Lost and Found

By: Junsui Kegasu

A/N: Ah, it's a good day. Actually, it's not; I have to go to church, but whatever! For one reason or another, fanfic writing has suddenly gotten very inspirational and it's going very fast right now. I'm glad, but I'm hoping I'm not going TOO fast with the updates. (Ha ha, as if anyone minds)

Disclaimer: OKAY, I GIVE UP! I'VE TRIED TO HIDE IT ALL ALONG, BUT I ACTUALLY DO OWN NARUTO!

RP: …No she doesn't.

YES I DO!

RP: ….No. You don't.

Fine, fine, caught in the act. I don't own it.

NOTE! Like in Haunted, I have decided to name the sand-sib's mother Kasuka. Just so no one gets confused.

Chapter 18
Kankurou wasn't surprised when the phone wasn't answered on the fourth ring. Or the fifth. Or even the sixth, knowing his father was probably yelling at the machine by now.

He only half paid attention to the voice on the machine; he had been the one recording it. A crash in the background alerted him and he cursed himself for having that on there. He'd have to change it when he got home.

"Hey, it's Kankurou. We went to a friend's ho-"

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?"

Kankurou was surprised. Their father NEVER answered the phone.

"Where the fuck are you?"

And he was wondering where they were. He must've been sober. A definite change.

"ANSWER ME, BITCH!"

"We're over at a friend's house," he said smoothly. "And you see the big storm outside? Or are you too piss-drunk to hear the loud crashes?"

Phone conversations were the times he could get away with things like this. And if he didn't, then hey, it didn't always have to be Gaara he picked on. Especially if the man was drunk, he'd forget about the entire thing.

"Yeah, I hear the storm. What's your fucking point? Drag your sorry asses home." No, the man was definitely sober.

"Well, if you haven't seen it from a window, then you wouldn't know that it would probably kill us to walk home." Kankurou had no idea why he was bringing this point up.

"What's your fucking point? I want you home. Now." He nearly laughed out loud. His father was trying to scare him with the same voice that terrified Gaara. Well, now, Kankurou was above that. He could block out what Gaara couldn't.

"The fucking point is that we have to stay here or you'll have police investigating shit. There's a warning that no one's to leave his or her houses. I KNOW you don't want that." None of this he was sure of, but he thought it might be better to get their father to agree to them staying. It'd be easier on Gaara.

"Hn. They won't investigate here, they'll investigate whoever the fuck you're staying with." He was smart. Kankurou never knew.

"You know what? I don't give a shit. We're staying here, end of story, you're a bastard, go burn in Hell." He added, in his sweetest voice. "'Kay? Buh bye."

Pushing the off button, Kankurou walked out of the bathroom, rather pleased about that conversation. When he got to Neji's bedroom door, he stopped. His ears had always been sensitive and from behind the closed door, he could hear crying.

Brow furrowed, Kankurou pushed open the white-painted wood door, not fully prepared for the scene inside.

'I officially hate whoever was in the upper floor bathroom.' Temari thought to herself. Neji had said that there was another bathroom right by the kitchen. Not too hard, right?

Well, maybe not if you lived in a regular house.

Not in a triplex that you owned all to yourself, so it was like a mini-mansion.

So, there should've been other bathrooms, right? I mean, it was a triplex. No. Of course not. Because this triplex had been modified so there were only three bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, two living rooms, and a lot of bedrooms.

Of course.

She was having a lot of difficulty finding the kitchen in the massive array of bedrooms, which she had realized most of which held occupants. Neji sure had a big family. Suddenly, there was a girl in her path.

"Mou! Um, little girl! Could you ple-"

"I am NOT a little girl, you hag! I'm NINE!" the small thing in front of her looked completely outraged that she, a seventeen year old would call her, a nine year old, a little girl.

"…I'm sorry." Temari said, a funny look on her face.

"No! I don't care! You're UGLY and out of fashion!" the girl flipped her hair.

Now, Hanabi had yet to learn that not all teenaged girls were like her sister. Most took great offense to these comments.

"HEY. YOU. KID. I AM NOT UGLY AND I REALLY DON'T CARE ABOUT BEING OUT OF FASHION! ALL I WANTED WAS TO KNOW WHERE THE BATHROOM WAS!" she screeched, pointing an accusing finger at the smug nine year old.

"Well! Fine, why didn't you just SAY so?" Can you say mood swing? "Right over there!" she pointed at a room that Temari had passed numerous times on her treks to the bathroom.

Fuming at herself, the blonde stomped over and muttered a 'thank you' to the girl.

When the bathroom door closed, Hanabi rolled her eyes. "What's with HER?"

