Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Under the Sea ❯ Chapter 3

A/N: I continue to apologize. And that is not the merlot talking. I own nothing, and any lines that you might think are awfully familiar probably belong to an oversized talking mouse's company.

 

----

 

Up in the fairytale castle that looked out over the sea, Prince Gaara had returned with his new discovery.

 

“Washed up in a ship wreck? Yeah, right.” Temari grumbled under her breath while she studied the young man in front of her. “Whatever. I don't care why he brought you here, all I care about is getting something decent on you. And you smell like fish.”

 

Lee blinked wide eyes at the blonde in front of him, holding on to his fishnet tightly. `I smell like fish?'

 

“I thought you were noisier then this. I remember you making an awful racket the last time we met.” With a shrug, Temari casually picked the mostly naked man up and tossed him over her shoulder. “Maybe I've got you mixed up with someone else. Either way, you are going right into the bath, and then we'll get you dressed in something decent.”

 

`My fishnet!' Lee scrambled to keep himself covered as he was hauled away. `Oh, I think I am going to need help. Where did Neiji go?'

 

---

 

Deep inside of the castle, there was a massive kitchen, outfitted to feed hundreds at great celebrations. Pots hung from the ceiling and giant ovens dominated the walls. And it was there that a small crab suddenly appeared with a puff of smoke.

 

Neiji looked around, trying to catch his bearings. Trying to jutsu in where he had never been before was tricky at best, and even with his Byakugen eyes to give him a preview of where he was landing, he was still not entirely sure where he was. He spotted cleavers, knives, boiling pots and pans. He also spotted decapitated fish, piles of squid, and a row of unmoving crabs.

 

“Holy shit.”

 

----

 

Meanwhile, back upstairs. . .

 

“Come on, man. What's the point of being a Prince and a Kage if you aren't going to take any advantage of it! We need to go out tonight and just let loose.”

 

Gaara stared at his brother. “Let loose?”

 

“You know, have a couple of drinks, meet some lovely ladies, preferably drunk ones, that kind of a thing.” Kankuro set his elbows on the table and set his chin on his hands. “This whole story thing has been boring as hell, aside from the bit on the ship. It's like being at a resort. We should take advantage of it!”

 

“I do not drink.”

 

“Fine, fine, I'll drink enough for both of us.” Huffing a bit, Kankuro slumped in his chair. “Shit, kid, you need to get out of this castle. Spending all your time staring at the ocean just can't be healthy! You'll get even scrawnier. Tell you what, I'll get Temari, and we can go out and have a raucous spar tomorrow, then go and get lunch at that barbeque place. Huh?”

 

Gaara looked away, focusing on the noise coming from the entrance.

 

“Come on, it's not that bad. You look a lot better now then when you came in.” Temari walked in, holding onto the arm of the man that Gaara had found washed up on the beach.

 

Hold it! Hold everything! What the hell is he wearing?!

 

Temari glared at the ceiling. “You're not serious.”

 

Hell, yeah, I'm serious! How am I going to get fanart like this?

 

“Look, the pink dress looked horrible on him. He couldn't fill it out at all. The whole front was just sagging.” Temari turned the poor man around like a doll. “I made an executive decision and raided the costumes. He's still in pink. I don't see the problem.”

 

But, but, I wanted the pretty pink ball gown with the bow in his hair!

 

“The bow wouldn't stay in, anyways.” Temari ruffled the shiny black hair and straightened the pink, poofy blouse the silent man was wearing. The shirt was tucked into a snug pair of cream colored pants, and finished off with a pair of knee high boots. “He looks fine.”

 

And since when are you in charge?

 

“You cast me as the housekeeper. That means I'm in charge down here. Can he go and have dinner now or what?”

 

Fine, but I'm going to remember this for later. And what did you do to your costume?

 

“Executive decision.” Temari smiled and straightened her own uniform, showing off the cleavage and leg that would never make it into a certain over sized talking mouse's movies.

