Author Note: Finally, something remotely longer! Thanks to anyone who reviewed the last chapter, the feedback was great. Now it's about time to head into the 'difficult' part of the story. Hee hee. I hope ya'll enjoy!

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Darkside

Reality sucks

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Gaara stood, arms still crossed, his eyes vacant of emotions, and analyzed every object within Naruto's hospital room. Boredom seeped into his veins, his mind dulling; anything would be better than just standing around. Doubt grew more and more. Perhaps Kyuubi possessed a greater amount of power over Naruto than he had first assumed. The blond wasn't going to wake up again.

"Where am I?" Naruto had shouted about an hour ago. "W-what am I doing here? What's going on?" Gaara then ran out of the room to get help. Nurses and doctors flew in moments after.

"Please step aside, Kazekage," a male doctor had said. "We need to examine him right away."

Of course, the Kyuubi wasn't feeling all too generous and sent out it's powerful chakra, preventing any aid from reaching Naruto. This, in turn, spread more fear and confusion from inside Naruto, causing him to go into shock.

"Get me the tranquilizer! This boy is getting out of control!"

The doctors and nurses that were in the room for only a few short moments fled afterwards, driven out by the dangerous chakra. Gaara watched with his own eyes as Naruto's blue orbs rolled upwards–to the ceiling– and closed shut seconds after. Naruto had passed out.

Nobody, not even Kakashi returned that day. Temari, he hoped, was currently sitting in Tsunade's office. She hadn't showed up at all and the hospital staff were too nervous to enter Naruto's room. In other words, Gaara had nothing to do, no one to converse with (it wasn't like he was the talkative type anyways) and lastly, he was running out of things to think about.

The room was incredibly bland feeling, not a single thing was considerably entertaining. Gaara backed away from the occupied hospital bed and sat down in a faded brown chair, the one he had occupied when Naruto's chakra had lashed out before. Sand, barely visible in the dull, clouded light, began to dance around Gaara's hands as he watched it move independently.

Caught in the trance his sand created, Gaara failed to noticed the door behind him slide quietly open. When a faint gasp reached his ears, Gaara's sand dropped dead on the floor and the Kazekage, now turned completely around, stared blankly at an older female nurse.

She had heard many things about Sabaku no Gaara, things that made almost anyone shiver. So, upon entering Naruto's room (it was his check-up time, as her clipboard said), she couldn't help but remain frozen in time, fear jolting her heart like sharp lightning. She didn't want to die- it would be wise to just tell him what was going on.

"It's-it's-its's Naruto's regular check-up time."

Gaara nodded stiffly. Carefully, he sat up and moved away from Naruto, settling against a wall near by. The nurse cautiously entered, afraid for her safety, and quickly made her way to the unconsciousness blond. Placing her chart on a small night stand, she began to check his heart rate, body temperature, then, grabbing the chart, she wrote down a few jot notes.

"His condition hasn't changed," she explained nervously to Gaara,, who remained silent, watching her scribble down things and glance back at Naruto periodically. "Also, it appears that whatever was keeping the other doctors and nurses away from him has disappeared."

"I see."

"The doctors don't know what's wrong with him, and some are quite afraid to come in here, do you know why?" The nurse knew Gaara had only arrived here not too long ago, so it couldn't be because of him.

Gaara glanced at Naruto and then back at the nurse. The woman must have been from somewhere else to not know of Naruto and what was sealed inside of him. He didn't want any more hatred directed towards the only other person that shared the same pain as him. Naruto didn't deserve cold treatment while being hospitalized.

"I don't know," Gaara lied, keeping his voice at a steady level. "I'm sorry."

The nurse bowed slightly before excusing herself. She closed the door quietly, careful not to awaken Naruto, her clipboard clenched tightly in her hands. Gaara was once again left all to his lonesome self but he didn't mind.

Faded brown material known as a chair beckoned to Gaara, looking strangely alone in the room. A few silent strides and the ruler of Sunagakure was sitting calmly, patient as ever, contemplating the fate of Naruto.

An hour passed and still nothing happened. The stoic ninja was no longer in his chair, having become stiff and his muscles sore. He was currently standing in front of the door, undecided if he should leave for a while or not. His feet guided him forwards as if they had a mind of their own and, just as he was about to exit the room, sounds of rustling fabric reached his sensitive ears.

Gaara spun around, his robes floating in the air momentarily. Naruto's hair moved in sync with his head and slowly, as if mechanically, his eyes cracked open. The young Kazekage was at his bed within seconds, unsure of what to do.

Naruto's once crystal clear blue orbs were now clouded over and gazed at nothing. The expression on his face never changed, his limbs refused to move, the rest of his body was framed in pain.

Gaara moved to the opposite side of Naruto's bed where the blond stared blankly at nothing. Naruto must have seen him through the fog in his eyes, he showed a small amount of recognition and tried to speak but it cost him too much energy. His head fell limply into his pearl white pillow and heavy eyelids entrapped once brilliant blue orbs.