Kankurou stared at the sight in front of him. Neji was holding his brother in a gentle embrace, rocking him slightly and rubbing soothing circles on the younger boy's back. Gaara was crying into Neji's chest, his breath hitching occasionally. Neither seemed to notice that he had come in.

"G-gaara?" he managed, fear growing in his chest at the possibility of what had just happened.

Neji turned his head to Kankurou, unshed tears shining in his eyes. Gaara snapped up, his gaze on his brother.

Kankurou nearly cried at the look on Gaara's face. It looked so scared, so sad, and so pathetic.

"K-k-kankurou, h-he f-found o-out…" the redhead managed between hiccups.

Kankurou walked over, slowly, eyes wide. "You know?" he whispered to Neji, who only nodded in response.

They sat in silence for a minute, letting it all sink in. It was Gaara who broke it, lunging out of Neji's arms and into Kankurou's.

"N-n-nii-chan, I'm s-sorry! I d-didn't h-hide it well enough and n-now Neji kn-knows a-and D-dad's g-gonna kill hi-him!" he sounded panicked, and Kankurou couldn't help but notice how irregular his breathing had gotten.

Asthma.

"Gaara…shh….it's okay. I'm not going to let Dad find out…it's okay…please, Gaara, just breathe. I don't think Temari carts her inhaler with her everywhere."

Neji gave him a questioning look to which Kankurou mouthed the word 'asthma' in response, trying to get the near-hysterical boy to calm down.

"B-but K-kankurou! Wh-what if he finds out a-anyways!"

"Shh…"

"W-what if h-he h-hurts you or T-temari? Y-you g-guys di-didn't do anything! I k-killed M-mom!"

"Gaara. Stop right there. You did NOT kill Mom. She died saving you on her own choice. Now, shh…"

This went on until Kankurou had managed to get Gaara to stop rambling and relax, while Neji looked on with sad, curious eyes.

When Gaara did calm down, they sat in silence, Neji keeping his gaze locked on the ground. Kankurou broke it, this time.

"Gaara, try to sleep. Please. I don't want you to get sick. Tell that damned raccoon to make an exception."

Gaara was about to argue it, it seemed, but he gave up before any words left his mouth and nodded, shifting into a more comfortable sleeping position in Kankurou's arms.

Neji waited until the redhead was asleep before saying anything.

"Kankurou-"

"I'll explain it. I'll explain it all." He mumbled, standing up with Gaara in his arms and setting him gently on Neji's bed, tucking him in and carefully brushing a few stray strands of hair out of his eyes.

"Alright. I should probably start at the beginning…" the older teen sunk back down to the floor, massaging his temples slowly, with his eyes closed. Neji got up and closed the door, sitting down across from him.

Obviously, you know about the abuse. I don't think Dad originally hated Gaara from the start. Temari says he might've, but I really don't think so. I remember back when Mom told us that we'd get him. She told the entire family at once.

"Kaze-kun? Tem-chan? Kanky-chan?" Sabaku Kasuka said over dinner. The two toddlers on either side of her immediately stopped bickering about food portions, and who was getting more pudding later.

She turned to the children first. "Kanky, you like being the youngest, right?"

The tiny brunette next to her nodded vigorously. Why would he not like it? Mama loved him more than anything, and he boasted about how she loved him even more than 'Ri!

"Well, would you like to be a big brother?"

Kankurou considered this. He knew that older siblings got to boss around younger sibling; 'Ri always demonstrated that to him whenever he played with her. He'd always wanted to boss around someone.

And there were times when she was nice, too! He'd prove that he could be a better older brother than 'Ri was! (We're not even going to mention the fact that there's a difference between a brother and a sister; he's TWO!)

"Mama, I wanna be a big brother so I could prove to 'Ri that I'm better!" he said, boldly. (Also note that while I'm not typing it for easier reading, they both speak with lisps.)

His mother nodded. "Okay, and Tem-chan? Would you like to have another little brother or sister?" Kasuka said in her sweetest, most persuading voice. Temari hadn't been happy with the birth of Kanky, because her and Kazekage had never bothered to tell her. The girl had been nine months old when her brother was born!

"I don't know…will they be as annoying as Kanky? 'Cause he always bugs me!" the three year old pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, we don't know yet. Are you willing to give it a shot?"

Temari considered the good points. If Mama had another baby, she could cuddle and hold this one because she'd be big enough to! And Kanky wouldn't be, because he was still two! She could boss him around to get her way like she did Kanky, and it'd be a lot of fun!

"I'll…give it a shot." Temari said after a while, mimicking her mother's previous words.

Kasuka turned to Kazekage, who sat there, face frozen in something between shock and joy.

"Are you…?"

"I am!"

