A/N: I've been planning this fanfic for a while now! I hope you all enjoy it! Also, I apologise if Gaara is sort of OOC.
This is set after Shippuden.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

"Gaara!"

Gaara looked around, eyes wide as he heard a familiar shout. "A-Amy?"

"Gaara! Gaara, help me!"

His eyes widened, "Amy!"

He saw his wife being surrounded. The people surrounding her got closer, and Gaara growled as he saw them pin her under them. He tried to jump over to her, but found that his feet were stuck to the floor. He tried sending a sand clone, sending the third eye - anything to make sure she was safe - but his jutsu weren't working either.

Another petrified scream echoed through the air, "Gaara!"

"Amy!"

Gaara sat up quickly, panting heavily. He looked over to his side, and saw his wife sat by his side. She held onto his arm gently, her eyes widened in worry.

"Gaara, what's wrong?"

She was suddenly pulled into a hug. Her arms wrapped around her husband's neck, running a hand through his unruly hair.

"Another nightmare?" She asked gently, rubbing her hands along his back softly. She felt him nod his head, and a frown graced her features. "You've been having these nightmares for days. Perhaps we should go tell Temari-chan...this isn't like-"

He held her closer, cutting her off. "I can't lose you, Amy."

She smiled up at him, reaching out to hold his hand. She ran her thumb over his knuckles gently and looked up at him with soft eyes. "And you won't. I will always be here for you."

He gazed at her lovingly, wondering how such a sweet, gentle woman like her could ever fall for someone like him. She was so sweet, and she had fallen for him.

She and their three kids meant everything to him.

Amy shyed away from his gaze, "Perhaps you should try and get some sleep, Gaara-kun." He couldn't help but chuckle at the slight blush she held on her face.

She softly pushed him back down on the bed and curled up next to him. One of his arms circled around her waist, the other staying by his side.

It was perfect. The two almost drifted to sleep, but a loud THUD disturbed them.

Their eight year old daughter's voice echoed through the house, "I'm okay!"

Most teenagers in Suna cherished every bit of sleep they got. After all, the desert heat died down at night, allowing the children to finally cool down and relax, catching up on sleep.

Not the no Sabaku children.

It was a morning routine - they would wake up at six in the morning, exactly. Each child would then hurry and get dressed, before joining their mother and father downstairs. Afterwards, the family would head to the Kazekage office, being greeted by the few ninja that were already awake.

Shizuko sat on her father's shoulders, happily chattering away about what she had learned at the Academy. Kanna and Hikori followed them.

"...and then Misae threw five kunai and they all hit the target perfectly!" Shizuko cheered, "Misae's the best friend ever! She's the strongest in our class, Daddy. Ichiro-sensei says that she'll grow up to be a fine kunoichi!"

Gaara nodded his head as he listened to his daughter's excited chatter. "I see."

"She's the best!"

The family chuckled at the youngest's antics. Around her family, Shizuko was very talkative, and she was definitely the happiest one out of the family. She would make their days better just by smiling, or excitedly talking about her days at the Academy. The family cherished this, especially since they were the only ones who would see her this way. She was incredibly shy around new people, and would hardly talk to them. She would stay by her parent's side, too shy to try and socialise with others.

The family quickly arrived at the Kazekage office. Shizuko gave her father one last hug before jumping off his shoulder's and into her older brother's arms. Kanna and Hikori also gave their father one last hug, before walking ahead of their mother in order to get back to the house and eat.

Amy gazed up at her husband, "Have a good day at work." She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her closer.

She giggled, "Feeling better now?"

He nodded his head.

She looked at the retreating forms of her children out of the corner of her eye. "I better go and catch up to them. I'll see you later." She kissed her husband on the cheek gently, before walking away. She sent him a wide smile over her shoulder before catching up to her kids.

Gaara watched her leave, a frown pulling at his lips.

He knew that by saying he was feeling better, it would calm her worries. Ever since the nightmares started, she had constantly worried about him, and it was affecting her. A couple of days ago, Matsuri and Sari even told him that she had began to cry because she was so worried.

Still, he hated lying to her.

"Sorry we're late, sensei!"

Two heads turned as the elder two children of the Kazekage rushed over to them.

Kanna panted as she reached her sensei and teammate, "Sorry, guys," She said between pants. "Hikori here decided it would be funny to hide my kunai pouch."

