Okay I sped time up a lil' bit… to make things more convenient for me I made it so Tsunade is already Hokage and Sakura is now training to be a medic, they're still the same ages they were when the Chuunin exams were "finished", I just moved these events up is all.

And I had this amazing dream last night where I owned Naruto. But sadly it was just that…a dream.

I felt like I was floating in a sea of nothingness.

The darkness surrounding me was blinding and the silence that engulfed me was so deafening I had to feel for my ears to make sure I still had them.

Shukaku?! I called out into the emptiness.

Yellow irises suddenly appeared and a loud, What do you want boy? echoed into infinity.

What's going on?

You passed out. You should be dead, but somehow you're still alive…

I passed out?! panic made its way up my spine. I know what happens when I lose consciousness, Shukaku takes over and begins to erode my psyche even more then he already has.

What are you doing?! Are you killing everyone?! What's going on out there?!

Relax boy! Your body is far too weak and destroyed for me to do anything with it. Believe me, I've already tried.

I took some comfort in that knowledge, at least he wasn't destroying my mind or the whole village. Then it hit me, my body was too destroyed for him to do anything…

How bad is it? I asked him quietly.

I didn't get an answer, that meant it was bad.

Your siblings and Baki are running to Konohoa right now.

WHAT?! Are they insane?! We'll be killed there!!!

They were talking about a lady named Tsunade, they said that she could maybe heal you…They're almost there. There's forest all around us.

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The darkness faded and I heard voices all around me. A woman with a powerful voice was barking out orders to others that I assumed to be medics since they were told to fetch clean water, bandages, antiseptics, needles, and wire.

I was moving, but yet I wasn't walking and I was no longer being carried by anyone… I could only imagine the punishments that awaited Termari, Kankuro, and Baki as they stepped into Konohoa's gates. But somehow they had convinced them to look at me.

I was lying on something soft, a bed maybe? And I was being wheeled down a hall in what I imagined to be Konohoa's hospital since I could smell that horrible hospital smell all around me.

I didn't want to be here.

I wanted to run, to be free from everyone and everything. I wanted it to be just me and the demon inside of me living in the vastness of the desert, scratching out a living in the sand.

I forced my body and mind into full awareness. I tested my fingers and toes to see if they would move…they did.

I then tested my arms and legs by bending them slightly at the joints, they were a little stiff from the long period of inactivity, but they were still useable.

I moved to sit up, and that's when my body protested my actions.

A screaming pain shot through me as every nerve seemed to be set on fire. It was agonizing.

My eyes bulged and I heard someone screaming, it took a moment for me to realize that I was the one screaming.

"Gaara, you need to lay still." an older blonde woman said to me, forcing my shoulders back onto the bed.

I moved to fight her off, but my body was just too weak to even consider the movement for such an action.

I refused to be beaten though. I kept trying to sit up, gritting my teeth against the pain. I had to get out of there. The nurses would probably kill me in a hospital room by poisoning my food or medicine or maybe by smothering me in my weakened state

That was such a dishonorable way to die. I refused to die in such a way. I was meant to die fighting, by the hand of someone who was stronger then me and who deserved to kill me. Not by some petty and cowardly doctor who felt that snuffing my existence would somehow repair Konohoa in some way.

The blonde lady was now holding me down with extreme force; the pressure that she was applying to my shoulders was unbelievable. I was half expecting them to break.

"Sakura! Get the restraints!" I heard her order. Looking back down at me she sighed, "You've given me no other choice…" and with that she formed some sort of seal and hit me right in the middle of my forehead.

The darkness slowly crept up on me again, like a lion on its prey.

The last thing I remember is someone with a touch that sent electricity through my body gently slipping leather bands around my wrists and ankles…

When I once again regained consciousness, I tested my arms and legs again and found that this time I could not move them because I was tied to the bed. Laughing inwardly at their feeble attempt to keep me here, I called for my sand to break the bands…but nothing happened.

Again I called and again nothing happened.

My gourd, I thought, shit. My idiot siblings must have left it in Suna…

I knew that my body was weakened and that I was extremely low on chakra. The only chance I had to control any kind of sand right now was the sand that I carried around with me since it was already infused with chakra.

Swearing at my siblings once again for their incompetence, I closed my eyes and studied the current predicament that I was in:

Any kind of physical movement was nonexistent. And since I didn't have any sand I couldn't fight, kill, scare, or…defend.

I was a sitting duck for any attacker that saw fit to challenge or kill me.

Dammit! How could they have been so stupid!?

Maybe they did it on purpose…cooed Shukaku. After all, they do hate you. Did you really think that by apologizing to them after your fight and taking on their punishment would make them change their minds about you? Silly, stupid boy…they haven't changed. No one changes…they all want you dead and out of their lives…

No…they're different now. Maybe before all of this happened they did but…Temari she…she tried to hug me.

