Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Research ❯ Chapter 3

 

The Kazekage looked at him from over his shoulder, his expression unchanged. “What?”

 

Lee took a deep breath, staring at the man that he had dreamed of for years. “I challenge you. Tonight.”

 

Gaara slowly turned to face Lee. “You wish to fight me.”

 

“Yes.”

 

The Kazekage stared at him before walking closer, within a hand span of him. “I will not go easy on you because of what happened, if that is what you're thinking.”

 

Lee's hands fisted. “I have never and will never want anyone, especially you, to go easy on me.”

 

“Then why.”

 

“For my own reasons.”

 

The two men stared at each other, unaware of the whispers around them. Gaara's chakra flared, sending the watching shinobi backpedaling, but his focus was completely on the man in front of him. “Fine. When and where.”

 

“There is a training field about two miles outside of the village, due south. In two hours.”

 

“Done.”

 

There was a rush of sand, and the Kazekage was gone. Lee stood in the street, staring at the empty space with his hands fisted. That was not what he had in mind. The original plan had been to try talking to Gaara, maybe offer to grab some dinner with him. There was no plan for a deadly challenge like this, just a friendly one so that Lee could show how much he had changed. That he was not to be dismissed so lightly. Instead . . . in two hours, he was going to be meeting the Kazekage at a deserted training field to fight until one of them surrendered.

 

Or died.

 

A distant, sensible part of Lee's mind knew that it was quite likely that he would not be walking away from this challenge. While he had improved greatly and earned the rank of jounin despite his inability to wield chakra, Gaara was not the Kazekage because he used to be a jinchuuriki, or because his father held the position before him. He was a Kage because he was the strongest in his village, and he was able to stand up to any other Kage. He was in a completely different class then Lee, and the jounin knew it. But that would not stop him. This was his ninja way, and he would prove it, again, to Gaara of the Desert.

 

Lee turned and set off down the street, thoughts of finding his friends or his sensei long forgotten. He would go home and change, inhale a quick meal, and spend the rest of his time stretching and prepping his body. It was probably not the best time for him to be in a tough challenge, since he had run and fought quite a bit that day, but it was not nearly enough to stop him. He would show the Kazekage that he was not someone to be dismissed without a thought.

 

----

 

In the middle of a deserted training field, Lee lay on his back and studied the nighttime sky.

 

“I thought you were serious about this.”

 

Lee picked his head up and looked to the edge of the clearing. The Kazekage was standing there, sand rushing about his feet, with his blank stare firmly in place.

 

“I am, Kazekage-sama. I was simply resting while I waited for you.” With his usual energetic bounce, Lee went to his feet.

 

Gaara walked into the middle of the field. “You do understand that I will not be holding back.”

 

“And neither will I, Kazekage-sama.”

 

“Then you should take the weights off.”

 

Lee smiled, dropping into his perfect stance. “Only if necessary.”

 

“It will be.”

 

The sand exploded into motion, obliterating the spot where Lee stood.

 

“I have changed, Gaara.”

 

The redhead whipped around to face the voice that was now behind him, where Lee was standing, still in his usual stance. The weights were still in place. Jade eyes narrowed as the sand swept around in pursuit of the taijutsu master, aiming to finish off what had started with their first chunin exams. There was nothing more then a green blur, and then his automatic defense was kicking in, surrounding him with sand while blows battered the outside. He spared the extra chakra to engage his sand armor. It was no longer automatic, and he had to make the decision to use it, but as his defenses began to fail under the assault, it was no longer a question of whether or not it was worth the extra chakra expense.

 

Armor in place, Gaara went on the offensive. His sand attacked from multiple directions, forcing Lee to duck and weave instead of attacking. The sand wall fell back, allowing him to see what was going on. Or at least attempt to. There was little to see other then a green blur that would clash with his sand and dart away. He had to slow the dynamo down. With this much speed behind him, he was ripping through his sand. Gaara's hands flashed through a series of seals, calling up a technique to stop his opponent.

