Dedicated to XShadowWalkerX for reading, voting, commenting and being an all round great person! :D thank you for your support! :3 Heehee, you get a cute (and emotionally tiring) chapter x3

P.S. The pic on the side is a little doodle I ded of Kaien and Gaara... ;3

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I felt good. For the first time in a very long while, being awake wasn't painful. I had been startled to see, when I showered, that all of my things were just as I'd left them. My hairbrush and grips were still on the small shelf by the radiator, my toothbrush propped by the sink. My strawberry scented shampoo sat out of reach on the shelf in the shower.

I stripped down and clambered into the shower, pulling the curtain across. The plastic floor was still wet, so I assumed that Gaara showered before I woke up. I fiddled with the shower knobs, and cursed as the shower head spluttered and then stopped, on and off repeatedly. I used what little water there was to wet my hair, and stretched to grab my shampoo.

It seemed I had shrunk since I last came here, because I really couldn't reach it now. Usually, if I stretched on my tiptoes I could just reach to knock it down. I jumped slightly to try and reach it, but only succeeded in slipping.

"Wah!!" I exclaimed as my back collided with the opposite wall, then slid to meet the floor. The door slammed open, and I scrambled to pull the shower curtain in front of myself. I didn't want Gaara to see me in this condition; my skin was pasty and my bones jutted out at sickening angles. It was horrible.

"What happened?" he asked, and I carefully picked myself up, flushed.

"I... couldn't reach the shampoo..." I mumbled, and Gaara frowned slightly, leaning around me to grab it. And, of course, the stupid shower head decided to start working once more and sprayed water all over him.

I stared at him as the shower head once again stopped, and the leftover water continued to drip from his hair. I bit my lip as a giggle threatened to escape- whether from hysteria due to my nervousness or because of the hilarity of the situation I didn't know. His gaze flicked to me, squinting because of the water falling in them. My laughter finally escaped, hurting but feeling oh so good. Gaara scowled at me, but I couldn't stop.

"I-I'm sorry- I-I don't even-" I snorted one last time, then finally managed to suppress it. I managed to stand myself up, and he placed the bottle in my hand and left without a word, grabbing a towel on his way. I sighed at the strange look on his face.

I dried off and pulled on a loose t-shirt and pants- though they used to be tight fitting- and also noted that all of my clothes remained untouched. I exited the room warily, rubbing at the imprinted mark that suppressed my chakra. I wondered if it would remain there forever, and couldn't help the hope that it would.

I padded barefoot to the kitchen, cautious. Gaara sat at the table, head in his hands, though looked up when I spoke.

"Uhm... Gaara..." he stood wordlessly, and walked over to me. His hands rested on my bare arms and I felt internal giddiness at the contact as he made me walk and sit at the table. His touch was so light it was almost nonexistant, as though I would break if his grip was too tight.

"Eat." he said, placing a bowl of rice in front of me. I frowned at him, and he stared right back at me. I wondered briefly if there was even the slightest chance of us returning to the way we were.

"You should, too." I told him, eyes noticing the more angular cut of his jaw and slight increase in prominence of his collarbone.

He stared at me a moment, seeming to realise that I wouldn't eat until he did, and so got himself a bowlful.

I only managed a small amount before I began to feel very full and slightly sick. I placed a hand over my mouth, using the other to push the bowl away, breathing in deeply to quell the nausea. I was unused to eating large amounts after such a long time.

"Naruto is going to be visiting Suna soon." I looked up in surprise, "He should be here in a day or so."

I looked back down at the bowl of rice and pulled my knees to my chest, "...does he know? About all of this..."

"It's your decision whether you want to inform him. I only told him that he can't tell anyone that you are here."

I grimaced. Naruto would arrive and demand to know why I was being kept a secret, so it wasn't really my decision on whether to tell him or not. Ah...

I stood up, and glanced out of the window.

