Chapter 3: Photograph

I woke up the next morning to the sun glaring through the window and onto my face. I sat up long enough to pull the curtains closed, and then I laid down again. My head hurt, badly. My first thoughts were…

Don't bug me today, Shukaku.

"Fine, I was planning on resting today anyway. Don't try and bug me later on though."

Fine, you don't bug me, I won't bug you.

"Deal."

I put my hand to my forehead, feeling that my temperature was normal. Why had I fainted so suddenly? I must have been feeling sick, surely not because Lee was coming in three days… Lee's coming to see me in three days! I'm excited yet sick with anticipation. So many of the things Gai had said to me last night confused me. What did he mean by saying Lee's been acting weird and I'm to blame? Shukaku had said I'm acting weird and Lee's to blame… Did that mean he was feeling the same way I was? What would his reaction be to Gai telling him about our already scheduled meeting? Will he be angry? Will he be happy? Happy to see me…? What if Gai's already told him? How has he reacted? Is he really coming to see me?

I turned over on my bed and shoved my face into my pillows. My entire bed was a deep shade of crimson. My walls light brown and made of sand, the curtains and most everything else in my room the same shade of crimson as my bed. But as I looked up from the pillows and around my room I saw something was out of place. I looked at my bedside table; a photograph was placed upon it. I hadn't remembered putting it there and it surely wasn't there the last time I had gone to bed. When was the last time I had gone to bed? One good thing about fainting, it helped me catch up on my sleep. I finally moved my arm over to reach for the photograph. I picked it up and lying on my side I looked at it. I had definitely not put this picture there.

It was a picture of Lee, but not like the usual photographs I've seen of Lee. He wasn't doing his token 'Nice Guy Pose' but instead, he was just sitting there, gazing off into space. It was an incredibly sexy picture of him. He wasn't smiling like he usually was, but he wasn't frowning either. He looked like he was in deep thought. As I looked at him, almost wanting to hug the photograph, I saw through the photo that there was something written on the back. I turned it over to read, reading aloud to myself.

"Gaara, this is what I meant by Lee acting weird. He looks so… not Lee. I've heard him mutter your name to himself while he's like this. Please make Lee act like himself again!

-Gai"

I turned the picture back over to stare at Lee some more. He just looked so…lonely. And Gai was right, that was very un-Lee like. But he was still beautiful, if not even more enticing then before. Maybe he was thinking about me… Maybe he's thinking about me right now… Maybe, just maybe, this was love…

Feeling much better I slowly got up out of bed, not bothering to change my clothes or brush my hair as I went out of my bedroom and into my office. I didn't notice I was still carrying my picture of Lee and sat down behind my desk. Upon noticing the photograph in my hand I hurriedly shoved it into the top drawer or my desk, stuffing it beside important paperwork and many ink pens. I realized how crazy it was of me to hide that photo like it was porn, but to me, it was so much better than any porn I'd ever seen or probably will ever see. The expression on Lee's face was enough to get me blushing. I quickly slammed the drawer shut as Shiya entered my office.

"Oh Gaara-sama, is this a bad time? I'm glad to see you're…uh, feeling better." She said nervously. I was probably quite the sight, sitting there, my hair more of a mess than usual, my clothes from yesterday still on me, now wrinkled, and my hand still resting upon the handle of the drawer I just suddenly slammed shut. Not to mention I was probably giving her a very un-Gaara like look of confusion and bewilderment.

"No, Shiya, it's alright, sorry for making you worry." I said, regaining my sanity, trying to flatten my hair at least a little bit. I tugged at my shirt, trying to get some of the wrinkles out.

"It's okay Gaara-sama, we were all worried about you." She said, smiling. And I felt a pain in my chest, because they weren't really worried about me, as Gaara, they were worried about the Kazekage. If I hadn't been the Kazekage none of them would have cared. If I weren't the Kazekage… would Lee still want to see me? I felt myself frowning and looked back up at Shiya. She was still smiling.

"Shiya, would you please bring me my morning cup of coffee?" I said, resting my head on one of my hands.

"Certainly, do you want it black, like usual?" She asked, heading for the door.

"No, I'm feeling a bit different today. Add some creamer or whatever it is you put in your coffee." I said, wanting to try something new.

"Any particular flavor?" She said, still kind of shocked that I had ask for something other than black coffee.

