Disclaimer:

I do not own Naruto, nor the characters in this Fic. Naruto and all things that fall under that title belong to the pwsome and wondiferous Kishimoto!

The story is based after the retrival of Gaara from the Akatsuki, and his resurection by Chiyo. Sorry if you hate me now for revealing anything, I apologize a thousand times over!

Gaara and Lee are the main protagonists, with implied NejixHinata, NarutoxSakura and ShikamaruxTemari. Sorry if any of the pairings offend you, but please no flaming!!

On Your Own

One: Lying.

Gaara leaned against Lee, empty promises tumbling from him like leaves in the Autumn: I promise I'll try to walk, promise I'll train again. I promise I won't give up. This last promise cut through Lee like sharpened ice. It was he who would never give up. He would end up dying; trying to pull Gaara to his feet, although a shadow in the back of his mind told him it was folly. Last week even Naruto had given up, Temari a few days prior, and Kankuro a week before that. Gaara had continued the diplomatic side of being Kazekage while he was bed-ridden; signing documents and stamping forms – anything to keep his mind off the black-haired nin who stood by his side, or the loss of his Ultimate Defence, which lay in a forest, miles from Sunagakure; no more than a few grains of sand: a shadow of his former power. Gaara felt weak and empty, a hole where his inner demon once resided. His heart, once wrapped in a thick layer of sand; now no more than a heavy burden, unprotected and weary. Beside him Lee shook his head, his face so close to Gaaras' that his shiny bangs danced on the Sand-nin's forehead, and said; "You are lying..." Gaaras' heart gave an unsteady thump, and the monitor beside him beeped to a faster rhythm then before. Lee, his hard, bandaged hands in Gaaras', ignored the sudden rush in his companion, and merely shook his head again.

"You're always lying..."

Two: Memories.

Lee prepared a cot beside the hospitalized shell of his former-friend. Gaara, having discovered he now possessed the ability to sleep, would lie for hours on end in his catatonic-like slumber, twitching when the light green medicine shot through a tube into his arm, or the dark shadow of a nightmare creased his features. Lee, wide awake and comforted by Gaaras' light, rhythmic breathing, lay down on his make-shift bed and pulled the blankets up to his chin. The dark blot in the back of his mind, which seemingly only possessed enough power to know one word, kept repeating folly, folly. But Lee, trained under the superior intellect of Might Guy, blocked it out. Lee had never backed down from a challenge. He wasn't about to start now.

As Lee rolled over in his cot, a stab of pain shot up his right leg; an unwelcome reminder of his first meeting with the elusive and wondrous Gaara of the Desert.

Three: Triumphs.

Gaara, positioned on his side for the first time since his operations, looked at the sleeping figure of Lee, wondering to no-one in particular; "Why hasn't he abandoned me yet?" The nursemaid, who was smiling and refilling Gaaras' water jug, said, admiringly "Because he values you. And who could blame him? You, just today, have rolled over. That in itself is a great achievement." Gaara, feeling foolish and hating the sympathy in the medi-nins' voice, attempted to re-position himself on his back, but the nursemaid held him steady, and called Lee's name. "He deserves to see this" She said, by way of explanation. Lee, roused by the soft voice on the nin, rubbed his eyes with his calloused fists, and looked up. His round, onyx eyes met Gaaras' fierce, fiery-green gaze, and for a moment Lee could see nothing out of the ordinary. Until he realized the he could see Gaaras' face, staring straight at him. Lee got out of his bed, put on his leg-warmers and said to Gaara, pulling him into a warm and friendly embrace; "You have triumphed!"

The hole in Gaaras' chest constricted for the last time, and then fell away like sand.

Four: Walking.

Gaaras' first steps were unsure and he hated the way they betrayed his weakness. He felt like a fool walking from Temari, who kissed his forehead, to Naruto, who smiled encouragingly, to Kankuro, who nodded in a maternal way, and back to Lee who pulled the red-head into a tight hug, and bounced him up and down. This exercise was repeated until he could jog to his friends and siblings twice in a row, before he needed to rest in Lee's bandaged arms. Temari, surprised by her brothers' sudden change in attitude, thanked Lee repetitively, while Kankuro nodded politely and spoke softly to the medi-nins, who were un-phased by Gaara's strength and determination. Bellow, above and around Gaaras' room, miracles had occurred due to Lees' continuous and exuberant lectures on 'Why Life Is Worth Living'. Gaara, silent and unmoving, thanked Lee in his own way, when they were alone, by letting Lee walk him around like a puppy.

One night, Gaara dismounted from his bed and climbed into Lees' cot. Lees' arms instinctively wrapped themselves around the thin frame of the sand-nin, and Gaara fell asleep with Lees' scent caught in his throat.

Five: Change.

"You're so much stronger now" Commented Lee, watching the skinny, topless Gaara do push-ups in the hospitals recuperation gym. As Gaara neared his twentieth push-up, Lee lifted him from the ground like he was nothing more than a feather, and set him upright on the cold tiles. Gaara smiled forcibly, but his stomach was aching and Lee saw the strain in his eyes. In one swift movement, Lee lifted Gaara up, and carried him back to his room, where Gaara promptly fell into a catatonic sleep. Lee smiled for his friend; no longer an empty shell but a beautiful human being, bereft of demonic tendencies and filled with Youth and Vigour. Lee loved watching Gaara train. Gaara loved training with Lee, there was so much in Lees' eyes that the wisdom of the ages knew nothing of.

There was so much kindness in Lees' eyes.

Six: Feelings.

