Author's Note: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

Babysitting. It wasn't exactly the most profitable job on the market, but at sixteen -no, seventeen now- it was the best Lee could get! He also had a paper-round that he did during the weekends, but babysitting was what brought in the real money. It was getting close to Christmas after all!

But babysitting on his birthday was not something he had anticipated! Of all the days for one of his new clients to give him a call.

Mr. Sabaku had three birth children and one adopted child. Lee knew of the eldest two, Kankuro and Temari; they both attended the same college as he did. He knew nothing of the third child.

The final and youngest, Matsuri, was the adopted child, and had just turned fourteen. And although, from what Mr. Sabaku had told Lee, [i]she[/i] felt that she was old enough to stay home alone, the man felt much more comfortable having someone in the house with her. Usually that would be her siblings, but on this occasion all three were out doing various things, and Mr. Sabaku had been called into work unexpectedly.

Lee had been part-way through celebrating his birthday with his companions in the foster home when he'd received the call. The poor man had sounded so harassed…Lee had almost felt obliged to agree to sit the youngster. It was, after all, the first time Mr. Sabaku had ever asked for his services. He'd called Lee a few months back, asking if he could rely on him in case of emergencies. Lee had agreed that he could call on him if such a situation arose.

It wasn't Mr. Sabaku's fault that the emergency had come on his birthday.

He sighed a little as the bus pulled to a halt at the bus stop and thanked the driver as he climbed off and headed up the road to the Sabaku home. He knocked on the door, blinking as it was opened almost immediately.

"Ah, Mr. Rock!" the man panted, halfway through pulling on his tie. "Thank you so much for coming at such short notice! I'm sorry to have disturbed your evening."

"It's not a problem sir." Lee smiled, stepping inside and glancing around the well kept home. It was rather large, and well decorated with many photos and paintings of the family. Pride of place was a photo of what seemed to be the entire family, bar Matsuri. Mr. Sabaku stood beside a beautiful blonde woman, who was seated on a plush armchair. She held a tiny red headed baby in her arms, who was looking at the photographer with something close to a glare. To her left was a young blonde girl, to her right a brunette boy. Temari and Kankuro, he assumed. Which would make the baby Gaara.

"Now!"

Mr. Sabaku's voice brought Lee out of his musings, and he turned his attention to the man, who was pulling on an expensive looking coat.

"You may order whatever food you like from wherever you like. There's money on the kitchen counter. If Matsuri wants something different from you, feel free to order from two places. Help yourself to anything in the house. She should be in bed and asleep by eleven at the latest. If she argues, tell her that if she refuses she's banned from the X-Box for a week.

My number, along with Temari, Kankuro and Gaara's, is on the fridge. Temari is sleeping over at a friends, and Kankuro is away on a trip. Gaara should be home around 1am. If I'm not back by then, you may leave when he arrives. Any questions?"

"No sir." Lee smiled. "I hope you don't have to stay out too late."

"Thank you. Good luck!"

Mr. Sabaku moved to the foot of the stairs and called up them.

"Matsuri, I'm leaving! Behave for Mr. Rock!"

"Whatever!"

The man gave Lee a look that seemed to say 'what're you gonna do?' before heading out.

Lee felt a strange sense of awkwardness for a moment as he was left alone in the hall. He didn't much like invading people's homes this way… At least with younger children he could rely on them wanting to play…but this girl was only two- well, three now –years younger than himself. He had no idea how she would react to that…

"Do I have to call you Mr. Rock?"

Lee blinked at the question and turned his attention to the girl standing at the top of the stairs. Her mousy brown hair fell in easy and natural spikes around her face, falling to her shoulders, and her dark brown eyes were narrowed on him.

"Matsuri…" he murmured, before smiling brightly and shaking his head. "No, of course not. My name's Lee."

He held out a hand as the girl started thumping down the stairs.

"Nice to meet you."

The girl sniffed, but shook his hand firmly, eyes travelling over his body slowly.

"At least you're cute," she muttered unhappily. "But I'm not a damned kid! I don't need a sitter."

Lee chuckled under his breath.

"I'm sure that's true," he agreed, "so how about…I'm not a babysitter, I'm just here to look after the house. The fact that you're in the house is neither here nor there."

Matsuri raised an eyebrow before sniffing and walking past him into the living room. Lee followed her and pulled his coat off, resting it over the back of the couch and sitting down. He watched as Matsuri turned the T.V on, settling down to watch a programme called 'Ladette to Lady'.

They sat in silence for the entirety of the show, before Matsuri turned and looked at Lee pointedly.

"I'm hungry," she stated.

Lee grinned and nodded.

"So am I. What do you fancy?"

"Pizza. With all the toppings!" Matsuri said, turning her attention back to the T.V.

Lee shook his head slightly and pulled his mobile out, calling the local pizza place and ordering one for each of them.

Matsuri's eyes were on the T.V, but Lee could tell she was listening in. An interesting young woman…

"So. How old are you?" she asked after another few minutes silence.

Lee slipped his shoes off and curled his legs underneath himself.

