Author's Note: Well, this chapter has been begging for me to go ahead and post it. So you guys get a fast update, but it's a pretty short chapter. Sorry. I was going to add more to it but it didn't flow the way I wanted it to. I think this stands well enough on its own so, after staring at it for a couple of days, I'm going ahead and putting it up despite the brevity of it. I hope you all like it. Please read and review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I don't own Gaara. I don't own much of anything in this story except for a couple of original characters and the plot. This makes me very sad. I make no money off of this so please don't sue me.

Sandstorms and Falling Leaves

Chapter Five: Confrontations and Confessions

When Gaara wasn't back for breakfast, Temari was concerned. When she checked the roof and the redhead wasn't there either, concern turned to worry. When none of her fellow sand ninjas knew where the young Kazekage had gone, worry turned to fear.

Gaara woke up gradually, which was a novel experience for the perpetual insomniac. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a t-shirt covered chest. She felt a warm arm draped across her waist. It was strange but rather pleasant and she briefly considered going back to sleep, before her sense of duty asserted itself. Reluctantly pulling away from the comfortable embrace yielded her the sight of Naruto smiling cheerfully at her.

"Good morning." The blonde said brightly, "Feeling better?"

The sand ninja considered the question for a minute. Her mind was clearer than it had been in days and the recent muscle aches that had plagued her were nearly gone. She was still tired, but at least she felt like a functioning person again.

'And I didn't dream.' She realized with a start.

"Gaara?" Naruto prompted, with a touch of nervousness in his voice.

"Yes." She said, stifling a yawn. "I feel a lot better."

"That's great." The leaf ninja looked relieved, but a blush stained his cheeks lightly as he continued. "Um...could you maybe...let me up?" He asked, shifting the arm that was pinned under her head and glancing at her hands, stilled tangled in his shirt. "I was supposed to meet Matsuri over an hour ago but I didn't want to wake you."

Gaara bolted upright, nearly knocking Naruto out of the narrow bed in her panic. "What time is it?"

"Almost midday."

"Damn." The redhead grimaced, wanting nothing more than to crawl under the covers and hide.

"What is it?" Blue eyes full of concern followed her movements as she futilely tried to smooth her coat and fluff her hair.

"I didn't tell anyone where I was going. I have to get back before my brother and sister come looking for me." She explained quickly, sliding open the window.

The leaf ninja nodded, unease spreading through him at the thought of the elder two sand siblings catching them in bed together, no matter how innocent the circumstances.

Gaara hesitated halfway out the window. Darting back inside she brushed a feather light kiss on the blonde genin's cheek. "Thanks." She said softly.

She was gone before the bemused leaf ninja could reply.

When Gaara reached the apartment she shared with her sister, it was deserted. Grateful for the small reprieve, she slipped into her room to change and prepare herself for the day. By the time she came back out, just a few minutes later, all five sand ninjas were waiting in her living room.

'They must have set an alarm in case I returned while they were out searching for me.' She realized. In retrospect it was obvious that they would have done so, but she had been too flustered by the circumstances to think clearly.

Gaara froze as she spotted them. Her posture was deceptively relaxed and her face was an impassive mask as she eyed the varied reactions to her appearance.

Matsuri and Shinta looked exceedingly relieved to see her safe. Sena seemed oddly smug for some reason that the redhead could not begin to fathom. Temari's expression kept shifting as she searched through her conflicting emotions and Kankuro was scowling with his arms crossed across his chest. His face paint made the scowl a great deal more impressive than it might have been otherwise, but Gaara was hardly afraid of his anger. She was more concerned with the hurt she could see lurking in his eyes.

The penitent redhead searched her mind for something to say to take that look out of his eyes and make her sister stop sputtering silently.

"Sorry." The apology slipped from her quietly. It was inadequate and she knew it, but it was all she had.

"Don't do it again." Kankuro replied sharply, before their older sibling could settle on a response.

The redhead nodded. "I'll let someone know next time." She promised. 'Next time? When did I decide there was going to be a next time?' She blinked and stored that thought away to ponder later.

The scowl on her brother's painted face relaxed, marginally satisfied for the time being. "Good enough. Okay, everybody out. We have other things to do today."

He herded Sena's team out of the small apartment, leaving his elder sister still struggling to find her voice and his younger sister to her fate. Temari had always been better at dealing with Gaara's behavior anyway.

The door closed behind the four ninjas and Temari seemed to deflate.

"Where were you?" She demanded tiredly.

