Gaara yawned and sat up on his bed, looking around tiredly. Lee smiled at him from the chair he sat in near the bed. "Morning, Lee." Gaara said quietly.
"Good morning, Gaara." Gaara simply smiled faintly and stretched again.
"Temari said she's got even more paperwork for me today."
"Well, you are the kazekage." Lee folded his arms across his chest. Gaara sighed as he stood up, rummaging through his closet for clothes. Lee sat and waited, looking out the window as Gaara redressed. Gaara glanced in Lee's direction and pulled on his red duster jacket and gourd before leaving the house, pausing before closing each door. He walked swiftly and silently down the road with Lee following close behind him. Lee watched as Gaara nodded to the jônin that occupied the office building.
"Hey Gaara!" Kankuro called down the hall, Temari walking behind him. They followed him into his office and shifted nervously in front of Gaara's desk as he sat down. "Uh, Gaara, are you okay?" Lee watched them silently, sitting in another chair against the wall.
"Yes, why do you ask?" Gaara stared at his siblings coolly, his teal gaze shifting between them. Temari took a deep breath before responding.
"You've just been so depressed. It's been a year, Gaara. You need to let it go." Lee stiffened and looked at Gaara. His eyes were clouded in obvious pain, but his face remained indifferent.
"You expect me to forget?" His voice was quiet and soft. "You expect me to leave it behind?" Kankuro shuffled his feet nervously and Temari wrung her hands together. Gaara closed his eyes, his fingers twisting and spinning the gold band on his wedding finger. "How can I just give that up?" His siblings just stared at each other for a moment.
"Sorry, Gaara…" Kankuro murmured and pulled Temari out of the office. Gaara sighed and rubbed his eyes, looking in Lee's direction. Lee sat quietly and watched as Gaara signed paper after paper for at least three hours. He smiled slightly as Gaara stood up, following him out of the office and into the streets.
"Hello, kazekage-sama."
"Good day, kazekage-sama."
"Kazekage-sama." Gaara nodded in response to the villagers who greeted and addressed him. A child ran behind them, nearly brushing against Lee. He stopped mid-stride and stared in Gaara's direction, his eyes widening and a chill running up his spine.
"What's wrong?" The boys' friend asked.
"It's like… Kazekage-sama is haunted…"
Gaara slipped into the Sunagakure graveyard silently, his eyes flitting between the headstones. His feet carried him beyond the graves of past villagers and fallen shinobi of his village, stopping in front of a low row of graves next to the mountain that surrounded Suna. Gaara's eyes stared at the graves of the past four kazekage and their families. Each grave sat close to another, except one. A single grave stood at the end of the row with two empty spaces to its left and one to its right. Gaara's expression suddenly changed from indifference to sadness and pain as he stood before the headstone.
"Bad today, huh?" Gaara turned to see Naruto walking up to him. "Had to have been. You didn't pick up a flower before you came. The woman who runs the little shop told me so when I walked by. Oh," Naruto rubbed his neck, "some little kid asked me if you were haunted." Gaara shook his head and looked back at the lone grave. Lee sighed sadly.
"It's not considered being haunted if it's your guardian angel." He knelt down and laid one hand gently on the grave, reading it like he did every day.
Rock Lee
Dedicated Shinobi of Suna
And Loyal Husband
Of the Fifth Kazekage
Died in the Line of Duty
"Gaara…" Lee murmured, unheard by everyone.
Gaara looked down at his wedding ring and back to the headstone. "And, Naruto, I didn't forget a flower. You do remember what day it is, don't you?" He stood and walked to where a few large stones had crumbled away from the steep hill side. The sand swirled around his feet before it set to work at Gaara's will, grinding one of the stones into shape.
"Um, sorry... Oh, wait! It's November twenty-seventh!" Naruto suddenly looked puzzled. "But what about it?"
"It's quite upsetting," Gaara said quietly, "that you have already forgotten…" He sighed as the sand fell away from the newly carved stone. Naruto racked his brain for an answer as Gaara picked up his creation.
"Wait, the twenty-seventh…" The sadness hit Naruto like a wave. "It's Bushy Brows birthday…" Gaara nodded, kneeling before his husbands' grave once more. He placed the carved stone lotus flower in front of the headstone.
"I wanted this flower to be special." His voice was barely a whisper. Naruto nodded, watching the redhead sadly. Gaara looked back at his own hands before kissing his fingertips gently and resting them on the grave over Lee's name. "Happy birthday."