What a mess... Gaara thought as Naruto maneuvered him over to his dining room table and pulled out a chair for him and then gently pushed him down so that he was finally sitting.

"Drink?" He asked, wondering if Gaara would decide to join him in his vain attempt to forget what he'd just sat through. Again. Gaara looked up at the blond and then grunted, his way o telling his brother that he'd join him. But he shouldn't expect him to stick around for hours so that he could drink him under the table.

He wanted no repeats of his one night of binge drinking with the younger man. Not if it meant tattoo parlor's, dying his hair pink and glitter were involved.

Sitting down across from him, Naruto poured him a drink and then poured himself one and tossed it back as Gaara picked his up and sipped it before asking, "So... I'm assuming that what I saw wasn't the whole story. Do you want to tell me the rest?"

Naruto looked at him, his eyes like ice. A rare occurrence that hardly ever happened when he was with someone close to him unless they were treading on dangerous ground. Gaara knew this, so if Naruto did not wish to tell him anything more- he would simply get his information from someone else.

Like... Shikamaru for instance. He worked closely with Naruto on a daily basis and could be able to tell him what Naruto himself wasn't willing too. And if he didn't tell him everything, he was sure that he could arrange for him to disappear for a little while.

His sister may not like that fact if she ever found out. Which she would, cause Shika would toss him to the wolves just to save his own ass from her wrath. Again, he knew this- but he was willing to risk his health and wellbeing to help out his brother.

"You're wanting to know if she's alive?"

Gaara hummed and then elaborated a little bit, "Among other things."

"She is. Alive I mean. She was found in a fiery crater about ten miles outside of the village covered in blood, and other things. Her clothing- or what was left of them, tattered and torn rags. Her wounds had been partially healed..."

"Partially?"

"Her eyes, limbs, and throat." Naruto said roughly as his fingers gripped his sake cup so tightly that he shattered it in his hand. Looking down momentarily with a startled expression on his face, he brushed himself off and then got up and cleaned up the mess and dumped it in the nearest trash can and then went and washed his hands and when he finished, grabbed a more sturdy cup from his cabinet and then returned to his seat as resumed speaking. "They were...better. Fixed. Reattached. And she was found screaming very loudly."

"The one's that found her knocked her out- partially because she was freaking them out and partially because she was injured- and then brought her straight to the hospital where it took Tsunade, and Sakura almost twelve hours to stabilize her condition."

"But she is alive." It was more a question than a statement. And it had Naruto setting aside his sake so that he could reply while he absently played with the rim of his glass.

"She's in a medically induced coma. Has been since that first night. But lately- I've been getting some strange feelings," Gaara cocked his head at him and waited for him to elaborate. "Insanely strong pulls. Like I can sense her mind, her feelings, her confusion, her chaos- She's always so terrified," Naruto continued his voice coming out sounding choked before he cleared his throat and kept going. "And it usually ends with me by her bedside at the hospital, holding her hand and talking, telling her that I won't ever let anyone hurt her again. And I say it over and over and over until I loose my voice."

"I never experienced that when I was bound."

"Well to be fair Gaara, back then, you had a lot of voices in your head."

Gaara shrugged but said nothing of Naruto's comment. It wasn't like Naruto was wrong. Besides, he knew that his brother wasn't trying to offend or hurt his feelings. Besides, anyone that knew Naruto personally knew that his mouth sometimes tended to run away from him.

"Do you feel anything from her now?" He asked curiously. Naruto closed his eyes for a moment and took several deep breaths before replying.

"She's resting right now. Dreaming. I get the impression that she tried to check up on me earlier when I met you at the gate because she could sense my worry. And it was distressing to her. But she calmed and grew tired. She'll expect me to go see her later." Naruto finally said as he slowly opened his eyes to look at Gaara.

"Fascinating. I hope you know I'm going with you."

Naruto nodded, although he wasn't sure how exactly he was supposed to feel about that fact. But he supposed that under the circumstances, it was understandable.