The Second Anniversary
Disclaimer: This is a purely fan-made piece that is using the world and characters from Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto and is made entirely for enjoyment. No financial gain has been made in the making of this piece
Summery: The traditional gift for the second anniversary is cotton and Lee is nothing but traditional. Written for Leann5582
Author's Note: Possible out-of-characterness, silliness, and unidentifiable objects.
Constructive Criticism is always welcomed
Published: 18 October 2007
Rating: K+
Lee looked incredibly proud of himself.
Gaara looked mildly confused, perhaps. It was a little harder to tell, since the Desert Ninja didn't let his face change too often. "Lee. What is this?"
"This is for a Celebration of our Wonderful Years together!" Lee had mastered the Art Of Speaking many years ago (Gai-sensei had burst into tears and squashed Lee to show his happiness over the entire thing) and used it to the fullest possible extent, whenever he could.
It drove the Elders in both villages nuts.
Gaara had just looked genuinely perplexed at the thought that what Lee did was annoying. He had learned that what Lee did and what a normal person did were vastly different things, but he had just accepted that as This Is What Rock Lee Did. Questioning it only lead to headaches.
Besides, Gaara found it comforting.
Even with the knowledge that what Lee did wasn't considered normal, it still didn't explain the current situation.
Temari chose to drag Kankuro in at that moment. She stopped dead and stared.
"What the fuck is that?" Kankuro asked in his usual tasteful and tactful way.
"Lee brought it."
"Okay, that explains how it got here and why it is there, but that still doesn't answer what the fuck it is!"
Lee managed to imitate a crestfallen puppy very well. The proud sparkles died down and his posture slumped a little bit. "It's tradition!" He said, round eyes earnest and a little bit hurt. Gaara felt a sudden urge to put his brother into a coffin—a Desert Coffin—for making Lee feel bad. "On the Glorious Second Anniversary of one's Youthful Relationships, you are supposed to give cotton!"
"That's…cotton? Are you sure about that?" Kankuro asked. "And you've known us a lot longer than two—ouch!"
Temari smiled a tight, painful, little smile and twisted Kankuro's arm tighter. "This is clearly a bad time for us to be interrupting. We'll come back later." She physically yanked her brother out of the room.
Lee blinked at their sudden departure, then turned his sorrowful gaze on the misshapen mass of what was once cotton. "I was trying to celebrate." He sounded almost dejected.
Gaara had learned long ago that there was little rhyme or reason to these little bizarre things that Lee called traditions, but Lee seemed to think that they were vital to a relationship. Gaara—assuming that Lee knew far more about relationships and romance then he ever would—generally bowed to Lee's knowledge on the matter. It didn't matter that they were silly and pointless; what mattered is Lee said that they were Important.
Gaara carefully walked around the monstrosity. "Didn't you well me that it wasn't the gifts but the thoughts that was the important part?"
Lee didn't brighten immediately. "I know, but it's Important to show your Precious Person how Wonderful and Youthful they are! Thoughts cannot do my Love for you justice!" Lee's mighty fist cracked as he clenched them and his eyes started to burn. "I had searched Long and Hard for something that would work for our Youthful Anniversary! Since I have Failed in that Task, I will—"
Gaara kissed Lee before he could declare some stupid challenge for himself. It was the only way to shut the taijutsu master up, and if Gaara was lucky, it'd also make Lee forget he was making up some stupid task for himself.
The only acceptable tasks were the ones that Lee imposed on himself in the bedroom—those always were good and usually made for a much nicer night.
They broke off the kiss much sooner than Gaara would have liked, but there was no way to ignore the loud squawk of 'they're WHAT?!' from the hallway.
The door busted open a second later by a beet-faced Kankuro. Temari, face also pink, followed him, clearly having lost her hold on him. "You two are dating?!" He screeched.
Lee blinked and Gaara scowled. His plan to distract Lee to the bedroom clearly was not happening.
As Temari tried to stop Kankuro from spontaneously combusting—though it was hard to tell if she wasn't going to smack Gaara and Lee into next week for letting this bomb drop—Gaara decided to ask Lee later what the proper etiquette for telling his relatives that he was in a relationship once this was all over.
x Fin x
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