Author's Note:

Hey guys, thanks for reading on to the fifth chapter! A few things before we get started though.

A reviewer discussed with me some holes in the story that were apparent to him/her. So I explained everything and they advised that I explain it to everyone!

So first off, this story is taking place after Gaara became Kazekage, but before any of the Akatsuki stuff starts going down in Shippūden. Lee is 16 and Gaara is 15 at this point. As for why there are so many holes, I'm a jerk and really didn't like the fillers involving Gaara at the end of the first show and also didn't like the Kimimaro fight. So I basically just pretended they didn't happen! Haha sorry guys, I know some of you are fans of those episodes and that's good. I'm just lame! But I also mainly did that because the story I had in my head didn't include them, and then when I went to write it changing it to include them was hard. But yeah I believe that's all I need to explain. Please review with any more questions, or just review in general because it makes my day! :)

Also (side note), this is the chapter where some of that violence that I mentioned in the description comes into play. I felt a little awkward at the crowded library on my campus today writing such violent things. I sure hope nobody was reading over my shoulder!

No on to the story...

"I'm really sorry Gaara-sama." I apologize, shoving my sleeping bag into my pack.

"How many times are you going to apologize? It's okay Lee-san, I swear." Gaara answers me, facing the tree and slinging his gourd over his shoulder. I put my bag on and run my fingers through my hair.

"Are you sure? I promised and I broke my word!" I exclaim to his back. I feel so bad for falling asleep on him last night. He was telling me such important things about him, and I went and fell asleep. If we weren't on a mission, I'd most likely subject myself to brutal training as a punishment for breaking a promise.

"You worry too much. It's really okay. I never expected you to actually do it anyway." Gaara says with a chuckle, turning towards me. I search his face for any hint of disappointment but can only find a small smile on his lips. Still, I wipe the pout forming on mine. "But thank you for trying." He says kindly. Gaara seems to be in a very good mood this morning, and while it is a bit unusual to see him this way, it makes me overjoyed.

"You're welcome!" I say a bit too loudly, like usual. "Let's get going!" I shout, giving him a thumbs up, but instead of agreeing he starts to laugh. His laugh is musical, and I've never heard him give anything but a restrained chuckle before. However, I don't understand what's so funny.

"What?" I ask, and he clears his throat. I follow his eyes as they travel down my body, and when I look down I realize my jumpsuit is still down at my waist, my upper body exposed. I yelp with embarrassment and quickly throw my bag down so I can pull it the rest of the way up. I know I'm blushing now but there's nothing I can do about it. Leave it to me to look so dumb in front of Gaara!

"Sorry!" I cry out, hurriedly putting on my backpack after I've finished. He waves off my apology and we take off together, making our way up into the trees. Branch by branch we leap through the forest, dapples of pale morning light making their way through the canopy. As we run, for the next few hours I begin to think deeply about our conversation last night. I'd already known parts, like the fact that he is a Jinchuuriki and that he has been feared his whole life because of it. However, when he told it I realized his story has much more to it.

My mind lingers on the man named Yashamaru, who ultimately was unable to love Gaara. He was to him much like Gai Sensei is to me. When nobody else cared, he came along and loved me unconditionally, something that will never change. I can't imagine if he were to suddenly tell me it was all false, let alone try to kill me. And it was Gaara's father who ordered it nonetheless!

I glance over at him and a peaceful expression is laid over his face. It contrasts greatly from the pain that came flooding out of him last night. All I wanted to do was reach out and hold him as he told me everything, tears threatening to spill over from his eyes. However, I know that touch is going to be a mountain that we're going to have to surpass slowly. I would never want to do something that would make Gaara uncomfortable.

Speaking of uncomfortable, an odd feeling starts welling up in the back of my head. It feels as if something is wrong but I can't put my finger on it. I turn my head to Gaara, and he's already looking at me with a knowing expression of concern.

"Do you…?" Is all I can get out before a kunai knife whizzes past me, centimeters from my face. Out of instinct I dogged it without even realizing what was happening. I stop immediately, balancing myself on a thin branch, adrenaline starting to pump through my veins. Gaara comes to a halt beside me, his arms crossed in way I know to be threatening. My eyes scan the trees for any signs of our attacker, and my ears become overly sensitive to every small rustle of the wind passing through the leaves. Then two more kunai knives come flying from the trees, one targeting me and the other one Gaara. Before I can even move to dodge it, a layer of sand appears in front of me and the knife sinks into in an instant. I glance at Gaara in thanks and raise my right arm to assume my fighting stance. I'm not quite as analytical as my friends Neji and Shikimaru, but I'm smart enough to be able to tell where the enemies are. I noticed two small movements after the knives appeared, showing that the enemies had moved closer to the ground to avoid being detected.

