Hello everyone! :D

This is yet again a request taken from a meme at LJ... this time I got lucky and got to write something with Gaara-kun! ^^ Even if I was a little too cruel, poor him...

There might be a hint of deeper relationship between Naruto and Gaara, but nothing's obvious.

Disclamer: I own nothing but what I wrote.

Enjoy!

Ja ne,
Temari 88 XD

Gaara's First Nightmare

It had been long day, they were all drained of energy and, as much as no one wanted to spend the night out in the desert, they couldn't help but stop for the night and set up camp with what rudimentary equipment they had - which meant most of the ninja would have to sleep with the only protection of their sleeping bags, because the only tents were to be used by the Kazekage and the ones closest to him, while the other was to be used to keep Chiyo-baa-sama's body safe. Gaara had tried to argue that it wasn't fair for him to have such favoritisms but a severe lecture from both Sakura-san and Temari had convinced him to surrender; Naruto had laughed at him unabashedly when he sat back down near him, his brows drawn together as he watched the two women talk pleasurably a few feet away.

The group made up of the two teams from Konoha and Gaara's siblings shared a relaxed dinner and an quiet conversation before, one by one, the shinobi began to set up their bags, saying their goodnights and slipping into sleep. The last ones to retire were Temari and Kankurou, both were reluctant in getting some rest because they were worried for the young Kazekage - now that he didn't have Shukaku in him, what will happen? - but with a look and a nod from Naruto, they decided they could trust the blond ninja to make sure their brother was alright.

"... Shouldn't you be getting some rest as well?" came Gaara's quiet voice after an hour more had passed and Naruto had given no sings of wating to join the others; the red-haired could see the dark bags under the blue eyes, indicating obvious tiredness, yet he was still awake.

"I can say the same to you, 'ttebayo. You have more right to sleep than me, ya know." was the answer, the subdued voice another sign that the other was actually forcing himself to keep his eyes open. Naruto was also looking at Gaara with an attentive light in his eyes—worry? "... I'm not sleeping until I'm sure you're okay... you can sleep, now, but I know you're not going to. So I'll stay here until I see you close your eyes."

Gaara was surprised by the insight: he had thought of staying up all night. To keep watch. It was a habit. "Habit, I guess."

Yet, the Kazekage was aware that in a corner of his mind - a place now empty - there was also another explanation... the fact of the matter was—

"You're afraid." he turned his head to stare at Naruto, who was watching him with that light in his eyes again and a slight smile that had a trace of bitterness in it. He nodded minutely and the smile turned a little more serene. "I understand." said the blond, then he scooted over to Gaara, sitting back down when he was right beside the other. "Listen what we're going to do—you close you eyes like you were meditating, relax completely and get rid of all thoughts... it shouldn't take long to drift off, you have fifteen years worth of sleep to get, 'ttebayo!"

Gaara did as told, althought it was difficult for him to let his guard down but the comforting hand on his shoulder helped, reminding him that it was alright just this once - there was a lot of capable shinobi all around the camp and some of his most trusted companions in the tent with him. "It's alright..." he thought as he felt his world finally weaver and disappear into nothingness.

-x-

Sometime later his green eyes opened and met with darkness. He realized it most be still night... he hadn't slept all that much, then. Maybe it was too soon to hope for a full night's rest, he supposed, shrugging. He blinked a couple of times to adjust to the lack of light and raised a hand to brush some stray hair from his vision but halted when he felt a sticky substance stain the skin he had touched, bringing down the hand he smelled the scent of something that made his hear speed up—blood.

He scrambled to his feet, eyes wide in hopes of seeing more, he cursed the darkness. Right in that moment, two golden spots shone in the dark and an omnious chuckle resounded in the tent sending chills down Gaara's spine. "You shouldn't have gone to sleep, Gaara..." said the voice dirpping with malevolence and dark amusement. "All those years of carefully keeping awake and look!" light suddenly illuminated the tent, blinding the Kazekage for a second but as he regained his sight...

A strangled cry left his lips as his eyes zeroed on the first body... Matsuri was laying on her stomach, face down and nose buried in the pool of dark red blood spreading from an invisible, but lethal, wound and a surprised expression on what few he could see of her face. Then, Kankurou with a hand-sized hole through is head and blood all over his face, mixed with the white-an-purple kabuki paint he used. Then, Sakura-san, her head resting bonelessly against her back, her neck had been snapped. A little ways to the medic's left was Kakashi's body, hole in his abdomen and his head severed, laying at his feet where it looked stright up at Gaara through blank, mismatched eyes. In the corner opposite him, the Kazekage saw his sister, a nasty slash across her neck and her fan impaled just under her ribs.

The body closest to him was Naruto. The jacket and the pants of his orange-and-black jumpsuit shredded, his undershirt as well as the mesh were torn... countless slashes and bite marks all over his skin, a kunai was lodged deep into the blond's stomach where it disappeared until only the top of the matal ring could be seen; the dull blue eyes were wide in shock and pain - he was a Jinchuuriki, it took him longer to die than the others - and his sunny locks were sprayed crimson.

And—

There were people missing there, though, and it took few heartbeats for Gaara to understand—Team Gai... they were littering the floor of the tent... in bits and pieces...

—Gaara collapsed on his knees, stomach clenching painfully as he couldn't help but retch violently at the horridly strong smell of copper and bodily fluids that reached and lodged into his nose.

"See, Gaara?" came Shukaku's sultry voice, sickly with sweet satisfaction. "You can never get rid of me... I'm much more than just an entity living in your head... I'm you, Gaara! You can never get rid of yourself!"

"No...!" he tried to shout, but it came out strangled and strained. "No! No! NO!" he repeated, voice raising with each plea.

"Gaara..." said Shukaku again, a paw shaking him fiercely. "Gaara."

"No, I'm not you! I'd never kill them!"

"Gaara!" a hand was shaking him more forcefully and he tried to get away from the evil creature, he didn't want to see Shukaku or the horrible scene before his eyes. He wanted to get away and—

"GAARA! Wake up!"

He opened his eyes sharply to see bright blue staring at him, wide with unrestrained fear and deep concern. "... Gaara... you okay...?" the blond raised a hand and lightly touched the Kazekage's cheek, taking it away to examine the tip of his fingers. "You're... crying...?"

Gaara didn't answer. He was motionless for a second then he surged forward and unexpectedly wound his arms around Naruto letting out a strangled half-sob. After a moment of shock Naruto hugged his friend back, feeling the need for some comfort to chase away whatever had scared the usually stoic shinobi. "There, there... it's alright, Gaara... I'm here—we're all here."