Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Research ❯ Chapter 6

A/N: A little short, but I hurt my right arm, and typing is a slow, annoying process right now. Here's to hoping that my arm heals up soon!

 

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A horrible, grating, mechanical sound shattered the silence. Lee rolled over, mumbling, and swatted at his alarm clock. The unfortunate machine crashed against a far wall and shattered. Blinking slowly, Lee sat up to look at the remains of his clock. “Oops.”

 

The room was silent, and a feeling of deja-vu sank into the drowsy jounin. His bed was a disaster area, and his body ached. There was blood on his pillow, and a quick check showed that it was coming from his mouth. Sighing, Lee wiped at the drying fluid, tasting the copper in his mouth. `Last night was too soon. I have opened up some internal damage from the gates.'

 

He knew it was useless, but he tried anyways. “Gaara-sama?”

 

His own voice echoed back to him in the empty apartment. Alone, he let his shoulders slump and head hang. He would need to see Sakura to be checked out. This had happened several times before when he trained too hard while recovering from using five gates.

 

`Six. I forgot that part. There would be more damage then with five.'

 

The first stop, after slowly climbing out of bed, was to the bathroom. Lee rinsed his mouth out and washed the blood from his cheek. He caught his own reflection in the mirror and stared at it. Wide black eyes stared back from an oddly pale face. A scar across his check that was usually unnoticeable stood out starkly against his ashen skin. His hair was dull and mussed. A long scratch ran from his shoulder down across his chest, and small bruises were scattered everywhere.

 

`What are you doing, Lee?'

 

His reflection had no answer for him.

 

The hot water pounding down on him in the shower helped to wake his body up. He rinsed all of the . . . evidence of his latest night of passion down the drain. He took stock of the damage as he mind finally awoke. `Overall, I believe I am in better shape then last time, aside from the gates' damage. We should not have done that twice. It was most likely the second time that started the internal bleeding again.'

 

It was not the first time Rock Lee had woken up to find blood on his pillow, but it was definitely the first time it had happened because of such . . .

 

`Intense. Overwhelming.' Lee tried to find a word that described his time with Gaara in his bed.

 

`Addictive,' a small voice whispered.

 

Lee shook his head, sending water droplets flying as he turned off the water and grabbed a towel. `No. I can tell him no if I want to.'

 

`Could you? If he were here right now, touching you, could you turn him away?'

 

`I agreed to being his partner.' Towel secured around his waist, Lee padded across his apartment to his kitchen.

 

`But he is not holding up his end of the deal.'

 

Lee sagged against the counter. He hated feeling like this. He could usually hold off the loneliness, the fact that he had been living alone in this apartment for over a decade, but it was crushing him now.

 

Abandoned. Forgotten. Unwanted.

 

A weak cough brought back that copper taste, and he knew he needed to get moving. He needed to visit Sakura before it got any worse. The tea kettle was filled and set on the burner, and he turned away to grab a quick breakfast. On the table he spotted a folded piece of paper.

 

I had to leave.

Ramen stand, 1pm.

 

Gaara

 

Lee started to laugh, with a sharp, almost hysterical edge to it. `Being your partner is very hard on the heart, Gaara. But this does qualify as progress.'

 

Some of the pressure in his chest eased after finding the short note. Breakfast certainly sounded like a more appetizing idea. Lee rummaged around in his cupboards, finding an energy bar from Gai-sensei. With a metabolism like his, he could not skip a meal, even when bleeding internally. While he waited for the water to boil, he changed into his usual get up and slipped his weights into place.

 

Energy bar devoured and herbal tea slammed down, Lee set out to find Sakura. She was probably at the hospital helping out, since she was not in the field. Lee went to lock his apartment and found another note stuck to his door with a kunai, but it was not in a messy scrawl.

 

Lee,

 

I need to speak with you as soon as possible. I will be in the far southern training field all morning.

 

Temari

 

Lee gulped. `That cannot be good. As soon as I have found Sakura, I will meet with Temari.' Another weak cough brought blood into Lee's mouth again, and he set out to find his favorite medic.

 

----

 

“Lee.”

 

“Yes, Sakura?”

 

“You know I'm a medic, right?”

 

Lee looked at the glowing hands over his chest. “Yes, Sakura. That is why I am here.”

 

“And you know how much I hate it when you train too soon and destroy my hard work, right?”

 

“Yes, Sakura.”

 

One glowing hand clenched into a fist. “Do you remember the chakra hobbles I used on you last year?”

 

Lee winced. “Definitely, Sakura.”

 

“Then I suggest that you and your boyfriend show some restraint until you're cleared for that level of exertion.”

 

“Oh. Umm, how did you . . .”

