As Lee walked to his team's usual training area, he swore that he caught sight of Gaara out of the corner of his eye. He was willing to dismiss it at first but when it happened more than once, he stopped and looked around. As far as he knew, Gaara had no reason to follow him but that didn't eliminate the possibility that he had seen him. The sand ninja had never hesitated to approach him before, or simply walk away for that matter, so it stood to reason that it was a coincidence. Still, he let his curiosity get the better of him and he called out, "Gaara-san?", as he looked around to see if he had been imagining things. He did this a second time and after receiving no response, and feeling more than a little foolish, he continued on his way.
However, the feeling that his new training partner was lurking about nagged at him. Most of the nagging was easy to dismiss as paranoia left over from when Gaara had tried to kill him. After having saved his life during the fiasco of a mission to rescue the runaway Sasuke, he thought that feeling was gone. So, then, why did he feel like he might turn around any moment and see those dark, dangerous eyes peering up at him? Since Gaara wasn't obliged to train with the rest of Guy's team, Lee was left to ponder this for most of the morning, which only seemed to aggravate his suspiciousness. There were even a few moments when it seemed like the dust at his feet swirled up around his ankles, reminding him of how easily Gaara had bound him with sand during their first altercation, but still he thought it was crazy, and tried to let it go.
Probably because he had been anticipating seeing Gaara for the better part of the morning, Lee felt a certain sense of relief when they met up later that day. As usual, he greeted the distant young man with a warm smile and a hearty wave, though this time it did feel a bit forced. "Good afternoon, Gaara-san," he nearly shouted.
Gaara flinched at the unnecessary volume. "What's so good about it?" he snapped. Though he felt no particular aversion to that day, as he had occasionally he felt on other days, he just didn't feel like giving the other young man the satisfaction of being right, even in something so trivial.
"Oh, come on. The sun is shining, the breeze is warm, and there's not even a single cloud in the sky," he pointed out.
The sand ninja rolled his eyes. As far as he was concerned the weather had very little bearing on the kind of day it was. "Whatever," he muttered.
Lee studied his training partner for a moment. Gaara wasn't exactly the most personable individual but he was usually a little better than that. "What's the matter?" he suddenly pressed, taking a few empathetic steps toward the shorter young man.
Gaara's dark eyes slowly crawled up Lee's body as he approached. He waited until there was a sympathetic hand on his shoulder to look him in the eye. Then, he gave a heavy but quiet sigh, reveling in the warmth that emerged too readily from his taller companion. Once he was satisfied by the little tremble in his stomach at being the subject of such warmth, he gave a bitter little frown. "I'm sick of this. It's not getting us anywhere," he complained, shrugging the hand off his shoulder and taking a few steps away to see if the other would follow.
He didn't follow immediately, but the dark-haired teen did lean toward him as he retreated. "What do you mean?" He was obviously hurt by that assertion.
"I mean, I'm tired of wasting time. This training isn't accomplishing anything." He turned and narrowed a careful gaze on the taller young man.
"So…what are you gunna do?" Lee asked weakly, feeling utterly useless.
That question made a strangely unnerving smile start to form on Gaara's thin lips. "I'm gunna do what I've wanted to do since our first fight."
"Wh-What's that?" Lee recoiled a bit.
"I'm gunna make you beg for mercy," he vowed.
Lee's eyes grew wide in horror and he stumbled backward. "What?" he repeated stupidly.
"You heard me," he snapped, taking an aggressive step forward. "Unless you just wanna say it now and then we can go our separate ways," he offered, knowing that it would not be accepted.
"I will not beg you for anything!" Lee asserted angrily.
Gaara gave a loud, condescending laugh. "I was hoping you'd say that. It wouldn't be enjoyable if you just admitted it right off the bat."
Rage flared behind Lee's dark, round eyes. "We'll see about that," he replied surely before taking his first swing. As he expected, it was dodged easily.
"What's gotten into you?" Lee demanded as he tried to find an opening for retaliation.
"I'm tired of holding back for you. Maybe if I prove how far removed my power is from yours, they won't make me babysit you anymore," he snorted.
"You're not babysitting me!" Lee snapped harshly. "Did you ever consider that I'm working with you to keep your attitude in check?"
