A/N ... I got two chapters done... neat
Curled in a tight ball beneath the covers of Gaara's bed Lee shivered, although he was far from cold. Upon waking up panic had over taken him and now just hours from leaving he was nothing but a pathetic mess of raw nerves. His decision had not changed making him fear all the more.
Gaara left his office frowning, this was extremely unlike Lee to not show up and he could not afford to mess about. What greeted him when he entered his room had him standing there in shock mouth open wide in disbelief, seeing movement he quickly straightened himself but felt unable to move, round eyes twice their normal size spied him and a whimper escaped the drooping face before hiding under the covers again. Striding forward Gaara looked at the mess shaking on his bed.
"Lee, we are leaving in less than an hour" he said calmly
His only reply though was a sharp squeak that reminded the Kazekage of the noise a mouse would make as it ran in terror from a hungry cat. Staring down at the lump he closed his eyes, he was going to have to say it, that horrible word but if this didn't work then nothing will.
"Lee! This is… what you're doing, it is well… it is not" eyes held closed and teeth grinding he practically spat out the stupid word "…youthful!"
Opening his eyes he straight away noticed the stillness in the bed before the covers were flung of and Lee sat up roaring some kind of battle cry
"Kazekage-sama how could you say such terrible things to me!"
Leaping from the bed Lee began punching the air and performed a series of taijutsu kicks before turning to the sand nin with fire in his eyes
"You want youthful, I will show you youthful, watch me run 500 laps around Suna, I will do it" he shouted
Gaara smiled lightly pleased with himself, perfect results "No Lee, don't do that, we are leaving soon as I said, clean up, eat, reserve yourself, you will need the strength"
Darkened eyes studied the Konoha ninja in front of him looking for any sign of weakness
"Hai Kazekage-sama, I will do as you ordered" Lee bellowed pulling himself into a salute before turning to run out the door but froze suddenly, quickly turning he pulled his red friend into a bear hug
"Thank you Gaara-kun" he cooed kissing him on the cheek then bolting out the door disappearing before Gaara could blink
Again Gaara was glad Lee wasn't able to see him blush while stroking the kissed cheek.
At the time intended Gaara made his way to the Suna entrance, gourd strapped to his back. Exchanging pleasantries with Tsunade and A he looked around the semi large group for Lee, laughing in his head once spotting him
Lee struggled against Gai's hold, he loved his sensei but this was too much. Gai had him in a rib cracking hug with his arms pinned to his sides crying "youthful" tears
"Oh Lee, my most youthful student, you will be the most amazing Jinchuuriki to ever walk this land, your youth will radiate from you, Lee the beautiful green Jinchuuriki of youth of Konoha" Gai wailed
Lee tried to smile but stared at his sensei rather worried "Gai… Gai-sensei, can you put me down please we have to lea-"
Choking on his last word he gasped as all air left his lungs and Gai continued his rambling
"Lee, you have grown so much, you are an amazing Shinobi, a true taijutsu master, oh Lee, my Lee"
Having turned back to the other Kages Gaara suddenly turned in anger as the words "My Lee" had passed through Gai's lips, having been trying to get to Gaara, Lee noticed the action and quickly comforted the blubbering teacher before running to the angry boys side and resting a hand on his shoulder
"I do not know why he is crying Gaara, he is coming with us" Lee shrugged
Of course Gai was like a father to him and he loved him, the man had been there through everything with him he couldn't help but feel smothered by his teacher as of late. It confused him, did Gai think he would lose Lee once he had the Shukaku? Did Gai think he would become like Gaara first was when they met?
"Hurry up Lee!"
Lee looked around noticing the group had started moving and Gaara had fallen back due to his lack of movement
"Second thoughts?" Gaara teased
"No… no Gaara never" he shouted running forward to catch up to the group "I will race you to the group Kazekage-sama, if I lose I will run 1000 around Suna when we return"
"How about 500 laps and you stop calling me 'Kazekage'" Gaara offered
"Yosh! 500 laps carrying your gourd and no more 'Kazekage' or I have to run 500 laps each time I say it" Lee added
"Right then, deal, see you with the group then" Gaara laughed before shooting forward leaving Lee behind
Stumbling Lee was stunned, Gaara had just laughed, it was amazing he had to hear it again, but for now he had to win, picking up the pace he worked on gaining on the red streak speeding ahead of him.
