Lost and Found
By: Junsui Kegasu
A/N: You know what I've realized? Other than the fact that since chapter…. 15, I think, we've been on the same day, this story is nearly done! I'd say only…5-7 chapters left at the most. I'm so proud; I'm actually finishing a story!
Disclaimer: Doobee doobee doooo…
Neji stared at the crying siblings before him. He had never imagined Kankurou – the one who threatened to fight him in the halls – as the type who would cry. Temari, he could somewhat understand, and Gaara seemed like the kind of kid who would cry if you kicked him, but not Kankurou.
"Hey…it's…" he wanted to tell them it was okay, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. "It's…not okay…but it can be."
"We can't tell anyone!" Temari said suddenly. "It'll only get worse! That's all that happens! The rumor will just be dismissed and he'll make us move again, Neji! That's what happened last time!"
"But what if they check out Gaara?" Neji, now knowing their secret, could look at Gaara and see how obvious it was – the thin frame, shaky speech, flinching problem, and of course, the bruises his baggy, old clothing couldn't hide. If someone told the police, that would be exactly what they looked for. And that would be exactly what they'd find.
"Dad won't let them," Kankurou said, shaking his head. "A few of the smarter ones tried last time."
"Oh…" Neji said, very much disappointed that his great-rescue plan failed.
They sat in silence for a while, letting everything sink in.
"You…you know…" Neji started after a while, wringing his hands in his lap. "I…ah…went through some abuse – nothing like this – when I was little…"
Kankurou looked surprised. "Y-you too?" he asked.
Neji nodded sadly, not meeting his gaze. "Yeah…but it stopped when I was eight…" he mumbled.
They heard Gaara groan softly in his sleep from Neji's bed. Temari and Kankurou stood up at the same time, ready to check if he was okay.
After a moment, in which Gaara had apparently slipped into peaceful slumber again, rolling over on his side, Kankurou smiled softly and sat back down, muttering something about probably disturbing some of his wounds.
Neji sighed. There was really no way he was going to get out of telling his tale now that he had mentioned it.
"See…my mom…she was a really nice person. But, my actual dad divorced herbefore I was born; he didn't want a baby, she did, and she remarried to someone else when I was less than a year old," he started, looking up.
Kankurou and Temari nodded, picturing it. No parent was really abusive from the absolute start – they and Neji were examples of this. What he described could've been as normal as any other kid.
"My mom really loved my step dad, and since I had no clue who my real dad was, I did too. It didn't really matter anyways, considering I was a spitting image of my mother. I didn't even know he wasn't my real dad until…"it" started, really." Pausing again to let them take in the slight bit of information, he sighed shakily. He hadn't ever addressed it, even after seven years.
Kankurou nodded again, taking a slight glance at Gaara. To his surprise, his younger brother had one eye cracked open, and as soon as he saw Kankurou's gaze, he snapped it shut. Kankurou smiled in spite of himself; Gaara had always been horrible at being sneaky.
"I…was six when my mom got into a car accident…I was in the backseat, and the crash sent her into an airbag and me into the front of her seat. I knocked myself out pretty good, but I was okay with the exception of a few gashes on my left side from where some of the metal got me…"
He sighed again, his shoulders shaking.
"She suffocated," he said finally, having to wipe tears from his eyes. He had never wanted to look back on the situation, or the events that had followed it.
Kankurou kept his gaze down, not sure how and if he should be sympathetic. Temari reached out and touched his arm, concern written all over her features.
Neji sniffed and shook his head, composing himself. "Of course, since I never knew my real dad, I was put under the custody of my step dad. Everything was okay, at first…until after the funeral. For reasons I could never comprehend, and I still don't, he blamed me. He said it was my fault, that I must've been distracting my mother from the road and to myself, making her get into the accident and die."
At this, Kankurou nodded in understanding. Their father blamed Gaara for eleven years and counting, so he could see where Neji was coming from.
