"Hey, Sasuke." Sasuke turned around to face Lee. "Is your brother still doing piano lessons?"

"Yeah, why?" Sasuke asked with a surprisingly passive face for the topic of his brother.

"A while back Gaara mentioned he always wanted to learn the piano so I wanted to get him lessons for Christmas." Sasuke nodded and unzipped the front pocket of his bookbag. He handed Lee a business card.

"Yeah he does it out of the estate instead of the studio. He's trying to get a room renovated there though to be a studio." Lee nodded his thanks and read the card, but once he saw the familiar mop of red hair, he pocketed the card. "What are you going to get Sakura?"

"Um... what?" Sasuke rolled his eyes realizing Lee wasn't paying attention. "Sakura. Your girlfriend. What are you getting her?"

"Oh... I... I am unsure." Lee blushed and scratched the back of his head. Picking something for Gaara was insanely easy, Sakura on the other hand... unfortunately he didn't have the insight on Sakura as he had with Gaara.

"You know, Gaara isn't going to wait forever." Sasuke muttered and closed his locker. "Someone is bound to steal him away from right under your nose."

"Why?" Lee asked, eyebrow raised. "Are you interested?" Sasuke blushed and shook his head.

"No! He isn't my type." Lee grinned. "Don't even say it."

"You are right. He is not your type." Lee teased. "Your type is more blonde."

"Lee, you're an-"

"Hey guys! What did I miss?" Naruto asked loudly and Sasuke winced at the loudness of his voice.

"Jesus, Naruto. Can you learn to be quiet for 3 goddamn seconds?" Sasuke growled and Naruto smacked Sasuke's books to the floor.

"Fuck you, Uchiha. I'll be as loud an annoying as I want!" Lee watched the two bicker and shook his head. He wondered how much they had to fight before they eventually started to date.

Gaara sat in the back of the café looking around the kitchen. There was so much to do but no part of him wanted to do anything. It was difficult to inspire himself to do anything right now. Gaara was still depressed, he could feel it in his heart. Nothing seemed to help, especially today. It was harder today. He saw Lee and Sakura a lot walking through the hallway. They weren't even acting like a couple, just the fact that they were together was enough to trigger Gaara's bad mood. Gaara wanted a friend. Not Lee, he couldn't talk to Lee about Lee, not Ino, Gaara could literally murder someone and Ino would take his side (not really a bad thing if Gaara wasn't looking for someone to put things in perspective for him) and he couldn't talk to Kakashi or Guy since they were Lee's parents. What to do?

Gaara was tired, he walked out of the kitchen and stood up front next to Shikamaru. He was sitting on a stool (which when Temari was around, was a strict no-no) playing on his phone. Gaara really didn't care. He started making himself a drink and Shikamaru glanced up noticing the sour look on Gaara's face.

"You miss Ino or something?" He asked flatly and Gaara shook his head but before Shikamaru could question him, Itachi walked in.

Gaara had seen Itachi quite a few times. There was something interesting about him. He was tall, handsome and oddly plain. His dark hair and dark eyes were nothing to brag about, in fact the combination reminded him of Lee which made his heart hurt.

"What's up, Itachi? How ya doin?" Shikamaru asked, still not moving from his seat.

"I can't complain too much." Itachi shrugged and leaned on the counter and looked at Gaara and gave him a smile.

"Hello. I know I've seen you before, I'm Sasuke's older brother." Itachi held out his hand and Gaara shook it, something about Itachi was calming. Maybe it was his tone, his relaxed posture, his calm personality. Gaara didn't know, but suddenly he didn't remember feeling so depressed anymore. He was calm.

"I'm Gaara." Gaara introduced and Itachi smiled softly again.

"It is nice to formally meet you, Gaara." By this point, Shikamaru had already made Itachi's drink, picked up a blueberry muffin and placed it on the counter. Itachi dropped the money on the counter so Shikamaru could get to it when he was able to and looked at the muffin.