 

You're more trouble then Orochimaru and Gai combined.

 

“Thanks!”

 

“If you two are done, I'm starving.” Kankuro gestured at Lee. “Come in, sit down. Temari, what the hell is up for dinner, and please tell me there's a lot of it.”

 

“I have no idea what he's doing in there, but he keeps saying that it will be beautiful.”

 

---

 

And in the kitchen, the chef is preparing the meal.

 

Blonde hair whipped back as the chef emerged from the oven, holding a pan of freshly baked fish. “Cooking is art! Unh!”

 

Neiji winced and ducked back further. “What the heck was the narrator thinking on this one?”

 

While flipping through the cookbook, one hand hovered over the freshly prepared food. The blonde suddenly looked at his own hand. “Hey, don't eat that! That's for company! You can eat later!” Deiadara pulled his hand away from the dish, frowning at the slightly chewed food. “I'm going to have to cover that up, you know. Unh.”

 

The little crab rolled his eyes. “You've got to be kidding.”

 

Psst, Deiadara. The orchestra is on strike during negotiations over hazardous working conditions. I need you to do this one a capella.

 

“I was hired to make art, not sing. Unh.”

 

You know that's annoying as hell, right? The `unh' thing?

 

“What are you talking about? Unh.”

 

Never mind.

 

“You shouldn't be bothering me anyways. I am creating!” With a flourish, Deiadara turned to the island in the middle of the kitchen, featuring a large bowl of fish. “Les poisons, les poisons, how I love les poisons!”

 

Holy hell, he's actually singing!

 

“Love to chop and to serve little fish! Unh! First I cut off their heads, then I pull out their bones . . . ”

 

And it's kinda creepy.

 

Neiji was not going to stick around to see how this scene was going to play out. He started to inch towards the doorway, trying to stay behind the pots and pans that were scattered on the counters.

 

“With a cleaver, I hack them in two . . .”

 

Pieces of fish were flying through the air, and Neiji had the passing thought that he would never have sushi ever again. Not after being on this end of the equation. He used a convenient piece of lettuce as cover, working his way across the counter carefully. When his lettuce was snatched away by the singing cook, he swore. “Oh, hell.”

 

“What the fuck? It's a talking crab!” Deiadara jumped on top of a stool, pointing at Neiji and squealing at the tops of his lungs.

 

“Huh? Where?!” Neiji looked around, before realizing what was going on. “Oh, geez.”

 

The blonde was working his hands, and suddenly small birds were swarming through the air, aiming for the tiny crab on the counter. Neiji's eyes bulged before he ran for cover, clay birds exploding all around him.

 

“It's beautiful! Unh!” Another wave of birds took to the air, trying to destroy the mutant crab that could talk.

 

Neiji weaved in and out of the pots as explosions rang out around him. “What the hell! I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to get killed in this scene!”

 

I know, but I can't quit laughing! Run, little crab!

 

“I'm going to get you for this!” Neiji jumped to the floor, making a run for it and making Deidara squeal like a little school girl when he ran under the Akatsuki's stool.

 

“Kai!”

 

The kitchen rocked with explosions, knocking Neiji off of the floor and right back up to the counters. He ducked behind pots and pans as the room continued to explode around him.

 

“It's art! Unh!” Deiadara was working his hands again, looking around the kitchen for his opponent. “Come on out, little crab.”

 

`Does he really think that will work?' Neiji eased away from the mad man, trying to get to the doorway. As he eased along the counter, a container of spices tipped over.

 

“Found you! Unh!”

 

Explosions rocked the counter top, destroying pots and pans while knocking Neiji to the other side of the kitchen.

 

“Deiadara!”

 

The blonde whipped around, and promptly fell off of his stool.

 

“What the hell are you doing? They can hear this two floors up!”

