Katsu: Wow, this has been in my computer for a while… I should really finish the second chapter but it can be seen as a oneshot…

Mindless LeeGaa fluff, but it is a little OOC on Gaara's part and a lot of scenes are hard to follow, I hope you guys like it… and if you don't like this couple or yaoi in general then you could leave, otherwise I hope this will change your opinion on this couple.

This is a dedication piece to the Rix†Hex†Ex

As well as to Lucrecia, whom is an idol of sorts to me.

Kotoko owns Re-Sublimity

I -WISH- I owned Naruto, if I did there would be a lot more of Lee and Gaara

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Moving the slowly unfolding, distressing troubles from afar that were in the past Strongly closing the eyelids, the white screams have frozen

The confusion of the setting moon

Surely my existence is here now Waiting for me

There's no more tears to cry When the moment comes when we embrace each other

-

Unspoken, unheard, unseen, just an illusion

Flowing towards the other side of time, becoming like a lost child, an unforgiven wish

Only voice, only fingers, only the approaching warmth

Unspoken thoughts get tainted by the shredded night wind

I had realized that it was only a deception - an image, right there

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It was late at night; the sky was a pitch black, with small diamonds sprinkled across it, glittering like dust caught in the light. It was a cool evening, one that held a small breeze that would send some of your bangs into your eyes or tickle your cheeks. The moon was orange that night, sending an eerie glowing aura onto whatever it could reach and shadows became that much more ominous. The street lamps were dull, creating small orbs of light that seemed futile in the darkness around them considering the street was deserted.

Amber eyes slid across the scenery before him, finding nothing else to do during this time of night, in all honesty, he just couldn't fall asleep. No matter which way he turned he was uncomfortable, it was either too cold with his sheets on, or too warm with the blanket. So he simply gave up trying to sleep and climbed onto the roof of the apartment building, luckily being on the top floor. The roof was slanted because of the rain they received there, so he could see a grand view before him.

The apartment he had wasn't much, considering that no matter how much money he made on missions it was never really enough to buy anything bigger. Even if he did manage to scrounge up some extra, he felt too attached to the place anyways. It was a simple design with beige walls and plain wallpaper with Kanji for love, strength, hope, dream, determination, and hard work written in red along the borders. The actual layout itself didn't make much sense, considering that you walked into the small barely used kitchen, then walked into the living room, once there you had a choice to go to the bathroom or bedroom.

It would confuse assassins or burglars all to hell though, so he could never really complain, he also had quick access to bandages and clean water if he ever came back from a mission and needed to get to the kitchen. He always kept the first aid kit in the first cupboard on the right as soon as you walked into the apartment, therefore, it was a quick and easy route.

It was also very crowded in his apartment, he never really had to clean, but he never had actually pt anything away, he knew where everything was in a precise order and place. He always knew if Tenten or Neji had been over because Tenten always like to 'help him out' by putting things away, pretty much making him rip his hair out trying to find where she put everything. He didn't much care anymore, he was starting to get used to her way of thinking, at least he could find out where she put his clothes now (Nicely hung up in the closet). And also where his toothbrush and other toiletries went (Behind the mirror, which confused him greatly, so much in fact, that he had to go over and ask her where everything was).

He sighed as the breeze ruffled his hair into his eyes again, he reminded himself once again that he desperately needed a haircut. He absently wondered if he would get the same hairstyle again, it didn't really suit an 19 year old who was a jounin. Then again, thinking back to his previous haircut before the one he had didn't seem that bad, it was a messily cut layered…style… he managed to accomplish with a shuriken.

Now his hair was tied out of his face and easily reached the base of his neck, He pushed the bangs out of his face and decided to cut his hair the easy way. Taking out a sharp kunai he grabbed a fist of hair and made sure not to cut it too short before slicing through it. He sighed and finished the left side before moving onto the right, he vaguely wondered if he could be able to reach the back and not cut it awkwardly

"LEE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

He blinked as he jumped and almost fell off of his perch on the roof, he looked below him and saw Tenten hanging out of his open window. He cursed the day he gave her a key, wait, no he didn't, that was a good day… well, he cursed the moment that he gave her the key.

