Gaara sighed as he checked out the damage in the bathroom. Usually his father just gave him the old one two punch and let him go on his merry way, but, being more drunk and sadistic than usual, he had noticed the remnants of makeup on Gaara's forehead and had cut the pattern into his skin.

Gaara hadn't even screamed. If he had, his dad probably would have stopped, but if he had screamed, he would have shown weakness. Something he had no intention of ever showing to his father.

He cleaned the cut and then placed a bandage over it. If it scarred, he was going to be very annoyed.

He went into his bedroom and turned on his computer to check his email. Temari and Kankuro usually sent him mail every holiday.

Sure enough, there was a picture of Temari and Kankuro dressed up for their partying. Kankuro had removed his face paint and was in an Elvis costume because he lost a bet. Temari, like most girls her age, had used the holiday to dress in as little clothing as possible. She was wearing a black micromini, chain collar, and short black shirt that left much revealed.

He read through the message quickly. They as usual rambled on about their lives at college and eventually remembered in the last two lines that they were actually writing to their brother and threw in a few questions as to how he was doing.

He laughed as he read their questions. If only they knew.


He had never told Temari and Kankuro about their dad. He hadn't started until after Temari and Kankuro left for college, so they didn't know it was happening at all.

He didn't want to be seen as weak, so he refused the small want he had to tell them. There was nothing they could do anyway. His dad had him tied to the house until he was 18. There was no escape.

He quickly replied back to their mail with a short response and then turned off his computer. He really didn't feel like talking to anyone else that night.

He went and laid down, but sleep, like it normally did, evaded him.

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The next day when he awoke, Gaara realized he was going to have to have to be very careful about work. His new wound couldn't be explained away a simple fall if someone caught a glance of it. Anyone would know that something was up.

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Naruto met me at the back entrance.

"So what's the damage report?"

"Only one cut, not too bad."

No need to worry him with the fact that the "one" cut is actually more of a design.

"So, Naruto, how was your night?"

Unsurprisingly, Naruto started to go on and on about his evening, totally forgetting that his friend was probably in need of some sort of medical attention.

He managed to talk away most of the morning and only stopped around lunch when he finally decided to ask Gaara a question.

"How was your night?"

Hmmm, well it was pretty good until my dad went and cut a symbol into my head.

"Fun."

"How so?"

"Neji and I hung out in the park."

"Ah, really…"

"Yes, really."

"Uh-huh, so then, if I was to tell you that you were meeting him for lunch, you wouldn't kill me then, right?"

"Naruto..."

"They both asked, not my fault."

Gaara slowly unclenched his fist. Just because he was meeting Neji for lunch didn't mean he would notice his newly acquired wound.

Yeah Right.

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I'm sorry it's so short, but I have to go ref a soccer game. The next part is already written out by hand. It should be up soon. Bye!

I have over thirty reviews. (Throws confetti) Yay!