CHAPTER 2

Why did I let that boy so close to me? Why did I want his touch? Why did my heart race? Why did my cheeks feel like…oh shit! No, no, no, why? Of all the people in the world why did it have to be the boy with the over sized eyebrows and the seriously gelled hair? Gaara screamed in his mind as he walked up the driveway. This day could not have been weirder then it already was.

He pulled out his keys and unlocked the door. Gaara walked into his house, Temari stood just on the inside of the door quite obviously waiting for her youngest brother to finish his first day at his new school. Kankuro was too her left and didn't seem interested in anything Gaara had to say despite the fact that he was yet to open his mouth. Gaara took no notice of them and passed them continuing to his room. Temari, being the annoying big sister and mother figure in Gaara's life fallowed him.

"So, how was school?" she asked as she sat on his bed that he barely ever used. Why did he even have it? A way to make the room seem less empty I guess, his trade-mark sand gourd sat beside his desk which was in front of his window, unlike Lee's room most of Gaara's room was black or crimson like his hair.

Only after a brief silence did Temari notice the expression on her little brothers face. Yes expression, he looked melancholy, more so then usual, which was very hard to do to him. Gaara sat on his bed beside her. Hey this bed is comfy… why don't I lie down on this more often? Temari gave Gaara a look, which seemed to say: Tell me now and I won't drag Kankuro and myself down to your school tomorrow.

Gaara sighed.

"Temari…. I think…I have a crush on someone."

Temari's eyes lit up. That's it? He has a crush? Why the hell would that upset him so much? Then again this is Gaara… but awwww! My little brother has a girlfriend Temari giggled as she went on a massive list of what he and his new girlfriend could do; Gaara felt his heart almost sink as he opened his mouth to correct her.

"It's a boy…. I like a boy Temari." Gaara held his breath and waited for the harsh words to cut into him, sharper then any knife would be. To his surprise Temari squealed in joy and jumped around. Oh this… cannot… end well… Gaara thought looking at his sister's reaction.

She turned around and crossed her legs as Gaara did the same; the two sat facing each other. Temari was wearing her skirt and shirt like she always did. Looking like a bit of a tramp but the complete opposite to one. Gaara on the other hand was in baggy jeans and a long sleeved shirt, which was not flattering at all.

"So, what's his name?" she asked.

"Lee."

"What's he like?"

"He's friendly, and hot… and really nice." Gaara didn't look at Temari.

The siblings sat and continued to discuss Gaara and his new object of desire. He did feel a little strange about sharing this with his older sister. But it also felt kind of nice being able to tell someone. As Gaara continued to explain the confusion that is Rock Lee, his sister began to go through his clothes. Pulling out a lot of clothes she deemed 'unworthy' and threw them in the trash, soon all Gaara had left was form fitting clothes, fishnets, skinny jeans and a few dog collars and chains.

Temari began to talk about her life away form home, all her friends, guys she liked, guys she hated, school ect. Gaara was perplexed at Temari's problems; they were so similar to his only completely different and hard to understand. It made his head hurt trying to figure them all out. He was pulled off his bed and shoved into the bathroom. He sighed as he took a shower.

The hot water ran down his skin, it was soothing, almost like he could let all his pain and troubles wash away with the rest of the water as it was swallowed by the drain. A thought enveloped his mind. What would Lee look like in the shower? He could picture it. His olive skin glistening with the liquid crystals clinging to every curve and every feature of his body, his hair would be slightly longer but messy, not as perfect. His strong shoulders relaxed by the running water, his torso completely exposed his…Crap, Temari was still waiting for him, how long had he been like that?

He turned off the water and looked down at the clothes Temari had left for him on the sink. Black skinny jeans with chains on them, a maroon shirt with normal sleeves and a fishnet top to go on top, the final piece of clothing was a spiky dog collar. A dog collar, Temari? Seriously? Gaara thought as he placed it around his neck. His red hair was still everywhere and hid his forehead as it had that day. Once he stepped out his sister nearly fainted… nearly… but she didn't, a sly smile crawled across her face. Oh crap she's lost her mind Gaara thought. Suddenly he was being dragged into her room and sat him down on her bed.

Then she pulled out a brush and make-up. Gaara looked slightly confused at his big sister. Temari began to brush and style her little brothers hair, allowing his tattoo above his left eye to show, it was the same color crimson as his hair so it was hidden when it wasn't styled. Then she moved on to the fun part… the make-up. She only used the eyeliner; after making her little brother resemble a raccoon she took a step back to examine her work. She smiled.

"What do you think?" Temari asked as Gaara looked at himself in her mirror.

"My scares show." Was the only thing Gaara found wrong with the new look his sister had given him.

