All I Ever Wanted Was Love

Won't Let Anyone Get Close to Me

All right then. I've officially been spammed by reviews. Not that I don't appreciate it, Life's a Dance and Shtuff, but it almost gave me a heart attack when I opened my inbox to 30-some-odd messages. Usually I get 2 to 4 emails per day, and I am very happy with 2 to 4 emails per day, thank you very much. 30-some-odd emails was something I was NOT expecting. Then I see a little side window popping up saying I just got a review. Now that made me feel all warm and bubbly… that is… until I actually opened my inbox to find a solid wall of reviews. So what's my point in this? I guess… just thank you Life's a Dance and Shtuff, but I really hope yall don't do this all the time. It gave me the heebie-geebiez. XD

A gentle breeze floated its way down the wide street as a tall, dark figure stood over a corpse, bathed in moonlight.

'Too easy…,'

Blood continued to flow from the body.

'This is just too easy…'

Eyes shielded by dark shades scanned the area. A few feet away, a girl in white lay lifelessly. Behind him, a boy with violent red hair was unconscious in a small pool of his own blood on the cold hard street. It was hard to believe terrifying features had just been on such a calm looking face just a moment ago.

'But I can't let my guard down with that kid around though,' he reminded himself, 'I've seen what he can do… he's nothing more than a monster…'

Again, the stranger's eyes scanned the area. To his relief, there seemed to be no enemies around.

He looked down at the body at his feet. Bright green eyes, glazed over with death, were still opened wide with fright and seemed to stare up at the young man. His eyes narrowed as he glared upon the corpse. The wounds where he had pierced him were starting to slow down the gush of blood. To his shock, what he saw in the tears of skin was not flesh – rather, it was a combination of wood and steel shreds. His eyes widened as the broken fragments began to piece themselves back together again.

Taking several paces away from the mending body, his eyes only continued to grow wider as the body began moving again. An eerie green glow began emanating from the body as it began to stand up again. The young man took a fighting stance, readying a kunai in his left hand as both hands began glowing blue.

"One…"

The young man seemed shock at the sudden speech from the once dead man.

"Only… one…"

The old man turned to face him, coughing out his words as blood splattered out. The young man readied himself to strike.

"Only one… person… would have the power… to do that to me…"

Taking his chance, the stranger rushed him, forcing his kunai surrounded by swirling chakra straight into the heart of the elderly man.

The old man fell to the ground again, but not before he called out the name of his opponent.

"AKADOU YOROI!"

Gaara opened bleary eyes to white.

There seemed to be no other color at first.

Just white.

Gaara squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the brightness of the room.

'Ugh…' he thought, 'It's too early for this…'

His eyes shot open again.

'Wait,' he thought, his eyes scanning his surroundings, 'Where am I? How did I get here? Where is "here?"'

Images of a darkness illuminated by a full moon, a flowing white robe, and blood crowded his mind then…

"KISA!"

Gaara sat up, gasping. His side hurt… like crap.

Annoyed at the pain, he lifted the light, white shirt off his stomach to expose his abdomen wrapped up in bandages.

'I got hurt?' he stared in painful wonder.

The boy squeezed his eyes shut. Never mind the pain, he had to find out where he was and more importantly, where Kisa was.

Wincing from the pain, Gaara slung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up in the extremely white room.

'What the…' Gaara noticed that he wasn't wearing anything other than the overly large, billowy shirt and boxers, 'Where are my clothes? Where are my pants?'

Suddenly a young woman dressed in a short white dress stepped into the room holding a bundle of white and a clipboard.

"Ah!" She looked panicked when she saw Gaara standing there, "You're not supposed to be out of bed!"

Gaara glared at her in surprise, then remembering his… no-so-properly-clothed status, he blushed, pink tinting his cheeks.

"Wh-where am I?" he questioned her, trying not to show his embarrassment.

The young woman looked at him with curiosity.

"You're in the hospital…" she checked clipboard, "Gaara…"

Her brow furrowed as she read his name. Then glancing up again at the young boy, she looked down at the name scribbled on the board again.

"Gaara?"

The boy, who was in obvious pain now, gave her his best glare laced with anticipation. What would she do now? Throw everything into the air and run for her dear life?

The lady was staring at him now.

"Gaara?" she repeated, stepping closer to him.

"What?" he answered, very much annoyed now.

"Do… do you remember me?" The lady asked, now standing only three feet away from him.

Aquamarine eyes traveled across the face that beheld him with wonder. Could this really be her?