"I'm seventeen. Today, actually," he said with a smile.

"No way! It's your birthday! That sucks!"

The young woman made a face and her entire demeanour changed, body relaxing. Apparently the fact that Lee was having to work on his birthday made her change her mind about having him here.

"Well…happy birthday I guess."

"Thank you!" Lee laughed.

The ice was broken. The rest of the evening would be fine.

"HA! You owe me eighty pounds Lee! Suck it!"

Lee groaned and shuffled through the money in his hand. At least it wasn't any more than eighty, he supposed, but still…

"Can't I give you Old Kent Road instead?" he asked weakly, handing the multicoloured notes over to the younger girl with a pitiful look.

"Nope!"

Matsuri checked over the money and grinned cheerfully.

"I'll take another house of Park Lane."

"Alright, but I think we're going to have to call it a night soon," Lee commented, looking at the clock. It was twenty to eleven. "We can write down who has what and continue another time, if you like."

"Yeah! I'm not having you call it a draw," the girl said with a wicked smile.

Matsuri turned out to be fun, thoughtful and very clever. She and Lee had bonded over pizza, Have I Got News For You and a game of Monopoly.

"Fair enough."

Lee started writing down the properties they both had, their money and any houses on a piece of paper.

"So it's just going to be you and your brother tomorrow?" he questioned.

"Yeah! I love days like that." Matsuri confirmed, beginning to clear the board up. "I mean, he doesn't talk a lot, but he listens well."

"Sounds like a good big brother." Lee smiled. He was just putting the game back on the shelf when the sound of keys in the door drew his attention.

"Huh! Looks like your dad's home," he said with a small smile, putting the game away and heading over to pick up his coat. He stopped, however, when a young man who was decidedly[i] not[/i] Mr. Sabaku walked in and blinked at him.

"Gaara!"

The squeal from Matsuri made Lee jump, and he watched with vague amusement as the girl thoroughly glomped her older brother, making the red head 'oof' slightly and raise an eyebrow.

"Matsuri. Father said you weren't allowed to have boyfriends 'round," the red head said, voice calm but firm. "Where is he?"

"Out! This is Lee, he was…uh…" Matsuri pouted, obviously not wanting to call Lee her babysitter.

Lee chuckled to himself and put his coat back.

"Mr. Sabaku was called into work. Since you and your other siblings were out, he called me," he explained.

"Ah."

Gaara nodded in understanding before looking at the clock.

"You should be in bed already," he informed his sister.

"I know, but Lee and I were playing Monopoly! I was winning for once! It's no fun with you." Matsuri huffed, picking up the book she'd brought down with her and turning to Lee.

"Goodnight Lee. Thanks for…you know. Not being a dick."

"Not a problem," Lee laughed. "Sleep well."

"Yeah. Night Gaara!"

Matsuri kissed her brother's cheek and headed up. Lee smiled and picked his coat up again.

"Well, I guess I'll be off then," he said cheerfully.

"Did my Father pay you?" Gaara asked, slipping onto the couch and looking up at Lee with inquisitive blue/green eyes.

Lee blinked slowly and groaned as he realised he hadn't. That meant he would have to stick around until the man got back!

Gaara seemed to realise his irritation and patted the couch next to him firmly.

"Sit down. He never comes home later than one thirty," he reassured Lee calmly. "He will pay you well, don't worry."

"It's not that…" Lee murmured, sitting down. "I guess it's not that much longer."

Gaara looked at the young man sitting next to him with undisguised interest. His Father didn't usually trust his youngest sibling to strangers, so this was an unusual circumstance.

He hadn't expected to be home so early, but the party had been tedious to the point of insanity, and he'd ended up faking illness just to get into his taxi and get out of there. And it looked to be a good decision.

Lee, as his sister had introduced him, was tall, slightly tanned and looked to be very well built. It had been quite some time since Gaara had been attracted to someone on looks alone. As to his personality…well, Matsuri liked him, and that was a very good sign. His sister was notoriously finicky when it came to her sitters.

"Was there somewhere you were planning on going?" he questioned as the boy sat down beside him.

"Not really… Just…it's my birthday today is all."

Gaara gave a soft 'ah', nodding in sympathy. Of all the days to be called in to work…

"How old?" he asked, crossing one leg over the other.

Lee looked up at the clock and smiled a little.

"I've been seventeen for a whole thirty eight minutes," he laughed.

It was a nice laugh, Gaara mused internally. He didn't often say out loud what he was thinking, despite his reputation of being blunt to the point of rudeness. He wasn't quite certain where that reputation had come from though. He hardly ever insulted people, only when they needed the harsh truth, and he was certainly never rude! In fact, he was usually polite to the point that people found it creepy!

Right now, for example, instead of asking Lee if he'd mind taking his shirt off so he could see if he was as well built as he seemed, he said, "would you like a drink?"

"Oh, no thank you. I'm fine."

"Yes, you are."

Gaara blinked. Well…he usually didn't say what was in his head…

But that rather adorable little blush on Lee's face more than made up for it. It started off pink around his nose and cheeks, and turned almost red near his ears. His already quite large eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open.

