As Gaara began to depart from school that afternoon, snow now swirled down from the gray sky. As hard as he tried to prevent himself from shivering, a shudder escaped his tight self control. He began to follow his regular path he took when leaving school, his mind drifting to when he had promised Shikamaru he wouldn't drop out. There was more to it, though…the reason he had agreed not to drop out…he honestly really didn't want to drop out but had decided to do it only because he thought it would get him the attention he had so desperately wanted.

He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the small black sports car that had pulled up beside him, flashing its lights at him. Finally, the driver got angry and blared the horn, rudely pulling Gaara away from his mind-drifting state. Gaara blinked blankly at the driver, who was gesturing for him to get in the car. It only took him a few seconds to realize it was Temari behind the wheel. He sighed heavily and debated how fast her car could hit 60 and if it would be enough time for him to escape. She blared the horn angrily again and he reluctantly got in the car.

As he opened the passenger side, a warm blast of air welcomed and enveloped him. Journey was playing softly in the background and he dumped his backpack into the backseat, quickly closing the door. Hesitantly he put the safety belt on and crossed his arms, placing a sinister frown onto his already sinister face. The only time his older sister bothered to pick him up from school was when she had decided a good lecture was in order. He prepared to tune out her annoying voice while whisking himself away to other, better thoughts.

"Gaara," she began bluntly as she drove off "Did you reconsider dropping out? You'd be missing out on a lot of opportunities offered only through a high school experience!"

'Blah blah blah…' thought Gaara. 'I've already reconsidered; I don't need any of this shit right now.'

He gave no sign that he had heard her at all. He stared in front of him, an icy glare in his emerald eyes. The scenery set before them was that of a winter wonderland. The snow poured in from all directions, frosting everything in a thick white blanket. The frozen water gently glided down across the sky. The only sound that disrupted this peaceful solitude was that of Temari's windshield wipers constant thumping.

"Gaara, did you hear any of what I just said?" she shot him an angry glare.

In frustration Gaara closed his eyes and did the only thing that could possibly make him look more sinister, frown deeper and harder.

Temari too was frustrated, and she let him know this by giving a weary sigh.

"Fine. Shut me out. Don't let me help you."

"I don't need help."

"Don't you even start with me! You need help, Gaara! Cutting yourself? Taking on dead people's habits?! You need help, and I can help you, at least let me try." She pleaded with him, but this only frustrated him more.

"I don't need help."

Again Temari sighed and decided to leave the rest of her argument for later, making the rest of the ride home silent, except for the occasional song that popped into the weak radio.

(o.o)

Home, not much to brag about, but was the only place Gaara felt at least somewhat…'safe'. His 'home' consisted of a simple two story house resting on a lawn full of dead, yellow-golden summer grass. As soon as Temari stopped the car, Gaara shot out, leaving before she could lock the doors, trapping him to the confines of her car, lecturing him about a decision he had already made.

Gaara left his school bag in the car, not feeling the need to bring it in. He made his way past the small living room, past the kitchen to the staircase, and deftly made his way up the stairs. He paused as he reached the top, risking a glance down the hall to where behind a large wooden door, his father resided. He then opened the door to his room and closed it, making sure to push the lock into place, locking himself from the rest of the world, leaving him to do whatever he so chose to do , in the little space he could call a 'Sanctuary of Solitude.'

He pushed through the various piles of dirty clothing he lay on the floor to his desk where an out of date CD player sat. He quickly put a CD into the thing and blared Evanessence. Then, without a care in the world, he flumped backwards onto his bed, closing his eyes and becoming oblivious to everything that surrounded him.

I'm so tired of waiting here, suppressed by all my childish fears, and if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave, because your presence still lingers here, and it won't leave me alone.

A sudden screaming rang through his head, echoing in the depths of his ears. It took him a little while longer to realize it was he who was screaming, in fear and pain. He looked down at his hands, which were smaller, and at his arms, which were bleeding profusely. In horror he tried to raise his head, but was immediately pushed down by a hand upon his head.


He was kneeling down beside the end of a rather large jogging machine, the speed set as high as it would go. A rough, strong hand gripped his head and was forcing his face ever closer to the fast moving tread. Then he heard it. The tabooed voice of his father.

"You should be careful around these things, Gaara, they can be very, very dangerous."

Gaara screamed again as his father forced his face onto the rapid tread. The feeling of having his skin rubbed off sent spasms of pain throughout his body, making him tremble and shake, and scream and sob more. The sight of tears and his son's screaming made the horrid man push his 5 year old son's face harder onto the tread.

"I love you, daddy! I love you!" screamed Gaara over and over again.

"I love you, daddy, I love you!"

Finally, Gaara felt the relief of having his father roughly pick his weak son off the treadmill and threw him carelessly aside and tromped out of his room, but he wasn't yet done tormenting his poor innocent child. Gaara lay sobbing on the ground, his face twisted and deformed from having the treadmill distort it. He could feel the slight warm trickle of the blood slowly roll down his face and sobbed all the more harder while repeating:

"I love you daddy…I love you daddy…"

'I hate you, daddy, I hate you with my whole being.'

