That night, Ino slept over and Lee felt so empty. Gaara was reasonably upset, but he seemed to distance himself from Lee the most. Lee wanted to be the one Gaara went to. Not tonight. For a while Gaara and Ino were on the couch just talking and when Lee walked in, they stopped talking to stare at him.
"Just saying goodnight." Lee forced a smile.
"Oh. Goodnight, Lee." Gaara said without emotion.
"Would you like me to do anything for you before I go to bed?" Lee asked and Gaara shook his head.
"No thank you, Lee."
So Lee went to his room and stared at his ceiling with emotions just swirling around his mind. Sakura called him to talk for a while. He wondered if she knew Ino was over and wanted to check on him. If she did, she didn't mention it. She did have some interesting questions though.
"Hey Lee, is Gaara okay?" Lee was surprised by the amount of concern in her voice. "I mean his dad was really shitty tonight and I was just wondering if he's doing alright."
"I am unsure. I do not think so but he does not wish to talk to me right now. He is with Ino." Sakura stayed quiet for a minute.
"How did those two become friends, anyway? I mean, Ino and I used to be friends when we were younger and I can't imagine her being friends with someone like Gaara." Lee frowned.
"Why not? Gaara is an amazing person-"
"Lee I'm not insulting Gaara. I'm just saying from what I know of Ino, and the little I know of Gaara, I can't imagine they'd have common ground to speak on. Haven't you ever wondered what they talk about?" Lee had to admit that he did.
"Last time I heard them talking, they were arguing over when to put milk in cereal so I am sure they do not run out of dumb things to say." Lee said with a fond smile. "I also hear them watching scary movies a lot. Ino gets scared and Gaara laughs at her."
"...Hey Lee, I have a question."
"Yes, blossom?" There was a stifled giggle from the other line.
"Okay, I don't want you to think I'm being rude or anything, this is just curiosity. I know it's none of my business, but... is Gaara gay?" Lee doesn't know why he told Sakura, it just came out.
"No, he's demisexual. Ino calls him gay though and he doesn't care." Lee smacked himself in the face for providing all of the information Sakura shouldn't have. As far as Lee knew, Lee was the only one Gaara told. He didn't even tell Ino.
"Oh. That's interesting. I wonder how he figured that out." But like word vomit...
"He told me he thought he was asexual but felt attraction to someone he loved and found out that he could feel those emotions that way." Lee said and face-palmed. He didn't know what the hell he was doing. A part of him just wanted to talk about Gaara, but he shouldn't be telling Sakura his personal business.
"Do you know who it was?" Sakura asked and Lee paused. That was a good question. Gaara seemed to like him, yes. But... he found out he was demi because he was intimate with someone he loved. As far as Lee could remember, they weren't intimate. The feeling of dread hit his stomach hard. "Lee?"
"I... I actually do not know." Sakura made a noise.
"Oh Lee, I know he's your best friend but sometimes friends have secrets. I'm sure he'll tell you when he's ready. Anyway, enough about Gaara. How do you think Sasuke is doing now that he was outed at dinner?"
"I know Sasuke will be okay. I am going to call him a bit later. With any luck, me holding off calling him will ensure that he tells Naruto his feelings." Sakura laughed and it was such a nice sound to hear right now.
"Yeah, everyone knew but Naruto. Isn't that silly?" But Lee didn't agree. He couldn't.
"Sasuke! There you are, man. I've been looking for you for like, ever." Naruto grumbled and sat next to his sulking friend. Sasuke sat on a park bench in the town square. There were only a few street lamps around and Sasuke's face was barely illuminated by the light.
"You weren't supposed to actually find me, idiot." Sasuke snapped and Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Hey buddy, listen. Just because I know you're gay like 100% for sure, doesn't mean anything to me. No idea why you ran off. No one at that table cares. I mean, maybe Rasa because that guys a fuckin' prick. He was so rude all night! And I have NO idea how he insulted that food. Just sayin' I left before dessert to find your sorry ass, Sasuke. Anyway, my original statement, no one cares. I know you probably wanted to do it yourself, but Itachi loves you, pervy old grandpa of mine loves you,... Temari doesn't even know you... Basically the people who know you don't care and the people that don't know you don't give a shit because they don't know you. Is this making sense?"
"Naruto, for the love of Christ, stop rambling." Naruto punched Sasuke's arm.
"Hey, asshole, I'm trying to be a good friend here. You're makin' it kinda difficult with your... personality." Sasuke scoffed.
"Wow, a word that is 5 syllables, how long did it take you to learn that one?" Naruto completely ignored him.
"Hey Sasuke, now that I know for sure you're gay, wanna tell me how you found out? Like did you check me out and were like 'whoa man, Naruto is super hot, I love penis.' Or like, what? I mean, no matter what you say, I will always know the truth, and I just said the truth, so..." Sasuke looked away from Naruto and stared at a tree. Why was Naruto the dumbest person but said things that were true. "Hey, Sasuke, I'm just trying to make you laugh."
"Why?!" Sasuke snapped and Naruto flinched and leaned back on the bench, his expression crestfallen.
"..." He shifted on the bench and sighed. In the softest, most defeated voice he whispered, "I just wanted to make you happy forever cause you're always so sad."
Sasuke froze. The words repeated in his head several times. He couldn't fight the initial response to the words with his eyes tearing up. He continued to stare at the tree in front of him and noticed that Naruto didn't move from his spot.
"...Thank you." Sasuke said quietly and felt Naruto's hand on his back.
"I'm here for you, man. You know I'll always be here." Sasuke wondered how true it was. For now, he didn't question it. He let Naruto rub his back while both of them sat on a park bench in the darkness looking at the sky.
