0003. Gaara/Lee

The morning sun shone overhead in a dazzling display as already this morning various ninja began there daily training sessions. Lee happily ran his laps around Konoha, thrilled to have finally been released from Konoha General Hospital. He had to promise Gai-sensei that he'd be careful on how hard he pressed himself while training.

While running he started past one of the training fields before noticing someone familiar was there. The sand Nin, Gaara stood in the only training field in Konoha that held a sandy terrain. The red head almost seemed to idly be playing with the sand as Lee slowed to a stop to watch. The black eyed leaf Nin knew that Gaara was aware of him standing there to the side, but couldn't decide if he should go closer or not.

Sand lifted into the air and took on the shape of a very large, very life like tree as he watched and Gaara walked around his creation, inspecting it for flaws. Lee watched in awe as it then downsized into a detailed horse, silently neighing as it ran around the smaller Nin. The next shift, the sand turned into a life sized Gai in full nice guy pose which startled a laugh out of Lee. Gaara glanced at Lee quickly before motioning at the sand which shifted into a model-sized replica of the Hokage Mountain.

Lee smiled and drifted closer to Gaara, quickly deciding to forgo his usual youthful speech, "That is quite brilliant, Gaara-san."

Gaara molded the sand now into Naruto, Temari, and Kankuro, "Thank you, Lee."

Lee blushed at the familiar form of address, but said nothing as he ran a hand though his hair. He watched as the sand was always shifting, always moving and the Nin who manipulated it didn't even seem winded by the out pouring of his chakra. Gaara caught one of Lee's glances, "I have enormous amounts of chakra, so I do this to help sharpen my control. The most detailed and intricate something is the more control it takes to form."

Lee nodded, sitting against the base of a nearby tree as he quietly kept Gaara company, watching as he formed and reformed shapes, things, places, and people. After a few hours, the sand Nin let the sand fall and picking up his gourd, readied to leave the training ground. He glanced at Lee, the older Nin getting to his feet and knocking off bits of dirt that clung to his suit. The green eyed boy struggled with himself a moment before calling out to the other.

"Lee?"

"Yes, Gaara-san, what is it?" Lee looked up questioningly, a faint blush to his cheeks.

"Would you like to eat lunch with me?" Gaara asked with a faintly embarrassed expression, "My sister and brother will have made something by now and there's usually extra."

Lee's face lit up in a bright smile, "Of course I will, Gaara-san."

Gaara nodded, cheeks tinged with the slightest shade of pink as he motioned for the other to follow him. The two Nin headed back into the urban part of the village in silence. Lee broke the uneasy quiet as he glanced at the younger Nin.

"Gaara-san? I never really got the chance to thank you for saving me on the Sasuke retrieval mission, so thank you."

Gaara looked away, "You don't have to thank me. I- I am sorry that I almost killed you doing the Chunin Exams. And I'm sorry that I have not apologized sooner."

Lee smiled at the other boy, "It's alright, Gaara-san. I have forgiven you already."

Gaara's wide green eyes met Lee's sincere, kind eyes and he nodded, a knot forming in his throat as he spoke again. "If that is the case, than you should just call me Gaara, Lee."

Lee flushed, but grinned and agreed, "Then from now on, I'll call you Gaara."

MOMOM

Next Time: Sasuke/Naruto