He suddenly realized that holding your hair behind you and posing a kunai knife to cut it would probably look suicidal from the front, so he decided to lower it slowly and grin as though nothing was wrong.

"Hey Tenten-san, I didn't hear you come in-"

"Lee why did you have a kunai pressed up to you neck?"

He blinked, did Tenten REALLY think he was trying to kill himself?

"I was cutting my hair…." He said slowly, pronouncing each word as if it was the most obvious thing on earth.

"Well then you didn't you come get me! Your hair isn't straight at all, it looks layered, not that it doesn't look good but I highly doubt you want it that messy." She hopped up onto the roof and knelt down beside him.

"Actually," he replied with a small smile, "I wanted a little change, the bowlcut is getting old and I knew I needed something that would keep the hair out of my eyes…" why did his best friend look so surprised, it wasn't like he said he was going to wax his eyebrows or something.

She watched him, looking for any signs of jesting, when he gave her a confused look and handed her over her the weapon she grinned happily. She touched the layered ends of his hair and happily nicked off another couple strands.

She skillfully cut through the poker straight hair with ease, creating a style that suited him, it reminded her of their first days together as a team. The boy with the shaggy cut hair, the bushy eyebrows, big dreams, and almost unreachable ambition… here he was sitting on top of a roof, that same little boy, who had the will of iron, who never gave up no matter what happened to his body.

For a boy who always had a routine life and never seemed to like change, he had never really noticed that he was constantly changing. She finished the haircut with his bangs, then set the kunai down and plopped into a seat beside him, feeling the cool breeze ruffle her own hair pleasantly.

"I'm surprised at you," She announced abruptly, causing the elder boy to give her an odd look, she smiled and decided to explain herself, "Here we are…19 years old, and it's like we've reverted back to our younger selves… You're back to wearing a Chinese uniform, with bandages mind you, and that silly little layered cut that helped you to stand out in the crowd. In addition, here I am, back to that little girl who thought she knew what she wanted, with her silly little buns and fixation for sharp, shiny things…" the pleasant memories brought a soft smile to both of their lips, "You know, it's been… wow… seven years? Eight maybe? And you're still the one I go to when I want to talk about something, you must think so lowly of me, always complaining about Neji…"

"Tenten-chan, that's not true…" A shocked weapons mistress turned her head in astonishment to watch her former teammate and close friend, "It's the experiences in the past that make us who we are, besides, hearing you talk about Neji never bothered me once because I was just glad I had a friend who could count on me." His face was relaxed, no emotions switched across it at all, but his eyes were so far away, in a distant place of their past. "You're one of the first friends I ever had…"

Tenten curled her lips up and a reminiscent smile, "They always said you'd never do it, hell, I thought you'd never do it and you proved us all wrong. You've proved everybody wrong, no matter how many times you were shot down you stood back up and brushed yourself off… You know… I wish I had that strength."

They were silent for a while, the wind swirled around them, and suddenly the night didn't seem that much darker, because there was a small light of friendship they could always count on. No matter how much they changed, there would always be that bond there, the one they could lean back on, a security net that would never disappear or fade away. She loved Lee as the big brother she never really had, the one she felt she needed to watch over, regardless of the stupid things he did or said… she wondered if this was how people like Temari felt when it came to their families.

How odd it was, that people like Lee could change so much but still stay the same, he was still the youthful student who never gave up, but during the moment Tenten blinked they grew up. He was an individual; one who still looked up to Gai-Sensei and was a train-a-holic, but he had a less dramatic edge to him now as well as his little distinct things that made him Lee.