"You're the baker here, correct?" Gaara nodded mutely. "You're great at what you do. I love the muffins you make. The raw sugar on top is a nice touch. Perfect for my sweet tooth. I hope you enjoy making them as much as I love to eat them." Gaara doesn't know why he was so awkward around Itachi, nor did he know why he lied, but he tried his best to smile at Itachi and said,

"Oh, making muffins is my favorite."

"Guy..." Kakashi's voice was a low warning as he stared at the table that had a huge bouquet of flowers.

"Yes, Rival~?" Guy yelled from a different room.

"You bought me flowers? You know I hate flowers..." Guy walked into the room and gave Kakashi a kiss on the cheek.

"Yes but I bought you winter roses and you hate those the least!" He grinned and Kakashi bit his inner cheek to stop himself from smiling, not wanting to lose the resolve he had on his face. "Aw, come on, you can smile~!"

"No, shut up." Kakashi pushed Guy away and turned his head so he couldn't see the smile he had on his face.

"Are you smiling~?" Guy practically giggled and kept pulling Kakashi closer and was met with a half-hearted fight. Kakashi kept shoving his arms away but Guy was laughing too much. "Aw, rival, do you like me~?"

"Nooo. You're annoying leave me alone." Kakashi protested and Guy finally was able to get Kakashi to look him in the eyes. Kakashi saw the big grin on Guy's face and it only grew when he saw the smile on Kakashi's face and the pinkness of his cheeks. "I think you do like me~" Guy hugged Kakashi tightly.

"Shut up, we're married. Of course I don't like you." Kakashi said dryly and Guy pushed him to the couch and snuggled up with him.

"You ~love~ me." Kakashi rolled his eyes and let his head rest on Guy's shoulders.

"Thank you for the flowers. I hate them." Guy smiled and kissed Kakashi's cheek.

"Thank you for you. I love you." Kakashi tried really hard to keep himself from smiling, Guy would give him that.

"Your friend Gaara is nice." Itachi mentioned as he put down his bag in the living room while Sasuke sat on the couch. "He gave me this for you." He threw a pastry bag at Sasuke and Sasuke ripped it opened.

"We aren't really close friends, but yeah he's nice." Itachi sat down on the couch and stared at Sasuke. "What?"

"He's cute too." Sasuke's face turned bright red.

"What?! No!" Itachi chuckled and ate his muffin.

"What? He is. Adorable, really. Calm, can cook very well. He has family issues, but we all do..." Sasuke shook his head.

"No. I can't date Gaara. End of story." Itachi raised his eyebrow.

"Why not? Is he dating someone?" He asked and Sasuke opened his mouth, then shut it again. "What am I missing?"

"He isn't... dating anyone. But everyone knows him and Lee like each other." Sasuke said with an eye roll.

"... Isn't Lee dating Sakura though?" Sasuke nodded. "Then why should it matter? If he liked Gaara enough he would be dating him." Sasuke sighed.

"You don't have to stress that point to me. I know already. We've been trying to break up Sakura and Lee for over a month." Itachi shrugged.

"Seems weird to me, but okay... Oh, and Sasuke?" Sasuke looked up from eating his own muffin. "You never said you didn't think Gaara was cute." Itachi's grin was wide and Sasuke's face burned. Sasuke threw his shoe at a laughing Itachi.

Gaara woke up early the next morning. Sadly, he was in his own bed. Lee got home late last night and so did he so neither of them had time to talk.

Gaara put on a pair of longjohns and then a pair of gray sweatpants over. It was freezing outside! He pulled on a black turtleneck and a pair of thick socks. He walked to Lee's room and knocked on the door. Lee opened it, half dressed and bright eyed.

"Oh wonderful! Are you coming to the dojo with me?" He asked with the sweetest smile. Gaara nodded and his smile grew. "I am very happy to hear that. Would you like a sweater? I think you will be cold in just your turtleneck." Lee offered and was already getting a sweater from the closet. Gaara put it on with a soft thank you.

Lee watched Gaara put on the sweater. That was his dojo issued sweater. It had the dojo logo on the front and his name on the back. They were very popular during the wintertime. He had that sweater for a few years. It fit Gaara nicely.

