Iruka. Ir-uk-a. Dolphin?

It was, Lee thought wryly, a strange name for a cat. But Naruto looked happy and Hinata was near aglow with joy and the day was a beautiful one.

Here he sat at his dearest friend's apartment, with his dearest friend's pregnant fiance prancing about in a golden haze, with his most beloved man's hand wrapped securely in his own.

Oh, yes, it was a very beautiful day.

"Thank you, Lee," Hinata trilled softly, Iruka in arms. "He fits right in with our little family."

"He really does," Naruto agreed, fondly rubbed at the feline's scarred maw. Iruka's reply was to purr and lean into the blonde's touch, tail twitching.

"I am glad, then, that I immediately thought of you two when I found him!" And he was also a little suspicious...

The feline had settled in almost instantly and with complete content, as if he knew that this was where he belonged and that these very humans were his own. He even appeared to know that Hinata was with child with how he constantly rubbed at her belly and stayed diligently at her side.

Lee almost suspected that the cat was secretly a guardian angel, sent to earth to first protect Lee and now to guard Hinata's child till birth. Or maybe Iruka was simply a very wise animal with a great heart and a large source of courage.

Lee gazed thoughtfully at Iruka, whose returning squinted look almost dared Lee to try and figure him out.

Naruto's attention swung towards the groceries by Lee's leg. "What's in the bag, Bushybrow?"

"Ah! Just some cat food for Iruka, enough to tide over till tomorrow. I did not want him to get hungry or to rush either of you."

Hinata offered to feed Iruka and took the cat food to the kitchen, the feline following ever so loyally behind her.

And then there were three... The air felt a little chillier without Hinata in the room.

Naruto's eyes went abruptly flat and hard as he focused on Gaara. Lee squeezed the Father's hand in support. Father Sabaku had not said a word since they had left the market with the cat's food. On the train and on the walk over, he had held his peace, contemplating air and empty space while his fingers had intertwined with Lee's, as if to make certain he did not become lost in his own wondering. Of course, Lee would take any excuse to hold his loved one's hand, especially with everything in their relationship being so new and exciting and...

Still slight unnerving and a bit overwhelming, but nothing Lee could not handle.

Lee could handle anything and everything that came their way because he loved, loved, loved Father Sabaku.

He swallowed thickly as Naruto's expression grew dark.

Yes, he could handle anything and everything. Except, perhaps, Naruto's disdain. He was his best friend and they had gone through the most difficult part of their lives together. Yes, Naruto had already given him a somewhat blessing, but that look... That scowl!

It did not bode well. Lee was beginning to believe that Naruto had changed his mind somewhere in the past few days.

Then, with a visible shudder and a long sigh, Naruto leaned back in his chair. Defeated. "Well, shitake mushrooms. I don't really have anything against you, Gaara, not really, but Bushybrow doesn't have a big brother or dad or anyone to threaten you. So it's my job to make sure you know who you're messing with if you don't treat him right."

Father Sabaku put on his most solemn face. Fascinatingly enough, it looked no different from his usual neutral expression.

Relief and amusement were instantaneous, almost to point where Lee laughed as the tension and fear dissipated. Almost.

This was a serious situation, however, and Naruto was being very, very serious.

Naruto jabbed a finger in Gaara's direction. "Hurt him and I'll hunt you down and chop you up and serve you to Iruka for breakfast."

"Naruto!" Lee admonished, only to be stopped by Gaara's hand squeezing his.

"You shouldn't have to go to Hell for murder," Gaara said.

The blonde's response was only to grin, revealing all teeth, and respond, "It won't be murder, though. It'll be mercy compared to the other things I have in mind."

It was sweet of him to be so concerned! Lee couldn't help but choke on sentiment. Nonetheless... "Naruto, thank you, but it really is not necessary." He met Gaara's eyes. Pale and beautiful and soft.

Gosh, Lee loved those eyes.

"Gaara would never intentionally hurt me," he said truthfully, not adding on what could be done unintentionally. Lee didn't want to think about that immediately, the unnerving and overwhelming part that Lee's frazzled nerves were not completely ready and stable for. He would, soon, because he was no coward and no procrastinator, but not at that very moment.

"Yeah, yeah, but... Someone's got to say it. Hinata would, but I don't want her getting in trouble. Baby and all of that." All at once, Naruto was radiant just at the thought of their child.