 

“Well, there was this talking crab, and it was chasing me around the kitchen, and . . . “

 

“Never mind, forget I asked.” Temari hauled the tray of covered dishes to her shoulder. “Just get this mess put back together.”

 

With a huff, Temari let herself out of the kitchen and made her way back to the dining room. “Honestly, why did you put everything so far apart? Traditionally, the kitchen would be attached to the dining room, so the food wouldn't get cold, not two floors away.”

 

You're a bitch, you know that, right?

 

“Yeah, I know.”

 

Still grumbling, Temari let herself into the dining room, hauling the meal along on her shoulder. “Dinner's up!”

 

“About time, I'm starving!” Kankuro had a napkin tied around his neck, fork and knife in hand.

 

Lee perked up at the mention of dinner. It had been a long time since he had eaten last. He wanted to whip the cover off of his dinner the second it was set down, but he waited for the Prince, since that would be polite and youthful.

 

Gaara was too busy glaring at his brother, who had resumed his previous train of thought.

 

“I swear, if you don't get out of the palace, I'm going to drag you out by your hair. And you aren't going to like it. Don't think I'm joking, either. How do you think Suna is gonna like it if their Kazekage comes back as a complete fucking wimp?”

 

The cover over a dinner started to open as Gaara and Kankuro continued to argue. Underneath, Neiji was staring at Lee with huge eyes. Lee stared back, his own eyes bigger then usual, as he realized the dilemma that his friend was in. He opened the cover of his own dish, gesturing at it. The crab looked at him with a cross glare, shaking his head. Lee gave him an exasperated look, and gestured towards the arguing pair with a quick jerk of his head. `Get over here before you get eaten, Neiji!'

 

Neiji gave him one more glare before scrambling across the table and disappearing under the cover of Lee's dinner.

 

“So, what do you say, stranger? Want to take Gaara out for some exercise? You are a shinobi, right?” Kankuro gave the pink clad man a weird look.

 

Lee nodded franticly, his eyes on Gaara, who was still glaring at his brother. The Prince finally looked back at him, his expression puzzled as though he was trying to sort something out, and then he nodded back.

 

“Great! Can we eat now? I'm fucking starving!” Kankuro's fork hit nothing when he went to stab whatever food was on the plate that he had just finished uncovering. “Temari!! Not funny!”

 

-----

 

On a deserted beach, the Prince watched the moon reflecting off of the waves, his sand tossing about his feet. Unknown to him, the Princess was watching him from one of the towers.

 

Lee leaned on the railing, picking his teeth with a kunai. He could make out Gaara, staring at the ocean. He seemed to do that a lot. It was odd, seeing him dressed in unusual clothes, his gourd missing. Of course he could not be mistaken for anyone else, with his jade eyes, blood red hair, and the scar over his left eye, but it still made Lee do a double take. Like a rare tropical plant, hidden in amongst common weeds.

 

`Oh, my.' Lee shook his head at the imagery his own mind was coming up with and set the kunai aside. Below him, Gaara turned to look up at the castle and spotted him. The Princess waved at him cheerfully, the arms of his white nightgown billowing in the breeze. After a second, the Prince raised his own hand in greeting.

 

Still smiling brightly, Lee retreated to his room. Neiji was sitting on his pillow, grumbling and cursing.

 

“I don't know what that woman was thinking, putting a mad man like that in the story. She doesn't even care if the characters get killed off at this point! And we've still got to worry about your new mission. I'm not even talking about your challenge, I'm talking about your deal with Orochimaru. I don't even want to know what King Gai will do if you end up belonging to that freak.”

 

Lee dropped onto the bed with a silent sigh, snuggling up in the down comforter.

 

“We have to start tomorrow. You only have two days, since we spent all of today getting you in the castle and trying to avoid becoming sushi. How the hell are you planning on getting Gaara to kiss you, anyways? I'm pretty sure he's straight. And I thought you were, too! Do you have any idea how you're going to pull this off?”

