Lee took a deep blissful breath, his eyes softening as he smiled happily. He stared at the man before him with tears in his eyes, an almost overwhelming need to throw himself at the other and welcome him with a bear hug just barely refused. Instead, he forced himself to bow like any good jounin to that of someone of a higher status.

In this case, he, Rock, Lee, Blue Beast of Konoha!, bowed to Sabaku no Gaara, Rokudaime Kazekage of Suna. How many years had it been this time? Their meetings never seemed to occur within months of each other, but ages.

"Good Afternoon, Kazekage-sama! I am Rock, Lee, and I shall be escorting you about Konoha during your stay! If you wish for anything, you may only ask me and I shall immediately get it for you or do 50,000 push-ups on one thumb!"

He waited, still bowed at the waist, for an answer of any type. It would be rude if he dismissed himself!

There was a rustle that was most likely the redhead's blue and white robes sliding against each other in movement before Lee felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Lee-san…"

There was a command in that tone of voice that ordered Lee to meet his eyes. Lee did so willingly and with no fear, meeting blue-green eyes with his own obsidian ones.

"Yes, Kazekage-sama?"

The hand on his shoulder shifted, fisted in the front of his spandex suit, and then pulled him up till he was level with the redhead's face. A mouth covered his instantly, only pressing against his lips, but more than enough to make him sputter and go redder than a tomato. Regardless, his arms wrapped themselves about the redhead's shoulders, mumbling somewhat into the contact. In response, the kazekage wrapped one arm around his waist. A moment later, however, it ended, quite sadly. The kazekage released his lips slowly, his eyes mere slits as he looked at Lee's blushing face. He kept Lee pressed to his body all the same, though.

The redhead's eyes flickered from his face to where his heart pounded furiously away. Both of them knew what was covered by the green spandex, and that only made this all the more understandable… All the greater.

Beneath the spandex, from years ago when Gaara had performed the forbidden jutsu upon him so he could live and fight again, rested one kanji word: Ai. Whereas, dozens upon possibly hundreds of katakana were written on his left arm and leg where the breaks and shatters had occurred, this one word was the most important of all. If this one ever disappeared, Lee would be certain of two things: One, he was a few days close to death at most. Two, the Kazekage was dead…

Alright, that was a straight out lie. He was certain of one other thing as well: There would be no point on being alive, seeing as how the chakra the redhead had instilled in him much like supportive bone structures (more like cartilage, since it bended and flexed so as not to get in the way of the actual bone) were connected to his chakra center.

The Kazekage was his lifeline, and both of them knew it. Lee could tell his Hokage with almost unbelievable detail every injury the kazekage suffered just because he could feel it. Possibly not as hard or painfully as the redhead himself felt it, but he still just… knew. Like the kazekage had breathed onto the flesh to show Lee how he had been hurt. The vice versa was most likely not true… Though Lee wasn't quite certain. He had woken up, just briefly, some hours after the redhead having performed the jutsu. The redhead had told him the small details and then left…

And only now just returned.

The chakra that flowed through his body, not quite his chakra, flared with life. In turn, his heart began to race and his mind became dizzy, a pleasant hum running through his body as he nearly went limp against the kazekage's chest.

It was… so nice… to be close to the redhead again… Much more so with the connection they now shared.

He felt lips drift through his hair.

"I am still Gaara, Lee-san… Just as you are still my Lee…"

Lee smiled brightly, though, in the back of his mind, confusion sparked with the possessive term used with his name.

"Yosh, Gaara!"

He squeezed his arms in a small but hard hug, burying his face into the redhead's chest over his heart so he could hear the organ beating away there.

"Why are each of our meetings far apart, Gaara-kun?"

The redhead sighed against him, one hand coming up to pet Lee's hair.

"I don't know."

"I didn't make Lee your bodyguard for you two to go at it like rabbits in the middle of my streets."

Lee flinched, his face firing up again as he snapped his back straight and saluted the Hokage who stared back at them with a dark scowl on her face.

"Yes, Hokage-sama! I am very sorry, Hokage-sama! In punishment, I shall run-"

"Don't apologize."

Lee paused, looking over at the kazekage with a 'wha?" expression. Gaara met his eyes calmly before turning his back on him, walking to the Hokage with Lee following fast on their heels.