"Gaara…" I start.

"I know." He interrupts me. "You get the left, I've got the right." He whispers urgently. I nod and immediately leap off the branch, gliding down through the air, heading directly for where I'm almost sure my assigned assailant is hiding. I raise my leg high and let out a battle cry as I come down on him. However, with a small grunt and an outbreak of movement, he just barely dodges my attack, bursting from the bunch of leaves that shrouded him. My foot connects roughly with the thick branch where he was crouching a second ago and I resume my fighting stance, looking up to see whom I'm fighting.

It's a tall man with light brown, long hair and no headband to be found. His bangs fall over his eyes as he turns quickly with a fist aimed at my face. I duck down, delivering a swift kick to his right ankle, knocking him temporarily off balance. His outfit is not one I recognize from any clan, village, or organization I've heard of before. The man is wearing a tight outfit consisting of black pants and a matching tunic, inlaid with dark green embellishments weaving intricate patterns all over his body. His top is hooded, but his hood fell down when he hastily jumped from the bush to avoid my kick.

He regains his balance and jumps up into the branches above us. I catch a glimpse of him starting to weave a hand sign, but I'm ready. My body is tense with adrenaline and I react quickly, fighting being just about the only thing I'm good at. Leaping up, I catch him off guard from behind and hit him with a spinning kick that should just about finish it. He falls off the branch, hurtling towards the ground. But as I watch him go down, his body turns into a large log in a sudden puff of smoke.

Substitution!

I dive to the surface of the branch as I hear the familiar, faint whistling of senbon flying through the air behind me. Training with Tenten over the years has opened my other senses to a familiarity of different weapon types. They bury themselves into a tree trunk a few meters away, and I role to the side as more rain down on the spot where I just was. Gripping the rough tree bark painfully with my fingertips, I swing underneath the branch to protect myself. It's as if they are coming from every direction at the same time!

Taking just a moment to breathe, I glance over at Gaara who is maybe a hundred meters away. His sand is flurrying around him as he protects himself from weapons being slung at him by a bald man with one eye covered with a black strip of fabric, wearing the same clothes as my opponent. Every time Gaara's sand reaches out for him, he dodges it skillfully.

I remind myself to focus, knowing that Gaara can handle himself just fine. If I notice him struggling I will surely come to his aid. With a thud I hear the brown haired man land above me. Flipping swiftly, I swing myself back up onto the branch, my left leg connecting with his chest. I can hear the wind dispel from his lungs and his gasps for air as he staggers backwards. I stand at the ready, searching his eyes for any clue as to why he and his comrade tried to ambush us. He stares at me with a serious look in his eyes, but no answers.

"What business do you have with us?" I ask calmly, catching my breath. He lets out a bitter chuckle and regains his composure.

"We have no business with you my green-clad friend. You're just in the way. Our business is with the Kazekage." He says with a smirk. I raise my right hand in front of me, forming my signature fighting stance.

"You'd be surprised just how 'in the way' I can get." I answer, smirking back at him. Then he leaps up in the tree branches above us and I follow closely behind. Once again he's trying to weave a hand sign, but he won't have the time. My fist connects with his shoulder, knocking him off balance. He grimaces at my speed and tries to flee again to give himself time. I don't know what jutsu he has planned but I don't care to find out.

Glancing over at Gaara, I see him completely overpowering the man he's fighting. The man has fear written all over his face, and I'm sure any second now Gaara will finish him. His sand dances gracefully towards the man, getting closer with every movement. While the man dodges, he never will fully be able to get away at this point, because I can tell Gaara is angry now.

I turn back to my opponent who is running towards me with a kunai knife in hand. When will he learn that these weapons have not worked on me yet? I use my forearm to block his attack, forcing it against his wrist. He grunts, trying to force the knife closer to my face, but I raise my other hand and knock it clean out of his grip. Jumping back, he once again starts that same damned hand sign. Just as I'm about to attack him, I'm stopped by a shuriken sinking into my right shoulder.

The pain floods through my skin and muscle and for a moment I stagger forward. How? I turn and see the man Gaara is fighting staring at me for a moment, another shuriken at the ready in his hand. I see, it was him. Gaara is furious now, and he glances at me with a wild look in his eyes. Then I watch his sand completely envelope the man, and I know what's coming next. I turn back to my opponent who has a smile on his face.

"The jutsu is done. You're too late young man." He sneers.

"Your friend is going to die." I respond simply, while searching around me for any sign of his jutsu. Nothing has changed and I don't feel like I'm in a genjutsu. There is no evidence of a ninjutsu coming to harm me either. As I wrench the shuriken painfully from my flesh and let it fall to the forest floor, I look at him quizzically, but not for long. He rushes at me, throwing kunai knives swiftly and continuously.

