Lee-kun: Okay, Puppy-san! Your turn!
Puppy-san: …
Lee-kun: What's wrong?
Puppy-san: Stop calling me Puppy-san
Lee-kun: But, you don't have a real name yet! Anyways, what about the ANBU secrecy thing, huh?
Puppy-san: Dammit… sigh Lee-kun doesn't own Naruto, or any of the characters within, 'cept for his/herself, so STFU.
Lee-kun: … how do you know l337sp34k?
Puppy-san: You will never know
Lee-kun: O.o;
In These Two Weeks: The First Day
"And this combines with this character to make the word 'taijutsu'." Ogewa-sensei said.
Lee nodded, copying the kanji down carefully. She scanned over her paper, and despite the many new kanji, she thought her calligraphy skills were vastly improving.
"So what's got you interested in the ninja arts all of the sudden?" Ogewa-sensei said, leaning onto the table with a knowing look.
Glancing up at her tutor, Lee looked him right in the eye. "I'm living in a shinobi village now. I think I should know something about them."
"Are you sure you haven't talked to anyone who would give you ideas?" He smiled, his head supported by his palm. Lee understood his meaning, and answered with a level face.
"You know very well that I've never invited anyone here, and I severely doubt Naruto-kun or Tsunade-sama would be plotting the downfall of the village." She ended with a smirk that let Ogewa-sensei know that she knew of his game.
It happened every so often. He would come and teach her kanji every day, and sometimes would give an oh-so-subtle interrogation during the lesson. Though, Lee had to admit, today's was well-vindicated. She had suddenly asked Ogewa-sensei to teach her kanji for the ninja arts, after having no previous interest, so it was a good reason for suspicion. Considering the list of kanji had already exceeded twenty-five, a very good reason.
He humphed, shrugged, then glanced at his watch.
"It's time for me to go now, anyway." He gathered his books and spare paper. "Don't get into trouble now." He said with a wink as he closed the door.
It was Lee's turn to humph. Like she could get into any trouble with ANBU watching and reporting every move she made, twenty four-seven. She was surprised that Gaara had been able to get into her apartment without being assaulted by a dozen of them as soon as he set foot on her balcony.
As though her thoughts had been a summons, the redhead appeared from the shadows onto the bright red balcony. Lee jumped; he hadn't come to see her this early before. Ogewa-sensei normally left at seven on weekdays, and he did leave a little late today, but still. She let him in, giving him a warm, wry smile.
"You're a bit early today, Gaara-san."
Gaara was silent, perusing the kanji scattered over the table.
"You're studying about shinobi…?"
"Well…" Lee scratched her head. "I think I should know about the people of the village I'm staying in…" she shook her head. "Anyways, would you like anything, Gaara-san?"
"No." and with that, he sat himself down on the pillows at the table.
"Um…okay…" she sat down herself, Gaara to her left. "So… what did you do today?" she asked happily.
"I was at my apartment." He replied without a change in facial expression.
"Okay." Lee sweatdropped. 'That's a start, I guess.' She thought to herself. "Did you do anything special there?"
"No."
"Were you alone?"
"No."
"Who were you with?"
Gaara paused at this, and his face cinched in the barest of movements. "My siblings."
"Oh!" Lee smiled. "I didn't know you had siblings! What're their names?"
"My sister is Temari, and my brother Kankuro."
"Younger or older?"
"Both older."
Lee giggled. "Something we have in common; elder siblings." Gaara turned to face Lee. "Who is you're sibling?"
Lee, though happy he finally asked a question back, hesitated. "I…had a sister." She became downcast. "But she died a while ago."
There was a pause as Lee took a moment to reminisce before Gaara broke her train of thought. "How did she die?"
Lee was faintly surprised, though her face seemed only somewhat bemused. "She, and my mother, died in a bombing, back home."
"A bombing?"
"Yes. My country's been at war for a few years now. Someone decided to make a statement about it at the building we were in, and bang!" she flicked her fingers for emphasis.