"You look very cute, Gaara." Lee said happily, turning to find a shirt.

"Lee..." Gaara started and Lee stopped what he was doing and looked at Gaara.

"Are you okay?" His voice and face oozed concern and Gaara wondered how a person could be so genuine. "Would you like me to do anything?" Gaara had so many things he wanted to say but couldn't find the words. He just stared at Lee, his mouth opened a fraction and his face becoming more and more red. Lee stepped to him and stood close, cupping his cheek. "Do you need to talk?"

Gaara frowned and his brow furrowed together. He felt as though he knew what he wanted to say, but he honestly didn't know how to say it. The closer Lee stood to him, the more complicated the thinking process became. Gaara decided thinking wasn't working so turned off his brain long enough to throw his arms around Lee's neck and pull him close. Their noses touched and Lee's cheeks turned pink.

"Would you like a kiss, Gaara?" Lee asked breathily against Gaara's lips. Gaara gave a tentative nod, his body was shaking. He shouldn't be doing this. He shouldn't be doing this.

Lee's lips touched his own and his brain stopped working again. He couldn't think of how kissing Lee was a bad idea in any way. Just having Lee in front of him with his lips touching Gaara's was enough to stop all reasonable thinking.

Gaara's hands let go of Lee's neck and he lazily ran them down Lee's torso. Lee made a shuttering moan against Gaara's lips and pushed him against the wall and held Gaara in place by putting his hands on his hips.

"Lee." The sharp inhale of his name falling from Gaara's lips made Lee whimper. Lee wasn't sure how wound up Gaara would be able to make him in under 30 seconds, but Gaara surprised even him sometimes. Lee pushed himself away, breathing heavily. He looked at Gaara, lips wet with saliva, cheeks pink, eyes hazed over with a lustful look. It was almost déjà vu. He felt like he saw that exact look on Gaara before but didn't remember when.

"I-I am sorry. I got... carried away." Lee said, clearly embarrassed. He was shifting a lot on his feet, feeling his body react to Gaara in every way possible. Gaara swallowed up all of his nervousness and took a step closer to Lee and looked at him dead in the eyes.

"Happy Birthday, Lee." He whispered and Lee stared at him with half lidded eyes and before they knew it, they were kissing again.

Gaara bit Lee's lower lip and Lee made a noise of surprise and Gaara slid his tongue into Lee's mouth. Gaara read this was a popular method of kissing, and wasn't sure why. It just felt... wet. He had to admit, the thought of kissing Lee in such a lewd way did have some effect on him. Gaara didn't expect the feeling of Lee biting his own lip and he gasped and it turned into a shuttering moan. The noise left Lee whining against his lips.

"I-I do not know... What I will do if we do not stop... but we better stop." Lee was trembling and Gaara nodded and gave him one last tiny kiss.

At the beginning of Lee's training, he explained to Gaara what each warm up or exercise was for, but towards the end he was just doing so many of one thing it wasn't worth explaining. On a good note, while Gaara thought burpees were the devil, Lee looked damn good doing them.

Early on, Lee asked if Gaara wanted to go through some warm ups with him but Gaara declined. Now that he saw the entire routine, he was glad he did. With all those squats, Gaara wasn't surprised Lee had such a nice butt, still it seemed like a lot and Gaara didn't believe he would be alive at the end. Lee was also very adamant about his training so Gaara didn't think he would take it easy on him. Gaara didn't think that was a bad thing though and thought about how Lee would be as his trainer.

Driving to school was nice. The car was super warm, Lee had music on playing quiet enough that it didn't distract him from his thoughts but loud enough that he could tell something was playing and it wasn't white noise.

It was raining outside, which sucked because Gaara was under the impression that in December it snowed all the time. Gaara never saw snow, living in the desert and all.

It was such cuddle weather that Gaara was sad he had school that day. Lee wasn't in any of his classes. He had Naruto in one single class and Ino in one class. His days at school sucked. Especially because all he did was see Lee and Sakura in the hallway.