"At first, I believed it. Although I couldn't remember making a single noise in the car, I thought that it must've been my fault. When my Uncle Hiashi, my mother's brother, confronted me a week after the funeral, he had told me that it wasn't my fault, and his words were so kind and comforting that I believed him more than the man I thought of as my father."
Temari snorted. No one had ever tried reassuring Gaara except for herself, Kankurou, and their uncle Yashamaru. However, the small three year old had already been thoroughly convinced that it was his fault, and refused to take anyone else's words that it wasn't.
"So, of course, I went home, and bravely told him that it wasn't my fault, because Uncle Hiashi had said so. That was the first beating. I believe he was drunk at the time. I was scared, terrified; any six year old would've been. I hid in my room for a while, wondering why he had done it. I came to the conclusion that it had been because I was bad, and that it was my fault; Uncle Hiashi had been wrong. Accepting this, I guess I kind of sank into the pattern of life that followed."
Gaara couldn't help, from the bed where he laid, a sniffle at Neji's words. The older boy had no idea how much those words affected him, since in that aspect, they were so much alike.
"I was…eight when my uncle invited me over to go swimming. I had forgotten about a lot of bruises, recent and dark, that had been on my torso, and as soon as I pulled off my shirt, he saw. And when he saw, he knew."
'I've never learned how to swim, for that reason,' Gaara thought absently still busy trying to be asleep. 'Poor Neji…at least he managed to get out of it…'
He couldn't help but be a little bit jealous. Neji had people who cared enough to get him out of the situation he had been in, while everyone in Sunaga, no matter how obvious and pronounced some of his 'battle scars' were, didn't give a shit.
"So…I take it…that he took you away? Just like that?" Kankurou asked, slightly amazed at how easy it seemed.
"No. He had to go through court," Neji replied, simply. "My step-dad was one hell of a liar. He almost managed to prove that he hadn't done that, but my word was final, and Uncle Hiashi taught me to just say the truth, so I did."
Kankurou nodded, understanding now. Neji's purity of being only eight years old had shone through and gotten him out of the situation he was in. He was afraid that by now, it was too late to be able to do something like that; Gaara would merely take their father's side out of fear. But then again, his markings were so obviously inflicted by someone else, that they'd immediately assume it to be their father…unless he blamed him or Temari…
Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to where Neji was answering a few questions she had asked. Finding that he didn't need to be involved, he glanced at Gaara, and noted that once again, the redhead's eyes were open.
His face twitched into a tiny smile; Gaara was no good at feigning anything. Frowning when he remembered that Gaara needed the sleep, he decided to speak up and give away Gaara's flimsy disguise.
"Hey, Gaara, I thought you were going to sleep."
Gaara jumped, embarrassed about being discovered, and stammered into an apology, sitting up in the process. Upon seeing him so flustered, and therefore downright adorable, Neji couldn't help a small giggle, which Gaara returned with more flushing.
"So…you heard?" Temari asked, seriously, but trying to be casual with the topic.
Gaara hesitated, unsure if he should tell them he had eavesdropped, but then nodded, convinced it couldn't really do any harm.
Neji looked somewhat relieved. "Oh, good, that means I don't have to tell it twice! See…to tell you the truth; I've never confronted it since I was taken away. I never felt that…it was needed. It was in the past, and the past was gone, nothing I could do. You guys, my uncle, my cousin Hinata, and obviously, my step-dad and I are the only ones that know…"
"Oh, we w-won't tell an-anyone!" Gaara assured him frantically, eyes wide. Neji smiled.
"Thanks…that means a lot."
Glancing at the clock, Neji was surprised to find that their combined stories had taken 'till 11 o'clock. "We should really get to bed…we do have school in the morning," he pointed out.
Kankurou nodded. "Yeah…but…we don't have any clothes to change into…at all. Not for pajamas, which isn't really a big deal, or for school tomorrow."