 

“Lee.” Sakura opened her green eyes, looking rather amused. “I just did a scan of your body to check for internal bleeding. I could probably give you a pretty accurate description of what you did last night, and it was too early for you.”

 

“Well, perhaps we were a bit overly enthusiastic, but the spirit of youth moved us, and . . .”

 

“Well, no more spirit of youth moving until I say so. You might as well have been training last night, and bleeding into your lungs is not something you can just ignore!”

 

“What if we . . . “

 

“Lee, I've got three words for you.” Sakura put her hands on either side of her patient and leaned in so that her glare filled his vision. “Chakra chastity belt.”

 

Lee's eyes threatened to pop right out of his head. “What?”

 

“Don't think I'm bluffing. I've got one for a certain jounin that couldn't resist the fairer sex long enough to let a serious belly wound heal.”

 

“Until you say so. Understood, Sakura.”

 

----

 

Lee knew this training field. He would probably remember it until the day he died. This was where he had ripped through six gates and broke Gaara's ribs. It was also the place where he had lost again, buried in sand that crushed him and stole the air from his lungs. He wondered if this was some sort of a message from the big sister of his partner, until he got a good look at the field. He smiled. Of course the Suna genin would choose to train here.

 

What had once been a brilliantly green clearing was now a small patch of the desert. Instead of cleaning the mess up, a near impossible task, someone had roped the area off to create a sand training ring. It was here that the Suna teams were practicing and preparing for upcoming matches. Supervising the training was the blonde woman he was looking for.

 

Cautious, since this was an occupied training field and genin were known to misfire on occasion, Lee walked across the sand towards the group of jounin that were watching the training students. Temari spotted him before he had made it even half way and walked over to meet him.

 

“Good morning, Lee.”

 

“Good morning, Temari!” Lee broke into a cheerful grin. “It is a spectacularly invigorating and youthful day!”

 

“Uh huh.” Temari rubbed at her temple. “Let's take a walk.”

 

“Of course!” He fell into step with the older jounin. “And how is the training going?”

 

“Pretty well. I think we'll get a new chunin or two out of this. But that's not what I want to talk about.”

 

“Okay.” Lee stepped over the low rope and back onto the springy grass. “What would you like to talk about, Temari?”

 

“Your research with Gaara.”

 

Lee stumbled a bit, recovering quickly. “What would you like to know?”

 

“I've been involved with Gaara's little projects since that spiky haired blonde kicked his ass the first time. The early projects were mostly about not killing and becoming Kazekage. Then Shukaku was removed, and the projects changed.” Temari settled onto the grass, surrounded by flowers, and gestured for Lee to sit beside her. “Sixteen is a scary age to suddenly become human. First there was training and testing and political crises, but then came his research. It started out with him just getting used to touching things. Anything. I had to explain what was smooth and what was rough to him. He would wear his sand armor a bit less each day, until he started to wear it only when he was fighting.

 

One day, he dropped a psychology book on my desk. He had a section marked about the importance of touch during development. He had never touched a person. Ever. And that started the first of his experiments. He touched lots of different people, getting used to it. Usually it was just a hand on someone's arm. He actually kept a notebook to keep a record of his reactions, and would go over it with me. He didn't understand why people touched, but because they did, he was determined to do it as well. And that lead to learning about hugging.”

 

Temari shifted to face Lee. “He's going through motions he doesn't understand, hoping that he will begin to understand them. He's comfortable touching people now, but he usually doesn't because it doesn't occur to him to do it. He hugs me, and I'd like to think he does it because he wants to, but I know it's just a learned behavior. Maybe . . . one day . . . “

 

“You are wrong, Temari,” Lee broke in. “He mentioned hugging you. He said it just worked, that he wanted to do it.”

 

“Really?” The seasoned warrior's eyes looked suspiciously watery, but nothing came of it. “That's new. Here I thought he'd decided to do some more work on that when he hugged me again.”

 

“He does not understand why, but it is still true.”

 

“But I'm not worried about him hugging me. I'm worried about you.”

 

“Me?”

 

“Yes, you.” Temari sighed, a tired, worn sound, and started to pick some of the flowers within reach. “Like I said, I've been there for all of his research. I've been a `subject' for several of them. I know how this works. Those women, I told them, but they had visions of `saving' the broken Kazekage and living happily ever after.”

 

Lee winced.

 

“Yeah, you can imagine how that went when Gaara never saw them or spoke to them again.”

 

“Temari?” The Konoha-nin looked down, studying the grass. “There is something I need to know, but I have not been able to ask Gaara-sama. How many . . . how many `experiments' were there?”

 

“Four.”

 

“Four?” Lee's head popped up. “That is all?”

 

Temari laughed, still adding flowers to her pile. “Yeah, and he never slept with one of them more then twice. Why, what are they saying in Konohagakure?”