Pulling up the memory of Temari crying and reaching to embrace me brought a bombardment of confused emotions flooding over me. I could feel as my face crinkled in absolute confusion.

These feelings were soon extinguished by a more agonizing feeling, the wounds on my back. Out of nowhere my back spasmed and pain reverberated throughout my whole body.

I fought back the urge to scream, but one came out anyways.

The darkness was closing in on me again, and there were those damned green eyes again.

This was all their fault! They were the reason why I was in so much pain! They persuaded me to take all of the punishment…I wanted them to go away. I didn't want them to haunt me anymore…I wanted to…erase their existence.

"Go away…" I moaned at them, straining my arms in their restraints so that I could swat them away.

"Leave me alone…or I'll kill you!" I yelled this time, this was all too much for me to handle.

"Gaara, please lie still. You're only making it worse…here, this will help with the pain."

Suddenly a small warm hand was placed onto my chest and I could feel as this person's healing chakra pumped through my system and calmed my spasms.

The darkness immediately receded and I saw that the eyes that I was seeing weren't just my imagination, they were really there…the girl was really there. And she had just helped me…

I stared at her because I couldn't believe she was there and that she had just helped me…after all I had done to her. I had almost killed her and she was helping me?!

I grabbed my head as Shukaku roared and my emotions ran rampant through my mind…what was happening to me? No…what was happening to the world?!

Why was everyone being nice to me all of a sudden?!

This can't be right…it was a trick.

All of it.

All of it was just some ploy to get me to relax so that they could finally kill me.

That had to be it.

There was just no way that any of this was genuine…

I stared at the girl suspiciously as she said, "I can untie you if you promise to behave and not move around. Too much movement will cause your back to start bleeding again and it took Tsunade almost all of her chakra to just get it to stop bleeding. She had to give you stitches as well since she has to rest and recover until she can begin healing your cuts. So…do you promise to not move if I untie you?"

My stare at her got darker and darker…she was treating me like a child. I half expected her to threaten to ground me if I moved too much.

My not responding must have meant a yes to her because she nodded her head and started to untie my restraints.

Suddenly the room's door flew open and in walked the blonde woman I had seen earlier.

"Sakura! What are you doing?!" she demanded, walking over to my bed with a wide stride.

"Tsunade-sama," the girl bowed but never stopped untying the restraints, "Gaara-san is awake and he promised me that he would not move if I untied him. I thought he may be more comfortable if I…"

"He promised did he." the blonde lady that I now knew was Tsunade leaned over me and scanned my face. I could tell she hated me. And I couldn't really blame her. I had threatened to destroy her village, and if it hadn't had been for Uzumaki, I would have.

"Gaara." the woman started, "your sibling brought you here a few hours ago."

"Did you kill them?" I half-asked half-stated to the woman.

"No. But I did arrest them temporarily until I get to the bottom of this. Which is why, since you're awake, I'm going to ask you a few questions."

I held back a sigh. I wasn't in the talking mood right now, but this lady had not killed my siblings or myself on sight, so it was the least I could do to return the favor.

"Ask." I said.

Tsunade moved a chair over to the side of my bed, keeping a safe distance and sat down. The girl, Sakura, moved to leave the room but Tsunade stopped her, "Sakura, stay here. You need to hear this as well."

"Wh…why?" she stuttered. So she was afraid of me after all, and all of the previous braveness had merely been an act…

"Why? Because, that way I have a backup in case I forget some information."

It was a horrible excuse. I silently wondered what her real motives were for keeping the girl in the room.

"Now…" Tsunade said, turning her full attention onto me once again, "from the beginning, what happened?"

I minced my words as much as I possibly could. I told her how Suna has a punishment for failed S missions, and that I was the reason why the mission failed so I took full responsibility. I then told her what my punishment was and ended it there.

I didn't tell her about my sudden attack of conscience, or what that conscience was, or that I was tricked into a more severe punishment…she didn't need to know.

The basics would be sufficient.

When I finished, Tsunade sat in her chair and absorbed my words. Nodding her head she said, "That will suffice. I will treat you, but know this: I am not at all pleased with Suna right now for obvious reasons so you had best walk lightly around me. The only reason why I don't turn you away is because it is against the code of honor that I took as a medic nin in that I will treat all who need my help, and "all" includes you."

I stared at this lady.

Not only was she lecturing me, but she was also threatening me.

Me.

Sabaku no Gaara, threatened by this woman.

I held back the maniacal laughter that was building up inside of my throat.

Tsunade left the room, leaving the pink haired one alone with me. Her hands were folded together and she was staring at the ground.

Then, she suddenly looked up at me and just stared with her eyes showing a whole array of emotions.

She was scared.

She was tired.