Neji considered this. Hinata could probably provide Temari with some clothes. They were nearly the same size, he estimated. Kankurou, he really wasn't so sure, but if worst came to worst, his uncle could probably lend him some clothes. Damn his short genes.
One look at Gaara told him that there was no way he was going to be able to find something to fit him, at least by means of pants. When he voiced this, Gaara flushed and waved it off.
"I-I'll really be okay…these pants are…ki-kinda clean…" he trailed off, looking down at his legs, which had been clothed by pants among the lot they had bought at Hot Topic. That day seemed so long ago…
Temari frowned, being somewhat stern with clean clothing. They figured it to be a maternal instinct she had developed. "Gaara, your pants have dirt and food stains all over them."
"Th-they do not!" Gaara protested, blushing furiously.
Kankurou chuckled. "I wouldn't put it past you; God knows how you like to wear your food."
Neji smiled gently. "I'm sure we can find a solution…maybe I could get you a pair of shorts and a belt…" he mused aloud, trailing off in thought.
Gaara shook his head, grimly. "M-my leg…" He pulled up one pant leg to reveal the still very bruised and very swollen shin, making it obvious that he didn't really want anyone to be gawking at it anymore than they had in physical education.
Neji stared. If he hadn't seen Gaara walk, and only with a slight limp, he would've assumed immediately that the appendage had been broken. "Y-your….your father…di-did he…?" he couldn't get the sentence out coherently, reduced to a stammering wreck.
Kankurou nodded slowly. "Yeah…he did it."
"B-but th-that's…that's horrible!" Neji proclaimed, regaining control of himself.
"Yeah, and unfortunately, that's not the worst of it," Kankurou said sadly. "Either way, if you wear your shorts as long as I tend to wear mine, Gaara shouldn't have much of a problem."
"Yeah, but Kankurou, you have a good five inches on me," Neji pointed out, somewhat bitter about his height.
Kankurou blinked. "I do?"
Temari shook her head. "You always forget how tall you are…yeah, five inches is a good estimate."
"Well…" Neji thought again, determined to sort all this out before morning came. An idea suddenly struck him. "Gaara, how tall are you?"
Gaara flushed, mumbling his response.
"5 foot," Kankurou supplied.
"Hmm…" Neji thought for a while longer, then muttered he'd be back in a moment and dashed out the room.
"HANAAABIII!" He called out, running from hallway to hallway. "HANAAA-"
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" came the somewhat annoying voice of his cousin.
"Hanabi! How tall are you?" Neji chirped.
"Why do you want to know?" the younger girl said, kind of suspiciously.
"Well, see…I have this friend. And he and his siblings need to spend the night because of the storm, so-"
"WHAT? You have friends over? They're spending the night on a school night? NO. FAIR!" she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Let me finish," Neji hissed through gritted teeth, already fed up with his cousin. "They can't walk home in a storm like this; they'll probably die, but they don't have clothes to change into. We figure that the oldest one can borrow Hinata's clothes, the middle one can either borrow mine or Uncle Hiashi's if he really needs to, but the youngest one is really small, like, only 5'0", and really thin, so I was wondering if you had any clothes he could possibly wear."
Hanabi raised an eyebrow. "Okay," she started, jutting out one hip and flipping her hair. "One: You have a girl sleeping over?"
"Well, yeah but-"
"DON'T INTERRUPT ME!" Hanabi screeched, pointing an accusing finger at Neji. "Two: Even if I was as tall or taller of this friend of yours, what makes you think I would lend clothes to him even if I had something that wasn't too feminine for his masculinity?"
It was times like these that Neji hated the fact that most of his family happened to be geniuses.
"Three: Even if said friend didn't mind and could fit into my clothes, what if he was dirty or messy and ruined them?" Hanabi demanded, glaring evenly up at her older cousin.
"Hanabi, just answer the question! What's your height and are you willing to give this kid clothes?" Neji snapped, finally.
"I'm 4'10". I might still be able to help him, though, depending on his leg length. Let me see these friends," she demanded again, crossing her arms back over her chest.
