Blehh, I lied. Not much plot in this chapter, although there IS some little mention of plot for next chapter. See if you can find it, like in those I Spy books! XD

As an apology for the plot that I promised and did not deliver quite yet, there is so much angst and fluff in here that you may choke on it. So if your virtual self chokes on the angst or fluff, my virtual self will give you the Heimlich! Don't worry, she's certified, unlike Kame. XDD

... I got two reviews last chapter, but would I be a bad person to ask for more? I still love this story, I promise, and I'ma keep it going for as long as I can! I just need a little support... PWEASE? And if not, Gaara will cry. DON'T MAKE GAARA CRY. Reviewers, I hope you're all still loyal... XD I'm sorry I left for so long! ;-; FORGIVE ME~

Anyway, I almost cried writing part of this. I wiped away the tears before they actually went anywhere, so does that count as crying...? XD

Hope you all enjoy and remember me! :)

I'm not for sure how long I was gone. How long I walked around Suna, stalking down the streets and silently daring everyone who so much as looked at me the wrong way to just say anything. I'd managed to stop crying, though the tear streaks left behind stayed there. If I'd bothered to wear eyeliner or mascara ever, it would be running something fierce.

I guess it must have been a few hours. I simply wandered aimlessly around this section of the village, wondering what I was supposed to do now. I wanted nothing more to do with the people of this village, not if there wasn't a single person aside from me who gave a damn about Gaara. But I couldn't just up and leave; the kid needed me too much, especially if I was his only warrior in the fight against hate and years of therapy.

I couldn't even tell Gaara about this. I couldn't tell him the truth! This would break his little heart if he ever found out. That kind of damage... would take a long time to heal, if ever. It wasn't the kind of thing you could just shrug off.

I had to fight just to keep from crying again. Wasn't there anyone besides me and Nanten who could see Gaara for who he really was? He was the only one who didn't judge other people, who didn't look at them with hateful eyes. He always tried to be friendly, and what did it get him? More fear. More hate. More disgust. People ran away from him. And everyone in this whole village, everyone who treated Gaara like dirt... they all made me sick. I felt like I was going to vomit just thinking about it.

Life wasn't fair. It wasn't supposed to be fair. Life was supposed to be challenging, like a fence you had to find a way to climb over. Some people had chain link fences to get over; some people had wooden. Gaara's fence wasn't even a fence. His fence was a brick wall, cold and slippery and boxing him in. Life had kicked him down and run away like a coward, leaving him there to get up on his own and climb over that brick wall. But how do you climb over a brick wall if you don't have anything or anyone to help you?

I glanced up at the school, where I'd arrived, and hugged my arms around myself. I... I had no idea how to fix this. Could this kind of thing even be fixed? This wasn't the first time in my life I had felt completely helpless, but it was the first time I'd ever cared enough that I didn't want to feel this way. Gaara didn't deserve his own uncle hating him... and especially for the same reason that everyone else did.

My eyes teared up again, but it passed quickly.

Fuck the world. Fuck everything.

I walked into the school, and caught sight of a clock. It was almost 1:15, which meant I had about 45 minutes before I could pick Gaara up and hug him. I missed him so much, even more so now because of Yashamaru's words. I... I couldn't wait that long.

I peeked into his classroom, and I saw all the kids pushing their chairs in at the table and practically running over to the carpet. Gaara was already on the carpet, sitting all by himself, but apparently not letting it bother him too much today. I sighed, biting my lip and feeling my eyes tear up again. What a good kid... and nobody else understood that.

Takamine spotted me, and came over to open the door. I could see that she took notice of the redness around my eyes, giving me an almost confused look. "What do you want?"

"Save it." My voice wasn't that cold, harsh tone I'd used with Yashamaru, but it certainly wasn't the kind of voice I ever used when I was with Gaara. "I know how you feel about me, Takamine - I know how you feel about Gaara. Your idiot boyfriend happily filled me in." I pushed the door farther, prepared to force my way in if necessary. "I need to see Gaara. Now."

She pursed her lips, looking back at him, and let out a breath. "Fine, but hurry up. I don't think he wants to miss much of Music Time."

I nodded curtly, then walked in and knelt down over by a cupboard, gesturing to Gaara and making sure he could see me but that I was out of the way. "Gaara!"

He looked over and seemed really surprised to see me. It quickly changed to a smile though, and he ran over. "Kame-chan!"

I caught him and wrapped my arms tightly around him, burying my face in his hair. I immediately started to cry again, struck with the feeling of never, ever wanting to let him go. Everyone else... everyone else would only hurt him. "Gaara, Gaara..."

He wiggled a little, but didn't seem averse to my tight hug. He reached up and circled his little arms around my neck, pulling us even closer together. "Kame-chan? How come you're here? Are you taking me home early?"

"No, baby... I just..." I rubbed his back, finally settling on just clutching a piece of the fabric in my fingers. My other hand was in his hair, fingers resting among the messy red locks. "I just needed to see you."

I heard him giggle. "Well, here I am, Kame-chan!"

