Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Itachi would be having butt-secks with a shark in every episode.
Notes: A sort of change in POVs scattered around the chapter. Not too often, but just between Lee and Gaara, expressing their own wordy thoughts, and stuff like that. No part of the chapter is in 1st person, but it's more of a difference of which character the part is centered on.
Oh, and this is STILL a LeeXGaara fic, no matter what is says, no matter what you think. Lee's just dense. giggles And a hint of another pairing. Oh, you'll see.
Finally, don't kill me for being so slow! ;-; I know I am. No need to rub it in by brutally punching me. runs away crying…and goes back to type more It's going to be shorter than chapter 1 though…sorry.
The Desert Is Ice Cold
-Chapter 2-
"You sure that's all you're ordering? It's my treat." Lee stared at the simple bowl of miso soup and glass of iced tea. He squinted his eyes at the sand-nin's small order, now knowing why Gaara was so strangely thin.
The red-head beside him shook his head. "I'm fine." He replied simply.
The green clad ninja blinked at the other's short response. It's time to get more out of this guy. "Oh," He started. "Did you already eat beforehand?"
Gaara shook his head a 'no'. "I'm just not hungry." He stared at the steam emitting from a pan of hot noodles. He slowly brought his glass of iced tea to his lips, taking a sip before putting it back down.
Lee wanted to shake him and shout out, 'Talk more, damn you!' But alas, he might get a big beating afterwards. The Suna's Kazekage was no man to mess with.
His mind drifted to the Chuunin exam. Back then, Gaara was someone you can't even sit next to without fidgeting or fearing for your life. But then, ever since Kimimaro's attack on the bowl-cut ninja, and Gaara's heroic rescue, it's been easier on both of them.
Gaara seemed to have found some of his inner peace. The kind of peace that won't simply be brought by end of wars of having lots of friends, but instead, more of, being contented with what you do and how it helps people. As if you feel you're wanted, and needed.
Don't get Lee wrong. He'd love the ending of wars, and the thought of Gaara having lots of friends would be extremely nice. But for him, during the 14 years that Gaara has been living, he never found peace anywhere. He never knew what he wanted. No one wanted him, no one needed him. He never helped people because he was afraid of them.
Thus, he never learned to love.
Maybe he still doesn't know the exact definition of love, but isn't feeling it enough? We all don't know what love is, but we love anyway. We love being loved.
Gaara needs to be loved. He needs to be cared for. Not physically protected, as a Kazekage should be fully capable to do that themselves, but emotionally cared for.
Lee needed to show Gaara that we was cared for. Especially by his friends here in Konoha.
"I wish." Gaara's soft voice was heard. Lee looked at the sand-nin, a thick eyebrow raised. When Gaara didn't notice his silent question, he shrugged it off.
"Yo! Lee!" a voice shouted. A voice no one could ever forget.
Lee turned in his stool. "Oh, Naruto." He smiled.
The blonde came dashing down the road going to the Ichiraku Ramen stand. After him came an ebony haired ninja, the one Lee had sworn to beat for Sakura's affections…losing miserably.
Lee glanced at Gaara, who still stared at the steam of the ramen noodles, sipping his iced tea occasionally. When Gaara didn't move, Lee said, "Come on, let's go." Before he took hold of Gaara's thin wrist and pulled him out of his stool, leading to the direction of the newcomers.
Thankfully, the iced tea was good. It was refreshing. Just what Gaara needed.
He stared ahead, not wanting to look at the Konoha ninja beside him, nor at his food. But instead of staring straight and seeing nothing but a blank wooden wall, he saw smoke. The grayish air was coming from the newly cooked ramen, obviously still hot.
He stared at the steam, before his eyes darted to the figures just behind the steam. It was the cook for Ichiraku, still cooking some more. The supposed waitress came beside him and patted cloth on his forehead. The cook smiled gratefully and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
They would have looked like a nice couple, if only they weren't father and daughter.
This brought Gaara's thoughts to his own dad. Did he like Temari more, or perhaps Kankuro? Maybe Gaara was the one father liked best?
Gaara mentally kicked himself. 'What a thought.' He mused. 'Father, liking me…'
"…I wish." He whispered to himself softly, though obviously being heard by the Taijustu master beside him. Gaara chose to ignore it, still staring at the smoke.