"I'm sorry." I said into the fragile silence, resting my head against the cold glass. The words hung in the air a moment, before I continued. "I'm sorry for all that I've done, all the problems I've caused." now that the cap was popped on my sadness, the words just kept pouring out, and even though I told myself I would remain unemotional, I found myself getting choked up. "I'm sorry that I didn't realise what Kisuke was sooner, sorry that I attacked this village and most of all..." my voice broke, and I clenched my fists, still unable to look at him, "I'm sorry that I ruined us."

There was a long silence, during which tears steadily dripped down my cheeks, and though I fought to keep them silent I was certain that Gaara could hear. I wanted to touch him and be close to him so much that it hurt, but I couldn't. Even though I had done it to protect him, I had harmed the Sand village, the village that he was Kage to. How could I be worthy of him now?

A long sigh startled me, followed by a 'fsshh' noise as Gaara sat down. I wiped my tears away, and folded my arms tightly.

"If it's broken, fix it..." he mumbled, and I stiffened in surprise, turning to look at him. He was watching me, eyes in an unreadable frown that mystified me in more ways than one. That hurt, too. I used to be adept in reading Gaara's language. He stood up again, walking to stand close to me, and put his hands on my shoulders, as though he wanted to prevent me from looking away again. "It's salvagable. What you did was unforgivable, but can be fixed."

I was confused, focus split between his warm hands on my clothed skin and his penetrating gaze. I almost dared not ask, fearing the answer he would give, "Are you talking about us, or the Sand village-"

The tiny brushing of lips was short and painful, but enough to convey Gaara's feelings to me. He walked away shortly afterwards, leaving me to mull it over- he was confused, mostly. Part of him was still angry at what I had done- understandable, really- and part of him still loved me and wanted me to stay by his side always. I just had to hold onto the hope that the latter would win out over the rest.

I sighed, licking my lips- I could still taste Gaara on them. It made me shiver with delight- it had been far too long, and I had missed him so much. Hope rose in me like boiling water, and this time I did nothing to suppress it. Gaara still loved me, and I'd do everything in my power to repent for my sins.

Gen. POV

Naruto's expression was strangely serious as he approached the Sand village, Kage robes ditched, along with the Jounin vest in favour of a simple t-shirt and shorts ensemble. It was far too hot in the desert for anything more.

He simply met Gaara's gaze as he approached, noticing straight away that there was something different about him, and then wondering why Kaien had not come out to greet him, too. She always did before.

Then he remembered that she was being kept a secret for some reason or another, and his expression grew steadily more guarded.

"Gaara." The Uzumaki greeted simply, finding himself too worried about his sister to be his usual cheerful self. He had had to sneak out in the middle of the night and even 'persuade' the ANBU night guard squad to keep quiet about it just to get away from Konoha alone, so it had to be very important.

"Naruto." The Kazekage turned, eyes strangely blank. He turned into the village, "Come with me."

The village was bustling as they walked through it- it was mid-morning, just after the cold desert night turned warm and just before the heat of the day kicked in. It was usually busy around this time, so Gaara paid no mind to it. He was much too distracted to notice the villagers that flocked around him and his companion, some of them realising who Naruto was and the more oblivious not. Other than that, they got to the Kazekage building without much fault.

It was hard for Gaara to straighten out the muddled feelings in his chest when he thought of her. It was good to know that she had still retained some of her cbaracter, and it was clear from her bout of laughter that her old self could be recovered. And it felt unbelievably amazing to hold her and kiss her again, so much so that he was unwilling to let her go. But there was a bitterness there, one that didn't seem to want to leave- one that was still sour because of what she did.

The sound of her laughter had made him so happy, and yet at the same time he felt guilt, because all of those people, his people, died, and here he was enjoying himself with the one who helped make it happen. It was confusing and painful and hurt so much because he still loved her and still would love her when he was old and decrepit. And he knew that he wasn't going to be able to let her go now that she was back in his grasp.

