Disclaimer: No own

If: Ahhh... I had so many ideas for what was going to happen! I'm liking this version though, some of the others were so... predictable and stuff... but anyway, hope you enjoy!


Gaara awoke to sickeningly painful headache and the realization that he was tied to a chair in the middle of the living room in the dingy apartment. Gaara groaned he was pretty sure that there would be some sort of damage to the back of his head. He could feel blood trickling down his neck and drying on his skin, it was sickening. Dimly, Gaara noted that the sun was starting to set in the distance and he could only wonder how long he had been out. Gaara could see that neither Naruto nor Sakura were in the room, but he could hear them bickering in the other room. Wincing, Gaara strained to hear what they were talking about, but his senses were dull from the trauma to his head and it took him a while to hear them clearly.

"… I don't care Sakura! You didn't have to smash a chair over his head!" Gaara heard Naruto shout from the next room.

"He deserved it! Look what's happened to you!" Sakura shouted back. Gaara heard some shuffling in the next room.

"It's not his fault!" Naruto shouted and Gaara was curious if they were still talking about him.

"Of course it's his fault! He's the one that broke you!"

Yup, they were still talking about Gaara.

"It was Sasuke's fault!"

Gaara froze at that statement. Sasuke…

"If that teme hadn't come back then this wouldn't have happened!"

"No it wouldn't have, everything would still be the way it was Naruto! You would only be friends! You can't pin this on Sasuke-kun!"

"I can and I will!"

There was a crash.

"Naruto!"

Gaara turned his head to stare out the window. For some reason, he felt as if he had been sucked into a soap opera. There was too much drama in his life nowadays. It had never been this bad before… Gaara sighed.

Sasuke… Gaara was sure that he would never be forgiven for this. He didn't deserve to be forgiven for leaving the one he loved to go and find his sunlight. Gaara growled. Why couldn't his love be his sunlight? Why couldn't they be the same person?

When Naruto was around Gaara was calm and sane. Gaara had full control over Shukaku when Naruto was around. Life was normal, almost, and Gaara was happy, or at least as happy as he could have been with an abusive father.

But with Sasuke… with Sasuke, Gaara felt whole. It was as if a missing piece of him was re-connected. Sasuke made Gaara feel things he had never felt before, he made Gaara unable to control himself and around Sasuke Gaara would act like more of a human than he did before.

Gaara realized that by going after Naruto he had chosen to take the safe way out. He had been so used to not feeling much of anything and trying to hide away so that he couldn't be hurt. Gaara hadn't realized that he was hiding. In going after Naruto he had proven that he couldn't handle these new emotions, that he was afraid for himself. Gaara knew that he had problems trusting people and believing in himself, but this was ridiculous. Gaara couldn't hide from his feelings and himself forever. He had taken the route that while it would make him happy to an extent, it would never be as fulfilling as the more dangerous route where he could be hurt. The best things in life were the things you had to take a chance upon and work for. Gaara was a coward.

Gaara twitched dangerously. He had to get out of here. He had to go find Sasuke and beg for forgiveness. Gaara knew that he didn't deserve forgiveness for what he had done, but he had to try. He had to put his head on the chopping block and hope for a miracle.

Sakura and Naruto were still arguing in the other room, and from the sound of it, it seemed as though it were getting more violent. Gaara took the opportunity to try and free himself.

Twisting his arms around, Gaara found that escape would be a little harder than he had thought. There was no way he could untie these ropes and there was no way to move the chair, Sakura had tied his feet to the bottom. Gaara decided that he would have to break the chair somehow. Easier said than done.

Gaara tried to move the creaky chair he was on, but only the front legs moved back. Gaara got an idea. He kept inching the front legs back, trying to keep his weight on the back legs to keep them anchored. Feeling unsteady, Gaara leaned forward. There was a sharp crack and the flimsy chair's front legs snapped under the pressure. Gaara bit back a scream as the rest of the chair landing on his legs and the broken wood dug into the back of his knees. Gaara shifted his weight and managed to push himself to the side, the chair now crushing one of his arms, but Gaara paid it no heed. Gaara moved his legs and stretched them out, his eyes instantly darting to the other room. No one came forth.

