Yo1 This is my first Naruto fanfic, so I'm sorry if I mess up in trying to keep everyone in character. If you are reading this only for the GaaraXLee, I can't guarantee it will come quickly or at all for that matter. It is difficult to keep everyone in character and then to put them into a relationship.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and if I did, I'd own the world…

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The first few hours at the Suna hospital went by very slowly. The three children of the Kazekage, of course, got to bypass waiting in the emergency room to receive immediate care. It was just one of the perks of being in the same family as the Kazekage. Temari and Kankurou were released with a clean bill of health, other than they were both exhausted. They sat patiently in a small, bland room, waiting to find out what Gaara's condition was. Temari kneaded her hands in her lap restlessly while Kankurou pretended to be busy with adjusting Karasu's joints. Both of their heads snapped towards the direction of the door as they heard footsteps approach. It was a young nurse who looked rather unsettled.

"How is he?" Kankurou asked, putting Karasu aside. The nurse bit her lower lip.

"We're really not sure," she began. "Gaara-Sama seems to be okay, but we haven't been able to find a way to treat his wound. The sand won't let us near it," With a slight shrug of her shoulders she added, "All we can do is wait and hope he doesn't develop an infection," With that she turned around and began to walk away.

"Can we go see him?" Temari asked, stopping the nurse before she left.

"Oh, of course," she said. "But don't be too long; I believe it would be best for him to get some sleep." Temari and Kankurou looked at each other briefly, wondering if the nurse was stupid, naïve, or a mix of the two. They followed the nurse as she began to lead them down the halls of the hospital. Temari quickened her pace to walk alongside the nurse.

"Gaara won't let himself sleep," she stated seriously. "And you better not try anything to force him asleep either. He has good reason to stay awake," The nurse looked bewildered.

"But it's unhealthy to—, " she began, but Temari stopped her.

"Trust me. In the long run, it is healthier for him and for the rest of us if he doesn't sleep," Temari said matter-of-factly. The nurse didn't look entirely convinced, but she stayed quiet. She gestured toward a closed door, stopping where she was, allowing the two to continue on without her.

"Is he in here?" Kankurou questioned, staring at the woman with a bored expression. The nurse nodded and then continued down the hall to attend to her other duties. "What a clueless woman…," Kankurou muttered, turning the door handle. Gaara watched them as they entered, an extremely annoyed expression on his face. The two continued into the room, taking a seat in the plush chairs next to the bed.

"Are you feeling alright, Gaara?" Temari asked, Gaara's expression deepening into a scowl. He merely scoffed in response, turning his gaze towards the window. The winds outside had picked up and tiny grains of sand had been swept up, tapping repetitively against the glass. "I wish he would be more direct sometimes…," Temari thought. Though it wasn't very strong, she did care for her youngest brother. "At least he doesn't seem to be bleeding any more," she noted, seeing that the bedding had no traces of red.

"They're probably going to keep you here overnight," Kankurou began. "If you want us to we can sta—, "

"Go," Gaara muttered. "I'd rather be alone."

"But Gaara, we're worried about you!" Temari blurted.

"I said go. If you don't, I won't hesitate to kill you both."

Temari's expression looked hurt, though it was clear that she was afraid. Quickly she raised her hands in front of her in a defensive gesture. She knew not to deny her youngest brother's wishes.

"A…Alright…," she said standing up, followed silently by Kankurou. They hurried out the door, careful not to glance back at Gaara for fear of irritating him. Without a moment's hesitation, they closed the door behind them, leaving the redhead alone.

"That was fun," Kankurou growled, his hands shoved into his pockets as they headed through the halls of the hospital. "I'd thought that maybe he'd covered us with sand last night to keep us warm, but I'm almost starting to think that he was trying to kill us,"

"Don't talk like that in public," Temari snapped. "Someone might hear you and tell our father about it. Then he'd send another assassin and Gaara would be even more unstable than before. He's probably just irritated because he was wounded,"

"Ch, whatever you say. Personally, I'm glad he's not coming home with us tonight," Kankurou muttered.

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For hours, Gaara stared out the window, gazing at the village. The sun was sinking low on the horizon. The villagers would be heading inside to spend time with their families. Temari and Kankurou were probably at home with Father, most likely being scolded for their failure in the Konoha mission. He could tell that many of the nin involved with the mission had returned. Every few minutes or so he would hear a stretcher rush by in the hall, hearing one or two words like "Konoha", "ninja", and "Sound Village".