She was fighting the instinct to run after Tsunade.

And there was another emotion there that I couldn't quite place…was it…sympathy?

Did this girl feel sorry for me?

Feeling sorry for someone meant that that person was weak. I was NOT weak.

I growled at her threatingly and snapped, "What are you looking at?!"

The girl jumped slightly as the harshness of my voice. My body may have been broken, but that does not mean I couldn't kill you. All they had to do was wait until my chakra was a little higher and then they would all…

My thoughts were interrupted by footsteps, her footsteps.

She was coming towards me.

Her chin was set and her jaw was clenched. She gripped her hands tightly into fists and she was taking confident strides to my bed.

"Don't come near me…" I threatened "or I'll…"

"You'll what?" she said half-smiling "kill me? Been there…"

I didn't know how to respond to that. It was true, she HAD been held by my sand before and she was still alive…why couldn't I kill this girl?! It was clear that she had to die or I would become totally and completely insane…but still, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

But she was still advancing. I had to stop her.

"Do you like pain girl?" I asked "because if you take another step forward, it's what you'll experience…"

That stopped her. She stopped moving forward but she kept her gaze on me at all times.

"It's obvious that you like pain." she said "otherwise you would have never agreed to such an outrageous punishment…"

Again I didn't know what to say. It was clear that this girl was extremely intelligent. I had to find a way to outwit her before she got too close to me. Her current spot was already making me uncomfortable, she was making my skin itch.

"Take another step and I will kill you." I said never breaking contact with my eyes.

Looking me straight in the eyes, she lifted one of her eyebrows and took another step forward.

This girl was testing me, NO ONE tests me. All who test me and doubt my existence will…no…must die.

I sat up then extending my palm to the girl and I watched as her face showed regret for her last action. But my back prevented me from doing anything; I felt as the stitches stretched in my skin and screamed for me to lie back down. A few of them popped open and I could feel as the blood began to come out again.

Before I knew it, she was by my bed pushing me down.

"Now look at what you've done." she reprimanded. "I have to re-stitch these now… roll over."

I just stared at her, my sweat was starting to come out of my pours again. I could feel the salty liquid ooze out.

"Do it, or I won't be gentle." she threatened again.

I may be physically weak right now, and I may not have enough chakra to do anything, but one thing I did have was my stubbornness.

I looked away from her and crossed my arms over my chest, refusing to move.

I heard her give an exasperated sigh and then I felt her hands under my back.

To say that her hands there "hurt" would be a great understatement.

I forced myself not to cry out, but my body was shaking violently as she forcefully rolled me over onto my stomach.

"Now that wouldn't have had to happen if you weren't so damn stubborn!" she said.

I tried to control my shaking, but my body seemed to have a mind of its own. I thought it strange that Shukaku hadn't made an appearance yet…but then again my chakra levels were so low he was probably trying to refresh them.

My shaking must have caused her to feel pity for me once again because she was trying to calm me by running her fingers through my hair. But this didn't help in any way, it just made things worse. My shaking grew more violent and I squeezed my eyes shut.

When she saw this, she stopped her actions immediately and as a result, my shaking subsided.

"Are you afraid of me?" she asked quietly.

I couldn't help but let out a short laugh at this, "I'm not afraid of you." I stated simply.

"Then why do you shake when I try to soothe you?" she asked innocently.

"Why are you trying to soothe me?" I bit back "shouldn't you be stitching me up?"

That shut her up.

I heard her sigh once again and then I heard her open a drawer and pull something out.

I felt her fingers work the needle and string on my re-opened wounds. She was very gentle, despite all of her threats before hand.

Silence engulfed us as she worked, and my shaking stopped altogether. I stared out the window at the half-moon that had risen.

Before long, she was done.

"All done." she stated as she stood up. Again she rubbed her fingers against my scalp and I flinched away from her touch.

I could feel the confusion radiating off of her. Someone should inform this stupid girl that you don't touch me.

"What did they do to you?" she whispered to no one in particular. I hope she didn't expect me to answer that…because that question was way too broad for me to even begin answering.

When I didn't show any sign of responding, she gently secured a large bandage over my back and then moved to help me roll over once again.

"Wrap your arm around my shoulders and use me to roll yourself over."

Stupid, stupid girl.

I just looked at her like she was crazy.

Stubbornly I pushed myself up and rolled myself over.

She sighed once again and said under her breath, "Or you could be stubborn and do it yourself, whatever works for you."

I wanted her to leave. I didn't want her around me anymore. Her willingness to help me was bizarre to me. And change is one thing I do NOT handle well.

I watched as she collected the materials that she used and disposed of them.

She then walked out of the room closing and locking the door behind her.

I was alone once again.

I took comfort in this as I started out the window at the night sky, reflecting on all of the things that had occurred throughout the day.