"Kimi…" her name was stuck on his tongue, "Kimi.. shu?"

Delight was evident in the young woman's face as she ran up and gave the boy a quick embrace.

Gaara remained motionless, but flinched at the pain from the hug from the dark-haired woman.

Kimishu took a step back from the red-haired boy, examining him from top to bottom.

"My, how you've grown!" she exclaimed.

Gaara gave her a funny look. Of all people, wouldn't a nurse at a hospital know who he was and what he had been doing for the past six years of incessantly killing people who pissed him off?

"I've been out of the Sand Country, studying medicine, you see," she spoke as if she had read Gaara's mind, "In fact, I was at Konoha, studying under their best medical nin, Tsunade-sama."

The country caught his attention.

"Konoha?"

Kimishu nodded.

Gaara couldn't believe it.

"Th-then… Kyo-san…"

The young woman turned away from her patient.

"I had only arrived one week before he passed away… and by that time, he was getting worse and worse. He was already asleep whenever I got the chance to visit him…"

Her eyes grew distant.

"I… I don't know if he ever realized I was even there…"

Gaara studied the love-sick woman before him.

"What about Kisa? You where there while she was still there…"

Kimishu turned to face the boy again and led him back to sit on the bed.

"Yes… I was there during that time as well."

"And?" Gaara questioned her, getting impatient.

"She…" the nurse trailed off, "She… didn't deserve this."

Gaara blinked at her.

"At first, when a group of us nurses-in-training were led into the rooms where the two boys were being kept in intensive care to take over for a small shift, we were shocked at the sight… It was horrible. We all thought that she was horrible… until we heard the real story.

"She doesn't deserve this, Gaara," Kimishu spoke sorrowfully.

Then Gaara remembered.

"Where is she now?" Gaara looked around the room again, as if she would be there somewhere, "Where is Kisa?"

Kimishu looked up at the frantic boy, her eyes showing plain confusion.

"Kisa isn't here…"

Gaara looked back at the young woman, confused.

"But there must be… she was there…"

Kimishu examined the boy before her.

"There was a girl checked-in here as well… I believe she was brought in at the same time as you… But her name isn't Kisa."

Gaara narrowed his eyes. That could mean only one other thing.

"Is her name Yoshito?"

Kimishu looked surprised at his answer.

"Do you mean Akadou Yoshito?"

Gaara stood frozen in the doorway.

There she was.

Kisa.

But not Kisa.

The features of the girl that he had come to cherish so deeply were limp and dead-like as the body of the girl lay on a white bed. There were tubes traveling all around her. Connecting here, inserting there, all pumping some foreign pale liquid.

Gaara released a breath that he hadn't realized that he was holding.

"Just for a minute, remember?" Kimishu breathed.

Gaara could only nod in return.

Behind him, the nurse silently pulled the door close and Gaara took a step towards the bed.

Kisa…

'She's not Kisa,' he reminded himself.

He took another step forwards.

Kisa looks so peaceful.

'This isn't Kisa.'

What will Kisa say when she wakes up?

'This girl isn't Kisa!'

Gaara stood at the foot of the pure white bed.

Slowly, he reached out a trembling hand to the bedpost.

'It's cold…'

His pale eyes traveled across the lifeless body that was barely breathing.

Gradually, he made his way to the corner at the end of the bed, running his hand along the metal of the bedpost. His eyes were locked upon her face. At this proximity, he noticed something that he hadn't noticed before: she was sweating.

Gaara's eyes narrowed at the memory that consumed him.

A miniature Gaara stood at the door to the Kawamura residence.

Footsteps hurried from the upstairs, a clunk of wood resounded in the cove of the stairs.

Seconds later, the wooden door was pulled opened to reveal a very tired Kyo.

"Ah. Gaara," he spoke as his features grew into a warm smile, "You came…"

Gaara nodded, slightly blushing as he held an object concealed behind his back.

"Yes… How is she doing?" Gaara asked as Kyo ushered him into the house.

Kyo gave a slightly concerned look.

"I don't know…"

The two wearily looked at each other for a moment.

"I'm guessing you'll want to give her your present?"

Gaara nodded slowly.

Kyo looked towards the ceiling and gave a short sigh.

"Alright…"

The young man lead the boy up the stairs at the back of the house then down the hallway on the second story.

The two reached the door and Kyo gave Gaara another reassuring glance as he ushered themselves in.

Gaara, more or less, stumbled in, and found himself gaping at his best friend tucked into bed. Sweat covered her face as her breath was ragged and she broke into a coughing fit every few seconds.