"I fell asleep." The younger girl hedged, not wanting to lie but unwilling to say where she had slept. Even though nothing had happened, such behavior was not considered acceptable in old fashioned Sunagakure.

"Hn." The blonde woman narrowed her eyes suspiciously, suspecting the half truth. "You fell asleep? For ten hours?" She questioned sharply. "You've never slept for ten hours at once in your life." She pointed out dryly.

Gaara shrugged and hid her nervousness behind a mask of indifference. "First time for everything."

Temari sighed, knowing her sister didn't usually keep secrets from her without a good reason. What was important enough to make her start now? Switching tactics, the blonde tried again. "You worried all of us."

"I know." The young Kazekage looked down at her feet, regret plain on her features.

"We can't protect you if we don't know how to find you." The blonde pointed out. "Is this going to happen again?"

Gaara hesitated. Her sister was right, though it rankled to think that she needed to be protected. 'Will it need to?' She thought. She had slept soundly for the first time in her memory, in Naruto's bed with his arms around her. 'Can I sleep like that without him?' Pink stained her pale cheeks. 'Do I want to go back there?'

Temari watched her sister's face curiously. She always got the most out of Gaara when the girl was lost in thought. Her face could be quite expressive when she let her guard down. The blush concerned the older sand ninja. 'What have you been up to, little sister?' Her eyebrows raised at the possibilities, none of them good. However, she wasn't about to follow in her brother's clumsy footsteps and jump to conclusions.

Gaara slumped as she admitted to herself that: yes, she would go back to Naruto's bed if she woke up screaming in her own. That meant she was going to have to tell at least one person where she was going and her sister was the only one she trusted not to tell their brother unless it became necessary. Kankuro would not take it well.

Temari was waiting expectantly, arms crossed and one foot tapping impatiently. "Well." She pressed when the younger girl finally looked up.

"I was asleep." Gaara repeated quietly. "At Naruto's apartment."

Temari grimaced. That was not what she had been hoping to hear but she forced herself to remain outwardly calm. Yelling at the redhead would just make her withdraw from the conversation and Temari wanted answers. "What happened?" She managed to ask in an almost even voice.

"Nothing." The younger girl insisted, meeting her sister's eyes squarely. "I needed to talk to someone...about the nightmares." Her gaze drifted to the side as she finally admitted her problem to the older girl.

Temari nodded, encouraging her to continue. It hurt that her sister had gone to the leaf boy instead of her, but she understood the choice.

Gaara seemed relieved that her sister hadn't pressed for details on her nightmares, moving on quickly. "He made me ramen, we talked, and then I fell asleep so he let me stay." She condensed the night into as few words as possible; her cheeks turning red again as she thought about the narrow bed and the warm body snuggled against her when she woke.

Temari raised an eyebrow at the blush. "And you slept better at the fox boy's house because..." She trailed off, wanting the whole truth.

"Because he held me." The redhead admitted reluctantly, her gaze dropping to her feet as she waited for her sister to explode.

Temari sighed in relief. Holding was okay, if not exactly acceptable behavior. She could tell by Gaara's quiet defeated look, that that was what her baby sister had been trying to hide. Seeing the girl's distress, the blonde stepped forward and wrapped her sister in a bone crushing hug.

"Just leave a note next time." She said softly over her shorter sibling's head. She wasn't about to begrudge Gaara a good night's sleep over some prudish Suna laws. Still, as the eldest and being without a mother, it did fall to her to make all the obligatory warnings. "Be discreet and don't get caught staying there. Try to be home by breakfast and if that orange twerp tries anything at all..." She trailed off menacingly. "Well, I trust you can take care of yourself but if you want any help, you know I'm here for you."

Gaara relaxed into her sister's arms, reassured that she wasn't going to be disowned over her sleeping habits. She let the warnings and threats wash over her, almost comforting in the fact that they weren't directed at her, but were her sister's odd way of showing her concern.

Temari released her with a lopsided grin. "Are you hungry? How about an early lunch?"

"I was supposed to meet Hinata for training..."

"We can pick her up on the way and she can join us." Temari suggested. "Cup ramen in the middle of the night doesn't qualify as food." She teased lightly.

Gaara smiled hesitantly back, wrinkling her nose. "That's true...unless you're Naruto." She nodded decisively. "Okay. Let's go."

To be continued...

Author's Note: There. I hope you like it. Now that the morning after is out of the way, maybe I'll be able to focus on moving the story along. The chunin exams are imminent and we still have our mystery third member to introduce. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of it! ^_^

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