D-d-disclaimer!:I do not own, nor will I ever own, Naruto. It is a shame, I know; seeing as there is so much ROMANTIC POTENTIAL BETWEEN GAARA AND LEE, but I think Kishimoto would probably whoop my ass-ets if I attempted to duel him. ; A;
A-a-author's N-n-n-notes!: I have finally gotten around to revising this lovely little monster of a story. Not much has changed, I added a few descriptors, changed some flow, and fixed some spelling mistakes. I most likely missed some because I suck at beta'ing myself. Feel free to mention any mistakes and leave me comments.
I have decided I WILL be doing some 'sequel' junk for Soccer Stars, along with some other (mainly fluff) stories involving other characters based in my 'Konoha City'. I just love AU. I am a loser. I know.
As for compliments and thanks, since the revision, I want to say thank you to my reviewers!:
Boyue:
Thanks for being my first review. You make me all fuzzy inside. I did enjoy describing Suna. And isn't that line such a 'Lee' line. I was very happy with it! So glad you were as well!
Never Night:
You know how much I love you already! Ahaha. It was either soccer or tennis. I think soccer is a little better, though I could see Lee trying to make it big in those tennis shorts. So totally Lee-styled clothing. He is one of my fav's too, ya'know!?
Yggdrasilxxx:
Funky name, dude. But awesome! AND MAYBE HE IS ITALIAN!? Could you see Lee in an Armani suit? I could. I totally could. He would make it big in those fine Italian threads. Ab-so-LUTELY.
Raccoonwithaspoon:
!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the fantastic review, lovie. You made my day x20. Or maybe even more. I had just gotten back from the doctor when I read it and I melted into a puddle of 'I AM LOVED'-goo. Thanks! I know the moving thing was a bit of a shock, but I tried to make it more realistic by saying he was going to college on a full scholarship and what not. AND GAARA IS OBSESSIVE. HE NEVER FORGETS. So I figure he would always love Lee. He doesn't seem to be the type that exactly 'moves on' to me. He is more solid them some. Him and Naruto probably had nights where they went out and drank over their crushes-who-don't-love-them. Well. Naruto would drink. Gaara would just sulk in the corner and glare at the bar-tenders. Poor Ino. ; A;
AND I FIXED THE SPELLING. Aren't I a good girl? Any way, thanks for the review, coon-miester!
AND NOW. Onto the story. Do enjoy, and leave me a note! Thanks.
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"Hey, Gaara?"
It was one of those evenings, when the clouds were gold, pink and purple and all kinds of other colors that had no names. The sun was a disk of amber-orange that dipped behind gently sloped hills. The city was just starting to light up; a giant beast awakening to greet the moon that was reaching up behind them, her yellowed face breaking the darkened sky. The Sunagakure district was turning on it's red lights, like it was opening the pits of hell. And perhaps, as it was a hell to some, it was also a heaven to others.
Women would line the streets in scantly clad clothing, and men would whistles from their cars. Families would scurry inside and children would be tucked in bed; people would scream as they were robbed, and guns would crack through the harpy laughs of the Suna's finest whores. Suna District was the darkest, dankest part of the city.
But still, he came every day to visit Gaara. To tell him about his life, about the news and olds of Konohagakure District School 12. He would tell his stupid jokes, and berate Gaara for not joining a sports club and showing his 'vigor and youth' to the world. Gaara would always respond with a half-hearted glare and a frown. He was no sports-fan, and nothing he said would get the redhead to join something as mundane as soccer, or Shukaku forbid, football.
Even the thought gave Gaara the shivers. Too many sweaty men in smelly outfits pressed too close together; fighting over an inflated flab of pig skin, no less!
Definitely not Gaara's type of game. He disliked people in general, and sweaty people were even worse.
Indeed, he hated sweaty things and people alike, but here was one sweaty teen he didn't mind being around. The same teen who happened to be laying next to him on the grassy knoll on the outskirts of Suna. He turned his head slowly, and watched Lee lifted himself into a sitting position. His friend pulled his lanky legs up to his chest, and rested his head on his knees. Then he spoke again.
"Gaara?"
"Yes?" Gaara croaked, and then cleared his throat and attempted to speak again, "What is it, Lee?"
"When we leave high school....will we still be friends?"
"Lee, first of all. We don't go the same high school, and still manage to be friends," Gaara sighed. Lee was usually the spunky type, so it rather irksome to have to deal with such pathetic issues as this when he wanted nothing more then to watch the sun set. But Lee was his closest friend, so he made the effort to relieve this silly fear.