"Let it be noted that I initiated contact."

He looked back at Lee.

"Don't apologize for something you could not stop."

Lee instantly got on the defense, pumping a fist into the air as his face became set with determination.

"Gaara-kun! Had I wished not to be a part of it, I would have made certain that you realized it!"

He grinned happily.

"I may even be able to defeat you now as well! I have become much stronger than our last encounter!"

The redhead looked at him blankly, ignoring entirely the now fuming Hokage who was cursing teenagers under her breath and adding in a few cuss words about love.

"You always seem to be stronger… I am glad to hear that."

Lee blinked at the first part and then gushed at the second part, babbling nonstop about the power of youth that had led him through the years up until this moment and thanking the kazekage endlessly for his positive comments.

Out of some sort of understanding, their 'secret' was not mentioned at all, though that was a very, very large part of him being stronger.

It was only two minutes later that Lee gave a yelp of surprise as the earth opened up beneath him, the Hokage having clicked her heel against the ground, her temple throbbing and her jaw clenched so hard, pedestrians across the street could hear her teeth grating together.

"You lovebirds can catch up later on your life, dreams, sex life, and other bullshit, got it!? Right now, you are to stay quiet and let us do what we're here to do, do you understand, Lee?"

Lee snapped his mouth shut and nodded quickly, quietly ashamed of himself for getting in the way of their work and promising himself he would do 10,000 push ups and 5,000 laps around Konoha in punishment with a mental good guy pose.

"The matter we are meeting to speak over can only be said behind closed doors."

Gaara turned his blue-green gaze on Lady Tsunade.

"There is no reason for him not to speak and enlighten me on any occurrences I was not present for."

Lee blinked. When it was put that way…

"Well then, I don't see any reason why we can't meet behind the closed doors if all I'm going to hear getting there is his life's story from the point of when you left to now, is there?"

Lee watched her poof before turning to Gaara, his face momentarily blank. Gaara returned his stare. After a long pause, the redhead sighed, opening his arms slightly as if welcoming an attack… which was basically what it was, since Lee nearly tackled him to the ground with a cry of joy.

"I MUST TAKE YOU TO NARUTO-KUN SO WE ALL MAY CATCH UP!! Quickly, come!"

He practically dragged the redhead towards Ichiraku's, the ramen shop. He was given pause when everything became a golden brown color, the sound of a thousands insects about him as the hand stayed in his own. When he blinked, he was back in his own room of his own small, yet warm and clean, apartment. He blinked again, just to make certain he was correct, and then turned to the kazekage with curiosity in his obsidian eyes.

"Gaara-kun, do you not wish to see Naruto-kun?"

The redhead shook his head.

"We may meet up with him after the conference. I don't have long till it begins, and there would not be enough time to meet with him beforehand."

Lee stared at the redhead, not quite certain of what the kazekage was insinuating. He looked around him, studying his bedroom (How did the kazekage know where his bedroom was?… How did he know where his home was!?), and got the wrong idea. His arms flew up before his face as if protecting it from being attacked, his mouth slacked open and his eyes wide with disbelief and horror.

"Gaara-kun! We are dear friends and that have known hardships unlike any other, but I do not think we are ready for that yet!"

The redhead stared at him. His eyes seemed to faze over, as if he was thinking over what Lee must think, before he dropped his chin slightly, looking, if possible, a little annoyed behind his bland stare.

"Those were not my intentions. I will only have you intimately when I have your heart."

Lee had a moment of despair over Gaara's choice of words. He knew what the redhead meant, but had they been out in the public when he said that, chances were that more than one pedestrian would have ran screaming while shinobi began to flood the area.

The day of the final chuunin exams, Gaara had had to follow orders from his father and kazekage -who was actually Orochimaru in disguise- to attack and destroy Konoha… He had been defeated, luckily, but it was still a sore spot for Konoha… Even if Lee had long since forgiven him. He knew this redhead! This was his redhead! Others rested blame on him, but Lee knew it was faulty.

Over his despair, he smiled sappily, mentally darning the rush of heat to his face.

"If that were so, I should be a very sore man right now!"