It sounded like the joined forces of the Sound and Sand Villages were fighting a losing battle. Most likely, they had underestimated the power of the peaceful village. It didn't matter to him, he couldn't have cared less for the stupid mission or Sunagakure for that matter.

A rather large rush of pain came to him from his wound. Though the bleeding had stopped, a very bad infection had developed on the wound. The Shukaku was currently working to counteract the infection. He could tell because his own chakra was being used in short bursts on the wound, accompanied by the sharp pains. The infection wasn't a threat to him, but the pain was much worse than he'd ever imagined that it would be.

That annoying nurse continued to enter his room every half hour, despite that he had told her already that there was nothing anyone could do if something should suddenly go wrong with him. It was then that he heard her approaching again, the click of her high heels on the linoleum floors of the hall. As he'd expected, she came into the room, bustling into the room as if it was entirely her business. Taking one look at the sky outside, she gasped.

"Oh my, it certainly is getting dark out there. I believe it's time that you got some sleep," she said cheerfully. Gaara glared at her. "I'll be right back with some medicine to help you sleep, Gaara-Sama," She then turned and left out the door, high heels still clicking away.

"I've got to get out of here..," Gaara thought angrily to himself. If he stayed, he'd either be forced to sleep, not an option, or forced to kill the damn woman. In his current condition, he didn't feel up to getting into that kind of trouble. He stood out of the bed and slid the window open. He was met with cold night air, sand whipping into and around the hospital room. Quietly, he slipped though the window opening and hurried off into the darkness.

The nurse returned, holding a small cup of water and a couple of sleeping pills. Both of which were dropped as soon as she realized that Gaara wasn't there. Seeing the open window, she quickly turned and ran out of the room to get help. Anyone she told would laugh at her. It was rare for a person in Sunagakure to not know that Gaara didn't sleep and that he would do as he pleased. So his disappearance from the hospital room was quickly dismissed from anyone's concerns.

Slowly, Gaara headed to his home. He had nowhere else to go and his injury was still causing pain. It was becoming less severe, but it hurt nonetheless. He would probably be lectured for his failure in the Konoha mission, just as Temari and Kankurou surely had been. If that happened, he may just get angry enough to kill his father.

When he entered the home of the Kazekage, his home as well, Temari and Kankurou were waiting in the entryway, their expressions falling when they realized that it was Gaara. Gaara simply pushed past them and headed to the room that was farthest from his siblings, and leaned against the wall. Much to his annoyance, he found that the two had followed him there.

"Father hasn't returned home yet, Gaara," Temari stated. "He should have been the first back because he would have had ANBU escorts back here once the attack had started,"

Gaara merely turned his head and glared at the wall. "So?" he stated, his tone showed no concern for his missing father. Kankurou, clearly aggravated, came up to him and grabbed him by the shirt as if to lift Gaara had he not been so heavy with the sand.

"Don't you care at all!" he yelled. "This is family. Our father is missing and you don't care!"

"No, I don't care. Family is worthless. Father is worthless. You are worthless. Your very existence is unimportant to me. Nothing matters as long as I survive," Gaara said, anger beginning to hint in his voice. Kankurou remained irritated.

"Bastard! You really are nothing but a monst—," Kankurou started, but Gaara interrupted him.

"I'll kill you," was all he said. The cork fell loosely out of his gourd and sand poured out slowly. Both Kankurou and Temari's faces showed nothing but fear. Kankurou loosened his fingers on Gaara's clothes and let go in order to back away. He bumped into Temari, who was still standing in the same place. "Sabaku Kyuu," Gaara said, unleashing the attack upon his siblings. Temari quickly took the fan off of her back and opened it, forcing back the sand with a few massive gusts of wind. She then grabbed Kankurou by the arm and pulled him out of the room, the two of them running as fast as they could out of the house.

After they had left, Gaara pulled back his sand and replaced it into the gourd. He would have to kill them later. He was in no condition to chase them or expend chakra to locate them with sand alone. He resumed his position leaning against the wall, and glared at the floor.

"Stupid," he muttered.

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Well, that's it for this chapter. I won't be updating very quickly because I'm writing this whole fic during class and I have no free time. I love constructive criticism, so make sure to review!