Gaara began overthinking everything while he stared at Lee from his peripherals. With Lee kissing him like that... did he kiss Sakura like that? Did he lose control when Sakura asked for a kiss? Did he lust after her? The questions made Gaara's heart thud angrily in his chest. Why was Lee still with Sakura? Why did Lee kiss him when he was with Sakura? What was the best way to approach the situation?

"Gaara, are you alright?" Damn, Lee's voice was always so sweet and calming it was hard to imagine he'd done anything wrong.

"Just thinking of what I got for your birthday." Gaara lied simply and Lee grinned at him.

"You did not have to get me anything. Being with you is enough." He admitted and Gaara was really bitter and wanted to mumble an 'but you aren't with me, are you?' but it was Lee's birthday and he didn't want him to feel bad on his birthday.

Instead, Gaara let Lee hold his hand through the car ride to school.

Lee was showered in gifts when his friends showed up. Sakura gave him a present, Naruto, Sasuke, even people Gaara didn't know. He didn't realize Lee had more than 4 friends.

Gaara was right next to Lee when Sakura hugged him tightly and with her flirtiest face said 'you should come over after school.' The sight made him sick. He turned around and faced Sasuke and honestly, Sasuke was looking at him weird today. He didn't know why or how. It was just different. He decided to talk to Sasuke because anything was better than watching this display in front of him.

"Kakashi, Guy and I were planning on throwing Lee a small party later with cake and gifts. Would you like to come?" Sasuke nodded, always wanting to go wherever Gaara made food.

"Just cake, or regular food too? Asking for a friend." Gaara smirked at him.

"I will be cooking dinner too." Sasuke tried his best not to look excited. "You can invite your brother too if you'd like." Gaara shouldn't have been that excited at the prospect of Itachi coming over but he was.

Lee said he was going to spend some time with Sakura after school but he would be back around 5pm which was fine, it gave Gaara time to cook and get everything ready.

He was at the café putting the finishing touches on the cake. It was a two tiered cake with a fondant black belt wrapped around the middle with Happy Birthday Lee written on top with a tiny fondant Lee doing a kick. The sides of the bigger half of the cake were tiny painted martial arts poses. Gaara spent most of his day yesterday making this cake. It was stressful but finally, it was perfect.

Ino volunteered to help him bring it to the house which was good because she had a big car so he was able to sit in the back with it to make sure it didn't fall over. He realized now he should've assembled the two layers when he got to the house but whatever.

Kakashi and Guy fawned over the cake and how beautiful it was. Guy took several hundred pictures after Gaara put it down on the table and Kakashi insisted Gaara took a picture next to the cake. Even though it was embarrassing, Gaara felt nice having them make a big deal over something he did. No one praised him like Kakashi and Guy.

After that, Gaara began cooking. It was going to be rough cooking for that many people in such a limited time, but Gaara didn't mind, he liked being in the kitchen. Most people thought if someone could bake they couldn't cook and vice versa. While it was true that both of the arts required different uses in the brain, it was still enjoyable for multiple people. Baking was more of a science and Culinary was more of an art.

Naruto showed up first, apologizing for Jiraiya's lack of appearance but he had a deadline to reach. He sent a gift in his wake. Kakashi decided it was best if he opened it first, just because Lee was turning 18 didn't mean he should get presents from Jiraiya. Kakashi could shudder at the thought of what it could be.

Sasuke and Itachi were next to show up and Itachi complimented Gaara's cake and Gaara smiled at him.

"You have a nice smile. You should smile more, Gaara." He noted and Gaara shook his head, looking away embarrassed. Right now, most of everyone was in the living room and it was just Gaara and Itachi in the kitchen. The table was set up for everyone already and Kakashi didn't want to get in Gaara's way and he dragged out Guy because Guy was more likely to get in Gaara's way. Itachi though, could tell where Gaara needed to go so stealthily moved when he noticed Gaara needed him to.

"Why are you making two things?" Itachi asked and Gaara smiled at him again.