Gaara and Lee both stood doubled over panting loudly at the entrance to the Akatsuki fortress, after reaching the group both had been too caught up in their game and ended up running ahead like careless children despite the yells and protests from the older ninja and the Hokage and Raikage who fought to control the rest of their young troops wanting to join the fun.
"Well… Lee… looks like… I win… no more… no more Kazekage" Gaara finally managed to say between gasps for air
Lee laughed and dropped to the round "I will be running myself to death then my friend because I cannot help but address you as 'The Kazekage' from time to time"
"How about 500 laps if you call me Kazekage when it annoys me huh?" Gaara said sitting down next to Lee
"Gaara-kun, we cannot just change the rules" Lee protested
Gaara smiled at him "There is an exception for everything remember"
Lee nodded and smiled back at his friend feeling the all too familiar flutter within his chest that only occurred when around or thinking about Gaara. How he loved Gaara's smile, it made him so happy that he saw it quiet often now, he also knew that smile was for him, Gaara would smirk at others but never would his lips curve up and flash white teeth the way they did when they were together
"LEE… GAARA!"
Lee looked up as an enraged Tsunade thunder towards them, her face twisted in fury
"Never in all my years have i seen such a act of reckless adolescence, I expected better, especially from you two, both of you know damn well that was completely reckless, I have every mind to send you back to Suna if you weren't valuable members of this mission, this HIGHLY important mission, I would be kicking both your asses, you could have gotten hurt, attacked, anything. Gaara, I expected better from the Kazekage of Suna, do you realize how stupid you looked to your ninja, I would not be surprised if they are embarrassed and Lee… you will be punished accordingly on our return to Suna"
Lee leapt from the ground and bowed low sobbing "Hokage-sama, I am so sorry, I forgot myself, I am stupid and reckless, I will run 1000… no 2000 laps around Suna, I will scrub every window on every building, I will not rest till I collapse, Hokage-sama I am so sorry"
Slowly getting up Gaara dusted himself off and folded his arms, turned his back on the two and said "Chill"
Both Lee and Tsunade stared jaw open at the young red head who continued to stand with his back to them. His face turned up in an unseen smirk. No old lady was going to ruin his fun and bellow at him like she was his damned mother.
Shaking her head Tsunade turned to head back to the group still moving towards them, silently wishing she could also punish Gaara.
Lee run forward and stopped in front of his friend, face still in shock "Gaara! Why did you talk to the Hokage like that? It was so disrespectful"
Crossing his arms tighter Gaara fought to keep his face from turning in to a pout "She isn't my mother" he growled turning away from Lee to meet the group.
Lee stood a few meters away from the group with Gaara looking around the cave, he couldn't see much due to a lack of light but he could tell it was huge, the floor was smooth flattened rock beneath their feet rising up to sharp jaggered rocks the higher it got. The group worked around the statue setting up alters while others sat to eat and relax before the sealing. A shiver ran up Lee's spine as he looked at the monstrous Heretical Demon statue looming over them, he still remembered when Madara had brought it to life and he now wondered how it got back here.
