A wise man once said "endings are hard. Any chapped-ass monkey with a keyboard can poop out a beginning, but endings are impossible."
With respect, I disagree. I have always found beginnings hard, and I suspect I always shall. I therefore apologise for this beginning and hope to promise the story will get better.
Disclaimer; I own the OCs. All Naruto characters
The land of Hikaji had changed much in the past few decades. Once it had been a place of war and blood, where children were barely allowed to become adults before being sent to the front lines. The kings of the land had been given no choice but to protect their lands against their neighbours. There were five lands in total in the realm of Masaki; Hikaji, Unidofu, Kichi, Suimizu and Kamizuchi. Each had a ruling, shining city, where the ruler of each land resided.
For centuries the lands had fought one another, arguing over beliefs, over rules and laws…over the slightest insults from one high-classed family to another. But there had now been peace for ten years. The lands had rebelled against the war, risen up against the wishes of the higher families. The rulers of each land had encouraged this, and had insisted on electing new 'kages', new shadows to lead the lands into the new age of prosperity and peace.
Kono was the capital of Hikaji, a shining beacon lighting the way for the rest of the land. Or so most believed anyway.
Those that lived in the poorer parts of the city knew different; there were still darkness to hide in, if you only knew where to look. One such shadow was lying in wait, bored out of his mind. He knew the man he was waiting for would be along any time now, but he'd been here since morning, just in case. The man was smarter than most gave him credit for; he might have arrived early to try and put the shadow off his trail-ah! Here he was now.
He was lucky, honestly, that no-one had decided to attack him, going out into the slums in such finery. Covering it with a cloak did nothing to hide the fact that the man was of high class. You would think one born in the slums would have more sense! And yet here he was; prancing down the damned street like a bloody ponce.
The shadow rolled his eyes and waited until the man was directly underneath him before moving, swift and silent as a ghost, slipping down from the roof he'd been hiding under and dangling by a beam, just behind the man. He froze, stopping in his steps and the shadow smirked. That training had some results then. He pulled himself up again as the man turned, blinking in confusion at the empty space behind him. The shadow dropped behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"GAH! Have at you, you fiend, you scoundrel-oh for god's sake, must you do that?"
The shadow chuckled under his breath at the man's shock. "You should know better than to be wandering around the streets, my lord. Your father hired me to look out for you, remember? You are making my job increasingly difficult."
The young lord sighed and crossed his arms, near pouting at the shadow. "I was just coming to meet Angelica…"
"Angelica? That's a new one my lord. What happened to Lady Sakura?"
The lord's pout grew and his eyes grew mournful. "Alas, she has once again fallen under the charms of Lord Uchiha."
"Ah," the shadow sighed, rolling his eyes once again. The Uchiha brat was a thorn in everyone's sides, and yet every eligible young woman in the city seemed to fall for his looks, skill and cleverness. Lady Sakura was a strong, sensible and intelligent woman, and yet even she, it seemed, could not resist the Uchiha's brooding charms. "I'm sorry my lord. So, who is this 'Angelica?'"
"She is the most beautiful flower to ever bloom in the darkness of this city! A shining light amongst the darkness, a-"
"Is she another whore, Lee?"
The young lord spluttered in denial, making the shadow groan. "Oh god…"
"She is not like the others Gaara, I swear it! She is kind and sweet and truthful!"
The shadow, Gaara, sighed and grabbed Lee by the lobe of his ear, tugging him back the way he had come.
"Ow! Gaara! I demand that you let go of me this instant! Angelica is awaiting my arrival!"
"With open legs, yes I'm sure she is. The fact remains that she's a whore Lee, and if you get her pregnant you'll be in all kinds of trouble. Your father-"
"My father understands my heart!"
"Your cock is more like it. She'll survive my lord. You have duties to attend to."
Lee finally gave up when they exited the alleyway, shoulders slumping in defeat. Gaara watched him with amusement, corner of his lips quirking up. His poor lord…
Lee, his lord and charge, had a habit with falling 'in love' with every beautiful woman he came across. He genuinely wanted to give them everything and protect them with everything he had. Unfortunately, he also had a habit of falling for whores, thieves and assassins. Which made Gaara's job as his protector a constant battle of vigilance.
Lee's father, Lord Maito, had found Gaara living on the streets at the age of fourteen. He was already a fully trained assassin, thanks to his father's life-long training, but had lost his way. He was tired, starving, barely bothering to keep himself alive. But when he had seen the Lord and his young son being attacked, he had been unable to stop himself from helping.
The Lord had then taken him in, encouraged him to use his skills as an assassin to instead protect. At the age of sixteen, Gaara had been appointed Lee's official bodyguard. And ever since then, he'd been watching him get himself in trouble.
Now, at the age of twenty seven – though he still looked as though he were just twenty – Gaara was beginning to feel old. Lee was a year older, at twenty-eight, and should have been married and settled down by now. But still he continued to fall in love with every pretty thing that smiled at him. It was getting to the point where even Lord Maito was beginning to despair of his son ever settling down.
