Blak-flame - sigh nothing much happened last chapter. And we're on vacation this week. And I'm bored. So here I am! A mere five minutes after I finished the last chapter. V.V I need to get a life…but yeah. So I realized that the last chapter was basicly a filler. Hopefully, something will happen this time around!

Chapter 8: Yashamaru

Neji stumbled through the hallway, vaguely remembering something about a computer. Where had Gaara gone? The boy half-blindly walked into the computer room, seeing the red-head sitting at the computer, a rather thick book in his lap spinning in circles as he read. There was a chat opened on the computer screen. 'Who's Puppetmaster?'

"Don't you ever sleep?"

The small boy started at the unexpected sound in the silence of the morning. Gaara scowled at himself, "I sleep…just not much."

BING!

Gaara spun around, facing the computer and quickly typed a response to whoever he was talking to. Turning back to Neji Gaara said, "My brother wants to talk to you…Do you have a phone?"

Neji blinked, forcing himself to be fully awake. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, he always put it in his pocket first thing in case he needed to call someone or there was an emergency. Neji held it up, "Yeah, I got one."

Gaara nodded, then pointed at the computer screen. Neji leaned forward, hovering over the smaller boy, and read the last thing said, ignoring everything else.

Puppetmaster: ask Neji if he wants to call, or should I call him?

Neji raised his eyebrows at Gaara, "Puppetmaster?" Gaara shrugged and said a little sheepishly, "He's pretty good with puppets, my cousin, Sasori is better, but Kankurou's really good too." Neji half-smiled and leaned even farther over Gaara so that his arms were wrapped around the small boy and his chin rested on the Gaara's red hair.

ChildoftheDesert: it's Neji

ChildoftheDesert: call me 525 0381

Puppetmaster: ok, gimme a second

Neji stood upright again, waiting for his phone to ring, completely oblivious to the youngest Sabaku, who wanted Neji's arms to be back where they had been. He had been able to handle it. As Neji's phone started ringing, Gaara went back to reading his book, his brother had wanted to talk to Neji, so either Kankurou didn't want his younger brother hearing, or he already knew.

The long-haired Hyuuga flipped his phone open, "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Kankurou, Gaara's older brother?"

Neji nodded to himself, "Yeah, I know who you are," Without thinking he added, "You're the senior who wears the face paint all the time, right?" As soon as the words left Neji's mouth he felt bad and blushed slightly, he hadn't meant to be rude.

To Neji's relief, Kankurou laughed lightly, "Yeah, that's me. And you're one of those popular guys who are one the rugby team."

Neji laughed, a little embarrassed, "Yep, I'm one of them."

Neji heard Kankurou sigh, "Is Gaara in the room with you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you think you could leave?"

Neji walked out of the room, leaving the red-head to his book, "Okay, why did I leave Gaara?"

Once again, Kankurou sighed, "I just have to talk to you about some stuff."

Neji scowled a little, "Oh…okay. Go ahead."

"Look, I know Gaara trusts you and everything, but I'm not sure I can trust you. He's my little brother and I gotta look after him. I'm not here to interrogate you or anything, but if he comes back all bloodied up and bruised, or if you hurt him at all, you can count on me coming after you."

"Kankurou, I'm not going to hurt him. I'm a little more worried about the kids who beat him up at school, though."

Kankurou's voice dropped a little of its threat and was replaced by guilt and anger. "You don't have to worry about them. I'm taking care of it."

Neji raised an eyebrow, forgetting that Kankurou couldn't see him, "Oh? …I suppose that's good then."

"If Gaara wants to talk to me or Temari or something, he knows our numbers."

"Okay…hey, Kankurou?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it normal for Gaara not to sleep much? Or at all?"

"What? Oh, yeah, it's fine if he doesn't sleep or something. Just make sure he's got something to do, or he'll keep you up too. He's an insomniac, so don't worry about it. Make sure he eats and stuff, he's skinny, but he can eat a lot."

Neji was a little surprised by the fact that Gaara had insomnia, but it wasn't all too shocking, it made sense.

"And, if you could also bring him to school early y on Monday, that way me and Temari can see him."

Neji shrugged, "Yeah, sure, I can do that."

"Thanks, Neji. I guess you're not bad. Oh, and one more thing," Kankurou's voice turned serious, "If he wants to come back. If he wants to come back home, back here, you can't let him. No matter what, you can't let him come back."

Scowling slightly, Neji agreed, they quickly exchanged numbers and hung up. Walking back into the computer room, Neji stood, leaning against the doorframe, watching the young Sabaku read. How many secrets did he keep and protect? How many of them were harmful and were slowly killing him?

