Title: Bunbuku Chagama
Pairings: GaaLee
Rating: PG
Description: Lee, on his way home from a hard day's work, finds a tanuki snagged in a trap. He decides to help it, only to find something a little strange about the raccoon dog.
Author's Note: This is based off one of my favorite fairytales: Bunbuku Chagama. Slightly modified, but not too much.
Once upon a time, there was a poor boy that spent his days cutting wood for the kind lady of the village filled with trees, Tsunade. The boy, named Rock Lee, was known for his large heart and great determination. He made little money even after his hard work, but always seemed to scrounge enough for food and other necessities to survive. He never asked kind lady Tsunade for more money, for he knew full well that even she was getting low on ryo because of the village's current economic struggle.
---
Lee wiped the sweat off his brow and smiled. He pulled his axe up and rested it on his shoulder.
"Alright, Tsunade-baa-sama! I have finished cutting the wood!" He yelled to the woman.
Tsunade peered out of her window and at the boy. She beckoned her over to him.
Lee obliged and walked over to her, the axe still clutched within his hand and resting on his shoulder.
"Good job, Lee." She said, observing the pile of chopped wood. She handed him a few ryo as payment and told him good-bye.
"Good-bye, Tsunade-baa-sama!" He called and waved to her with his free hand.
Lee happily walked back home, humming a tone. His payment was still clutched within his hand, and the axe in his other. But, something on the side of the dirt road caught the youth's attention.
He stopped and walked over towards it, only to see a small red-brown tanuki struggling against a foothold trap. He held his breath, staring at the poor creature with compassion. He knelt down quickly, placing the ryo to the side on the ground, the axe thumping to the ground, and startled the raccoon dog by gripping the metal trap that pinned its leg to the ground and pull it open, freeing it.
The tanuki jumped away from the trap jittery and tested its leg. It stared at him, small teal eyes focusing on his face as he smiled happily.
"There you go, Tanuki-kun! Good-bye!" He said and gracefully stood up.
He picked up his axe and ryo and hurried back home, happy that the cute little animal was freed.
---
He was awakened rudely by a shifting in his bed.
Lee felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end when he tried to look at whatever had invaded his personal space. His eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly, and he focused on the blob of fur that was crawling on top of his covers.
He pulled a sharp intake of air and stared at it, "T-Tanuki-kun?" He asked, squinting his eyes at the blob.
"Oh, hello. It takes you quite a while to awaken, doesn't it?" The tanuki asked in a drone.
Lee squirmed away from it, "Y-Y-You can talk?" He shouted with amazement.
It winced, "Yes, I do. My name is Gaara. May I know my savior's name?" He inquired.
He blinked, staring at the animal with bug eyes.
"Your name, tell me your name." Gaara insisted, staring at him.
Lee opened his mouth, but no words came out. He closed it again and swallowed, his throat scratchy and dry. "M-My name," He croaked, "My name is L-Lee."
It blinked at him, "Thank you for saving me, Lee." He said, tone cool and silky, "And for saving me, I will turn into a chagama. Sell me, please, so that I may repay my debt to you."
He looked at him thoughtfully, "Thank you very much, Gaara-kun!" He said thankfully and grabbed the small raccoon like animal into a tight hug.
He squeaked in a not so squeaky manner and ordered Lee to stop hugging him.
He graciously put him down and continually thanked him again.
---
When Lee had awoken the next day, he found a gorgeous teakettle sitting at the base of his bed. He leaned over it and stoked the tarnished golden edges tenderly.
"Thank you, Gaara-kun." He whispered to the kettle, looking like a total loon to anyone who didn't know the situation.
During the day, right after he finish his daily cutting of the wood, he went out to the village square to sell the dirty chagama.
One of the local monks, Iruka, bought the kettle from him and paid him a good deal of ryo for the transformed tanuki.
(Lee had felt guilty for selling the kettle to Iruka without telling him that it was actually a transformed Gaara. But he very much needed the ryo.)
---
Iruka took Gaara home happily and started to scrub the golden metal harshly until late into the night, doing his best to get rid of the grim that had covered its valuable surface. Once he was finished with cleaning away the dirt and filth that had covered him, he set Gaara over the freshly made fire to boil water.
Gaara whimpered mutely, the heat getting much too hot for him. He tried to ignore it, but soon found the small fire starting to grow in heat. He twitched, unable to take the heat anymore, and sprouts his legs once again. He didn't change any further, for his didn't want his whole body to be burned while he was within the fire and fled from the monk's home.
Iruka stared at the running kettle in shock, but didn't move, his legs thoroughly planted onto the wooden floor from his shock.
Gaara ran down the nightly street, doing his best to stay near the buildings to keep away from the night public's eye. He quickly made his way back to Lee's home, transformed into his tanuki form, and rested next to the black haired youth.
---
Lee woke up with a jolt as he finally sensed the creature curled up next to him. He looked down at the little animal and smiled. He stoked the raccoon dog on the head with his index finger and smiled brighter.
Gaara stared at him, looking rather disturbed that he was petting him.
The youth jumped slightly when he finally figured out that the boy animal was awake the whole time. "I am sorry." He said in a whisper.
Gaara stood up and stretched, the hair on his back pricking slightly and his tail swished back and forth gently. "No problem."
"Why are you back, Gaara-kun?" Lee asked him, his hands resting on his lap.
Gaara rubbed a paw over his ear and stared at him blankly, "The monk tried to boil water in me, but the fire was too hot, so I ran away." He explained.
Lee stared at Gaara's blackened paw and frowned. He took it gently between his pointer and middle finger. "Were you burned?" He asked in concern, staring at the soot that was caked between the tanuki's toes.
Gaara pulled his front leg away from him and swished his bushy tail in front of him, "No, I'm fine."
He pulled him into another hug, his fingers stroking his hair carefully, "I am sorry I allowed you to hurt yourself." He muttered, eyes slightly sullen.
---
"I what?" Lee asked him, looking down at the small tanuki.
"You set up a roadside attraction." He repeated.
"How would I do that?" He asked, crouching down and tilting his head at him.
"I turn into a teakettle with legs, and walk a tightrope. You charge people to see me, thus, helping you make money." He explained.
Lee smiled at him slowly. He had given Iruka his money back, because that was the way he was.
He pulled Gaara into yet another hug and thanked him several times once again.
Gaara pulled himself out of Lee's arms and shook his fur back into place.
So Lee and Gaara set up a roadside attraction. The youth had made much ryo in one day, and the villagers were happy to see something so amazing and magical to make them feel happy and forget about their village's economic problems for a little while.
---
The youth pulled the tanuki into a hug, "Thank you very much, Gaara-kun! I could never repay you for your good deeds." He said, squeezing him tighter. He was startled when he felt the small furry creature become bigger and bigger until he was almost the same height at him, and his hair almost disappearing completely. Only long locks of maroon red hair on the top of his human head.
His eyes bugged as he felt him press his thin lips against Lee's.
Gaara looked at him, his teal eyes rounded with black, and smiled invisibly within the kiss.
They parted, Lee still staring at him. His first kiss was stolen from him…
He pressed a small kiss on Gaara's forehead and wrapped his arms around Gaara's lean body, surprised to feel him fully clothed.
"This… Is a bit strange, Gaara-kun." He whispered, staring at his red hair.
"I don't care." He said in a monotone and grasped the sides of Lee's head and kissed him again.