Naruto One-Shots!

Mei & Gaara Part II

Third Person

"You oughta get some rest, little brother," Temari advised as she helped Gaara into their home and placed him on the couch. "Both you and Kankuro. One gets poisoned and almost dies, and the other actually dies then comes back to life. Geez, how much trouble can you guys be?"

"My apologies for worrying you, Temari," Gaara replied, his eyes downcast. His head snapped up Temari placed a hand on his head, grinning widely. "It's my job to worry, silly. What kind of sister would I be if I didn't otherwise?"

Gaara's eyes widened for a moment, before they returned to normal size and a ghost of a smile flashed on his face. Temari ruffled his hair before standing back up and heading towards the front door. "I'm gonna fix the paperwork you have lying around your office. Then in a week you'll be back to being Kazekage. Until then, rest easy, take a walk, do something relaxing."

"And don't," Temari warned, glaring back at Gaara with an evil gleam in her eyes, "Let me catch you anywhere near your office. Got that?"

Gaara merely chuckled. "Fine."

Temari grunted in approval before leaving, closing the door behind her. With a low sigh, Gaara sat back and began to stare at the ceiling, contemplating on the events that happened about a week ago. To die and come back to life, opening your eyes to see countless Suna shinobi who once despised you weeping with joy and the boy who helped you find your path... It was exhilarating indeed. But he couldn't help but notice one thing.

Kaito Mei was not in the crowd.

After that fateful day when Mei declared she would be Gaara's friend no matter what, the two often hung out together. They would take turns planning out the day, experiencing what the other likes to do and whatnot, when Mei wasn't working at the hospital or when Gaara wasn't on a mission. Even then, Gaara would spend time following Mei around the hospital, having her explain what exactly she does and how she does it. She would mention how she would spend hours upon hours assisting children, elderly, and in between with any type of ailments, whether physical, mental, or emotional. It explained the dark circles under her eyes, Gaara eventually deduced.

The two wasted no time in protecting each other either. Since the two spent so much time together, the shinobi and citizens of Suna began to assume that there was something wrong with the blue haired nurse. That's when the whispers and rumors started. She must be a monster too, they would say behind their backs. After all, why would anyone want to willingly be around a selfish murderer? It became so bad that her boss had let her go, saying, "No employee of mine is gonna work here if he or she hangs around that beast!"

It put Mei in a depressed state. She locked herself in her room and refused to come out. Three days had passed when Gaara, who finally came back from a week-long mission, had received wind of what happened from his siblings. Enraged, he immediately went to the hospital and demanded that Mei could have her job back. Of course, no one wants to go against someone who would kill you in an instant. Afterward, the redhead visited Mei at her home and informed her that she got her job back. He had never seen her happier.

One day as they walked down the street, the ill whispers of the redhead Jinchūriki was causing the blue-nette to fill with ire. At last, she finally snapped, turning on her heel and yelling, "If you keep talking about Gaara like that, I'm gonna punch all of you in the throat! He's trying so hard to be nice to you ungrateful bastards, but you just keep pushing and pushing and pushing! Just you wait, one day Gaara is gonna show you all wrong! He's not a monster, and he's not a demon! In fact, one day he's gonna be the best damn thing that's ever happened to you, you... you awful, selfish, undeserving animals!"