blak-flame - I have so much fun writing these things. im a big dork, i get really excited and stuff. n.n i wuv gaara! ok. goal for this chapter: use upper case letters! whoo! haha, sorry im in a weird mood right now. no, but i wrote like three pages for this chapter in school. so let's see how this works out...

Chapter...5...?

"So, what are we doing tonight?"

Naruto beamed, "Ramen!" All eyes turned to glare at the blonde, whose shoulders quickly sagged and began looking gloomy. He wasn't going to get his wish. Neji turned towards Gaara, "So, can you come tonight?"

Gaara looked down, "I'm not sure..." It was finally Friday and they were all making plans for something to do that night. While the red-heads father had been gone since Sunday, he would probably be coming back soon and it would be bad if Gaara wasn't home when his father got back. It didn't help that his dad never called and just showed up.

Neji's face fell slightly; he hadn't had that much time over the last three days to talk to Gaara much and had been looking forward to being able to hang out with the younger. "Well, if you can come, just meet us at...where ever we finally decide we're going...if we ever decide." Gaara nodded, in all honesty he knew that the chances he could go were low, but he couldn't help but hope.

At the end of lunch, Gaara went in search of his brother. He spotted him in a group of his other senior friends, "Kankurou!"

His brother's head swiveled in his direction, lighting up when he saw his younger brother. Kankurou jogged over to where Gaara stood, "Hey, kid, what's up?"

Gaara bit his lip, but was unable to squander the small bubble of hope, "Could I...Do you think...I could go out tonight?"

Kankurou's face visibly fell, "Gaara...I know you want to, I do...but it's not a good idea, not now that Dad's been gone for a week. I don't want to get you in trouble. I'm sorry, we can't push our luck."

Gaara nodded, the look of disappointment on his face nearly killed Kankurou. "Right, well, I wasn't really expecting to go anyways. Okay," Gaara mumbled, looking at the ground.

"We can do something else, you, me and Temari. Or just you and me. It'll be fun. I promise," Kankurou let the words rush from his mouth, trying to cheer up his younger brother.

Gaara forced a small smile onto his lips, "Yeah, okay."

Kankurou cursed under his breath, "Gaara, I'm sorry; you know I am, I just don't want you to get hurt." Gaara nodded his head a little; he didn't know why he was always giving himself false hope like that. He knew it never worked out, but he just kept doing it. The bell rang and Kankurou threw Gaara a worried glance before walking towards his next class. Gaara headed towards his next class, too, feeling crushed. By the time the rest of his day was over, the small red-head felt better. He was standing in the front of the school, doing his best to avoid getting knocked down by anyone.

"Gaara!"

The small red-head looked around, not sure who had called his name. He spotted Temari's car and walked over to it, waiting by her window for it to roll down. She rolled down her window and looked at Gaara questioningly, "What's up?"

"I think I'm just gonna stay here and do my homework. I can just walk home."

"You sure? I could come and pick you up, I don't mind."

Gaara shook his head, "No, I can just walk." Temari nodded, said goodbye and drove off to look for Kankurou. Gaara made his way to his favorite spot, under a tall tree by the school fields. He pulled out is Global homework. He was working on it when dark shadow fell across him. He looked up and was surprised to see two very large boys standing over him, glaring. The one on the left smiled down at him, "Hey, your brother's been causing us some trouble. We have a message we want you to give him."

Gaara looked at the other boy; he had a black eye and split lip. Kankurou. But what did they want with him? Gaara scowled, slightly confused. The first one reached down and jerked him up by his shoulder. It clicked in Gaara's mind, 'Oh. Shit.' As quickly as he could, Gaara slipped out of the older boys grasp and started running. 'Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit...' The boy with the black eye quickly caught up to Gaara and tackled him to the ground. Gaara was grateful that his father hadn't been there all week and his old bruises weren't nearly as sensitive anymore. Once the other boy caught up, they both dragged Gaara over to the brick wall without much difficulty.

"This is an important message; you have to make sure Kankurou gets it," One of the boys sneered."

The injured one smirked, distorting his face, "I hope your brother gets the message, or we'll have to be a little clearer next time." They both walked away, leaving Gaara on the ground, wishing the darkness would take him. After what seemed like an eternity Gaara groaned and lifted himself off the ground, ignoring all the pain. Slowly, he staggered back to where he had been before and collapsed.

At least when his father hit him, he had a distraction. Gaara lay there motionless, simply listening to what was happening around him.

Neji came out of the locker room, slinging his bag over his shoulder he headed back towards the fields. When he got to the edge, he skimmed the grass across the field. Neji spotted what he was looking for under a tree. The same tree that he had been that first day, he spotted brilliant impossible red hair.

Smiling to himself Neji jogged over to the tree, across the field. When the long haired boy got to the tree he gasped at the sight of Gaara's face. The boy's right eye was swollen, it might have been bruised, but Neji couldn't tell because of the eyeliner. He had a shallow cut on his forehead and another bruise on his left cheek. Neji could feel the anger burning in his chest towards whoever had done this to the small boy, he had never hurt anyone. Neji seriously doubted that he could if he tried. At first, Neji didn't want to disturb the young boy, but after a moment, he did anyways. Neji gently shook Gaara's shoulder, "Gaara, wake up."

Gaara jerked a little away from Neji, his eyes snapping open, "I'm not sleeping." Neji could feel his hands clench at the sound of Gaara's pained voice.

"Come on, get up."

"Huh?" Gaara looked confused, his eyes slightly glazed over.

