He looked at the book, and then at the paper shredder. It would be so easy to kill it now but Gaara wanted to win this properly, even if it meant fighting by the rules. This was extremely below his morals system but if fairness would result in overall victory, he was willing to give anything a go. Casually reclining in a chair to the best of his abilities without his gourd poking him, he read onwards. 'STAGE FOUR'

"Anniversaries are another excellent time to bond with your chosen subjects. If there is a good opportunity for you two to celebrate a special day, then seize the chance to do something fun and use the excuse to meet up with them. They will be pleased you remembered."

This was perfect. He had a good, never fail plan in mind. He waited patiently in his hotel room for the next fifty-six days, with only one essential outing, until the anniversary he was waiting for finally arrived. This was going to work well and he was proud that he hadn't chosen anything as predictable as a birthday to celebrate. Plus, his new subject was incapable of not being friendly. Freak. Anyway, he would serve the purpose.

After searching most of Konoha all day (with a short interval to chase some children) he finally found Rock Lee putting one of his suits in for dry cleaning.

"Hey! Scary, bushy eyebrows, bowl haircut guy?" Gaara could think of no pleasanter greeting. Lee appeared unfazed by it and saluted him before striding over.

"Gaara! I hope you have been spreading the youthfulness of youth throughout the least youthful of your Desert countries youth!" Gaara had no time to ponder whether Lee was asking how his killing was going lately or not, as he was pulled into a disturbing one armed hug. He tried to resist the urge of killing Lee by imagining his happy place. Unfortunately, his happy place involved Lee smeared across the ground. Before he could get too excited though, Lee released him.

"Lee. I don't know if you will remember, mainly because you were unconscious at the time, that today is the anniversary of you hospitalization. You know, after our fight?"

"Oh, is it? I'm glad to see that you were concerned about my wellbeing! My theory must be correct! Between every grain of sand is a little grain of love!"

"Okay...Well the point is that while you were rendered in a state of oblivion I actually put my best efforts into killing you."

"You...VISITED ME? THANK YOU GAARA!" The boy looked close to tears and Gaara was disgusted as he clung onto his arm. He knew there was a reason he didn't usually follow fighting guidelines if it resulted in situations like these. Using his sand to push him away and grumbling slightly knowing he would have to disinfect it or something now, he pulled the hitae-ate from his pocket.

"Well, I obviously couldn't kill you today in honor of the attempt, as then I would be unable to celebrate it with you, soI did the closest thing to it." It had been a good thing that the man had been outside of Konoha's boundaries on a mission so Temari would probably never know about the sand related death.

"That...That's Gai-sensei's..." Gaara smiled.

"That is correct! I killed him in replace of you! Happy 'Almost Death' day!" He sprinkled some sand into the air in place of confetti. "Are you pleased?"

He decided that Lee was angry with excitement and happiness which would have explained the opening of the seventh gate. He wondered if perhaps he should try and kill him in hospital again as he seemed to have been happy about the last attempt. Then again, it would be better to leave that to another day as this one was already marked by the original attempt. He retired to his room to continue plotting.

Nut2: He's sooo cute when he is malicious without realizing it...wait how did that get into my notes?

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Disclaimer: I, Nut2, hold no ownership over the characters, scenes and events portrayed in Naruto.