Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto. All rights reserved to Masashi Kishimoto.
Ok this is my first fanfic so I don't care what the reviews are. Just make sure you review when you read!
The breeze was soft and silent in the warmth of the early evening in Konoha. Rock Lee was on his way home from training when he came upon a strange sight. It was the silhouette of someone sitting atop a high roof watching the sun dive below the earth and the moon peek up out of the sky.
Lee decided to see what this person was up to, considering the fact that Lee is always one to be curious about others' actions.
He finally made it to the rooftop when, to his surprise, no one was there. He shrugged and continued his walk home.
While he was walking, he had the strange suspicion that he wasn't alone, so he quickened his pace almost to a run.
"Stop."
He heard a deep voice call out to him.
The voice sounded so dark and mysterious that it sent chills up Lee's spine.
Too panicked to move, he stood stalk still, shaking slightly. He finally managed to turn his body around.
A dark figure then emerged from the shadow of a nearby building.
Lee could barely see who it was, until the light of the moon shone through the clouds and cast a light on his face. He could see flaming red hair and bright turquiose eyes with thick black bags around them. He could also see the slight image of something attached to the person's back. He could see that it was . . . a gourd?
Lee finally realized that this was Gaara of the Desert, a shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Sand. He and many others were there for the upcoming Chuunin Exams.
"I knew you were watching me from below just now." He said, staring at him.
"Um . . . well . . . I . . . er . . . yes, that is true." Lee said, trying to figure out what to say, being careful not to offend Gaara in any way.
"Why?" Gaara said. "No one would ever think of looking at me without fear in their hearts."
"Well, I guess it is just because I care about people when I feel that they are lonely." Lee replied with sincerity in his voice.
Gaara glared at him. "What makes you think I'm lonely? I don't need anyone and would rather be alone anyway." He said sharply while walking away.
Lee would have gone after him to see what was wrong but he was still too frightened to move. He was not afraid of being open with Gaara, he just didn't want to upset him by making any quick movements or saying anything that would make him mad.
He finally found the strength to walk home. Once he got there, he got prepared for bed, with Gaara in the back of his mind.
Meanwhile, Gaara was walking the streets of the village, so much rushing through his complicated mind; thoughts of his past, killing, the meaning of life, and most confusing of all, Lee. He didn't know why but he just could not stop thinking about that face. Even with the soup-bowl haircut and bushy eyebrows. There was just something he thought he liked about Lee. Then suddenly he stopped where he was and fell to his knees, clutching his chest.
"W-wh-what is this feeling?" he said aloud to himself. "I feel as though my chest is . . . on fire!"
When he finally arrived back where he and his siblings, Temari and Kankuro were staying, the pain in his chest had subsided. Since he never slept, he just sat on the bed that was made for him, staring out the window, thinking about everything.
The next day started rather abruptly. Lee awoke to the sound of a familiar voice.
"Come on, Lee! Time to get up! It's better not to waste the power of Springtime Youth!" Guy sensei shouted cheerfully, opening the curtains and letting the bright morning sun shine in on Lee's face.
"G-Guy sensei . . .. What are you doing here?" Lee said, rubbing the blissful sleep out of his eyes.
"We have a lot of training to do." Sensei said impatiently. "So hurry up and get ready!"
After a while, Lee finally to got out of bed. He put on his famous green spandex suit, wrapped the enormous weights around his calves, covered them with his orange legwarmers, and tied his red Konoha heaband around his slim waist.
So Guy sensei and his student left his house, to find the other two teammates, Neji and TenTen, who were waiting for them.
They spent the whole day training, and finally they had enough.
"Okay everybody! You can call it a day! I'll see you back here tomorrow to train even MORE!" Guy sensei said in his usual, enthusiastic manner.
"All right, see you guys later!" said TenTen as she made her way home.
"Understood." Neji said calmy as he quickly jumped into a tree and disappeared.
Guy sensei left shortly after and Lee decided to stay there alone.
After a few hundred punches, kicks, pushups and squats, he was finally at his limit for the day. He decided to just rest a while since there was still daylight left. He found himself a comfortable branch to sit in while he thought about anything and everything, especially Gaara.
"What are you doing? Hello? Are you even alive?" Lee heard the raspy voice of someone as he regained conciousness.
"W-wha?" Lee said opening his eyes. When he could see clearly again, he saw the owner of the voice that was softly talking to him. To his surprise, it was Gaara. Lee was actually happy to see him, since he had been thinking about him a lot ever since their run-in.
"What were you doing out here and especially at this hour?" Gaara said with a hint of confusion in his voice.
This hour? Lee thought to himself. He realized that it was deep into the night. What was I doing out here?
"Oh that's right." He said aloud. "I was training with my team, but when I was done, I must have fallen asleep in this tree here."
"Well it's a good thing I was here, you were just about to fall off from tossing and turning so much."
"How long have you been here?"
"Well…I …it's been a while." Gaara said, his pale cheeks turning pink. "I was just…watching you sleep."
Lee could see the embarrassement in Gaara's eyes upon hearing that, so he didn't want to make him feel any worse. "Well that was very kind of you, Gaara."
Gaara looked up at Lee and gave him a shy grin.
Suddenly Gaara gasped and gripped at his chest again.
"Argh..Ugh..Ah" Gaara sounded as though he was in pain.
"Oh no, what is the matter, Gaara?" Lee said, sounding very concerned for him.
"I . . . don't know. " Gaara replied, trying to supress the pain by gripping his chest tighter. "I just have this horrible pain in my chest." "Wait. It's starting to feel better now."
"Wow, that was scary." Lee said, since concerned, yet confused about the whole situation.
