Okay Gaara… You can do this, Gaara told himself. The Kazekage was standing in the doorway of a bedroom he had not been inside of in years. In the corner sat a bed. The object of his frustration.

Gaara took a few slow steps forward and reached down to touch the bed as if it were some kind of foreign object. His fingers brushed the surface of the sheets and his eyes skimmed over the old teddy bear that still remained on the pillow at the head of the bed. It looked so… inviting. Yet terrifying at the same time.

The boy's foot barely got an inch off the ground before he put his foot back on the ground, not even making an attempt to get into the bed. Instead, he wandered out of his room and into the hallway. "Temari?"

There was an unintelligible groan from down the hall that somehow had the word Kankuro mixed in with it. As per usual, Temari didn't want to deal with anything in the middle of the night so she placed the task on her immediate younger brother. Gaara was momentarily impressed that his two silbings would communicate through tried grunts and grumbles to this extent. A moment later, Kankuro appeared from his room looking exhausted. He ambled down the hall, rubbing his eyes, until he was standing in front of his younger brother. "What's up Gaara? Need something?"

"What happened to your face?" Gaara asked.

Kankuro looked confused. He rubbed his cheek and the purple paint on his face rubbed off on his hand. He glanced at it and blinked a few times, surprised. "Dang it. I forgot to take my war paint off."

"And why is it all…?"

"Over the place? That stuff smears, Gaara. Real bad."

"Oh," Gaara said. He gestured at his face. "It's kind of…"

"Everywhere? Yeah. I know. I've seen it. This isn't the first time it's happened," Kankuro said. He pawed his face tiredly. "What did you want Gaara? Need me to run some paperwork somewhere?"

"Um, no," Gaara said. "I need… I need to ask you something."

Kankuro shook his messy brown hair, jolting himself awake. "Sure thing. What is it?"

"How… How do you sleep?"

Kankuro stared at him.

"I mean, how does it happen?" Gaara asked, making a vague hand motion to articulate his thoughts. "How do you go from being awake to being asleep?"

"Gaara… Did you just wake me up in the middle of the night to ask…?" Kankuro trailed off. He sighed and turned around. "Nevermind. I'm going back to bed."

"Wait!" Gaara called. His sand shot out from his gourd, blocking his brother's path. "I'm serious. I… I need help."

"You need help sleeping?"

"Usually I just get Shukaku to shut up then use the Playing Possum Jutsu but now…"

Kankuro blinked in realization. "The Shukaku's gone. You're not a jinchuuriki anymore. You can sleep now. For real sleep. Not just pass out for twenty minutes every other week with a boatload of Sand ninja watching over you in case you... Nevermind. You can sleep now?"

Gaara nodded. "I don't remember how though."

Kankuro opened his mouth to speak then closed it. He turned his head to shout down the hall of the section of the Kazekage Tower that he and his siblings had grown up in. "Temariiiii! We need help!"

Temari shouted something at him. Kankuro shouted something equally unintelligible back.

"Temari! For real. Big problem here. Get your lazy bones out of bed. We need halp. Halp! Temari! Halp!"

"What?" Temari shouted angrily, storming out of her room. "What could you possible- hey Gaara- need in the middle of the night?!"

Kankuro pointed at Gaara. "Gaara doesn't remember how to sleep."

Temari seethed for a moment, looking utterly confused.

Gaara shuffled his feet awkwardly. "It's fine… Just go back to sleep. I'll figure it out."

Kankuro grabbed Gaara by the back of the shirt before he could wander off. The puppet master gave his older sister a pointed look. "Gaara had to die and come back to life just to get rid of the Ichibi. The least we could do is help him get over his insomnia."

Temari's eyes widened, her tiredness forgotten. "This is the first time you can actually…"

Gaara nodded. "I can sleep properly. Rest fully without worrying about Shukaku taking over."

"When was the last time…?"

Gaara frowned. He lifted a hand and brushed his fingers over the tattoo on his forehead. "I… The first time Shukaku threatened me was..."

He remembered it well. Better than he would ever admit. He, the Hidden Sand Village's famed Kazekage, had been terrified of falling asleep since he was six years old all because of a monster that only came out in his dreams.

The night he marked himself with the kanji he now bore on his forehead, the night that his beloved uncle betrayed him, the night he truly became his namesake, a younger Gaara had tried to sleep. He was angry and hurt and that had stirred up Shukaku in ways that Gaara had never experienced. Still revealing in the elation he had received from his night of freedom, Shukaku wanted out. He thrashed in the dark, damp place that was Gaara's mindscape.

Of course, any child would be terrified of such a sight but Gaara had grown used to it and had been numbed by the pain he had felt that day. He remained strong against Shukaku's attempts to escape.