"Lee-kun… what is it like to…." She trailed off suddenly, feeling her cheeks heat up at the mention of something so personal. She took in a deep breath and decided that if she started a sentence she would finish it, "…kiss someone?"

The Jounin was astonished by the question and literally jumped in his seat, he raised a bushy eyebrow at her and she wanted to slap that look off of his face. "Well?!" She demanded, trying to hide her embarrassment with the next best thing; frustration.

"How would I know?" He replied, sounding a little too jumpy for someone who was trying their best to look impassive, "I've never kissed someone before… Oh geesh, how much of a loser do I sound like, huh?" He chuckled forcedly to himself and Tenten had to refrain from really hitting him

"Oh don't give me that!" She pushed him playfully, knowing he would eventually have to tell her if she pestered him enough, "You don't like Sakura-chan anymore!"

This confused the Taijutsu specialist greatly, "What does that have to do with kissing someone?" He asked innocently, tilting his head to the side and trying to find a reasoning to her sudden demands.

"Well it's obvious!" Tenten sighed exasperatedly, leaning back onto her elbows, and looking down at the street, trying anything to get her face to stop reddening. "I mean, you don't like her anymore, therefore, you must have had someone take her place in 'I'm going to protect with my life' land," She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Or perhaps you never really did like her and you realized that when you found out your true feelings for this other person?"

When she snuck a peek back at him out of the corner of her eye it seemed as though he was ignoring her, gazing off into the distant black, but slowly he sat up straighter and leaned his arm on the bent knee before him. A thoughtful expression came to his face and then he allowed himself a small smile, one that was simply the corners of his lips turning upwards. Tenten caught it though, and inwardly knew that she was right about it all along; regardless of what he said, she now knew for certain. "Besides," She backpedaled quickly, "I didn't ask who, I asked what does it feel like…"

Lee knew that all along, but he wondered what he would say, if he really did tell her what it felt like she would know there was someone. Not only that, but he himself didn't know what it felt like, how could he explain something like that to her; a kiss was something anyone could share, but… sharing it with that special someone meant so much more then a simple pressure on the lips.

"I wouldn't know…." He started slowly, "How to put it into words…" even saying that aloud sounded lame, he tried to wrack his brain to find a proper way to describe it to her, but all it came up with was, well… nothing, "It's like…" He stopped to picture it, to remember what it felt like. "…this warmth that you never feel before spreads throughout your body, if I could explain it literally, almost like having a much needed cup of coffee, that first sip that warms you up, but… twice as… intense, not hot but… augh… I'm not even making any sense to me…"

How could he explain anything he was feeling about that certain someone to her, when he barely knew himself half of the time. All his life he had to cling to the things he knew, the safe and secure ground of reality. Train and you will become stronger, study and you will learn, smile and others smile with you, all of these things he had always depended on. He always idolized Gai-Sensei because it was safe, no one could take it away from him, he could believe the things that Gai did because they were successful, because someone else had trod the path before him.

Thinking about his previous Sensei made a dull ache grow in his chest, but he quickly pushed it down, it had been over a year since that day…

It was funny, the only two things that he ever made his own path on, were the things that he kept closest to his heart. If he had his taijutsu he would be able to believe in himself, and for so long that was all he could really love, the passion of training.

Then they came along, and ripped the ground out from under him, tore everything away that was safe, secure, that was normal. He finally understood love, and at the same time, knew absolutely nothing about it.

How could they like each other; the two of them had such a huge gap between them; unlike everyone else he had ever known, the routine people. He saw them outside of battle, he knew them, he could gauge their feelings by the simple expressions on their faces or the tone of their voices. But no, he had to go fall in love with the last person anyone would expect; least of all himself.

And the pathetic part was, he was almost certain the other person had fallen in love with him as well, someone who never thought they would ever find love.

