Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Research ❯ Chapter 4

A/N: Hey, I'll promise more activity next time, and a special thank you to zorame for looking this over, and to my reviewers who have helped me keep going through a tough story.

 

----

 

“Hey, hey, look who's up!”

 

Lee turned away from the window, eyes wide. “Not so loud! I do not want Sakura to come back and see me out of bed! She would be very angry.”

 

The blonde dropped a takeout box on the bedside table and commandeered a chair. “Back to your old tricks, huh? Must be feeling better.”

 

“Yes, thank you!” Lee offered a thumbs up. “Tsunade-sama says that I will be cleared to leave in two days. I have been given permission to be up once per day.”

 

“So, how many times have you been up today?”

 

Lee looked sheepish. “Three, but my youthful energy is returning, and I do not want to stay in bed all day. This way I can observe the village and see my friends!”

 

“Wow, only a week in the hospital. Granny and Sakura are getting really good at putting you back together again.”

 

“Aside from the damage from the gates, there were only minor fractures and severe muscle tears.” Lee's expression faltered. “I believe the Kazekage was holding back.”

 

“No way.” Naruto snorted. “I saw that field, he wasn't holding back. That's the problem with Gaara. He's only got two settings: defense and complete destruction. Yeah, he pulled that killing blow before finishing you off, but that's it.”

 

Lee tracked a hand over his left arm. “If you say so.”

 

“He didn't have the choice to hold back, `cause you sure as hell weren't. Did I remember to say nice job on the ribs?”

 

“Yes.” The taijutsu master chuckled a bit. “Every day.”

 

“Well, I'm saying it again. Nice job!”

 

“Naruto, that is no way to talk about your youthful friend.”

 

The blonde linked his hands behind his head, leaning back in the chair. “A youthful friend that needed his ass whooped, and you did a hell of a job on that.”

 

“Well, thank you, Naruto.” Lee smiled again as he moved across the room to sit on the edge of his bed. “Have you seen the Kazekage today?”

 

“Don't tell me that idiot went and disappeared on you again. I'll kick his ass up around his ears.”

 

“No! No, he has visited me in the hospital. He was released yesterday, and has been caught up in meetings ever since. I am hoping that he will be able to get free today!”

 

Naruto's eyebrows lowered. “Look, I'm not getting involved in whatever kind of `relationship' you two have. My head might explode. But that doesn't mean I'm going to ignore it if Gaara keeps being an ass.”

 

“It is nothing like that! They delayed the start of the chunnin exams until he was out of the hospital, so he has been very busy. He has kept in touch with me, even if there has been little time to really talk.”

 

“All right, all right. Don't mean to go all mother hen on you, but it's like every time you and him get together, you end up hurt.”

 

“I appreciate your concern, Naruto! You are my youthful friend, and I wish for your happiness as well. We should be enjoying the Springtime of Youth together!”

 

“Man, I told you about saying weird crap like that to me.” Naruto made a face. “Sounds like you're hitting on me or something.”

 

“Sorry, Naruto. I do not want you to worry. I can take care of this.”

 

The blonde clapped his friend on the shoulder, then yelped with Lee returned the gesture and knocked him out of his chair. “No kidding. I don't know why I worry so much. You're tougher then nails, bushy brows.”

 

“Thank you, my Springtime friend!”

 

“Lee!”

 

“Sorry, Naruto.”

 

----

 

Books were scattered across Lee's bed, the bedside table, and were making their way towards his chair. Gai-sensei had dropped off some taijutsu manuscripts, and Tenten had brought some weapons manuals. Lee had his notebook out, carefully jotting down notes. He had seen Tenten's Dragon technique several times, and he was almost certain he could create something similar using parts of the Primary Lotus. Once he was cleared to train, Tenten had already promised to help him put his new technique together.

 

`If each kunai weighs eight ounces, and I can release one each quarter second, I will run out of weapons in five seconds. I will need more shuriken and senbon, since they -`

 

“Lee.”

 

“Ack!”

 

Papers flew as Lee startled, a kunai flashing through the air only to be caught by sand. “Kazekage-sama!”

 

Gaara held his hand out, and the sand dropped the weapon into it. He studied the deadly blade for a moment, then looked at Lee. The sand hissed and rushed around the Kazekage's feet.

 

“I am sorry, Kazekage-sama. It was part of my training for years. Gai-sensei would try to surprise me while I was resting. I keep a kunai under my mattress at all times.”

 

“Even in a hospital?”

 

“Well, he has been known to surprise me here as a part of my training.” Lee smiled weakly. “It seems that the training worked.”

 

Gaara spun the kunai around his finger. “So this wasn't actually an attack on me.”

 

“No, Kazekage-sama. It was a reflex.” Lee watched the other man closely, wondering if the apology would be accepted, or if he would be destroying his progress by getting into yet another fight with Gaara.