"Lee likes things way too spicy so I didn't want to kill everyone else. I decided to make Lee a smaller pot of what I was making and add more spice." He admitted and Itachi was intrigued.

"Would you mind if I tried it?" Gaara smirked at the question, Itachi clearly didn't know how spicy Lee liked his food but provided Itachi with a spoon all the same. Itachi noticed the devious smirk on Gaara's face and was a little apprehensive, but a 16 year old wasn't going to stop him from trying food.

It should've.

Itachi's face turned bright red instantly and Gaara already had a glass of milk prepared. Itachi downed the whole thing and he was still crying.

"I told you. Lee is insane." Gaara said with a chuckle and Itachi was laughing and crying at the same time.

"Wow. Oh shit this is still burning." Gaara handed him a napkin and Itachi wasn't sure if he should wipe his tongue with it or his tears. Gaara couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Itachi, a 25 year old man, sitting on the kitchen floor crying and wiping his tongue with a napkin. It was so pitiful. Gaara didn't think he ever laughed that hard.

That's how Kakashi and Sasuke found the two, a few minutes later. Itachi on the floor crying into a napkin and Gaara laughing so hard he had tears on his cheeks.

"What the fuck." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Sasuke, watch your language." Kakashi scolded, then looked back at the display. "What the fuck."

"He... tried... Lee's..." Gaara was completely red in the face and it was hard to breathe but Kakashi got the gist of it and laughed at Itachi's expense. It took a minute for Sasuke, but once he looked at the stove, he remembered when Lee told him Gaara made their dinners separately so that he could have his food spicy.

Poor Itachi.

Gaara and Itachi sat outside in the cold air after Gaara stopped laughing, which took a while. Itachi was overheating from the spice and Gaara was overheating from standing in such a small kitchen with everything going on around them.

"You shouldn't laugh at your elders like that, you know." Itachi mumbled a few minutes later and gave a fake glare to Gaara who lazily smiled at him. He was honestly so tired from waking up early, he had no sense of anything right now.

"You're not even 30 yet, right?" Itachi raised his eyebrow.

"So 30 is your old people cut off? Good to know. I'll keep that in mind." Gaara rolled his eyes. "I'm 25 if you wanted to know." Gaara nodded again.

"What is it like being 25 and an adult?" Itachi sighed and laid back on his chair.

"Same thing it was like being 16, only you try to pretend you know what you're doing and you have better skin." Gaara snorted. "Unless being 16 changed since I was 16."

"I'm almost 17 so I don't know." Itachi scoffed.

"Yeah I'm sorry I offended you. You're so mature." Gaara glared at Itachi but there was no heat to it. "Let me say one thing though, I could not even bake a boxed cake at 16 so you making that cake for Lee was really impressive. You really do know what you're doing. Do you know if that's what you want to go to school for?"

"No. Why would I want to go to school for something I can already do? Anyway, I don't think I'm going to college." Itachi sat up a bit.

"Why not?" Gaara shrugged.

"No money. Plus, I already have a job. I can just stay there and work and get money so I can live instead of wasting it on school that I might not even need. Especially if I stay with baking. There's a lot of debt for culinary and only few places to make it worth your while. I don't want to go to the city so therefore I am not making a lot of money." Itachi was impressed by Gaara's insight. "Anyway, I have to go check on the food and make sure no other brave soul tried Lee's food."

"I'll come with you."

Dinner had been done for an hour and Lee still wasn't home. It was 625 and Lee said he'd be home at the latest of 515. Kakashi called him more times than he could count, and Guy was very upset at his son's discourtesy of not even answering the damn phone.

Gaara just served dinner so no one went hungry and when they were done, Gaara did all the dishes quietly. He was angry. He was embarrassed (even though he wasn't sure what about), and he was hurt. What was more important than coming back to the person you said you were in love with? Gaara sent a few text messages but they all remained unseen. Angry and sad tears stung his eyes and he jumped when he saw Itachi leaning on the counter next to him.