Naruto's surprise when he saw his sister again after so long was immense. Gaara had sent him into the room with a quiet 'She's in here.', and then walked away with a strangely empty expression. Whether it was to give the siblings some alone time or because of some other reason Naruto didn't know, but he had no time to worry about that with his sister in the next room and possibly hurt.

"Kaien!" he rushed over and swooped the fragile being into a large hug, very happy to see her and yet deeply dismayed by the state she was in, "What happened to you?!"

"Naruto!" she sighed happily, returning his embrace, glad to see that his attitude toward her was still the same. She had worried that he had known about her helping the attack on the Sand and would look at her with the same guarded expression Gaara had. "It's so good to see you!"

Naruto wasn't having any of that, though. "What happened? Don't try change the subject, Onee-chan."

Furrowing her eyebrows, the redhead pulled him to sit on the bed, folding her boney legs and resting her head in her hands. There was a long pause, until she finally said, "I messed up... big time..."

The Hokage narrowed his eyes, "Tell me everything."

Like popping the cap of a shaken champagne bottle, the words flowed out of Kaien, relieving her of some stress simply for talking to someone about it. She started right at the beginning, with her becoming friends with a shady (though she obviously didn't notice it at the time) man named Kisuke Kiyomizu, to the fight with Gaara, to eventually being blackmailed into helping the Jashinist commune attack the Sand village. Naruto's eyes narrowed further as she told him about how she had stayed in Sand village jail for a month, believing Gaara to be dead, until some remaining Jashinists decided to attack him in revenge and she sensed his chakra.

"Where is he?" Naruto stood up, and Kaien grabbed his wrist, eyes wide as she saw the budding anger in his expression, "Where is Gaara now?"

"Naruto, stop it! It's my fault and nobody else's!" Kaien snapped back, panicked, but not strong enough to hold him back anymore. The Blonde's head snapped around to glare at his sister- he was sick of her self-deprecating BS now.

"Yeah, you're at fault, but so's he!" the Konoha shinobi growled in return, "You did this all to protect him, and now he'll barely even talk to you! You two need to suck it up and either clear the air or split, this lifestyle's not healthy, and I'll not have my sister hidden from the world just so she can stay in Suna!"

The redhead was in too much shock to say anything, and Naruto appeared to feel a flash of guilt at her stricken expression, but that diminished when another voice cut through the silence.

"Is that true, Kaien?" Gaara asked, expression unreadable, "Were you... were you blackmailed?"

"...I'm not a spiteful person, Gaara." she replied, looking down- she had figured that he would come to the conculusion that she would attack the Sand village because of the messy way their relationship ended, to get back at him. Which she could understand; from his side that would seem like the only plausible explanation.

"I had no idea... I never thought- never even realised... this is my fault-" Gaara dropped his head so that his expression of self abhorrence and pain could not be seen, but his tight clenched and shaking fist gave away his feelings, "If I had just- just spoken to you about it... rather than leaving it so long-" a few tears dropped to the floor, leaving marks on it "But I was angry- I felt so betrayed-"

The sight of Gaara so distraught made Kaien's heart wrench, so she rushed toward him. Naruto quietly excused himself, smiling slightly because he knew that the air had been cleared.

"It's not your fault, it's mine! Don't even think that!" Kaien exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him. He shook lightly, burying his face in her neck.

"I love you, Kaien- I always will- I'm so sorry for everything-" Gaara gritted his teeth, clutching her tightly as he tried to pull himself together and rested his forehead against hers so that he could look into her eyes, "I will make this right. We'll get through this together."

"I love you too, Gaara..." Kaien said, happiness blooming in her chest at being able to say it again after so long.

And then Temari walked in.

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:O dun dun dunnnn!!!

End of this arc now! What possibly could happen next?

Sorry for not responding to every comment last chapter, there were like 25 comments so... :D thank you to everyone who commented and voted! I'm glad that this story is so popular! :D

Well, you know the drill, vote and comment! :3