 

Neiji finally stopped ranting long enough to look at the man on the bed, and realized that Lee was fast asleep, his dark hair falling across his face. The crab deflated, sighing heavily at the sight. “You're nothing but trouble, Lee. You always have been. I think you've bit off more then you can chew this time.”

 

Still grumbling, the crab curled up on one of the pillows with a yawn and quickly joined his teammate in sleep.

 

----

 

On a beautiful beach outside of the castle, the Prince and Princess were getting to know each other.

 

“Are you sure you are a shinobi?”

 

Lee nodded his head eagerly, standing in his perfect stance in his sky blue blouse with a black bodice over top and snug, tan pants.

 

The sand started to move around Gaara's feet while the Prince did not move a muscle. The sand leapt forward, looking to quickly bury the man across from him, but the man was no longer there. A quick search showed that the man was in the air, and was falling towards him rapidly. The sand leapt to stop the attack, bringing the silent shinobi to a stop, but cracks ran through the sand's defense. Gaara looked at the damage, a memory rattling around in the back of his mind.

 

The dark haired man was already winding up for his next attack, and Gaara had to snap from his thoughts in order to face the reality, which was trying to kick his head in. The sand had to move quickly to stay ahead of this whirlwind.

 

Lee raised his hands, making a sign in the shape of a `T'. The Prince stared, his sand wandering to a stop in confusion. “Time out?”

 

The Princess was squinting and blinking, waving his hands at his eyes in annoyance.

 

“You have sand in your eye.”

 

Lee nodded franticly.

 

Don't rub it! Just blink it out.

 

Nodding, Lee fisted his hands and kept them at his sides.

 

Gaara recalled his sand. “Does that count as a point?”

 

No, that doesn't count as a point unless you can prove it was your sand and not just some sand off of the beach.

 

“Can you prove that it was not my sand?”

 

Don't start.

 

Lee waved his hands again, smiling brightly. His eyes were both open again.

 

Game on!

 

The sand whipped across the beach, chasing after the bouncing shinobi like a pup after a ball. Gaara was looking around, trying to figure out where his opponent had rushed off to. He felt a firm tap at the back of his head, making him spin around in time to see his automatic defenses jumping up, far too late to stop anything. He felt another tap on the back of his head, sending him back around again. Eyes narrowed, he whipped around yet again, this time grabbing onto the wrist of his assailant before he could be flicked again.

 

Lee grinned at him, eyes dancing as he stood trapped inside of the circle of sand that was trying to defend its master. `I cannot wear my weights in these costumes, so I always feel like I am flying!'

 

“Are you flicking me on the back of the head?”

 

Black hair swung as Lee nodded his head eagerly. With a flick of his wrist, his hand was free and he was gone again.

 

Gaara's eyes crossed, looking at the end of his nose where he had been flicked. Again. This was becoming aggravating. He pulled in his sand and created a shell around himself, blocking the silent shinobi out.

 

Lee pouted when the Kazekage disappeared behind his sand. `Ah, that is not fun. I will have to get him out of there.' Shrugging a bit, the bodice wearing shinobi walked up to the barricade and calmly slammed his fist through it. And flicked his opponent.

 

The sand exploded as the redhead emerged, glare already in place. “Quit flicking me!”

 

`Well, that worked.' Lee darted away from the sand that seemed to be chasing him with intent now. `Maybe a bit too well.'

 

Gaara was watching intensely as the battle continued, determined to keep the annoying shinobi from flicking him anymore. It was just . . . embarrassing. He felt more then saw movement at his side and spun around to intercept, grabbing on to both of Lee's wrists. Surprised, the other shinobi did not stop but instead plowed into the Prince and sent them both skidding across the sand.

 

When the dust settled, Lee looked down at the man underneath him, who was staring at him with wide eyes. Not quite certain what to do with this situation, Lee smiled and gave his opponent a thumb's up.