Gaara looked up at Neji suddenly, as if just noticing the Hyuuga was there. He smiled a little, looking a little baffled as to why Neji was staring at him. The brunette smiled pleasantly at the boy, "You hungry?"

Gaara perked up a bit, "Yeah!"

"Oh…wait…I don't have any food, I'm sorry I forgot," Neji felt bad about not having anything to give Gaara. He didn't want to go out again, "Alright, I guess I have to go shopping…You want to come?"

The red-head shrugged slightly, "Okay."

"Alright, let's go," Neji went to his room; he wasn't fully there, thinking about something else. Gaara put the book down in front of the computer and followed the Hyuuga to his room. He decided to wear the pants that he had been wearing when he had arrived the day before. They fit better than the pants that Neji had given him to wear. Once again, he borrowed a long sleeve shirt from Neji. He started changing, but caught the long-haired boy watching him, "Wh-What?" The intense stare that he was receiving made Gaara a little uncomfortable.

Neji seemed to snap out of it, a small trace of a blush evident on his cheeks, "Oh...Sorry, nothing."

Once they were in the car, the curiosity started taking over, "So, what'd my brother want to talk to you about?"

"Hn?" The brunette had still been thinking about something else, not really paying attention, "Oh, nothing really."

Gaara silently nodded. Neji looked over at him out of the corner of his eye. The boy's eye was less swollen than it had been on Friday and only a small part of the bruise was apparent under the eyeliner. The cut on his forehead was covered mostly by the bright red bangs, but the bruise on his cheek stood out against his pale skin. Neji had felt his uncle's burning curiosity when he had first met him and taken in the boy's beaten up appearance.

Thinking back to Friday, Neji thought of all the bruises he had seen on the young boy's chest and winced slightly. How many more of those did he have? The Hyuuga was pretty confident he knew what was going on; it was obvious that the problem wasn't Kankurou, but he couldn't be too sure. It could all have been an act. The Sabaku household was a mystery and it concerned Neji that Gaara lived there. At least he wasn't there now, but for how long did he have until he would go back?

The boy of subject twiddled his fingers nervously, "N-Neji?"

"Hmm?"

Frowning and staring at his hands, Gaara asked, "Did I do so-something wr-wrong?

"What? No, what could you have done wrong, Gaara?"

Said boy only stared even harder at his hands, "I-I don't know. Maybe I di-did something wrong? Something that m-made you mad at me?"

Neji looked at Gaara gently as they pulled into the parking lot, "You didn't do anything wrong and I'm certainly not mad at you. I…I was just thinking about some things, that's all."

"Oh," was the simple, quiet response that Neji got.

The elder boy parked the car and smiled reassuringly at the small red-head, "Cheer up. We're going to have fun today, I promise. And don't worry about doing anything wrong, it's not exactly like I have a strict set of rules to follow.

Slowly, Gaara nodded, "O-Okay."

They both stepped out of the car, Gaara trailing the taller boy into the building. Fifteen minutes later, the cart that Gaara was standing next to was half full. "You shop weird…" The red-head commented to Neji, who was debating on what cereal to get.

Glancing up he asked, "What do you mean I shop weird?"

Gaara shrugged, "I don't know…you just do everything differently from how Temari or Kankurou would do it."

Picking a cereal and tossing it into the cart, Neji raised a single eyebrow, "Oh?"

Gaara bit his lip, not quite sure how to explain, "Well, yeah, I mean, if Temari was here, she would have picked one and gone with it. She wouldn't have looked at all the stuff you do…Or she would get whatever's cheaper." Smiling Gaara went on, "But, if the three of us shopping together, Kankurou and I go around and get everything, Temari just stands in one spot, waiting for the cart to fill up."

Neji nodded, "So, you guys basically get whatever you feel like?"

Nodding happily as he followed Neji down yet another aisle, the boy replied, "Yeah, like on Friday we all came and I got cookies and Kankurou got ice cream. That's pretty much all we got."

Neji stuck his tongue out playfully, "Sounds healthy, but I'm more of a health nut, I suppose. I don't particularly care about price, either, guess because I have so much money and it's never been an issue."

"…What are you so rich from?"

"My uncle, the one you saw when you first came over yesterday?" Gaara nodded. "He owns a really big company, so being rich just comes with the territory I guess." Neji smiled a little to himself, he wanted to hear more about Gaara's life and his siblings.

Once again, they were sitting in front of Neji's big screen TV playing video games. Both of them were in pajamas and concentrating, by some miracle, Gaara was much better than he had been the night before and was crushing Neji. Finally, Neji threw his hands up, "That's it! I give up!"

"But, we only just started!"