He heard his father return, but didn't look up. Maybe if he played dead, his father would leave him alone. No luck for the poor young Gaara. His father kicked him hard in the ribcage with thick leather boots, sending the air out of his lungs and was left choking for breath. His father then grabbed him by the roots of his hair and lugged him out of the room. He paused before the staircase, and with all his might, threw poor Gaara down the stairs. He landed on the floor and hit his nose hard, which then began to bleed profusely.

Gaara's father then picked up his limp son and punted him down the hall and into the kitchen where he skidded across the floor and hit the counter that stood out like an island in the middle of the kitchen.

"I love you daddy…I love you daddy…"

Gaara's father loomed over the poor 5 year old boy's whimpering sobbing form and began to relentlessly kick him in the stomach over and over again, the sight of seeing his son squirm seeming to egg him on. Gaara's vision faded to black as the sick rhythmic thud to his stomach continued. He heard Temari and Kankuro's voices plead with their enraged father to leave Gaara alone, but that did not stop the large man.

'I hate you father, I hate you with all that I am.'

(-.-)

Gaara woke in a cold sweat and instantly felt his face for any sign of a wound. Feeling none, he rubbed his stomach, which was sore. This didn't surprise him, but a knock on the door did.

He expected to hear Temari's voice but got an unpleasant surprise when he heard Kankuro's instead.

"Gaara. Get out here, now."

Hesitant, Gaara got off the bed where he had relived the worst beating of his life and tuned down his stereo. He approached the door and opened it, the click of the lock opening went unnoticed. Kankuro sent him a glare that let him know he should follow. He did so without retaliation and followed Kankuro down the stairs and led him into the living room where a man, with gray funky hair, in a casual suit sat with Temari.

"What's going on?" asked Gaara as his eyes slowly shifted from Temari to the strange man to Kankuro and back to Temari.

"Gaara," said Temari, "This is Officer Kakashi Hatake, from the police force. He wanted to talk with you."

"New evidence," began 'Officer' Kakashi, "has proven that Lee did not commit suicide, but was murdered, with ease apparently."

Gaara felt a surge of relief, but that relief was soon replaced with a small paranoia. He was relieved to find out that his betrothed had not taken the sinful way of escaping life. His paranoia came from the fact that whoever had dared kill the dark haired enigma may come after him for some reason, but Gaara's emotionless face revealed none of this.

"And why does that bring you here, sir?" questioned Temari.

At this, the officer placed a fake, cheesy grin on his face and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, we went over some records back at the station and noticed how much Gaara had a history of picking fights with this Lee person and that is-"

"Wait, you must be mistaken, you see Gaara lo-"

"Loathed Lee, yes we know, and based on these facts, that has put Gaara here on the top of our list of suspects."

Gaara felt like a brick of lead, but again let none of this show. He felt horrible that he could even be put up as a possible suspect, no, not after all the things Lee and him had gone through! No, it wasn't possible! They were seriously mistaken…

Gaara clenched his fist as the cop looked questioningly at Gaara, as though expecting him to confess to this unforeseen murder.

The words "I didn't do it." Flowed effortlessly from the red haired boys lips.

The officer closed his weary eyes and sighed, once again scratching the back of his head.

"Regardless, we'd appreciate it if you came with us to be interrogated."

"He will do no such thing!" shouted Temari as she leapt from her seat. She glared evilly at the man who had suddenly barged in on the family she had so desperately put back together after her failure of a father had shattered and ruined it.

The one thing Gaara hated most about his sister was that she felt the need to always stick up for him. He hated it. He could fight for himself, he didn't need his sister to tell him what he could and could not do. He didn't want to hide behind his sister any longer, and therefore decided to make his own decision for once in his life.

"Save your breath, Temari. I'm going with him."

"What? No, Gaara. We can do this another way."

"I don't need you to make my own decisions! I'm not a kid anymore!"

Temari was about to retort, but thought better of it. It wasn't very often her youngest brother stood up for himself. If this is what he truly wanted, she'd let him be.

Outside Kakashi's car was parked with the engine running. Gaara got in the backseat behind the classic metal grill that forbid him from making physicall contact with the cops in the front seat. In the passenger side of the car another cop sat, waiting for Kakashi to arrive. He wore his hair the same way Shikamaru did, in that same lopsided ponytail.

The gray haired officer slowly entered the car, ducking his head to slide into the drivers seat. He buckled his seatbelt and looked over his shoulder, eager to get going. Gaara sat on the right hand side next to the window and propped his chin on the palm of his hand, gazing with uninterested at the white world around them, the world he was now unable to touch.

The passenger up front glanced back at the boy with the yellow stripes on his pants and gently knocked on the metal grail to get his attention.