Sakura, Naruto, Neji and Hinata stood beside Lee; Nejis' arms around his cousins' shoulders, Sakura's hand resting comfortably in Narutos'. Lee, eyes sparkling with admiration and pride, his heart swelling with joy and youth, watched as Gaara, fully restored to health and happiness, walked into the Kazekages' office, and took his seat behind the desk. His orders began almost at once, a cue for his friends to go. As Temari and Kankuro waved them out; Lee turned and smiled at Gaara, who inclined his head slightly, and smiled back. Gaara, his heart no longer weighed down by loneliness and grief, felt something else when Lee left; an emptiness that was not so much unpleasant as it was painful. Gaara, who had never known love before his life without Shukaku; the Sand Demon, felt now what he could not quite give a name to.

But Lee could. He called his feelings for the Kazekage what Naruto called his feelings for Sakura: Love.

Seven: Away.

Lee, in his apartment in Konoha, flicked through a pile of letters from his Sensei, hoping to find some worldly and infinite knowledge that would help him through this difficult time. Gaara, his friend and the holder of his heart, was miles away, safe and well, and didn't need the smaller Green Beast anymore. Lee, his tears dry and sticky on his cheeks, were a sad reminder that he evidently needed the cold-hearted sand-nin more than he was willing to show. His friends, however clueless they pretended to be, where not stupid, and had noticed a change in the bowl-cut boy. His usual happy-go-lucky attitude had seeped away from him the further he went from Suna, and a dark shadow had permanently pressed itself to Lee's features; like one of Gaaras' Hellish nightmares.

Unbeknown to the Leaf-nin, was that in an office building, under the blistering Sunagakure sun, the Kazekage was having his own inner battle.

Eight: Pain.

Gaara knew, like a memory that glued itself into one's mind, that Lee would never feel for him what he felt for the taller, tanned nin. Lee, with his Youth and determination, would pursue his former crush; Sakura, until the day he died. Gaara, being the hard and logical ninja that he was, pushed his feelings deep into the recesses of his heart, where it created a bigger, and much more painful hole then the one Shukaku had left behind when the Akatsuki exorcised him. The Kazekage turned his attention to the paper work that lay, sprawled and untidy, on his desk. Things that needed reading and signing, laws that needed passing, people that needed prosecuting, bills that needed paying and friendly invitations to become a Suna Ally that needed writing dominated Gaaras' focus for the rest of the afternoon, but as night fell on the dusty town and a cold chill settled around the red-head, thoughts of Lee and his bandaged arms and glossy black bowl-cut drifted into the Sand ninja's sleepy mind.

On the outside on Konoha, running away from all the seemed familiar and safe, was the smaller Green Beast, being led towards the desert town of his heart by the power of love.

Nine: Hearts.

Gaara, restless and weary, lay in his bed. The night was young and cold, but Gaara had no desire to sleep away the chills the darkness brought. His attention was focused on the ceiling as he lay silently, listening to his older sister speak softly and lovingly to someone she had brought home. A male voice complemented her, and Gaara made a mental note. Somewhere, in the outskirts of Sunagakure, Rock Lee was drinking greedily from his canteen; water running down his cheeks to rest, glistening, on his spandex jump suit. His eyes flickered dangerously in the light of the street lamps, as he made his way; determined and swift, towards Sabaku no Gaaras' house. Kankuro, unable to sleep due to his sister fornicating with Shikamaru, was sitting in the kitchen, staring at the wall-clock. A knock on the door startled him, and he swivelled towards the sound. He opened the door cautiously, and was met with a violent green blur as Rock Lee sprinted past him and up the stairs. Gaara, surprised but otherwise emotionless, sawpast Lees' bizarre taste in clothes and terrible hair cut, and settled on his round-eyed face, which he rested his soft, undamaged hands on. Lee, taken aback by Gaaras' acceptance of him, leaned into Gaara's touch, resting his own hands; calloused and rough, on Gaara's pale cheeks, his hair dancing on the Sand-nins' forehead. "I Love you, Sabaku no Gaara" Rock Lee declared, pushing lips onto Gaara's, who kissed him back without hesitation. "And I love you..." Gaara replied once they had broken the tender and loving kiss.

And it was not a lie.

Ten: Everything.

Gaara and Lee stood unmoving on a raised platform in the middle on Suna, surrounded by familiar faces and authority-types who were only there for legal reasons. There had never been a celebration quite like this in Sunagakure before – the binding of two hearts of the same gender. No one; not Gai-Sensei, not Naruto, nor Temari or Kankuro objected. It was not, after all, marriage. Just a binding; an invitation by Gaara for Rock Lee to join his family. The same evening, as they lay side by side, Gaara took out his metal note book and turned to face Lee. He told Lee so many things; things he had done to people, things he thought about doing to people, what Shukaku felt like and how his extraction had affected the nin. He told Lee what he felt during the Chunin exams and the fight with Kimimaru, Lee's rescue of Gaara and how Gaara felt when Lee would not leave his bed-ridden side after the Akatsuki affair. Lee listened, nodded, gasped and let tears roll down his cheeks. Gaara finished by telling Lee that he loved him, though him to be beautiful and precious, and that he wished to spend the rest of forever with the exuberant and energetic ninja from Konoha. Lee, at the end of this confession took Gaaras' small frame and held him close, whispering that forever was not long enough for this love; his love, and that Gaara meant more to Lee then life itself. "I will come back to Konoha with you, if you wish it" Gaara declared. Lee fumbled with his words "...But what about your responsibilities? What about your siblings? What about... everything!?"

"Fool" Gaara whispered, smiling into Lees' bare chest; "You are my everything..."

Fin.

So, how was it??

SadRebel. xx