A/N: *looks up from where she scurried to* I'm not dead? This is good :3 At least I didn't leave the cliffhanger too long this time ^.^

Naruto seemed caught in the eye of the storm, his awareness of the world closing into the sliver in front of him where Gaara lay, his head resting on his legs. He was in a state of shock; he knew that, but no matter what he thought he couldn't seem to shake himself out of it. He replayed the moment of Gaara falling over and over in his head.

"Naruto! Naruto!"

Naruto blinked up for a second as he felt someone shake his arm. He frowned as Kakashi shook him again, the words seeming to come through a filter to him as he blurrily watched other members of the police force run past. He could vaguely hear the sound of gun shots being fired but he didn't care enough to look around and find out who was shooting who. He felt Gaara stir slightly and his attention was instantly drawn to him, ignoring the fact that Kakashi had given up on him and was asking Sasuke what had happened instead.

"Naruto..."

"Gaara?" Naruto looked down as Gaara opened his eyes painfully slowly. "Don't speak stupid, you'll hurt yourself more."

Gaara coughed, laughing slightly. "I thought we didn't care about death?"

Naruto blanched slightly. "Don't say things like that! You're not dying." He moved so that he was letting Gaara rest properly on him as he thought things through. "And anyway, the way we think of death was taught to us at the lab, have they ever been right?"

"True." Gaara twitched at the movement before settling down. "But I don't want to get scared now." He touched his side before bringing the hand up to his face, rubbing the blood in his hand, his stomach turning at it. "Why does my own blood make me feel sick?"

Naruto tried to keep smiling along with Gaara even though his heart was beating rapidly. "That's because it hurts, stupid." He flopped his head down so that their foreheads were touching. "What were you thinking? Out of the two of us I'm more likely to heal than you are. It's what I'm good at after all."

Gaara pushed his head back so that he could look into Naruto's eyes. "I already said, I promised I'd protect you if you left the lab with me. I'm not going to suddenly change my mind now." His eyes betrayed a little bit of worry as he looked up. "We are family, right?"

"Of course we are." Naruto sniffed, trying not to cry. "I'd have done the same if it had been the other way round, so I can't really tell you off."

"You would have?"

"Of course!" Naruto went to hit him for being an idiot before realising he'd probably hurt him more.

Gaara blinked for a second before the worry disappeared, a smile appearing instead though it quickly turned into a smirk. "That's if you were fast enough to help me."

"Shut up, you." Naruto sniffed again, chuckling, though a stray tear made its way through, running down his face and dripping on to Gaara's.

"What are you doing?" Gaara shook his head, as a tear hit his eye. Wincing as he moved too quickly and upset his wound.

"Are you OK?" Naruto was alert, panicking. After everything they'd been put through he had no idea how to deal with the situation.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But what's happening to you?" Gaara looked up in confusion at the tears. "Your face is leaking."

Naruto choked slightly. "I don't know. It just happens when you're upset."

"You're upset?" Gaara stared up at Naruto concerned. "I don't like it when you're upset. I like your smile too much."

Naruto tried to smile but it didn't come out as it always was, instead seeming like a poor imitation.

Gaara sighed softly before moving his hand, taking Naruto's hand in his, liking the warmth and the familiarity of it. "Hey, Naruto..."

"Yeah?"

"I understand Iruka's poem now."

"Huh?" Naruto frowned, his mind taking a minute to know what Gaara was even talking about.

"If I were to close my eyes for the last time, would you be there to hold my hand?" Gaara recited as he closed his eyes, his grip tightening around Naruto's hand, glad that he had a good memory, though he knew that he had thought about it a few times, only now understanding the significance of it.

"Gaara..."

"Shh, let me finish." Gaara spoke softer now, his voice slowly fading. "A-and guide me into the night? For if you could show me this final act of kindness...I would gladly walk into the dark, And wait for you wherever I end up." He coughed before opening one eye. "I understand now, it means a lot to have someone with you...it helps."

"Gaara, stop it. You're not dying!" Naruto hit his fist on the ground, pain shooting up his arm. Not that he noticed, the pain in his chest at not being able to do anything hurting more.

"I promise I'll wait for you."

Naruto froze as he looked up from the ground to see Gaara's determined eyes. "What?"

"I promise I'll wait for you and look after you wherever we end up." Gaara smiled softly. "If we end up anywhere that is."

"Gaara, please." Naruto gripped on to Gaara's hand. "Please stop saying things like that."