Neji stared at Gaara, "Only meaning two hours ago. And in those two hours, you've managed to crush my thoughts of thinking I was pretty good at this game."

The red-head immediately looked worried, "Neji, I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to!"

Neji chuckled at the smaller bys response, "Gaara, it's okay, I was only kidding."

Smiling sheepishly he said a simple, "Oh."

Neji yawned slightly, "So, how about a movie?"

Gaara shrugged, "Sure, which one?"

The brunette leaned forward, looking at the movies he had, "I dunno, how about…Lord of the Rings?"

"Is it good?"

Neji had to keep his jaw from dropping, "You've never seen Lord of the Rings? How is that possible?! I love this movie, I mean, yeah, it's wicked long, but it's really good…Have you read the books?"

"Umm…yeah, I think so, but I don't really remember it."

Neji snorted, "You read possibly the longest book ever and yet not seen the movie of it?"

A light blush appeared on his cheeks, "It's not that l-long."

Neji snorted a little, "Right, well it's one of those books I read over a long time span." With that they settled back into their earlier positions, Gaara once again on the floor, but this time Neji sat next to him.

About an hour into the movie, Neji turned to the boy next to him, "Gaara?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you keep leaving? You're house, I mean. When I was on the phone with your brother, he made it clear that you couldn't go back, but the first time I met you…why do you keep leaving your house?"

Neji could feel the younger go a little stiff next to him and watched as his eyes dropped to the floor. "I-I…Well…" Suddenly, Foam green eyes looked up and locked with pale lilac eyes. It nearly broke Neji in two at the sight of raw sorrow, fear, loneliness and pain in the younger boy's eyes. Green pleaded with lilac, pleading not to make him tell.

"Gaara…"

His eyes started glazing over, "Please…not yet."

The tired brunette sighed, defeated, causing a great look of relief on his companion. The younger boy couldn't—Neji wouldn't let him hide this forever. It was obvious that it was bad, very bad, and Neji wanted to help. But, he was also aware that this couldn't be rushed.

It wasn't until another hour of the movie had passed (A/N I have no idea how long the movie actually is…), that he decided to make a proposition. "Okay, I vote a question exchange."

"O-Okay."

"Alright, I'll go first. Ask me something."

Pondering slightly before he responded, Gaara finally decided upon a question, "Why was your uncle over yesterday?"

"…Yesterday? Oh, he comes over once a week," Making a face he continued, "I used to live with them, after my parents died, but it all got to suffocating. I just got sick of it, so after a while, I moved out…and here I am. Unfortunately, my uncle insists on forcing himself on me at least once a week, to educate me about the business and tell me what I'm doing wrong…it's all a load of bullshit, really."

"You don't like your uncle?"

"No, not particularly, he's my father's brother. They were twins, but he was born first, so he got the business. I used to resent him for it, after all it was only a few minutes, but those few minutes made all the difference. That's how I used to see it, anyways."

"What about now?"

"Now? Now, I simply find him to be an obnoxious perfectionist, but only when it comes to those around him. He expects the impossible, really. Perfection doesn't actually exist, after all. Now…now, it has nothing to do with that fact that he owns the business, but that he expects so much of me, and all it does is add more pressure." Neji snorted, "Stuck up, rich bastards."

Smiling, Gaara joked, "Yeah, I hate rich people."

The rich boy in the room stifled a yawn, "Me too."

"…So, what's your question?"

"You can pick, it can be anything."

If Gaara had eyebrows, he would have furrowed them in concentration, but as it was he did not, so he couldn't. "…I used to live with my uncle, too. Up until I was about six, I lived with him; he took care of me and taught me things that my family wouldn't."

That surprised Neji; he had thought that both Temari and Kankurou cared deeply for their little brother, "Not even your siblings?"

Biting his lip slightly, he replied, "Well…they used to resent me, for taking away their mother. After a while, they realized it wasn't my fault, not really, anyways. That's what they say anyways."

"So, what happened to your uncle?"

:: FLASHBACK ::

Blood. So much blood. That's all he could see. The small boy huddled into a corner, the last words of his beloved uncle running through his mind over and over. "You ruined everything, why did you have to ruin everything!? I never loved you, never. How could I love a monster? A murderer!?" His Uncle's eyes had been wide, wild and crazed. The young boy had watched in horror, frozen as the one man who loved him and had taken cared of him stabbed himself in the stomach.

"Y-Ya-Yasha-maru!"

Tears ran down the young boys round cheeks, as he saw that nothing but pure hatred filled his uncle's light brown eyes.

"Monster."