"And so will you!" He cries out. I dodge them quickly until I'm backed up against a tree trunk. Then I leap up, barely dodging the last few. That was close. I tell myself to calm down, but I keep getting the sense that something is extremely wrong. Then I realize, he must have cast his jutsu on Gaara if I wasn't affected!

I leap through the branches towards Gaara while dodging assorted weapons coming at me from behind. My gut tells me that he needs my help. I can see him through the trees, and he's just finished his opponent off. He turns towards me, that wild look of fury still in his eyes. I don't see any danger, but still something feels extremely wrong.

Then suddenly, I'm impaled on an unbelievably sharp, hardened sand-sword of sorts. I can feel blood burst from my mouth, and time stops as I look down at my gushing stomach and back up at Gaara. He stares at me with the same murderous look as back when we fought the first time. The agonizing pain in my abdomen is nothing compared to the betrayal I feel as I stare into his eyes.

"W…Why?" I choke out, my own blood gurgling in my throat.

"You tried to hurt Lee." He growls, his voice pushing through the ringing in my ears. I'm about to argue in confusion, but suddenly it all becomes clear. I stare at him sadly, knowing there's nothing I can do now to save myself.

So this was your jutsu.

My assailant hangs limply in midair, my sand having pierced through his stomach and clean out his back. He's finished. And to think he had the nerve to ask me why I was killing him! His blue eyes stare at me through his brown bangs with desperation, but he must know that won't save him. I'll never take pity on a man who tries to hurt Lee.

"Lee-kun, are you alright?" I call out, not knowing where he is. I receive no answer and more anger swells up in my chest. Turning my attention back to the sad excuse for a man before me, I twist the sand already in his body, an agonizingly painful action. He cries out in pain, tears forming in his eyes.

"Please Gaara-kun…stop." He mutters tiredly, his strength all but gone. I tilt my head in annoyed confusion. Why would he address me like that? He doesn't know me and I don't know him.

"Where is he?" I snarl. Then I raise my eyes to the trees. "Lee-kun where are you?!" I yell, my voice betraying me and exposing the panic beginning to well up inside of me. Something is very wrong here and I don't know what it is. Where is Lee?

Then, if possible, things get even more confusing as some of my remaining sand flicks upward to block a few senbon coming at me from the side. I can feel their position in my sand and know that if they had hit me it would have been fatal. Where are they coming from if I took out both of our opponents?

What the hell is going on?!

I turn furiously towards the direction of the attacker and stop in my tracks as I see a double of the same man who I have dangling from my sand. His hair is falling over his blue eyes and he is wearing the same clothing, yet he is unharmed, and wearing a cruel smirk on his face. I glare at him with extreme confusion and then look back at the one I gravely injured. What I see is something I will never forget.

No…Oh God…

A thousand different feelings hit me harder than any attack ever could as I lay eyes on him. It's Lee who is hanging from my sand, stabbed crudely through his body. This is the first time I've seen blood and recoiled at the sight. It's soaked through his clothes and made its way down his legs, droplets quickly dropping down to the forest floor far below us from his feet. Debilitating nausea floods through my body, and I fight to keep myself from kneeling down to catch my breath.

Lee's big brown eyes are half closed, but he still stares at me, and fierce pain is visible in his face. Crimson drips from his chin, oozing out from between his lips. I can't control my breathing and I can barely stand with how lightheaded I've become. The pain in my heart is immobilizing, and I grip my chest harshly, feeling the tears pour down my face. This can't be happening. How could I have done this?

Then understanding comes through my mind like a mist, and I realize what happened. It was a genjutsu, and the man made me see Lee as the enemy. I turn back to the brown haired man slowly, my jaw tensing with rage I've never felt so strongly in my life. He pulls out a large dagger and jumps down so that he's standing on the same branch as me, a few meters away.

"Now I can focus on what I really came here for." He sneers, readying himself in his fighting stance. All my senses are closed off, and my vision is blurry from all the feelings mixed up inside of my head. I will destroy this man no matter what. And then I will somehow save Lee, who is dying with every second that passes by.

I gently lower him down onto a grassy patch on the forest floor with my sand, letting the parts of the sword sticking out of him dissolve away. However, I keep the rest inside of him for fear of him losing too much blood. Then I form a barrier around him with sand, just in case this guy has any more friends with him in hiding.

Now I turn my attention fully on the despicable man in front of me. He's still standing at the ready, the dagger poised towards my chest. I let the rest of my sand pour out of my gourd and form a hand; much like the one I hurt Lee with during the exam years ago.

"You will die." I growl viscously, trying to force down the dreadful feeling welling up inside of me. This is not the time for my demon to come out, not when I need to keep Lee protected. He chuckles arrogantly and spins his dagger in his hand.

