Disclaimer: Well, last time I checked I didn't. Here, let me look again. Nope, still don't own it.
Full Summary: In our modern day society, the abnormal and the unatural tend to be shunned and locked away from mortal eyes and used instead as bedtime stories that mothers tell to their children to frighten them. But, what if one of those whispered secrets were to emerge from the dark shadow of mystery, to hide in the perfect spot. Plain site.
Warnings: Suspense. Vandalizing.
Tear My Stiches.
Gaara inwardly sighed as his small doll's body was carried into the black Nissan 360Z that was parked outside Shukaku's house. It was Gaara's first time being outside since he'd been kidnapped, so naturally, he would of been estatic, that is, if he could move.
Shukaku was actually a very wealthy man. Where he got his money from, Gaara would probably never know, since he was sure he coulnd't make that much from selling dolls. No matter how beautiful they were.
As Shukaku slid into the drivers side, he set Gaara into the large backpack that sat in on the passenger's seat beside him. Gaara inwardly frowned. Now he wouldn't be able to see anything.
With his time, Gaara began to divise a plan. Shukaku had said that if he had been good, he'd turn him back into his human self. And damnit, he had been good. He'd sucked the bastard off for God's sake.
Gaara cursed himself for the perdicament he had managed to squeeze himself into. Life had been getting slightly better before Shukaku had taken him. Temari and Kankurou both had jobs, the apartment they were renting was spacious and clean. And then Gaara had to go and blow it. He had to get himself kidnapped and have everyone's happy state ruined. He knew that Temari and Kankurou were heartbroken, and he blamed himself, like he did for most things.
The young redhead was snapped back into reality by the sudden halting of the vehicle. He heard the engine stop and then he felt himself being lifted before the car door was slammed shut.
They had arrived.
------.-----.------
"Hey guys, why so down?" Naruto asked as he approached Sakura and Hinata in the cafeteria.
Sakura sighed, "It's nothing."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "This is about Gaara, isn't it?"
Hinata nodded as her eyes began to water.
"Naruto, you should come outside with us." Sakura said, gripping his arm along with Hinata's to lead them outside.
As the three reached the old cherry tree that stood behind the cafeteria, Sakura released her hold on her two best friends as they sat down, leaning their backs against the trunk.
"We did some more research on Gaara and his family last night." Sakura said, her voice low.
Naruto gave her a curious look, "What did you find?"
Hianta began to cry and Sakura pulled her into an embrace, "He's had it rough, Naruto. As bad as you."
Naruto's eye widened slightly. As bad as him?
Naruto's father had died in a car accident on his way to the hospital, where his mother was in labour. When Naruto turned seven, his mother had been raped and killed by a man that had broken into their house and Naruto had witnessed it all with terrified eyes. After that, he was forced to live in an orphange until he was eleven. Iruka, the history teacher, had adopted him. During his stay at the orphange though, he had been teased and isolated, much like he had been in elementary school until he met Sakura and Hinata.
Naruto's eyes watered at the memorys.
"How rough?" Naruto asked sternly.
Hinata's cries had turned to hiccuping randomly as Sakura stroked her hair, "When Gaara was born, his mother died. His father always ignored him, until Temari, Kankurou and Gaara's uncle, Yashamaru, took them in. During the time that the three lived with their uncle, Temari and Kankurou, woh were nine and eight at the time, said that Gaara had been acting stranger than usual. They said that he'd often come into Temari's room in the middle of the night crying and going on about how something wasn't his fault. They found out later that their beloved uncle had been mentally abusing Gaara. Yashamaru would try to convince Gaara that it was his fault that Karura, Yashamaru's sister and Gaara's mother, had died because of him. That it was his fault. By the time Gaara was six, Yashamaru lost it. He took a butchers knife and cornered Gaara. That night, their uncle killed himself, but not before carving the kanji for love into Gaara's forehead. He told him that it repressented the love he'd never recieve."
Naruto was shocked to say the least, "Oh my god."
