It was three in the morning and Gaara had decided to come to bed and caress his hands. Not that Lee minded the caressing all that much, it was the fact that it was three in the morning that bothered him. He gave Gaara a tired groan and tried to pull his hand away, only to feel Gaara start caressing it again moments later.

"Gaaaaaraaaa!" Lee whined, pushing his head in to the pillow. "Stop it…"

"No." That was stated loud and firm, not that Lee didn't try to pull his hand away again because of it. He wanted to sleep, Lee had a mission tomorrow and he didn't want to be tired while on the job.

Gaara's fingers traced the scars on Lee's hands, his own soft and unmarked hands brushing over every part he could. It was quite fascinating; Gaara himself had never injured himself bad enough to leave a scar so the next best thing was to feel his lover's scars instead.

"I'm tired…" Lee mumbled, slumping back against his pillow and using his other hand to pull the sheet over his pajama clad form. "Go away…so I can…sleep…"

Ignoring what Lee had requested, Gaara grabbed Lee's other had and started to caress it as well. He traced a finger down the knuckle, looking over at Lee as he squirmed uncomfortably, and pulled Lee's hand up so he could press his own hand against Lee's. They were basically the same size but were vast in appearance.

His hand was soft and flawless, no cuts or scratches, just soft and beautiful. They didn't reflect what he was at all, but Gaara simply by passed that thought and looked to Lee's hands instead. His were marked from years of training. Scratches, cuts and indentments were visible across his hands. They were injured horribly from the vast amount of training Lee had gone through.

Lee turned over in his sleep and gave Gaara a questioning look. "Why are you staring at my hands?" He asked, watching as Gaara started to once again caress them.

"They reflect you…" Gaara said. Lee looked at his hand and felt a small pang of hurt cross his chest. Gaara believed him to be horribly scarred and broken like his hands? Lee sighed, placing his head back on to his pillow.

"Why do they reflect me?" Lee mumbled in to his pillow as he resisted the urge to pull his hands away from Gaara soft and wonderfully warm grip. Sometimes he wished he still had hands like that as he had as a child.

Gaara continued caressing his hands. "Like your hands you are strong, protecting and give up everything to save the people you love, like them are them you careful, soft and caring" Gaara stared down at Lee's hands as he pressed his fingertips against them. "Your's reflect you…unlike my own."

Lee's eyes widened. Unlike his own? Gaara's hands were flawless, soft and scar less…and…and he believed he was nothing like that? Lee felt his eyes lower as he pulled his head out of his pillow.

"Gaara-kun, you are…" He smiled. "You are also like my hands…you gave up everything to become Kazekage, and you still give up everything for your people. You care for them, just as you care for me. You are strong, very strong and protecting. You are... the man I love and will protect with all I have."

Gaara felt a smile twitch at his lips. He couldn't say what he wanted to say, so instead he moved forward and scooped a very surprised and tired Lee into a hug. His arms wrapped around his figure and Gaara breathed in the scent of fruity shampoo. When his voice finally came back and Lee had hugged him softly he smiled, he pulled away, hands gripping softly at Lee's.

"Thank you..."