Disclaimer: I have no right to call Naruto mine.

Deep within a room surrounded by darkness, a muffled, perpetual ringing echoed throughout the emptiness of the chamber. Although it was morning, not a single sliver of light penetrated the tinted windows, draped by think mahogany curtains. In the middle of the room stood a canopy bed, enclosed by silk, claret drapes. Small, impatient groans could be heard from under the thick covers of the king-sized bed. A hand shot out from within the sheets feeling clumsily for the contraption that interrupted the silence of the room. Within seconds the device was found, grabbed and violently tossed to the wall, shattering the poor alarm clock.

Usually the young male presented a calm, collected exterior, never wanting unnecessary attention, but mornings and the red head never seemed to go hand in hand. He grunted and moved back into a comfortable position, letting sleep overtake his body once again. This was what he hated most about sleeping, having to wake up when he had finally reached a point of exhaustion that allowed him to rest. As he settled back into that state of tranquility, the door slowly creaked, indicating an approaching presence.

"Gaara…." a small, tentative voice called out, "come on wake up you're going to be late at this rate."

A gruff 'hn' was all Temari received in response.

She sighed before heading towards the curtains, snagging them from place. letting as much light the tinted windows allowed into the bedroom, doing the same thing to drapes around the bed.

"Come on kiddo, it's the last day. After this you can sleep in as much as you'd like during the summer," she motioned to the bundled bulge on the bed.

Gaara just grunted, grabbing the pillow next to him and sliding it under the covers, placing it over his head to shut out the unwanted noise.

A small grin made its way to his sister's face as she watched the red head, who was blatantly ignoring her. "Oh, now are you trying to block me out, dear brother? Hmm, I guess I'll have to come back with my bucket of water like last time." She smiled deviously when she saw an eye pocking out from the confinement of the covers, giving her a, what she thought was supposed to be a go away and die glare, only it looked more like a pained impression of a puppy dog look.

After minutes of a heated, not so daunting stare, the boy conceded, sluggishly removing the covers to reveal messy crimson locks, a pale, sleepy face and half of his bare chest. The crisp air in the room only helped wake the boy up further, covering him in goose bumps. He sat up, rubbing lazily against his half lidded eyes, getting rid of the sand boogers in the corners.

Temari watched the action, smiling sadly at the rare idiosyncrasy that composed her brother. He acted just as an adult would, yet when she saw him like this, early in the morning, he only reminded her of the fact that he was still just a mere child who had been abruptly thrown into the world of responsibilities without his consent. He was the youngest and yet dealt with much more she ever had his age. As she contemplated, Gaara slowly began to come into consciousness moving to the edge of the bed and hissing once his feet came in contact with the freezing floor. Just as he was about to change his boxers, he remembered the intrusion in his room.

With his back turned to her, he addressed her. "Do you mind?" His voice only came out groggy, causing a laugh from Temari.

With a smirk plastered on her face she only kept staring. "Not really. Why? You ashamed or something? It's not like I haven't seen you naked before. I used to change your diapers, so unless you grew something abnormal or out of place recently, I don't see what the big deal is."

Gaara scowled, menacingly, his glare bearing holes onto the floor board. "Temari…Get out." The volume of his demand was low, barely a whisper, but the tone would have cut steel.

"Oh, god, fine. You'd think I'd get a little appreciation of going out of my way to come and wake you and the lazy ass, but nooo. All I get is and irritated order out of the room. By the way that's the fifth clock this week. I'm not getting you any more since you can't grasp the concept of turning it off gently."

She made her way out of the room leaving quite pleased with the interaction. If somebody told her she would be on friendly…er tolerable speaking terms with her highly deranged brother, she would have laughed in their face after beating them to a bloody pulp for even mentioning the possibility.

The years had been rough. Days of constant struggle against a tangible hatred directed towards the youngest Sabaku had turned their world for the worst. The tension slowly ebbed away once she realized the role she had to take on. The death of their mother had been painful, an intensive grievance none of them were ready to combat. She and Kankuro had been mere kids when the accident happened. They did not know how to handle such a loss, an essential one to their lives at that, and found that the quickest way to rid the pain was to point and blame, find someone to accuse for the misery they had to endure. From that point on, a four year old began to be ostracized for a mistake he unknowingly committed.