"You were there?" Gaara's eyes flickered with sudden interest as Lee rolled up her left sleeve to the shoulder to reveal a slightly puckered scar that cut her deltoid muscle straight across the middle.
"We were on vacation, in a hotel." She rolled the sleeve back down. "They died protecting me from the rubble. I was the only one to survive the blast. Everyone else died from the injuries they got from the metal in the walls."
"You were stuck in the rubble with…" Gaara trailed off.
"With their corpses. For two and a half days." She rubbed her shoulder unconsciously. "I'm kinda glad I was unconscious for most of it…"
Gaara repeated the last few words, almost to himself. "…Most of it…?"
-A deafening sound-Falling plaster, cement, and metal pipes-Her mothers face as she threw her to the floor-Blood coming from her sisters' mouth as an uprooted I-beam struck her back, the reverberations stunning her herself-Waking up to two bloody grey faces, their bodies pinning her down-Screaming at the top of her lungs at them, at the other people, the rescuers, to please, please, PLEASE let her wake up, please let her go-The gibbering mess she became when the rescue teams' flashlight finally beamed down on her-The body bags that held—
"Lee?"
She started, having lost herself in her memories. She looked at Gaara, a bead of sweat trickling down her cheek.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Are you alright?" Lee waved it off airily.
"Of course! Just lost in thought."
Gaara's gaze bored into her, then he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry for bringing it up. It must have been painful."
"Yes." Lee lowered her gaze, her features resigned. "But they are gone and I cannot change that." She leaned over and propped her head with one hand. "So I must live my life, and remember theirs." She gave him a weak smile. "You know, you're the only person I've told about this."
"Why…?"
"I don't know…" she ruffled his hair, earning her a disgruntled look from him. "Maybe because I thought you'd be able to understand."
"…I…do. I think." Gaara reached out, stopped, then finally patted Lee's head in return, shocking her. "My mother died giving birth to me." Lee cringed.
"What about your father?"
"Dead. He was murdered a while ago. You?"
"Died in the war."
Gaara paused. "Is your whole family is dead?"
"Except for my three baby second cousins, yes. And I'm the only one with my family name left."
"You…don't really seem to be bothered by it."
"Hm? Well, except for my mother and sister, I never got along with my family. Not the most respectable people around, and we hardly ever even saw each other anyways." Lee shrugged, indifferent. "What about you? Do you like your family?"
"No."
"You don't like any of them?" Lee's eyebrows shot into her hairline.
"They… have never treated me like family…"
"Geez… then I guess we don't have as much in common as I thought we did." She folded up her knees and leaned into them. "If it wasn't for my mother, at least, I wouldn't have even been alive at the bombing."
"Why? What does she have to with your living?"
"She…was the only one who accepted me. My sister did too, but my mother was always there for me, no matter what happened or what I did. No one else supported me like that. Not like she did."
"Didn't your friends support you?"
Lee scoffed. "Friends? Until three years ago, I didn't even have one. And that one person was hard to win over."
"But you had one."
"Until she got pregnant." She scratched her head. "Only saw her twice after that."
"Weren't there others?"
"…Only one." Lee looked up at Gaara. "He was the person I wanted to exist for. The one I wanted to support me. And he did. Just, not in the way I wanted him too."
"You… loved him?"
"I did. But he didn't love me. So I contented myself to be his friend, and that was that."
There was quiet as Gaara weighed his answer. "I… have never loved anyone…"
Lee giggled, a finger to her lip. "Don't you worry about that. You're young! Somebody will come along to make you happy."
Gaara gazed at her, confused. "But, how will I know?"
She giggled again, but stopped when she saw how serious he was. "It's hard. It's something that can't easily be explained." She twirled some hair around her finger. "I guess, it's when you like to be around that person. When you don't like it when they're away, and jealous when they're with other people. When just seeing them or hearing their name makes you feel better." She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm no good with explaining…"
"No… I think I know…"
Lee started, watching his face pass over several different emotions at once.
