Katsu: I originally had this in one chapter, but I decided to split it up…

This is the sad chapter, the one more drama based…

Hope you don't start crying!

If I owned Naruto, there would be a LOT of changes to the script…

Day of Gai's Death+++

Gaara fidgeted slightly, the wind was rough and the sky was dark stone grey that created a sense of gloom around the leaf village. His hair was ruthlessly attacked in the currents of the wind and he could feel the jagged strands catching his forehead and getting near his eyes just enough to irritate him. He leaned against the tree for no real support simply doing so because it seemed to comfort him in an odd way. He gazed up into the cloudy sky, feeling a shiver rise up his spine and shake him to the core; he suddenly had that feeling like something was wrong. He frowned slightly, his eyes narrowing a bit and his arms crossed themselves across his chest, that prickling feeling settling uneasily in his stomach.

Lee was late, although it wasn't something unnatural for the leaf ninja, it somehow bothered the soon-to-be Kazekage greatly that afternoon. The clouds appeared to be getting ready to rain and he didn't want to be soaked because he stupidly left the house without his sand or umbrella even though his sister yelled out the door for both.

During the time that he had been sitting there, he began to ponder about things that were in his like, primarily the one person named Rock Lee. How odd their relationship had started out; one simple day the Taijutsu specialist had asked Gaara to go out for lunch with him because Tenten had cancelled. Things had simply gone uphill from there, each day he learned something new about himself or about Lee. Neither could really pinpoint during which day they had began to consider each other best friends but it wasn't as though they cared.

The only real thing Sabaku no Gaara knew was that it was exactly three months since he had finally admitted to Lee that he had feelings for him that were more then friendly. The situation was highly comical, considering that there was no kiss, no undying love announcements, simply an exchanging of words that meant more then actions themselves.

"…So there… I… I think I love you… If that is the right word?"

"….I've wanted to hear that for about a year know…"

"W-….what?"

"It's a stupid way of saying I love you as well… you know me, I say idiotic things when I'm embarrassed…"

"I've embarrassed you?"

"Ah… not really… I feel kind of embarrassed all on my own…"

"You're confusing."

"But you still love me…"

"Point taken…"

There were sparks, and had been enough for the both of them, they didn't need the hugging and kissing just yet, Gaara was still getting used to Lee grabbing his arm to show him something or the friendly contact the elder always seemed to give him. They spent most of their time talking about whatever they wanted, and the other times in a comfortable silence.

Yesterday, Gaara had kissed him for the first time, leaning in and pecking him on the lips, feeling that it was the only thing to do in that situation. Even the thought of it brought Goosebumps to his skin and a content feeling spread throughout his body, he could tolerate Lee's tardiness a little longer.

Gaara saw him instantly, the small mop of black hair and the newly adorned Chinese uniform complete with the bandages that traveled from his elbows to his hands. The feeling in his gut intensified almost to the point of pain and he felt the need to meet the Leaf Nin half way, he picked up his pace when he noticed how Lee was staring at the ground with a twisted smile placed on his lips. He looked dead, maybe not in bodywise, but something about his normal body language was gone, he didn't look up and wave or have his hands in his pockets casually. His posture was rigid, his step was lifeless and not bouncy at all like it normally was, the air about him was solemn and melancholy.

When he reached the other boy, they stopped only a foot away from each other, no matter how long Gaara waited, Lee would not meet his eyes. As if on que Gaara took a hesitant step forwards and felt the first raindrop hit his cheek, the next second he was being held in an embrace that wasn't sympathetic or friendly, it was desperate. He was clutching to him as if he was the last remaining person he could cling onto, and the Suna native knew his feelings of dread were well predicted.

He wrapped his arms around the taller boy's waist, allowing Lee to use him for support, at first he thought it was a tear to hit his shoulder, then he remembered the clouds and all the pent up rain and tears were let loose. Everything drained out of his boyfriend, and the once proud and cheerful Rock Lee slumped to the ground; an emotionless wreck.

Gaara knelt down beside him, while Lee was sitting on his knees, the sand ninja was kneeling, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the other's shoulders, pulling Lee forwards to cry on his chest. The young kazekage was now a little bit taller, since the hill was slanted and he had propped himself up kneeling.

They were both soaked in a hazy mist that really couldn't be considered rain. Gaara closed his eyes and placed his chin on top of Lee's head, pressing his mouth to the soft black hair and simply sat there, holding him. After a few moments of silence like that, the other timidly reached up and clutched the front of Gaara's shirt, as if not knowing what he should do.

Lee was in shock.

His shoulders were shaking: in either pent up sobs or shivering, Gaara just could not tell what was running through the others mind. But he could relate, even in the slightest manner because he had seen one he thought he loved die before him, by his own hands. He could never know the extent of their relationship, considering the fact that he never had someone who was like a fatherly figure as Lee did. Then again there were a lot of things Lee had that he didn't, at least when they were growing up. Things like friends, being free of the monstrous beast inside him, having someone he could look up to, Being able to hurt himself and feel pain among other various things.

