This is a collab fic between me and my buddy d00mfuzzball, because we both love this pairing and it doesn't get nearly enough attention. We had a lot of fun writing it, and hope you have fun reading it too

The wood of the training post groaned, shuttered, and threatened to split under the relentless pressure of the beating it was taking. In front of the training post, stood a boy of sixteen, the cause of the pounding. He punched and pounded as if he had a personal vendetta against the post itself. But he didn't really. It was just the unfortunate recipient of his venting. Romance seemed to be in the air and everyone seemed to have a special someone. That is, everyone but him. This was hardly unordinary, and ordinarily wouldn't have bothered him, it was just beginning to be a bit…much.

Naruto had recently noticed Hinata and reciprocated finally.

Shikamaru and Temari spent an awful lot of time together. Ino and Chouji were starting to complain.

Neji and TenTen had recently become an item, and the three no longer hung out together as much. Even training sessions weren't the same.

- Even Sakura had found herself someone.

Things would have been ok had he had Gai-sensei to train with to forget about his problems... But Gai-sensei was on a mission. In Star country. Far away from him.

He wasn't even so much jealous of his friends. Just lonely. He'd have been perfectly happy just to hang around with someone about now.

But he had to admit, after a while it did sting. And even though he'd eventually grown out of his crush on Sakura-chan, his chances with the person he liked now were no better. Worse actually he mused. If that were even possible.

Lee hit the post so hard then, that he could swear that he'd cracked a bone. He looked at his swollen hands. He must have been giving that post one hell of a punishment because his knuckles, even though they were wrapped, were covered in blood. Deciding to give his hands a rest for a while, he kicked the training post once. He didn't have the opportunity to kick it a second time, as it shuddered once more before the base cracked and splintered and it slowly fell, hitting the ground with a tired-sounding thud.

Lee's shoulders slumped and he let out a long-suffering sigh, already looking for his next helpless victim of a training post. It was getting late in the day, he'd been at it for well over five hours and exhausted and starting to ache but he couldn't stop. Oh no, he couldn't stop yet, not with all this frustration boiling through him. He walked up to another post, shorter and fatter this time around, and Lee guessed that it could take much more punishment than the last one. Instead of a leg however, a fist once again shot forward.

That hand never got the chance to make contact with the wood, someone had appeared in a puff of smoke and caught his wrist. "Good god man!" said a familiar voice to Lee's right. "What the hell are you doing?"

As Lee looked over to see who'd stopped him, his eyes widened. "Ka- Kankurou." he said quietly. "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, it's me." he relaxed but did not release Lee's hand. "But more importantly, tell me, why the hell you've done this to yourself? I mean, look at this." And he thrust Lee's bloodied fist into his line of vision.

"I- I..." Lee started but was interrupted.

"I nothin'! You're overdoing it again, self destructive bastard." Kankurou stated, a touch of exasperation and even a little amusement in his tone. "Come with me. Now. And I'm not takin' 'no' for an answer." Lee was too worn out to put up much of a fight anyway.

"Hold still." Lee'd found himself half dragged to a hotel room not far from the administrative building. It was still fastidiously tidy, so the puppet master couldn't have been in town for more than a few hours. Karasu was propped in a corner.

"I was surprised to see you..." Lee said to Kankurou, willing away the slightly embarrassed flush that he could feel rising in his cheeks. They sat at a table as Kankurou set about removing Lee's bandages. "What are you doing here?"

"On business." Was all Kankurou muttered. Then, he cursed. "Shit, man, how much of this do you wrap your arms with anyway? You could Lotus ten ninja and -still- have enough left over to make a blanket!"

Lee giggled lightly, but stopped when Kankurou took out a kunai. Only, he was just using it to cut through the rest of the wraps on his arms and hands.

"It's stuck." Kankurou tugged at the last of the wraps.

"What do you m- Ow!" Lee jerked as a pull on one hurt his now very swollen hand.

"Your knuckles." Kankurou replied, tugging gently. "Damn things are stuck to the bloody part of your knuckles. Dried on. I told you, you overdid it. You're gonna need to soak 'em off. Wait here."

It wasn't long before Kankurou came back with a large bowl filled with hot water. He set it down on the table in front of Lee and gently placed the latter boy's hands inside. Lee drew back with a hiss through his teeth for a second as his hands got used to the water. Then let out a sigh as his tense body began to relax.

"After this, you definitely need a shower. A hot one too. You're muscles probably hate you about now." Kankurou said from his lounging position in the chair as he waited for the water to do it's work.

Lee only nodded with eyes closed, tired and content for now.

Lee whined in protest as his hands were, all too soon, taken out of the water and the rest of the wraps slowly peeled off. "What? that hurt?" Kankurou asked with a bit of rough concern.

Lee shook his head. "The water just felt good."

A metallic smell filled the air as blood was ever-so-gently washed off of Lee's hands, flowing into the bowl of water. Then Lee was sent off with a towel and washcloth to shower, while Kankurou cleaned up the mess of wraps and bloody water.

"It's a good thing you like your hands wrapped up."

After washing Lee had found himself unable to escape and now sat on the bed in a pair of borrowed pajamas, a few sizes to big, as Kankurou prepared to bandage his injuries. "Why?"

"Because, injuries like these need to be protected from dirt and crap, that's why." Kankurou first took some ointment and rubbed it gently onto Lee's knuckles. Then he set to carefully bandaging Lee's hands. He used enough to cover the wounds completely, but not so much that he'd lose flexibility, which, considering how much wrapping he'd worn earlier, would be hard to accomplish.