 

Lee slammed to a stop as he hit the new jutsu. The fine latticework of sand looked delicate, but it had enough strength to bring him to a standstill. The rest of the sand was cresting in a wave, intending to bury and crush him like so many opponents before him. The black eyes narrowed.

 

Sand flew as the Konoha-nin ripped through the net with a surge of uncontrolled chakra, causing Gaara to jump back. He recognized this move from the exams, but he did not remember it being this quick or powerful before. Lee was ripping open forbidden gates for the extra strength. When his opponent reached down to his legwarmers, Gaara assumed that he would be dropping the weights. Seconds later he was physically dodging, an event that had only happened a handful of times in his life. A nunchuck was slamming through his sand, backed by Lee's power and its own weight. The gourd at his back dissolved as he threw all of his strength into the fray.

 

-

 

A wave of sand shuriken made Lee split his attention. He could no longer focus on driving through Gaara's defenses, now he had to get out of the way of this new attack. When he landed again, blood was running down his face and soaking into his bandages, but he did not notice. He launched forward again, giving his opponent no time to regroup or come up with a new plan. He ripped through a third gate, adding another burst of speed as he slashed his way through the sand, spinning his nunchucks at blinding speed.

 

A hard blow to his back made Lee stumble, trying to find what had hit him. His distraction cost him when Gaara sent the sand rushing forward to tangle around his legs, bringing him to a stop once again. While Lee was fighting to free his legs, Gaara was suddenly in front of him.

 

That look. The uninterested, apathetic look. Like this was too easy. Something inside of Lee snapped. He dropped his nunchucks and ripped open two more gates, tearing through the sand and slamming into Gaara, driving him to the ground and holding him there by the throat, the sand armor cracking in his grip. “I am strong enough for you, Gaara.”

 

-

 

The green eyes flew wide when the Kazekage hit the ground, Lee pinning him down. The automatic defenses jumped, but only succeeded in surrounding them both in sand. The expression was no longer blank, but instead dark with a scowl. Gaara clenched his hand in a fist, sending his sand slamming into Lee's side and tearing him away. The armor around his throat failed completely, and blood oozed into the sand from the damage. He got to his feet, glaring at the green clad man that was picking himself up from the other side of the training field. Gaara rebuilt his sand armor, never taking his eyes off of his opponent. Lee was dangerous.

 

The man seemed to just disappear, but the sand was already leaping to the defense. Gaara reformed his net, but now it only slowed Lee down before he broke through it. With five gates open, it was going to take more then that to stop him. Gaara flashed through a new set of hand seals, and the ground began to shake. He had not used this technique since he lost Shukaku, but he could not think of much else that would stop this opponent. From under the green of Konoha, sand was pouring up, adding to his ammunition.

 

-

 

Lee realized what was going on and redoubled his efforts. With that much sand, he would not be able to just dodge and tear through. He slammed a kick straight through Gaara's defenses while the man was distracted with his technique, knocking him back several yards before his sand caught him. However, time was up. More sand than he could keep track of was now swarming after him, directed by the red head that was kneeling and holding his ribs while he glared.

 

It was checkmate, and Lee knew it, but he continued to fight. A glancing blow from a tendril of sand knocked his balance off a bit, and with the speed he was using, it was disastrous. A second blow caught his shoulder, throwing him further off balance and off course. Trying to compensate slowed him down, and then the sand had him. He was snatched down to Earth and slammed into the ground as the sand fell on top of him, crushing the air from his lungs. There was nothing but black and pain, a pain he remembered far too well. It was one of his nightmares come to life. He tried to scream, but the sand would not even allow that. It fell into his mouth, cutting off what air he had left.

 

There was nothing but pain, dark, and the soft hiss off falling sand becoming quieter and quieter.

 

The weight suddenly disappeared. Lee coughed and spluttered, spitting out sand and gasping for air as the sand left his face and chest. When he was finally able to open his eyes, Gaara was glaring down at him. He was still being held down by the sand, and his left arm and leg were completely covered. The symbolism was not lost on him. Snarling, he yanked at the sand, but even with his five gates still open, the sand was not budging. He focused his gaze on the Kazekage, noting the way he was still holding his ribs and the blood that had leaked into his sand in several places, particularly at his throat.