Then there were the things Gaara had that Lee didn't, such as sand that could protect him during almost any situation, two siblings, the power that came without having to train, getting whatever he wanted, and having to need to work to surpass almost anyone in his village.

The Leaf Ninja didn't have any parents; Neither did the Sand ninja, the Taijutsu specialist had lost the only parental figure in his life; the Ninjutsu specialist had also lost his parental figure, the kind-hearted green beast was ridiculed and discarded as a child; the cold-hearted red beast was feared and disowned as a child.

Therefore, their lives had pretty much sucked until they met each other.

Gaara wasn't the only one rebuilding his life, Lee was constantly working at his, trying till the point of collapsing to show them that hard work could surpass a born genius.

No matter how strong he became, Lee never thought it was ever good enough; when Gaara pointed out how he could smash a tree trunk four feet in diameter with one kick and without breaking a sweat, Lee told him he needed to break one with eight feet –diameter without over-exerting himself. After the red-head interjected that he could make it around Konoha with his weights on in double the speed he did two years ago without his weights on, he replied saying he needed to beat his record four times over.

Lee NEVER gave up, but he also never cut himself any slack at all, perhaps that was what would eventually give him enough power to surpass his arch-rival. Then again, Gaara had a sinking suspicion that even if Lee did surpass Neji Hyuuga, he would then train himself even more to try and surpass the genius twice-over.

He had never seen anyone work that hard, and he knew this to be the reason why he was so inspired by him, not only to become more likable (Which, according to Lee he had already completed), but to become stronger as well; to protect his people as Naruto protected his friends and village. All in all, he wanted inner strength, the strength that could help him protect the ones le loved the most, he wanted to be able to protect his friends, not have them submit to his power, but to be comforted by it.

They sat there for an hour; stiff, cold, and silent just holding on to one another, finally, Lee pulled away from the red-haired jounin, and thanked him with a voice that was barely his own. He composed himself, slowly got up ignoring the helpful hand that Gaara offered then furiously turned and punched the tree, breaking it into pieces.

"A Ninja should never show their feelings, they should keep them to themselves…"

"Pathetic…" Lee's eyes went wide, he turned to the sand ninja for a reasoning to his words.

"You think so, do you, really?" His green eyes weren't as harsh as his voice at all, pity was welling up in them, and so was another emotion long buried, "Did you and Naruto not preach about how a true Shinobi's strength comes from protecting someone they care about? Your strength comes from the people you love, and above all, showing emotions about someone who gave you hope and joy is exactly what the Third would have wanted…" Lee blinked, then opened his mouth in a confused manner, "I met him you know, once, when he made a trip to Suna, he told me that crying for someone who died was proof you loved them," He chuckled darkly, "You leaf ninja's; you are such hypocrites."

"I think that, if you would have died, that Sensei of yours would have been balling his eyes out…" Lee once again looked amazed.

"How did you know it was…" He trailed off, his voice almost strangled when he tried to push the name out of his mouth.

"I don't know, perhaps, I'm finally starting to understand what it's like to have a connection to someone…" He placed a hand over his heart, "A few minutes before you arrived, I got an uneasy feeling as though something was terribly wrong, I knew you were okay but someone else wasn't…" He frowned slightly, angered with himself for not being able to find the correct words to summarize the feeling. He had never been known for his social skills, considering the fact that people who usually learned his name didn't give him a chance to talk anyways. He shook his head, dispelling that subject and pushing it to the back of his mind for later analysis, "either way…did… did you want to tell me what happened?"

Lee watched him intently, the rain slipping down his skin, the dullness in his eyes, and the troubled look on his face.

"Alright, did you want to go dry off first?"

They walked in silence.

Later on, a few hours later the two of them sat in Lee's apartment at the kitchen table with two steaming hot cups of coffee. The Great Beast of Konoha explained what had happened that morning when he went to go see Tenten about some important matter. When he had arrived at her house, she dragged him off to the Hokage's office telling him their chat would have to wait since they had been summoned to speak with Tsunade.

They were immediately sent into her office and told to sit down, she was sitting at her desk, her hands clasped together so hardly that the knuckles were turning white. She glanced up at them, then muttered something about waiting for Neji, Kurenai, Asuma, and Kakashi.

Lee had stared at his companion for support who simply shrugged, having no clue as to what was happening. The next few minutes had been tense, until Kakashi came strolling in, said his hello's and then leaned against the wall behind them. He asked no questions, but had an air about him that slowed his perplexed thoughts. The next few minutes Neji filed in to sit beside Tenten, then finally a distressed looking Kurenai and Asuma, who appeared to be extremely worried about something.

Tsunade and stared at each one in turn, then stood up so sharply her chair hit the floor, everyone cringed slightly at the loud bang the seat made but the Hokage paid it no heed. She gripped the desk that Lee could see the wood cracking beneath her intense grip, when she finally addressed them all they were so quiet that a pin could have dropped and sounded loud.

