(A/N) Pretty long chapter. Took forever to get right. :/

Anywhos, Gaara and Lee are once thrown together. Poor Gaara. xD

A thousand thanks to MidniteCurse4Eternity and Art Witch - Aka Mizu for the reviews!

I don't own Naruto.

"Now, my darling Lee," Gui-sensei lectured, "when you go up against Sasuke, you'll be in for the fight of your life! But you can do it! I know you can! What you need the most are speed and precision; power will come naturally with those two."

I nodded briskly, scribbling down his wise words in my notebook. Determination burned inside me, and my eyes never left Gui-sensei.

"You may have to resort to the forbidden technique, the Reverse Lotus!"

I started. "Are you sure, Gui-sensei?" I asked tentatively.

He nodded gravely. "Absolutely. This is your ninja way, Lee. This is your honor and future on the line. I am absolutely certain."

I nodded, a shadow of apprehension and excitement coming into my heart. The Reverse Lotus…!

Suddenly, Gui-sensei twitched, his attention diverted to the side of the training clearing. "Lee… we are being watched…"

I jumped, swiveling to face the bushes. I couldn't detect any movement, but apparently Gui-sensei could.

"I'll be right back," he murmured, and stalked dramatically forward. I watched, entranced by his jaguar-like movements as he crept toward the bushes.

"Hiya!" he cried, diving into the bushes to pounce on the unsuspecting enemy.

The bushes rustled madly for a moment, and two shapes rolled out, tussling.

"Ouch!" cried Gui-sensei, shoving at the intruder and grabbing him by the collar.

"It's me, it's me!" Gaara of the Sand growled. "Lee-kuuuuun… get him off me, or I'll really hurt him, I swear!"

I yelped in alarm, fully aware that he would follow through with such threats. "Guy-sensei, Guy-sensei, its okay! He's my friend!"

Guy-sensei clambered obediently off of the teen, who picked himself up and brushed himself off.

"Feh. You're lucky… I was actually trying not to hurt him," Gaara grumbled, his sand retreating back into his gourd. "Another second and I wouldn't have held back."

Lee trotted forward to greet me, reminding me acutely of a puppy. His idiot of a mentor glanced between us, confused. I enjoyed his bewildered expression, not bothering with an explanation.

"Why are you here?" Lee asked curiously, and I shifted awkwardly.

"I heard your annoying chatter and decided to see what you were doing," I grunted. "If you were killing another cactus…"

His mentor cocked his head. "Cactus?"

"You don't need to know," I said, turning my back to him. "I couldn't help but overhear; you're training to take on Uchiha Sasuke?"

Lee nodded, suddenly serious.

"Well of course you couldn't help but overhear!" the idiot sensei snapped. "You were hiding in the bushes spying on me and my charming Lee! Are you stalking him? Did you watch him in the shower last night?"

I gagged.

Lee turned bright red at the thought. "No! … You weren't, were you…?"

"No!" I yelled, horrified and mortified at the turn the conversation had taken. I shot the elder ninja a glare. "You two are trespassing; this is my home. I have every right to lurk in whatever bushes I want here. In fact, I have the right to kill you both. Luckily for you, I won't do that."

The older ninja shook his head, suddenly on the defensive. "We apologize for encroaching on your home," he said seriously, and I gained just the tiniest bit of respect for him.

"I have a debt to repay," I said, choosing my words carefully, "to your student. Tell me, how much is this match worth to you?"

Lee looked at me with such conviction that I felt myself moved, if ever so slightly. "Everything. More than my life."

"Good. Then if I help you to win, my debt will be repaid. Is that acceptable?" I asked. I was eager to get this whole business behind me and sever all ties with this Lee.

Lee's eyes lit up. "You'll help me win?"

I nodded carefully. "Of course."

The next thing I knew, Lee had practically thrown himself onto me and was half-sobbing into my bare chest. I jumped, shoving half-heartedly at him.

"Thank yo-o-ou!" he blubbered gratefully. "Thank you so muuuuuch, Gaara-kuuuuun!"

His sensei came up beside me, clutching at the air as tears poured down his face. "Thank you, Gaara of the Sand…! Thank you for helping my darling student achieve his dream…!"

I scowled, but found it more a smile then a scowl. I glanced up at the sky.

"What a bunch of freaks," I murmured.

"Wait… you can't use ninjitsu?" Gaara blurted in shock.

I nodded shyly. "Nope. Only taijutsu."

Gaara spun, turning his back to me and beginning to pace. "What have I gotten myself into?" he asked himself mournfully. "Can't use ninjitsu… what in hell can I teach you?"

"Taijutsu?" I suggested helpfully.

Gaara roared in frustration, very nearly banging his head against his gourd. I stifled a laugh.

