I give you...another update!

This chapter isn't quite as long as the others, but we're getting somewhere at least.

Once again, nothing belongs to me but this dumb thing!

Monday rolled around after an exhausting weekend, bringing with it bitter chills and frosty mornings, welcoming autumn into Konoha. A soft, tranquil trill filled the pitch black room, rousing the redhead from another fitful sleep. His insomnia had been making itself known the past weeks, and it seemed that the previous night had been the best time for it to make a full reappearance. Rubbing sluggishly at the extensive dark circles under his eyes, Gaara slowly sat up. He allowed the unobtrusive alarm to play as he cupped his face with pale hands, letting out a weary sigh. The teen was more than accustomed to not sleeping, having dealt with insomnia for most of his life, but the lack of sleep never failed to leave him feeling less than cheerful about the upcoming day. He had tried sleeping pills once upon a time, which had worked surprisingly well —that is, until he started having intense nightmares. When his doctor recommended he change prescriptions, which he did with gusto hoping that his sleep would return to normal, the new ones only made him sleepwalk and then feel drowsy the following day. Needless to say, Gaara had decided that the lesser of two evils was to just deal with the insomnia. Running long fingers through messy hair, the pale teen took a deep breath, accepting that the two hours he had slept was going to have to be enough to make it through the day. Gaara reached over and quieted the still ringing alarm, swinging his legs over the side of his bed in the process. He finally made the effort to stand up, bare feet meeting the cool chill of the wooden floor, and trudged over to his closet. Gaara reached a long arm into the space, grabbing his uniform and a new pair of boxer briefs without bothering to turn on the light or fully go in. He plodded over to the adjoined bathroom, hanging his outfit on the back of the door. Turning, he crossed the short distance over to the bathrooms sink, briefly resting his hands on the marble counter top.

The redhead turned the tap of the porcelain sink, causing a small stream of frigid water to cascade into the white bowl. He cupped the water between his hands and splashed it on his exhausted face. The icy sting made his previously warm skin tingle, helping wake him up just the slightest bit more. Cerulean eyes met in the glassy reflection of the small mirror above the sink. Gaara studied his likeness impassively, taking note of the kohl like smudges around his eyes, and the striking pallor of his masculine face. Handsome, is what many had told him his looks amalgamated to. The sharpness of his eyes, paired with a smooth, straight nose, and thin, soft lips apparently made a winning combination (if the many confessions he had received meant anything). Gaara couldn't care less about how he looked. The person he saw in the mirror reflected absolutely nothing about the person he truly was. The teen had never understood why people become so obsessive over their physical appearances. How someone looked on the outside was one of the worst ways to judge a person for who they were inside. In fact, the redhead mused, some of the ugliest people I know are what most people would consider beautiful. Gaara sneered at the thought, his pale lips pulled in amused disgust. Shutting off the water, the young male made quick work of changing into his uniform. He brushed his teeth and used the washroom before heading back into his room to gather the last of his school supplies into his sleek, black messenger bag.

Gaara slipped down the winding staircase with ease, taking little time to enter into the kitchen. Kankurō, unsurprisingly, was hunched over a bowl of, what looked like by now, soggy cereal. One of his large hands was being used a sort of stand to hold up his drooping head, while the other was limply holding the spoon sitting immobile in his breakfast. Temari, on the other hand, was just wiping the water from her freshly cleaned plate, having finished her morning meal much earlier than her brothers. Out of the three of them, Temari was the earliest riser. She could be up and ready to go at the most unreasonable of times, while Kankurō and Gaara often struggled to even function anytime earlier than the afternoon. After putting away her dish, Temari pulled out a seat beside Kankurō, beckoning Gaara over: an offer he easily accepted. As he sat, the blonde female ruffled his already messy crimson locks, and turned to flick their other sibling on the forehead. Kankurō let out an indigent yelp, covering the stinging area on his forehead, while Temari laughed heartily.

"You guys better hurry if you want to make it to school on time," The blonde snickered as she grabbed her own bag and slung it over her shoulder. Being the eldest of the three, Temari had already finished her last year of high school and was now attending Konoha's local University. Their father hadn't been pleased when Temari refused to leave the city to go to one of the more prestigious schools, and had even went so far as to take measure to ensure she had no other choice but to leave. It had been his last ditch attempt at trying to break the solid bond between the three siblings. What their father hadn't planned for however, was Temari having set up a savings account which housed more than enough money to put all three of the Sabaku children through University. Turning on her heal, Temari sauntered out of the kitchen calling a last goodbye to the two remaining figures.

"How can she be so damn chipper in the mornings," Kankurō grumbled after he heard the snick of the front door closing. He resumed eating his soggy cereal, while his other hand rubbed at his red forehead. "Pisses me off, I swear she just acts that way to rile me up."