The auburn-haired man stood up and hugged her tightly. She hugged back just as so, pleased that he was so accepting.

"Yay! That went over well!" Kasuka chirped. "Who wants pudding?"

"I DO!"

"NO SHE DOESN'T! I DO, THOUGH!"

We didn't really understand how it was going to happen. Just that we were getting a baby. I know Dad used to love Gaara because there was a time when Mom was almost positive that he would die before she could have him. Apparently, something was real weird with his breathing. Temari and I aren't supposed to know that, but we had been eavesdropping. It's not every night your mother comes home from taking pictures of the baby crying.

Kankurou and Temari sat excitedly in their seats on the couch, craning their heads to look out the window behind them.

"LOOK! I SEE MAMA'S CAR, KANKY!" Temari exclaimed, pointing to a white vehicle.

"Shh! We hafta sit real still or Mama won't tell us what the baby looks like! Jeez, you're supposed to be OLDER!" Kankurou complained, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to look like he was the good one and Temari was the bad one.

"Stop lookin' like that! You stole my toy and made Daddy yell at me!"

Back then, when 'Daddy' yelled we weren't afraid.

"Well, you stole MY car so I stole one to be even!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Yuh huh!"

They stopped immediately when Kasuka walked in the door. They were about to ask her a bunch of questions ("IS THE BABY A GIRL?" "Is the baby gonna look like you or Daddy?" "I hope it doesn't look like Kanky; he's ugly!" "HEY!" "MAMAAA!") when they saw the expression on her face. Obviously, their mother had been crying, and she still was. Tears still streaked down her face and she appeared not to notice her children on the couch, trying to look as good as possible without looking worried.

"K-kaze-kun!" she called out, her voice cracking.

"Mama? Mama, what's wrong?" Temari asked softly. It didn't appear that Kasuka heard her.

Their father came from the steps, worried by the tone of her voice. "Kasuka!" he exclaimed. "What's wrong? There isn't…something wrong with the baby, is there?"

She started sobbing again, breaking down, unable to tell him anything. Kazekage noticed the toddlers on the couch looking scared to see their mother like this. "Tem-chan, Kanky, go upstairs and play, okay? And if you two start arguing, I'm going to take all your toys away!"

"Okay!" they cried in unison, running upstairs. As soon as they got there, Kankurou rolled his eyes and snuck back down to hearing range, feeling Temari follow.

"They said…th-that he p-p-probably wasn't gonna make it be…because his breathing levels are…are all wr-wrong and if th-they continue like th-this, then he's nuh-not going to get enough oxygen into h-his br-brain and will be born d-dead or severely b-brain da-damaged and th-there's nothing th-they can d-do!" their mother was exclaiming. Their father had his arms wrapped tight around her heaving frame, rocking slightly.

"Listen…Kasuka…at work…they found this…this thing. Maybe it could save him. It is a him, right?"

She nodded again. "And he was so beautiful…so tiny…he looked so perfect even though he wasn't breathing right…"

Kazekage nodded, glad he could get his near-hysterical wife to calm. "I'll show you…"

Guiding the woman with an arm around her waist, the couple exited the room.

My brother isn't exactly the most normal person in the world. No, I'm serious. The only way he was going to live was to put a demon inside of him. Go ahead, don't believe me, but that's the truth. There was apparently this scroll that told of a demon that could give its human vessel extreme power and good health. Dad was willing to use it, even though it had hardly been examined, and Mom was too. When Gaara was born, the demon gave him insomnia, and we found out just how bloodthirsty the thing was when our baby brother floated into our room with gleaming yellow eyes. If he fell asleep, the demon would come out, and he wanted revenge on the human race. But, we didn't know that at the time. We just knew that the 'good demon' was going to save our little brother's life.

"Tem-chaaan! I hate hospicles!" Kankurou whined, legs swinging in his chair. "I wanna be outside playing in the snow!"

"Shut up! Mama's having the baby!" Temari reached over and smacked him gently. "You need to have some patience!"

"Both of you, please, we're in a public waiting room. Don't embarrass me." Kazekage said, massaging his temples.

He was afraid it wouldn't work and the demon would kill Mom and Gaara.

"Yes, Daddy." Temari chirped, putting up an air of innocence.

They waited like that for another hour before a nurse came in and told them that the baby was born and that they could go see him and their mother.

Relieved, Kazekage got up, and he was in such a good mood that he carried his children, one in each arm, to the room where Gaara had been born.

I'll never forget it. He was so tiny, so perfect. Gaara was always really thin. When he was born, he was underweight. He's always been that way because of the demon's metabolism. It makes it near impossible for Gaara to gain weight, and it doesn't help that…now…he's starved. But back then he was perfect. Mom said so, Dad said so, and Temari and I thought the same.