"This isn't funny!" snapped Gaara, and I bit down on my chuckling. "I'm not good at taijutsu! The sand protects me before anything can get close enough for me to need it!"

"Except for that shadow beast," I reminded him.

He turned such a death-glare on me that I thought it best to overlook that little detail for now.

I sighed heavily. "Alright… alright. Let's see what we can do." I massaged my forehead absently. "Come at me."

Lee blinked. "Come at you?" he repeated dumbly.

I hissed slightly in annoyance. "Yes. I need to see where you are and what you are capable of."

Lee nodded, taking up a typical taijutsu stance. I looked him up and down and nodded approvingly.

He struck quickly, so quick that it surprised even me. I had seen his skill briefly (when he was beating up my poor cactus), and was aware of the speed and precision of his movement. Still, this made me rethink just how serious an opponent this kid could be.

Be that as it may, he never stood a chance against me. The sand rose up easily to intercept his kick, and I didn't even need to move. Lee stumbled back, looking a bit frustrated.

"I said come at me," I said. "That didn't mean only once; keep trying."

Lee surprised me once again. Instead of racing toward me again, he knelt to the ground, fiddling with those horrid orange legwarmers of his. For a ninja in training… he seemed color blind.

Removing the legwarmers revealed a set of weights. I let out a little huff of surprise; I could see the numbers on them, and that amount of weight was nothing to scoff at. Used to carrying the extra weight of my gourd, I realized exactly how much quicker he would be when his legs were that much lighter.

This might work after all, I thought with a slight grin.

Lee rolled his ankles experimentally. "That's a relief," he sighed. Then, he straightened. "Here I come!"

He simply vanished.

For a second, panic clutched at me, and I pivoted wildly. A moment later, however, I realized that it was useless as the sand swished up just in time to block a deadly kick. Another struck, an instant later, on the opposite side of me.

There! I identified a green blur on the landscape, spotting him just in time to avoid a punch aimed at my face. Then he was back on the move, out of my range of vision and across the clearing.

"How's that?" he huffed, face flushed with excitement.

I nodded, trying to calm my heart. "That was… amazing," I answered truthfully. I was so used to opponents that I didn't have to even think about to defeat… this Lee was something else entirely. I wondered for a moment, idly, who would win if we fought for real. "You may be amazing," I said quickly, "but so is Sasuke. You can't settle for where you are now to defeat him. You have no ninjitsu at all?"

Lee shook his head. "None. But I do have some pretty impressive moves."

I cocked my head. "Show me."

Lee shook his head again. "No way. I couldn't do that to you."

I narrowed my eyes. "Lee… kun… I have complete confidence that you won't be able to hit me. And I need to see what you can do."

Still looking uncertain, Lee took up his stance again. The tape that he always wore around his lower arms unraveled slightly.

"Secondary Lotus!" he declared like a battle cry, and I swore I felt the ground tremble, ever so slightly.

Lee flew at me. There was no other way to describe it. The boy rocketed forward, faster than either my eye or my sand could follow. He plowed into me, sending us both barreling backwards. But it was obvious that he would not, or perhaps could not, rein in his power now. I felt my back pummeled by his feet, and then his fist punched a hole in my face.

"Oof…!" I grunted, tumbling backwards. The sand broke my fall, but I was all too aware that the sand I wore like a second skin was peeling off.

I must have looked like my skin itself was cracking.

I felt adrenalin flood me, excitement churning my mind. This I could enjoy. "Let's keep at it," I murmured. I whipped up my sand into an offensive position. "Lee!" I shouted a short warning, as I didn't exactly want to kill him (well, I kind of did, but…) and then tore across the clearing.

Lee flickered from side to side, almost instantly overwhelming my senses. I twisted, but couldn't avoid the small boy as he slammed into me head on. I found myself abruptly cocooned in his bandages, and my eyes shot wide open. And then we were spiraling downwards.

I felt my heart speed with panic, and my whole body tensed. Exhilaration tore through my body; I hadn't had a fight like this in an eternity! I had been wounded twice in my life before this supposedly mock battle, one of which being by the shadow beast earlier. And I found this intense combat nothing short of euphoric.

Or was that Mother…? Or perhaps… both of us.

My mind snapped back to the problem at hand: meeting the ground head on. I twisted in the bandages, writing so that I slid like a cat out of my sand shell. In doing so, I slipped away from Lee and dropped safely to the ground. Lee, on the other hand, went straight into the ground, and I couldn't stifle a soft cry of dismay; we were training in the clearing that I lived in, after all. Sand sprayed everywhere, and several plants were uprooted.

