Disclaimer: Hmm... Naruto is mine. Yup. ... But not really.

If: Well... its been a while for meh. Wow, me not having a chapter up within a few days... scary. Theoretically I'll be back to my crazy updating schedule of DOOM!... but we'll see. Most likely I will. But anyway... Hope you like it! R&R As they say.


Brooklyn'sGurl: Waahh... I have the overwhelming urge to just hug you. I'm so happy you like my writing style. :) And we'll see how Sasuke trully reacts to this soon. I'm pretty sure by the end of this it still hasn't sunk in. Thanks so much for the continued support!

YINGYANGBLOSSOMS : As always I love getting your reviews! We'll see just how this all goes, and what Sasu and Gaa are going to react to each other. Thanks so much for the ongoing support and encouragement!

LETmeCRY: lol... I'd feel terribly sorry for the poor guy if he could have never left Gaa's side, simply for the pain his stomach must be enduring. Thanks for the review! Much luv!

xX-Angel.Eater-xX:Of course Sasu cares so much about Gaara! He just hasn't realized it... yet. Mwa ha ha ha... o.O... Anyways, thanks for the review!


I am hoping I can find
where to leave my hurt behind
All this shit I seem to take
all alone I seem to break
I have lived the best I can
Does this make me not a man?

Alone I Break - Korn


"Well, to begin, Gaara doesn't exactly have a happy home life… which you've obviously figured out since you're looking at me like I've just told you that the world is round…" Naruto said. "You bastard…"

"Would you get on with it Naruto!" Temari exclaimed. Naruto and Sasuke stopped their glaring match and blinked, looking at Temari. Naruto cleared his throat.

"Anyway… Gaara's life sucks," he stated. Temari deadpanned at him and Sasuke just looked at him. "You see, Gaara's mother died shortly after Gaara was born. Gaara's "father" was never quite the same after that. I personally like to think that he cracked mentally. But anyway, Gaara's mother had been having problems with Gaara's birth the whole time, so when he was finally born it was more of a relief than anything else. The nurses bundled him up and moved him to the baby place. No one really was happy that he was born; they were all worried about Gaara's mother, who wasn't doing too well. She was able to name the baby Gaara and then died. It was then that Gaara's father decided that he couldn't love the child that killed his beloved wife, even if that child was her last one. So after they had gotten Gaara's mother taken care of, they told the family to wait and they would get the baby. The second the nurse left, Gaara's father forced the family to leave as well. Luckily, or unluckily, the nurse caught them before they had a chance to leave the building, catching them at the door. Gaara's father wouldn't even touch the baby, so it was up to Gaara's uncle on his mother's side, Yashamaru to take the baby.

"From that time on Gaara's father had as little to do with Gaara as possible. He didn't even raise his own son, forcing it upon his brother in-law Yashamaru. The only impacts that he made were that of violence and abuse. Gaara's mind and body will never recover from the abuse he has suffered. His father pounded into his head that he was worthless, unwanted, a demon and a murder. Gaara couldn't do anything but accept these words, he was a child, he didn't know better, and no one told him otherwise. He wasn't allowed to be around his siblings without Yashamaru or his father present. His own sister and brother were strangers to him. The only person who knew he existed and was kind to him was Yashamaru.

"Yashamaru was the light in his world of perpetual darkness. The sun in that made the flowers bloom. When Yashamaru was around little Gaara was practically happy. There was nothing he wouldn't give to be around his uncle. His uncle, who cared about him and told him of all the things in the world, He explained what it was like to love, what it felt like to love, what friends were, the reason why Gaara would cry. Yashamaru would clean the scars that his father would leave. He would bandage cuts, and ice bruises. To Gaara, Yashamaru was the father that his own father wasn't.

"All of this changed when Gaara was six. At the tender age of six everything Gaara had thought he knew wouldn't be anymore. The world flipped around, black became white and all colors would be inverted. For at the age of six, Gaara's father arranged to have him killed," Naruto paused to get a drink. Sasuke tried to process all of this. It just wasn't sinking in. He couldn't comprehend it; he couldn't see how a father would want his own son dead. His own father hadn't nearly been as cruel; he just ignored him and never acknowledged him, trying to have him killed would have just been too much. Sasuke couldn't comprehend it.

"Yes, he wanted to get rid of the black spot in his existence," Naruto started again. "The demon child would die and that would be final.

"The whole thing was arranged on the fly one night. Gaara's father had already arranged for Yashamaru to come over that night to take care of the demon known as Gaara. Gaara's father was taking his two children (he didn't think of Gaara as his child, never had, he though of him as his curse) out for dinner and a movie for the night. Gaara was ecstatic to get the whole night with Yashamaru.

"But the reality is so harsh. Yashamaru had never loved Gaara. When he came that night, Gaara's father pulled him away from the children and asked him to kill his son," Naruto paused again to let Sasuke soak in the information he was giving him and to take another drink. Sasuke just stared at Gaara.

"The reality was the one person Gaara thought cared about him, loved him, and really never did. Yashamaru was much in the same boat as Gaara's father. He hated the child that had killed his sister, his most important person. He had tried to care about the child, in honor of his sister, but he found that it only made him hate him more. No matter what he did, he couldn't find it within himself to care about the hell spawn that had killed his most beloved sister.

"So when Gaara's father approached him to kill his son, Yashamaru quickly agreed," Naruto stopped again. He turned to Gaara and gently stroked his head.