 

The Prince stared at the man laying on him, then at the thumb that was being held up. Neither seemed to make any sense. “You are still on top of me.”

 

Lee looked thoughtful for a second, then nodded again.

 

And flicked Gaara on the nose.

 

The sand suddenly rose around them, cresting in a wave that blocked out the sun. Lee winced as he looked at the forces arrayed against him. Slowly, he looked back down at the redhead.

 

Gaara's eyes crossed as he looked at the end of his nose again, then back up at the shining eyes above him. His expression shifted away from its scowl until it was almost . . . amused. “That would be one point for me, and four points for you. I believe the match goes to you.” The sand tumbled back down to the beach, allowing the sun to shine through.

 

That wasn't your point, Gaara!

 

Lee's eyes slowly went wide, his face shocked. `I . . . I won?'

 

“Can you get off of me?”

 

With an enthusiastic bounce, Lee got off of the Kazekage, then offered a hand to help him up. It earned him a strange look, but Gaara accepted.

 

“You remind me of someone.”

 

Still holding on to Gaara's hand, Lee froze. He almost held his breath, hoping that, finally, they would figure out who he was.

 

“But he never stopped talking. Or his sensei.”

 

Lee deflated a bit, and belatedly let go of Gaara's hand.

 

Gaara studied his own hand for a moment before looking up to the silent shinobi. “We are meeting my siblings for lunch.” He turned and started to walk away.

 

Neiji pinched Lee from where he had been hiding in the back of his collar and hissed into his ear, “Move it! You need to start your other mission!”

 

Lee launched after the Prince, easily falling into step with the shorter man.

 

The Prince looked up at the taller man, then looked away. “After lunch, I will show you around the village.”

 

Smiling brightly, Lee fairly bounced along the beach.

 

----

 

The Prince took the Princess out on a tour of the village. The two were traveling in style, using a horse drawn carriage. Lee was fascinated, having never been in a horse drawn carriage before. At one point, Gaara let him have the reins. What followed was a serious of experiments in what the horse and carriage could do, that left even the formidable Kazekage green at the gills and thankful for the quick reactions of his sand, which saved them from plummeting down the ravine. Finally, the two young men went out in a row boat to see the last stretch of the village.

 

Chouji worked through a mouthful of seaweed. “This isn't going very well.”

 

“No kidding, and we've only got one day left.” Neiji sat on Chouji's back, watching the couple rowing through the water in complete silence. “Gaara really isn't getting it.”

 

The fish shrugged. “Lee's not really at the whole temptress bit, either.”

 

“How's it going?”

 

“Shut up!” Neiji and Chouji chorused and the noisy, blonde shinobi that had shown up ducked down amongst the reeds.

 

“Hey, sorry.” Naruto knelt next to them. “Any luck? It cost me a fortune to bribe the other two Sand sibs to talk Gaara into this crazy idea.”

 

“Not yet.” Chouji sighed before shoving the next mouthful in. “This isn't going to be easy, convincing Gaara to kiss Lee, and he doesn't even know who Lee is.”

 

“Why doesn't he just write a note to Gaara? Just `cause he lost his voice doesn't mean he can't write.” Naruto scratched at the back of his head.

 

“The narrator threatened to set Kisame on him if he did.” The chubby fish sighed again. “She's being a bitch again.”

 

I can hear you, you know.

 

“So we have to actually get Gaara to want to kiss Lee.” Naruto looked around. “Okay, we can do this. I've read a couple of those Icha Icha Paradise, and it's all about setting up `the mood'.”

 

“You've read what?!” Neiji looked scandalized.

 

“Plots actually pretty good.” Ignoring the noisy crustacean, Naruto scoped the area out. “I love the lagoon bit, since that was some of my own genius, but we need something to tip it over into `the mood'.”

 

Music was starting to swell, and the tiny crab sighed, ducking back into his shell. “Of course we do. It's my big number.”

 

Naruto made a face. “Hey, I get to go first! I know the script said that I get to go first!”