Lee bounded out of the wreckage, staring in shock at the shell that I had left behind in my place. I could tell that he had no idea that I had slipped free. His expression intensified to horror as said shell began to crumble, caving in on itself.

"Gaara?" Lee exclaimed, and I stifled a snort of laughter.

"Right here," I hissed, rapping him firmly on the back of the head, harder, perhaps, than I should have.

"Gaara-kun!" squeaked Lee, spinning to face me. "Was that a…? Were you…? Wait… what…?"

This time I couldn't help but laugh. "Let's do that again," I said, choosing to leave him in the dark about exactly what had just happened; it was far too amusing not too.

"How I got through your defenses was because you favor your left foot slightly," I told Lee. "It gives me a hint at where you're going to strike. You need to eliminate that hesitation, or your enemy will be able to see through your attack."

Lee nodded, scribbling down notes in his little notebook. The notebook annoyed the hell out of me; I had half a mind to take it away from him.

There was a rustling in the creosote bushes, and the sand prickled. I tensed, pivoting to face the sound and sending the sand out in front of me. Lee instantly quieted, lowering the notebook. A second later, though, it became obvious that the person in the bushes was not a threat.

"Ooh! Oh, damnit! More sand? What the…? Aw crap, sand in my shoes, sand in my hair… sand in my underpants! What is with this place…? It's just full of sand!"

Oh no… oh no please not him… I thought, the voice clicking with a memory in my mind.

A shape fell through the creosote, and I winced at the snapping of branches. The fragrant scent of creosote blood wafted around the clearing, and I added one more thing to my list of qualms with Uzumaki Naruto.

"Oh! Naruto-kun!" called Lee, and I very nearly slapped myself.

"You know this guy?" I growled as Lee hurried over to where Naruto had fallen.

"Yes!" Lee chirped. "He's in my class at the academy!"

I groaned internally. "Then I take it I can't kill him." It wasn't a question, really. I had figured out that Lee didn't take too kindly to my threatening to kill anyone, even the occasional hobo, which was annoying to no end.

Lee shook his head. "Oh no!" He knelt beside Naruto. "Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun! Are you alright, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto stirred. "Uh…? Bushy Brows…?"

I snorted. "Nice nickname. It suits you."

Naruto peered around Lee and spotted me. "And… you… who were you again…?"

I folded my arms, glaring at him. "Someone who wants you dead, very badly."

"Gaara-kun!" Lee chided, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'll kill him if I want to!" I snapped.

"Gaara-kun, then?" Naruto asked.

"No!" I snapped. "Stay out of this!" I turned back to Lee. "You've been getting awfully bossy lately, and it's really starting to piss me off."

"Well it's not my fault when you keep wanting to kill people!" Lee answered honestly. "I've got to tell you not to!"

"And I don't have to obey you," I objected. "Case in point." I allowed the sand to curl around Naruto. "I could kill him at any minute, and you would have nothing to say about it."

"But you won't," Lee countered.

"Don't try me."

"I don't think you should try him," Naruto, still wrapped in my sand, piped up.

"Stay out of this, please." This time it was Lee.

"I've agreed to train you, but I haven't agreed to anything else. And you better believe that as soon as this fight is over, as soon as my debt if payed, I'm out of here!" I snapped, my blood starting to boil.

"I know that you won't," Lee sniffed. "You actually enjoy the company."

"I'd much rather be alone in my desert," I growled, "as opposed to sharing it with an over-zealous idiot and a blundering dunce that stomp around my oasis without the slightest respect for the desert!" I motioned wildly at the creosote plant. "Did it do anything to you?"

"Ooh, heaven forbid we step on your plants!" Lee sniffed sarcastically. "You want to be alone with your sand!"

"Yeah, I do!" I growled, letting the sand tighten around Naruto. The blonde boy stiffened.

"You guys want me to stay out of it…" he said slowly.

"Shut up," I growled.

"Please, be silent!" Lee hissed at the same moment.

"You want to go? For real this time?" I asked, almost eagerly. All the arguing had got me, and Mother within me, longing for blood.

"Yes!" Lee answered instantly. "And I will beat you!"

"Uh… guys…?" Naruto spoke up again, and I was so tempted to just crush him and be done with it. Instead, I let the sand slip away from him and coil back into my gourd.

"Wouldn't want to get hurt," I growled, shoving the blonde boy in the chest and away from us. I took up a stance, facing Lee. "Bring it on, Bushy Brows."

"Oh, so you're going to start now?" Lee asked.

I smirked. "What can I say? It fits you."

Lee, with a cry that I had never heard in practice bouts, threw himself into action. In an instant I was forced to deploy every grain of sand I had for defense. His fists and feet struck again and again, but this time, not one made it though. I slashed at him with the sand, but he skipped backwards, avoiding the blow.