Gaara had been expecting that sort of response because he knew that was the primary reason for pairing them off like that. He didn't bother responding. He was having too much fun tormenting the green-clad young man to bother with idle conversation. They gave each other some fairly nice bruises before Gaara decided to start using his sand control to trap and toy with the other young man. He particularly enjoyed letting him run a significant distance before grabbing him by the ankle and dragging him back to him.
"This is almost as pointless as our training," Gaara laughed down at the dark-haired teen bound to the ground with sand.
Lee wasn't listening to the taunts. He was furious and determined to break free, which he did a moment later, not that Gaara really wanted to keep hold of him. It was just as much fun chasing him as it was catching him. However, it didn't take long before Lee realized that he was being toyed with and shortly after, he slipped away, again easier than he should have, he decided to say something.
"This is even more pointless than what we were doing before!" Lee shouted from a few meters away as he regained his footing.
"I wouldn't go that far," Gaara nearly purred. Actually, he enjoyed this much more than their previous afternoons together.
"You're just messing with me!" he accused, oblivious to the dangerous undercurrent in the other's voice.
"Oh? You want me to get serious? I thought you might want some time to get warmed up," he taunted.
Lee gave an angry growl and blindly attacked his training partner once again. Gaara laughed as he easily dodged the taller teen, even tripping him back to the ground.
"You're pathetic. You don't deserve my time," he nearly spat on the green-clad teen.
"You're lucky you had anybody to train with at all! When they told us you would need a training partner while you were here, do you know how many volunteers there were? Zero…well one, after I decided to try it," Lee growled disdainfully. "If one of us is wasting their time, it's me!"
Gaara was surprised to find that what the other was saying actually hurt a little and that made him very angry. How dare this weakling make him feel any sort of self-doubt? He lashed out with a flying kick but to his dismay, the blow was largely deflected because of the distraction of the feeling. "Like I want to spend time with any of you. I hate this place and everyone in it. I'm only here as punishment. It only adds insult to injury to have someone I've already defeated assigned to babysit me."
"If you don't want to do this, fine!" Lee nearly screamed. "If you're frustrated, don't take it out on me. I only ever tried to-" he stopped himself and started to walk away.
Inevitably, that intrigued Gaara and he had to stop him. However, when he tried to catch up with and step in front of him, the other young man redoubled his pace. So, in response, he held his feet with sand. Then, when he was able to walk around to face him. "You only ever what?" he asked, drawing ever closer but stopping before they actually touched.
Lee frowned and blushed ever so lightly, not enough to be noticed over the flush of his anger. "I never expected you to notice but I was trying to make this as easy for you as possible," he admitted.
Gaara was truly stunned. Of course, he hadn't realized because the very idea that someone would go out of their way to make things easier for him, rather than more difficult, shocked him. He leaned forward just a little more and narrowed his eyes. "Why would you do something stupid like that?"
"I know you hate it here, I know you hate me, and I know none of that is going to change…I just hoped that it would make you a less mean, I guess…" Lee rambled.
Gaara purse his lips and his arms started to tremble slightly. Lee thought this was because he was about to be struck but really it was because Gaara was fighting the urge to embrace him. The taller teen watched with cautious eyes as Gaara reeled at the notion that someone he wanted to kill really gave a damn about him.
"S-So…what are you going to do?" Lee barely asked when the tension between them became too awkward to bare.
Gaara pulled back and took a good, long look at his training partner. "I haven't decided yet," he petulantly replied, turning his back.
Lee frowned and struggled a little, "At least let me go," he pleaded.
The shorter teen shot a careful look over his shoulder. "Why?"
"What do you mean why?" Lee raved.
"Well, you're the one who pointed out that chasing you around was pretty pointless," Gaara dawdled.
"What's the point of keeping me like this?" Lee demanded, not realizing that question came with an open can of worms.
Gaara got a strange little gleam in his eye as he turned back to his training partner. "Were you really trying to make things easier for me?" he questioned curiously.
"Yeah, I don't have a reason to lie," Lee snapped back.
The shorter teen started to smile. "Why would you do that? Did you really think it would make me nicer?" he sneered.
"I-I dunno. There was a better chance of it if I was nice to you than if I was a jerk," he reasoned, feeling more than a little foolish even though he knew he had only followed his good nature.
"But I was a jerk to you," Gaara pointed out.
"I know…" Lee looked away, wishing desperately that he could free his feet.
"Then why bother?" the shorter teen cocked his head to one side.
"'Cause I'm not a jerk," Lee nearly growled and renewed his struggle.