"A Kiss is when one person presses their lips against another," He rehearsed in a rather toneless voice, the temperature dropping a few degrees when Tenten saw the stony expression on his face. "Tenten, I can't tell you the answers to what you want to know," He sighed, "Simply because I don't know, I don't know this feeling, that warmth when they're near, this coldness when they are away. I can explain any type of jutsu to you, give me a book or allow me to study it for a few moments and I can break it down easily… but… I can tell you what a kiss is, but you have your own feelings about it, every love is different. I could kiss you right now, but you would feel nothing, and neither would I, wouldn't that ruin your perception of it?"

Tenten understood, "Yeah, I guess you're right Lee,"

The silence spread out between them and Lee delved back into his thoughts once more, he wanted to help, he wanted to give him everything he had been deprived of. The smiles, the laughter, the touch, the warmth, everything… he wanted to show him, little by little what it felt like to have someone care about you.

'and I don't want anything in return, just seeing you with that sadness in your eyes dying away, that's payment enough…'

He couldn't understand it, he wasn't even sure why he always came there considering that there was no real reason to be sitting outside the Hyuuga compound. He was sitting in the tree, doing absolutely nothing expect waiting for some idiot to realize that someone with red hair was hanging out in the tree. He almost snorted in laughter when the tenth night guard walked underneath him without so much as batting an eyelash. When one stopped beneath him he held his breath in anticipation, and then almost fell out of his perch when they yawned and continued on their way.

It was a thing, he just had to sit there, and wait for the dumb ass to realize his existence.

So far he was going on three weeks.

He leaned against the trunk to get comfortable and frowned slightly when the emptiness seeped into his heart again. He placed a hand over the beat of his chest and closed his eyes, hearing the steady rhythm and feeling it beneath his fingertips. He suddenly remembered the first time he had touched someone without his sand armor protecting his skin against the harsh reality. It had been surreal, feeling skin for the first time since he could remember, and then the rush of electricity coursing through his whole being.

The sun had been harsh, the wind had been cold, the grass had been wet with dew, the air had been humid but the skin was soft, and warm. He didn't know what had possessed him to touch the others cheek, but he had always been one to do what his instincts told him to. The small scared voice in the back of his head cried not to hurt him, that he shouldn't break away from the familiar grains of sand, but there he was, touching someone else's skin.

It had been years before that in which the feeling to protect someone arose, what an alien feeling it had been; to watch him, bloodied and bruised. He could feel the anger he had felt surface, the distaste in watching the blood he had spilt not too long ago being abused by another. He had to make it stop, and every time an attack was directed towards this precious person the anger was fueled even deeper.

From the first drip of blood that hit the green grass below their feet, Gaara had known it: Kimimaro had to die. It was a different burning that tingled through his body, he didn't want to kill to feel alive; he suddenly came to a small realization that he wanted to kill him for someone else. When Naruto wanted to protect his friends, and he was the one in the way, he could feel it; at first it was undistinguishable and then he realized it.

It had taken a while, but Gaara was slowly starting to find out just how much to love there really was. Love was more then just physical, it was emotional as well, hugs just weren't a form of contact; now they were a source of comfort, a kindness, an act of selflessness and at the same time, benefited both people.

Touching also meant so much more then simple contact, the first contact had been in battle, but the first contact with his soul had reached beneath his skin to the heart underneath it.

The first time Lee touched him, it was to check his temperature against Gaara's, it had taken him aback and the sand shifted uneasily, as if sensing the discomfort and feeling the need to arise and make the sand user feel comfortable again. However, he held it down, between the shock of feeling the rough calloused, yet warm fingertips brush across his forehead and suppressing the initial reaction to lean into that touch. He simply sat there, scared to move away and stop the contact, and terrified of moving in closer and scaring away the one person who didn't seem to care that he once had a monster placed within him.

It had been about a month after that, when Gaara realized what this ecstatic feeling was when he saw the taijutsu ninja. It was trust, it was the feeling of being trusted in return, but most of all it was the feeling of companionship that he had never really felt before. No one had ever called on him simply to hang out with him, most only talked to him when they needed to, not because they wanted to.

