his to reap. This thought alone made him shudder wildly, and he deepened the kiss. Surprisingly enough, the redhead let him, and when Kankurou's tongue brushed against his lower lip, he let out a soft moan.

Kankurou was about to enter this newfound cavern when furious knocking sounded at the door. Gaara jumped, breaking the kiss, and looked back up into Kankurou's eyes.

"Wh-what did we just do?" he asked breathlessly.

"I…don't know…but I need to answer the door." Kankurou was just as breathless, but he made his way over to the offending door and wrenched open the handle. Staring up at him, with twin orbs of the palest blue, was Hyuuga Neji.

Ohh…you guys are gonna haaate meee….this is so short…I'm sorry…But, hey, this was a good ending place. And WHOO! WE ARE GETTING IT ON WITH THE KANKYGAA, YO! I'm so proud of myself! I managed to get the relationship going in five chapters! LaF is at 20 and Neji and Gaara have yet to admit their feelings, dammit! I'm getting there…actually, I think I planned it to be slow, now that I think about it…yeah…judging by the circumstances…okay, yeah, you can stop listening to me babble and REVIEW! Please and thank you! Kyah...also...that was my first kiss-scene...ever. Please, no flames over it...constructive critisicm, I shall except, and if I get enough of it, I'll redo it. I'm just paranoid...