"Boys are dumb." Itachi said and Gaara just nodded meekly. "Don't put anyone first that doesn't put you first. You have to be the example of how you want to be treated." Gaara looked at Itachi confused but Itachi's face remained the same. "I'm saying no boy is worth getting upset over. You'll find someone who puts you first. Give it time." He patted Gaara's back and left the kitchen. Ino walked over shortly after.

"Did Sasuke's super hot brother just hit on you?" She asked, trying to bring Gaara out of his funk of being abandoned.

"No." He said flatly and Ino frowned and eyed Itachi.

"But do you agree?" She asked and Gaara glared at her.

"Agree with what?" She smirked at him.

"That he's super hot?" Gaara's face heated up and he rolled his eyes.

"He is handsome." Hot would imply that Gaara wanted to sleep with him and he doesn't. That's something Ino didn't know yet, that Gaara wasn't gay. He didn't feel like explaining demisexuality to her just yet.

"I know right?" She gushed and looked at him again.

"Ino, he's 25, he isn't going to date an 18 year old." Ino stuck out her tongue.

"I can dream, don't ruin it." Gaara rolled his eyes and Ino turned her attention back to Gaara. "Hey, I'm just trying to make you laugh. I'm super pissed at Lee. Do you want me to punch him in the face? I will, honey. Just give me the word."

"I know you will..." Gaara said with a slight note of resignation in his voice.

"Let me do the dishes, you should relax. You've done so much for him today you need some time for you." Ino insisted and Gaara shook his head.

"No. I'd like to be right in his line of sight when he walks in the door to see his expression when he tells me why he's so late. I asked him when he would be home and I told him I had a surprise for him. He knew all of this and he still didn't show up. Why does that matter to me? It shouldn't. I'm not his boyfriend. Just the guy he makes out with randomly. I don't need any validation. I'm just like a slut. All I'm doing is singlehandedly ruining a relationship." Ino's eyes widened and she turned off the water and turned Gaara around so he was facing her. Her eyes were deadly.

"Don't you dare say that. Just because Lee is too stupid to see you're better than Sakura in every conceivable way doesn't mean that you aren't better than her in every conceivable way. It means Lee is the dumbest fucking person I've ever met. He doesn't deserve you. You're too good for him, honey. Don't let him do this to you. You're not even a slut, shut up you virgin. Have you even seen a penis before? I mean, besides your own?" Gaara turned red but shook his head slowly. "So there you go. And you aren't ruining Lee's relationship on your own. Lee had to have let you in somehow. Don't even think like that. I'm going to kick his ass when he gets him, I don't care if he's the birthday boy." Ino ranted and they heard a door slam outside and paused. Gaara rubbed his eyes quickly. Him and Ino were the only ones in the kitchen right now so they were the only ones with direct sight to the front door. They heard slow stomps up the porch steps and they heard the door open.

Kakashi and Guy were in the kitchen right as the door swung opened and everyone stared at Lee.

Only he didn't look right.

His hair was a mess, so were his clothes. His face was bright red, mainly down his cheeks and nose. He looked... destroyed. He had tears running down his face but he didn't make a single sound. He closed the door behind him and took a step into the kitchen, finally realizing he had an audience. He looked around at the lengthened table; he saw the food on the stove, the people in the living room who apparently hadn't heard him come in. He saw the beautiful cake on the counter that must've taken Gaara forever to make. He saw the look of surprise on his parent's faces, the look of confusion on Ino's and finally he looked at Gaara.

He loved Gaara so much it hurt. His body ached thinking about everything that happened today and he felt so much guilt he could barely breathe and there stood Gaara looking just as hurt as he felt and he didn't know what to do.

"Lee... are you..." Kakashi didn't finish the sentence, he saw something in Lee's eyes and understood. He didn't like it, but he understood.

Lee looked at Gaara again. He walked over and stood in front of him for a minute, more tears ran down his face and he gave Gaara a hug. The hug seemed to last forever and at the same time, the shortest hug they ever had. Lee pulled away, giving Gaara one last glance with empty eyes. He walked to the stairs and Gaara heard him softly make it to his bedroom door and heard the door close with a quiet click.

What happened to Lee?