Chapter 12

Sakura paced in the lobby. The visit was lasting longer than she had anticipated, and she was getting nervous. Worrying that, perhaps they didn't want to answer or questions, or that they didn't trust her to take care of their brother.

Her digits fidgeted with the material of her scrub shirt, and she worried her bottom lip. Not only was the visit taking longer, Tsunade was acting a bit odd. Why had she chosen to say that to Sakura? What was that woman implying, that she actually was having a relationship with her patient?

Sakura scoffed and glanced quickly at the door with a glare. Of course she wasn't having a relationship with her patient, that would be out of the question, completely irrelevant, absolutly not, totally and strictly business . . . though, the thought might have come up once or twice . . .

The pink-haired nurse shook her head violently and crossed her arms over her chest. She couldn't be thinking of things like that when she needed to focus her mind on the questions that needed to be answered.

Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose between her forefinger and thumb and caught a glimpse of the watch on her wrist.

It had been over two hours. Long enough.

"If they don't get in here in the next five minutes, so help me I will drag them out of Gaara's room." Sakura whispered angrily to herself, her temper simmering and surfacing at her impatiance.

A deep chuckle reverbrated throughout the room, followed by a deep voice that sounded hard and soft at the same time as it mock chastised her.

"Now don't be so rash, Doctor. We only wanted to see our little brother for a short visit." sarcasm lacing the word 'short' as he walked into the room.

Sakura spun quickly to face the unexpected extra person, and almost groaned aloud. It was Gaara's brother Kankuruo, and a teasing glint sparkled in his eyes as he stood before her.

"I'm sorry," she amended while she brushed her hair away from her face. "I didn't actually -... That is, I..." she sighed in frustration. "Would you like to begin our meeting now?"

"Actually, that would be nice. I would like to talk to you about Gaara, Mrs. Haruno." The oldest sibling stepped into the room, her slim frame walked gracefully with an air of importance and stubborness to stand next to her brother.

"Sakura, call me Sakura, please." the pinkette gave a small reassuring smile.

Temari gave a short, curt nod. Sakura inwardly groaned, it wasn't going to be as easy as she had hoped. This blonde was a ticking time bomb, the slightest wrong question would send her off, taking the answers with her.

"Well, um... would you like to talk here, or go somewhere else?" Sakura asked politely, struggling to hide the impatience knawing at her with a renewed fervor.

"Here's fine. It's to cold to go anywhere else." was the woman's reply as she went to a small table in the far corner.

Sakura nodded and followed, taking a seat across from the siblings that were now staring hard at her. She fought the urge to squirm underneath their gaze that could almost match Gaara's.

"What is it exactly that you want to know. . .Sakura?" Temari asked, her hands clasped into fists on the tabletop.

Kankurou sighed and scrutinized the female before him, judging if she was really up to the job. Really and truly, she looked like a frail little girl playing doctor. Did she really believe that she was up to the job of handling his brother. The one that murdered and felt nothing.

He smiled wryly at his hands as that thought passed through his mind. How odd for him to even let the thought have some of his attention. Wasn't it all of them that wanted the men in their lives dead? He wouldn't deny it, and he didn't regret it either.

Sakura breathed in deeply, and then looked hard at the blonde across from her. "I want to know his story." she said in a determind voice.

Temari all but glared at the girl across from her. "You are aware that these are family matters, yes? That this is as personal as it can get?" her voice was as hard as Sakura's stare.

"It's complicated. Many factors play in the reason Gaara resides here, not so much that he isn't completely sane." Kankurou said in a low voice.

"He is as sane as either of us." Temari hissed and turned her sharp eyes on her brother. "He is here because of a mistake. A mistake that should have been handled long ago."

Kankurou looked at his sister with a hint of pity in his dark eyes. "We were only kids, what were we to do, Temari?"

She scowled at him and whipped her head around to face the pinkette again.

"Gaara was a good brother. He was just mistreated and there wasn't a damn thing either of us could do." the blonde fisted her hands on the table, but didn't break the fierce look connected with the doctor. "Our father blamed him for the death of our mother, since she had died giving birth to him, and wouldn't so much as look at him unless he had the urge to beat him. . . which was daily."

Temari sighed and spoke more calmly. "Father tried to kill Gaara more than once, and he was only nine. He beat all of us, but Gaara's was more severe." she spoke softly now, "To this day, it amazes me he is even alive."

Kankurou eyed his sister with apprehension, wondering if it was possible for his sister, the one that had stood so strong over the years, had endured a rough childhood, would break down right now thinking of a man that had suffered for the both of them that was now sitting in a darkened room staring at a picture at a younger them.

"Our uncle, Yashamaru, was assigned as his caretaker after. . .F-Father," Kankurou paused momentarily and marveled at the way he stumbled over the word 'father' before beginnig again. "After he figured out that Gaara had discovered ways of aluding him. Yashamaru was, in some ways, crueler than Father. He lurred us all into a false sense of security, saying that he loved us and would protect us."

The male raked a hand through his wild brown locks. "He was around Gaara a lot more than us, and got Gaara to trust him. We thought he was a great man, and would save us." Kankurou looked Sakura in the eye, he dark eyes serious. "He attempted to kill Gaara, to."

Sakura's green eyes widened in disbelief, her mouth opened slightly. She couldn't understand how any of this could happen. Where were the authorities during these events? The Child Protection agencies? It was monsterous. Just. . . impossible.

"What?" she sputtered.

Temari sighed. "Yashamaru. He tried to kill Gaara at Father's request, and his own. He failed of course, and that's when Father said that Gaara had gone. . .gone crazy.

"He ordered Yashamaru to drop Gaara off here, no explanations, no saying anything. Just to drop him off and leave him.

"Well, you know that Gaara escaped. You have to understand that at this time Gaara was not himself. He had been through nine years of abuse, some of it so cruel not even the Kami himself would have been able to survive. He wasn't really in his right mind."

She paused and stared out the window that overlooked the snowy courtyard. The dead trees' limbs blew in the wind mockingly. She swallowed and returned her gaze to Sakura.

"He came back home, and we let him in. We thought he was dead, and when we saw him we were so happy. But he refused to let us touch him. Yashamaru's betrayl had taken its' toll, and he was set on one thing and only that one thing.

"We didn't stop him. Didn't even try." she whispered, her eyes distant. "We didn't want to. A strong part of Kankurou and me wanted it to happen. . .Willed it to happen."

Sakura took a sharp breath, having realized that she had stopped her intake of oxygen for longer than necessary.

"What? What happened, Temari? Please tell me, I need to know." Sakura whispered in a pleading, desperate voice.

She was so close, what had happened that night? Why was Temari so distant, and Kankurou, why was Kankurou silent? He didn't seem like the type to be so quiet. What was going on between the siblings?

What did Temari mean that they willed it to happen?What did they want to happen?

Questions wracked her brain, almost driving her out of her mine. And Temari, Temari sat there staring blankly. Lost in her own thoughts and memories. Sakura mentally willed the woman to continue, to tell her what had went on with Gaara and caused him to come here.

"Temari, please." she tried again.

The woman's eyes became clear again, and slid to gaze at Sakura with a fierce, almost violent, look. "Father and Yashamaru are dead, because Gaara killed them."

Sakura stared open-mouthed at Temari who just continued to look at her, as if what she had said was something you heard in everyday conversation. Normal.

It was far from normal, though. It was murder. Gaara. . .He had. . .had killed someone.

Her mouth opened slightly, her breath came out so silently that no one but herself heard her.

"Gaara."