Author's Note: New Chapter! Back to Gaara this time to see how she's getting along without Naruto to be her snuggle bunny.

Sandstorms and Falling Leaves

Chapter 24: Gaara: Nightmares and Dreams

Gaara rubbed her aching eyes and studied the blurring words of Tsunade's book for what seemed like the hundredth time. In the week since she had been lent the heavy tome, the redhead had poured over the book for hours every day. She had to have read the entire volume at least twice but nothing she had tried had helped her sleep any better. She had even considered using the jutsu that had allowed Shukaku to take control of her body by forcing her to sleep, but she had dismissed the idea as being too dangerous. The jutsu had allowed her to sleep even in the middle of battle and to use it without the one tail would have left her painfully vulnerable to attack. That didn't seem like a good idea in light of the assassination attempts she had already survived in the recent months.

As the words swam in front of her once more, the exhausted teen finally gave in and closed the medical text. She laid her head down on the cool cover of the large volume and closed her eyes with a small frustrated sigh.

"Gaara?" A voice called out to her hesitantly from the doorway and the redhead silently cursed as she was caught off guard.

'That's a good way to end up dead.' She berated herself mentally as she turned to face the thankfully benign intruder. "Hinata." She greeted the girl with a nod, showing no sign of her internal aggravation as she stood.

"Hi. Um...Temari-san let me in." The blue haired teen explained with a sheepish smile. "I was worried when you didn't meet me this morning."

Gaara rubbed the bridge of her nose with one hand wearily. "I'm sorry. I guess time got away from me."

Hinata smiled sweetly. "It's okay." The violet eyed girl seemed to hesitate before she spoke again. "Um...you...You're not sleeping again..." It wasn't a question.

Gaara resisted the urge to glare at her friend, instead going to sit on the edge of her bed and resting her head in her hands.

The Hyuuga heiress took that as answer enough and moved into the room shyly. "Umm..." The teen fidgeted with her hands for a few moments before she worked up the courage to say what she needed to say. "I-I...I used to have n-nightmares." She said finally.

Gaara looked up at the navy haired girl curiously. She hadn't discussed her nightmares with the other girl but she supposed it didn't take a genius to figure out why she had such trouble sleeping.

Hinata took courage when her red haired friend didn't immediately get upset with her for mentioning the subject. "Um...well, you see...when I w-was little, someone tried to kidnap m-me...and for a l-long time after that...I had terrible nightmares. I couldn't sleep much at all."

Gaara blinked but didn't know exactly how to respond. It was rather relieving to find out she wasn't the only one with such problems but at the same time she wasn't sure what point the shy girl was getting at.

Her silence didn't faze the Byakugan user. "So...umm...anyway...I found that it helped me to imagine a better outcome for my dreams before I went to bed...or to think of something else it might be nice to dream about..."

Gaara nodded encouragingly as the girl trailed off.

"It...ah...it didn't work every time but I thought it might help you some." Hinata finished lamely.

The redhead pondered the suggestion thoughtfully. She had seen something similar mentioned briefly in Tsunade's book but it hadn't worked the first time she tried it and it had made her feel rather foolish as well. "Thank you." She said stiffly.

Hinata nodded. "Sure. So...um...do you want to go get some lunch? We've pretty much already skipped training this morning."

Gaara nodded slowly and stood, following the other girl out of the apartment.

That night the redhead lay down to sleep determined to give Hinata's suggestion a try. Her previous attempt at visualizing better results for her nightmares had failed so this time she tried to think of something to dream of that made her happy instead.

Naruto's grinning face immediately popped into her mind and his mumbled response to her proposal tickled her memory and brought a gentle smile to her face.

'I wonder what sort of wedding we might have...' She thought sleepily, latching on to the idea and beginning to mentally plan the occasion. 'Red flowers...' She decided sleepily. 'Tsunade can officiate...' She pictured Naruto in a tuxedo and the image made her smile once again as she finally drifted off.

Gaara walked down the aisle, her heavy layered kimono flowing around her feet as she approached the group she could see waiting for her. Kankuro walked beside her in place of the father she didn't miss.

Tsunade stood grinning at her from beneath an arch covered in flowers. The older woman was dressed in her Hokage robes and flanked on one side by Temari and Hinata, but Gaara wasn't paying any of the women much attention.

Her eyes sought out Naruto and his brilliant smile warmed her heart. She took a step towards him...

...and total chaos broke loose. Someone screamed as familiar black cloaked figures seemed to materialize out of nowhere and descend upon the crowd of guests.

Gaara stood frozen for a moment before she forced her body to move forward. She had to get to Naruto, had to protect him. He was what the Akatsuki were after. She spotted him through the struggling knots of people but her heavy clothing slowed her down and Kankuro was trying to pull her away from the battle.

"No! Not again!" The redhead shouted as she shook off the hands clutching at her and ignored her brother's protests, forcing her way through the battle towards her love.

Some part of her mind was trying to tell her that this was only a dream but Gaara ignored it. She had to save Naruto.

Finally, she arrived at the place she had last seen the yellow haired jinchuriki but he was nowhere in sight.

The sand wielder shook her head in denial. Naruto couldn't be gone. The world around her began to fade away, like a fog was rolling in, the battle sounds growing dim as she continued to seek the hyperactive teen.

Suddenly, a hand was on her elbow and she turned to find the blonde grinning at her fondly. "You should know better, Gaara." He told her as he brushed her face with his fingertips. "I'd never leave you behind."

"But you did...you had a mission..." The redhead mumbled as the dream began to merge with reality in her mind.

"I'm still with you, Gaara." The hyperactive teen seemed amused that she didn't understand. "The people we love are always with us, even when they're far away...even when we feel alone. That's why you don't need to worry about losing me anymore."

Gaara blinked, his words making her feel strangely peaceful as the shadowy battle raged on around the young couple.

"The Akatsuki can't win, Gaara." Naruto's grin was back in force. "You should have figured it out by now. For them to win we have to give up."

"You never know when to give up." The redhead said slowly, a crooked little smile trying to make its way onto her face as she remembered seeing the blonde demonstrate that trait several times.

"Exactly." The blonde bounced on his toes and chuckled warmly. "So let's kick their butts, ne?"

Gaara found herself suddenly free of her wedding attire and looked down to find that her burgundy coat had replaced the impractical garment. She hadn't worn the coat since she had returned from the dead because it reminded her too much of her failure but now it felt strangely right.

Naruto too was back in his normal orange outfit and the pair stood back to back as the battle snapped back into focus around them.

Thousands of Naruto clones entered the fray and Gaara felt the sand dance around her with an ease she had not known since her death. She noted other battles turning against the Akatsuki all around her as her friends and family seemed to rally at her return to the fight.

A small, grim smile spread across her features as one Akatsuki after another fell or fled from their combined onslaught.

At last, the battlefield grew still and Naruto was once again at her side. "See."

Gaara nodded and the blonde jinchuriki leaned down to kiss her soundly.

The redhead did not wake until the sun slanted in through her balcony door and hit her peaceful face.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: Woohoo! She did it! Gaara slept through the night all on her own. The visualization technique for treating nightmares is a real thing and it has shown positive results in studies. It also works for me, though I never had a name for it. My chosen visualization when I was a kid was always Care Bears or My Little Pony (I just gave away my age, ne?). lol. So, next chapter we'll go back to Naruto to see what he's up to. Please review!