 

“It's not really a number for you,” Chouji mumbled.

 

“I'll show you.” The blonde shinobi looked over to the orchestra. “You guys get it right, or I'm going for a new record on Kyuubi tails.”

 

The music stopped suddenly, cutting off Alice Cooper's “Poison”, then restarted with a Jamaican beat.

 

“That takes care of the music, I'll handle the rest.” Naruto cleared his throat. “There you see him. Sitting there across the way. He don't got a lot to say, but there's something about him.”

 

Holy shit.

 

“And you don't know why, but you're dying to try, you want to kiss the boy.”

 

He can sing. He can really, really sing. And the orchestra is actually following the score. Holy shit, I got my musical number!

 

“Hey, that's my song!” Neiji started splashing towards Naruto.

 

Chouji, shut him up! It's Naruto's number now!

 

Gaara looked around with an expression of mild concern. “Did you hear something?”

 

Lee shook his head franticly, trying to keep his eyes off of the scuffle breaking out between the two characters behind Gaara.

 

Naruto dodged the psycho crab without missing a beat. “Yes, you want him. Look at him, you know you do. Possible he wants you, too, there is one way to ask him. Don't take a word, not a single word, go on and kiss the boy.”

 

Chouji shoved Neiji under the water and held him there, still chewing on his seaweed.

 

The blonde waggled his eyebrows at everyone, except for the oblivious Prince. “Sing with me now.”

 

The Sound Four and Chouji obediently chimed in. “Sha-la-la-la-la-la, my oh my, looks like the boy too shy, ain't going to kiss the boy. Sha-la-la-la-la-la, ain't that sad? Ain't it a shame? Too bad, he's gonna' miss the boy.”

 

Gaara looked around, still trying to track down the source of the music he could swear he was hearing. “You are sure you do not hear that?”

 

Lee shrugged, still smiling brightly, and trying to keep his eyes off of the singing shinobi.

 

“This is ridiculous. I need to call you something. Since you will not simply write your name down, I will need to guess.” Gaara let go of the paddles and studied the man across from him. “Dosu?”

 

A firm shake of the head was his answer.

 

“Isamu?”

 

There was another shake of the head.

 

“This is ridiculous. There are thousands of names to go through.”

 

Naruto rolled his eyes and cupped his hands around his mouth. “His name is Lee, and you damn well know it!”

 

“Lee? As in the chunnin exams Lee?”

 

The man across from him nodded wildly, grabbing onto Gaara's hand in his excitement.

 

“It is you? You are much quieter now. You must have been injured on a mission.” Gaara looked thoughtful, staring down at the hand that was grasping at him again. “It has been a long time. Rock Lee.”

Huffing a sigh, Naruto looked to Chouji, who just shook his head. Echoing the exasperated look, Naruto picked his song back up. “Now's your moment, floating in a blue lagoon. Boy, you better do it soon, no time will be better.”

 

Several minor characters chimed in. “La-la-la-la-la-la!”

 

“He don't say a word, and he won't say a word until you kiss the boy!”

 

Lee stared at Gaara, suddenly aware that the idea of kissing the other man was not unpleasant. Far from it. He started to lean forward a bit, tugging the redhead ever so slightly. And Gaara allowed himself to be pulled, seemingly fixated by Lee's gaze.

 

Characters came pouring in from the woodworks, circling under the boat and cheering, glad to be included in the only real musical number of the production.

 

“Sha-la-la-la-la-la, don't be scared! You got the mood prepared! Go on and kiss the boy! Sha-la-la-la-la, don't stop now! Don't try to hide it how you want to kiss the boy!”

 

Gaara glanced briefly towards the water, which was jumping up in a display that was just not natural, but quickly turned back when he realized how close he was to Lee, and that the silent shinobi had not turned away. His pulse jumped, and he leaned in a bit closer.

 

“Sha-la-la-la-la-la, float along, and listen to the song!”