"Hey, buckle up, ok?"

Gaara silently did as he was told and Kakashi baked out of the gravel driveway, the rocks crunching together under the tremendous weight of the vehicle and drove off.

When they arrived, Gaara quickly got out of the car. Riding in cars made him nauseous and he didn't feel like upchucking in front of two cops. He was led through the old rundown police station, where there were people behind desks with stacks of paper stacked high, some threatening to tip over as they were so crookedly stacked.

He was directed to a large green door in the back of the station and Kakashi led the way in. Gaara followed reluctantly while the other cop, now known to him as Iruka, walked off. Iruka stood in front of a thick plate of tinted glass and pressed a red button. By pressing the said button, he was able to hear the conversation that would soon take place beyond the glass.

The wooden chair's legs screeched against the floor as they were briefly pulled from their previous position. The two sat across from each other, Gaara fixing his unnerving evil glare upon the gray haired man who then proceeded to lay a manila folder onto the table. He looked through it briefly and Gaara assumed it was his record.

"Thanks for coming down here…Gaara."

Gaara said nothing in return, but crossed his arms and legs and engraved a stern frown onto his face.

"All right, lets not waste your…'precious' time and began the interrogation, shall we?" without expecting an answer Kakashi proceeded to ask the questions.

"When was the last time you saw Lee?"

Gaara closed his eyes in thought, unable to recall off the top of his head when the 'last' time he had seen Lee. Gaara had not seen Lee at all on the 19th, and on the 18th Lee had taken Gaara to the movies. He only told the officer the date.

On a small pad of paper, Kakashi recorded this information. He then asked his next question.

"If you despised Lee so much, how, exactly, did you see him on a Saturday?"

Gaara frowned harder, not wanting to reveal to this strange man his relationship with Lee. It was his own business what he and Lee did, and this strange man had no right to pry into his life.

"Ran into him at the movies." If he said where he had met him, but not what they had been doing, it wouldn't affect the information, would it?

"Right…right…" Kakashi looked skeptical but continued the interrogation. Gaara gave only the bare minimum when it came to answering these questions, not willing to say much more, talking wasn't really his 'thing'.

Finally, after about an hour, Kakashi looked over all the answers Gaara had given him and sighed.

"Thanks, you can go now."

Eagerly Gaara pushed back the chair he was sitting in and left the room in which this man had pried into his private life. He walked past all the desks and made his way to the front door. He opened the door and almost collided with the person who was trying to get in.

"Oh, hey, it's you again. Didn't take my advice in watching where you were going, did you?"

Shikamaru squinted at Gaara as he tried to find some sort of explanation as to what Gaara could be doing here. Gaara was trying to get past Shikamaru, having felt he had done enough talking for the day, but Shikamaru unknowingly continued to block his escape route.

"Hey, what were you doing in there anyways?"

Tired, annoyed and agitated beyond belief, Gaara sighed as he gave up trying to get around this 'roadblock'.

"I was being interrogated."

"For what?"

It was obvious to Gaara then that giving the bare minimum was not going to work with Shikamaru.

"For a murder."

Shikamaru gave only a mild expression of shock and scratched the back of his head in uneasiness, yet still he did not let Gaara pass.

"Hey, Gaara, you didn't happen to see my dad in there, did you?"

"Was his name Iruka?"

"No"

"Then no."

"Oh, I guess I'll go home, then."

Finally Shikamaru subsided from his post and Gaara walked past him and on down the sidewalk. Shikamaru walked not too far behind Gaara and they continued this way in silence, the only sound being made was that of the chains on Gaara's pants jingling with each step he took.

Gaara took a left down a small side path, Shikamaru doing the same. Again they walked along in silence, Shikamaru whistling a pleasant tune despite the intense cold. Gaara took yet another left and then a right, Shikamaru doing the same. Finally Gaara got fed up and turned on the poor innocent boy.

"Did you forget how to get home now too?! Do you expect me to lead you there?!"

Shikamaru stopped whistling and fixed an oddly cool gaze upon the agitated red head.

"Woah, calm down, dude. I live a couple of places away from you, relax, I'm not stalking you."

Gaara narrowed his eyes at him and then turned to briskly walk away, towards home.

"Mood swings, how troublesome…"

(x.x)

Gaara swept quickly into his house, and ignored Temari and Kankuro and went straight up the stairs. He slammed the door to his room and locked it, once again locking himself into his 'Sanctuary'.

"I'm home…" muttered Shikamaru as he shuffled into his small one story house. He dropped his backpack by the door and politely took off his shoes. He flicked on the lights and made his way into the living room, where, tucked off to the side was a shrine of his deceased mother.

"Not that anyone really cares…" he mumbled.

He withdrew a small hand held calendar he kept in his pocket and flipped it open and began counting the days until his father was finally released from prison.

"2 ½ months…5 years wasn't long enough…it should've been for life…"