Gaara laughed and let his sand crawl up to the taller teen's knees.
"What are you doing?" he demanded and flailed but only ended up losing his balance. To his surprise, Gaara caught his forearm before he could bend too far backward. "Th-Thanks…" he warily added and Gaara smiled at him.
Then, there was a strange moment of overextended contact when Gaara should have let go of Lee's arm but let his grasp linger for a few extra seconds. He could feel the taller teen's strong arm through the thin fabric of his audacious uniform and he felt the subtle desire for skin to skin contact. However, he did withdraw a moment later, a slight, nearly undetectable blush decorating his fair cheeks.
He wanted to answer the dark-haired teen's demanding question but he was torn. He still wanted to make Lee beg for him but he no longer wanted to hurt him, which was a very curious sensation to say the least.
"Gaara?" Lee repeated a couple times before pulling the shorter teen from his thoughts. "What's going on?" he almost pleaded. For some reason, he could sense that he wasn't in immediate danger anymore but that didn't seem to ease his anxiety.
"What?" the sand ninja snapped, stepping back again.
"Please, let me go. I'll even buy your dinner so you don't have to eat at the dorms," he bargained. Gaara had complained at length on several occasions about how much he hated eating in the cafeteria at the dorm, both because of the crowd and because he didn't actually stay in the dorms. Since he didn't sleep, he didn't need to stay there but he didn't have any money either and he could only steal so much food before someone noticed.
However, that bargain earned Lee another odd little smile. Gaara shook his head, almost in exasperation. "I'm not done with you yet," he informed in the same petulant tone as before.
Lee felt his heart skip a beat. "What are you going to do?"
The corners of Gaara's mouth twitched. "I told you what I was going to when we started," he chided.
The dark-haired teen swallowed hard but lost his words when Gaara drew close to him again. There was a dangerous and maniacal gleam in the shorter teen's eyes, giving them a sharp attentiveness that the dark circles around them usually dulled. Then, with a carefully critical look, he brought his hand up to brush the back of his fingers against the taller teen's cheek.
Lee flinched violently. "Ugh, what are you doing?"
Gaara's smile grew. "If you get too banged up, I'll get in trouble," he informed casually before letting his fingers fall down further across the darker young man's neck.
"Aack! Stop it!" Lee slapped the gently intrusive hand away.
The shorter teen giggled almost idiotically and reached for the zipper at the dip in the base of Lee's throat.
"What's the matter with you?" he brought his hands up and pulled Gaara's hands away from him.
He didn't respond except to move to his collar to play with that instead.
Lee looked around in a panic only then realizing that Gaara had managed to lead him a fair way into the forest and away from the village. "I-I don't understand…"
Gaara liked it when Lee was confused and laughed a little as he reached out again. This time, he took his chin between his thumb and index finger, lifting his head.
"Stop it!" Lee yelled, once again pushing the intrusive hand away, this time squirming fitfully.
"What if I promised not to hurt you?" he offered offhandedly as he examined the taller teen's neckline.
Lee's heart nearly stopped. "Th-Then what…?" he trailed off, incapable of finishing the thought.
Gaara looked up with a dangerously affectionate gleam in his eyes that dared him to finish his question. When Lee was obviously too frozen in fearful shock, he shrugged and leaned up to give the taller teen a light little kiss on the side of his neck. He might have gone ahead and kissed him on the lips but he didn't want to raise up onto his tiptoes to do it.
That made Lee absolutely freak out. He started flailing and pushing the invasive body away from his own. "Gaara! Are you okay? What's the matter with you?" He once again renewed and redoubled his efforts to escape.
"Well," he caught Lee by the arms both to stop him from flailing and from falling over. "You see, when we met up today, I decided that I wanted to beat you to a lifeless, bloody pulp until you screamed for mercy and admitted that you are inferior to me," he informed, almost eerily casual.
"I would never-!" Lee began but then realized that antagonizing his comrade and opponent wasn't the smartest move.
"But then you made me realize how nice you've been to me…it really put a damper on things," he pretended to be annoyed.
"I…Gaara, please let me go," Lee pleaded. He didn't care about the motivations anymore. He was scared and trapped, a potentially lethal combination.
"It made me not want to hurt you," he continued seriously, which stopped Lee's babbling. "But I still want to hear you scream," he added with a dark little smile.
Neither of them thought that Lee's eyes could grow any wider but they did. "Look, I know your frustrated but please, don't take it out on me," he pleaded.