"Give me a little bit of each." I said, smiling. She just gave me a weird half smile and nodded, walking away to fetch my insanely sweet coffee. I decided to change my clothes while I waited for her to bring me my coffee. I took out a clean black short-sleeved shirt and clean black slacks. This was my usual casual attire. I felt like wearing something else, but wanted to save my good clothes for when Lee arrived. He was coming here in just three days…Wait, no, I've miscalculated. Yesterday Gai said he was coming in three days so that means that now he's coming in only two days! Is that enough time for me to get ready? Why do I suddenly feel like I'm unprepared? What would I need to get done before he got here? I thought of those and about fifty other questions like them while I got dressed and brushed my hair. As I came out of my bedroom and back into my office Shiya came in through the other door with my coffee. I quickly walked over to her and took my steamy tan liquid from her.

"Thank you." I said as I walked over to my desk and sat down.

"Are you sure you're going to drink that?" She said, still not believing I could consume something so sugary and sweet.

"I'm sure I'll manage." I said, waiting for her to leave and shut the door before I brought the mug to my lips. I blew softly over the mug to cool the liquid down a bit before I took a sip. It was sweet, and most people would probably call it disgusting but I really enjoyed the unusual taste of the overly sweet liquid. The creamer itself had cooled down the coffee so I quickly chugged the rest of the liquid and set down the mug.

As I wiped my lips with the back of my hand I looked down at the paperwork that need to be done. Feeling like a completely different person I picked up a pen out of the top drawer, stealing a look at the photo of Lee. I smiled to myself and began to read the papers over and fill them out.

After about an hour of this, someone knocked at my door. I called that they could enter and Shiya opened my door.

"Gaara-sama, I see you have most of your work done for today already!" She exclaimed, seeing the pile of finished paperwork on my desk. She then spotted the empty mug. "And I see you drank that coffee…" She said, almost disgusted. She had taken a sip of the concoction before giving it to Gaara and she had thought it rather disgusting. But she didn't say anything since it seemed he had liked it so very much.

"Yes, Shiya, I feel very productive today. And after you get me a new cup of that coffee and take my finished paper work, I'd like the paperwork for the next couple days." I said calmly, handing her the empty mug as she approached my desk.

"Would you like it the same as before? Or black this time?" She said, looking down at the empty mug, not believing I had actually drank the coffee from earlier.

"Same as before, please. I think that might be how I have my coffee from now on." I said, smiling. She nodded in disbelief but still walked out the door to go get me another glass. I finished up the last of today's paperwork before she got back with my coffee and took the mug from her. I guess she had nothing much to say because she just took the paperwork off my desk without uttering so much as a syllable. Which was a good thing, because I believed that she talked all too much in the first place. Though her new silence was awkward and I didn't like it. I was drinking the sugary liquid as she came back in with more paper work. I set the mug down as she set the papers down on my desk.

"Shiya, is something wrong? You seem quiet." I said, looking at her with concern. Was something happening outside my office that she didn't want to tell me about? She shook her head at me, which concerned me even more.

"It's just, you've been acting weird lately and now after that man came over you've been changing. It's like you're keeping a secret from the rest of us." She said sadly, looking away from me and out the large window behind me. I stood and turned to look out the window, down at the village. I saw people walking around, newlyweds with new born babes, couples holding hands, children playing, old women working. I sighed and turned back to look at Shiya.

"What's it like to be in love?" I suddenly asked her.

"What? What do you mean Gaara-sama?" She said nervously, blushing.

"You must be at least 5 or 6 years older than me. You must have experienced love by now. So what's it like, being in love?" I said, sitting back down and looking at her.

"Well, Gaara-sama, first off, you shouldn't talk to a woman about her age." She said, still blushing a bit. She was 24 and he was 16, an eight-year difference. But she hid her age well; she didn't look a day over 19. "Second off, I have been in love before…but that was a long time ago." She said, looking away from me, not wanting to see me curiously staring at her.

"So? How long ago was it? What was he like? What was it like being in love with him?" I asked, knowing she couldn't deny me answers. I was the Kazekage, and she was in the palm of my hand. But she didn't seem too reluctant with the information.

"Well, it wasn't a he, really. It was a girl named Kita." She said, sadly gazing off into the distance.