 

Gaara dropped to one knee at his side, still watching him carefully. He reached out with one finger and trailed it through the blood running off of Lee's face. “Do you think any of these will scar?” The blood covered finger was slipped between Gaara's lips.

 

It took Lee a long moment to answer, his expression dark. “Most likely.”

 

“Good.” Gaara trailed his hand over the ripped spandex, lingering over cuts and making Lee wince. “I like the idea of you having scars from me.”

 

“I already have scars from you.”

 

The sand shifted, revealing most of the arm and leg in question while reinforcing the rest of the restraints. “I remember them. I enjoyed touching them.” Gaara trailed his hand over the ripped cloth that covered most of the old damage. A wince crossed the redhead's face and he tightened his grip on his own ribs.

 

Lee should have felt guilty or worried about possibly breaking a Kage's ribs, or almost ripping his throat out, but he didn't. He felt like he could almost understand what Gaara meant about the scars. He found that he almost liked the idea of Gaara being hurt the next day, and remembering just who had done it to him.

 

The hand on Lee's body trailed lower to the apex of his thighs, cupping him through the spandex. “I want to touch you still. Why?”

 

Lee gasped and squirmed, trying to get away from the inquisitive grip. “I do not want to do this again.”

 

“Why not? You enjoyed it.” The grip tightened as Gaara leaned forward to run his tongue along Lee's cheek, lapping at his blood. “Don't pretend that you didn't. I heard you scream for me.”

 

“Not like this,” Lee growled. “I will not be used.”

 

Gaara stroked him slowly, ignoring his protests.

 

Power surged as Lee yanked the sixth gate open, tearing through the sand's loosening grip to slam Gaara back to the ground, purposefully digging a knee into the injury he had caused. “I will not be used and shoved aside by you!”

 

The Kazekage gasped in pain. The sand knocked Lee aside again at his command, but the damage was already done. Lee had felt the ribs crack and move under his knee, even through the remaining sand armor. With six gates open, it was a tribute to Gaara's armor that he had not been killed. He slowly rolled to his knees, warily watching the kneeling Kage. A weak cough rattled him, and he could feel the power draining out of him, the gates closing. Soon they were both on their knees, gasping and glaring at each other.

 

“Why did you leave like that, Gaara?”

 

The jade eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

 

“You did not say anything! You did not leave a note, or say good bye, or anything!”

 

“Was I supposed to?”

 

Lee wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh, cry, or scream. “Yes, you were supposed to! Even if it meant nothing to you!”

 

Gaara continued to stare. “Is that why you wanted to fight me?”

 

“I do not like being shoved aside and forgotten, Gaara.”

 

“You were not forgotten.”

 

Lee looked up, his eyes wide. “What?”

 

“I did not forget you.” Gaara looked away, glaring at nothing. “I did try, but I couldn't. You were different. I still have not figured out why.”

 

“Then why . . . “

 

“I left because I was done. What else was there for me to do?”

 

“Naruto said that you were doing research. I think you missed some important parts.” Lee could taste blood in his mouth, and he knew he would be collapsing very soon. Six gates did not leave much behind. He was looking at weeks of pain from this. Across from him, Gaara coughed and wiped at blood at the corner of his mouth. Neither of them would be walking back to the village under their own power. He rather hoped that someone was on their way to investigate the wild chakra surges.

 

“Perhaps the research isn't closed after all.”

 

The world was becoming rather fuzzy. “I think we have a problem, Kazekage-sama. I am not going to be able to walk back, and I am not sure you are in any condition to go back on your own.”

 

“Why did you call me that?”

 

Lee looked up, trying to focus as the world spun. “That is your title.”

 

“You called me Gaara that night. You called me Gaara tonight, while we were fighting.”

 

“I was not being very respectful tonight.”

 

The sound of pounding feet sounded like angel's wings to Lee.

 

“Holy shit! You two tore this place apart! Tenten, check on Lee, I'll look at Gaara. Hey, Gaara, you okay? You look like shit.”

