Gaara's azure depths fall closed slowly, black lids smothering the once bright orbs that are now all but dull. Lee supports the almost lifeless body in his arms, falling to his knees as he sobs quietly, hands stained red with the Kazekage's blood.

"Gaara…" He utters through tears, overcome by the sight of… of his friend falling in and out of consciousness before his eyes. The red head hears his name, before he tightens the grip he's managed to keep on Lee's arm, eyes opening for just a moment to catch a glance of familiar green.

"Shukaku…" He tries to speak, to tell Lee that everything will be fine and he doesn't need to cry over him, but his body refuses to make the task easy, every muscle tired and his eyes open again to reveal desperate orbs shining back at the leaf ninja, desperately trying to tell him something, "Lee… save yourself…" The tears that stain the man's cheeks sparkle as Gaara's gaze becomes unfocused. A smile cracks on his lips at the sight, before he forces his eyes completely open.

"You're so… stupid…" He manages to breathe, before Lee's smiling face disappears, his vision fading to black. But the red head just tightens his grip again, squeezing the taijutsu master's arm not forcibly, not as if he's trying to cling to life, but almost reassuringly. His hand soon falls, and the leaf ninja takes it in his own, squeezing it back. It's only mildly cold, but nevertheless it sends a chill down Lee's spine.

"Gaara…" He tries again, closing his eyes and bowing his head, "I am so sorry…"

In an instant, the leaf ninja steals Gaara's last breath, hoping that, if anything, that is the last sensation he feels before he drifts off completely, and that he knows. If he isn't gone already.

He sets the body down completely, laying the Kazekage to rest on the desert's floor. The leaf ninja wipes away his tears before anymore can stain Gaara's face.

'He really thinks the red head is dead. Of course he does, he didn't listen at all to what the brat said,' The desert whispers to itself.

The taijutsu master puts on a fierce face and opens the first three gates straight up. Gaara-kun had warned him not to use them, that the gates were too dangerous, that Lee worried him when he used them unnecessarily, and that the Kazekage could take of a few hostile Iwa shinobi - and look what had happened to him. Even when he'd found out the enemies were much more than just a few ninja from one of the neighbouring villages, Lee had trusted Gaara's words. They were nothing. Gaara could defeat them. And then they would celebrate their victory with curry, the sand ninja's treat.

He should have known the moment the Kazekage was scared out of his skin. Gaara wasn't one to be intimidated, not even by death – hell, he'd just smiled in its face. But the moment he'd sensed their chakra, he was as tense as a frightened cat – and it was odd, because Gaara couldn't sense the enemies at all until they were standing directly in front of him - when it was too late.

Lee still doesn't know why the red head was so frightened. Gaara had brushed his inability to detect the enemies off as Shukaku being difficult, but the leaf ninja certainly isn't that stupid, and he knowsthat Gaara knew something.

He'll have to apologize for disobeying the Kazekage when he sees him again, but Lee knows he can't do this without the gates. Gaara will understand. But now, he has a lot more to apologize for.

"I am sorry that I could not save you…" He whispers, lips trembling, "I am sorry that I did not have the courage to tell you how much you meant to me when you were alive…" The last words are but a soft uttering.

And in a flash the leaf ninja's nothing more than a green blur in the distance.