Chapter 14: Changes

Kankurou closed the door on Neji; he felt bad, but Gaara was their brother and they needed to talk to him. He walked into the kitchen, where Temari was putting a bowl of food in front of the young Sabaku. Gaara hadn't made any effort to move, only sat there. Temari shot Kankurou a worried glance; something was wrong. Kankurou sat across the table from Gaara, "Gaara? How are you? Where were you all this time?"

Gaara sat there, slumped in his chair. Kankurou sighed slighty, glad that their father wasn't going to be home until the next day, atleast. They were so close to having enough money to leave, but if they left now, it'd be a stretch. He scowled, finally taking note of his brother's appearance. "Come on, you should change, or you'll get sick." He half dragged his brother up the stairs, with the help of Temari.

Once they got into his room, Kankurou had to basicly change the boy for him. He pulled the sweatshirt off of him and gasped slightly. His torso was covered in hickies--what happened to him? Kankurou cleared his throat slightly and threw a shirt on the boy, once he finished changing he left the room, closing the door behind him. Temari was standing there, waiting. "I don't know what happened, but it must have been bad...Temari...I don't know how to tell you this, but...He was probably molested. His bodies covered in hickies."

Temari's face was a picture of uncomprehending confusement, "W-what do yu mean? No--that must be wrong. Kankurou, you're wrong. You're jumping to conclusions. We'll know what happened when he tells us."

Kankurou sighed, "We should take him to the hospital--or--or something! Temari, we can't just let him stay like this. He needs help. He's totally unresponsive, there's something seriously wrong."

Temari scowled, "No. He's not leaving again. He's not. Beside's that, we don't have the money. You know that."

"Temari, what do you think's gonna happen when dad comes back?! He can't stay here anyways! And...and we do have the money. You know that."

"Kankurou, just give him some time! That's all he needs--time! Then he'll be back to normal, it's too soon. And if something did happen, he's not gonna come back like he was, just give us some time," Temari's voice was pleading, and she was close to tears again.

"Alright, fine. But when dad gets back, you know he's out of here again."

Temari nodded, "It--It's late, we should all get some sleep." Kankurou gave her a look, "Well, Gaara can atleast rest, if not sleep."

The short-haired brunette nodded, "Alright, fine." He went back into his room , where Gaara was on his side staring at the wall. Kankurou looked at his brother, he wasn't so sure that all Gaara needed was time, but it had to work.

--two days later--

Slowly, Kankurou and Temari were learning to get used to Gaara's new behavior. Kankurou never called Neji, and hadn't returned any of his calls. The next day was Monday, he wasn't sure how the first day back at school would go.

They were sitting at the table in the morning, Gaara picking at his breakfast. Kankurou watched his sister, she was looking at Gaara, concern written all over her features. The weight that Gaara had gained in the time he had spent with Neji seemed to be dissapearing faster than he would have ever expected. He had said barely anything, and worse yet, their father was coming home any day now.

They heard the downstairs door open, and all of them froze. The figure of their father came slowly up the stairs, he walked over to the sink and poured a glass of water. He seemed to of not even noticed Gaara sitting there. He glanced around the room, his eyes finally falling on Gaara. He snorted slightly, "What the hell're you doing back here? Peice of scum, I thought I finally got rid of you." Gaara glared at the tall man. "What? You got something to say, spit it out, you little bitch."

Gaara shot out of his chair, toppling it over, as he lunged for the man. He managed to slam him aganst the wall, before the man got over his innitial shock. He smirked slightly, "Oh, so now you think you can take it?" He kneed Gaara in the stomach, causing him to stumble backwards slightly, then elbowed him in the back, sending him crashing to the floor. "I never said you could come back, slut," the man snarled. Gaara glared up at the man, then lunged at him again, sending them both toppling into the table.

Kankurou and Temari hadn't moved, barely able to process what was happening. The adult grabbed his youngest son by the arm and punched him the face, while dragging the struggling boy over to the basemet door and throwing him in. He quickly closed and locked the door. Turning around to his other children he snarled, "I never said he could come back, but if he wants to so bad, he can stay there." After that the man walked over to the living room and swithed on the tv.

Temari looked desperately at her brother and whispered, "We cant leave him there. What if he's really hurt?"

"We can't check until tonight, if we get caught, there'll be hell to pay." Kankurou jerked his head towards the stairs, "Come on." The two of them walked upstairs into Temari's room.

Temari took a shaky breathe, "Kankurou...something's got to be seriously wrong, he would never go after dad like that. Never. Something terrible must've happened."

The boy nodded, "I know, but there's nothing we can do, not now atleast."

"K-Kankurou, he's so...different. What happened? What happened to our baby brother? It's like he's not even Gaara anymore."

"Don't." Kankurou gave his sister a sharp look, "He's still our brother and he needs help. Tomorrow, he'll go to school and we'll figure something out then." The doorbell rang downstairs and Kankurou looked out the window, "Shit."

"What? Who is it?"

Kankurou shook his head and bolted down the stairs, to the door. He opened it to greet a pale Neji. "Hyuuga, this isn't a good time."

Neji looked slightly pissed, "Then when is? I haven't seen Gaara in two days, you didn't even call! Is he alright--what's going on?!"

Kankurou took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, it wasn't Neji's fault he ddn't know. "Look, Gaara' not himself, okay. I don't think you want to see him like this, even if you could."

"What do you mean; 'even if I could? Why can't I?"

He could hear the sound of his father getting up slowly, "Shit. Look, Neji, not now. Just--not now." Kankurou, much like the other night slammed the door shut.

"Who was at the door?"

"Oh, nobody--just some sales person," Kankurou lied, hoping it was a convincing one.

The man nodded slowly, muttering as he turned away, "Damn salespeople, bothering people all the time."

alright, so thats short, i know, bt i wanted to get stuff back out there. and the next chapter is pretty much going to be one long flash-back...so...yep. atleast, i think it will be. i know these chapters are short and everything, but im just trying to get back into things...sorry for the shortness!!