Disclaimer: Don't own anything Naruto.

Winter was upon them and it was getting windy and colder. Fast. Icy winds rattled against the window and shadows were lenthening. The weather was getting ugly, fast and most people stayed inside where it was warm. As it began to snow and other forms of precipitation most commonly associated with winter, it was soon determined that school was cancelled. The board of supervisors decided it was too cold and wicked out there to make students get outside.

It was cold. Very cold.

Somewhere in a house, like the rest of the neighborhood, a blond was sleeping, drool dribbling down and out of his mouth. If that wasn't enough, he was also snoring, but his snores were a higher pitch than the rumbling thunder that was his godfather, sleeping a few rooms away with his girlfriend. Surprisingly, the other guest at the house wasn't disturbed, not by the noises made by the other occupants of the house. He was asleep.

But he wasn't sleeping as soundly as the others. He was unsettle and uneasy, tossing from side to side, moaning every time he ended up on his bad side, the side where his shoulder was dislocate. He wasn't a noisy sleeper, normally he wasn't even a sleeper at all. This was the first time he'd slept somewhere this warm, somewhere that felt safe. But it wasn't safe. He wasn't safe, not in his head, not in his nightmare, his nightmare once reality.

He tried desperately not to scream. He couldn't, wouldn't, wouldn't, couldn't scream. It would only satisfy him. The monster. Or maybe it wasn't his father that was the monster. Maybe it was him.

The little redhead felt claustrophobia crowd his mind. He felt so trapped. It was so dark. He didn't like the dark. Something wet touched his hand and he recoiled, skidding away from the wall and pressing himself against the opposite wall. But there were items on the floor, sharp items and hard items, and his hands were cut up. He touched a hand with the oppposite one, feeling the cuts and feeling the slight sting. It was nothing compared to his other injuries. He was glad he could move at all. But then the darkness came back to him and he huddled against the wall, arms hugging himself. At least while he was moving it felt like he was going somewhere, like he was going away from the darkness, but now he felt like he was in a box again. He was scared. He was panicked, but he was forced to calm himself, breathe in breath out.

Relax, Gaara. We're safe.

Safe? the little boy thought. Yes, Gaara, we're safe. The darkness is safe and quiet. No one will hurt us here. I am safe in the darkness, and you are too. Remember. We're safe, in the darkness, together.

That was the moment Gaara began to live in the darkness, taking comfort from it, because if Shukaku, the voice, was safe, than he was. The darkness was his refuge. The quiet and closed in spaces were his refuge. This thought, this realization was proven correct as the door opened. Light streamed in, but instead of a rush of relief, Gaara cringed away from the light. "Boy!" his father snapped, his hulking frame blocking the light. "You've been here long enough." Gaara shook his head without thinking. His father couldn't see him too well, but he caught the small, defiant movement. "You're defying me?" The redhead shook his head again, frantically, but it was too late. His punishment was set.

Gaara woke up with blinding light in his face. His fists clenched and he rolled off the couch and landed into a crouch, a defensive position.

Danger, Shukaku whispered. Where are we? For a moment, Gaara wasn't too sure. But then he remembered.

"Naruto's house. We're at Naruto's house. We're safe," he sighed, trying to control his thumping heartbeat. Trying to keep himself in the present. He was safe. For a little while, at least.

"We?"

Gaara jumped and fell back against the couch. His eyes widened and he held his arms in front of his face. "Gaara, relax, it's only me, Naruto, remember me?" the cheerful, spike-headed blond said.

Light. Light.

"Turn off the light," Gaara snapped, Shukaku snapped. Naruto flicked the light switch off. He'd turned on the light in the first place, hearing Gaara whispering to himself and getting out of bed to investigate. When he'd gotten to the living room, he'd listened, in the dark, as Gaara muttered in his sleep. "I won't scream, I won't scream," Gaara had muttered. Naruto knew what he was dreaming, and he went to turn on the light. But what Gaara said next distracted him. "Darkness. Box. Help me, Shukaku."

Who was Shukaku?

Then Gaara had gasped and Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He would want to be woken up if he was in a nightmare and his redhead friend was obviously in a nightmare.

Now Naruto stood in the darkness again. He watched his friend lay on the ground, in a fetal curl, just lay there.

The blond took a step towards him, but-

"Go away."

The redhead didn't sound like himself. He sounded angrier and fiercer.

"I'm fine, Naruto," he said, his voice more like his normal voice. "Just... leave me," he said, voice as cold as the weather outside.

The blond stared at him for a moment. A smile widened on his face. That was the Gaara he knew.

"No way." Gaara stiffend as he heard Naruto continue to walk his way, but what was he going to do about it? This was Naruto's house. He felt the blond sit behind him and lean against the couch with a contented sigh. "You've got the right idea, Gaara, my floor's pretty comfortable," the blond said. He put his arms behind his head and nodded off in seconds. He was quick, deep sleeper and soon he was snoring as loudly as before. Something about the way he was breathing, the way he was snoring, wasn't obnoxious. It was comforting, comforting that he was there, so close by, close enough to touch. He wasn't alone. A week ago, this would've bothered him. But now... his eyes drifted closed.

What's up? Hello, for those who are here for the first time, hi. Thanks for coming.

For those, following the story Gaara, thank you. I warn you, though, I'm probably going to change the name of Gaara. Actually, I'm definitely going to change it. So Favorite it or remember my name or you'll have to manually search for it. And I'm going to have to change the summary. The summary and the title suck at the moment.

Thanks for following to the sequel!