Gaara gave a low chuckle and let his hands start to wander from the other young man's arms to his chest. When they had first met, he found the green uniform to be outrageously obnoxious, just like the rest of the teen, but like many other things, that opinion changed. As he started to touch Lee through his shirt, he began to enjoy the fact that it was so thin and so tight. It was almost like touching his skin, but not quite. He could still feel his collar bones, his ribs, and the taut muscles of his chest and stomach. Then, when one of his hands finally brushed over one of Lee's little nipples, he was rewarded by actually being able to see it try to poke through the fabric in addition to feeling it harden from the awkward and minimal attention.
Lee didn't even realize his body's natural reaction to the uncomfortably intimate touches until he looked down to see Gaara awing at his chest and reaching up with his other hand to do it to his other nipple. "Aaah, no, please, whatever you're doing, please don't," he started to plea again.
"What's that you're always going on about? Energetic youth?" Gaara distractedly questioned.
"It's the springtime of youth," Lee bitterly corrected, "And stop touching me like that!" he fitfully demanded when he realized that Gaara was about to start teasing both of his nipples through his shirt.
"Yeah, that's it. Do you even know what that means?" he pressed, undeterred by the taller teen's protests and started by continuing to lightly brush his fingertips over the little nubs that stuck out at him so readily.
"I-It's the time in a person's life when they should live to the fullest, before they get older and other stuff gets in the way," he tried to explain, though his situation was making it difficult to think. "Don't touch me like that!" he finally demanded forcefully because the minimal sensations being afforded him were stirring something inside him that he wasn't very comfortable with.
Gaara laughed and used his sand to take Lee's hands and secure them behind his back. "I'll stop touching you when you make me," he taunted, almost hoping that the other would break free so he would have a chance to chase him down again. "You know what springtime also means, right?" he asked in a slow, dark voice as he returned his attention to his comrade's chest.
"I don't know why you're doing this! Please, there has to be another way for you to deal with whatever's wrong," Lee struggled as he continued to plead.
"What makes you think there's something wrong?" the shorter teen teased as he started to flick the hard nipples that poked out at him.
"Aagh," Lee jerked ineffectually. "Why are you doing this to me?"
"I've hardly done anything but touch you a little," Gaara pointed out with an eerily practiced innocence that he hadn't used since he was a child. He didn't have to use it often back then either, but it was a nice trick to have on occasion. "Though…" he trailed off as his eyes moved downward, stopping to blatantly gawk at the taller teen's crotch. "You know, this uniform of yours is very flattering on you," he complimented.
Lee blinked in astonishment. "What?" was all he could manage. As far as he could tell, Gaara had completely flipped his lid and he thought if that ever happened while he was around, he would hope against violence, now he wasn't so sure.
"Even if it is very revealing," he added with an almost parental disapproval.
"Revealing?" Lee gasped. He had never considered his choice of uniform to be revealing.
"Of course. I can see every…little…curve of your body, just as if you were naked," Gaara bragged, letting his hands trace over some of the taller teen's more well defined curves for emphasis.
The dark-haired young man found himself trembling lightly at the tone and touches of the other. "I-I never…never realized it looked that way," he admitted shamefully.
"Oh, don't be bashful now. Don't tell me you weren't showing off just a little," he teased. His hands had yet to venture below the taller teen's waistline, though they did threaten to on occasion. He might have made that next step sooner if toying with Lee's pert little nipples hadn't proven to be so very amusing. His grin grew and his eyes danced with every useless jerk and twitch, either involuntary or retaliatory.
"No, I would never even think to-! Gaara, stop it!" he ordered because he could feel himself becoming unwillingly aroused by the rude groping he was receiving.
Gaara snickered. "I'm surprised no one's said anything to you about it before."
"You're the only one who's ever said anything like that. Maybe it's just you," he weakly accused.
The shorter teen pulled back a bit, a strange little grin tugging at the corners of his parted lips. "Look at yourself and tell me what you would think," he urged, pulling even further away and loosening the hold of his sand to allow the other to see more easily.
Lee hesitated but since Gaara was pulling away, he decided to comply. He didn't like what he saw. He gave a little whine of anguish when he saw how his nipples brazenly poked out the fabric of his shirt. Then, he felt like he was going to cry when he gaze moved lower and saw his partial erection perfectly outlined by the stretchy fabric. He blushed deeply and looked away in shame. "Please, I'm begging you. Let me go! Let me go…" he pleaded desperately.