 

“I was expecting at least . . . twenty.”

 

“Are you kidding?” Temari continued to laugh. “This research was a complete pain. He wanted to have sex to see what the big deal was, but he didn't like anyone. He wouldn't even look at the shinobi, and the civilians annoyed him! I figured he'd sleep with one chick and just quit, but he was convinced he was doing it wrong.”

 

“Really?”

 

“He got porn from Kankuro, for pity's sake! He watched it and took notes, and asked me if he had it right! Of course, we never thought to try him with a man, and he never said anything about it. Not that it matters. Seems he has very particular tastes.”

 

“Wow.” Lee ran the grass between his fingers.

 

“Don't get all excited on me now, kid.” Temari waved a finger at the younger jounin. “You push his buttons, no doubt about it, but he isn't looking for anything past that. It's like I told those women. When the research is over, he will leave. He told me that you two were going to be a couple during his visit so he can learn about that bit of behavior, but it's not real! He's just going through learned motions.”

 

Lee chuckled, startling Temari. “He told me. Love is not a part of this relationship.”

 

“You know that, and you still agreed?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“But . . . “ Temari fumbled, obviously caught off guard. “I never thought you'd do that. You strike me as the romantic type.”

 

Lee smiled brightly. “I am!”

 

“Then why are you doing this?”

 

“He is my friend, and he needs my help. How can he grow if no one will show him what he is missing?”

 

Temari stared at him, eyes wide.

 

“I know he does not love me, but one day he will figure it out. If I have the chance to teach a friend about the wonders of finding your special person, how could I refuse him?”

 

“You don't sound like you're talking about a friend, Lee. Don't go falling in love with my brother.”

 

“Oh, do not mistake me, Temari. This hurts. It hurts quite a bit. But what is pain compared to giving a friend this most important lesson?”

 

Laughing, Temari started to chain the flowers she had collected together. “You sound a bit like me, Lee. He's my kid brother. It's my job to take care of him, especially after everything when he was young. It doesn't matter how awkward, or painful, it is. He will get it. He deserves a shot at experiencing something other then fear and hate.”

 

“Yes.” Lee watched the woman next to him. He had seen her fight, and her style was vicious and accurate. And yet, she was sitting in a field, chaining flowers together. The image of Temari shifted and he suddenly saw the big sister behind the mask of efficient jounin and advisor. Lee gathered up some more flowers that were within his reach and added them to her pile. Gaara was not the only one of the Sand siblings to lose out on childhood. “I will take care of him, Temari.”

 

“But who's going to take care of you?”

 

Lee stuck out his thumb, his smile suddenly brilliant. “Do not worry about me, my youthful friend!”

 

“I like you, kid. I don't want to see you get all messed up because my brother decided he likes men in spandex.”

 

“Scars.”

 

Temari looked away from her flowers. “What?”

 

“He likes my scars.” Lee ran a hand over his bandages. “I was not wearing a shirt or bandages that night.”

 

“Interesting.” The woman linked the flowers together into a circlet and dropped it onto Lee's head. “Whatever it is, I want you to talk to me if you need some help, or you're in over your head. Or even if you just need to talk. I'll probably understand more then most people.”

 

Lee brushed his fingers across the pink flowers resting on his head. “Thank you, Temari, for both your helpful advice and youthful gift! I will remember this while I am helping your brother. I would very much like to stay and help you create more art, but I am meeting Gaara-sama for lunch, and I cannot be late.”

 

Temari smirked as Lee bounded to his feet, carefully balancing his flowers. “And what did you bribe him with to get him to take a lunch break?”

 

“Bribe? It was Gaara-sama's idea! I will see you later, Temari!”

 

Lee jogged away, one hand on his crown of pink flowers.

 

`Maybe. Maybe Gaara will learn something in this experiment that he never expected.' Temari dusted off her kimono as she stood, then returned to training the genin.

 

----

 

“What is that?”

 

The black haired man smiled brightly and adjusted the bright pink flowers on his head. “These were a gift from your sister!”

 

Gaara leaned back a bit in his chair, studying the jounin. “Temari put flowers in your hair?”

 

“Yes! I met with her after I went to the hospital. Did you know that they turned the far southern training field into a sand training ring?” Lee dropped into the seat next to Gaara with his usual enthusiasm.

 

One word caught Gaara's attention. “Why were you at the hospital?”

 

“Oh! Umm . . . “ Lee scratched at the back of his neck. “I had to visit Sakura. It seems that I reopened some of the gate damage last night.”

 

Gaara caught Lee's chin, tipping his head from side to side. “You look paler then usual.”

 

“Sakura has already repaired the damage, so no concerns there, Kazekage-sama! However, she has forbidden me from doing anymore . . . vigorous activities until she says I am cleared.'