Neji sighed, massaging his temples. "Fine."
He led her back to his bedroom, where he knew the occupants inside were probably having some conversation or another.
"…I d-don't w-wanna b-be a bu-burden…"
"Gaara, you're not!"
"Shh, someone's coming."
Neji opened the door and peered inside, smiling while Hanabi was at his side, scrutinizing each of the Sabaku siblings with her gaze. "Hey, guys. This is my cousin, Hanabi." He gestured uselessly to the girl beside him. "She might be able to help you out, Gaara."
Hanabi had finished her inspections of the three and pointed a finger at Temari. "You're a hag, but you wouldn't look half bad in Hina-nee-chan's clothes." She pointed at Kankurou. "You don't dress like Neji-nii or Daddy, but I'm sure you wouldn't look bad in either of their clothes. And you," she pointed at Gaara, who immediately shriveled behind Kankurou.
She paused for a moment. "I can't tell how long your legs are, that's the key here, so if you want clothes, come over here."
Neji sighed. Hanabi obviously got her business-like manner from her father, but she tended to use it to be rather snotty. He didn't even think his uncle knew just how much he really spoiled his two children and nephew. Only Hanabi had really gotten a swelled head over the entire thing.
Gaara glanced nervously from Kankurou to Neji, who both gave him reassuring looks before standing up and shuffling over to where the shorter, but nonetheless intimidating girl stood.
"Hm…I don't know if my waist-size will fit him," she said at once, seeing the illusion that the baggy shirt presented, hiding Gaara's actual size in its depths.
"Oh, I think you'll be surprised," Kankurou called mysteriously.
Undaunted, Hanabi turned away and began to walk in the opposite direction, probably to her room. Gaara gave Neji a look that quite plainly asked if he should follow. Neji nodded and smiled, sending him another reassuring glance. Shyly, and with a moment of hesitation, Gaara followed.
"Okay, now, I really don't have too much that you, as a boy, could wear comfortably, but I'll take a look in here," Hanabi chirped, making her way over to a closet. When she opened the door, Gaara gaped: Inside hung what seemed to be hundreds of pairs of pants.
Hanabi rummaged around for a while in its depths, leaving Gaara rooted to the spot, before emerging with three pairs of sweatpants and a pair of athletic pants.
"I really don't think any of these will fit you, I'm a girl, you're a boy, and you don't look like you could fit into someone my size's clothing." Hanabi concluded with an air of snootiness. "But if you're willing to try them on, be my guest."
She pointed to a changing curtain across the room and ushered Gaara, who had become rather shy about the entire thing, behind it.
"Jeez…I've never seen such a shy teenaged boy in my life!" she muttered, waiting for the redhead to emerge.
When he did, it was first wearing the first pair of sweatpants, which were gray. Short as he was, the material still only hung to a little above his ankles, not clinging to his legs at the bottom like sweatpants should do, but hanging there much like cutoffs.
Surprised that he could fit, Hanabi blinked. "Pull up your shirt," she said slowly. "So I can see how it fits around the waist."
Here, Gaara hesitated, and almost wanted to refuse, but thought that the little girl in front of him could be rather dangerous if he didn't, so he shyly pulled the edge of his black hoodie up to reveal where he had pulled the pants up to and a sliver of white stomach.
In a rare moment of size, Gaara had found that the pants weren't abnormally loose, but they weren't as tight as they should've been, either. Rather appalled, Hanabi shook her head.
"They fit you, anorexic freak, but they're way too short." She spat the insult like Gaara was something dangerous, and added. "The sweatpants are all the same size and the athletic pants shorter. Sorry, I can't help you." She ended curtly.
Gaara had flinched at the insult and gone rather red in the face, but trudged back behind the curtain and changed back into his own pants, folding up the pants are carefully as he could, which was still sloppy, and handing them to her.
"S-sorry for b-bothering you…" he muttered as he shuffled out the door, carefully closing it behind him.
