Coming Home

Chapter Ten

   "Yes?" He asked in a quavering voice, keeping his eyes scrunched tightly. How could he face the Kazekage right now? He felt like his chest was going to explode at any moment. And he knew that if they locked gazes for even a second he may lose his resolve.  His thudding heart was the only interruption in the, otherwise, silent room. Each thump against his chest disturbed the air loudly around him.
   "Look at me," the red head commanded softly, in a slightly concerned tone.
   The jounnin opened his eyes slowly and reluctantly. The moonlight shone into the uncovered window slightly, creating some small amount of light into the bedroom, and it took his eyes a few seconds to adjust. As he turned from his side tentatively he saw green orbs hovering directly above him, causing him to freeze.
   "Ah.. Uh yes?" He sputtered clumsily. His comrade was observing him with such intensity it felt like the eyes would burn a hole straight through him.
   "Do you have a fever?" The nonexistent eyebrows furrowed in concern as a pale hand crept up to touch his forehead. The warm fingers found their way under his jet black bangs and laid gently against his head. Brown eyes squeezed closed once again, and his face burned a red that could usually only be achieved by opening the Gate of Opening.
   Lee felt the soft skin against him move from his head down to his burning cheeks, and he flinched backward. His eyes shot open in surprise at himself and he spluttered soundlessly, attempting to find a way to explain. Thinking on it, the only thing he could possibly do was lie. This caused him to internally groan as he was most likely the worst liar to ever walk the planet.
   White teeth came down to chew on his pink lip gently, in thought. "I'm sorry Gaara-kun," he whispered, his head hanging in shame of not being able to explain this to his friend. And these feelings in themselves were a betrayal of the Kazekage's trust. A trust that he did not give out so easily. "I don't feel my best, so I am going to rest. You should also try," he finished before laying on his side with his back to a confused looking young man.
   He didn't lie. He really didn't feel his best. But not because he was physically ailed. He was now having an internal struggle with himself. The urge to reach out and embrace the man lying next to him had almost taken him over. Gaara thought of him as a friend, something the young man didn't have a lot of, and here he was; lying on the floor, desiring more than friendship.
   He lie there silently for a while afterwards. For hours his mind reeled, until he eventually found himself dozing off in the dead of the dark night.

   When he awoke the next morning he could feel the effects of so little sleep instantly. He rubbed his massive eyes groggily, pushing the crust out of them with his bandaged knuckles. Upon looking over he found Gaara sitting still, knees pressed to his chest and wrapped in his small arms. Lee had seen him do this before, and it seemed to be when the Kazekage was thinking deeply on something.
   Once his senses began to come to, his ears were immediately insulted with the sound of the village waking. He could hear merchants opening their stands, and feet scuffling to and fro. Curse the morning. He was not a morning person.
   He allowed his eyes to wander in equivocation to the other person next to him. The green eyes made no move to suggest they had noticed the leaf's presence at all.
   "Gaara-kun?" He asked quietly. When Gaara got like this it seemed to be like a kind of trance, and Lee didn't want to startle him. His hand crawled toward the sand ninja and he rested it softly on the smaller shoulder, giving it the gentlest of squeezes.
   The black rimmed eyes blinked. Once. Twice. He looked up to see the bushy browed ninja next to him, with a look of concern adorning his features only slightly. His pale lips twitched upward slightly, without his permission, and he quickly took reign of his features once again. "Feeling better?" He asked, referring to the strange actions his comrade had exhibited the previous night.
   Lee could feel the tips of his ears become a little pink. "Ah yes. Everything is fine now," he reciprocated vaguely. He'd decided to keep this to himself. He could not control his own feelings, but he could control what he did about it. So he would do nothing. Nothing to impose on what had slowly, but unavoidably, become his secret desire.
   When had he first known? When had he had the first inkling that he had special feelings for this person? When the Kazekage returned to the village? Before that? Ever since their battle in the Chunnin Exams, Lee had thought of this young man. Not in a romantic way, but just thought of him. Always thinking of him. He'd thought then that it had something to do with his defeat. But now... Now he knew it had always been something more than that.
   "Lee?" The voice called him from the abyssal depths of his thoughts in an instant.
   "Yes?" He replied, head snapping to the side to meet the gaze.
   "Should we go now?" He repeated himself exasperatedly. He hated to say things twice, and he always found himself doing so for this particular leaf ninja.
   All at once he could feel happiness spring into his legs as he jumped up. "Yes! I want to see Gai-sensei!" He cheered, ecstatically.
   Gaara had only the time to nod before Lee rushed into his bathroom to change and brush his teeth. His mouth always tasted gross and thick in the mornings, and he could scarcely wait to scrub the flavor out viciously with the taste of sweet spearmint.
   When the brown eyed ninja reappeared, he found the short young man standing immediately outside of the bathroom door with the bag he'd packed. He held it up as if in explanation as he walked past Lee into the bathroom.
   Gaara took considerably less time to get ready than he had. When he emerged from the facility he had casual slacks and a t-shirt on. "I'm ready," he stated, in his usually indifferent voice.
   As the shorter man walked into the living room the jounnin couldn't help but notice the tiniest bit of toothpaste, just under the side of Gaara's bottom lip. He reached out, using the rough pad of his finger to scrape the paste off slowly.
   Gaara froze upon feeling the finger under his lip. He looked up at his friend quizzically, only to find the brown eyes wandering over his face before locking with his own green orbs. He felt his chest react strangely for a split second and he pulled away, averting his gaze to his feet.
   "Ah, sorry," Lee apologized, pulling his hand away immediately to scratch his cheek awkwardly. "You had a bit of toothpaste," he offered as an explanation.
   "It's fine," Gaara replied, his voice as void as ever of emotion.
   "Yosh!" Lee called out in forced cheerfulness, eager to change the mood. "Let's go!" He said a bit too loudly, as he walked out of the door. "To Gai-sensei's!"
   At least that was his intention. But almost immediately upon walking out of the door he heard Sakura's voice calling out to him.