"Oh." Lee uttered, a slight rosy blush coloring his cheeks. Lee waited until Kankurou was finished, then got up, bowed slightly and tried to leave again. "Thank you so much for what you've done for me. I don't know how to repay you..." Lee looked for the clothes he'd worn earlier.

"What you think you're goin' somewhere?"

"But I-" Lee uttered, his face turning a bright pink.

"'But I' nothin'! You're staying here for the night!" Then Kankurou moved until he was just inches from Lee's face. "And if you try to leave anytime before morning, no, broad daylight, I'll tie you down with your own bandages!"

Lee was silent for a moment, then said, "With an offer like that, how can I refuse?" Lee smiled weakly at his own joke.

"Good. I'm glad we agree on something." Kankurou nodded once. "Now get to sleep. And I -will- see you in the morning." The way he'd said it left no room for disagreement.

Lee nodded, and hurried to get back into bed.

Around four in the morning, Lee snuck out of his room stealth master style. The older boy was sprawled out on the couch, snoring loudly. Lee breathed a sigh of relief as he quietly shut the door.

"Goin' somewhere?" A quiet voice behind him said. Lee nearly jumped out of his skin as he whirled around to face the voice behind him. It was Kankurou with a smirk gracing his features. He peeked around the larger boy just in time to see the sleeping figure transform into a greenish colored log. Lee faced Kankurou again, eyes wide and swallowing hard.

The smirk grew wider.

"Mornin', Kid. Have a good sleep?" Kankurou smiled with a deceptive sweetness as he saw that Lee was awake. It was about 8:00 in the morning and Lee was just reawakening. Kankurou was dragging a chair he'd brought in and putting it down backwards next to the bed, he sat down and folded his arms across the back of the chair..

"Yes, I did." Lee grunted from the bed. Both of Lee's arms were tied to the headboard.

And indeed, with his own bandages.

"That's good." Kankurou said with a bright smile. Then with the same smirk that he'd used earlier that morning, he added, "You know, last night I coulda sworn you were about to disobey my direct orders. But I know you wouldn't do that, would you?" It was more a statement than question.

"Never!" Lee shook his head vehemently. Then they smiled.

"Anyway, all jokin' aside." Kankurou's smile faded as he got serious. "What was it that was bothering you so much that you practically tried to kill yourself out there yesterday evening?"

"Well," Lee began, not sure what to say and trying to adjust to the uncomfortable feeling the wraps tying him to the bed gave him. "All my friends seem to have someone. Someone they can talk to, someone they can have fun with, someone they can just be with. Everyone except me. I mean, it is wonderful, that they are all happy and all, but no one even has time to spar anymore and…and…well, you know..." a bit of uncharacteristic bitterness edged his words "It is not as if anyone would like me anyway."

A frown briefly creased Kankurous features before he nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean." he said. "I'm having the same problem. Temari has been hanging around that Shika-whassiss-name guy, and that Matsuri brat's gone all fangirly over Gaara. I'm in the same boat you are."

Lee wanted to sit up but he could not. He turned to his friend. "Kankurou?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you untie me please?" Lee asked, trying not to sound as if he were begging.

The smirk familiar smirk crept back onto his face. "You sure you won't try to run off again?"

Lee nodded quickly, badly wanting to be untied. His shoulders were starting to ache.

"I dunno... I kinda like ya like this."

Lee's eyes went wide with indignation, and he nearly shouted. "Kankurou!"

"Okay, okay!" Kankurou laughed. "I'll untie you. But you gotta promise not to run off." he told Lee even as he started to undo the wraps.

"I promise. And I really mean it this time!"

"Good" Kankurou stated as he undid the last of the wraps that held his hands onto the headboard. He sat back in his chair again as Lee sat up and stretched languorously. He happily worked the blood flow back into his arms. A few moments passed in what was to him companionable silence and sunlight before he noticed the odd look the Suna-nin was giving him.

"Is something wrong, Kankurou-kun?" the older boy had been chewing his lip contemplatively, as he did when caught in an internal debate.

"Huh? Oh, not really." A few more moments passed, this time awkwardly. "Lee, you really think you don't have anyone?" Lee was caught off guard by the unusually personal question.

"No, not really."

"Don't I count then?"

"Huh?"

"We've been friends for years now, right? Since our villages became allies we've run loads of missions together. Do I not count?"

"That is not what I…! Of course we're friends!"

"Haha, I know I know, you're just to easy to get riled up." Then a bit nervously again " You really think no one could like you?" Lee frowned.

"No, why would they? I'm not like Neji-kun, or Naruto-kun, or you even. I'm ugly, and usually dumb and-"

"Shut up." The words were snarled so fiercely Lee winced. "Don't say that. I don't know where you get this shit. It's not true. People like you." He rest his head on his arms and looked away, then sighed in agitation. "…I like you…"

It took several seconds for the words to put themselves together in any vaguely sensible order in Lees mind.

"What?"

"I like you." More confident now "You're my friend, and I like you. A lot. For a while now. If that freaks you out…"

"No. It does not. Actually…" He swallowed, cheeks burning "I uh…I like you too, a lot, for a while now, I just thought…" Another long moment passed in absolute silence, neither entirely daring to believe what they'd just discovered.

"You know…" Kankurou mused aloud. "If anyone else finds out…"

"They will not." Lee agreed. He smiled reassuringly, and Kankurou returned it, and in those few seconds the tension and disbelief melted away, leaving everything in it's normal place.

Well. Almost.

"So" Lee laughed shyly. "Now that that is all out in the open, what do you want to do?"

"Well," Kankurou grinned as he picked up the bandages again. "I really did like you all tied up."

END