He blinked at the foreign hallway before his thoughts collected and he found he remembered the way to Neji's room. When he got back, everyone had seemed to be in a conversation involving random video games.
"Yeah…that one you played was fucked up, but some of those Mario ones kind of scare me," Kankurou was saying as he opened the door.
As soon as it shut, everyone turned to him.
"So, how did it go?" Neji asked politely. Gaara shook his head and sank to the floor, bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.
"Are you okay?" Temari asked, tilting her head to the side, slightly.
Gaara opened his mouth to speak, but then seemed to decide against it and shook his head, keeping silent.
"She wasn't rude, was she?" Neji asked, somewhat in exasperation.
"N-no! I was t-the one t-taking t-time out of h-her e-evening!"
"Speaking of evening, what's a brat like her doing up so late?" Temari growled, begrudgingly.
"She doesn't have a bedtime…none of us do. We're all kind of spoiled, but she's the only one who gets irrational and snobby about it," Neji explained. "Please Gaara, tell me what she said. I know she can be a brat sometimes," he coaxed the depressed looking redhead.
"Sh-she…called me a….a-an anorexic f-freak…" Gaara mumbled after a while, speaking into his knees.
Kankurou's eyes widened in anger; a lot of people called Gaara anorexic…and each time was always a stab to the younger teens nonexistent ego.
Neji, sensing Kankurou's anger, stood up. "I'm going to go talk to her about that…she can be so damn rude sometimes…I'm sorry, Gaara," he added. "I don't think you're anorexic. It's not your fault you're so thin."
Gaara didn't respond, but that was okay, so Neji turned and walked out of the room, determined to give Hanabi a little piece of his mind.
UGGH…I'M SO SORRY! This is SO short and you people have totally been waiting for this for SO long! But…hey, what can I say? Okay, okay, I'm going to recap my vacation, just so you know what the fuck I've been up to that's hindered you from your precious chapters!
ANIME CONVENTION. Oh. My. Fucking. God. It. Was. Great. Okay, I'll stop talking like that. I wented with my dearest cousin and…somewhat faithful (joking, joking) reviewer, Kanky-chan, who was a punkish/modern Kanky, and I gotted to be a punkish/modern Gaara. Fun. Fun. Fun. Okay, I promise I'll stop talking like that! See, I have this raccoon moshi pillow, and I decided to bring it with me and dub him Shuuki. People loved it! They were like "OMIGOOOOOD…." And they had improv and holy fuckcake that was awesome. It was so damn funny, these people just made up stupid skits on the spot based on a topic that the audience usually picked out. Like, at one point, it was looking for a Tim Horton's in Pennsylvania, and since this was in Oshawa, Canada, they were like "Dude. We are never getting coffee in the states AGAIN!" and it was just so amusing.
And later, the organizer lady of the convention, who we knew as Tsunade-sama, decided that she liked Kanky-chan's Karasu so much, she made us do a skit for the Masquerade. We were like "………." But we finally did a thing where I got to throw Shuuki and upon being parted from my demon, died. Fun fun.
And that's not all that happened! We went to a Renaissance Festival later on, and we saw an Itachi cosplayer with an Inuyasha cosplayer. I don't even particularly like Itachi (Okay, I like him in FHTE…that's basically it though.) but this guy was a smexy BEAST. I gotted to glomple him! n.n! And so did Kanky-chan, but later. Ha. I glomped him FIRST. …Okay, that's enough of this rant…I think I'll just copy-paste it into Haunted…I am so lazy. Either way, happy happy happy happy updates anddd…BAI BAIS! See you next chapter!
Oh, and another note, dude, I made Hanabi SO snotty in this! I kind of based her off of Draco Malfoy's character (Even though I love Draco...fanfic character wise, anyways.) in Harry Potter, since I've been reading and rereading the series in my spare time. ...AKA when Kanky-chan is on. AKA HALF THE DAY. COUGH COUGH. Okay, okay, I'm better!