"I'm sorry if I've offended you," he apologised, bowing his head low.

"N-no…I'm just not used to being complimented I guess." Lee replied, biting his bottom lip and looking at the ground.

"Well, that's a shame."

Gaara wasn't sure if he wanted another blush, or wanted to instil some form of self-confidence into Lee, but he found himself wanting to compliment that man again.

"So no girlfriend then?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"No… I, uh…" Lee looked utterly embarrassed for a moment and Gaara's brain quickly drew him to a conclusion that made him smirk for a second before covering it up. His smirk tended to scare people.

"Boyfriend?"

He knew he was on the money when Lee's entire face turned from a light pink to a vibrant red. So the boy was gay. How very…convenient. For Gaara at least.

"That surprises me," he said honestly. "My sister is notoriously hard to please, and she seems to have taken to you. That tells me that you are, at least, a good person."

"Thank you." Lee said softly, curling a leg underneath himself. "I like her too. She's very intelligent and mature for her age."

"On occasion." Gaara agreed, looking Lee up and down again. "Lee…may I be frank?" he asked after a moment.

"Uh…sure."

"You're a very attractive person, and I'd very much like to get to know you better."

He could tell by the way Lee's eyes widened once again that this was the last thing he'd been expecting.

"Umm…are you asking me out?" he asked, sounding very nervous.

"Yes." Gaara confirmed with the slightest smile.

Lee bit his lip, more than a little confused by the entire conversation! This was the last thing he had expected! Still…

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "but I'm not dating anyone right now. I'm struggling with my studies and I don't need the distraction."

"Your studies?" Gaara questioned, a slight frown marring his face at the rejection. "What is it you do?"

"I'm studying to become a vet-"

Lee cut himself off and blinked as the front door once again opened and Mr. Sabaku walked into the front room, his face twisting into surprise at seeing the two of them on the sofa.

"Gaara. You're home early," he stated, hanging up his coat.

"The party was boring. How was work?" Gaara asked, getting to his feet and moving towards the kitchen.

"The same as your party. Mr Rock," Mr. Sabaku turned his attention to the older boy, "I apologise for calling you out on such short notice. Thank you."

"No problem." Lee smiled, pulling his coat on.

"It's his birthday."

The voice came from the kitchen and Mr. Sabaku raised an eyebrow before looking back at Lee.

"Is this true?"

Lee nodded and wrapped his scarf around his neck.

"It is, but it's fine. Honestly."

Mr. Sabaku hummed and pulled a chequebook out of his pocket, writing a cheque for sixty pounds and handing it to Lee.

"Happy birthday. I will call on you again."

"Sir…"

Lee's eyes widened.

"That's far too much!"

"It's nothing. Now, my taxi is still out there to take you home. I may need you next week."

Lee looked at the cheque and smiled, putting it safely into his pocket.

"Thank you sir! I'll see you again soon."

He peered around the older man to look towards the kitchen.

"Good bye Gaara…"

"Later."

Lee bit his lip gently before heading out to the taxi, climbing in and giving the driver instructions to get him home.

"I'm surprised you didn't eat him."

Gaara raised a hairless brow at his father and leant against the counter.

"What do you mean?" he asked pointedly. His father rarely spoke to him until recently. They had a turbulent relationship at best and sometimes Gaara had been sure that he didn't love him. And then Matsuri had been adopted…

She loved him. For reasons he really couldn't understand, Matsuri absolutely adored him. And that had gone a long way to building bridges between him and his father, because the man doted on her.

"I'm not blind Gaara, I saw the way you were looking at the lad. I haven't seen that look in your eyes since the last time I managed to get a hold of that tongue last Christmas."

Gaara sighed and looked out of the window, sipping at his mug of hot chocolate. He had a little bit of a sweet tooth for the drink.

"I asked him out. He turned me down. End of story."

"Huh. I didn't know I raised such a quitter."

"You didn't raise me." Gaara said dryly. "You handed me over to my psychotic uncle until I was six, then let Temari take care of me."

"Well," Kaze said, not looking ashamed at all. The two of them had made peace with their past some time back. "You're still a Sabaku. Why did he turn you down?"

Gaara shrugged.

"He said he's too involved in his studies to have a boyfriend," he huffed a little.

"Well…he's in the same college as Temari and Kankuro, right?" Kaze asked, pouring himself a coffee. "Does he know you're already in university?"

"No. Strangely the fact that I passed my GCSEs when I was thirteen and my A-Levels when I was fifteen never came up," Gaara said sarcastically.

"Well, maybe you should." Kaze said slyly, sipping his coffee. "If he's having problems with his studies, maybe he could use some help."

Gaara blinked slowly, then smirked, looking almost scarily like his father for a moment.

"Now I know how you got mother. You're sneaky old man."

"I try. Now go to bed."

"Yes sir."

Gaara put his mug down and headed upstairs, dark smirk still on his face. Tomorrow he would start making plans for Lee. One way or another, he'd have his date before Christmas.