His thoughts made their connection to his siblings, and his uncle. 'You said you hated my suffering, and you understood; you'd take care of me.' he thought. 'You said you'd always be there. Well, where are you now?'
"Yo! Lee!" an annoying voice rung in his head. He grunted silently.
Before he knew it, Lee grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the person he really didn't want to see right now. He slightly raised his non-existent eyebrows at the blonde's unexpected companion.
"Hn." Gaara bit back a grin, and a taunt to the Uchiha that wanted to come out so bad.
His hair looked like it wasn't combed for…ever. He was paler than usual, and his clothes were wrinkled much. Gaara grinned at him.
"Shut up…" Sasuke quietly shot back.
Gaara looked at Lee and Naruto, who looked as if to be in a very deep and serious conversation. So he stood beside Sasuke, whom was trying to fix his hair.
"You couldn't have, right?" Gaara looked at Sasuke. When the ebony-haired ninja turned his attention to him with a questioning look, Gaara' jerked his head sharply, motioning to the Kyuubi bearer.
Sasuke's cheeks immediately tinted pink. He coughed, not saying a word.
"Guess you did." Gaara closed his eyes, and lowered his head, barely managing to keep down a hysterical laugh intended for the boy beside him.
"Shut up, Gaara!" Sasuke said, annoyed. He was about to smack Gaara upside the head, but quickly withdrew, knowing what'll happen.
"You know you can't make me." Gaara began to walk away, when Sasuke came up in front of him and blocked his path. "Get out." His voice was low.
Sasuke held his ground. "Where are you going?"
"Home." Gaara answered simply, pushing the other ninja aside and continued walking, not bothering to say goodbye to Naruto, Sasuke, and…"Oh," he stopped in his tracks and turned his head around half-way looking at Sasuke from behind. "Tell Lee…thanks." And with that, he was gone.
"You have to help me, Naruto!" Lee's fists clenched in front of him.
"More like, we have to help Gaara!" Naruto nodded furiously. When he stopped, his face was so serious, to a point that it's hilarious. "So how do we go about this plan of yours?"
"We're going to find Temari and Kankuro. I'm sure they'd love to help." Lee answered. "Then we'll ask Hinata for decorations, Chouji for food and Ino for venue."
"It has to be a place everyone knows Gaara loves to stay."
"Sunagakure?"
"Are you kidding? I bet he hates it there."
"Oh, right…" Lee rubbed his chin in thought. "We'll just ask Temari. I'm sure they know."
Naruto nodded. "Right." He jumped. "This is going to be fun! Party party!" his grin was wide. "I'm going to eat a lot, and then I'll help Hinata-chan with all the decorations, and—"
"And Gaara will be happy." Lee smiled to himself.
"Oh, of course, that." Naruto nodded knowingly, crossing his arms as if he didn't forget the main reason the surprise party was being held.
Sasuke walked up to the two ninja's, his hair, at least, decent now.
"Oi, what were you two talking about so seriously?" he asked.
"We're going to throw a surprise party for Gaara to cheer him up!" Naruto answered enthusiastically.
Lee clasped his hand over Naruto's mouth. "Ssh! Do you want Gaara to hear! It'll spoil the fun!"
"Let him scream." Sasuke waved his hand dismissively, the other hand on his hip. "Gaara already went home."
Lee's eyes widened. "H-he did! I didn't even get to say goodbye!" he was about to take off to the direction he assumed Gaara went, when Sasuke said monotonously, "He said thank you."
He only took one step forward, his eyes a bit considerate, thoughtful at that. His famous smile was placed back on his face by those words. "Heh…" he chuckled to himself, scratching his head and kicking a small rock on the ground.
"Hey, you in green! Here's you're tab!" Lee heard from the waitress from inside the Ichiraku Ramen stand.
After notes: The lines from when Gaara was thinking about his siblings and uncle,
"You said you hated my suffering,
And you understood.
You'd take care of me.
You said you'd always be there.
Well, where are you now?"
Are written by the greatness called Conor Oberst, from the band Bright Eyes, for their song entitled: "Haligh, Haligh, A Lie, Haligh" Listen to it. It's really nice. nods
Did you spot the other pairing? Yeah. SasuNaru. Personally, I don't mind them. I mean, it's okay. I just couldn't think of any other pairing to put up here. giggles
Read (which you obviously did) & Review please? Thankies. I promise I'll be faster in updating now.