 

“I'll knock next time.”

 

The kunai embedded itself in the wall, far enough away to not be a real threat, but close enough that Lee could reach it. Releasing a breath he had not even known he was holding, Lee pulled the weapon loose and slipped it back under the mattress. “Thank you, Kazekage-sama. And how was your day? Productive?”

 

“Your Hokage had me locked in her office for ten hours.”

 

“Oh.” Lee wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he started to clear the chair of books. “Here, sit down. It is not very polite of me to leave you to stand.”

 

Gaara carefully lowered his gourd to the ground, his face going tight. Lee quickly looked away. Neither of them had discussed their injuries. Or the fight, for that matter. They were both content to pretend it had never happened.

 

Gaara picked up one of Lee's books. “Advanced Theory on the Velocity of Spinning Kicks.”

 

“The most authoritative piece on the subject! The author has come up with several daring new techniques for high velocity strikes, and I am hoping that his determination and will can help me to improve the power of my own strikes!” Lee smiled brightly, shuffling through his notes. “You can see here that with a change in angle of three degrees, I could increase power by almost two percent!”

 

The redhead looked at the diagram, then tipped his head to the side. “This much effort and research for two percent?”

 

Lee refused to falter. “It is a small change, true, but if I improve a little bit ten times, it is a large improvement! This is how I continue to grow stronger.”

 

“Hm.”

 

Shrugging a bit, Lee put his notes aside. Not everyone shared his passion for taijutsu, after all. “So, Kazkeage-sama, is there something on your mind? You are here earlier then usual.”

 

“I wanted to see how you are healing.”

 

Lee smiled brightly and sat up at attention. “I am quite well, thank you! Tsunade-sama has even given me permission to get up, and I will be discharged in two more days.”

 

“But your activities are still restricted.”

 

“Yes . . .”

 

“Then we'll focus on theory.” Gaara held out a book to Lee, who slowly took it. “When will you be ready to have sex again?”

 

The book fell from Lee's numb fingers. The sand caught it and set it on the bed while Gaara stared at him. Words suddenly seemed rather tricky. “Umm, I do not know, I had not thought about . . .”

 

“I will assume that you will be available once you are cleared to move about on your own.”

 

“Umm, sure. That sounds reasonable. I am scheduled to be released in two days, and so long as we are aware of my injuries, I should be able to . . . do that then.”

 

Gaara nodded once before opening the book that Lee had dropped. “In the meantime, I have restarted my research on sex, trying to discover what it is that I missed. It does not mention staying the night at any point in these journals.”

 

Lee ducked down to get a good look at the cover. It was titled `Modern Research in Physiology and Behavior'. Just peeking at the tiny type and foreign phrases made his head hurt. It looked like something Sakura would use while deciding how to patch him back together. “I do not think that this journal will be able to help you. Staying the night, talking to your partner, these are because of the relationship that usually forms before the couple has sex. It is not actually part of the . . . process.”

 

Jade eyes studied him critically. “So the actual process of having sex was correct.”

 

“Definitely.” Heat washed over Lee's face when he realized how he had answered that. “I mean, this is not about the actual mechanics, this is about the other things that go with that.”

 

“The relationships.” Gaara shut his book and leaned back in his chair. “This hasn't been a concern before. I didn't have a relationship with any of those women. Temari helped pick them out.”

 

“Temari?”

 

“Yes. She has been helping me with all of my research. I told her what I was interested in, and she helped me find the women that I experimented with.”

 

Lee's jaw dropped. “Did you know anything about them before you slept with them?”

 

“Their name, their age. They were all civilians with clean medical records and no criminal history.”

 

“Whoa.” After a long moment, Lee shook his head. “Am I the first person you slept with that you chose on your own?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Lee's heart jumped up for once, instead of dropping down. “Thank you, Gaara-sama. That is quite a compliment.”

 

Gaara was staring at him with that blank expression. “I already told you. You fascinate me. And we had no relationship before that night.”

 

“Well, you certainly knew more about me then you did with your previous partners. We have fought together, and we have history together.”

 

“That's true.” Gaara's expression softened minutely, one corner of his mouth turning up. “I didn't try to kill any of those civilians when they were teenagers.”

 

“And none of them have seen you dead.”

 

The redhead flinched at the reminder that Lee had been there for that incident. “Also true.”

 

“So I would say that we had a relationship before that night, even if it was not of the usual kind.”

 

“I suppose that is correct. And we are in a relationship now.”

 

Lee toyed with the edge of his blanket, his eyes sliding away from the piercing, analytical gaze of the other man. “What are we now, Kazekage-sama?”

 

“I thought you would know.”

 

“And here I thought you had something in mind already.” Chuckling, Lee moved the last of his books to the bedside table.

 

Gaara smirked, leaning back in his chair. “I will defer to your expertise.”

