Xavyn payed more attention to his surroundings after his outburst, and he came to a realization; it wasn't only his friend he was attracted to, it was guys in general. Gaara was the one to catch his eye first because they'd known each other for so long, and had seen each other during their best, and worst times. He still had his father's threatening words in the back of his mind, about how men were supposed to act, and Thiago's "opinion" of two men being together. To say that it was hateful was an understatement, Thiago had made it very clear that if Xavyn were to even act gay or effeminate, he would have it beaten out of him. The thought made Xavyn laugh, he'd already been kicked out, and disowned, there wasn't much more that could be done to him. "What's so funny?" Kankuro asked from his bowl of ramen. They were all sitting in a restaurant for once, enjoying a lunch out for the first time in a while. "I was just thinking about my dad. He thinks you can beat anything 'abnormal' out of someone." Xavyn tried to stifle his laughter, and focus on eating, and Kankuro just blinked at him in confusion. "Maybe it's only funny if you've been there."

"Did he try to beat something out of you?" Gaara asked, eating his food more slowly. "Well...friendship. He beat me up for playing with you." Xavyn immediately regretted talking, and he hurried to shovel food in his mouth. Their waitress came by to check on them, and Xavyn noted that she was rather pretty. She winked at him, and Kankuro huffed in jealousy. Xavyn put his empty dishes toward the end of the table, and he crossed his arms in the now empty space in front of him, and rested his head on his arms. He became embarassed at Temari's teasing towards him, and the waitress, though it had nothing to do with the gentle jests. He laughed it off with them, and got up to use the restroom, taking a little longer to splash cold water on his face a couple times. He walked out, and sat back down in his seat, noticing that Temari was gone, and assumed she used the restroom as well. "You know she was just kidding, right?" Gaara nudged him. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I know." "You look like you were taking it seriously."

He groaned, and leaned against Gaara. When Temari returned, they paid their bill, and walked out, Xavyn walking behind the others. "Hey...guys? Can we...can we um..." "What is it?" Kankuro asked, turning around. "Pff nothing, forget it." Xavyn gave him a cheeky grin, and rubbed the back of his neck. Kankuro wasn't having it, he picked Xavyn up, and carried him to his siblings. "Come on, Xav. You know we'll find out somehow." Kankuro continued carrying him, ignoring how little he weighed despite eating all that he had, until they wandered to a barren, rocky land where he set Xavyn down. They all climbed the highest rock, and sat on the edge to watch the sunset. Xavyn was happily smushed between Kankuro, and Gaara, draping his arms across his friends' shoulders. "You weren't really mad, were you?" Temari asked. "No it's not that...it's just that I...I mean she's pretty, but not my type of pretty. She...she's a girl. That's n-not...not m-my type." There was nothing but silence that blanketed the four of them, and Xavyn started to shake. Kankuro's arm wrapped around him, and he flinched, the arm was as comforting as it was frightening.

"Are you saying you're gay? I'm not really surprised." Tears welled up in Xavyn's eyes, ready to be hit or cursed at or forced to leave. Instead, a soft hand held his, and intertwined with his fingers, and he stayed silent out of fear. "Xavyn, that doesn't matter. You are who you are, you like who you like. And you're nicer to me than anybody else. I have no reason to judge or hate you." "Yeah what he said. You're still Gaara's friend, and that's all I care about." Kankuro side hugged him, Temari felt somewhat guilty for her teasing, but a light laugh betrayed that feeling. "I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable back there." Xavyn couldn't believe what he was hearing, he wasn't being hurt like his father said he would be. "I...y-you're ok with...I'm n-not gonna..." He was pulled onto Kankuro's lap, his back against the elder's chest, and he could feel the sigh, and laugh coming from behind the ribcage. "Brat, you're stuck with us. I know you feel like you're not worthy of being around us, but believe me. You're something special." Xavyn struggled to keep the tears back behind his eyes.

Kankuro looked over his friend's shoulder, and could see that he was struggling to accept it all. "Think about it, if we hated you for something, you would already know. Besides, something like that is a lousy reason to hate someone." Temari's reasoning eased Xavyn's mind somewhat, and he squeezed Gaara's hand for a brief second. It seemed like that was all the reassurance Xavyn needed to let his guard down completely around the siblings, and his mood improved when he trained. He still tried to distance himself from Gaara, not wanting to tempt himself with the forbidden fruit. He wasn't ready to deal with that problem yet, but felt it was easier to set aside so he could focus on protecting Gaara. Their father hired more people to assassinate the Jinchūriki before he tried himself multiple times. Each time, Gaara lost his mind a little more; he became more unstable, he lost the will to care about others, he became more easily irritable. Xavyn felt his heartstrings get tugged at, and he made himself a promise to stick by Gaara's side, and show him the affection they both lacked. Gaara treated his siblings like he did everyone else, without any real emotion or concern, and Xavyn seemed to be the exception to the treatment. He was treated like a glass ornament, fragile, need to handle it with care.