"We're getting you cleaned up, now come on." Neji carefully helped Gaara up, trying to be as gently as possible. The very movement seemed to hurt the red-head. "Is your sister picking you up today?"

Gaara slowly shook his head, "I'm s'posed to walk."

Neji snorted a little, "Not like this your not. I'll give you a ride."

When they were at the doors, Gaara's head snapped up, he winced at the sharp movement, "B-But-"

"You're not walking home when you're in this condition," Neji cut him off, his voice stern.

"It's not so bad," The smaller boy mumbled.

Sighing, Neji said, "Either way I can drive you, and I will drive you." Gaara looked slightly more discouraged. Neji decided to cut him off before he could argue again, "Can you handle a pair of stairs?" There were only four of five steps, but Neji was still worried. Gaara nodded, going to take the first step before doubling over in pain. He bit his lip to muffle his moan. "Don't try the rest, it'll just hurt you more," and with that Neji scooped the younger boy up and carried him up the stairs. He could feel Gaara suppress a cringe at the touch. When they got to the top of the stairs Gaara opened his mouth, but Neji cut him off again, "It'll go quicker if I carry you." Neji scowled to himself halfway down the hallway, he still didn't like how light Gaara was.

"N-Neji, you don't have to do this," Gaara mumbled, staring at the front of his shirt, a light blush on his cheeks.

"Of course I do." Neji saw the confused expression on Gaara's face and a kept going, "Gaara, you're my friend. Friends help each other, so of course I have to help you. And even if I don't I am. Now stop trying to tell me to stop. I want to help you, Gaara." Neji made his way to his locker, gently putting Gaara down; he quickly grabbed a short tube before scooping the small boy back up.

Gaara scowled at himself. "Where are we going?"

Neji smiled triumphantly, "Right here." Gaara strained his neck to look up, they were at the bathroom. Neji carried him in and set him down in front of the mirror, on the counter. "Alright, come on," Neji muttered to himself. He uncapped the top and squirted some white cream onto his hand. He was about to put some on Gaara's face when he saw the boy eyeing the cream warily.

"Don't worry, it's just some cream. It'll help with the bruises." Slowly, Gaara nodded. Neji leaned forward, gently rubbing some of the cream on Gaara's face. He was vaguely aware that Gaara's breathing was a little shallower than usual because of the proximity of their faces. Neji concentrated on his own breathing, making sure that it was normal. When Neji was done with the bruise, he grabbed a paper towel, getting it wet he lifted up some of Gaara's hair and wiped away some of the dried blood. Once the blood was dry, Neji stood there for a minute, with Gaara's hair pushed back, his blood red tattoo was more visible.

Neji glanced at Gaara's face; his eyes were fixed upon Neji's hands. He watched every movement that the pale-eyed boy made. Neji reached towards the bottom of Gaara's shirt, but he jerked away and quickly scooted over to the other end of the counter. His sea-foam green eyes were wide and Gaara was shaking slightly, "W-What are y-you doing?" His voice shook along with his body.

Neji looked at Gaara, concern written all over his face, "I was just checking for more bruises." They sat there for a couple of minutes, staring at each other. Neji waited until Gaara had stopped shaking before he slowly reached for the Youngers shirt again. He started lifting the shirt and saw Gaara go rigid under him, Neji wasn't entirely sure that Gaara was breathing.

Neji's breathe hitched as he saw old bruises and scars covering Gaara's stomach. Neji could practically count all of his ribs. Neji tried to act like there was nothing unusual, and he hoped he was doing a good job. Neji found some of the more recent bruises and put cream on them. Then he pulled Gaara's shirt back down. Looking up at Gaara, smiling he said, "All done. The cream should help a little."

Gaara took a gasping breathe, his eyes were glazed over with tears and he looked at Neji like he was afraid of him. "Gaara?! What's wrong?"

Gaara looked at the floor, "Aren't y-you going t-to leave?" His voice was barely a whisper.

Neji scowled at Gaara, "Why would I leave, Gaara? You're my friend. You just got beaten up. Don't worry, I'm not leaving."

Gaara looked up, almost disbelievingly at Neji, who gave him a reassuring smile. "Come on, it's getting late. I bet your sister'll get worried soon." Gaara nodded and slid off the counter. They silently walked back to the tree and got Gaara's books. It was cloudy now and looked like it was going to rain.

They walked to Neji's car, throwing Gaara's stuff in the back. Once they were out of the school lot, Neji decided he couldn't take the silence anymore, "So, do you know if you can come tonight yet?"

Gaara's shoulders sagged a little, "No, my dad might come back tonight and he likes it when we're all home when he gets home. Plus, my brother wants to hang out with me and Temari." Neji nodded his head slowly. They got to Gaara's house a little too soon, in Neji's opinion. Neji pulled into the driveway and got out of the car with Gaara.

"Déjà vu," Gaara muttered.

Neji smirked as they walked up to the door. This time, Gaara opened the door himself and stepped in. He turned around, avoiding Neji's eye, "Thanks for the ride, Neji. …And for everything else too."

Neji smiled, "No problem, see you Monday."

"Bye," Gaara slipped Neji a small smile and closed the door.

Neji smiled back in his car, Gaara wasn't the only one who was disappointed that he couldn't come that night to hang out with everyone.

blak-flame – I think that's good. I was going to keep going but I think I'll stop now. And just make the next part another chapter. Umm….reviews..? huh…?? Come on, you know you want to lol