 

“Expertise? Me?”

 

Gaara crossed his arms and stared at him, the corner of his mouth twitching suspiciously.

 

“Well, I believe we could agree on friends. Since we are not dating, I do not think I would be your . . . boyfriend.”

 

“Friend seems too general. I don't have sex with Naruto, and he's considered my friend. I had sex with you, but we hardly spoke to each other before that.”

 

“Significant other?”

 

“It sounds like we're married.”

 

Lee wracked his brain. It did seem that this relationship defied definition. “Partners?”

 

Gaara paused, rolling it around in his mind. “That would fit, since you are assisting me in my research.”

 

“But I am going to insist that I am also your friend.”

 

“Fine.” Gaara uncrossed his arms and resettled in his chair. “And what do friends and partners of this type do together?”

 

Lee's blush gave his thoughts away.

 

The redhead leaned forward, resting one arm on the bed. “I though you weren't well enough for that.”

 

“That does not mean that I do not think of it.”

 

“And that is the root of this problem. I'm still thinking about it. And waiting is not helping.”

 

The Konoha-nin sighed. “I do not particularly like waiting, either.”

 

“What else do couples do, aside from have sex? You implied that there was more to a relationship.”

 

Lee perked up. This was where Gaara truly needed guidance! “Couples spend time together, learning about each other and enjoying each others company. They go out to eat, and out for walks, and sometimes shinobi couples even train together! It is not about what you are doing, but that you are doing it together and savoring your youthful love together!”

 

“Couples have to be in love? I didn't realize that was required.” Gaara's expression lost all of the traces of humor and relaxation that it had picked up.

 

“It is not required, but it frequently happens when two people are in a relationship together. Couples are not usually in love when they get together. Love grows from their care and feelings for each other!”

 

Gaara drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “I'm not interested in researching love. That is not a part of this partnership.”

 

“Okay.” Lee swallowed, his heart dropping back down to the place where it usually hung out when dealing with his `relationship' with Gaara. Right around his legwarmers. “You can still learn about a relationship and how it works.”

 

“Basically you want us to be a couple. We would do things together, and show interest in each other, and have sex.”

 

Lee squeaked a bit. “Sex is not mandatory!”

 

“But I want to touch you. It's distracting being around you and not being able to touch you. I don't like it.”

 

“We can touch without having sex.”

 

Gaara actually looked confused. “What is the point in that?”

 

“You never touch someone just because you want to, and not because you are having sex?”

 

“I touch Temari and Kankuro. It was the first piece of human behavior that I researched. With the sand armor no longer automatic, I had the choice to actually touch someone.” Gaara's eyes shifted to his own hands. “I hug Temari. Sometimes. Kankuro didn't like it much, but when I tried it with Temari, it worked. Kankuro likes to clap me on the back instead. I'm still not sure why we hug, or touch. It just . . . works.”

 

Lee smiled at the other man, who suddenly looked like a slightly befuddled teenager. “It is something like that. People in a relationship touch even when they are not planning on having sex because they want to be close to each other.”

 

“What kind of touching.”

 

“Holding hands, hugging, back massage, kissing -“

 

Lee was cut off when Gaara suddenly got up and kissed him, taking advantage of his open mouth to run his tongue along the inside. Lee's arms slid up to Gaara's shoulders, holding him gently as he returned the kiss. Kissing Gaara was not soft or sweet. It felt like a battle, punctuated by bites and clacking teeth, but it made his head spin. He was vaguely aware that Gaara's chest was pressed against him, and that strong hands held his shoulders down, but he did not care.

 

The Kazekage pulled back, studying the man underneath him. “This works. I didn't like kissing those women, but I like kissing you. I want to kiss you.”

 

“Gaara-sama, I think you are attracted to me.”

 

“I was attracted to them. I had to be. I had an erection.”

 

Lee clapped a hand over his eyes, almost clipping Gaara in the nose. That was not an image he needed while in this position and too injured to do anything about it. “Is it possible you were aroused because you were going to have sex, instead of aroused by your partner?”

 

“Hm.” Gaara eased back a bit, his forehead creased with thought. “That is possible. The first time it was difficult to become erect.”

 

“That might explain a lot about your results.”

 

“Does this mean that I'm gay?”

 

“I am not sure. Are you attracted to other men?”

 

Gaara leaned back enough so that he was seated on the edge of the bed instead of draped overtop of Lee. “I haven't really thought about it.”

 

Lee wanted to kick himself for what he was about to do, but this was not about being a couple. This was about helping Gaara figure things out. “Would you have sex with Naruto?”

 

The jade eyes tipped up to study the ceiling. “He is strong, and we do have a history. He is considered my friend. It would be a possibility, but I think I would rather touch you.”

 

Relief washed over the black haired man at the answer. “Then it is possible that you are gay, Gaara-sama.”