It wasn't until the day she was forced to stay at home due to the change in weather, that she became conscious of the fact that she had not been the only one hurt, nor had Kankuro or her father. After finding a soaking twelve year old curled into a fetal position with a stuffed bear, calling out for his mom amongst the garden their mother used to tend to so lovingly, did she fathomed the tortuous ache Gaara had been victimized to deal with, not only by the death itself but from the cruelness of his own family. The neglect they directed towards him had tremendously damaged his psyche. He had been blamed, resented, reproached and forgotten, which all sunk in little by little deep into his soul, causing the distance he put between himself and another, purging himself of all emotions that rendered man weak.

Everyday after, regret coiled within her heart. She had never meant to cause her little brother harm, nor was it her intent to make him feel guilty for something he could not be blamed for. There was never a day that she did not wish to take back every word that had harmed the youngest Sabaku and turned him into the stoic man that he was. She yearned to take every regret culminating her revenge and shove it up her uncle's ass inflicting him far greater pains hell provided for the damage he had deeply contributed to Gaara's mentality. And she only hoped the future would hold brighter prospects for the love deprived child. Now all she wished to do was find atonement and redeem the relationship between the three of them. The change was slow, but subtly noticeable and she was glad for the progress.

As she made her way downstairs, she could already smell the fresh aroma of bacon, eggs and waffles. Surely, if she never learned how to cook, she knew just where to go to find something deliciously edible, even if she had to beat her brother to death in order to obtain it.

"Hey my peasant, breakfast almost done?" She asked as she propped her elbows on the counter, watching Kankuro cook.

"Hn."

"Well I'll be, if I didn't know you or Gaara I would have sworn you two are brothers," she smirked, ducking her head from the egg an annoyed brunette threw at her.

"Shit, what's got your panties in a twist?"

"You, you damn devil, you wake me up at five just to make breakfast and just demand, demand, demand. Aren't you a woman? It may be the 21st century, but that doesn't mean you can't learn how to cook at least something simple as eggs."

"Now, why would I want to do that when I have you around to be my personal slave?"

"Dammit Temari, you have to learn at least something, how do you expect to charm that guy who shut you up if you can't even make some eggs? Don't you know you win a man's heart by his stomach? Don't try to deny it either I saw how you kept giving him goggling glances. That guy had balls, though I'm still surprised you let him keep them." He chuckled at the mere though of his sister cooking. The last time she tried she nearly burned her eyebrows. Now that image put him in a fit of roaring laughter, not only would he have a browless brother, but a sister to boot too.

Temari only glowered, throwing a spoon to the back of her brother's head.

"Oww! What the fuck," he faced Temari, rubbing the back of his head.

"Damn cougar.," he muttered under his breath, as he placed her plate in front of her.

"What?"

"I said do you want some sugar…for…your…coffee."

The blond only smirked. "Yeah, I though so. And yes please." As she looked down on her plate she discovered a picture on her waffles. "And what is this supposed to be?"

"Can't you see? It's clearly depicting you as the person you really are. The devil with the face of a woman. Funny though, I always though Itachi was the lord of the underworld, but you proved me wrong."

"You're trying to get castrated aren't you? Shukaku would sure love a new variety of meat." She shot him a look, one that spoke volumes of the hurt she would inflict if he kept talking.

Turning around towards the cabinet, disdainfully mimicking his sister, he didn't realize the presence leaning against the threshold, a small smirk grazed upon his lips. He almost yelped in surprise when he saw the red head, and managed to keep Gaara's plate safe from splattering on the floor.

"Fucking shit! Don't do that! Especially when I have food on my hands."

Gaara walked towards his brother taking the plate from his hands and settling down on the island. He would never admit it, but Kankuro was a good cook, especially his waffles.

"So how are you going to spend your last day of junior year kid? You should hang out with that Uzumaki kid, you need some excitement in your life once in a while and that brat's got more than enough energy to spare." Kankuro cringed at the thought of the blond. He was too much at times.

"Don't want to."

"Lighten up kiddo it would do you some good to interact outside of yourself. That Hyuuga and Uchiha are damn replicas of you. Think of this as an opportunity to congregate with people you will most likely have to associate later on in the business. Who knows, Uzumaki may end up working under you and you need to know how to handle him."

"Like I said, I don't want to." Each word was enunciated with such precision, both older siblings gave up.

"Fine. Do whatever you'd like." The brunette capitulated.