Gaara started to push himself around, trying to maneuver himself so that he would be able to rise to his feet. Finally being able to sit up, which was awkward and painful thanks to the back legs of the chair still being intact, Gaara hoisted himself to his feet. Wincing as he felt several splinters of wood digging into his legs, Gaara ignored the pain and walked over to the table that held a glass. Hoping that he wouldn't be heard, Gaara bumped the table and knocked over the glass, which shattered at his feet. Again his eyes darted to the other room, but the two inside were still bickering.

Gaara heaved a sigh of relief and knelt on the ground, ignoring the glass that dug into his already abused knees. Wincing, Gaara let himself fall to the side, right onto the broken glass. Biting his lip to keep from crying out in pain, Gaara's fingers scrambled across the ground and picked up a piece of glass and instantly began to file away at the rope wrapped around him.

Gaara's wrist and hand were starting to cramp up and he was worried that the rope would never snap. The voices in the other room were suddenly quiet and Gaara started to panic.

Shit! He thought as his hand started to work over time. He needed to get out of these ropes before they got out of that room!

The creaking of a door opening made Gaara's eyes widen immeasurably. The rope snapped. Gaara instantly pulled and tugged at the rope, desperately trying to get free. The ropes finally fell from his torso. Gaara briefly thought about disconnecting the rope around his legs to get the splintered wood off his legs, but thought differently as he heard two voices start to talk amiably, apparently their argument was resolved. Gaara turned and saw the window. There was no screen. It was just a big glass window, and now it was his only way to escape. Gaara got to his feet.

"Gaara!" Naruto shouted. Gaara whirled around to face his friend. Gaara saw Sakura's eyes narrow. Gaara backed up from them both.

"Gaara… where do you think you're going?" Naruto asked, frowning. Gaara's mouth went dry.

"I have to find Sasuke," Gaara replied. Naruto's forehead ticked.

"Sasuke, eh?" he said, stepping forward. Gaara nodded, backing away from his friend. "What's so special about him?"

"…" Gaara's mouth opened but he couldn't think of a reason. "He just is."

Naruto scoffed and took another step forward. Gaara backed up again and his back hit the window. Gaara looked outside for a moment; there were some bushes outside the window…

Gaara looked at the blonde for a moment. "Naruto… you should open your eyes. There's someone here who really cares about you."

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"You shouldn't pin everything on me Naruto… it would have never worked. I don't think you know that," Gaara said. He saw Sakura grab the mutilated chair. "You should really look around you and see what I'm seeing right now."

Naruto seemed to think about that for a moment and that was all Sakura needed. Naruto was shoved out of the way and into the dingy couch and the chair was thrown at Gaara. Expecting this move, Gaara ducked out of the way. The chair hit the window, but didn't break it; it only managed to crack the glass.

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted as the pink haired girl picked up the small table Gaara had knocked into. Gaara dashed out of the way as the piece of furniture was sent his way once again. The widow exploded outwards as the table hit and Gaara jumped out among the falling glass, covering his head and rolling as he hit the ground. Gaara cried out as glass dug into his skin, but he ignored it and got up. Taking a look back at the scene behind him, Gaara almost smiled. Naruto was clutching onto Sakura and the pink haired girl was holding him tightly and nodded at the red head. Gaara nodded in return. All was forgiven… for now. Sakura may have knocked him out and probably caused head trauma, but she had let Gaara out and had heard the words he had said.

Gaara started to run back towards the park he had left Sasuke in.


Twenty minutes or so later, it was dark and Gaara was gasping for breath. He had finally reached the park, and was searching it for any sign of Sasuke, but he was finding none. Gaara finally managed to stumble upon the spot that they had been lounging in earlier that day. Hot tears rolled down Gaara's face, and he wiped them away angrily. Gaara surveyed the area, but there wasn't a soul in sight.

Hanging his head in defeat, Gaara nearly missed the note that was stuck to the tree he was now leaning on. Gaara frowned. It had his name on it. Could it have been from Sasuke?

Gaara opened the note and scanned it. His eyes grew wide and he read it carefully.

I have taken back that which is rightfully mine. It would do you good to forget all about my little Sasuke-kun.

I would also strongly suggest telling his brother as well. It would be such a shame if Itachi became some whining sniveling wimp… oh wait that happened already.

That pathetic excuse for a genius should be put out of his misery.

Gaara could only stare at the note for a while.

Shit… was what Gaara thought.