 

“It doesn't matter. I want to do this research with you. You're the only one. You're strong enough.”

 

“For what, Gaara-sama?”

 

“For me.” The redhead leaned in to run his mouth along Lee's jawline.

 

The question that had plagued Lee for weeks tumbled out. “Why did it have to be me, Gaara?”

 

“Who else could it be?” Soft nips wandered over Lee's throat. “You punched me. You hurt me. When no one else could touch me, you ripped through.”

 

Lee gasped when Gaara's hands suddenly tightened on his shoulders, pinning him down painfully.

 

“I wanted to kill you for that. But now . . . “ Gaara was so close his breath brushed Lee's skin. “I just want you to touch me again.”

 

Lee surged up, pressing his mouth hard against the other man with a groan. This was what he had thought about late at night, alone in his room. In that moment, Gaara wanted him and only him. He was being pressed back onto the bed, the frame squeaking in protest as Gaara moved his body to rest on top of his partner. A thigh brushed his groin and he gasped into the Kazekage's mouth. He ground up into that pressure, unable to stop his hips from moving.

 

The hands at Lee's shoulders slid down his sides, pulling their bodies closer together. Scarred arms linked behind Gaara's neck. Another grind had Lee arching up, looking for even more contact. One of the hands had found the edge of the shirt the hospital provided, and was sliding underneath. Goosebumps broke out all over the taijutsu master's body at the contact, dull nails dragging across his skin. His gasp was never heard, immediately swallowed by the man crushing him down into the mattress.

 

Pain was burning through Lee as he moved against the other man, pulling him back to reality. He was injured. He could not have a repeat of that night. He was still in the hospital. He set a hand on Gaara's chest, starting to break them apart. “Gaara . . . “

 

The jade eyes closed in a wince, and Gaara pulled back, his hand going to his chest. Lee panted for air as his muscles screamed from the sudden exertion.

 

Gaara gave Lee a rueful look. “You may not be the only one that needs to wait.”

 

Lee echoed his look. “This is a rather frustrating situation.”

 

“Extremely.” Gaara trailed his hand over Lee's chest, dragging across the material. His brows lowered. “I want you, but I don't.”

 

“What?” Lee's heart skipped a beat. “If . . . if it is because I am weak . . . “

 

The hands were back on Lee's shoulders while the dark rimmed eyes filled his vision. “You are not weak.”

 

“Then why?”

 

“I want you to enjoy it.” Gaara leaned back. “And I enjoy kissing you. I want you. This is attraction.”

 

“Yes, Gaara-sama.”

 

“I haven't experienced this before. This is not like the books. I am supposed to be attracted to a woman that I can reproduce with. That's the point.”

 

Lee shrugged. “Humans are funny that way. It is not always like the books.”

 

Gaara's hands roamed restlessly over Lee's body. “I still want to touch you.”

 

“This touching is okay. You can keep doing this.”

 

“But will I stop with just this?” Lee's shirt was slipping up to reveal his stomach. Soft hands trailed over the muscles, making the skin jump.

 

“I am more concerned with whether or not I will let you stop.” Lee's eyes slid shut, despite clear orders to stay open. He had always craved physical contact with others, and this feeling was as heady as any drug.

 

“It helps, somewhat. Even this kind of touch helps.”

 

“Hmm.” Relaxing under the gentle touch, Lee tried to keep the rest of his body under control. Part of his mind was trying to convince them that, if they were careful, there was no reason to stop. It was a very dangerous, very convincing voice.

 

“You said that you will be released in two days?”

 

“Yes . . .”

 

“We'll begin this relationship experiment then. We'll try these behaviors that you mentioned. I'll try some different sources for theory and see if I can find anything before then.”

 

Lee forced his eyes open. “So, for the rest of your visit, you want to act as though we are a couple?”

 

“Yes, I think that will be the best way to experience this bit of human behavior.”

 

Feeling like he was signing his own death warrant, Lee nodded. “Then that will be our plan, Kazekage-sama.”

 

Gaara carefully slid off of the bed and made his way over to his gourd. “The exams are starting early tomorrow, and I am supposed to be discussing strategy with the instructors tonight. I'm not sure if I will be able to come by tomorrow, but I'll be sure to have time when you are released.”

 

“I will let you know when I am released. I will send a messenger for you.” Lee toyed with the edge of his blanket.

 

With a nod, the Kazekage let himself out.

 

Lee sat staring at the door for a long moment before getting up and walking to his window. He watched Gaara leaving the hospital and walking down the street, passing under the streetlights. He noticed how the light gleamed off of his red hair, and felt a pang of sympathy at the slower then usual gait. His heart fluttered in his chest at the idea of spending the next few weeks with Gaara as though they were a couple. Going out to eat, talking, kissing, touching . . .

 

`This is a bad idea.'