As he sat up and crossed his legs before him, Gaara continued, "So, since we still manage to be friends, I am sure that college will be no different." Teal eyes slide to the left, watching Lee's body slump. Was it in relief? Or with the weight of some silly teenage depression?
"Good," obviously, it was relief, "I was slightly worried, Gaara! Our friendship is full of youth, I would be quiet saddened if it were to end." The dark-haired teen turned his head towards Gaara, and grinned. "Have you joined a team yet, Gaara?"
"No."
The smile quickly transformed into a pout, and Lee's bushy eyebrows scrunched together.
"Why not Gaara? It is not very youthful to always be a spectator! Surely you do not have fun sitting there every day watching me play soccer. Wouldn't you rather be out there as well, running and being--"
"Youthful?" Gaara interrupted. He knew this lecture well, "And no, I would not be happier, Lee. I prefer using my brain," he ignored Lee's protest about how sports are not brainless activities, "over using my brawns. And I do not like having to show weakness on the battlefield, or soccer field, as it is."
"Gaara, asthma is not a weakness!" Lee complained, and swung an arm out to wrap it around his friends shoulder, pulling them closer. "It is an obstacle placed before you, so you can over-come it!" The youth-fanatic was now staring out into the evening sky, where the sun was now barely a sliver atop the hills, turning their green rolls bright orange. It was like they were on fire. Full of fiery youth.
"Lee," Gaara groaned, and waved a hand before the others eyes. "Earth to Youth Master Lee," a smile tickled his lips as Lee jumped. His friend was apt to spacing out in moments of what Gaara called 'Y-attacks'. But when Lee turned to look at him, the smile disappeared, replaced with the usual thin-lipped partial frown.
"As I was saying, before you Y-ed out," Lee snorted, his cheeks turning slightly red, barely visible in the dying light, "Asthma is most definitely a weakness. And if it is an obstacle I must over come, I would prefer to overcome it in a way I would find entertaining."
"Soccer is entertaining--"
Gaara slapped a hand over the others mouth and glared, "Lee, it may be entertaining to you," he pulled the hand away and instead opted to pinch the bridge of his nose, as if trying to get rid of a migraine he did not have, "But it does not entertain me."
"You watch me play soccer, and seem rather entertained." Lee pointed out, and Gaara nodded.
"Agreed, I do enjoy watching you."
"Then you should want to play socc--"
Lee paused, and then frowned.
"Wait. Gaara. I am confused. Do you mean to say you come to soccer practice, all the way down in Kusagakure district, to watch me?"
"Yes."
"But Gaara, you can't drive. I thought you came because you wanted to join soccer. It is silly to bike all the way down to watch me."
Gaara looked into those coal-shaded eyes, and laughed. It was a shock for Lee, who looked confused and slightly angry. Why was Gaara laughing? He was serious! He was not that amazing on the soccer team, and deserved no special notice, especially not from his best friend! It made him feel spoiled.
"Why are you laughing?"
Gaara chuckled, and the small smile on his lips did not disappear this time. "I am laughing because you are too funny. Listen to me, Lee. You love soccer, and run from Konoha to Kusa every day to play, correct?"
"Yes."
"I bike every day from Suna to Kusa every day because there is something I love there as well."
"So, you do love soccer then?"
Gaara groaned and leaned forward, hands covering his face. Some days it was like talking to a goldfish. "No, Lee. I do not love soccer."
"But you said you bike there everyday because there is something you love. Correct? What else could you love?"
"Lee. I come there to watch you." Gaara turned his head fully now, teal eyes willing his youth-dense friend to understand.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then there was a flicker of understanding in Lee's eyes. His mouth formed a perfect 'O', and his cheeks turned ruddy, though it was invisible as the sun completely set.
"I need to leave, Gaara-san."
--
Gaara would come up every night, as he had always done for the last three years, and sit on the hill. He would watch the sun set, then get up and go home. High school had ended with him and Lee no longer on talking terms, and last time they had spoke...
"Gaara-san?"
"Lee. Hello." He turned his head and found he couldn't even see his old friends face because of all the boxes before his face. "What is this?" He leaned back on the balls of his feet, then slowly stood and dusted off his knees -which were dirty from his hours of working in the garden in front of his home.
"It is stuff you forgot at my house. I am moving, Gaara-san. I have been given a full scholarship, and I will be living in the dorms. I figured you would enjoy having your stuff back."
Lee left the stuff on Gaara's front porch after that; as he left Gaara laughed, and then shook his head. Obviously, Lee wished nothing more then to forget him.
"I am sorry Gaara-san. I suppose...college really is different then high school."