Sitting up in the white hospital bed was their mother, holding something wrapped in a white blanket. In stark contrast to the white surrounding it was a patch of bright red hair.

"Hey there…" Kasuka said tiredly. "It worked, Kaze-kun! He's alive…and he's so perfect…" she carefully pulled some of the blanket away from the baby's face, showing off a set of beautiful, sea foam green eyes. "Kanky, Tem-chan, come see your brother!" she exclaimed.

Kazekage helped them both onto the bed, telling them to be very careful. Kasuka pulled a little more of the blanket away, allowing those big, green eyes to stare at his family.

"Hi there." Temari whispered. "I'm Temari (Tay-maw-wee), your older sister. This is Kanky, your brother." She would've added 'He's stupid.' if it had been an appropriate time.

Kankurou moved up a little. "Wow, he sure is small…"

And he was. I'm still amazed at just how small they are when they're that little.

"Mama, can I hold him?" Temari asked softly. She had already reached out to him and Gaara had one of her fingers in his tiny hand.

Kasuka considered it for a moment. "Well…alright…I'll let you both hold him, but you have to be VERY careful and Mama and Daddy are going to have to help you…okay?"

Temari nodded, excited. Kasuka sat up a little further, shifting the baby's position a little. He made a tiny noise at the movement, which astounded both Kankurou and Temari like nothing else they had ever heard.

Gently, Kasuka lifted Gaara from where he was nestled in the crook of her arm and laid him in Temari's lap, positioning her hands to cup his head and support him. She stared, astounded, and the baby stared back, confused at the sudden switch.

"What's his name, Mama?"

"I named him Gaara. I thought it sounded nice." Kasuka said quietly. She was obviously tired from labor.

"It wasn't a difficult or painful one, was it?" Kazekage asked.

"Well, no, he's so small he slipped out easily, but it still required a lot of pushing." Kasuka explained, never taking her eyes off Temari.

"My turn! My turn!" Kankurou exclaimed, being quiet about it. Kasuka nodded and gently lifted Gaara from Temari's arms. Kankurou swore there was a look of confusion across Gaara's face when he was switched again, but it disappeared, sensing familiarity around Kasuka.

"Alright, Tem-chan, could you move a little so your brother has room?" she asked, trying to tear her eyes from Gaara, who had started babbling in her arms. (Apparently, I 'talked' a lot when people came to visit me during my first day of life in the hospital. So, Gaara shall do the same, because I don't remember my younger sister's at all and my youngest sister was screaming her ass off.)

Temari scuffled over to near Kasuka's knees, letting Kankurou get closer to where Gaara was, still babbling away.

"Mama, what's he sayin'?" he asked softly, amazed.

"He's saying that he loves his family very much."

Kankurou beamed. Kasuka smiled and gently set the 'talking' infant in Kankurou's arms, positioning his arms like she had done to Temari's.

That feeling was magical. Knowing that something that small and helpless depended on us to survive. It was magical. I was holding the thing that just a few months ago apparently had no chance of survival. It was the greatest thing I had ever felt in my two years of life.

Gaara stared at him, his noise-making ceased as soon as he was away from the familiar being. He blinked large, green eyes and yawned, trying to stretch; trying to move.

"I think he's tired." Kasuka said. "But, when he tried to sleep just a little before you came here-"

"You mean he's been here for a while?"

"Yeah…he's been here for a few hours. He tried to go to sleep, and he woke up again as soon as he slumbered, but his eyes were yellow. It was the demon, I think, and I talked to it, and it talked back, and I made an agreement that for Gaara's first five years of life, he was to let him sleep peacefully, and if he wanted to wean him from sleeping after that, whatever, just as long as Gaara was healthy.

"So, there's side effects…?" Kazekage said, somewhat disappointed. "He'll be okay, though, right?"

"He should be. I was very stern with the demon." Kasuka said, proud of herself.

Kazekage nodded. "Good job, dear. I know you have a little bit of trouble when it comes to discipline."

Kankurou tuned the rest of the conversation out; it didn't apply to him. He was content with watching Gaara try to stay awake.

"Hey, Gaara-chan."

I swear he understood me.

"You know, you can go to sleep. It's okay."

And with that, the youngest member of the family fell asleep.

I knew then that I would protect him from everything. And from that day until he was three, I did. I wish I could've kept that promise his entire life thus far, but it obviously hasn't worked out.

AND VOILA! I LEAVE YOU WITH ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! Oh my gosh, I just wrote about baby Gaara and I squealed while doing so! A LOT! Okay, more in the next chapter, I need to work on Haunted's 3rd.