"Poor Gaara didn't know a thing. All he knew was that Yashamaru would be staying for the night and that he would get to spend time with him. He loved his uncle…

"I'm afraid I can't tell you much of what happened though, Gaara just told me the barest minimum of facts. Yashamaru tried to kill him with a butcher's knife. That's what I know, that's what he told me, but that's all I know. Though I do have a feeling that he ended up here after the whole ordeal…" Naruto trailed off. Sasuke felt a dull, throbbing pain in his chest. The emotions he was feeling for this boy he barely knew, they were overwhelming. He just wanted to hold him and protect him from the world. He wanted to make everything right for this broken boy.

"We found them in the street," Temari said, Sasuke and Naruto barely hearing her. "Gaara… he had somehow managed to get outside and drag himself to the street. Yashamaru had followed him. I don't know how Gaara could have gotten out… Yashamaru had already slashed him, and stabbed him through the back. When we got there, Gaara was barely breathing and Yashamaru was dead, he was hit by a car."

Sasuke and Naruto just stared at her then turned to Gaara.

"He… he must have been too busy focusing on Gaara to notice the car coming towards him. The driver had called the ambulance and it was already on its way. Father was furious. He pulled us inside and I remember getting a look at the living room… there was blood on the wall and the floor. As I looked down I saw that my own feet had stepped in a puddle of it by the door," Temari continued. She looked down and covered her face in her hands.

"Father… he told us that it was all Gaara's fault. That it had been Gaara who was trying to kill Yashamaru. We didn't know any better… we were only children… so we believed him…" Temari sniffled. Sasuke stared at her incredulously and Naruto had taken up looking out the window again. "It was so glaringly obvious that it wasn't Gaara who was the bad one… but we didn't know. We hated him for the longest time… I'll never be able to make it up to him. The things we've done… the things we did!"

Naruto walked over to her and patted her shoulder. Temari was sobbing now. Sasuke felt his face soften; it was depressing to see her this way. He turned away from the sobbing girl to look back at the boy in the bed.

Gaara was so pale, paler than he normally was. His red hair was in sharp contrast to his near white skin and the white and pastel color of the room. Sasuke once again felt the urge to just wrap Gaara up in his arms and protect him, steal him away from the cruel world. Sasuke wanted to hold him close forever… but then realized the implications of what he had just thought. He seriously couldn't be that serious about a guy he had just met… could he?

Gaara's eyes fluttered.

Sasuke frowned. No… he wasn't that serious… was he? He couldn't be. But… as he looked at the boy in the bed he could tell that he was. He had never felt this way about anyone, and Sasuke knew that he really was serious.

Gaara's eyes twitched.

Naruto moved back to the window after a while and contented himself with staring out into space as he comprehended everything. Temari sat in her chair, holding back the tears that were threatening once more to overflow, and Sasuke turned to watch Gaara's face, a pastime he was loathe to admit he had acquired.

Gaara's eyes cracked open minimally, before slowly opening all the way.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw those jade eyes. It seemed like he hadn't seen them in years and his heart felt light and giddy in his chest.

"Gaara?" he asked tentatively. Naruto furrowed his brow and turned around.

"Gaara?" he saw the red head blinking, trying to clear his blurry vision. "Gaara!"

Temari's head snapped up and she rushed to the bed. "Gaara!"

Gaara winced at the loud voices, but blinked the blurriness out of his eyes. He turned his head to the side; there were his two favorite blondes.

"Naru? Temari?" he questioned. Both started grinning and tears rolled down his sisters face, Gaara knew Naruto was trying his hardest not to cry by the way moisture was gathering in the corners of his eyes. Turning his head to the other side Gaara blinked several times in disbelief. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke grinned his best "lady killer" smile at the red head, trying to cover up the ecstasy he felt over the red head awakening. "Hey there sleeping beauty."

Gaara's eyes went wide and his face matched his hair as Sasuke leaned forward and kissed his forehead gently. Naruto and Temari broke out into hysterical laughter. Sasuke smiled smugly to himself. Gaara sputtered, trying to say something, but failing miserably.

"You… should see… your face…" Naruto managed to exclaim through his laughter. Gaara turned to give him his best "you will die a terrible, horrible, slow and painful death" glare. Naruto instantly stopped laughing and hid behind his chair. Temari and Sasuke sniggered at the wimpy blonde, who instantly told Sasuke to shut up. Temari grabbed her brother's unoccupied hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I'll glad you're finally awake Gaara," she said. Gaara's brow furrowed slightly.

"'Finally awake'?" he questioned. All occupants in the room turned to stare at him.

"Yeah man, you've been asleep for four days… you had us worried," Naruto said.

"Asleep?" Gaara' questioned, his brow furrowing even further.

"Gaara… do you know where you are?" Sasuke asked quietly. Gaara shook his head in the negative.

"You're in the hospital Gaara," Naruto explained. Gaara just looked confused.

"Do you know how you got here Gaara?" Sasuke asked. Gaara shook his head again.

"I don't remember anything… the last thing I remember was leaving school the other day," Gaara said. Sasuke looked at Naruto and Temari, both of which were concerned about Gaara.

"Gaara…" Naruto started. "You're father put you in the hospital again."

Gaara twitched.

"I think I should let the doctor know you're finally awake," Temari said. She glanced up at the clock before taking a double take. "Before I leave…"

Naruto glanced up as well, curious what time it was that Temari had to rush home. He caught sight of the time and cursed.

"I'll walk you out," he said as they both gathered their things.

"I'll try to visit again soon, or send Kankuro," Temari said as she rushed over to her brother and kissed his cheek before rushing out the door with Naruto. Sasuke gave Gaara's hand a squeeze. Startled, Gaara turned to the raven haired youth.

"You going to be ok?" Sasuke asked. Gaara nodded to him.

"I think so…."