Plans

Gaara awoke to blinding light and off-key humming. He covered his eyes, flipping some hair out of the way. Rolling over, he found the source of the cacophony; Naruto.

" 'Ruto… Shut up." He mumbled, pulling the covers over his head.

"Your Highness!" Naruto yelled in a very, very loud voice, as he spun around. Gaara winced, then huddled into a ball under his covers.

Waitaminute.

His covers?

Gaara flung the blankets off of himself, sitting upright and hitting Naruto in the process. He ignored his vassal's whining and stared at his surroundings in wonder.

" 'Ruto…" he rasped. "How'd I get here?"

Naruto smiled patronizingly. "Don't you remember, Gaara? We found you on the coast a day and a half ago." He set back the cloth which he had been about to place on his friends' head back into the basin. "Really ironic, that."

"Hn?" Gaara replied none to intelligently, blinking uncomprehendingly at the blonde.

"You really don't remember, do you?" Naruto's smile faded just a hint. "It was … the same place that you found me."

Gaara dropped his gaze to his lap, one hand to his head.

"No, I don't remember. You finding me, at least." He corrected himself. He ran the one hand through his hair in an effort to relieve the throbbing. "How long have I been out? Right, forget that, how many days have I been gone?"

"Since you fell overboard? You were in the ocean for four days. Shikamaru, Kiba and I found you there only a day and a half ago, so you've only been gone for about six days."

"Shikamaru and Kiba…?" Gaara looked at his friend, confused.

"Um, yeah? Remember? Two of your servants, your friends?"

"No, no, I remember…" Gaara blinked slowly. "But… wasn't there someone else there?"

"Someone else?" Naruto asked quizzically. "No, it was just the three of us. And I didn't see anyone near you. Why do you ask?"

"The last I remember… I was in open water. Then, I was on land. I had just woken up, and I couldn't see because of the salt in my eyes, but I thought I saw someone…" the prince trailed off.

"Oh. Well, what did they look like? From what you could see, I mean."

"Pale skin… black hair… large eyes… and they had something green here." He made a wide gesture around his ear.

"Uh-huh… was it a guy or a girl?"

"I couldn't tell."

"Right… You realize you've described most of your own people in the capitol, as well as your father's northern relatives, right?" he laughed as Gaara cringed at the memory of his relatives, particularly his great-aunt; they were horrifying no matter what family you belonged to.

"I don't know, maybe I hallucinated." The princeling rubbed his arm.

"Or maybe" Naruto giggled in a sing-song voice. "You were saved by ocean spirits! They were going to spirit you away, until they realized how cranky you are, so they spit you back up on land!"

Gaara scowled, then playfully punched Naruto's arm. He mock-howled, falling to the floor and spouting nonsense about how his own prince had maimed him. Self-same prince smirked, which was exactly what his vassal had been aiming for.

But even as their laughter filled the room, Gaara didn't dismiss the idea like Naruto. To save him and then disappear like that, what could have it have been but an ocean spirit? He absently rubbed one shoulder, staring through one of his opened windows, to the darkened skies and ocean beyond.

Naruto noticed. He knew that look, he'd seen it so many times. He may be Gaara's constant companion, but his prince still liked to shut himself up away, to be the loner, despite all his retainers and vassals and servants.

"Your Highness?"

If anything, that would get his attention. Gaara hated being called that, especially when it was just him and Naruto. However, now that he had his prince's attention, he wasn't sure what to do.

"I, uh, have to go tell your father your awake. I'll be back later." Smiling, Naruto left through the double doors, rubbing his neck.

Gaara would make sure of that. His father had probably taken his anger on the news of his son living out on the three who found him. And now that he was, even worse, conscious, the king would do it again to the messenger. Yes, Gaara would make sure Naruto came back tonight, to help bandage HIS wounds.

Letting the thought go for now, since he couldn't stop his father, and therefore was no point in brooding, Gaara returned his thoughts to the ocean, and whatever it may hold. Rain started falling as he planned how to sneak his way outside, at least to make sure for himself there was nothing there.

a day and a half earlier

Lee stretched out on his barracks dorm bed, surprised he had been able to lie his way out of trouble so easily. All he had to say to his teacher was that he had been out training out so long that he lost track of time. His sensei had been so impressed with him, he had given one of his heart-moving speeches about the ne'er-ending power of youth. Then he had joined his sensei in a bout of manly tears (which for some reason, his teammates Neji and Tenten didn't join in) and eventually went home to the trainee's barracks. Lee had hated lying to his sensei, and this was actually his first offense, though Gai-sensei didn't need to know that. Rolling over onto his stomach, he pondered on the 'lander' he had saved. He hoped the others who had shown up were friends of it's, Lee would feel horrible if he had delivered a defenseless person into enemy hands.

Smacking his face, Lee shook his head. It didn't matter after he had put it on land. Once he had kept the sea from killing it, his obligation was over.

But still...

He had never seen someone with such a vivid colour of red hair, not even the pureblooded of his own beta people had such a hue to match their tailfins. Fingering the commonplace green webbing between his fingers with a pensive look, he pondered on the next six days he had off; a week's reprieve for the youth of Matme to visit home from their apprenticeships. Lee, however, had lost his parents at an early age, and had no one to visit.

Lee froze. Maybe…he could go back to the shore? Just to make sure the human was gone, that's all. He'd just tell his sensei he was going on a training journey at the volcanic heat vents several leagues from shore, no farther. No one would follow him if he said that, he did that kind of thing all the time. His sensei would be even more proud, Lee spending his time off training. And it wasn't necessarily a lie, it was going to be a hard swim getting all the way back to shore, it would be training all unto itself.

He nodded in affirmation to himself, he would go! Just to make sure that the human was okay!

With that, he shoved himself off his bed and started packing.