He could clearly remember the look on Temari's face when Lee knocked on the apartment door and asked if he could 'steal' Gaara for the evening. She had looked back and fourth between the two of them then demanded to know what Lee wanted with her little brother. The leaf nin was perplexed; not really understanding how huge this was to the elder sand ninja, whom had been scared of her younger brother. Perhaps it was Lee's uncaring or naive nature that had caused Gaara to really relinquish to the feel of the friendship without the worry of scarring him away.

Lee had dragged Gaara to the festival, held there every year that celebrated the previous Hokage's and their rein. He could faintly recall the energetic Rock Lee leading him around in a blur of food, crowds, small games, and stuffed toys. His newest teddy bear was given to him as a gift from the leaf ninja, who had hit the glass bottles down with one shot. The bear itself was a deep chocolate brown, and was made of a soft fluffy material that resembled fur but obviously wasn't. It had round amber eyes and tied around it's neck was a simple green ribbon, with a small amulet for luck attached to it.

It was a custom for the people to light a tiny lantern; it was a wish candle so you said a small prayer and then lit your own. It's also said that if you wanted to show your love for someone you could blow out their candle and light it yourself. It symbolized taking the persons burdens onto yourself, Lee explained this as Gaara watched, confused, while Shikamaru lazily sauntered over to his sister, blew out her candle and re-lit it.

He had never seen his sister turn that shade of red before, before he could go knock some sense into the idiot shadow manipulator, Lee tapped his arm lightly and pointed over to where Naruto was. The two watched as Hinata timidly touched his sleeve of his Yukata and when he turned around, she placed her hand over her chest, took a deep breath in and blew out his candle, before quickly re-lighting it and scurrying off.

All around them they watched as the tiny little lights flickered out only to be relit by the loved ones, the two of them holding their little lanterns (Lee's was Red, Gaara's was Blue) and Lee was smiling warmly. Gaara was surprised to see the Uchiha sneak up behind the pink-haired kunoichi and re-light hers for her without even catching her attention. All the while her blonde friend knew but didn't say anything.

Gaara didn't care that no one re-lit his candle, just being there and watching the small flames flicker on and off and the small wisps of smoke rise into the air made his lips curl up into a small hidden smile. People were blushing, laughing, hugging, smiling from ear to ear and chattering in small voices, creating murmurs that just rose above the cool wind.

He didn't really have the voice or heart to point it out when the wind blew Lee's out, so he quickly re-lit it using his own, feeling the color rush to his cheeks when he finished. He quickly scouted out to see if anyone had noticed, luckily, everyone seemed too entranced int their own conversations to notice.

"Come on Gaara-kun, we have to go place them on the tree branches!"

That was the first time Lee had called him Gaara-kun.

Another four months after that, Gaara realized began to notice how he wanted to be near to him, that he enjoyed the few times Lee touched him, even if in a gentle friendly hug. The odd routine that was theirs and theirs alone: how they had practically done everything that couples would do, with the exception of the intimate physical things. Lee would take him out for lunch or supper, they would go for walks, shop, even, on a few occasions, end up on missions together.

Almost two more full moons later, Gaara admitted the feeling to Lee, and was shell shocked when he was told how long Lee had been waiting to hear that. He had liked him for a year, which was exactly one month over the day they had become real friends.

From there on in, it got more and more complicated, but it wasn't as though the Sand Ninja could complain, he didn't know what was going on, but he knew he liked it. They took their relationship really slow, and didn't rush it at all, which was fine with the both of them, since Gaara wasn't miraculously healed from his past loneliness, but was getting there and Lee was finally getting over Gai's death.

The date of the sensei's death had been the saddest and most memorial of Gaara's past year in Konoha, considering that the first time they kissed was the day before his death had reached them.

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Katsu: Well there's chapter one… I know there isn't much fluff but chapter two with have loads of it…!

Review PLEASE!