 

“Lee, Lee, are you okay?”

 

Gentle arms caught at Lee and supported him while hands touched his face. Lee did not have the energy to open his eyes.

 

“Hey, Naruto, I think Lee's unconscious. He looks like he's been opening gates again. I'm going to take him to the hospital.”

 

“Gaara's got some broken ribs and he's coughing up blood. He's half-out, too. Looks like I'll be running there with you.”

 

Blackness fell, and Lee did not try to fight it anymore.

 

----

 

No matter how often it happened, Lee was never happy to wake up to the soft beep of hospital equipment and the amber eyed glare of his Hokage. The buxom blonde was standing over his bed, glaring down at him when his eyes opened. “Hello, Hokage-sama.”

 

“When I said you had things to take care of, I didn't mean try to get yourself killed. Or the Kazekage, for that matter. Not that I'm surprised, of course. How many gates did you open this time?”

 

“Six.” Lee was taking a quick assessment of his body, and was rather happy with the results. It felt like all of his limbs were attached and responding, even if it was mind numbingly painful to move at all.

 

“Six. Just because of a one night stand. It's probably a good thing you don't date much.” Tsunade turned aside, looking over to Sakura. “He's going to be here for about a week, and don't let him escape. He is not to leave this bed until I say so. Understood?”

 

“Yes, shishou.” Sakura nodded sharply, standing at attention until her mentor swept out of the room. After the blonde left, she sagged a bit and made a face. “What, does she want me to stand guard over you twenty-four hours a day?”

 

“I do not think that I will need a guard tonight, Sakura. I could not leave the bed until tomorrow at the earliest.” Lee smiled at her to the best of his abilities, but even that was painful.

 

“You heard her. You're not leaving that bed until she says so, even if I do have to stand guard constantly. You were in surgery for hours, and I'm not having that much work wasted.” With a huff, the pink haired medic-nin straightened out his blankets carefully, her hands gentle. “Honestly, I don't know how she patched you together by herself, considering how long it took with both of us working on it.”

 

“Thank you, Sakura.”

 

“Then do me a favor and stay in bed so I don't have to break your legs to keep you there.”

 

Lee winced. “Yes, Sakura.”

 

“Good boy.” Sakura gave him a very gentle pat on the head. “I have to check on another patient, but I'll be back soon to check on you. Rest.”

 

“Yes, Sakura.”

 

Sakura swept through the doorway and out of sight, but her voice echoed back into the room. “What the hell . . . I mean, you shouldn't be up, Kazekage-sama. You need to go back to your room right . . . no, I'm not letting you in there. I've got some pretty good ideas on what you two were fighting about and . . . whoa, hey! Not in a hospital! Put the sand away . . . with all due respect, of course . . . fine, but I'll be back in just a couple of minutes, and if so much as a hair is out of place . . . no, I'd never threaten a Kage . . . “

 

Lee stared at the ceiling, his mouth turning up in a smile despite the way it hurt. Everyone seemed to be taking turns trying to protect him from Gaara as of late. A soft sound made him look towards the door.

 

Gaara stood there, staring at him. Considering the fight they had just had, and the last time Gaara had visited him in the hospital, it was not really a surprise when the monitors picked up a change in his pulse.

 

“We were not done talking.”

 

The redhead walked further into the room, moving carefully in his baggy hospital clothes. The gourd was missing, but that was not a surprise considering that Lee had busted several ribs. Lee found the remote for this bed and hit the button that elevated the top half of his body for him so he could see his visitor. “No, we were not.”

 

“You fought me because I didn't say anything before I left. You said that my research was incomplete. What did you mean?”

 

Lee sighed a bit. “What kind of research did you do?”

 

Gaara eased into the chair at Lee's bedside, his expression and posture calm and clinical. “I have been researching the behaviors that appear to define human. Sex is almost an obsession with people, so I started to research it. The actual process did not seem to warrant the amount of time people seem to devote to it, so I started my experiments.”

 

“Experiments . . . That would be the girls that everyone is talking about.” The black hair swung as Lee's head tipped forward. He whispered, almost as an afterthought, “And me.”