Then the Tailed Beast began screaming. Threats, foul words, wordless shrieks, any sound that he could make he did. It was so much worse than just fighting.

Gaara and Shukaku had already killed so many villagers that night but Shukaku screamed for more. He promised that each time Gaara drifted off to dreamland, he would break free and do it all over again. He would do it until the day that everyone in the village hated Gaara so much that their collective blood would boil when Shukaku crushed them all and spilled it into the village, flooding its streets.

That had scared the young Gaara. Even if he had been desensitized to death, he was a child and he feared the hate that he saw in the villagers' eyes. The hate he saw in his uncle's eyes. That scared him enough into developing his insomnia and being unable to sleep for years.

Even after he met Naruto and got onto somewhat controllable terms with Shukaku, the thought of sleep still terrified him. The village thought he was a great Kazekage. He kept the Shukaku inside him and away from the village and worked around the clock to do whatever else needed to be done.

The village had come to his aid when he'd been killed by the Akatsuki. They had cheered for him and celebrated him. It made him feel like a coward. He wasn't brave, he feared merely sleeping; he wasn't powerful, he borrowed power from the very thing he feared; and he wasn't kindhearted, another's warmth had melted the ice that froze the heart of the monster he had been born as.

Gaara's mouth went dry and he was unable to answer Temari's question. All his old fears came rushing back. In recent years, it had reached a point where he could go about his day without so much of a thought about sleep. With his mind on other things, his fear had faded. But now, even with the Shukaku gone, he was…

"I'm scared," he whispered before he knew what he was saying. His voice was quiet, so faint that he wasn't even sure if he had uttered those words. Seeing his siblings faces, he realized he had.

Under the sand armor that always coated his skin, Gaara felt his face heat up. This is so embarrassing. His siblings didn't smile though, Temari didn't smirk nor did Kankuro laugh. Both just looked worried. And that comforted him.

Gaara cleared his throat, finally finding it in him to answer Temari's question. "I was six. When I was six, Shukaku scared me so bad I developed insomnia."

Temari frowned and suddenly he was being hugged. It startled him for a moment. He was the Kazekage. Even if these two were his siblings and they could be tender like they were now when they were here together in their childhood home, there was almost some layer of professionalism or distance. Being hugged… I think I like it.

Temari pulled away and ruffled his hair. Gaara squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. When he opened them, Temari was smiling at him. "Don't worry, little bro. You're going to get a good night's sleep, whether you like it or not."

"Why wouldn't he like it?" Kankuro muttered. "I love sleep. Sleep is great."

Temari glared daggers at him. "Just go find him some clothes to sleep in."

"Fine…" Kankuro grumbled and disappeared into his room for a moment.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"You can't sleep in your Kazekage robes, Gaara!"

"Why not?"

"You… You just can't! Besides, whatever Kankuro finds will be more comfortable."

"Why does that matter?"

"I… I don't know. It's easier to sleep when you're comfortable."

Kankuro returned with some clothes and Gaara slipped into the looser, simpler clothes. He had to admit, they were more comfortable than his Kazekage robes. He'd gotten so used to those things that he'd forgotten how scratchy they were.

Gaara walked back into his bed room with his siblings close behind. Kankuro rose an eyebrow at the teddy bear.

"I haven't touched my bed since I was six," Gaara reminded. "I'd feel bad getting rid of it."

Not to mention part of him had never outgrown the need to hold something. Just because he didn't do it anymore didn't mean that he didn't want to.

"Whatever floats your boat," Kankuro said with a shrug.

Temari suddenly used a Wind Style ninjutsu, startling her brothers. Both of them glared at her. She blinked innocently. "It was dusty."

"Gaara can sleep with a little bit of dust. We can't sleep after you've scared us half to death," Kankuro deadpanned.

Temari rolled her eyes and looked to the young Kazekage. "What have you tried?"

"... What?"

"What have you tried so far?"

Gaara tilted his head with confusion. He didn't understand where Temari was going with this.

Temari sighed. "What have you tried to do to fall asleep?"

"Oh. Um… I just kinda stared at it…"

Temari gave him a blank look. "You just stared at your bed?"

"Yeah."

"What were you expecting to happen?" Kankuro questioned. "The bed to suddenly grow arms and tuck you in?"

"I don't remember how beds work," Gaara sighed. "It's been… ten years since I've been in one?"

"Sheesh," Kankuro whistled. "That's… That's forever ago."

Temari peeled back the covers and gestured to the bed. Kankuro rose an eyebrow. Temari grabbed him by the front of the shirt and shoved him into the bed. Kankuro yelped.

"Why am I getting in the bed? It's Gaara's bed!"

"And we've got to be here if we're going to help him figure out how to use it!" Temari snapped. She turned to Gaara. Not wanting to get thrown like his brother, Gaara got on the bed so he was sitting next to Kankuro. Temari shot Kankuro a smug look. "At least one of you understands how this works."