"Two days ago, as you should all be aware of, Might Gai and two other Jounin were dispatched to the northern region of the Water continent, since their were reports of strange activities appearing there that we believed to be the work of Orochimau's late followers that are still carrying out his will." Lee could sense his dread deepen when she only mentioned his Sensei's name.

"Why weren't we informed of this before today?" Suddenly demanded Kakashi, making Lee wonder about his split-second out of character act. There was a ringing silence, in which Tsunade broke eye contact and bent down to pick up her chair, feeling the need to do something with her hands to stop them from shaking. "Why wasn't I sent with him? Or Kurenai and Asuma? We are very capable-"

"-There was NO question of capability, Kakashi-san, we foolishly underestimated them; since you were both planning your vacation," He addressed the two sensei's. "Kakashi, you were very busy with your job at the academy," She then gazed at the three younger ninja's, "Tenten-san and Neji-san had just returned from a mission and Lee-san was training with Gaara-san, that a simple group of Jounin with one of our elite would be enough to get the job done. We didn't know that there was a larger group of them waiting.

Gai-san had flawlessly taken out a fair amount of the enemy, but was met head to head with their supposed leader, whom he… he failed to defeat… at the cost of his life,"

The room was silent, Lee had stopped breathing, Tenten had her hands clasped over her mouth and Neji's grip of his chair tightened, "The two others arrived earlier this morning, dragging his body…" She pulled out a tattered headband that bared the insignia of the Leaf village on it, she walked around her desk and placed it in Lee's lap, "Gai-san, he told them to give that to you before he passed away,"

After a few more moments of Tsunade explaining the full situation to them with Kakashi asking questions here and there mission related Lee had stood up and walked out of the office to find Gaara, which brought them to their current situation.

"She told me, that Gai wanted me to have his headband," he pulled it out as if for proof. "And that he didn't want to take me on the mission because he knew I was spending time with my new friend; he had been given the choice to bring me but declined it because he knew… about… he knew that I loved you." He rubbed the headband affectionately, "He knew I was planning to tell you the next day…"

There was a pregnant pause, in which Lee finally took a sip of his coffee to calm his frazzled nerves and Gaara reached across the table and awkwardly touched his friends hand. He looked startled by the contact and then his expression softened and he leaned forward to rest his head on his arms and smiled sadly.

"When is the funeral?" Whispered the younger jounin in a nearly inaudible voice.

"This afternoon…" he sighed, "Gaara-kun, please don't try to comfort me during then, okay? I don't want you to… because I know I'll probably break down if you do…"

The sand ninja was confused, then slowly he started to understand what the elder boy meant by that. He could feel his heart swell a little when he deciphered the meaning, and he stood up and walked around to where Lee was.

"But I can comfort you till then, can't I?"

--End Flashback--

Gaara noticed he was dozing off slightly, he sighed and decided that he would call it a night and return home, just when he was about to jump off the branch and teleport himself home he heard a voice.

"Sabaku no Gaara? What are you doing here?"

Gaara blinked, he hadn't though of a reply to that question yet. "Shouldn't you be with Lee or something, you two are never seen without each other these days and Lee hasn't challenged me in a good year…"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous," retorted the sand ninja evenly, jumping down from his perch and landing right beside the Hyuuga.

Neji raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms across his chest, "Did I just catch some sarcasm coming from you?"

"Well I don't know, apparently you're the genius," Gaara smirked at the surprised look on the other's face to his reply. Apparently the branch Hyuuga wasn't used to seeing the newer version of Sabaku no Gaara whom had become much more outspoken, "In all honestly I don't know why I'm here, it was something to do, but now that I've been caught I guess there's no point anymore…" He ran a hand through his hair to get it out of his face, "knowing Tenten-san, she's probably already at Lee's house…" he muttered the last part to himself mostly.

"How would you know that?" The silver-eyes ninja demanded curiously, feeling slightly protective of the brunette in question.

"Well, she is a companion after all, I've gotten to know her and she's always speaking to Lee-kun, unless you were always this oblivious to your teammates?" For some odd reason, angering the Hyuuga made something inside him feel better, it was probably his payback for beating Lee all those years ago.

"I suppose that's logical, those two have always been close," Gaara could make out a slight frown curling down the normally passive fighter's lips. "ever since we were placed on a squad together."

"You have nothing to worry about, they're always talking about you anyways…" Gaara wanted to take those words back the second they popped out of his mouth, he flinched when he could hear Tenten's frantic voice screaming in his head: 'You said WHAT?!' "But anyways, I have to go," With that he teleported a few blocks away, already closer to Lee's house instead of his own, he thought about it for a few moments and then finally decided to make the trek to his boyfriend's home.

Katsu: Done!

Sin: sarcastically Wheee….

Katsu: Well… that was depressing… .

Sin: yummy!

Katsu:…. Well… please review!