He understood how Gaara felt, and did his best to show his friend he wouldn't leave. Temari also understood how Gaara felt, she could see the pain, and loneliness in her brother's eyes, but she hadn't ever been close enough to him to feel that treating him specially would make him feel better; she thought he would take it as pity. Kankuro was almost mad at his brother, unable to understand why Gaara would kill people. Xavyn tried his best to help him understand the pain, and he felt like he was in a tug-of-war between Gaara, and his brother. He put his own mental health aside during Gaara's worst moments, Temari surprised him by taking him away from stressful situations, and calming him down. "Breathe slow, in and out. In...and out. There you go." Xavyn couldn't help but slump against her as he relaxed. "I appreciate what you're doing for Gaara, but you can't help him if you're a little ball of stress." "Yeah, I know. I just can't help it, he needs all the support he can get." Temari let him hug her before they got back to balancing Xavyn's chakra until he could walk up the building without falling back down.

"Good job, keep climbing. Walk up that one." Temari pointed to a taller building, and had Xavyn walk higher, and higher until he could spar while standing on, or walking on things. A week, and a half later, they headed off to find some place to swim, except Xavyn wouldn't be allowed to swim until he could walk on the water. He fell in every single time he stood, and was getting frustrated with himself. It was about to get a lot harder, because of a familiar scent that had wafted up Xavyn's nose. It was cherries, and Sake, the scent his father always had on him. He began to tremble before he knew it, and was frozen in the water where he had fallen. "K-Kankuro...Ga-Gaara." His voice cut out, and Temari knelt in front of him, on the water. "What's wrong?" She asked, checking him for injuries. "I-it's my F-father!" Temari's eyes flicked up, landing on something behind Xavyn. "You can do this, ignore him, and just focus on your chakra. It'll be ok." Xavyn tried to do what he was told, but his focus was always drawn to Thiago. Temari gently cupped his cheeks, and brought his attention to her.

She made him look at her face, and she got him to his feet. "Look at me, don't look away. Balance your chakra." They held eye contact, and while Xavyn's heart pounded in his chest, he kept his focus on Temari's face, and his own chakra, his feet, and the water. He didn't even know they'd been walking until he realized he couldn't smell his father anymore. He risked taking a peek at the water beneath him, and he was happily surprised to find himself standing on it. Temari started to let go of him, and Xavyn grabbed her hands. "You can do this, you got it." He nodded, and let go, closing his eyes, and he waited for the now familiar feeling of crashing into the water, but nothing changed. "Nice job, Xav. You did it." "Did what?" All at once, Thiago's scent overwhelmed Xavyn, his father standing right behind him, and he stumbled, catching himself at the last second. "You think you can be a great Shinobi just because you can walk on water?" Xavyn turned around to face his father. "No. I think I can be a great Shinobi because I have a reason to fight, something to protect."

(TW: Homophobia, lots of cussing)

Thiago snorted a laugh, and shoved at Xavyn's shoulders to make him fall. "That faggot boyfriend of yours? He's scum, no. He's lower than scum. He's a worthless little faggot bitch, and I'm going to kill both of you." A fuzzy sensation filled Xavyn's brain as anger started to take over, and his hands clenched into fists. "If you touch him, I swear on my life I will freaking kill you." Thiago planted his foot on Xavyn's chest, and put enough pressure to crack his sternum, his son cried out, and clawed at the ground under the water. "Your life isn't worth shit, and if you think you can protect that demon faggot, you've got another thing coming!" Thiago raised his foot, going to stomp on Xavyn's body, and Xavyn shot back, getting to his feet. "Don't you fucking touch them. You leave my friends alone!" He ran at Thiago, and swung at him, it was blocked, and he was spun around. He used that as an advantage, and kicked Thiago. They went at it, dodging, and blocking each others' attacks. Thiago laughed, and caught Xavyn by the throat when he jumped at him, and he squeezed hard. Xavyn choked on his spit, and clawed at the hand, kicking blindly in his father's direction.

"If this is all you got, you're in deep shit." A large gust of wind sent them both tumbling. Xavyn gasped for air, and got a lungful of water, which made him cough, and sputter. "Xavyn isn't your toy anymore. He's our friend." Kankuro's voice came from somewhere behind Xavyn, and gentle hands brought him out of the water. He turned, and saw Gaara's face there, a few inches away from his. "You're all a bunch of pussy ass faggots." Xavyn's eyes narrowed, and he snapped his attention back on his father. He scrambled to get up, and fought the tight grip his friend had on him. "Let me go! He can't talk about you like this!" "Xavyn, calm down." He jerked free, and ran again, when he got a foot away from Thiago, he jumped over him, and swiped his Kunai across Thiago's spine. The man grunted, and fell to his knees, blood rolling out of the wound, and turning his tan shirt mud, he struggled to stand, and when he got to his feet, his eyes burned with anger, and fear. "I'll kill you. I'll kill you!"

Xavyn wanted to take the chance, and end his father's life, but he was held back again. Thiago staggered away, spewing hatred, and vowing revenge; Xavyn gripped the knife handle until it felt like his bones would snap out of place. Long after Thiago was gone from their sight, he was still struggling to calm down, and he couldn't relax his grip on the kunai. "Xavyn, Xavyn look at me." His face was held, and his head turned to look at the one he so strongly desired to protect. "He can't hurt us. He can't hurt me or Kankuro, or Temari. He will never hurt you again, do you understand? You're mine, and I won't allow him to put his grubby hands on you again." That word, spoken so honestly, made Xavyn freeze, and look at Gaara in the eye. "Y-yours?" "My...my friend." The others went over to check on Xavyn, and make sure he wasn't injured so bad he would need a hospital trip.