Gaara turned from his slumped position on the counter to stare at his brother. Head pooled in his crossed arms, blue eyes focused on Kankurō as he continued to complain in-between bites. The mindless chatter lulled Gaara into a comfortable middle ground; neither fully alert, nor completely asleep. It was here that he recalled his thoughts from two days prior: thoughts that had continued to linger just in his peripheral long after he had drawn his own inconclusive conclusion. The brunette made some sort of snide comment, which he deemed worthy enough to laugh at himself, piercing through the younger teen's thoughtful reprise. Whether it was the lack of sleep (something Gaara would swear to if pressed), or the perfect combination of feeling content and comfortable beside his brother, it seemed it was enough to loosen the redhead's normally sealed lips.

"What does it mean to be in love?"

Two things happened simultaneously after Gaara finished asking his question; firstly, Kankurō inhaled sharply as he whipped his head to face his stoic sibling, and secondly, the brunette started choking profusely on the half chewed cereal still in his mouth. The coughing fit continued for a short while as Kankurō thumped his own chest with a balled up fist.

"I must be hearing things," the elder rasped after he had cleared his airway, eyes still blown wide in disbelief, "I could have sworn you just asked me about love."

"I did," Gaara deadpanned, blue eyes boring into black.

"Wh-what?" Kankurō could do little more than gape at his youngest sibling, eyes flitting over the other's face. "You, y-you wha—"

"Are you going to be of any use to me in this matter, or should I look elsewhere?"

Though the redhead's tone was dark, the inquiry seemed sincere, which was enough to startle Kankurō into action.

"S-shit Gaara, that's not an easy thing to answer," Noting the sour look on his brother's face, Kankurō quickly continued his explanation, "I mean, everyone's different when it comes to, you know, being in love. So, like, what I might think being in love is could be completely, and I mean completely, different than how someone like, Temari for instance, might describe it. You understand?"

Gaara merely tilted his head further into his arms, small red eyebrows furrowing in obvious confusing though the redhead remained silent on the matter. Kankurō sighed.

"Okay, for example, I knew I was in love with Kiba when all I wanted to do was just fucking see his dumb face everyday, regardless of when we'd seen each other last," the elder watched as his brother's eyes narrowed, another sign that he wasn't quite following along with his train of thought but was processing the information regardless. "And, and like, when I'm with him it doesn't feel like we can be close enough, even if the dumb shit's practically sitting on my lap. Does that, I dunno, help?"

Gaara seemed to contemplate what Kankurō had shared with him, mulling over the details in his mind. "So to be in love means to desire their presence at all times, and to always crave close physical contact with them?"

Of course my emotionally constipated brother would take that literally, the elder lamented as he ran a hand over his face. "Not, not in the literal sense Gaara —well, at least not all the time. It's...okay,so that person just happens to be someone you think about a lot, and like, just the thought of them makes you feel, just, like a whole fucking lot of things; Im talking like Good, bad, angry, frustrated, sad, tired, the works. But overall they become significant to you, and you start to care about if they're happy, or sad, and like what you can do for them to make them happier. And like, when you see them smile," the brunette's face flushed as a lopsided smile stretched across his lightly tanned face, "everything feels a little perfect."

"Hmm," was not the earth shattering response Kankurō had hoped he would get from his brother after divulging such personal information on his part (not that he had expected him to react differently mind you). Gaara turned his head away from the other male, taking a moment to stare down at his folded arms before standing up and heading out of the kitchen.

"H-Hey!" Kankurō called after his sibling, halting Gaara's exit, "Is that really it!? No thanks or like, I don't know, explanation?"

"Yes," came the quick retort.

"Why did you even ask me that in the first place!?" The elder demanded as he washed out his empty bowl.

"Lee," Gaara replied as if the answer to that question was so obvious that Kankurō must be an idiot for not having inherently known.

"Is…..umm, is Lee like…. in love with someone?" The brunette wagered, still not exactly sure how Lee related to the previous topic.

"Of course not," the redhead scoffed, once again implying that his brother's intelligence was minimal if he had come to such a stupid conclusion.

"Th-then, what exactly does…what does Lee have to do with it?"

"I am in Love with Lee," the younger mentioned offhandedly as he left the kitchen, bored with his sibling's stupidity.

"Ahhh oka—WAIT, WHAT!?"

For the second time in under a week Gaara heard the distinct crash of glass smashing to pieces. This was followed by a streak of colourful swears, half growled half shouted, as Kankurō frantically removed the shards from the sink.

"WH-WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH LEE!?" The brunette yelled from the kitchen as he continued to clean up the mess.

"It is exactly as it sounds, I do not understand how I can be more clear," Gaara levelled back, leaning back against the pristine white hallway wall.

"I….I! JUST, WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN!?" Kankurō fumbled out as he scrambled to draw concrete connections between what his brother was confessing and how he had been acting up until this point to see if there was any overlap. It was proving to be an exercise in futility.

"I just realized this morning—"

"Oh thank god, for a second there I thought I had ju—"

"—But I believe I have loved him since I was fourteen."