"That's good. It makes you look dangerous and sexy it's good!" Temari squeaked. Gaara thought of his time at Lee's house, the way Lee cared. It annoyed him that Lee didn't stop asking questions or that he cared about Gaara with out knowing him. Gaara was ripped out his thoughts by Kankuro's presence.

"What the hell are you doing Temari?" he asked as he saw his older sister in her pajama's sitting on her bed with his younger brother who looked like a panda.

"Gaara's gay!" Temari chirped happily.

"I hate this family." Kankuro turned away. Gaara gave a hurt sigh and hung his head low. It hurt when his brother talked like that. Though that's basically all he said, he didn't get along with Gaara very well or at all honestly. Temari walked into his room and began to yell at him for a while. Gaara stood and walked into his room. He lay on his bed and tried to figure out why he liked Lee in the first place.

Lee was in bed too; he had tried to explain to Naruto that he was freaking out over nothing but he didn't listen, he never did. I almost kissed him. Wait a second … he almost let me! Lee thought to himself, along with other images and ideas in his mind, which made his stomach, do flips. Gaara was different but Lee still wanted to know why he hurt himself. Again Lee's eyes flashed towards the box. He didn't care if it caused him pain; he liked Gaara, even if it had only been one day. He couldn't wait until school tomorrow; he just wanted to see Gaara again.

He wondered if Gaara would be wearing the same jeans and shirt tomorrow or something similar, and his hair it had looked scruffy and unkempt, probably because it was a sports day. He didn't seem like the sporty kind of guy. Lee smiled as he went back to the split second when he realized he liked Gaara. He knew he thought Gaara was hot but he hadn't notice that he actually like Gaara until his lips were about to reach his, he realized his heart was racing. He had no idea what he was doing up until that moment, he just let his body move of it own accord.

Lee closed his eyes and drifted into a very Gaara filled dream. His alarm went of at seven and he was out of bed in a flash and under a shower. Lee couldn't help but smile as the thought of Gaara, everything about him made Lee tingle all over, his eyes, his hair his…Wow calm down focus, school not Gaara. A sad feeling entered Lee's body as he also thought that nothing would ever happen between them, he couldn't deny that he liked him, nor did he want to.

He liked Gaara's eyes, his hair, his body, his skin, his body, his shyness, also his body…did he mention his body? The only thing he didn't like about Gaara was the thought of him cutting himself, he was all over the scares they were hot, but the idea of Gaara being in that much pain upset Lee. The shower shut off and Lee walked into his room and pulled on a green shirt and jeans very similar to the ones he wore the day before.

As Lee walked through the doors he was greeted by Naruto. The boy's walked through the halls to where a group of students were crowded. Lee pushed his way through the crowed and stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed it was Gaara everyone was looking at.

Lee's heart almost burst and his cheeks went red as Gaara's eyes fell on him. A very light shade of pink rose in Gaara's cheeks in response to Lee's growing crimson glow.

"Lee do you want to come over today?" Gaara didn't see the joy in Lee's eyes, as he kept his eyes on his locker. The girls who had surrounded Gaara held their breath.

"Yea, sounds good." Lee answered after what seemed like hours. Gaara's face remained the same only his blush became darker.

Naruto walked past (he ran off to find Sasuke) with Sasuke and they called to Lee, after he waved goodbye to Gaara he ran to catch up with his friends. Sasuke and Naruto both snickered as Lee's face went a deeper red as Naruto told Sasuke what he saw Lee and Gaara doing the day before, Sasuke didn't care, he just found it funny.

"So Lee… you really like Gaara? I mean you've only known him for a day." Naruto yawned as he prepared to take his usual math's nap.

"Yea, I like Gaara, I don't know what about him is so powerful … but wow." Lee finished with his mind slipping into fantasy.

Gaara found that Temari's make over worked a little too well everyone seemed interested. The thought amused Gaara, but his thoughts kept wondering to what could happen at his house. It made Gaara's heart flutter when he thought of Lee in his room. His mind found its way back to the task at hand, which in this case was Drama class. He liked watching the school kids act like monkeys; his old school didn't have an arts department.

It was an uptight school where they robbed you of your individuality, so basically he hated it. Gaara had been kicked out of that place because they caught him in the boy's bathroom with a stained crimson razor. That day Temari went through and took out everything sharp in his room. Kankuro just looked at him with sadness in his eyes. He never really talked to Gaara much, it never bothered him though. Gaara's daze was broken by two boys having an argument over which soccer team was better. The teacher did little to nothing to stop the argument; a sigh escaped the red heads lips only to be met with the screams of girls who were watching him with the utmost interest. Oh god…Temari I blame you for this… I have fan girls… Suddenly his mind was on Lee.