Of course, he was speaking of his buttocks, which only made the blush worse. He had had a few… 'visions of healthy youth' (coughwetdreamscough), about having the redhead in him… Remembering them made him blush even brighter.

"You have had my heart for quite a while, Gaara-kun!… I just do not think we are ready for that step… We have only met together three times over the years! I would like to get to know your better!"

The other narrowed darkly shadowed eyes on Lee.

"How can I have your heart if you hardly know me as you are admitting to?"

Lee smiled softly, a special reserved smile that was both loving, sad, patient, and beautiful… Just as his nickname said.

"Gaara-kun, it is called love at first sight!"

The kazekage did not seem impressed.

"That's just foolish. Emotions should not be based upon sight of another person."

Lee had his second moment of despair, but recovered more quickly as a thought occurred to him. He looked at the kazekage shyly.

"Do you… like-like me?"

For some reason, he felt certain asking the redhead if he loved him would be a bit too much. Possibly it was because of his angst towards love? Maybe…

The other narrowed his eyes on him.

"Like-like?"

Lee nodded animatedly, his face serious like a child's.

"Like-like!"

"… No…"

Lee managed to somehow keep his bleeding heart in his chest.

"'like-like' is a childish term, which can hardly define our relationship."

He did something so completely cute and adorable, Lee had no idea what to do except squeal, putting his fists to his lips in hopes of containing the sound lest he make the redhead leave. He blushed. It was not his cheeks that gained the rosy color, however, but his nose. The other looked away from him, his gaze directed to the bed with death written in them. Had it been possible, his bed would have cowered in fear. As it was, lee swore he could hear the springs whimper.

Something was thrust into Lee's chest, forcing him to move his hands from his mouth to the object before it fell to the ground, Gaara's hand moving away so fast from it as if the object had scorched his skin.

Lee stared down at it for a moment, first with surprise and then with awe. It was long moments later before he looked up at the kazekage with tears in his eyes and the sappy smile across his lips once more, his bandaged fingers gently caressing the ear of the fluffy creature in his arms.

It was a life-sized squirrel, it's fake fur feeling so real beneath his touch, he would have sworn it was real if not for the fact that he knew it was just a stuffed animal. It's dark brown round eyes stared up at Lee, it's bushy tail hanging down and It's tiny back feet hanging lose.

It was the most precious gift he had ever received.

"Thank you, Gaara-kun…"

He leaned across the distance separating them and gave the kazekage a peck on the cheek, holding tightly the life-like squirrel to his chest.

"I shall call him… Koisomeru…"

He raised the squirrel to eye level, holding it by it's sides.

"Do you like your name, Koisomeru?"

He made the squirrel nod it's head and flick it's tail.

"Yosh! You are now Koisomeru!"

The whole time Lee was doing this, Gaara's nose was a solid red color as if he had the most violent cold, his eyes watching Lee's actions as the raven haired boy began to talk comfortable with the stuffed toy.

"It, like my conference with Lady Tsunade soon, was to be acknowledged behind closed doors."

He explained to Lee, appearing aloof except for his Rudolph-red nose. Lee grinned goofily, a pleased aura about him as he brought the squirrel to Lee's nose and made them Eskimo kiss.

"Aw! Koisomeru likes you, Gaara-kun!"

The kazekage had no idea what to make of that….

He did realize that 'like-like' may have actually fit the situation, though, since he had only seen children react as they were both doing. Had 'like-like' been a strong enough word, he would have accepted it.

Since it was not, it was sent into the furthest back corner of his mind to be stored for later understanding. 'Like-like' was most definitely a term to remember around this beautiful blue beast.

-.-; I've had this unfinished in my scraps for a few months now, but I got a review today by a Shinigami asking, basically, what happens next after 'friends are drawn together into something new'… Well, I ended up going entirely off track, didn't I? I do find it fluffy and cute, though… ^///^ Gaara's nose turned really red, didn't it? He got compared to Rudolph!

Also, if I got the name for the ramen place wrong, please tell me… I can't guarantee I'll go right back and change it, but I will eventually get to it. I'm not entirely certain if I got it right… I'm a gaalee fan, I don't follow Naruto around town, I'm busy videotaping them in their bedroom *gets back to doing just that*

Hope that answers your question, Shinigami!