Gaara moved around to force eye contact. "Why are you so embarrassed that I turn you on?"
The taller teen screwed his eyes shut and shook his head violently back and forth. He was so angry and embarrassed that he focused all his attention on gritting his teeth and trying to force himself free.
"Is it because you don't really give a shit about me? You were just being nice because it was easier not because you give a damn. I get it…" he growled but started to let up on the taller teen.
Lee's panicked breath didn't ease as his captor relented. Now Gaara looked totally dejected and he didn't know how to react. "Do you want me to turned on by you?" he asked meekly.
Gaara shot a dangerous look over his shoulder and turned away again. "All I want is your surrender. It was almost too easy," he commented, with a stoic detachment that completely contradicted the tone he had used moment before.
The taller teen opened his mouth to speak but the rest of the binding sand was gone along with his training partner, leaving him completely bewildered. It took him quite a while to collect himself well enough to even stand to walk out of the forest. He felt completely violated and he was angrier than he'd ever been but the look Gaara gave him made him feel guilty, which only made him angrier.
He had no right to touch him like that, especially after his repeated demands to stop. He found that he would have rather suffered another debilitating beating from the sand ninja that what had just happened to him. However, he couldn't help thinking that it wasn't entirely Gaara's fault. Lee knew from experience that the sleepless young man was unstable and had a really hard time dealing with people. When he considered that, he felt pity for the young man. But that didn't excuse his behavior. Even someone like Gaara should know that what he did was wrong.
As Lee started to walk back to the village, he replayed the moments leading up to this one, trying to see if there had been any way for him to avoid being molested like that. He concluded that there were a couple things he, in theory, could have done to avoid the incident, since he had no control over Gaara's behavior, only his own. He could wear a looser outfit, which at this point he was seriously considering. He could have not volunteered to train with Gaara or backed out when he realized that being nice, even over an extended period, wouldn't change his attitude. But that option now a had a gaping hole. Gaara said that he was coming onto him because he had been nice to him.
Lee shuddered. He very soon realized that there probably wasn't anything he could have done about what happened because by the time he realized what was happening, it was already too late, he had already been helplessly bound. He vowed to himself to never let his guard down like that again but feared that he might not be capable of stopping another assault.
Still, the question plagued him. Why would Gaara do anything like that in the first place? Could it be because he was really one of the only people in their village that had tried to be nice to him? He shook his head at that. Naruto had always been exceptionally kind and understanding toward his fellow demon host and, at least as far as he knew, Gaara had never made such a forward advance on him…or had he? Lee's heart skipped a beat and then he suddenly felt a little queasy because he realized that the idea that he was one of many victims, rather that a singular anomaly bothered him, though he wasn't precisely why. However, he was able to quickly put it out of his mind because there was a major difference between himself and Naruto. Naruto had defeated Gaara.
Then, he started cursing himself for actually becoming aroused, if only a little, by what had been done to him. He hadn't even realized that his normally obedient length had started to get hard until Gaara made him look to see. After that, it was the only thing he could think about. Gaara was right, he might as well have been naked with his cock sticking out the way it was. But there was something about his touches that stirred something inside him. In a way, it seemed like the way that Gaara touched him reflected something deep within him that even he probably didn't realize.
He was almost back to the village when that thought occurred to him and he stopped dead in his tracks. With a grumble of defeat, he turned around and went back into the forest. It wasn't that he wanted to find Gaara. For all he knew, the other young man had already made it back and was harassing someone else. No, he couldn't bring himself to face his friends and teammates so soon after what had happened. He had pretty much resolved to keep it to himself for the time being, wanting to think things over before trying to explain them to someone else, and knew he wouldn't be able to hide his distressing distraction from those closest to him.
He didn't go very far, just far enough to be sure that someone would have to go out of their way to find him. Since he had no further obligations that evening, it was unlikely that anyone would notice he was gone. Sitting down at the base of a large pine tree with a heavy sigh, Lee thought about what he should do. He didn't know it at the time, but Gaara was watching him from a short distance away, fascinated that the dark-haired teen had chosen to turn back rather that to immediately tell someone.