 

Releasing Lee's chin, Gaara turned to the noodles that had just arrived and allowed Lee to place his order. After a few moments of thought, he looked back to his partner. “Why didn't you say something last night if an injury had reopened? I didn't notice any blood.”

 

“Neither did I, until this morning. It was internal.” Lee plucked a pair of chopsticks from the container as his own lunch arrived.

 

“Internal bleeding?” Gaara's stomach clenched. He certainly had not been expecting to hear about a life threatening injury. He grabbed on to Lee's arm, turning him around sharply and making the older man squeak and scramble to stay in his seat. “You're no good to me dead. We will wait until Sakura gives you clearance.”

 

“It was minor bleeding. Really!”

 

“I repeat. You're no good to me dead.” Gaara released his grip, his hand rubbing briefly against his chest before picking his chopsticks back up. The idea of Lee bleeding internally, because of being with him, made something in his chest pull and twist in a painful way.

 

“We will wait, Kazekage-sama.” Lee started to work on his lunch, his expression different. The usual energy was suddenly not there. “It will probably be days. Would you like for me to send a messenger once I have permission?”

 

“There's no need for a messenger.” Gaara glanced over, curious at the change and the odd question. “Why can't you just tell me when you find out?”

 

“I would not want to interrupt any of your important meetings!”

 

“Despite your Hokage's best efforts, I'm not always in meetings, especially now that the exams are back on schedule.”

 

“Well, if you would like to hear from me personally, I will find you as soon as I find out, or I will run one hundred laps around Konohagakure with one leg tied up behind me!” Lee swirled his noodles, his face falling from its temporary smile back to a more melancholy expression.

 

“That expression is strange on you.”

 

“Huh?” Lee looked up and blinked wide eyes.

 

“Your expression, just now. It's not how you usually look. Why?” Gaara leaned forward to study Lee's face.

 

“Oh. Well, I was just thinking that it is a pity we will not be able to work together until I have healed. I enjoy spending time with you.” Lee averted his eyes, looking towards the counter.

 

“You want to spend time with me.” Gaara was becoming annoyed with Lee's behavior. He allowed some of his sand to escape and spin Lee around on his chair, ignoring the gasps and whispers behind him. “Look at me.”

 

Lee's eyes swung up, locking on to the Kazekage's stare. “Yes, Gaara-sama?”

 

“When do you want to spend time with me?”

 

The jounin's hands started to move, probably in a gesture to show that it was not important, but Gaara grabbed his wrists. Lee tugged at them, but with no real force. “I do not want to take up your valuable time!”

 

“I'm free tonight. I'll come by your apartment.”

 

“But . . . I cannot do . . .”

 

“Tonight.” Gaara yanked Lee in close, his gaze sharp.

 

“Okay, Gaara-sama. Should we have dinner together?”

 

“Yes.” The redhead released his partner's wrists and leaned back in his chair. “I'll cook.”

 

Lee's eyes went inhumanly wide. “What?”

 

“I've learned how to cook.” Ignoring the surprised look, Gaara returned to his cooling lunch.

 

“Then I will pick up groceries for you to use! What would you like?”

 

Gaara swallowed his mouthful, considering his response. He had no idea what this Konoha-nin would eat. He knew what his siblings would eat, and would adjust the menu to something they could at least try. Kankura was allergic to shellfish. “Are you allergic to anything?”

 

“No, Gaara-sama.”

 

“What do you like to eat?”

 

“My favorite is curry, and the hotter the better!” Lee's familiar smile was back, and was quickly gaining its usual wattage.

 

“I know how to make curry.” Gaara nodded, mostly to himself. “After I am done with the exams for today, I will go to your apartment and cook curry for dinner.”

 

“Excellent! This is an excellent plan to further your knowledge of relationships!”

 

Gaara gave his partner a rather amused look. “You are the one that kept saying couples do more then have sex.”

 

Lee grinned, abandoning his noodles to give Gaara and enthusiastic thumbs up. “Yosh! Your knowledge of relationships is improving in a dramatic manner! I am very happy to be able to help you with this project, Gaara-sama.”

 

“Hmm.” Another mouthful of noodles kept Gaara from responding with anything more, but Lee's energy was back. `The thought that he would not be able to see me caused the expression. He dislikes separation. According to my research, that is common in a committed couple.'

 

“After dinner, we will need to do another activity together for your research. I will think of something.” Lee chewed away, brows scrunched up in concentration.

 

Gaara did not reply, but found that he was looking forward to the end of his meetings more then usual. `I don't think Lee is the only one that wants to spend time together. I am not interested in having sex now, even though I'm right next to him. Maybe this is what Naruto was talking about. I would like to have sex, but right now, it is enough to sit with him. Interesting.'

 

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