You know how I said I was gonna work at updating this more rapidly?... Yeah, sorry... Haha. Other things come up and this kinda gets pushed to the back. But slowly slowly slowly this chapter has come together... Months upon months later. Sorry again! And thanks in advance to those who will still be reading this, despite my lack of update. Also, sorry it's a bit of a short chapter, I really just wanted to get this story updated already. Next chapter will be longer.

†Havoc

Chapter 12: Boyfriend

"What do you want?" Gaara finally snapped. Kankuro and him sat across from each other at the kitchen table. It was just them, everyone else was busy. Their mother and father were already out for the night and Temari was upstairs getting ready to leave. Kankuro simply laughed before going back to stuffing his face. Gaara just let out sigh and poked his food around his plate a little bit more.

"I just haven't seen that boyfriend of yours around in a while." Kankuro stared across the table once more, a devilish grin starting to spread on his face. "You two break up or something?" He then laughed and went back to eating, ignoring Gaara once again. Which is why he didn't notice Gaara's grip tighten around his dinner knife. Gaara scooted his chair back from the table and moved to silently around behind his older brother. His breathing became heavier as he clutched the knife tighter. The doorbell rang."You gonna get that?" Kankuro asked, mouth half full of food.

"Gaara!" A female voice shrieked. Temari rushed into the kitchen with Sasuke in tow. "What the hell are you doing?" Kankuro's entire body tensed as the knife clattered to the floor. He jerked his head around to look over his shoulder at the trio. He flew up from the chair and stood on, a frightened look spreading across his face. Gaara looked from one sibling to the other before shoving through Temari and Sasuke in the doorway and storming out the front door. Sasuke stood there looking more helpless than anything else. Kankuro glared at him while Temari gave him a pleading look. He looked sympathetically at Temari before turning and following Gaara outside.

Sasuke hurried down the porch steps and onto the side walk looking left then right. Gaara wasn't in sight. He stopped for a moment, concerned he wouldn't be able to find him. But then it dawned on Sasuke exactly where he knew he could find the redhead. Sasuke hurried down the sidewalk toward the park, trying not to look too panicked. That could draw some unwanted attention. Sasuke rounded the edge of the tall hedges that frame the path leading into the park and headed off toward the playground. Sure enough there he was. Garra sat in the sandbox by himself, sifting through the sand. Sasuke couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief once he saw the other boy.

Remembering, though, that they were currently "in a fight," Sasuke did his best to wipe the look of concern from his face. He slowed his rapid pace as he approached Gaara. The boy didn't even flinch as Sasuke sat down next to him; just kept digging around in the sand. Normally this type of behaviour would have highly irritated Sasuke-he hated when Gaara pretended he didn't exist-but he was just happy to have found him. Sasuke waited patiently for Gaara to say something first, but it didn't look like that would be happening.

Eventually Sasuke broke down. "You gonna explain?" he asked simply. He didn't think it would be necessary to elaborate any further. Sasuke was irritated further when all Gaara could do in response was shrug. Again that sat their in silence; Gaara playing in the box, Sasuke staring at him, trying to find the words to say.

"He called you my boyfriend, asked if we had broken up," Gaara stated, as if that explained everything.

"And?"

"You're not my boyfriend."

Sasuke still stared at Gaara, but there was a mixture of helplessness and confusion on his face. All he wanted was for Gaara to explain what the hell had been running through his head. Whatever it was, it seemed like a bit of an overreaction.

"I want you to be." Gaara's words caught Sasuke off guard. He blinked a few times letting them sink in. Gaara looked up at the other boy for the first time since he'd sat down. The look in Gaara's eyes made him seem more vulnerable than Sasuke had ever seen him. That's when more words started tumbling from Gaara's mouth. It was like he couldn't control himself. "It just makes me so angry when Kankuro says that because it's like he's rubbing it in because Sasuke you aren't mine and-" Gaara was silenced by the pressure of another set of lips against his own. Sasuke had heard enough.

The pair headed back toward Gaara's house a short time later, hand in hand. As they approached the house, Sasuke could practically feel Gaara tense up next to him when they spotted the car in the driveway. "Should I just go?" Sasuke questioned. But the redhead shook his hand and held on to his hand tighter. Sasuke led the way up to the front porch. There was an awkward moment as the pair stood their facing one another. It was Gaara who leaned in, giving Sasuke one innocent kiss.