Lee had touched him; his hand was rough, but soft on his skin. It was the first time he had any contact since he was an infant. But what annoyed Gaara was the fact that Lee was able too, he didn't recoil from it and Lee didn't hurt him. The only other person who could do that was Temari, and even that was rarely. The group of girls sighed as Gaara leaned back to relax. This constant surveillance was beginning to agitate him.

Lee was feeling the same way about Naruto, like usual he wasn't listening or shutting up. Sasuke had grown tiered of Lee and Gaara's visit to the bedroom and was now listening to his iPod trying too drawn out the rest of the world. It wasn't working.

"Ya know Lee since you have a free now, you could go sit in on his Drama class." Naruto chirped.

"Naruto … I swear to god!" Lee growled as he went back to finishing his homework from his previous class. Naruto continued to pester him about Gaara. Big surprise Naruto is an annoying tool.

"Sasuke … make him stop!" Lee begged. Sasuke sighed and whispered something into Naruto's ear. The boy became silent and returned to his work. Lee looked up at Sasuke in disbelief. No way he could make Naruto silent, the boy didn't have an off switch he just kept going and going and going! How the hell did Sasuke do that?

"What did you say to him?"

"He could use the handcuff's tonight." Sasuke smirked. Lee's eyes shot from the blond to Sasuke a number of times before he let out a disturbed groan. A mental picture arose in his head; Lee could have lived a healthy, happy life with out seeing that. Naruto and Lee sat in silence; Sasuke went back to his music. The other students mumbled here and there but other then that no one said much.

That was until a girl came into the study hall screaming.

"Itachi is fighting with Gaara!" Sasuke's eyes darkened at the mention of his brother's name. Lee's eyes became worried at Gaara's name. Sasuke, Lee and Naruto looked at each other then ran to the boy's bathroom. It was true, Gaara and Itachi were fighting, well Itachi was, Gaara was just taking the beating, and he didn't even attempt to block any of the kicks or punches. Naruto and Lee stood in front of Gaara as Sasuke walked up to his brother.

"What the hell is your problem Itachi?" Sasuke yelled.

"He started it." Itachi spat.

"I'll end it too if you like!" Gaara's voice showed no emotion. Lee turned to Gaara but his aqua eyes were set on Itachi. Sasuke looked at his brother.

"If you ever come near any of my friends again, I will make sure you never see yours again." The crowd retreated as Itachi left with a smirk on his face.

Gaara turned to leave, but Lee pulled him back, he turned to see the concerned faces of three boys.

"What did you do?" Naruto asked. Gaara was silent. Lee looked at him closely, he was still holding onto his fishnet shirt. Lee's eyes slowly traveled from his shoulders down to his wrists. He took a deep breath and turned over Gaara's hand exposing his wrists, the crimson liquid was crawling down from a gash just above his scares. Naruto and Sasuke suddenly knew why Lee had frozen the day before. Gaara pulled his arm away in alarm as Sasuke reached for it. Lee took it again; Gaara flinched as Sasuke inspected the wound.

"It's not self inflicted." Sasuke's voice was full of hate as the three boys realized what Gaara already knew; Itachi had been the one to pierce Gaara's skin. Gaara pulled his hand away again.

Lee seemed distant as the four boys walked back to the Drama classrooms.

"See you after school Gaara." It was the first thing Lee had said since the fight. Gaara nodded and disappeared inside the door. Naruto placed a hand on Lee's shoulder. Lee sighed in relief and smiled, he was relieved that Gaara hadn't cut himself. He was now very pissed off at Sasuke's brother, but as long as Gaara wasn't hurting himself Lee didn't care.

"I should explain the other day." Lee sighed as he and Gaara walked out of the empty school. Gaara didn't respond so Lee continued talking. He explained why he freaked out, and that Gai was his foster dad and that he himself was gay, the almost kiss never came up. Gaara listened to Lee's story and related to it in some ways. Then it was Gaara's story; Lee's heart sank when Gaara explained his life, or well parts of it. Lee couldn't be mad at Gaara for doing that to himself, he never had a chance. Lee's thoughts were cut off when Gaara turned into the yard of a massive house.

"My sister wants to meet you. You're my first. …Friend." Gaara paused at his door. "That raven boy called me that too…" Gaara turned to grinning Lee. A sigh escaped the read heads lips as he pushed open the door open to see or more hear Temari yelling at Kankuro.

Gaara closed the door without a sound and pushed Lee up to his room. Gaara's room was a maroon color; Lee gasped as he saw the room. Gaara smiled a little at his reaction. Gaara told Lee to sit while he went to the bathroom. Once out of Lee's sight he took off his shirt to revile the wounds he had gotten from Itachi. His back was cut up; it looked as if someone had hit him with the cat-o-nine tales. His chest and stomach were fine. Gaara froze as he looked in the mirror. In the reflection he saw the door to his bathroom open and Lee stood in the doorway with Temari.