Naruto and its characters © Masashi Kishimoto

Lee and Gaara sitting in a tree, K-I- S-S-I-N-G.

Gaara's POV.

Certain chapters will be rated M for violence, sexual content, adult language, drugs and alcohol reference, death, and everything you'd expect from a story about the mob.

This chapter is dedicated to KakaIru, who makes me want to keep writing LeeGaaLee.

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STIGMA

Uno

I was born into a complicated world. My father was the Kazekage, the head of one of the most powerful mob families in the world. My family had ruled the desert city of Suna for decades with an unfaltering fist. Growing up in a mob world took exceptional survival skill. At my third birthday, I survived my first assassination attempt. A man whose name I couldn't remember anymore took a bullet to the head to save my life. Before I entered first grade, I had already known betrayal and its subsequent price. By the time I was six, I had adopted hatred as my only emotion and learned to only love myself.

Before she died giving birth to me, my mother gave the family a total of one daughter and two sons. My eldest sister, Temari, was ambitious and strong-willed. She had a clear head and understood the importance of diplomacy. She was flexible, knowing when to advance and when to retreat. Needless to say, she was the favorite of the house. But she was a woman, so she was considered unfit to be the head. No man was going to listen to her no matter how good she would be at the job. The mob world was a sexist one.

My older brother, Kankuro, was a rebel. He had no interest in the family business and preferred to spend his days a vagabond. He was a womanizer, bringing home different girls at different hours. On top of that, he had a short temper and had real difficulties obeying authorities. A person like him couldn't get others to work for him.

That left me, the youngest, for my father to choose. My relationship with my father was shaky at best. We didn't really acknowledge ourselves as father and son. We didn't look at each other when we crossed path in the house. I ignored questions that he asked, and if I did respond, my answers were bitter and venomous. Despite the private grudge, it was agreed amongst his men that I was the best candidate. I was calm under pressure and intelligent. I was persuasive and could get people to do what I want. I was charismatic and possessed excellent leadership ability. Best of all, our people respected and feared me. And respect and fear was a deadly combination.

When I was told that I would one day become the next head of the family, I didn't want the responsibility. I was only nineteen years old then and wanted to have my own life. Such a choice was impossible, my father told me. This was the destiny I was born with.

He didn't know that I didn't believe in destiny.

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I was twenty-two when I had grown to anticipate the inevitable day of my inauguration. Everyone was on high alert ever since my father was nearly shot dead. In the past weeks, his right-hand-man, Baki, had been teaching me the tricks of the trade. Baki wanted me to be ready in case my father did get whacked. In our world, one must always be ready for the worst.

I was not ready when the worst came out of the left field and attacked me. I didn't expect anything like it. The worst thing that ever happened to me was a guy named Rock Lee.

I went to visit my father under the order of Temari. I was coming out of my father's room when I saw him. He was wearing a green jumpsuit and orange-brown shoes. If it weren't for the volunteer I.D. badge around his neck, I would've thought he was the janitor. He was taller than me by a few inches and had a bigger built. He saw me staring at him and actually had the nerves to come up to me.

"Do you need help?" He spoke to me like I was a lost child.

I scoffed and walked away. If he knew who I was, he wouldn't have spoken to me that way. Instead of leaving the hospital, I sat down on one of those uncomfortable plastic chairs and watched him. He ran errands around the hospital and brought trays of food to the patient's rooms. I watched him soothed a crying girl who was separated from her mother. He was running non-stop while the nurses chit-chatted amongst themselves. He finally stopped to fill out some paperwork by the nurse station. Even after a tedious day, he stood with a straight back and perfect posture. I didn't know why I felt attracted to him. He was not a handsome person and was in desperate need of fashion advice. But he emitted an aura that was mesmerizing. It made me wanted to get close. He sucked me in like a black hole.

"May I help you?" His voice was polite and confident.

I was straightforward and didn't go around in circles. I asked him out on the spot. He blinked at me like I just spoke in a different language. It was a bold move on my part. He might not even be into men, let alone let a stranger take him out. But after looking at me for a moment, a smile crept up his lips and he gave me his number. I found his eyes to be his most attractive features. His round orbs, dark as the depth of night, pierced right through my soul. I had to look away or I felt he was going to rip me apart.

On our first date, I found out that he actually lived in the next city over. He used to volunteer at the Konoha hospital but wanted a change of pace, so he switched to ours. When I asked him if he liked Konoha or Suna better, he smiled politely and said he liked both. He dropped out of college and was working at a local gym as a trainer. He didn't have a clear idea of what he wanted to do with his life; he was only working there because his former soccer coach gave him a good referral. I did most of the listening. There weren't many things I could say about myself without revealing my family background. At the end of our date I found him likeable enough to ask him out on a second date. He agreed without hesitation.

Lee was a modest person who held himself to high moral standards. I had never heard him use a curse word or say anything negative about someone. It wasn't until our fourth date that he let me held his hand. Our sixth was when he let me kissed him on the cheek. I didn't mind that it was taking me so long to get close to him. I found his shyness enjoyable and challenging and I loved a good challenge. I was a firm believer in the saying, "Nothing in the world that's worth having comes easy".

Two and a half months after we started going out, we finally kissed on the lips on our seventh date. We were in the movie theatre, waiting for the film to start. Lee was the one who made the move. His lips were soft and the first contact was short and shy. In the dark theatre, I didn't see it coming. I was shocked and surprised, so I didn't respond immediately. He tensed, as if he thought that I hadn't been aching to kiss him. I felt him pulling away. I grabbed him by the back of his neck, and our lips crashed. I pried his mouth open. Our tongues massaged each other. For someone who had never been in a relationship before, Lee was an exceptional kisser. I put a hand under his shirt and felt up his abdomen. As a trainer, Lee had a rock hard body that I was yearning to have pressed against mine. He broke the kiss, pushing my hand out of his shirt. He wasn't ready to go that far, especially not in public. We caught our breaths. His cheeks were pink and he kept a content smile on his face. We watched the movie, holding hands throughout.

I walked him across town back to his apartment in Konoha. We exchanged a good night kiss and made plans for our eighth date. I called the driver to pick up me two blocks down the street. I didn't want Lee to know what I did (though at that time, I wasn't in the business yet). As I waited for the limo to come, I found myself keep staring at the direction of Lee's apartment. I could still taste him on my lips. I had an overwhelming urge to see his face and his huge grin even though I had only left for ten minutes.

I realized then that I had fallen hard for him. And that was when my troubles began. On the ride back to Suna, Temari called. She was crying.

My father had been murdered.

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Boyue's Note: First time writing in first person. Hope it was decent.

11.07.08

11:35 PM