 

“This is my song!” Neiji fought his way to the surface, sucking in air, but Naruto caught him and shoved him right back under.

 

“Song say, kiss the boy!”

 

Lee carefully reached up and touched Gaara's cheek. The redhead flinched back for a split second, then leaned into it, never looking away from the other man's gaze.

 

“Sha-la-la-la-la-la, music play! Do what the music say! You gotta' kiss the boy!” Naruto stood on his tip toes, peeking over the reeds as the music slowly faded.

 

Minor characters were surfacing around the lagoon, whispering. “Kiss him, kiss him.”

 

Lee tugged Gaara closer, his attention suddenly riveted on the other man's mouth.

 

Naruto shook Neiji as he bounced back and forth on top of the water. “Go on!”

 

Gaara set his hand on Lee's wrist, leaning in.

 

The boat rocked wildly, spilling both of the shinobi into the shallow water.

 

Naruto collapsed amongst the reeds, dropping Neiji and nearly crushing Chouji.

 

Oh my god, I'm going to kill you, snake freak! They were really going to do it!

 

Underneath the water, Kabuto and Sauske glared at each other before heading back towards the deep ocean.

 

----

 

And, yet again, back in the deepest, darkest, most melodramatic part of the ocean . . .

 

“Who is calling who melodramatic?”

 

You ruined my kiss scene. I'm allowed to be grouchy. I never thought the two of them would do it on their own.

 

“No, neither did I.” Orochimaru glared at his bubble. “I thought they were both straight. Maybe there is something to this pairing after all.”

 

Told you!

 

“At this rate, the two of them will be acting out one of your lemon scenes by sunset tomorrow.”

 

Oh, gods, I hope so.

 

“I will have to deal with this myself.”

 

I'm really hoping that Lee tops that first time, since Gaara . . . huh?

 

“I will have that trident, and there will be nothing left of Konoha but a crater!”

 

Orochimaru flashed through a series of hand signals, the snake pendant glowing around his neck. Chakra flashed, and his maniacal laughter slowly rose in pitch until it became more feminine.

 

Eww. Orochimaru and Gaara? Even girly Orochimaru and Gaara? I don't think I like this pairing.

 

----

 

Outside of the fairytale castle, the Prince was watching the moon rise over the ocean.

 

“Hey, man.”

 

Gaara looked over his shoulder, nodding at his brother.

 

“You have a good time today?”

 

After a moment of thought, Gaara nodded, his expression almost surprised.

 

“I thought so.” Kankuro stopped next to him, tossing a stone in his hand. “You're definitely more chipper since that shinobi washed up.”

 

“Chipper?”

 

“You know what I mean.” Chuckling a bit, Kankuro skipped the stone across the waves. “Look, I was talking to Temari, and you know what? It doesn't have to be a chick. If it's a dude that makes you happy, go for it. Just because I like chicks doesn't mean you have to.”

 

Gaara looked at his brother. “What?”

 

“Come on, you like hanging out with him. Who else do you like hanging out with? And we could pick up that sexual tension you two came back with even if we were blind and deaf. And it's cool! Whatever floats your boat, kid.”

 

Kankuro clapped his brother on the shoulder before wandering back up to the castle.

 

The Prince looked up at the castle, and in particular the balcony where he could spot Lee in his nightgown, preparing for bed. He looked back to the water, running the day through his head. He had enjoyed it. He had enjoyed sparring with the man, and taking him around the village. Lee was so alive. And he longed to find out what it would be like to kiss the man. Not one to walk away from something he wanted, Gaara started to walk back to his castle, fully intent on satisfying his curiosity.

 

Halfway up, he heard a voice chattering on about something that seemed to involve the word `youth'. A lot. He turned back towards the beach, looking at a figure walking across the sand. Even as he watched, the figure flashed through a series of hand seals.

 

The Kazekage's eyes glowed as the jutsu finished.