Sakura took a deep breath before continuing, "Gaara and his siblings were then forced to return to their father's house. When their father learned of Yashamaru's death, he immediatly blamed Gaara, just as he had for Karura's death. Mr. Sabaku has an alcohol problem, and one night he came back home completely hammered and began beating Gaara, the whole time sreaming at him about how everything that went wrong in life was his fault. The beating continued until he turned fifteen. By tthen Temari was eighteen, a legal adult. She took her two brothers and moved here with the money she and Kankurou had made. Things were going well until Gaara was kidnapped."
By now tears were stinging the corner's of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.
How could Gaara survive that?
Naruto knew that if everything that had happened to Gaara had happened to him, he'd of killed himself long ago.
Swallowing a lump in his throat, Naruto nodded. Unsure of what exactly to say. What could he say?
------.-----.------
Th bell rang, reminding the students of Konoha High that they had class.
As students filed into their respected classrooms, a dirty blonde haired man made his way down the corrider, towards the art room. In his hand was a rather large backpack.
"For the next few days we're having a special guest in, class- and, oh! Here he is. Please, come in." the blond art teacher babled as the door to the classroom was pushed open.
Shukaku walked in and set his bag onto the desk as he took a look at all the students.
"This is Mr. Shukaku, everyone. He'll be teaching a doll making workshop for the next couple days, so I'll see you all later!" Deidara said, walking over to the door, "Use whatever you need, Mr. Shukaku."
Shukaku nodded in approval as he unzipped the backpack and started pulling out different things, mostly materials and threads, but there were a few pairs of scissors and other useful tools, "So, before I begin, are their any questions?"
A brown haired boy in the middle lifted his hand, "I;ve hear dof you. You're supposed to be the best doll maker in Konoha. Is that true?"
Shukaku chuckled darkly before reaching into his backpack once again, "You tell me."
Out of the backpack, a doll was pulled and set atop the desk. His skin was pale, and it contrasted sharply with his dark attire. Atop his head was locks of pure flame, on on his face sat beautiful, seemingly endless depths of seafoam green outlined in a heavy line of black.
It was without a dought the most gorgeous and lifelike doll any of them had ever seen.
Silently, Naruto turned to look at Sakura and Hinata, who glanced back at him with the same look on their faces.
It was Gaara.
Sakura raised her hand, "Where did you get your insperation for him?"
Shukaku glanced down at the angel that sat there silently.
His angel. His caged angel that he wouldn't free for anything in the world.
Grinning, Shukaku replied simply, "Insperation comes inmany forms, where you get it is never up to you. In most cases, the insperation finds you."
Gaara inwardly shivered at the irony of the statement.
Sakura nodded, "He's really beautiful. I thought that maybe you had known a boy that looked like him or soemthing, because when I paint or draw, I usually draw my friends."
Shukaku nodded at her logic, "Yes, it's true that usually people create art from experiances. To tell the truth, I did know a boy that looked like him, and he was my insperation. But I didn't go out looking for him or anything," a grin once again spread across his lips, "One day he just wound up on my doorstep."
------.-----.------
"I'm telling you, he knows something!" Sakura said as they exited the classroom.
Naruto and Hinata nodded.
"He said he knew him." Naruto stated.
"But, the question is, who has Gaara? Maybe he knows? I don't think he would have taken him. Although it's still possible." Sakura said, before the three all hurried to their next class.
------.-----.------
Gaara, in his normal human form, climbed off of the desk and stetched his cramped muscles. As he noticed Shukaku giving him a cheeky grin, he turned. "What?!"
One could say he wasn't exactly in the greatest of moods.
Shukaku grinned, "Nothing."
Gaara frowned, "Don't play that again."
Gaara and Shukaku sat at the table, eating dinner.
After a few minutes, Gaara noticed Shukaku staring at him.
"What are you staring at?" Gaara asked, slightly annoyed.
"Nothing." Shukaku replied, smiling.
Gaara raised a non existant eyebrow, "Tell me."