Ino and Gaara did not sleep at all. Gaara didn't mind, he preferred not sleeping, especially when it wasn't with Lee since he liked cuddling. Now that he thought about it, he was fairly certain he would've been able to cuddle with Ino if he wanted to. She was a very snuggly person. When she wasn't talking and being a bitch like normal.
At around 3 in the morning, Ino, Gaara and Kakashi sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee. None of them said anything, they just sipped on their coffee. That was, until Guy ran down the stairs in one of the ugliest outfits any of them had ever seen, but he was super happy about something so that was good at least.
"Rival!" Kakashi made a hand gesture like 'what do you want from my life' and Guy pulled out a catalogue. "I was up looking at all of the black Friday sales instead of doing anything you asked me to do," Kakashi rolled his eyes but didn't seem surprised, "and I found out that this sporting goods shop is having a wonderful sale and we can buy things for the dojo! Let's go! The store opens at 630, but if we go now we can sit in front of the door and wait for them to open." Everyone stared at him.
"Who the fuck gets up at 3 in the morning to get sporting equipment?" Kakashi's tone just oozed with defeat and Ino bit her lip to stop herself from laughing, wanting to ask the same question. Gaara was used to this so didn't think to question it. "Trust me. We'll be fine if we wait."
"But-but-!" Guy protested and pointed to Gaara and Ino. "They are awake! This means there are people awake for black Friday this early!"
"Guy, if we were going anywhere this early for a black Friday sale, it wouldn't be sports equipment. It would be electronics." Gaara explained and sipped on his coffee.
"There is no reason for us to go now. What did you two want to buy anyway?" Gaara shrugged.
"I assumed I was being dragged along to hold Ino's bags." Ino smiled sweetly at him.
"Oh, honey~!" She cooed. "You know me so well!" Gaara rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm totally going for the makeup deals and they don't open their doors for a while. And that's inside the mall so I can't really stand outside the door to them unless we break in." Guy gave her a look.
"No, we aren't breaking in, Guy, damn it, what is wrong with you." Kakashi rubbed his temples and Guy just smiled at him. "We aren't going." Guy continued to smile. "I said we aren't-"
Guy, Ino, Kakashi, Gaara, and a half asleep Lee were in the car driving to the mall at 3:27am.
"I fucking hate everything." Kakashi grumbled and Guy drove with the biggest grin on his face.
"Ohhhh! Gaara! You look so cute! My little panda!" Gaara glared at Ino but Lee seemed to have the same expression on his face that she did.
"You are very cute, Gaara!" He agreed and Gaara ripped off the panda sweater.
"I'm not buying a panda sweater. You couldn't pay me to wear that thing. I thought we were here to buy makeup. Why are we in this store?" Ino shrugged.
"There was a huge line. But we can totally go back." So that's how Sakura found Lee, Gaara and Ino. With Ino dragging both boys by their arms to the makeup store.
"Lee?! What are you doing here so early?" Sakura asked and the question of why he was with Ino stayed quiet, for now.
"My dad needed to get here 3 hours before opening to buy dojo equipment. He decided at 3am that I did not need to sleep today and put all of us in the car. Much to everyone's surprise, I am sure, the sports store was completely empty and we did not shockingly have to get here 3 hours before the mall opened. Now, he is buying Christmas decorations and Kakashi is not very happy. I am unsure how we are all fitting in the car to get back." Gaara snorted. "What are you doing here so early?"
"Oh. I'm buying Christmas gifts. It's the best time, after all." Gaara shared a look with Ino.
"Why didn't I think of that?" He mumbled and Ino shrugged.
"I don't know but you can buy me makeup for Christmas if you want." Gaara scoffed and Ino smirked. "Don't be a wiseass. You should be nice to me, I'm your bestie for life. We should get best friend necklaces!" Gaara gave her a warning look and now Ino looked way too excited and Gaara knew he was fucked.
"If you're going to force this on me, can I please recommend that it isn't... awful." Ino smiled sweetly at him.
"Of course you can recommend it. Doesn't mean I'll listen."
"You're a bitch."
"You're an asshole. Now let's go, lover. I'm sure Lee would like time with... his woman." Ino said, eyeing the two. Lee felt shame realizing her jab that Sakura wouldn't understand. Ino linked arms with Gaara and the two walked away, leaving Lee with Sakura alone.
"I seriously don't understand how they're friends, but I guess it works." Sakura was still confused. "Have you heard from Sasuke?"
"Huh?... Oh, yes. I talked to him last night. He is okay. He said he talked to Naruto for a while." Sakura grinned and Lee shook his head. "No. Nothing of the sort." She frowned. "We can only hope he gains the courage soon."
"Why? Naruto isn't going anywhere." Lee nodded but wondered if that was true. "Anyway, wanna come shopping with me? I already bought your gift so don't worry, you won't find it." She winked and he laughed nervously.
"Guy, for the love of Christ, why the fuck are we at a pine tree lot?" Guy parked the car and turned it off. "Please don't tell me we're buying a tree right now."
"Time to buy our tree!" Lee cheered from the back and opened the door.
"See? Lee is excited." Guy argued and Kakashi sighed and mumbled an 'he's always excited' under his breath. Ino and Gaara exited the car and they were impressed with how many people were actually buying their Christmas tree.
"I've never had a Christmas tree before." Gaara admitted quietly, not realizing he said it out-loud. Ino and Lee looked at each other, then at Gaara. That was a silent vow that they were going to pick the best damned tree in the lot.
Lee helped Ino and Gaara on the truck that would drive them to the fields and laughed watching his dad take so many pictures of the trees and Kakashi and Kakashi was just arguing with him the entire time.
It was a beautiful day outside and Gaara looked up at the blue sky and smiled. If he leaned in a little too close to Lee, no one mentioned it.
In fact, he was pretty sure he saw Ino take a picture.