All I Ever Wanted Was Love

Cause I Feel You

"Gaara…"

The red haired boy opened his eyes and was greeted by darkness.

He wondered how long he had been spacing out just like that.

"Gaara?"

His dark-rimmed eyes traveled to the beam of light that shone into his room. Kankuro stood in his doorway, cautiously poking his head in.

The elder brother watched the small movements of acknowledgment from his little brother.

"Temari made some shougayaki…" Kankuro explained slowly, "Do you want to come eat dinner with us?"

Only silence came from the dark figure in the room.

Honestly, Kankuro hadn't known what to expect from the terror of the Kazekagure- he just simply went to Gaara because his sister wanted him to.

In reality, Kankuro was mentally shaking in his boots- he would have been stuttering and gulping had he not known that these things only irritated Gaara and probed him just to kill faster.

Then again, Kankuro did want some quality time with the baby of what was left of their family. The youngest of the three orphans… and the deadliest of the three. Kankuro found this fact somewhat amusing in a sadistic way. Both him and his sister had been ready to die any second, til now…

Now they had the hope that Gaara still had a child deep within him somewhere. Proof of the existence of Gaara's naïve side had been revealed- and Kankuro and Temari wanted to bring that side of Gaara out. They wanted him to live life the way he should have… the way he should have without the demon lying dormant within him.

Kankuro felt a bit foolish thinking this… but he wanted Gaara to be… happy.

The brother gave a sigh as he turned to go.

"Well, if you change your m-"

"I'll come."

Kankuro almost gaped at Gaara's response, but barely kept himself in check as he nodded and headed back downstairs.

Gaara was left in his room as he watched Kankuro's back disappear.

Honestly, he didn't know why he had agreed to eat dinner with them.

He hadn't had a real family dinner in… well… probably forever. He used to eat with Yashamaru…

Almost he didn't really favor eating the grilled pork, Gaara figured it was edible enough. And although Temari wasn't the best cook around, she definitely wasn't too shabby. At least she was getting somewhere.

'How pitiful…' Gaara thought drearily to himself as he made his way to the door, 'Comparing myself in my usefulness in life to being useful in the kitchen…'

(warning: vulgarity :X)

"LET ME OUT, DAMMIT!"

Kisa pounded her gloved hands on the hard oak.

"LET ME OUT!"

The girl slowly slumped onto the carpeted floor next to the door.

"Please…"

She curled into a ball, bringing her legs to her chest. Her eyes were stinging with hot tears threatening to spill forth.

Kisa glared at the black cloth that fitted her hands.

Without her hands… she was nothing- she knew that.

'Am I this weak?'

With what little hope she had left, she raised a hand to the lock of the door- willing for her chakra to fill the keyhole so she could mold it into a key.

But the gloves held in her chakra.

And she still remained locked in Yoshiko's room.

'What am I going to do?'

She wanted to cry- she didn't know what to do without her abilities.

'Why am I so helpless?'

She wanted to see him just one more time- she wanted to- she had to tell him the truth.

'Why can't I do anything on my own?'

She wanted to wake up- there was still hope that this was just a bad dream- a nightmare.

Then why don't you?

Kisa sat up, looking around for the voice that had spoken so clearly to her.

"…Who's there?"

Nobody is here… its just you.

Kisa almost let out a squeak when she felt the door move.

Or at least she had thought it was the door moving.

'A shadow clone?'

Once again, a featureless figure stood before her- except, this time it was real.

"Kisa-sama… Please do not struggle. Rest."

Kisa blinked at the fact that it had called her by her name.

"You know who I am?"

The figure just bobbed as it seems to hover above the ground.

"You are Yoshiko's replacement."

What a vague description they gave them, the voice in her head spoke annoyed.

"What…"

The clone moved closer to her, reaching out with shadowy arms.

"Please. Rest."

Kisa back into the door, as she tried resisting the clone's pull on her arm.

"Get off me, you scumbag!" (I love ff9!)

Suddenly, a pain exploded from within her- consuming her entire body.

Her world went dark.

Kankuro sat back, rubbing his overly stuffed tummy as Temari daintily wiped her mouth and Gaara just leaned back against a wall and closed his eyes.

It had been a quiet meal between the three of them- but a good meal at that.

What more could he have asked for?

