Their duty becomes anguish when someone decides to do a summoning circle.

It happens suddenly, Lee has no clue what is going on, but one moment Gaara is there and the next he's jerking away from him, like someone's tugging on a leash that's connected to him, and then he's gone in a whirl of sand.

Lee freezes. "Gaara? … Gaara! GAARAAA!"

.

He finds him at a Children's hospital. The problem with this is that the Children's hospital is sinking in a swirling mass of sand and all the doors and windows are blocked out with the desert soil.

Lee can hear the screams of the children, the doctors, the nurses, the visitors, the patients – all of them can be heard in his head. There is no blotting it out, it's too loud, and he cries crystal tears that turn to feathers as he watches the destruction of human life.

Demons are not murderers. Neither are angels, unless they are at war. In eternity, a demon will tempt, collect, torture, but they will never kill. Why should they? Everyone will die on their own in their own ways and demons and angels live as long as there are places to go in the afterlife. There is no need to interrupt the process for selfish reasons.

Demons are not murderers. And Gaara is not a killer. But someone here obviously is and they're using Gaara for this act of pure and unmentionable evil and desperation. Lee stands there, watching, wearing a human form of dark skin, dark hair, and the darkest eyes, and feathers made of pure white Grace float on the wind.

"Gaara… who is doing this to you?"

It doesn't take long for him to get an answer. The top two floors of the hospital explode in a fiery display of sick pleasure and Lee can, just barely, hear someone laughing.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW, SUNAGAKURE, UHN? NOW WHO'S ON TOP, UHN? I AM!"

Angels are not as kind and gentle as folklore foretells. When it comes to righteous fury, even demons will cower. Lee spreads his wings. May Mother forgive him, but he might become a murderer yet.

.

His name is Iwa Deidara, and, in the end, Lee doesn't kill him. Lee goes up… and Deidara comes down. Over the edge of the building, that is. The floor had been shifting beneath his feet and when Lee turned up, wings spread behind him, angelic rage in his expression, Deidara laughed himself silly and slipped.

Gaara is not bound to serve the dead. Lee knows the exact moment his forced service is over because the building goes still and sunlight filters in as the windows and doors come uncovered. And then, in a whoosh of sand, he is there at Lee's side.

This is the first time Gaara has ever looked so human to Lee. It's surprising to see that he's so pale and his hair is so red and his eyes are so light. Lee feels like his complete opposite. But then all he feels is pain.

There is a collar secured around Gaara's neck, twigs and bones wrapped in red leather, and the Japanese symbol for "love" has been carved into his left temple like an artist's signature. "Gaara…" Lee opens his wings and brings them around the demon, reaching out and ripping the collar off of him. It burns his hand. "Oh, Gaara!"

The only signs of Gaara's true demonic self are the thick raccoon mask and his tail. The latter wraps around Lee like a steel bar and Gaara roars, roars, with fury and rage and hatred in his voice, against his throat.

Demons are not meant to be controlled. Demons are not meant to be pets. Demons are not murderers. And though the same can be said about angels, it isn't Lee who was hurt here.

"Come along, Gaara, into me now. I will hold you close and safe." Lee smiles as Gaara wordlessly dissolves into a single grain. Lee's skin dusts away until he is what he truly is and Gaara homes himself in his light. The collar drops to the ground and melts into black goo.

He takes a moment to rest in the familiar sensation of a life force within his Grace. And then he disappears. There is much work to be done here and many souls to lead to where they need to be.

And Deidara is waiting.

.

Someone sees Naruto and Hinata making love on earth.

Gaara and Lee stand in a hall that has no definite shape and the length of it is longer than Time. From here to beyond forever are rows of demons and angels held in tense silence as She and He preside over them and wait.

Crouched before them are Naruto and Hinata, chains of pure light clinging Hinata's wings to the ground while they are both held in the shape they were found in – human. Hinata has lilac eyes and long silky hair with the curvaceous body of a maiden. Naruto has golden blonde hair and sky blue eyes and the only hint to his demonic identity are the six total whisker marks on his cheeks and his fanged snarl.