"Unfortunately it's you who has to die today. We can't have you helping out the Leaf Village when we're so close to initiating the plan. But don't worry, we haven't forgotten about your poor excuse for a land. We'll destroy the Sand Village as well soon enough." He mocks me, and then he rushes towards me wielding the dagger. My sand blocks his attacks, but there are some close calls. He's much faster than the bald one was, and even he got in a cut or two. There is a thin slice in my armor on my cheek and one on my forearm where the man caught me before. Lee is faster than me, which is why until the man I was fighting threw a shuriken his way, Lee was unscathed by the lightning fast man before me now. I'll have to finish this quick and not give him any chances to hit me. Also I must end this before I let myself get out of control.

I form many small, senbon-like needles with my sand and poise them behind him. However, just as they start to fly towards his back, he turns around and blocks every single one with his knife. But to his surprise, I have more at his back now, and they fly around my head as they go forward and puncture his back dozens of times. He shouts out in pain, but still continues to fight. He leaps up into the air, droplets of blood trailing in behind him, and in a flash of speed he manages to weave through my sand defenses and cracks his dagger down forcefully on my left shoulder. I grimace as I feel it slice sharply through my armor, the blade grazing my skin underneath. That's it. This is taking up too much time and Lee needs help now.

My sand wraps around his feet as he smirks stupidly at me in satisfaction, knowing he hit me. Then surprise and terror take over his face as I simply lift him up by his legs. Dangling upside down, he reaches up, trying to dismantle my hold on him with his knife. He opens his mouth to say something, but don't give him any time. Instead, I swing him to the right and his head connects loudly with a tree trunk, leaving a dent. This man is finished.

I stare at him for a moment, watching his slow breathing as he dangles, unconscious now, blood dripping from the gashes along the left side of his face and head. He has to die for what he made me do to Lee. So I wrap my sand around his body, and as if it was my own hand around him I feel his body crush in my grip as I mutter "Sand coffin," underneath my breath and close my hand into a fist. The blood floods through my sand, and for a moment I start to feel the same satisfactory feeling I used to get when I killed people. But then I push it away, reminding myself that I need to be different now, if not for myself or my village, at least for Lee.

Lee. He needs help.

Finished now, I leap down to the forest floor, unveiling his unconscious body from underneath my sand barrier. My heart lurches painfully again as I lay my eyes upon his damaged abdomen. What have I done? My eyes travel to his face, which is stained with blood, dirt, and tears. I use my sleeve to wipe off his face, trying my best to quickly get off the mess, and then sling my gourd around so that it hangs in front of my chest. Then, as I lift him up in my arms as gently as I can, I find tears making their way down to my chin again. Not now. I need to concentrate on getting him to safety as fast I can. The skilled medical corps of the Leaf Village will surely be able to save him if I get him there in time.

I position him on my back as if I were giving him a piggyback ride. His limp body is much heavier than I expected, but I pay no matter to the weight. I begin to run along the ground, not trusting myself to leap through the trees with this much combined weight on me between Lee and my sand. If I lose my footing for even a second, I could fall and end up hurting him even more. Nimble movements are extremely restricted right now, and so I simply run as fast as I can.

The tears won't cease, no matter how harshly in my mind I tell myself to stop. My back is becoming hot and sticky already with his blood, still oozing out of the wound around the sand. Also, I can feel his warm breath on my neck. I tell myself to focus on that. No matter how shallow it may be, he's still breathing.

As I continue running for what may have been hours, I feel my body aching painfully from the strain. I find myself wishing I trained all the time like Lee does and had the speed and stamina that he possesses. My sand may be useful for attacking, but at times like this I'm left with just the power of my own energy and muscles. There's nothing chakra or jutsus can do for me right now. This is all Lee has had his entire life, and yet he's become so great at mastering his own body that it's almost become an advantage to him.

Lost in my own thoughts, it takes many minutes for me to realize that the sky has gone dark. Luckily for me I've always had great night sight, maybe because of Shukaku's raccoon like features that he passes on to my body. I continue to run, actually increasing my speed with a renewed urgency. Lee's breathing is growing fainter with every hour, and while I can still feel feathery warmth coming from his slightly parted mouth, I know he's lost far too much blood. If I run through the night I should be able to make it to the Leaf Village by noon. I just hope Lee can hang in there until then. I'll try my hardest save him, my only true friend. If he dies, I'll never forgive myself. If he dies…it will have been me who killed him.

The image of him dangling gruesomely from my hardened sand sticking obscenely from his back flashes in my mind over and over again. And every time it does, my face once again grows hot with tears. I don't know if I'll ever really get it out of my head.

Please just hang in there Lee.