Memories

"Gaara! GAARA!" Lee shrieked, shaking Gaara's limp body. When the sand nin didn't respond, Lee began performing CPR.

"One. Two. Three. F-Four..." Lee counted out the chest compressions.

'Am I... am I dead?'Gaara's voice echoed about the cavernous, blank space he was walking through. it was so devoid of any stimuli that Gaara couldn't even tell if it was white or black, or any hue in between.

'Lee-kun?' he called.

No answer.

Alone.

Why was he disappointed? Was it because he was alone? Gaara scowled, he'd always been alone. Why should now be any different? Gaara's eyes burned and his breath caught in his throat.

'I really am alone now,' he inhaled a ragged breath, 'Before, I always had Temari and Kankuro, my team was always there. Naruto, Sasuke, Tenten, Neji. Many of these Leaf ninjas have made an effort to know me, they respected me, but didn't fear me, like at home. But I pushed them away! Even my own family I pushed away!' Gaara clenched his fists, 'I always distanced myself from the people around me, even here, where they don't care about what lives inside me! WHY? What was I afraid of?'

An image of Lee, smiling and stretching a hand out to him, flashed through his mind.

'Lee,' Gaara's voice cracked, 'you didn't stop trying. You never gave up on me...' Gaara looked around himself, seeing familiar forms separate themselves from the growing shadows around him. there was Temari, and Kankuro, and the other Leaf Village ninjas he'd come to know. They all waved, but stayed back away from him. But the image of Lee suddenly stopped laughing and detached itself from the group, it walked toward Gaara.

'Lee!' Gaara tried to call, but his voice died in his throat when he heard what the image of Lee had to say.

'I hate you,'

'I'm so glad to se-what?' Gaara refused to believe what he was hearing.

'What?' he asked again.

'I hate you. You disgust me. I never want to see you again. You are evil, impure. You have tried to kill my friends, myself, and succeeded in killing so many other innocents,' Lee's normally smiling face was distorted into an ugly mask of disgust and hatred. Lee turned and walked away.

'Lee?' Gaara could feel his heart shrivel in his chest, twisting in despair.

Gaara could feel the darkness encroaching. The one person Gaara thought he could depend on, other than himself, trust, be friends with even, was walking away. Gaara collapsed on the ground with a sob.

And Lee didn't even turn around.

Gaara was all alone.

Again.