"Gaara."

[I have had this idea running around inside of my brain for a while now -hence why my SasuNaru hasn't been updated- and when I got an email from someone asking for some NaruGaa, I decided it was time to type everything out. I like the way this is coming out and if you notice anything wrong with it let me know yea? Enjoy!]


“Sabaku Taiso!” As sand from under him collapsed into a crushing force, the red head smiled and fell forward, face first onto the ground before him. The last thing remembered was a deep, familiar voice grumbling. He smiled before pure blackness claimed him.

When the red head opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was he was in the hospital. The second thing he noticed was that he was surrounded by faces. As he tried to sit up, some started to protest but he silenced them with a look. Some of the faces started talking at him and he tried to follow but he had a headache. It hurt. He was still not used to feeling pain and it annoyed him utterly. He also wasn't used to sleeping and it always managed to catch him off guard.

"Did you hear us Kazekage-sama?"

"Hm." In truth, he just started ignoring what they said since it entailed medical jargon he wasn't sure he understood at the moment. Waving out the doctors and nurses, Gaara let out a small breath and closed his eyes for a moment. With everyone gone he felt a little better. Although he was feeling better, he looked up a few minutes later to see his sister and brother walking into the room. He felt his mood immediately go sour. Crossing his arms over his chest, the Kazekage sent an emotionless glare at the both of them as they walked to his bedside.

"Kazekage-sama."

"Gaara." He nodded at them and just waited for them to state their business. As of late, he'd been rather annoyed at both of his siblings and even though he never mentioned it in any way, they seemed to know. Even if they did, they still didn't leave him alone when he wanted it.

"The Hokage wishes to see you in Konoha." Temari looked at her brother and sighed. "Oh for crying- Gaara, stop looking at me like that!" The red head raised in an elegant arch, one browless eyebrow. He wasn't looking at her like anything. It should be interesting to see what she meant. The blond made a frustrated noise and threw her hands up in defeat. Turning on her heel, she marched out of the room with a slam of the door left in her wake.

Gaara turned his gaze to his brother who looked like he was about ready to do the same thing but unlike Temari, Kankuro had slightly better control over his temper in the last few months. Kankuro mimicked his younger brothers pose and crossed his arms over his chest. "That wasn't nice Gaara."

"Hm." The red head turned his gaze to the window and looked out over his village.

"As she said, you are being summoned to Konoha. It seems that some of the council are coming along. Don't ask me why because I don't know." Following the younger man's gaze, Kankuro looked out over the village.

"Hm." Thinking over what his brother said, Gaara closed his eyes and inhaled a breath. The air was crisp, hot, sandy. Without a word, Gaara moved and started out of the bed, looking around the room to locate his gourd. Once spotted, the red head moved and attached it to his back then looked at his brother. "When do we leave?"


Four days later, with a party larger than he wanted, the Kazekage arrived at Konoha's gates. He was welcomed by the Hokage herself along with three very familiar ninja. Two were smiling and one was nose deep in an orange book. directing his gaze over to the blond woman herself, he bowed. "Hokage-sama." She mimicked his motion. "Kazekage-sama." With the exchange of pleasantries and greetings, Gaara got straight to the point.

"Why have you summoned me to Konoha, Hokage-sama?" She looked rather far away for a moment but the look slipped away and she sighed.

"This way please Kazekage-sama." She turned on her heel and headed away. Without another word, Gaara followed the blond and his party behind him. Looking around the city brought back memories, bad and good. He remembered the fight during the chounin exams so long ago and then he remembered coming to save some shinobi. The thought of who he got stuck saving made him inwardly grimace. It was a rugged battle, that. A hand stopped him in his tracks and he looked over to a smiling face.

"Ne! Gaara-san, wanna go for ramen later?" Before Gaara could speak up, Temari answered.

"Sorry Uzumaki. We are here on business; there is no time for recreation." Naruto stared at her and then nodded, moving away from Gaara and back to his position in the back of the group. Gaara also stared at the blond and would have said something but looked at the dirt in front of him instead. The last thing he wanted was to have his sister yelling in front of the entire town. Lost in his thoughts Gaara ignored everyone for the rest of the walk.

The red heads gaze moved over the bustling town and they stopped to look at the party of shinobi walking. Some nodded to the Hokage, some walked to her and patted her on the back and others didn't look at her at all but looked over the large group following behind himself. When their gazes locked with Naruto, there was a look of pure hatred on their faces. Something deep inside of him roared out but again, he said nothing. Gaara was agitated by the time the group walked inside of the Hokage's office.

"Please come this way Gaara-san." Tsunade pointed to a door and he looked behind him for a moment. No one looked please but they hadn't told him what was going on. Turning his back to the group, Gaara headed through the door with Tsunade at his heels.


"I won't ask you to sit up again." There was a slap at his back and he let out a breath. He was sitting on a cold bed, half naked and was having chakra forced into parts of his back. It wasn't comfortable nor did he like it but when he'd asked for answers, she gave nothing. Not even the Hokage would tell him what was going on. Maybe he should have just not come? Given her some excuse as to why he couldn't come? No. That was the cowards way out. A deep frown forming on his face, Gaara sat up straighter, arms crossed over his chest as he let the woman behind him examine whatever she was examining.

Twenty minutes later, he was putting on his shirts, sash and gourd. The Hokage had left only moments before and when he heard an out cry from the office, he ran out to see what was going on. Temari was clutching Kankuro's body and sobs were wrecking her body. Kankuro was trying to soothe her but it wasn't working. The councilmen from the Sand were talking amongst themselves and looking his way.

"What is going on?" Gaara looked from the councilmen to his sister and then to the Hokage. She couldn't look him in the eye. He felt agitation turning into an all to familiar emotion. Anger was bleeding into his pores and he looked around the room once again. No one looked at him now. The attention was focused on the council from Suna. Temari had stopped crying and composed herself, standing up straight and pulling out of her younger brother's arms.

"Subaku no Gaara, " he turned to face the council. "By decree of the council in this room, we are removing you from position of Kazekage. Your brother, Kankuro will take the position in your stead. As requested by the Hokage of Konoha, you are to remain here, in Konoha until further notice. You are, under no circumstances, to leave this village to return home to Suna."

Gaara was stunned. His eyes were wide and the anger leaked out of his system. He was too shocked to be angry now. His eyes made the circuit again and stopped at his siblings. Temari and Kankuro looked away. "You knew?" They nodded but said nothing. An unfamiliar emotion welled up inside of him and he suddenly felt like weeping. Looking back to the council, his hand unconsciously moving to his gourd he said, "Under what reasons am I removed from my position?"

"You are no longer fit to hold the highest position of out village." What did that mean? Because he didn't have the demon raccoon in his body he was no longer fit to be Kazekage? Was there something else wrong with him? The thoughts swirling in his head suddenly made his vision fuzzy. Wiping at his eyes, Gaara felt something wet. Glancing at his fingers, he noticed they were covered in a clear liquid. The sensation of something moving down his cheeks made his hands move again. Was he crying? Yes, yes he was. It had been so long since he'd cried that it was unfamiliar to him.

"Gaara, you will be left in the care of Uzumaki Naruto." He looked to the blond as she spoke. "Unfortunately, we cannot leave you alone here in the village so he will be, essentially, your care taker and body guard." She stood and walked towards him. Her hands were at her sides, balled into fists and she looked into his eyes. Sorrow filled her gaze and she said something that was so low, he almost didn't catch it. "I'm sorry." Then his world went black.