"It's…" he shook his head. "No, never mind."
"No, I want to know." She looked at him in earnest. "Does someone make you feel that way?"
"Yes…" Gaara turned his face away. "But I don't think that they do." With that, Lee suddenly knew where it was going.
"Um…" Lee scratched her chin. "Maybe if you leave little things, to let them know how you feel."
"Little things?"
"Like flowers, or candy. Small presents to express how you feel."
"Presents…" He became thoughtful, placing a finger to his chin. He suddenly got up, and left with only a small pause and a 'goodbye' at the glass door.
'Great.' Lee thought to herself. 'I just gave love advice to a homicidal maniac who looks like he's got the hots for me'
She sighed as she realized how long the conversation actually took, and headed for bed.
Gaara quietly made his way back into Lee's apartment. He had left the door open an infinitesimal crack when he left, so that he could come through as sand.
He fingered the small box of candies. He had used his Third Eye Jutsu to spy on women and couples in several stores. He knew she would prefer a book, but he had no idea what kind she would like. That, and he knew she couldn't read very well, so any good book would be out of the question. And flowers died, so he didn't want that to give to her.
So here he was, with gourmet sweets in hand, when he realized if he gave them to her now that she would know who gave them to her, and that was something he wanted to delay. He didn't want her to know until he was positive that she felt the same way.
Sighing, he placed the sweets in his pocket and turned to go when he realized something.
He had spied on the people in the stores for at least an hour. Then he had taken the time to decide which box to get her. And then spent time working up his nerve to go back inside her apartment. All that time meant:
It was late.
Lee would be asleep.
She would never know if he spent the night beside her, just enjoying her presence.
'Think of it as a mission.' He thought to himself. Before he could change his mind, he sent his Third Eye behind the door he surmised would lead to her bedroom. He instantly confirmed it, and flashed in under the door as sand.
Unfortunately, he hadn't taken into consideration what else could be in the room.
As soon as he materialized, paper crinkled underneath. He jerked his leg up, and cautiously stepped back as he made sure his target was still asleep. She flinched, but otherwise remained unmoved. Gaara decided to take his time after that, and let his gaze wander around the room.
Furniture-wise, it was as sparse as her living room. There was a small dresser to the right. A small window let light onto a short table, apparently onto a Buddhist alter. A closet interrupted the green wall opposite him, and finally, her bed rested parallel against the same wall.
However, that was just the furniture. Every viable surface that wasn't taken over by plants was covered in papers; some blank, some with sketches, some in full-blown colour. Even the walls were covered, though it seemed she only put certain drawings up. With a start, Gaara noticed a nearly life-sized painting of himself, next to Naruto, Hinata, Tsunade and Jiraiya, each in heroic-like poses. The five paintings took up the entirety of the last wall, the edges overlapping each other.
Gaara carefully stepped over the paper littering the floor until he was next to her bed. He sat down, making sure not to disturb the sleeper, nor the numerous pencils and pens she left on the floor near her bed. He leaned over, hand hovering over her face as he swept a tendril of hair from her face.
Satisfied with his infiltration, he settled down for the rest of his 'mission'.
Lee had felt a presence in her living room, and had brushed it off as an ANBU until a soft sound, like someone trying to close a zipper quietly, appeared on her side of the door. She kept herself relaxed as the presence transferred into her room. Opening her eyes just a crack at the rustling of paper, she got a glimpse of the intruder, and closed her eyes before he could tell she was awake.
Gaara was in her room.
Gaara. Gaara was in her room.
Lee retained her composure, praying that he wouldn't notice her consciousness. The sound of three steps, and she could hear his breathing over her. She almost jumped when his hand brushed her forehead, but she remained still. She heard the sound of shifting cloth as he sat down.
'What, is he going to sit there all night?'
Indeed, that seemed to be the case, because there were no sounds in the small room but for their breathing for a long time. Lee resigned herself to having an audience and let herself fall asleep. Her last thought to herself was
'Damn I'm glad I don't sleep in the nude.'