Lee smiled. "Knowing that you care is enough!"

"And I respect your wishes," Gaara added on. He looked at Lee again.

There was something cordial and radiating in his eyes. Something that seeped into Lee's skin and bones. Whatever Gaara had been so focused on must have resolved itself. Or maybe he had put it aside for the moment. But there was no worry in his pale gaze.

He looked only at Lee and the felicity Lee witnessed warmed him as if he was wrapped in the softest, thickest blankets during a cool night, tucked around him by the Father himself.

Because Gaara cared if he was warm or not.

~""~

He loved Lee.

While Lee had slept and even as Lee had gotten ready in the morning and during the trip to the market and then to Naruto and Hinata's apartment, Gaara had thought.

Should he risk this? Was it worth it? Why would he willingly put someone in harm's way? Why endanger another soul? Who was he, to believe he deserved something so special and human? Lee, one of his own followers, could not hold him and convince him if he did not want to be convinced.

So was he simply selfish, wanting to stay with Lee that he gave in so easily? Or was he simply foolish, giving into Lee and himself?

He sat across from Naruto, Lee's hand in his, the blonde priest-in-training glowering in his direction, and finally came to an answer.

It was all of it. He was selfish and foolish and damned, but he had love. It filled him for a moment, in his chest, heavy and on fire. It brought him pleasure and pain when he looked into Lee's hopeful eyes.

Lee loved him. Lee had seen him at his worst, had suffered from his touch, had suffered so much in the past, but he still had the strength to love. He had the courage to love someone such as Gaara, who was, or so he had thought was, unlovable.

Lee proved him wrong.

Lee loved him.

And he... loved Lee.

His mother's rosary beads warmed through his cassock's pocket. She approved.

They left Naruto's home close to evening. On the train, standing in the aisle with hands still interlocked, Lee smiled at him. And then he laughed.

Gaara deadpanned, "I amuse you."

Lee just shook his head. "No, no... Well, yes, actually, you are a part of it. I was just remembering something from my youth. A conversation I had a with a close friend of mine."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

Lee frowned thoughtfully. "What does my aura say to -"

Gaara did not care for the other people on the train in that moment. There was him and Lee and those words in Gaara's mind.

He kissed the younger man. And Lee, without a moment's hesitation, kissed him back.

"I love you," Lee gushed, pushing into Gaara's chest.

He pressed his lips to Lee's forehead, resting there. "You were speaking of your aura..."

"I was? Oh, yes, I was! My aura, does it seem fragile to you?"

He pulled back to look into dark eyes. They were open and curious. "No," he answered honestly. "You are the strongest person I know. As well as the bravest." He whispered into Lee's ear, "I lean on you when I do not have the strength to stand by myself."

The younger man was silent for awhile, shivering against him in restrained emotion. "I do not understand... How I can fall in love with you all over again!? Oh!" Arms thrown around Gaara's shoulders, Lee dragged him into another kiss, deep and warm and chaste in nature. "I hope it is like this for the rest of our lives!"

He said it with certainty, as if they would have the rest of their lives together. Perhaps they would.

It would take a being much more foolish than Gaara to doubt Lee's resolve in such things as love and loyatly.

Gaara was all the more blessed to have both.

~""~

The After-Story Truth:PARTNERS OF RAPE VICTIMS PART THREE (as taken from www . supportline . org . uk / problems / rape _ sexual-assault . php#male) –

Don't force your partner to tell you about what happened, but let them know you are there if and when they do want to talk.

Ask your partner how you can help if they have panic attacks, nightmares, or flashbacks. Ask them what they want you to do.

Accept that your partner's behavior may be erratic and your partner may push you away and for some time may not want any kind of intimacy with you. Try to not take this as if your partner is rejecting you, your partner needs time to rebuild trust and confidence and needs time to heal from what has happened.

Be guided by your partner if she/he wants to be intimate and allow your partner to take control as much as possible and allow them to decide what they feel comfortable with and what they don't feel comfortable with. Allow them to take things at their own pace.

Give your partner reassurance and always stop any sexual activity when your partner wants you to.

Author's Note: Belated update! I have not forgotten this story, I assure you. I just hit a very rough patch of writer's block. I am sorry and thank you for your patience. There is possibly one more update after this.