Gaara himself had never married, or even found a companion to keep by his side. This was for a very simple reason; Gaara preferred the company of men. He had discovered this some years ago, when he had happened to walk in on Lord Maito as he was changing. Although he had never found the man attractive in terms of personality (the man was far too loud), he had been shocked speechless by the man's physique.
Shocked by his sudden arousal, he'd sought out other men his own age and had…experimented a little. And yeah…he was definitely gay. And this presented a rather large problem, since being gay in Kono was a little like being a child murderer; you didn't admit to it, even if someone put a red hot poker to your testicles and swore not to tell a soul.
He knew that both Lord Maito and Lee held no such animosity towards 'boys', as they were commonly referred to, since they had hired two as bodyguards. But he still kept his attractions to himself. He had sincere affection for Lee, and did not want the man's attitude towards him change.
"Angelica could have been the one you know…"
Lee's words startled Gaara out of his thoughts and he rolled his eyes openly at the man. "You've been saying that for eleven years, my lord."
"I know. One day I'll meet her Gaara; a woman who adores me as much as I worship her."
"Not possible."
"You think I'm that that unlovable?"
"No, I think there will never be a woman on earth that could give you affection equal to that you'd give her in return."
Lee turned warm eyes on him and Gaara felt his chest clench a little. Ah yes, the other reason he refused to tell Lee about his 'preferences'.
Gaara had been in love with Lee for six years.
Most days it was easy enough to bare; Lee switched his affections so frequently that Gaara had no real fear of him ever finding someone to stay with for the rest of his life, but at the same time he was truly unhappy to see his friend and charge miserable. He wanted Lee to be happy.
To his dismay, however, he was beginning to despair of ever finding a woman who would love Lee as much as he would love them. There was so much love inside Lee. It would be hard for anyone to measure up to it. Though Gaara would dearly relish the opportunity to try.
Gaara was drawn out of his thoughts once again as they reached the carriage. Obviously Lee had only been expecting to be a few hours.
"You're back early, m'lord," Karashi, their coachman, smirked, inclining his head towards Gaara. "'e caught you again did 'e?"
"Somewhat," Lee admitted grumpily. "Home please Karashi."
"Aye m'lord. Gaara," the man greeted, smirk growing. Gaara smirked back in reply and slipped into the carriage beside Lee.
"Your father wished me to remind you that we're leaving for Suna tomorrow afternoon. Have you packed everything private you need?" he asked Lee, crossing one leg over the other and taking another look at his charge. Truly, Lee needed to learn to disguise himself more cleverly. He still had on his usual attire of tight (and, more tellingly, clean) black trousers, white shirt and dark green waistcoat, pocket watch tucked into one of the front pockets.
Gaara reached forwards without care and pulled the gold watch loose, examining the time for a moment before clicking it closed and replacing it. Even the cloak covering Lee's finery was clean and expensive looking.
"I have indeed. You know I am not often unprepared," Lee replied with a sniff, slipping the cloak off and putting it to one side. "You look unhappy again my friend."
"You should learn to dress more like a slum-dweller," Gaara stated, gesturing down at his own attire; dark grey pants that were stained with soot and dirt, a dirty shirt under a black cowl and a bandana around his neck that he could pull up as a mask.
Lee eyed the clothes with that similar, strange look in his eyes that Gaara had learnt to take as distaste. Lee had never stated out loud that he found Gaara's manner of dress unworthy, but he got the same look in his eyes every time he studied the former assassin's clothing, so Gaara had read between the lines.
"I don't own any such garments and father will not allow me to buy any. And you are far too small."
Gaara snorted and uncrossed his legs, moving his boots to rest them on the seat opposite, next to Lee. "I'll buy you some at some point. You can't keep frequenting whore houses looking like a toff; it'll get you robbed or raped or murdered. Or all three."
"And then father will be very upset, yes, I know." Lee sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Gaara. I don't mean to cause you such hassle."
"My life would be fairly boring if you didn't, my lord. I don't mind. I just wish you-" Gaara cut himself off with a sigh. "It's fine. You have finished your studies of Suna customs?"
"I have. How does it feel, to be going home again?" Lee questioned quietly. Lee and his father were the only two people in the land who knew of Gaara's past, and who his father had been. Who he was, in point of fact. But Gaara had left all of that behind some years ago. And he was not looking forward to going home.
"Terrified, angry, nauseous…nothing good."
"It'll be alright. Your father is gone, Gaara. And your siblings have agreed to keep their silence about your past. It's only for a few days, anyhow."
"I will be fine, Lee. Please don't concern yourself with me."
Lee hummed and looked out of the window, eyes taking in the gaze of the slum-dwellers. It was rare a carriage came down here. Another way of Lee making his presence known. It would almost be funny if he were doing it on purpose.
"Just a few days Gaara. You can stay with me the whole time if you like."
Gaara gave his charge a small smile and looked out of the window himself. He would be doing that alright. He would stick to the man like shit on a shoe.
Nothing less would make sure Lee stayed out of trouble.