Gaara stared, but he did not only he stared, he analyzed. A couple of years back, one would never find this picture of the three siblings near each other, or more specifically near Gaara. There had been such a fierce animosity between them and himself that they couldn't be in the same room without insults or the occasional bloody nose. Now, everything had been turned around. Here he was, eating peacefully, watching the scene play before him, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Yes, they had made much progress over the past five years, and deep, very deep inside of him, he was grateful. His sister had taken the role of a mother, amending and fortifying the bonds they lacked, putting up with his aloofness, Kankuro's rebellious stage, the fights they constantly engaged in. Temari had dealt with a big load, but it was the fact that she tried, and kept trying that eventually opened a piece of his recognition to her.

Kankuro on the other hand, well their brawls slowly came to a stop. The day those stupid armed bastards who surrounded Gaara probably helped too. A brotherly instinct had suddenly ignited in the brunette's heart when he found his younger brother beaten and bruised, with an unequal disadvantage of six to one. Four of those bastards though, had already been dealt with leaving Kankuro the pleasure of finishing the last two left. Gaara only stared at his brother with distaste. It wasn't until an unsuspecting swing to Gaara's side that he stared questioningly at his brother. There, standing between himself and the thug was his older brother, with a stab to his side.

Many emotions unknown to Gaara seeped through his body: hate, surprise, rage, vengeance, confusion. Once he saw the blood flowing from his brother's body he lost it, pounding the shit out of the fool that dared puncture his own kin. He could not fathom the wrath the consumed him when his brother was injured but something just clicked, like when his sister pushed him out of the way and took the slap his father had directed at him.

Somewhere along the way, Gaara began to believe the intentions of his siblings, he was still iffy about some things, not having the comprehending essence about the works of family, but somehow he understood the desire to protect and gained the vindictive aspect against all those who dared to harm him or his siblings. This wasn't to say that their relationship was all rainbows and butterflies, but step by step the ice was breaking.

As he finished his last bite, he gave one last meaningful look at the picture before him. Standing up and placing his plate on the dishwasher he signaled a goodbye to the still bickering relatives. Sliding his bag over his shoulder, he made his way to his car, revving through his driveway, enjoying the calming purr of the engine and the gentle pulse of the music.

The speedy drive brought him to a barely changed red light, where unnoticed by him, an energetic raven made his own way to school, jogging the drowsiness away.

The morning had begun right. Small chirpings made their way through bare windows in a placid frequency. Years of waking up for his daily routine had implanted an internal clock on the young raven's head, never waking up a minute late. Even if he hadn't been forced to keep his left arm and leg active, he himself would have planned out a daily exercise plan, fit to fulfill the required needs his lifestyle demanded. Never being one to stand idly, he had become one of the best athletes his school had ever produced.

At five A.M. he would be up and ready, having taken a shower and eaten a filling breakfast before starting his morning exercises: two sets of 250 pushups, 3 sets of 250 sit-ups, two sets of 200 pull-ups and threes sets of 100 squats. This was just his light morning routine before his jog to school. As the clock hit 7 a.m. he was out of the door.

Running to school was his pleasure, it allowed him time to think things through and provided him with a clear head for decisions he had to make. Tomorrow he would be going to the house of the person who was able to bring such painful memories back with just a stare. He did not know how that had happened since he was usually able to shrug them off and keep on smiling, despite the uneasiness they made him feel. He was never one to blame people for the discomfort they created, but he wished they could be more subtle about it.

Now there was Gaara. If what Naruto told him was true, then he should have no worries about the looks he got from the red head. He only stared when he encountered something he did not understand and apparently, Lee had been something which had baffled the young Sabaku. Like Naruto, Lee was a strange specimen in the eyes of the world. One was a ball of laughter, of sunshine with the ability to attract attention and supply a contagion of joy. The other was more modest, honorable, with a genuine heart that sought nothing more than to help those who needed help with an optimistic view of the world, willing to forgive and forget. This apparently, had gotten Gaara's attention, the fact that he was willing to make up for something others around him had obviously caused. Those that knew Lee were used to his behavior, but those who didn't found it intriguing.

Having this information about the red head appeased some of his thoughts, but knowing he had no ill intention planned out did not shake away the remembrance of those green, glass like orbs. They made him feel so vulnerable and had opened so many of those painful memories he tried so hard to suppress. It was as if Gaara saw all the insecurities he hid so well from others, trying to understand why, using his eyes as a mirror to reflect the actual person he was inside.