Gaara then backed away, dropping Sasuke's hand and offering him a simple, "Goodnight," before heading inside. He closed the door as quietly as possible, a genuine smile lighting up his face. But when he turned around, his smile almost instantly fell from his face, his whole body went rigid. It seemed part of the family had waited up for Gaara.

"I don't care, it would still be nice!" The first thing Sasuke heard when he stepped foot on the bus Monday morning. He looked around the bus with a look of annoyance on his facing, searching for the source. Sakura, of course. She appeared to be shoving some type of greeting card in Ino's face, while the blonde seemed to want to have nothing to do with it. Sasuke chose to ignore it and looked around the bus for "my boyfriend," he thought, managing to keep down the smile that wanted to burst onto his face. Sasuke sat down across from the two girls. They instantly stopped talking and Sakura smiled over at Sasuke.

"Would you like to sign the card," Sakura asked, offering it over to him.

Sasuke took it from her hands asking, "Who's it for?" But as he opened it up, his question was answered. He ran his finger over the phrase written in side the card. Get Well Soon, Gaara. Written in Sakura's sensible handwriting.

"You haven't heard?" Sakura looked at the boy a bit confused. "I thought you two were friends now?" She questioned. But with out hesitation and without waiting for an answer she explained. "Gaara's in the hospital. Had a nasty accident. I wanted to get as many people to sign this for him as I could," she informed, gesturing toward the card in Sasuke's hand. That's was just like Sakura. Always trying to be kindly. But Sasuke hardly heard a word she said. It was all a blur in the background of his own thoughts.

Get Well Soon, Gaara.

It had only been a few hours since Sasuke had seen the boy. What could have possibly happened in such a short amount of time? But that's when the realization hit him. He quickly scribbled his name down and handed the card back to Sakura.

"Do you know how it happened?" Sasuke asked, staring down at his hands. He already knew the answer, but he wanted to know what the going story was.

Sakura shrugged. She hadn't gotten that much detail. That's usually how gossip was. Vague and unreliable.

Sasuke felt like he was going to be sick. The rest of the school day seemed to take an eternity to pass. The entire day Sasuke could not take his eyes off the clock. At lunch time he sneeked away to use his cellphone, wanting to try to get in touch with Gaara. Maybe none of this was true. He tried both calling and texting. To no surprise, he received no response. He was a fool to even hope. But he just wanted to know what was going on. All Sasuke did know was that he couldn't wait for school to let out. That's why when the bell rang after eighth period, he practically sprinted out of the class. But once he got off the bus, he wasn't really sure what he could even do. It's not like he could just walk up to Gaara's house and ask what happened.

Still trying to decide on a plan of action, Sasuke walked into his house. Upon entering, he was surprised to see a blonde sitting in the front room looking worried and anxious.

Temari?

The girl stood up and looked over at him as he crossed the room toward her. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Finally she managed to say, "Your mother let me in." The pair sat down across each other, tense and on the edge of the furniture. All Sasuke wanted was for Temari to explain, but it seemed to be a struggle for her to speak.

"He's hurt bad."

Sasuke nodded. He could have figured as much. "What happened?"

Temari hesitated a minute before launching into the story. She explained how Kankuro had almost instantly tattled the story of what happened in the kitchen to Boku. As soon as Gaara had walked in the door, Boku had flown into a rage. He attacked the red-head, telling him that some bastard child would never treat his son like that again. And in the end, Gaara had ended up in the hospital. Broken arm, 3 broken ribs, and a punctured lung.

"What are you telling people?" Sasuke asked Temari. He could feel rage starting to build in him. He gripped the edge of the padded chair, knuckles turning white. But when she just looked at him with a look of slight confusion, he elaborated. "What are you telling people happened to Gaara."

"He was in a bad part of town. He got jumped." Temari recited the lines as if she had done it a million times before. She looked across to Sasuke, almost looking guilty, as if this was her fault. Temari did feel some guilt whenever any situation like this happened. She had some power in stopping this. All she had to do was tell somebody what was going on. Tears started to well up in her eyes; an uncommon occurrence. She didn't like feeling powerless.

"We can do something about this." Sasuke stared the blonde dead in the eyes as he spoke the sentence. Temari nodded, swallowing hard. "Can I see him?" Sasuke then asked. Temari nodded again. Gaara was in a condition in which he could have visitors. And Temari knew no one else would be there to see him. It would be safe.