"…..W-WHAT!" The brunette whipped around the corner, nearly crashing straight into the stoic redhead.

"I don't understand why you continue to act so shocked at this revelation. Lee has been my oldest and dearest friend for a majority of my life" The younger sibling eyed the other critically, one small eyebrow cocked in silent question.

"It's not that! Christ Gaara," Kankurō ran his hands through his hair in exasperation, "I know you two have been like joined at the hip forever, but that doesn't instantly mean I would somehow come to the conclusion that you're in love with him!"

"He is an exceedingly attractive person, both inside and out, why would you assume I wouldn't fall for him?"

"Gaara, I hate to break this to you," the elder began as he leaned beside the pale teen, tone more than a bit sarcastic at this point, "but you aren't exactly the most expressive person. For awhile there I thought you might be asexual, if i'm being honest."

Gaara raised a brow at the last statement. "You and Temari took great pleasure in mentioning Lee around me in the hopes of eliciting an emotional response," the younger reminded.

"Maybe Temari knew more than me or some shit, but I just did it because it got you to open up more about your friends! Lee is like my go to gateway into figuring out how you're doing because when I bring him up, you talk more, and I can kind of gauge how you're feeling from what you talk about!"

Although it didn't reflect on his passive face, Gaara was honestly taken aback at his brother's reply. He had never thought about it that way, but what his brother said rang true. Every time Kankuro inquired into Lee's wellbeing, it had always resulted in a long conversation about his friends and even about himself. A small smile played at his lips briefly, before his expression morphed into the impassive gaze he always wore.

"Well brother, it has been a long time coming," Gaara concluded as he pushed himself from the wall and made his way to the front door.

"Well no shit!" Kankurō rolled his eyes as he fell into step behind the redhead, "I just can't believe I was so oblivious to it this whole time!"

"I can."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?"

The two continued to banter on the way to school (Kankurō mostly talking while Gaara grunted in response or provided the odd vocal comment) only parting ways once they reached the front gates. The brunette waved briefly to the younger before making his way over to his own group of friends. Gaara raised his own hand in acknowledgement and too headed towards his own companions. Their small group of friends always hung out at the back of the large school in the mornings, finding that not many people chose to gather there despite it being the best hidden spot on the school grounds. This allowed them to have solitary conversations without worrying about being jostled around by the other students in their rush to get inside. The redhead rounded the last corner just in time to catch the tail end of another argument between the ever fighting step-brothers. Ignoring Naruto's shrill yells and Sasuke's scathing comebacks, Gaara sat himself beside the frantically waving Lee.

Hinata and Tenten were huddled together a little further away from the rest of the group, clearly engaged in some sort of conversation that required all of their undivided attention. Every now and then Hinata would stop and look around, as if worried she'd be caught talking about something less than appropriate. Gaara took note, just on the off-chance that they were planning something less than pleasant to occur sometime in the not so distant future. Neji, on the other hand, was seated silently on the other side of Lee. His eyes were closed as he listened to music, content to tune out the ruckus his friends were making. Gaara too wished he could tune out the yet again escalating fight with his own music, but the raven haired youth beside him held off the temptation to shut everyone out.

Gaara had heard many people say that when someone fell in love, everything looked different. Things become brighter and better and overall more beautiful. Rose coloured glasses, if you will. Whoever said that was spouting complete bullshit. Nothing looked or felt different to the redhead; Naruto was still as unbearable as he always was, Sasuke and Neji as smug, and Lee as radiant. The scenery was just as colourful as early autumn would call for, but nothing seemed new or magical. Gaara focused his attention back on the male beside him. He noted that Lee's coffee skin was flushed lightly from the cold; a delicate pink kissing his cheeks and nose. His large eyes were attentively focused on Gaara, while his full lips stretched wide to accommodate his bright smile. The taller teen reached out a soft hand, gently placing it on the other teen's upper arm.

"Good morning Gaara, was your weekend most fulfilling?" Lee's soft, lilting voice rang through the bitter morning air, somehow silencing the incessant background noise until the only sound remaining was the phantom echo of his sweet greeting.

Gaara felt his heart skip a beat. That too, as unsettling as it still was to the redhead, was normal when it came to being around the elder teen. He often felt his heart race during interactions with Lee, and was thusly not surprised that such a simple moment had inspired such a reaction in himself. What was rather new, however, was the sudden, white hot desire to cup Lee's blushing cheeks in his large hands and crash their lips together in a hungry kiss.

And there you go, we're finally getting somewhere (kind of) with the main pairing of this fic. If any of you have suggestions for side pairings you'd like to see i'd be more than willing to hear them because eventually i'm going to attempt to pair everyone off. For now, expect more of Gaara and Lee's relationship to be established and new and exciting things to happen at Paradise.

Thanks again for the comments people, I really love to hear that people are still taking the time to read this dumb ass thing!