That was what terrified Lee the most. Only Naruto knew some of the emotions he harbored inside, and even still there were some thing he kept hidden from the blond. He knew he would be a burden if he voiced them out so he preferred to keep those thoughts only to himself, but Gaara seemed to have dug deep enough to where those thoughts sat. Gaara did not even know him and yet he had done something with that stare to break the seal he kept on that part of his mind as effortlessly as cutting a leaf in half.

As he ran, he shuddered slightly, and only increased his speed, focusing more on breathing than anything else. He was just now a few minutes away from the school campus and sighed in relief. He was always early to school, and hour too early to be exact, but it gave him the privacy he needed in the locker room. Just as he was about to head off to the track he noticed his bandage coming loose and sat down on the bench to tighten it. Unbeknownst to him, another figure had decided to make his way to the locker room.

"After years of putting them on I still can not wrap them properly," he laughed quietly to himself. There was really no need for the bandages in his right arm, but he would rather keep both of them wrapped in order to ward off questions about why he only kept one covered. The same with his legs, though sweat pants usually kept them hidden. Before, his friends had asked him the reason for his bandages. His simple answer, to soak up the sweat. He was proud of his body, no doubt about that, and had no need to cover it up, but the scars that ran through it were something he wanted nobody to see. His marred skin brought disgust to himself, knowing far too well it would only bring him unwanted attention, that and sympathy, which he did not need.

"Well hopefully that will hold it," he smiled proudly, sticking his thumb out in his renown nice guy pose.

As he made his way to the door that led to the track, he bumped forehead to forehead into another, staggering backwards and keeping hold of the other's shoulder to stop him from falling.

"Oomph! Oh! I am so sorry I did not see you there! Are you hurt? Do you need something?" His overly protective nature came on full force, willing to do anything for the person if he had been injured, ignoring his own throbbing pain. This clouded his mind for a moment before he realized who he had bumped into exactly.

Gaara's eyes were downcast, rubbing his forehead slowly. "No, I'm fine. Look where you're going next time." Cautiously he lifted his head, seeing the cause of his dizziness.

The only reason Lee did not jump back abruptly as soon as he saw those eyes was due to his back being pressed against the side of the lockers. His arm though, flew off from the red head's shoulder instantly as a startled eep made its way to his lips.

In a blink of an eye Lee had bowed his head lower than when he did with Temari, apologized and flew out of the doors in a flash. The only evidence of him ever being in the room was a slightly wide eyed Gaara continuously rubbing his forehead.

'It's him' he thought as he continued to stare at the spot Lee had previously stood in. He had always come in at least an hour early to school to practice in the ring without any disturbance, but he had never come across the raven, not once in all three years. Ever since three days ago he was left puzzled by the eccentricities of the other male. Not only that, but his eyes held something within them that reminded Gaara of himself. Just thinking of them had left Gaara in a state of uncertainty and he did not know why, which was what frustrated him the most. He hated not understanding. It made him feel foolish, ignorant.

His curiosity got the better of him as he opted to skip his training to watch Lee, hoping to get some answers to his unasked questions.

Lee ran. Where he was going and how fast he did not know. All he knew was that he needed to get out of that room that had contained the cause of his returning distress. An hour passed before he knew it when the bell signaled the beginning of first period. Luckily, he had athletics so he still had time to cool his head. As the other athletes made their way to the field, Lee joined them to wait for instruction. He stretched while waiting, until he saw his blond friend and beamed a radiant smile at his direction.

"Lee! How you feeling man?" He slapped a hand on Lee's back bringing him in a headlock.

Lee laughed has he pried off his friend, tickling his sides. "I am doing pretty good. After my morning jog, I always feel refreshed."

"Jog my ass. You practically haul ass when you jog that you leave me exhausted. And I'm just watching you sitting down!" The blond exclaimed, joining Lee in stretching. "It's no wonder the track coach makes a big deal out of you. So you ready for our last game as juniors?" It was a tradition to have a last soccer game at the end of every year in Konoha high and fortunately Suna high had been more than pleased to incorporate it in their school as well.

"Naruto, I just like running so I give it my best and yes, I am more than ready. The adrenaline is slowly building up right now."