"I don't know why that keeps happening," Gaara said, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.
"Keeps happening?" Lee said. "When else has this happened, Gaara?"
"Last night when we saw each other in the street." Gaara replied, sounding more serious. "As I was walking around, I . . . um. Well I started thinking about you, and . . .that happned."
"Oh. I see." Lee said, starting to understand what Gaara was saying. "Well, what kind of feeling is it? Maybe I can help."
"Why should I tell you, huh? What's it to you?" Gaara said in a cold voice, turning away from Lee's gaze.
"Because I care, Gaara. And I want to help." Lee replied, attempting to place his hand on the sand ninja's shoulder. But suddenly he touched sand instead of flesh. Gaara's ultimate defense thought of Lee as a threat and tried to protect Gaara.
"Oh. I'm sorry." Lee said, taking his arm away from Gaara.
"You…care?" Gaara asked, wanting to know more.
"Yes, I do." Lee said, very reassuringly. "I care about everyone."
"Oh, so there's nothing different about me compared to 'everyone else'?" Gaara asked with longing in his eyes as he stared straight at Lee.
"Well. I …Guess?" Lee said, feeling the pressure of being stared at like he was.
"Oh. I see. I have to leave." Gaara said, sounding extremely let down.
"No…wait-" Lee tried to say, but he was too late. Gaara had already disappeared into the night.
A pain in the chest when he thinks of me? Lee thought to himself. I know that sounds like a familiar feeling, but I can not seem to figure it out. I must still be very tired.
Lee was in quite a state of confusion. He knew that there was something wrong with Gaara emotionally, as can be seen by his actions, gripping his chest, meaning his heart. But he could not seem to understand it at all.
Lee kept thinking but he was completely stumped. It was morning before he decided to go home.
The sun shone over the trees and peered through the leaves and the world began awakening.
No more time to think. I must go home and rest. He thought as he descended from the tree and strolled to his house, feeling down.
When he finally arrived at his house, there was his sensei standing at his door. He told Guy that he was far too tired to train today and he needed to sleep. Guy was disappointed but left regardless, threatening Lee that they would train even harder the day after. Lee thought nothing of this and shut the door in his beloved sensei's face.
When he finally got into bed he tossed and turned, still thinking about Gaara. He slept a little bit here and there, but just couldn't stay asleep. He just kept thinking endlessly. Soon it was early evening and he finally came to a conclusion.
"Could it be…love?" Lee said to himself, sittiing up in his bed. "No. It could not possibly be something like that. I mean, for one thing, does Gaara even love at all? And for another, why me? Who wants to love someone with such bushy eyebrows who everyone calls a weirdo and doesn't believe in?" He felt stupid for not thinking of it before.
"But then again, if it was causing him such pain after never loving before, that may very well be the problem." Lee continued to sort the issue out in his head.
"But wait. I've been thinking about Gaara a lot too as well. Could it be that I? Well. I just do not know. This kind of thing has never happened to me before. It is all new to me as well."
Then Lee decided to see if Gaara would actually talk to him about it. He got out of bed and got dressed. He made his way towards where he knew Gaara was staying. He saw him on the roof of the apartment he was at. He climbed rooftops, hoping Gaara would stay there.
He finally made it to him. But what was strange, however, is that he could see Gaara's cheeks glistening.
Is he…crying?
"Gaara?" Lee said, walking towards him.
"Lee?!" Gaara said, frantically wiping his eyes.
"Please do not leave. I want to talk to you." Lee said, sitting down next to the one he admired.
"O...kay…" Gaara said, sniffling slightly.
"You know how you were talking to me about the pain in your chest? Well I think I know what the problem is." Lee said, very matter-of-factly.
"Really?…What is it?" Gaara said, hoping to finally find a cure for his pain.
"Well, if I am not mistaken, I believe you are having feelings of love." Lee said, trying to comfort his friend.
"Love? It can't be." Gaara whispered.
"Why is it so surprising?"
"I didn't know love was supposed to hurt this much," Gaara said, gripping his chest tighter than ever before.
"Well if you love someone you think you can never have, then yes, it it quite painful." Lee said, trying again to place his hand on Gaara's shoulder but actually succeeding this time.
Gaara looked at Lee's hand in shock, since he has never been touched with such sincerity before in his life.
"But lately, I am afraid I have been having the same feelings as well." Lee said, putting a hand to his own chest.
"Y-you have?"
"Yes." Lee said.
Another tear came to Gaara's eye as he kept a tight hold on his chest. But what he didn't realize was that while he was paying attention to his chest, his other hand began to tighten around something as well. He didn't know that through his suffering, Lee had placed his hand around Gaara's and was grasping it tightly, hoping to help him through the pain.
When it was all over, Gaara looked at Lee, who by then was also crying a little.
Lee placed his other hand on Gaara's face and moved closer and closer to his lips. Gaara hesitated and inched away from him.
"It is okay." Lee said. "Trust me."
Gaara let his guard down and let Lee approach him. They had gotten very close and before Gaara knew it, Lee had moved closer and closer and now he pressed his lips against Gaara's. Something like this had never happened to Gaara before and he didn't quite know what to do. All he knew was that he never felt better to be in the presence of another person. He liked the feel of Lee's soft lips against his own. He put his hands around Lee's waist as Lee's hands found their way to Gaara's smooth face.
After they parted, they were locked in long embrace. Gaara was sitting there with Lee's arms wrapped around him.
"I…I…L-love you, Lee." Gaara said, giving him a real smile.
"I love you too, Gaara." Lee said, as they fell asleep together under the stars.