Gaara shook himself out of his shock and gathered up his courage to approach the bedside.

Gaara felt a sturdy hand upon his shoulder.

"Don't."

Confused, the little boy looked back towards the older brother, questioning his actions.

"She'll kill you."

Gaara blinked.

Kill? Him?

Why?

Gaara kept silent as he followed the brother's gaze back towards the broken sister lying helplessly on the bed.

Kisa would never hurt him…

'… Would she?' the little boy questioned himself as a wave of doubt unexpectedly washed over him.

A new wave washed over him as he felt completely helpless. Slowly, Gaara revealed a small bouquet of flowers from behind his back.

"Desert Lilies…," Kyo echoed to himself.

Gaara sullenly nodded. The two both set off to work on placing the blooming flowers into a vase and putting the bouquet on a table stand next to the doorway.

"She'll love them," Kyo said in a reassuring tone as he gently began to usher the little boy out of the room.

Gaara turned his head to give one last glance at his ill friend. In the darkest shadows of her face, Gaara saw eyes flutter open, and where he had expected to see nothing but shadows, he thought he saw an emerald light glare through the darkness of the room.

"Desert Lilies…" Gaara whispered through the stillness of the room, "That's what you remind me of…"

Still standing at the end of the bed, Gaara grasped the metal of the bedpost firmly in his pale hands. She was this close, yet she seemed so far.

This was Kisa. This is Kisa, he told himself. His grip on the metal loosened.

'I don't care anymore…' he thought as subconsciously took steps along the side of the bed, his hand caressing the soft fabric of the bedcovers as he reached for hers.

"I love you, Kisa."

The whisper escaped his lips. Words that he had so longed to utter in her presence had spilled forth from his lips. His hand had found hers, and he took hold of her hand in his, holding it close to his heart. Gently, he lowered his head to her long slender fingers, slightly stained from soaking in blood, and placed a tender kiss upon her graceful hand.

"Don't leave me…"

His pale green eyes searched for a sign of reassurance in the emotionless mask that concealed the carefree-ness of the previous resident.

Suddenly, as if an answer to his prayers, the paper-thin eyelids began to flutter, and for a moment, Gaara found himself staring into the brown swirls he loves so much.

"…I won't"

Gaara felt himself unable to breath. The once limp hand found its vice grip around his wrist. The nin watched in horror as eyes of bright green eyes opened and stared straight into his own pale ones. Suddenly, he felt his whole body going limp. He found himself unable to stand and fell to the ground, trying to hold himself up by the side of the bed.

"Kisa?" he gasped, confused.

The grip held its place. Gaara's world faded away.

"Gaara…"

Gaara felt his head swimming. What were those mumbling noises? What was going on?

He tried to get up, but couldn't. His body wasn't responding.

"…Gaara?"

His whole body felt numb – even his brain felt numb.

"Gaara!"

Gaara forced his eyes to open.

Above him, a shape emitting bright colors dangled before him. He wanted to touch it. It was telling him to touch it. But his arm wouldn't respond.

He slowly blinked a couple times, his eyesight readjusting to the amount of light in the room.

"Oh Kami… we almost lost you."

Gaara looked up.

"… Who…" he spoke weakly.

A blonde lady of her late twenties was leaning over him, her gigantic breasts hanging over him and a jeweled pendant dangling above him.

"Sakura!" the lady called behind her, "Come here."

Gaara's eyes were more open now as he started trying to make sense of his consciousness again.

"Tsunade-sama," a peppy pink-haired girl appears next to the blonde lady, "Are you alright?"

Beads of sweat rolled down the lady's face.

"Yes," she said, standing straight again. "Keep an eye out on him for now… I need to fetch his sister."

The breasts left and so did the pendent. Gaara rolled his eyes over to the pink-haired girl.

"… You…" he spoke with a small cough.

Sakura nodded solemnly as she looked down at Gaara.

Suddenly the screen door flew open as a noise came crashing in with it.

"Sakura-chan! Are you all right? Is Gaara all right?"

Gaara lolled his head over to the left to look towards the source of the noise.

"Gaara," A loud, blonde boy, no older than Gaara, pushed his way into the strange room.

The perky boy came into view alongside with the pink-haired girl.

"Weren't you guys the ones who beat me up that other time?"

The boy nodded proudly, but there was still a sense of respect to him.

"Yes, but we heard your story…" the boy announced, "We're here to help!"

"Great…" Gaara breathed and fell into a peaceful world of darkness again.