Shukaku's grin spread across his face, "You're just so cute."
"Fine, you big grumpy panda." Shukaku teased, before planting a kiss on the boy's cheek.
Gaara sighed, "Can I go to the washroom?"
Shukaku stared at him for a moment, before nodding, "I suppose. Just don't let anyone see you. Think you can find it on your own?"
Gaara nodded, "Yeah."
Gaara walked over to the door and was about to open it when he was stopped.
"Put your hood up." Shukaku said, gesturing towards the back of Gaara's black hoodie.
Gaara complied before walking out of the classroom.
------.-----.------
It was after school and the halls were filled with kids grabbing their books, eager to get home.
As Naruto, Sakura and Hinata finished stuffing their backpacks, they started walking towards the front door.
As they walked out onto the pavement, the three noticed a large crowd gathering around the side of the school. Curious, they set off towards the riot.
"What's going on?" Naruto asked his friend, Kiba, who was standing near the comotion.
"Somebody graffitied the school." Kiba replied.
"Then what's with the big crowd?" Sakura asked, gesturing towrds the gathered students.
"Everyone's curious about the painting, it's strange." Kiba answered.
"S-strange, how?" Hinata asked.
Kiba pointed towards the wall everyone had gathered around, "Go and see for yourselves."
So Naruto, Sakura and Hinata pushed their way through the large array of students before coming to a stop.
There on the wall was a patchwork heart with a black bobbypin sticking out.
The three gasped as they pushed themselves out of the crowd and to a more secluded area.
"He was here!" Sakura cried, embracing her two friends.
"Y-yeah." Hinata agreed.
"Now let's think. What's different about today than any other day?" Naruto asked, looking towards his two best friends.
"Mr. Shukaku." Sakura replied, her eyes widening.
"It would add up," Naruto replied, nodding, "You said that alot of victims knew their kidnapper, well Shukaku said he knew Gaara."
"A-and there's o-one th-thing you m-missed." Hinata said, staring bahck towards the group of kids.
"What?" Sakura asked.
"H-his symbol. I-it's a p-patchwork h-heart. M-Mr. Shukaku m-makes d-dolls." She replied.
------.-----.------
Gaara sighed as he looked at a picture of his brother and sister.
He had managed to find some way to leave a clue, and a messy one at that.
Gaara had found the spray paint outside while he was looking around, luckily there had been enough to leave his trademark. He only hoped that the detectives had seen it.
"Shukaku," Gaara called. His captor was in the kitchen preparing dinner. "May I call my siblings?"
Shukaku walked into the living room, "I suppose so."
Gaara thanked him and grabbed the cordless phone before venturing into his room and closing the door.
After he had dialed the number, the phone in his hand began to ring.
"Hello?" Temari's voice flooded through his ears and he nearly sighed in relief.
"Temari. I need you to tell me the names of the girls looking for me." Gaara said, hoping that Shukaku couldn't hear him.
"Gaara! Oh god, I've been waiting for you to call. The girls names are Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuuga, but they also have a friend named Naruto Uzumaki. He's helping them find you." Temari replied.
"Thank you. I'm sorry I can't talk longer, but I should go. I love you and Kankurou." Gaara said, writing the names down on his arm.
"Alright. Bye little brother. Love you too."
After hanging up, Gaara pulled oput his notebook and began devising another plan. A hopefully less risky one.
-----------------
Authoress's Note!
There! I revealed the clue! The clue was Gaara's trademark patchwork heart. It was like the last piece of the puzzle. The clue that sealed it.
Anyways, I'll try to update really soon. But, it took some motivation for me to write this chapter.
Oh! And about that sequel. I've decided there most likely won't be much Naru/Gaa goodness in this story, but in the sequel I'll put lots! I just can't really figure out wher eot put the NaruGaa in this one, since Gaara's Shukaku's captrive and they havn't even met yet.
Reviews are lovely, reviews are neat.
Review for my story 'cause I'm real sweet!
(Press the purple button! Press it! It likes being pressed damnit!)