"Yes, Lee. It most definitely is."
Gaara leaned forward, his knees tucked up under his chin, and plucked a blade of grass from the ground. He stared at it, then split it in half with his thumbnail before tying the two pieces together. He stared for a while at the grass knot, and then let it drop to the ground. Lee used to make grass rings and necklaces when they sat up here, but Gaara could never get it right. His knots always looked wrong.
He watched the sun dip, as it always did, into the hills, and watched the lights of Suna burn the sky. He had the choice to move out of Suna a while back, but opted to stay. When his sister asked why, he had simply replied, "It is easier to the hill from here."
When his brother had told him that Lee wasn't ever coming back to that stupid hill and that he should grow up, Gaara threw a family vase at him. They hadn't spoken since, though Temari sometimes sent pictures of her baby to him in the mail. Her last name was now Nara.
The last words in her latest letter still rang in his head.
'...and we decided to have another baby. Shikumaru isn't sure if we wants one, but I convinced him. I took a test today, we it was positive, so we are guessing it will be some where in April. Isn't that a nice month?
And also, I heard there is a big soccer tournament coming up. Don't you like soccer? You used to bike to Kusa every day to watch. Maybe you should go! I know you always loved it…'
Soccer.
Gaara hated soccer.
"Have you joined a sport yet, Gaara?"
"I hate sports."
"That is too bad, Gaara-san."
"Since when do my memories start calling me Gaara-san?" the redhead quipped, and ruffled his hair. He spent to much time alone, he should listen to Naruto and just get out and socialize once in a while.
"I suppose they call you that because they feel they are not allowed to call you Gaara any more."
He paused and scrunched his shaved brows. It was a comical expression, which was ironic, seeing how serious he was. He had a feeling that this was no longer his own mind speaking, and he wanted to turn around, but couldn't.
"Are you going to just sit there then? I can understand though. I did leave on a sour note."
"Yes." it was sharper then Gaara intended it to be, but three years of anger could make one's words sound sharp, "It was a rather sour note. So...why are you here?"
Feet, always bigger then his, appeared by his side, and slowly Lee sat down beside him. They mocked each other's poises now; Gaara with his knees under his chin and Lee with his legs crossed and hands in his face.
"I came to ask you something."
"Yes?"
"Do you still bike to Kusa every day?"
It was embarrassing to admit it, but it was true, and Gaara nodded. "Yes, I do."
"Even when it rains?"
"Even when it rains, Lee. I have asthma, but don't worry, I don't melt in the rain."
Lee chuckled, and then looked off to the side. Gaara watched him from the corner of his eye. The other man kept fidgeting, and it was rather annoying.
"Is that all?"
"I used to come here every day, because I loved the sunsets."
"So did I..." Gaara frowned, confused, but let the conversation go without question.
"Then, when they built that car lot near the edge of Konoha, it ruined the sunsets for me. Yet...I still came here."
"Why?"
"Because there was something else I loved here as well. I suppose though, at the time, I just couldn't realize it."
Gaara tensed, and then glared, "Lee. I do not like being toyed with. I know that you may find it funny to play with my feelings. But I meant what I said, and --"
"I MEAN IT TOO!" Lee roared, and then blushed and covered his face again. "I really do mean it."
Gaara blinked, and then fell onto his back, and stared up at the stars appearing in the sky. He couldn't understand how this could happen. Three years had passed, and suddenly Lee appeared out of no where. It was as if this had all been planned out. It was crazy, ridiculous, impossible. It was a thousand different things, and not one of those things was a good thing. But still, it was happening. It was completely improbable.
But he wasn't one to complain, and a small smile, barely visible, brushed his lips. "Aren't the stars beautiful tonight?"
"Yeah."
He felt a warm body lay down beside his, their sides touching, and a shaky hand -slightly sweaty and way bigger then his own- slipped over his, and after a moment, the redhead intertwined their fingers. Lee's hand stiffened, and Gaara's heart plummeted, but then those larger fingers tightened around his; a thumb gently, awkwardly, stroked his knuckles. It was a reassuring feeling and Gaara tucked his free hand under his head; exhaling slowly, calmly. "I love looking at the stars."
He felt dark eyes looking at him, and tilted his head; there was that goofy grin on Lee's face. The same one he got when he won a soccer game. The one Gaara loved.
It was a wonderful moment.
For a moment.
Then:
"So...you going to join soccer now, Gaara? We have an opening."
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WHAT!? They didn't kiss!? I know. I am a cruel monster. But if you watch out for my soon to come stories, you may get a gaa-lee kiss or two!
Tata for now, dearies! AND REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW!