Bad Presents

A story by Songstone

Songstone: This is for another prompt that I got. XD For my Sensei, in fact! I really hope that you like it, Sensei!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Rock Lee always received bad presents. Ever since he was a child, he remembered only getting a few clothes and hand-me-down toys from his other distant relatives on Christmas day. He never really let it bother him, though. He wore the clothes because they covered him and kept him warm and he played with the toys because they were still in good shape and kept him amused.

Lee had spent quite a few years living by himself in his home out in the forest of Konoha; and every Christmas, Lee would put up a tree inside of his home and decorate himself. It was never as good as everyone else's; the people who actually had loving and caring families to help them decorate, but it was manageable. By the time Christmas day actually came, Lee would have his whole house decorated brightly with all of his efforts.

When Lee had been an impressionable seven-year-old, one of his Uncle's sat him down and told him that there was no such thing as Santa. And, being the rather sentimental child that he had been, Lee had broke down into tears. He had gotten over it, of course; he had to. He couldn't mope around on Christmas after all! But nonetheless, even when Lee had become a very proud Jounin of Konoha, he would find himself waking up on Christmas day and hoping that someone, be them Santa or not, would drop by with a gift. Every year, Lee faced the same fate, however. He would wake up to a cold, quiet house and the tree in his living room would be bare beneath its leaves.

It used to depress him, but now he had grown up a bit more. He had matured. And even when he and his former Sensei and teammates got together and exchanged presents, Lee managed to open his and proudly boast about the new leg warmers or training weights he had gotten without letting it show how much it bothered him. Lee was used to receiving bad presents.

Though, this Christmas would be different. He had a visitor who would be arriving at his home only one day before Christmas. Yes, this was one of the rare occasions when Gaara would be coming to Konoha to visit him. Oh, and get some diplomatic issues settled, of course.

When the day came that Gaara arrived, Lee ran out to go and meet his long time lover with a warm hug and loving words at the gates. He had walked him to the Hokage's tower and then went back to his own home to rapidly organize. He had bought and wrapped a present for Gaara himself and set it carefully under the tree in his living room.

He had told the Kazekage that he had a surprise for him waiting at his house. He couldn't wait for Gaara to finish his meeting so that he could give the gift to him personally. Though, somehow when Lee was busily waiting for Gaara to arrive, he had curled up on his couch and dozed off into a peaceful slumber, exhausted after all the excitement held within that one day.

When Lee would open his eyes next, he would be lying face down on the couch with a blanket over his body. He snuggled into it, wondering vaguely how it had gotten there, before he sat up with a start. He was supposed to wait up for Gaara to finish his meeting! What time was it? Surely he didn't sleep inthat late!

A glance at the clock on his wall told him it was seven o' five in the morning hours.

Groaning, Lee had sunk back down into his couch, dejected. He had slept the whole night? But wait. Yesterday had been Christmas Eve. If he had slept all day, then that meant it was Christmas! He sat back up and looked around himself. He would just take Gaara's present to him since the redhead hadn't arrived; and if he had, he didn't take the present, because it was still beneath the tree.

Reaching down, Lee scooped the presents into his arms and frowned a bit; he didn't remember his present to Gaara being so . . . light. Out of curiosity, he shook the box once and listened. The jacket that he had made didn't make much noise anyway, but there wasn't even a crackle of the paper he had wrapped it in! Sitting back on the couch, Lee debated what to do with the box. Should he open it and make sure that he had actually put the gift in there? Well, it couldn't hurt. Better than giving Gaara an empty box.

Quickly, Lee untied the bow and pulled the top of the box off. He peeked down into the container and gaped down in shock when he saw that his handmade jacket wasn't there. He was about to get up and begin to search his house for it when he noticed a card at the bottom of the box that hadn't been there before. He grabbed it up warily, turning it over to read what it said. His eyes widened when he saw who it was addressed to.

To: Lee

From: Gaara

This isn't much. I'm not good with Christmas gifts. But it's something we can use together I hope.

Smiling slightly, Lee placed the card back into the box and set it beneath the tree once more. Apparently, Gaara had come to his house. He must have taken his gift and left this for Lee. It was so thoughtful of Gaara to bring him a present. Lee hadn't even asked for anything!

He blinked a bit and looked around. Well, he had found the box and card, but where was the--

"You like the gift?" Hearing someone else's voice, Lee had startled and jumped a bit before he turned around, looking up from the couch to find Gaara staring down at him with his arms crossed and a faint, hidden smile on his lips.

"Gaara!" Lee cried out, smiling wide. Not only had the Kazekage stayed in his home, he was wearing the jacket that Lee had made him. He chuckled a bit and motioned to Gaara to come and join him on the couch, though he hesitated in answering Gaara's question. "Gift? I couldn't find it. The box was empty . . ." He trailed off, nodding down at the said item.

Gaara blinked down at the green gift wrapped box before a grin slowly worked its way over his lips. "I see that it is. Tell me, Lee, how is it that you didn't notice it when you woke up? Your present is right here. On this couch, in fact."

Hearing that, Lee's eyebrows furrowed and he looked at Gaara for a while. He wanted to ask if Gaara was talking about himself being Lee's present, but decided that it wasn't the right guess. Gaara had written in his note that it was something they could use together. "I don't . . ." He tried slowly.

Gaara rubbed his hands up and down his own arms before he bundled himself deeper into the jacket Lee had made him. "Your handiwork if wonderful, Lee. I love my gift. But I'm from Suna. I am not used to this cold weather, so I'm afraid that I need something else to keep me warm."

Instantly, Lee had grabbed up the blanket that he had been covering up with and held it out to the redhead. "Oh! Here, you can use . . . this . . . blanket . . ." He blinked at it and tilted his head to the side. He had gone to sleep without anything over him and yet when he woke up, he was bundled up warmly beneath this blanket.

Suddenly, his coal colored eyes lit up and he glanced up at Gaara's face, only to find the Kazekage smiling back at him faintly. "This is my present?" He guessed, running his hands over the foreign fabric.

Gaara gave one nod before he moved closer to Lee, gripping one end of the blanket and tugging it around himself. "It is. I spent quite some time working on this. I had hoped that you would use it with this cold weather here and that while I'm here visiting we could maybe use it together." He said, glancing up at Lee for approval of that suggestion.

Of course, Lee had already wrapped himself up as well and had inched closer against the Kazekage, hugging him tightly and kissing his lips briefly. "Thank you. I really love this present." He told his lover as he gently nuzzled the red locks.

"Hn. Good." Gaara said, shifting and leaning against Lee's strong form, closing his eyes to relax for a while.

Lee did the same, closing his dark eyes and resting his head on top of Gaara's. He couldn't help but to think, though. For as long as he could remember, Lee had always recieved bad presents from everyone; no matter how much he cared for the person themselves, they would usually end up getting him something that he didn't need or couldn't use.

He was glad that this year though, Gaara had gotten him the perfect gift. And maybe there was a Santa out there somewhere, because he had his favorite gift sitting right besides him, nuzzling into his chest and sighing in contentment as they shared their Christmas morning wrapped up in each other's arms.

Songstone: Turned out longer than I hoped. XD Anyway, I hope that this is good. I worked hard on it! Tell me what you think, peoples! XD R&R.