He clutched his head, curling into a ball in the corner of the kitchen. The very kitchen that the now dead man had said he loved him. Lies. Had it all been lies?! Didn't anyone care for him?! He was still in the same position, tears still rolling down his face when the police came. At first they had thought that maybe, this boy. This crazy, young, scared boy had killed him. It was soon made clear, however that the man had committed suicide.

I never loved you.

Murderer!

Monster!

::END FLASHBACK::

The older version of Gaara had been silent a long time now; he had slowly gotten into a fetal position and was now rocking back and forth. Neji had immediately gotten up, and was now sitting next to the younger boy, he was no longer tired. "Gaara!" Tears filled his eyes and quickly spilled over.

Not knowing what else to do, Neji just held the red-head. He rocked with him, but never let go of the smaller boy. A sob broke through his throat; he clutched the front of Neji's shirt and continued sobbing loudly. "Shh…" Neji whispered into Gaara's hear, who was still sobbing. Gaara sat in his lap, crying and rocking until he was able to stop.

Gaara sniffed and wiped his eyes, unable to look directly at the pale lilac eyes that were shining so brightly with worry. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked…"

The small boy, still sitting in his lap shook his head slightly, "It's okay, you didn't know…" Looking up he said, "Thank you." The movie was almost over when the two boys crawled into Neji's bed. The older boy was still holding the red-head. "Neji?"

"What is it?"

Still, they whispered, afraid to speak any louder, "Why are you being so nice to me? No body's ever been this nice to me, other than Kankurou and Temari….but they're family. So, why are you being so nice to me?"

Neji smiled softly, kissing the top of Gaara's head he replied, "Because I care about you, Gaara. Maybe a little more than for 'just friends'." He could feel Gaara's head bob up and down as he nodded, as the younger boy snuggled into Neji.

After a while, they both fell asleep, Gaara surprised by this fact. He had been getting more sleep this weekend than he had in a long time.

"Gaara, come on! Kankurou wanted you to be there early!" Neji called upstairs as he waited for the boy to come down so they could get to school already. He was still a little worried about his small red-head, and was glad that he was going to see Kankurou; he wanted to ask him a few things. When they got to the school, they were the only car in the parking lot, other than one other car that had two people leaning against the outside of it. Two people that both Neji and Gaara recognized as the older Sabaku children.

As soon as they stepped out of Neji's car, Gaara was immediately attacked b a tall blonde girl; Temari. Kankurou followed behind, a little more relaxed, but the look of relief on his face was unmistakable. Neji decided to let them have a small reunion before he quietly pulled Kankurou aside, Temari was still fussing over Gaara who just stood there.

Kankurou smiled at Neji, "Good to know, you kept our little brother in one piece."

Neji nodded, "Kankurou…I have to ask you something."

The Sabaku nodded, still looking fondly over at his siblings, "Okay, shoot."

"It's about…when Gaara was younger, he told me he used to live with his-your uncle?" Kankurou instantly turned to Neji, his eyes a little steely at the mention of his mother's brother. "He told me…he said he used to live with him, but when I asked what happened to him, he freaked out. He just got really still for a long time, and then started crying…"

Kankurou eyed the Hyuuga warily, then sighed, "I suppose I can't be mad at you, you didn't know. When Gaara was six, back when he still lived with Yashamaru, he came back in one day and the bastard killed himself. Suicide, right in front of a six year old kid," Kankurou knew that his voice started sounding like acid, but couldn't deny the hatred he felt towards his uncle, "He said some things to Gaara. Nobody knows exactly what, because Gaara won't tell anyone.

It was some pretty horrible things, though. You can tell. When the police finally showed up, Gaara was traumatized, curled up in a ball covered in the blood of a man who had claimed to love him." Suddenly Kankurou turned to Neji sharply, giving him a fierce glare, "If he had loved him so much, he wouldn't have killed himself in front of Gaara. The worst part I, when the police first showed up, they thought Gaara had done it. Gaara! A six year old boy!" Kankurou spat on the ground, clearly outraged by the story.

Neji couldn't blame him either, he himself had to try and smother the anger and was only barely succeeding, and he knew it would rear its ugly butt up later. He fought to keep his voice calm, "What happened after that?"

"Gaara was pretty messed up for a while, he spent a while in the hospital, then he came to live with us. Temari and I, we used to hate him too, but when we came to live with us, Temari would dote on him all the time, we realized we were being stupid. And we do the best we can for him, but he's been through a lot. You have no idea, Hyuuga." Shaking his head sadly he repeated, "You have no idea…"

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blak flame – I was going to keep going, as usual, but im gona stop. I just wann post this chapter. XD review please! …I hope something happened this time…I never know until I start the net chapter...hehe. Review pwease!