"I do not understand how this works," Gaara said, staring blankly at the sheets. Why are there so many of them? You can't possibly need this many blankets. Why is there one wrapped around the mattress? Why is this blanket so thick?

"Get under the covers," Temari ordered. Gaara stared at her blankly. Temari sighed. "Like Kankuro is."

"But Kankuro's there."

"Yeah! I'm here!"

"We're sharing tonight. Get over it," Temari said, putting her hands on her hips. Gaara obligated, lying down next to his brother and shifting so that his shoulders were under the blanket. Kankuro plastered himself against the wall. Temari sighed. "Kankuro. Stop."

"His leg touched my leg!"

"Stop being such a baby!"

"His Sand Armor feels all weird!" Kankuro whined.

Temari face palmed. "Gaara. Shed the sand armor."

"What? Why?" Gaara asked, alarmed. He needed his sand armor. What if he was attacked? Sure, his sand naturally protected him but it wasn't like an attack had never gotten past it. When that happened, only his sand armor was left to protect him.

"You need to relax," Temari told him.

"I feel safer with my armor on. How can I relax if there could be danger?"

"No one's going to attack you Gaara," Temari sighed. "Kankuro and I are going to be right next to you."

"Being prepared for attack is not relaxing," Kankuro spoke from beside him. He stole a pillow from under Gaara's head. "Just… let it go."

Let it go… Gaara closed his dark ringed eyes. He felt the sand slowly seep off his skin.

"Not in the bed, not in the bed!" Kankuro yelped. "I don't want to be rolling around in sand all night! We practically do that every time we go outside."

Gaara sighed and willed his sand to fly through the air and back into his gourd which sat in the corner of the bedroom. Wit all his armor gone and not even pockets to hide sand, Gaara felt exposed. Vulnerable. And smaller. He could feel the severely lacking of something around him, protecting him.

Temari slid into the bed beside him and some of that vulnerability faded. Kakuro shifted away from the wall and pressed against his side. Some of Gaara's fear died down.

He could feel every breath his siblings took. Usually, he was only aware of his siblings like this during battle. They always breathed fast in battle. Now, it was slow. They're relaxed. They feel safe. Gaara blinked at the ceiling. They're with me. I can… I can relax too.

Gaara took a few breaths in through his nose and each time he exhaled, he felt some of that old tension leave his tight muscles.

"So… What do I do?" Gaara asked.

Temari rolled onto her side like Kankuro had. "Just close your eyes and let the tiredness take over."

"You've got to be exhausted," Kankuro added with a yawn. "I know I am."

Kankuro curled up next to him while Temari leaned against him. Having so much contact was strange but Gaara felt the urge to embrace it. This is nice. I don't think the three of us have been this close before.

"G'night Gaara," Kankuro mumbled.

"Sweet dreams," Temari murmured.

"Good night," Gaara responded and he closed his eyes. He willed a bit of sand to leave the gourd and turn the light off, plunging him into darkness. He wasn't afraid though. Ninja thrived in the dark and he had his brother and sister on either side of him to protect him from whatever came his way, weather it be a real threat or just bad dreams.

A different kind of darkness slowly enveloped him, one that he usually associated with Shukaku and filled him with fear. This time, the lull of sleep pulled him down like being welcomed into a warm cabin. Not that he'd ever been in one before but he could dream.

Dream. Would that happen? He couldn't remember the last time he'd… No. He was still awake. He just heard a single snore escape his brother's mouth. Do I snore? That would be embarrassing. Especially since Kankuro and Temari are here. Not that they'd mind.

Gaara opened his eyes for a brief moment and closed them again, a wave of tiredness crashing over him. He could feel it in every bone and muscle in his body. By the stars, I'm so tired that I didn't even realize it.

Sleep took over before he knew it. He hadn't noticed at first. In fact, it was a lot like being dead. He knew what that was like. Peaceful. Dark. Only it was less scary and confusing as death had been initially. When Gaara had first died, he had a hard time remembering who he was. He was lost, defeated. Then Naruto guided him back and his mind was filled with happy memories. That's what dreaming was like. His mind was filled with beautiful sunlight, joyous laughter, and endless smiles. Life was rare in the desert but Gaara felt full of it.

I'm sleeping. I'm finally sleeping.

Gaara's mind remained in the dreamland but a smile formed on his physical body. On either side of him, Temeri and Kankuro snuggled in closer, savoring the contact and warmth each one of them had gone their life without. Not anymore though. No, from now on they would stay together. Together, they would dream.

Author's Note: First Naruto oneshot I've written and first Naruto story that I've uploaded to this site. Also 15th story I've published on FFN. Hope this warmed someone's heart. Gaara deserves a lot of love.