 

“I found the act pleasant, and something that I enjoyed doing, but I still didn't understand the obsession. I would have sex, and that was it. And then there was you.” Gaara's eyes became almost accusing. “I still think about that night, a month later. What did you do?”

 

“Me?” Lee's eyes went wide. “I did not do anything, Kazekage-sama!”

 

“There was something different, and I don't think it was because you were a man.” Gaara's grip tightened on the arms of his chair. “Have the other men thought about you afterwards?”

 

“Other men?”

 

“The other men you have slept with. I'm assuming you have not slept with any women.”

 

Lee just closed his eyes. This conversation was becoming more painful then his injuries. “There have not been any other men. Or women, Kazekage-sama.”

 

Gaara's eyes narrowed. “Don't lie.”

 

“I am not lying. The only one I have been with is you.”

 

“But that doesn't make sense. It should have been more awkward, not less.” Gaara leaned back in his chair, eyes unfocused. “It was more awkward in the beginning, but like any skill, it improved with practice. Why was it so easy for you?”

 

“It was not easy. Far from it.”

 

“You didn't seem to have any issues. If you hadn't said something, I would have assumed you had done this before.”

 

“You do not know anything about what happened!” Lee's eyes snapped open to glare at the redhead, even as stars danced in front of his eyes from the effort of yelling. “Whether you believe it or not, you were my first. My first everything. Nobody else would bother. . . nobody else would want to . . . would want me. . . “

 

Gaara stared at him, his expression blank. “What do you mean?”

 

Lee's eyes slid closed again, the pain echoing through his body and his heart. “Nobody else has ever wanted me that way, Kazekage-sama. You were the first. I am sorry that I made you believe otherwise, but that is the truth.”

 

The redhead that sat beside him was silent, and Lee did not open his eyes. He wanted Gaara to go away so he could just let it out. It was too much.

 

“Why not?”

 

A soft, almost self-hating chuckle racked through Lee's chest. “Is that a real question?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Because I am a hot blooded drop out, a jounin that cannot control chakra. A man who loves other men. Someone that is covered with scars, with eyebrows that are too big and eyes that are too wide.”

 

The silence stretched out, so uncomfortable that it became acceptable only because the mind could not accept the pain that it caused. The tears were threatening, but Lee held them back. He would never show weakness in front of this man. Never.

 

“I wanted your body the second someone suggested that it was possible. The idea would not let me go. It fascinated me. Strong and scarred. It still does.”

 

Lee chuckled again, but with a slightly less macabre edge to it. “You are fascinated with me, Kazekage-sama?”

 

“Yes, even now.” There was a rustle of cloth, and then a warm hand was touching his bare arm below the hospital gown. “I don't understand why you are so different, but I can't forget you. I want to experience you again. No one else. I can't think of them in the same way I do you.”

 

A weak pain pulled at Lee's heart. “Kazekage-sama . . . “

 

“I need to experience that again. It will not leave me alone.” The once gentle grip on Lee's arm tightened. “I want you.”

 

A single tear ran down Lee's cheek. “And I have not been able to forget that night either, Kazekage-sama.”

 

“Then why are you refusing to let me touch you like that again, if you want the same thing?”

 

“I cannot. I cannot be used like a toy that amuses you. I am not like you. It means more to me.”

 

“The part of the research that you said I missed.”

 

Lee nodded, ignoring the pain ricocheting through his head at the movement.

 

“Help me with my research while I'm here in Konoha. Show me what I missed.”

 

The moment hung on the edge of a knife, and Lee forced his eyes open. Gaara was watching him, his expression blank and clinical, but there was something in his eyes . . . like hope was burning behind the jaded façade. Pain was ripping through Lee again, but it was not from his injuries. He knew what he was facing, the kind of pain he would be subjecting himself to, his heart being ripped from his chest and toyed with before being tossed aside as a failed experiment by a man that would not even understand that he was causing pain . . . but since when had Lee ever run away from pain? Gaara needed him. Only him. The Kazekage was trying to understand . . .

 

“I will help you, Kazekage-sama.”