Reactor was great, by the way.. I was there a few days ago. :D
Gaara goes sort of crazy in theis chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.. Not the characters in this story or anything cool at all..
The next few weeks crept by, slow as ever. Gaara avoided Sasuke like the plague; when the raven-haired teen attempted to approach him, he would blurt out some excuse and turn in the opposite direction, moving away as fast as he could. Sasuke seemed to know the reason, though, and didn't attempt to follow Gaara anywhere.
But it was hurting him- Gaara, that is. He wanted to love Sasuke, he wanted to be loved by Sasuke.. But with Sakura in ( more or less ) the picture, that goal seemed like a distant one. Sasuke was still attached to her, and that was that. Nonetheless, Gaara couldn't get over this predicament. After work, he would go straight to his room, not stopping at all to speak with his siblings. When one of them attempted to stop him, he snapped at them, and he only came out for food.
Gaara had, in fact, convinced himself that he was worthless. If Sasuke didn't want Gaara, then there was nothing left for him. He would think about these problems all night long, trying to concoct a plan around them, but it was all in vain. The only company he had was Temari's little cat, Shrimp, who would push his door open and sit in his lap, purring, waiting for praise or a pat on the head.
But one day when he was coming home from work, Temari stopped him the instant he set foot in the door. There was no one with her today- A surprising change, since she usually had to work extra to get the ever-raising rent money. Gaara blinked, but remained stoic, waiting for Temari to clear out of the way. She didn't. "Gaara, what's up?" She asked softly, staring down at him. He raised an eyebrow, then shrugged as he replied, once again trying to find away around his older sister. "Nothing."
She didn't buy it. "Obviously something's up. You've been moping around for the past two weeks; why won't you tell me?" Kankuro was watching the conversation from the couch. He tried to make it seem as though he didn't care about what the two were saying, but he would glance over every so often, and it was quite obvious he was listening.
Gaara replied quickly once more. "I said nothing, okay?" He snapped, pushing past her, kicking off his shoes. Right as he was about to turn the corner, she said something that stopped him dead in his tracks. "I know there's something wrong... I saw it in your journal."
Freezing, then turning slowly, Gaara stared at Temari in obvious shock. His mouth hung open slightly, and, when he managed to snap his eyes away from her, he immediately began fumbling with the snap on his messenger bag, hoping that Temari, for some sick reason, was creating a joke to fool with his mind. But sure enough, his journal was gone. Damn it, why hadn't he noticed?
Backing away, he turned down the hall without a second glance at his sister, fleeing into his room and slamming the door behind him. He stood, there, panting, staring at the clutter around his room. Then, he threw his bag to the ground. In a rush of anger, he stormed over to his drawers, grabbing a picture of Temari, him, and Kankuro, and throwing it against the opposite wall with a scream. The glass of the frame shattered, and he made his way over to the remains of the photo, picking it up. He didn't notice that tears were falling down his face; the only thing he could think about was how much he hated his siblings right now. They didn't care about him. If they cared, they would have gotten more responsible jobs. If they cared, they wouldn't have gone through his things. If they cared, they would leave him alone.
He was clutching the picture in his hand now, and when he looked down, he saw blood from the glass dripping down his fingers. His heart still racing, this little injury only fueled his anger, and it sent him into a fury. He began throwing and destroying everything he could get his hands on, releasing the stress that had built itself up inside of him. When he swung his bleeding fist at the wall and felt the drywood break underneath the power, he stopped, backing away, breathing heavily. He fell in a slump to the ground, crying into his bleeding hands, ignoring the knocking at his door and the frantic calls from Temari to unlock the door. Soon, he heard Kankuro's voice along with Temari's harsher one, and both of them disappeared.
Gaara was alone. He sat there, in the same position, for a while longer, trying to take in what he had just done. He looked around the ruins of his room, standing up shakily and walking over to his closet. In front of it lay a smashed picture of his parents, along with Kankuro , Temari, and him. It was taken when they went to the beach a long time ago.. Gaara remembered it vividly. The laughter of them together as a family, the rolling of waves, the smell of the salt water. He never went to the beach now. It was as though the pain of reality had sucked the youth from him, turning him into a cold being without a cause in the world.