Hikori rolled his eyes, "Where's your sense of humour, sis?"

"Shut up, baby bro."

Hikori's eye twitched, "There's five minutes between us."

Kanna rolled her eyes and turned back to her sensei, "So, Sotaru-sensei, what are we going to do today?"

Sotaru smirked, "I have a small task for you three. We'll be heading on a mission soon..."

Hikori cheered.

"...and I want to make sure we're fully prepared," the jounin stated. "You three must work together. I want to test your teamwork, your ninjutsu, and your taijutsu."

"Yes, sensei!"

Kanna sent a quick glance to her other teammate. Kenji had always been a close friend of hers, and the fact that they were on the same team made her jump for joy. She had began to feel something different for the boy, and she hoped he would feel the same about her one day.

Kenji glanced at her, causing Kanna to look away quickly. She looked at the desert floor, inwardly cursing herself for feeling like this.

Sotaru glanced at the three fourteen year olds, "I'll give you half an hour to discuss tactics. Meet me in the East training grounds then."

Their sensei disappeared, leaving his three students to discuss battle tactics.

"You two will be great at this," Kenji said, focusing more on Kanna then Hikori. "After all, you are the children of Lord Gaara."

Kanna and Hikori both felt their hearts shatter, but they kept up a smiling front.

Ever since they enrolled in the Academy, ninja had constantly praised them. The praises varied from "You'll be great ninja!" to "You'll definitely make Lord Gaara proud!"

Kanna had shown the skills to be a great ninja, and the praise was definitely more directed at her than Hikori.

'I am more than the Kazekage's daughter!' Kanna thought, trying to keep her smile up for Kenji. 'I'll show you, Kenji. I'll show you all!'

Hikori was angry too. 'Just because Kanna is more skilled than I am, does not mean I won't become as good as a ninja! I'm the son of the Kazekage, for crying out loud!' He glanced at Kanna. 'So why is all the attention on her? I'll show you all!'

That was a promise that both of them were going to keep, no matter what.

"Shizuko. Get up."

Shizuko tried to push herself up, but she just fell to the floor. Her sensei had decided to teach the children more taijutsu, and Shizuko had lost her spar. She wasn't heavily bruised, but it still hurt to stand up.

A blue-haired girl rushed to her side, "Shizuko-chan! Are you okay?"

"I...I'm fine, Misae..."

Misae helped her best friend up, glancing at her friend's oppenent from the corner of her eye. The girl, Reiko, sent a smirk to Shizuko.

"And you're the youngest daughter of Lord Gaara? Poor Kazekage-sama!"

Shizuko frowned, pushing her red hair in front of her face to hide herself away from Reiko.

Reiko rolled her eyes and walked away back to the other students. Misae turned to face Shizuko.

"Don't listen to her, Shizuko-chan!" Misae comforted, "You're strong in your own way. Just because you're the daughter of Lord Kazekage, doesn't mean you have to be exactly like him!"

Misae couldn't help but feel sorry for her best friend. The other students would constantly make remarks about her strength, even comparing her to her father and older sister.

Misae hugged her friend tightly and led her back to the other students. Some began to whisper about the young redhead.

"I can't believe she's the daughter of the Kazekage!"

"Isn't she Kanna's little sister?"

"Kanna's amazing! She's so strong!"

"Poor Kazekage-sama, having Shizuko for a daughter."

Shizuko growled, 'I can be strong! I'll show them. I'll show you all!' She gazed up at the Kazekage mansion and made a vow to herself.

'I'll make you proud, Daddy.'

Gaara tried to bury himself in paperwork, but he could not get his nightmare out of his head. He would hear his wife scream out for him, and sometimes he would even hear his children scream out as well.

"Gaara!"

"Daddy!"

"Damn it!" Gaara growled, putting a hand on his head in order to break himself out of his imagination. He stood up, looking out the window and looking at his villagers.

He let a small smile escape his lips as he saw his wife walking down the street, Shizuko next to her. Shizuko was chattering away to her mother, when she saw the Kazekage mansion. Gaara saw Shizuko whisper something to his mother, and he couldn't help but chuckle when his wife and youngest daughter turned around and waved to him, huge grins on their faces. He smiled.

'I will protect my family.'