I thought you knew this wasn't allowed?

What were you two THINKING? You know better than this, you both do! Hinata, you… you I really can't believe, you were always good at following the rules.

Hinata ducks her head ashamedly and Naruto roars to his feet before twisted black energy forces him back down. "Some rules are just meant to be broken, aren't they? What's so wrong about it, huh? Love's love and I don't understand what your issue against it is!" He manages to twist his head around to meet Hinata's teary eyes. "I love Hinata and she loves me! There's nothing wrong about it!"

"Naruto…" She reaches out for him, as far as she can, but her fingertips fall a hair width short from meeting his outstretched hand.

Lee has to look away because this is more heartbreaking than anything he has ever seen.

Of course love is just love BUT ~ love isn't just love when it's between a demon and an angel. That's an imbalance of power and what happens if you two have a child, hm? Well, bad things of course! Worlds will be destroyed, wars between Me and Her will start, and you two will be entirely at fault. Do you really want to put us all through that?

"We don't have to have kids!" Naruto barks. "Fuck it, I don't even need to be a demon and I know she loves me enough to give up her angelhood."

No one makes a sound but suddenly the hall is nothing more than noise. Not many couples through the ages have ever said anything so daring and promised such sacrifices. Gaara disintegrates into a single grain of sand and homes himself in Lee's light in the general location of where the human heart would be. Lee holds him there because this closeness keeps him comforted and he doesn't want to face the verdict alone.

Hinata and Naruto stay quiet, staring at each other. Hinata inches her wing forward, feathers ripped off by the chain as she does so, but she manages to cover Naruto's hand with it nonetheless and she smiles like that is all she could ever want. Naruto smiles back.

You say that now but not many can actually stick to their words once they're put in the mortal realm.

… I don't know… Heh, you two ARE the best team we have and, hell, if this is what's making it happen…

You can't be serious.

Why not? I'm not in the mood for stripping wings.

What about all the others that have been punished for this same crime? How is this fair to them?

They're dead by now. If they managed to hold onto the person they sacrificed for in life, they got to stick with them afterwards anyway.

I object to this!

FINE! Damn, we'll come up with some conditions. Alright, you, fox brat, I want… how about one? Yeah, one other demon that's willing to sacrifice the same you are for the sake of an angel. If you can, you two can keep working and we'll stop getting in the way of angel-demon love affairs.

… I can agree to that. Tobi leans back and Lee can't see it but he knows He is smiling behind His mask.

Demons are monumentally much more selfish than angels. It isn't that they are created that way but living in Hell would do that to even an angel. There is so little to go around and the instinct for survival will drive them to do many bad things. Naruto is one in all who would ever give up his powers, his ranks, his demonic form, for the sake of love.

If you can't find one other demon that shares your view by… oh, let's say by the time the Jubas wake up? Yes, well then, if you can't find one other demon that's willing to give up everything by then, I will personally make you your own realm of Hell where you can think about what you've done.

"What about Hinata?"

Eh, I'll let her get back to work.

"Deal!"

"Naruto!" Hinata looks at him desperately. "No, it's, it's okay, Naruto, please, no… If, if he fails, send me to Hell with him!" She looks at Tobi with so much hope and pain and Tobi only laughs at her.

You're running out of time, fox brat! Get moving!

And his chains shatter.

.

Lee is surprised when the person Naruto tackles is him. "Where's Gaara? C'mon, Lee, be quick, where is he?"

"Naruto, I do not think now is the time you should choose to have a chat! Do you know just how long it is till the Juba people wake up?"

The Juba people are on a planet very, very, very far away. So far away are they that they are nearly within burning proximity to their own sun and the planet is so small and rocky that the sunlight nearly reaches around its circumference all at one time. The entities that live there have adapted to the melting temperatures and sleep most of their day away until they reach that one small point of night.

That would be a good thing except their rotation, in human time, takes only about four or five hours depending on the season and they are already halfway through their sunlight.