A meow snapped him out of his dream-like state, and he looked forward at the closet door. Reaching towards the knob, he opened it; and Shrimp pattered out, peering up at him with his bright eyes. The little creature looked around the room. Anyone else would have found it disgusting.. Not Shrimp. He was so accepting. Gaara bent down and picked the kitten up, carrying him over to his bed and setting him down, sitting on the mattress as well. He bit his lip, breathing shakily and staring out the window up at the cloudy sky, watching as rain fell against the glass pane. Shrimp had curled himself into a ball in Gaara's lap, and for a while. The Sabaku boy only had to listen to the gentle patter of rain on the roof and the purr of the kitten. Then, the peace was broken by a knock on the door.
Gaara said nothing, and he heard the sound of someone picking the lock. Whoever it was opened the door. Kankuro stepped in, looking around the place with a look of surprise, but he quickly replaced it with a soft smile. "You did a number on this place, huh?" He asked. Gaara shrugged and looked out the window again. "Lemme help you with that." Kankuro had sat down on the bed and pulled a roll of bandaging from his oversized pocket. Obviously, he had seen the blood on the hole Gaara punched through the wall, and came prepared. Gently, he started cleaning Gaara's hand up, then wrapped it with bandage, tying it tightly. Gaara said nothing. He stared down at the kitten in his lap, watching the gentle movement of the animal's rising chest.
Kankuro didn't bother starting conversation for a while. Shrimp eventually woke up and started padding back and forth between them, looking for a scratch behind the ear. Kankuro pet him gently, then finally said what he came in the room for. "You know, Temari was only trying to help you."
Gaara was silent for a minute, then he shrugged. "Yeah. Sure." Kankuro sighed. "She doesn't like seeing you like this. Neither do I."
Gaara nodded, brushing off the stroke of pity he had been granted. Kankuro let out another sigh. "Just think about it, okay? I get why you're depressed and all, but you shouldn't have lashed out at her. She wants to help." Gaara nodded. "Yeah." Kankuro stood up before continuing. "She wanted me to tell you that Sakura recently got a job at the place she works. You know, at that club. She said you could probably figure out the real job." Gaara nodded slowly, and, with a bit of hesitance, Kankuro left the room.
So Sakura was working at the strip club. She really was a whore...
Gaara must have fallen asleep, because he was pulled from a dreamland about his parents when the blaring sound of a cel lphone ringing filled his ears. Drearily, he picking it up, bringing the device up to his ear. "Hello?" He said with a yawn, staring out at the clearing-up sky. "Hey."
Gaara froze. "S-sasuke?"
"That's what they call me."
"Y-yeah... hey."
Sasuke got straight to the point. "Why have you been avoiding me, Gaara?"
Gaara blushed, and, even though he knew Sasuke couldn't see him, he felt the embarrassment. "I don't know.."
"You obviously know."
Gaara swallowed gently. "Maybe it's because you want to be with Sakura."
There was a silence on the other end of the phone, and then Sasuke continued. "So you avoid me?"
More silence. Then, Gaara let out his reply in a small voice. "Yes."
Sasuke sighed. "Gaara.. I'm sorry, okay? I was having problems getting over her. Maybe I still am; I don't really know. But either way, she isn't going to stop us from being friends."
Gaara flinched at that. He didn't want Sasuke as just a friend. He wanted more than that. Scolding himself in his mind for his self-centered-ness, he piped up. "Y-yeah. I know. Sorry."
"Don't be." Came Sasuke's reply. "Just.. Stop avoiding me, alright? I still want to be your friend."
"O-okay."
"See you later than. Bye." And then, there was a click, and Sasuke's voice was gone.
Gaara watched as Sasuke's number flashed a few more times before the screen flicked back to his wallpaper. He stared at it for a little while before shutting the phone.
Looks like it was back to square one.
So chyeah. Well. umm.. Lets see. Any suggestions for Gaara or Sasuke's screenames online? That's all I need right now. x3 Send suggestions in messages or reviews. 3