And that was it, I just broke down. I sobbed into his hair, and held him just as close as I could. If I could keep him here with me forever, I wanted to. All I wanted to do was keep him close to me and protect him. "Oh Gaara..." I kissed the top of his head, trying to just get a hold of myself. "Gaara, I... I love you. I love you so much. You know that, right? I love you."

He was quiet for a moment, then tightened his grip on my neck. "Kame-chan... I know." It almost sounded like he was desperately attempting to get me to stop crying. "And I love you too... but..." He fake-choked. "I can't breathe."

I laughed through my tears and let go of him. Seeing him again, his little face looking up at me, I decided that maybe we had a chance against this world. It wasn't an ideal chance, but as long as we were together, we had a ghost of one. I smiled and held his tiny hands in mine, swallowing. "Gaara... just... I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I will always love you. That's a promise, okay? I promise I'll always love you."

He smiled up at me, then tilted his head to the side. "Kame-chan?"

"Yeah, Gaara?"

"What's a promise?"

I took a breath, drawing away one of my hands and brushing two fingers against his cheek. "Oh, I don't know how to explain it... I've never been great at explaining things like that. Just know that when I make a promise, I never break it. When I say I promise that I'll always love you, that means I will always love you. Nothing is ever gonna stop me loving you."

I took my other hand away, and curled up all my fingers except for my little one. I carefully pried all his fingers on one hand open, and hooked my little finger around his. I held it up for him to see, and grinned. "Look, Gaara. Pinky promise! See? Like a pinky swear, but a promise! Stronger, I think."

"Cool!" He looked so excited. He flexed his little finger, giggling, then brought our hands down and looked up at me. "Kame-chan..." Reaching up, he used his other hand to wipe away a couple of my tears with his first finger. "I promise I'll always love you, too. So... So you don't have to cry or worry or be scared, okay?"

I nodded, squeezing his hand lightly. "Okay, Gaara." I rubbed my eyes, trying to wipe away the rest of my tears. "Alright. Why don't you go back and have fun with the rest of class? I'll come pick you up in a little while... then maybe we can go to the playground. How's that sound?"

"Like fun." He gave me a quick little hug, and started back over to the carpet.

"Hey, Gaara, wait!" I called.

He looked back. "What, Kame-chan?"

I brought my fingers up to my lips in a lame sort of attempt at blowing him a kiss. "From now on, we don't ever walk away from each other without saying 'I love you', okay?"

He nodded, and gave me a smile. "Okay, Kame-chan. I love you."

"I love you, too." I waved as he ran back over to the carpet, and I stood up, sighing.

I was about to head out the door to sit down and wait till I could take him home, but someone caught my wrist. I turned to see Takamine, and I glared. "Just let me go. I'm leaving, okay?"

"No, Kame." She drug me over near the door to the kitchen. "I have to talk to you. Hey Kanari," she called to her aide, who was sitting at the head of the carpet with a guitar. "Start without me, I'll be there in a minute."

Kanari - a slightly awkward girl with big glasses and navy hair tied in a bun - nodded. (And was she new? I didn't remember seeing her before...) "Okay, Takamine-tan!" She began to strum her guitar. "Does everyone remember how we do 'Close Hands, Open Hands', everybody? Ichi, ni, san!"

As Takamine pulled me into the kitchen, I could hear all the kids singing with Kanari and clapping their hands to the song. I could even hear Gaara singing along, and he sounded happy. I could just imagine him doing everything exactly as the song said it.

"Close hands, open hands

Clap hands, close hands

Open those hands again, clap hands

Put those hands up!

Close hands, open hands

Clap hands, close hands!"

Takamine closed the door, leaving just a crack open. I could hear Kanari announce, "Ready? Let's try it again, and I want to see all of you doing it! Pay attention. Ichi, ni, san!"

The music started again, and Takamine drifted over to the sink. "Kame... this isn't easy for me, you know."

"Why should I even listen to you?" I was trying to keep my voice low for Gaara's sake, if not for all the kids. "Yashamaru just confessed, he's been lying to me and Gaara, and I've seen the way you treat Gaara. All of you in this village just... just disgust me. How can you treat a kid-"

"Kame, hear me out." She grabbed a couple of plates and began washing them, letting out a deep breath I didn't even realize she was holding. "I could be in a lot of trouble for even telling you any of what I'm about to, so be a little grateful and just listen carefully to what I'm going to say."

Just like that, her attitude from the very beginning since I'd met her had changed. She didn't seem quite as spiteful and mean. I slumped against the counter and crossed my arms, deciding to give her one more chance. "Fine, I'll listen. But you better make sense."

Uh oh, another eenie meenie miney little cliffhanger... what's Takamine going to say?! ... Ah wait, I shouldn't ask you guys. *turns to myself* WHAT'S SHE GONNA SAAAAAAY?!

Quick Japanese translation, the way that Kanari used "-tan", it's a slang version of "-san", so it's like her saying "Takamine-san", but in a slangy way. Like, uh, "bro." XD

Ahem, never mind my simile, lol.

Back to my random drabbles! And also writing more of this. I randomly watched some of the flashbacks during Gaara's fight with Naruto and Sasuke, so I got hit with the mood to write some of this.

WRITER WOMAN, AWAY~!

Hope you liked!

Thanks for reading! ^^