After all, they were THE Sand Siblings- no one (not even themselves) could have asked for a nice conversation over dinner. And so they had eaten the prepared meal silently.

In the end, Kankuro had to admit that that had been the best meal he had had in quite some time.

Heaving himself onto his feet, the middle sibling began clearing the table- a gesture of thanks to his sister for making some real food for them.

Temari was actually surprised by the usually lazy brother's willingness to help out. She glanced over to Gaara to see him still sitting with his dark eyes closed. He didn't seem to be too upset about Kisa. Slowly, she got to feet as she went to the kitchen.

"Here, I'll do the dishes," she smiled affectionately at Kankuro. (scary how they're getting along so well, isn't it?)

"I'll wash the dishes."

Temari and Kankuro froze.

Surely, the end of the world had come too soon. Temari still had things that she wanted to do- like buying that purse that she had seen in the store windows as they had made their way back home. And Kankuro… well… he just wanted to eat more before the world ended.

But no… the world hadn't ended.

Gaara just wanted to wash the dishes for them.

Temari and Kankuro exchanged worried glances and examined Gaara closely before they stepped aside, allowing him to access the sink.

The two elder siblings stood at a distance as they watched entranced by the fact that THE Sabaku no Gaara, Terror of the Kazekagure, Monster of the Suna, was doing the dishes.

Again, they exchanged worried glances, and then reluctantly left to their own businesses as Gaara simply stood there washing the dishes.

Gaara stood for some time, letting the cool water run over his fingers. He had grown accustomed to the usefulness of hot springs; it was a wonder that this Village in the desert even had enough water for him to run his hands under right then.

Maybe he could take a bath later?

'It's a waste of precious water…' his mind reprimanded him. (Ironic, ne?)

He wanted to sigh, but held it back knowing that Temari would probably hear it.

He grimly smiled in his mind to himself as he felt the cool liquid caress the soft skin of his palms.

It was like the touch of the girl who gently played with his hair while he slept.

Yeah, Gaara had always known- but who was he to tell her to stop it?

Not to mention he liked it too…

He closed his eyes- he didn't really like the way his trail of thoughts was leading him.

How much was he really asking for?

To have her there by his side again.

To have her laughing with him.

To just… have her.

Gaara opened his eyes as he picked up a plate and the sponge.

He knew he had always been spoiled. But what could he say? His father spoiled him on purpose. A way of appeasing the monster, he supposed.

Nevertheless, he knew what he wanted now… and he was going to get it.

Temari let her tense shoulder drop into a slackened slouch.

Kankuro had given her a reassuring nod before heading up the stairs to his bedroom.

'To sleep off that potbelly of his,' Temari said to herself, 'Like always…'

The sound of soft clinking of plates brought Temari back into the physical world. She looked around for something to do.

'Well… I could always polish my fan…'

Just as Temari reached out for her oversized weapon, a knock came to the door.

Glancing at towards the kitchen, she silently moved to the door- there was only one person who knew they were home- and Gaara would definitely not be happy about his visit.

As quietly as she could, she pulled the door open to the small crack.

"Baki…"

Just as Kankuro was about to lose himself within a dream of scantily dressed, hot girls (who looked a lot like Kisa for some reason) and tons of food, his door opened, letting the bright light of the hallway light flood in.

"Ugh…" he groaned rolling over onto his stuffed tummy while smothering his face into the pillow.

"Kankuro."

The middle sibling groaned a second time as he pulled his blankets around his head.

"Kankuro!" a harsh whisper came from his doorway.

"Nani?" he finally answered the extremely rude somebody who dared to steal him away from his hot girls and food.

"Baki just stopped by…"

This grabbed Kankuro's attention as he lifted his head to listen. Temari listened for a moment, then stepped into his room and closed the door as soon as she heard the steady streaming of water from the kitchen.

"He… gave us orders…" she spoke in a hushed voice.

Kankuro was completely alert now.

"What were they?"

"He…" Temari moved skillfully about the messy room and approached the bed.

Kankuro was sitting up in his bed now as Temari stopped at his bedside.

"He… wants us to stop Gaara."

The dim light of the crescent moon that barely lit the otherwise pitch-dark room, allowed Temari to see the full expression of shock written all over Kankuro's face.

"W-what?"

Temari looked sad and spoke gravely to him.

"He wants us to stop him… at all costs."