"Okay, good. We're going to need as many goals as we can get, those Suna guys are getting even more fierce every passing year."

"Oww! Lee, my back, it can't bend that much!"

His excitement for the game had sidetracked his mind that he forgot he was leaning all his weight on his friend's back. "Oh, sorry!"

The blond chuckled, "No wonder the bastard gets jealous, you make me groan for totally different reasons!" He began to laugh hysterically as he thought of his boyfriend, causing a bunch of the guys to look their way in disgust.

Now, Lee would never hit anyone, but he believed that comment deserved a good whack to the head.

"Oww! Shit, that fucking hurt!"

"Yes, well next time, save those comments when I'm not easily prone to death," he giggled inwardly as he stared at the pissed off Uchiha from the bleachers.

He had gym with Gemna, who couldn't care less if the brats were there or not, so the Uchiha took the time to stare at his blond for forty five minutes instead.

While looking at the overprotective lover something caught Lee's eye. There at the top of the bleacher's corner was a red head, more specifically there was Gaara, staring straight at Lee.

Lee's jaw dropped in shock. 'Why is he there? No, better question, how long has he been there?' It was only now that Lee realized he was still wearing the same shorts and hoodie as when they collided. 'So he has been there since I started running? Why…'

He was driven out of his state of disbelief by a whistle, signaling the boys to hit the showers early as an end of the year gift. Lee ran after Naruto entering the locker room. He sighed a breath a relief once he was out of the red head's sight and waited until everyone had taken a shower. Most of the guys always snickered and joked nastily to themselves about Lee wanting his privacy to jerk off to any of their names, since they deemed him gay.

Lee, of course, knew of the rumors about him circling the student body, but he did not let that faze him. He knew himself and was satisfied with that, plus a certain pink haired lady held his heart, though his heart did not hold hers, but that did not matter for he was sure he would win her love with his perseverance and devotion to her. He just knew it.

When the last guy left he began to unwrap his bandages. He would surely be late for second period but luckily he got along well with Raidou to convince him if he could be a few minutes late, plus it was the last day of school. After he undressed himself, he grabbed a towel and stepped into the scalding spray of water. He hissed as it came in contact with his skin, but welcomed the relaxing feeling it brought to his sore muscles as they unwind.

Quickly, he shampooed his hair and lathered his body, lingering on the uneven trail of his skin a bit longer than normal. He looked down to his left arm and winced. He could never look at the mess the accident left on his body with a detached glance. He could still feel the pain on his limbs sometimes, never letting him forget the day.

With a small intake of breath, he finished up and dried himself. He snatched a clean pair of boxers, put on his uniform pants slid on his wife beater and sat down on the bench, wrapping the bandages on his arms.

While he focused on the task meticulously in order to prevent the fabric from coming loose, he failed to notice the presence of the person he wanted to see the least, staring through the reflection of the mirror on Lee's isle of lockers.

Gaara had made his way to the locker room just after he knew all the jocks would be out. He would be late, but teachers never counted that against him, all thanks to his influence. They would never try to do anything that would give the Sabakus and incentive to fire them somehow and as long as he did their work, they stayed out of his business.

He hadn't even noticed that one person had stayed behind until he heard the shower turn on and saw the clothes on the bench. Wanting to avoid an altercation with one of the jocks, he changed into his uniform clothes as quietly as he could and was about to head out the door when he saw who the other person was. Apparently Lee, as he had found out the boys name on the field, liked his privacy. It wasn't until he silently trudged closer to a mirror reflecting Lee's left side that he assumed the reason for him staying behind.

The raven was close enough to the mirror for Gaara to see a slight deformation on the ravens arm. He could not see the extent of it, but it was clear on Lee's face that he did not like that particular part of his body. After he had hidden his entire arm behind the white bandages, he saw as Lee put on his white, long-sleeved shirt concealing more of his arms from view and finally his blazer.

Suddenly, Gaara became angry as questions overflowed his mind. How could one person fill him with such ambiguity, such confusion and he hadn't even directed more than ten words to the boy! Why did someone like him, who had the same hurt in those obsidian orbs Gaara felt everyday, be as open and cared for by people who could easily damage and destroy him? What made them different?

His fists curled into a fist with such force his knuckles turned white. He kept his eyes on the boy's back through the mirror as he walked away, blind from the wave of fury encasing the every inch of the room behind him.