Thinking quickly, Gaara looked around for an emergency button or device to notify any available doctors of Naruto's current state. Remembering that there had been nothing before, darting his emotionless eyes back and forth, Gaara realized that even if he were to run, there was a chance that something could happen to Naruto. This was important, he had to find someone, anyone who could whisk the blond into better condition. Forming the correct hand symbols, Gaara teleported himself to the main area where doctors and nurses flourished.

An elderly man, probably in his mid-fifties, was the red head's first choice. He calmly approached the man, keeping himself in check, and asked politely for him to quickly hurry to Naruto's room. In the back of his mind he had the feeling that this man, like many others, would reject the blond and, as Gaara found out, his small feeling had been right.

"Absolutely not!" The doctor bellowed, placing his hands on his hips and looking appalled.

Gaara sent him a death glare. "You cannot deny a person the medical treatment they need, doctor." Like usual, his icy glare was able tp snap the man into a state of submission... it worked on just about anyone.

The doctor made his way to Naruto's hospital room while Gaara simply teleported himself back in a blink of an eye, returning him to an occupied hospital room. Ten minutes later, as Gaara had counted, the doctor appeared with two male nurses behind him. In mere seconds, the doctor completely checked over Naruto and sent both nurses for assistance.

"He's become unstable, his heart beat is erratic," the old man reported to Gaara, whom was leaning against the wall beside the hospital bed. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave for now."

"What are you going to do?"

The doctor rubbed his forehead. "Just a few tests, that's all, nothing that'll harm your friend."

Tests. Tests. To Gaara, they meant nothing but trouble. Tests were more like experiments for guinea pigs to see if they would die or not. He glared at the doctor, hardening his facial expression, and pushing himself off of the wall while uncrossing his arms.

"I hope you keep your word." And with that Gaara left, sparring Naruto one more glance, hoping the chakra wouldn't return. He quietly closed the door and headed straight for Tsunade's office.

Upon entering the sturdy tower, Gaara found Temari. She informed him that Tsunade was currently in an important meeting with many elders and council members. Frankly, Gaara didn't care, and he expressed that well. Giving a short farewell, the red head found himself making his way towards Tsunade;s office, not a single worry passing through his mind that he may be interrupting something.

A well used wooden door greeted Gaara once he finally stumbled upon the last floor. Voices echoed through the thick wood but Gaara didn't care. That was, until he heard words such as 'Jinchuuriki', 'Kyuubi', and 'Naruto'.

He turned the doorknob and stepped inside without even knowing it. Sand danced around his feet, threatening to strike out now that his anger had awaken, but Gaara silently asked it to stop, he wasn't going to shed blood.

"Gaara?" It was Tsunade's voice. "What are you doing here?"

The Hokage looked as if she was being outnumbered in something, Gaara noticed. He set his eyes upon several faces he had never seen before, all of which were old and worn. "It's about Naruto," he said as calmly as he could. "He has woken up."

Tsunade jumped up from her chair but an old woman, nearing her seventies, spoke threateningly. "Hokage-sama, let me remind you that this meeting is not yet over, please sit down." Tsunade sat, hesitantly, then the old woman turned to Gaara. "Ah, Kazekage-sama, how nice of you to join us, take a seat alongside the wall if you want. I'm sure this meeting will only bore you so if you.."

"I'll stay."

No objections were made as Gaara leaned heavily against the wall closest to the door. He put on an extremely calm facade, his eyes darting from face to face, his sand disappearing gradually.

"Now," an elderly man spoke up. "We've come to a conclusion as to what will happen to Uzumaki Naruto." He turned to Tsunade and shuffled a stack of papers in front of him. "We can keep him around a little longer but eventually he'll have to... move on..."

Gaara's eyes narrowed at his. What did they mean by 'he'll have to move on'? They wanted him dead, Gaara knew it. He was about to speak up but, to his surprise, Tsunade beat him to it."

"I will not grant you permission! That is absurd! Naruto has done his best to help this village, even with people turning their backs to him and having no faith in him whatsoever. He could never hurt this village! I do not see if necessary for me to repeat this again!"

"Please calm down, Hokage-sama," the old woman, who had addressed Gaara earlier whispered venomously. "There is nothing we can do for Naruto now, we can't let him rot away in a hospital bed... do you understand?"

"What I understand is.."

"Please, Hokage-sama," the elderly man spoke up again. "You let him go on that mission when we had warned you that he was unstable, now you must listen to us. For the better of this village..."

Tsunade, now angry, quickly glanced towards Gaara and saw his mask about to crack away. The sand near his feet, the cold expression in his eyes, his hands twitching on their own... he was definitely angry himself. She acted up before he did, hoping that Gaara wouldn't cave in to his emotions.

"No, you listen to me. I vow to come with a way to properly restore Naruto back to his normal self. Regardless of what you think, Naruto is strong and will protect this village with all his heart. That alone is enough to save him."

Everyone became silent. The elders and council members exchanged troubled looks. Tsunade sighed and waved her hand.

"This meeting is over. You are all dismissed."

Continued in chapter 13!