Turning round to speak to Gaara he noticed him gone, twisting round on the stop he spotting him seated further away from the group than they already stood
"Why are you all the way over here Gaara-kun?" Lee shivered again; concerned for his fiery friend who had fallen deadly silent the closer they got to the demon container
"Sit with me Lee" Gaara whispered
Sitting down next to him Gaara quickly huddled into Lee's side, pale hand gripping at his shirt, pale face buried in his arm
"I am scared Lee, I am actually and genuinely scared, I can easily snap you from you fear by telling you your not being youthful but it isn't so easy for me" he muttered "sure I was the Shukaku host before all this, I was born with the cursed thing but it took me so long to gain control over it and even then I could not sleep because there was the possibility of it still getting out that way"
Pushing the gourd off Lee rubbed his friends back hoping to comfort him without speaking, knowing with Gaara that sometimes action speak louder than words
"In the last year I had the Shukaku I gain complete control, I would not go as far as transforming in to it as B does but I would speak to it, I could use its power like it was my own but what if it is not the same"
Lee pulled the young man into a soft hug "Gaara-kun do not be silly, you will be fine, nothing will go wrong, it may take a little bit but after getting reacquainted I am sure you and the Shukaku will go back to how it was before"
"And what of you Lee?" Gaara pulled away from the hug to stare at him "I worry for you, that is where most of my fear is coming from, what of your out come? what is Shukaku fights you, tries to destroy you? If you fail… if we fail, if something happens both of us could get… as they put it… terminated"
Lee felt the strength he had built up for this moment crumble around him as emotions flashed raw in Gaara's eyes, never had he seen emotion to this extent on the face of the young kazekage, he couldn't help but tremble in fear, negative thoughts started to overflow in his mind, opening his mouth to speak positive and reassuring words he only managed a squeak, he watched coal circled eyes move wider and flick to the side, turning to look his body trembled more violently as Gai, Temari and Tsunade stood before them
"It is time boys" one of them mutter, too caught up in panic Lee failed to see which one it was.
Standing in front of two separate alters the boys faced Tsunade who was going over the procedure with them
"We have the most skilled sealers, the Shukaku will be released from the container here and chakra chains will detach from the alter and grab on to the demon pulling it towards you both, one of the sealers will do a splitting jutsu to half the Shukaku then the chakra chains will pull the beasts into your bodies and then the sealers will perform the appropriate seal" Tsunade finished on a smile hoping to comfort the boys, mostly Lee who looked like he was due to faint, Gaara however looked as stoic as ever, typical.
Lee zoned out completely as Tsunade finished talking and moved away leaving just the sealers in his view, obsidian eyes darted to where Gaara stood every so often to check on him but he remained unchanged, nothing of the emotion he had displayed earlier showed on him. A thunderous noise caused Lee to twist back to the front and for a moment he felt his heart stop completely before it kick started again, looming above him was the Shukaku, bent over due to the roof of the cave, although high, not high enough for the giant beast, Lee watching in terror as it spotted them and lowered its cream and blue striped face to their level, a low and rumbling snarl erupted from its maw, a single gold coin eye resting on Lee, narrowing as if to study him, Lee's chest heaved in panic, where were these chakra chains, has something gone wrong? why was nothing happening? the giant beast moved closer to him and began to open its mouth exposing razor teeth, Lee to open his mouth in an attempt to scream but was cut short as the chakra chains he had prayed for pierced his body an embedded themselves into the flesh of the Shukaku and began pulling.
Throwing back its weight the striped demon snarled in protest as the infernal chains pulled him apart, it had almost expected to be sealed within the red Suna ninja again but it never expected to be pulled apart and sealed in separate bodies. A final shriek tore through the cave as the Shukaku was ripped in half and the separate pieces were pulled deep into the bodies of the Suna and Konoha males.
Lee could hear shouting around, orders being barked then a sickening shriek and then pain, pain like no other he had ever felt, pain that the injuries he had received at the Chuuin exams could never rival, he wanted to scream, oh how he wanted to scream, he wanted it to stop, a cold hand on his chest brought him back to reality he looked down as the sealer stood up with sweat glistening and rolling down his face but still managing a smile and thumbs up at Lee.
Lee turned to Gaara and froze, Gaara stood with the throat of his sealer grasped tightly in his hands, the man's face turning a light shade of purple at the lack of air.
"GAARA!" Lee yelled ran towards him collapse at his feet his body overcome with weakness, looking up he met Gaara's face, black rimmed blue-green eyes replaced with gold, sharp crooked teeth lined his mouth and drool covered his chin
"Gaa- … no" Lee whimpered weakly
Gaara dropped the man in his hands as Lee fainted at his feet, throwing back his head he bellowed a blood curdling roar before to succumbing to the darkness over taking him.
A/N ... Do you like how i avoid telling you what sealing jutsu they used? ... i am leaving that part up to the reader because after all the research i done for it i couldn't find anything appropriate besides the seal the Fourth Hokage used to seal the Kyuubi. Ohwell. Completely understand if people are disappointed with the chapter... i would be to. Thinking of rewriting it... will try make up for it in the next chapter... my brain has gone walkies