"Yeah, that's why I'm here! Now where is he?"

Gaara worms his way free of Lee's light and a whirlwind of sand mounts up to be him in his demon form. "Don't you dare, Naruto."

"Do not… what? Gaara, what is going on?" Lee looks between them, confused.

"I've got to, man, you're my only hope."

Something inside of Lee shatters. "Oh… Oh… So… Gaara, you love an angel? … I… I see." He tries to think of who it could be. The pain that twists through him makes it hard and he doesn't understand it.

"Lee…" Gaara shifts to look at him. "… Yes."

"That is… That is so great! I mean, I am so happy for you… I mean, good luck! YOSH, may you help Naruto achieve true peace."

"Yeah, he's going to have to!" Naruto snarls and then he does something Lee never expected.

He shoves him right into Gaara's chest. Gaara's tail swishes and nearly knocks Naruto off his feet, but the blonde comes back full force and puts a hand on the back of heads.

"Naruto, what are you d-" Lee's wings flutter in shock.

It's an uncomfortable fit, Lee basically has no face and Gaara's face is kind of pointy towards the edge of his muzzle. But Gaara tastes like smoke, ice, sand, and copper all in one and Gaara… Gaara doesn't push Lee away, he drags him closer. His tail wraps possessively around his waist and Lee feels the shudder that runs through him.

When they finally separate, Lee finally understands the term "breathlessness". He's currently suffering from it. He doesn't even breathe. "G-Gaara? You…?"

"You didn't even notice?" Naruto scoffs. "Geez, I kind of thought you two were just dancing around the issue, I didn't think you two didn't know!" He scratches the back of his neck. "Well, guess now's better than ever! So just admit it you two!"

"I… I… It was that obvious?"

Gaara jerks and his ears press forward. "Lee?"

He smiles and circles his arms around Gaara's shoulders, crushing the demon to him. "I have loved you since the time you saved me from Kimimaro. You really are kind and gentle, even if you do not know it, and I become happier every day that we are together!" He flushes. "Even though I was not planning on admitting to my feelings as of yet. I, I was most certainly going to, no matter the consequences – no, damn the consequences – but… well… I did not want to take the choice away from you and have you stripped of your demonhood."

Naruto is bouncing on his heels. "Come on, come on, come on, come on… Just say it back, would you, Gaara? Fuck, if I've noticed, then you might as well give in now, you stubborn asshole!"

The demon licks his lips slowly, throws Naruto away with a powerful whip of his tail, and curls his fists into Lee's hips. "I… wouldn't mind."

"W-what?"

"I said I wouldn't mind!" Gaara fixes him with a deep look. "I'd rather be with you with your strange habits and your infectious smile then stuck in this job with anyone else. Because I…" Lee's wings wrap around them, soft and powerful against their temporary skin. Gaara puts his mouth to Lee's ear. "Because I love you too."

You knew about this, didn't you? It hasn't even been ten minutes, damn it!

Hey, I keep tabs on my kids. Maybe you should too.

This is why I stopped gambling with you millennia ago.

Hah!

.

Gaara and Lee are somewhere south of the sun near Jupiter. The mystery that is life has tossed a poor Martian off his planet and into the sky. The bad news is that this Martian is evil and his own evil experiment is what had him shot off Mars. The worse news is that he's a shameless flirt.

In rough Martian dialect, he basically asks Lee to bend over.

In the universal language of "He's mine", Gaara basically crushes him into oblivion with his tail.

"Gaara!"

"What? He's going with me anyway."

"That is not the point."

Gaara brushes his shoulder affectionately against Lee's. "It is to me."

.

Author's Note: Three things inspired this: the doujinshi White & Black by Misasagi Kumiko that can be found on Mangafox, the doujinshi Three Wolves Mountain by Naono Bohra that can also be found on mangafox, and the story Animal by Darkalbino on Fanfiction. After I read Darkalbino's story, I was reminded of the doujinshi and then I just… Exploded with creativity.