The ninja in training shook his legs forcefully, dislodging the weights he wore. The plunked down in the sand, leaving rather large craters. The look on his face told me that he was serious, and I actually doubted my ability to beat him for a moment. Then, Mother within me roared to life, spurring me onwards. I drew up a shield around myself and lashed out at my opponent.

Lee easily avoided my attack, swiveling around, his path marked only by the sand he kicked up. Then, his path was marked by the more then painful punch that he landed on my jaw.

I flew backwards, the sand catching me before I hit the ground. I glanced up, a wicked smile plastered on my face.

"I like you after all!" I laughed. "You make me feel alive!"

Lee struck me again, and again after that, sand peeling off my face like dead flesh. I felt the breath leave my body as the boy I was training landed a tremendous, double-footed kick right in my stomach, making me gag. The sand simply couldn't keep up.

But there was sand all around us, including under every step Lee too.

I wrapped a tendril of sand around Lee's ankle, stopping the boy's forward motion. He fell flat on his face, making me chuckle darkly. Kicking uselessly at the shackle I had wrapped around his leg, he struggled feebly in the sand.

That was the first time I noticed it; his weakness. He was getting weaker as we trained.

Of course, I didn't realize that at the moment, only when I look back on the story now. Then, I had only bloody thoughts in my mind.

"This was a real fight, right?" I asked sadistically, drawing the sand up around his legs. "That means real consequences, right? How about a broken limb or two?"

Lee looked up at me, half frightened, half defiant. I was long past recognizing him as anything close to a friend; he was my enemy, one to be killed.

"Stop!"

An orange blur intercepted me, stepping between Lee and I. I looked at Uzumaki Naruto in shock.

"You're… defending him…?" I asked softly. A sharp stab of pain in my head made me wince and draw back.

"Yeah, I am," Naruto said bravely.

I shook my head sharply, coming to my senses. "Lee… kun," I mumbled. "Oh, crap I'm sorry…" I shoved Naruto forcefully away, crouching down in front of the boy in the sand. With an effort, I made it relax, releasing him. "S-sorry…" I murmured, offering my hand.

Lee, to my surprise, smiled warmly. "No harm done," he said, taking my hand.

I looked at Naruto briefly, and then focused on his shoes. "Thanks," I grumbled reluctantly, "for stopping me."

Naruto blinked, obviously not getting all of what had just taken place. "Uh… no problem."

I narrowed my eyes in pain, on hand still holding Lee's, the other on my head. "Now get out of my desert," I ordered roughly, wanting the orange-clad boy as far away as I could.

Naruto squared his shoulders. "Nope! I'm so curious about what's going on here! Let me stay, come on, come on!"

I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, scrunching my still-cracked face. It must have looked quite unpleasant. My thoughts were unpleasant, too… even to me. I was internally debating the repercussions of just killing him now.

And yet…

"I owe you…" I grumbled, wanting to slap myself. "Fine, fine! Just… stay out of the way!"

Naruto sat obediently down… right on top of my poor prickly pear. Now, I should have felt sorry for Naruto… but I didn't. I felt sorry for my cactus. And I had to keep from laughing when Naruto bounced about ten feet in the air, yelping all the way.

"Naruto-kun!" Lee exclaimed, jumping back when the orange ninja landed at his feet.

Do you think he'll come down? Mother asked.

"Oooowwwwwwww!" Naruto wailed, twisting around to try and see his own backside, which was covered in spines. It looked painful. "Gaara-kuuuuuuun… how do you live here?"

"I've never gotten a wound from a cactus," I said, almost gloating. "They like me." To prove it, I went over and pet the cactus that Naruto had crushed, straightening it out carefully and fixing it up. I came away without a single spine in my hands.

"You're not human," Naruto grumbled, trying to pull out the thorns in his bottom.

"Not entirely," I answered easily. I noticed that Lee was trying to help and grimaced. "Lee-kun, don't touch that. You don't know where it's been."

Naruto glared at me indignantly, but cried out as Lee pulled out another pricker. I scowled lightly, drawing a wave of sand over Naruto and sweeping the spines out… perhaps a bit more painfully then strictly necessary.

Naruto sat up, only to discover what I would have warned him about… maybe.

"It should hurt when you sit for a while," I informed him, a bit late.

Naruto whimpered and nodded, leaning on his hands in a half-crouch to try and spare his sore behind. I returned to the middle of the clearing.

"Lee! The daylight it fading!" I called sharply. "If we want to get anymore work done, we should do it."

Lee bounced up. "Yeah!" he called, punching the air. "Let's do this!"

(A/N) Notice the parallels? Hopefully? Anyways, please tell me how I did! Hope you enjoyed, and look forward to next Thursday's update!