"Alright, I'll stop." Gaara closed his eyes again, his breath becoming shallower. "Keep talking to me though, OK, Naruto?"

"OK." Naruto looked around, finally taking notice of their situation. "It looks like we won't have any more trouble from Akatsuki." The fighting looked like it was over, he couldn't really tell how it had gone but it was better to lie for now. Otherwise he knew Gaara might try and get up again and help out.

"That's good..."

"Yeah." Naruto looked down, his eyes drawn to the smudged red felt tipped drawing on Gaara's forehead which sent a shiver down Naruto's spine as it showed how pale Gaara was getting. He chuckled to try and displace his fear. "It looks like I'll have to redo your drawing." He touched Gaara's forehead, moving the hair out of the way, feeling some heat to it but choosing to ignore it.

"You...do...that..."

Naruto winced at the whisper of Gaara's voice before freezing as he went completely still.

"G-Gaara?"

Sasuke sighed as he watched his friend wander around school; he didn't know what to do. Sure he'd been through a similar situation but that didn't help. He glared at the people whispering as Naruto walked past, angry that since the incident people had begun to shy away from him. He knew it was no one's fault; it was hard, after all, to keep it quiet that a student had been shot, though not many pupils knew the full story. Instead they just saw Gaara and Naruto as dangerous and that's all they felt they needed to know. "Not that Naruto is helping matters." He muttered to himself, sighing once again as Kiba tried to strike up a conversation with Naruto, hoping to cheer him up. But all he received for his troubles was a blank stare before Naruto continued.

Kiba frowned as he watched Naruto go before turning and noticing Sasuke. "You following him too?"

"Just making sure he doesn't get into trouble." Sasuke walked forward, continuing down the corridor with Kiba. "Any luck getting him back to his usual self?"

"Nope." Kiba played with his hair, annoyed that he couldn't help. "I know it's not his fault but he's acting just like Gaara was when they first arrived..." He winced at what he said. "That was bad phrasing, wasn't it?"

"At least none of the people who know him are acting like he's some criminal." Sasuke spoke loudly, noting some of the guilty expressions around him and was glad that he'd made an impact on at least a few, even though he didn't show it.

"We can't do anything really though, can we?"

Sasuke turned back to Kiba, shaking his head. "No, there's only one thing that'll get Naruto back to his usual self and that's to have Gaara with him." He looked up at the sky as they walked outside. "I wonder if he's sleeping much, he's used to Gaara being in the same room as him..."

Naruto pulled his phone out of his pocket as it rang, not even knowing where in the school he was at that moment. He seemed to wander around aimlessly when he wasn't in class, though luckily he seemed to be able to find his way back in time so that he wasn't late for any classes, not that anyone would have blamed him if he was. He flicked it open, answering the call. "How's Gaara?"

"Hello to you too, Naruto." Kakashi sighed at the other end of the phone.

"How's Gaara?"

"Naruto, I have other things to talk about right no-"

"How's Gaara?" Naruto repeated more firmly this time.

"Fine, if you won't talk to me properly until I say. He's in a stable condition."

Naruto relaxed a bit, the first hint of a smile appearing for the first time since the incident. "Really?"

"Yeah, he's still asleep though but that's just because they haven't found a suitable donor for a blood transfusion...Don't worry though, he seems to be coming along fine on his own." Kakashi added the last part quickly; worried he'd get a bombardment of questions.

"Can I see him yet?" Naruto whispered. He hadn't understood why he wasn't allowed in the operating theatre with Gaara, scared that if he let go of his hand he'd lose him forever, but that hadn't stopped the doctors wheeling him away, leaving only the trace of his hand in Naruto's. Since then he hadn't seen Gaara, not up close anyway, only through the small window into his hospital room.

"I'll ask, OK? As soon as they let his family in I'll let you know and you can go with them, OK?"

"I'm his family as well." Naruto mumbled this, annoyed that no one else could see this.

"I know that Naruto that's why you have as much right to see him as they do, so as soon as anyone can go in, I'll make sure you know, OK?"

"OK." Naruto leant against the wall, slipping down slightly in relief at Kakashi's words, feeling a little bit more optimistic about the day. "You wanted to talk about something?"

"Yeah, it's rather important. Do you think you could meet me? I've already told Iruka so you don't have to worry about that."

Naruto frowned at the sudden change in Kakashi's voice, noting the seriousness of the situation. "OK, I'll meet you in a bit."

"Good...actually, I'll pick you up from the school. I'll feel better if I do that."

See? I'm not that mean ^^;