He was also fascinated that Lee didn't seem to be going anywhere. For a little while, he thought that perhaps he was waiting for him to return but something about his posture, the fact that he seemed more dawdling than impatient, told him otherwise. He gave a sad little smile of satisfaction at the idea that he could have made Lee think he couldn't seek comfort with his friends. It made him feel a certain amount of camaraderie to show someone else what it was like to have no one to turn to. But he knew it wouldn't last. Lee wouldn't sit under that tree forever. He would eventually find his bearings and return to the company of his friends.
So, before that could happen, Gaara moved in once again. This time, he was much less intrusive in his advance. He simply dropped down to the forest floor a few feet in front of Lee and sat cross-legged.
"Why are you just sitting here?" he asked with genuine, almost childish, curiosity.
Lee frown and gave a little sigh. "I'm not ready to go back yet," he replied curtly.
Gaara wondered if Lee was hungry but didn't bother to ask. "Are you going to report me?" he asked brashly, almost daring him to do it.
The taller teen rolled his eyes and turned away without a word. He considered getting up and walking away but he was afraid that Gaara might feel the need to forcibly stop him. He decided that even though he didn't like it, at this point, passive resistance was his best option.
"Lee," Gaara continued in a serious voice, "Do you like me or hate me?"
He almost burst into tears but somehow ended up laughing hard enough to make his eyes water. That was just the very question he was trying to decide. If he liked Gaara, then he wouldn't report him; he would try to work things out between them. If he hated him, then everyone would know what he'd done and he'd get thrown out of the village. Maybe that's what Gaara wanted all along. The idea of being used bothered Lee but considering the circumstances, it didn't feel as bad as he thought it would.
"Which would you rather?" Lee finally asked, still not looking at the young man sitting a few meters from him.
It was Gaara's turn to frown. He didn't know. He was asking because he wanted Lee to define the parameters of their relationship, just as everyone else in his life had done. "I would rather you answer my question."
"I would rather have not been groped!" Lee snapped harshly.
The sudden aggressiveness made a little of Gaara's smile return.
"Tell me," he began again before the other had a chance to speak, "Tell me why you did that," he demanded.
Gaara obviously didn't want to answer but he could tell he would have to if he was going to get the answer that he wanted. "I started doing that because I still wanted to hurt you but without leaving any marks, since you had been nice" he admitted. "And I think part of me wanted you to be mad enough to get me kicked out of here."
Lee gave a solemn nod and was about to say, "Then I hate you," but Gaara started speaking again.
"But then…" he began and then stopped himself, obviously incredibly self-conscious about what he was going to say. "Then…" he swallowed hard, "you said those things and…you made all those sexy faces and sounds… You, well, some part of you, liked what I was doing. So…I kept doing it because…no one's ever let me touch them like that before…" he admitted almost shamefully. "And no one's ever liked it when I touched them."
"I didn't let you touch me," Lee insisted, obviously wounded by the notion that he had given any form of consent at all.
"Right…" Gaara agreed and then looked away. "But…it felt kinda good…right?" he tried. "Or you wouldn't have…ya know," he trailed off for the sake of his companion's modesty.
Lee's jaw dropped in astonishment and by the time he had gathered his words and turned to speak, he found the shorter teen slowly starting to crawl toward him. Without thinking, he moved away a little and to his surprise, Gaara stopped his advance and sat back down with a curious look on his face. "I don't know why I reacted that way," Lee tried to dismiss. "I didn't want to. It wasn't fair," he complained.
"Why didn't you? I promised not to hurt you," he informed as though that should have been sufficient coaxing.
The dark-haired teen almost started laughing again when he realized how quickly Gaara's intentions shifted from wanting him to suffer to wanting him to enjoy himself. He trembled a little inside when he also realized that Gaara had the potential to make him scream and beg either way. Lee gave a heavy sigh, he was starting to get tired and wanted to go to bed. "You just want me to admit I'm less than you are. Well, it's not going to happen. Even if you are stronger than me, it doesn't make you better," he griped in a tired voice.
Lee's words made the familiar animosity start to stir in Gaara again but the way they were spoken kept it in check. For a moment, right before Lee had spoken, he held a glimmer of hope that they might reach some sort of understanding. No suck luck. He stood and brushed the stray pine needles from his pants.
"I'm not sorry for what I did…but I'm sorry it embarrasses you," he informed and walked away.
Lee almost screamed in frustration but he didn't want Gaara to hear him. It blew his mind that the other young ninja could be so arrogant, so forceful, and so aloof while at the same time making him feel like he was the bad guy.