Chapter Text
"Yeah, good kick!"
The red-haired boy rocked slowly in the swing, watching the game. He clutched his bear as he thought about asking to join the group of raucous children. Yet he knew that today, as usual, he would not be able to work up the courage to approach.
"Power shot!"
Gleeful cheers turned into a stunned silence as the children watched the ball come to a stop on the cliff above them.
"Oh man, now what do we do?"
"I don't know any wall-climbing jutsu. Do you?"
The ball began to move. Wide eyes watched it slowly descend on a cushion of sand into waiting hands.
Gaara could not believe his luck. With this, he had the perfect excuse to talk to them. He looked at the group shyly, offering up the ball. "Here." He was met with frightened stares.
"It's that Gaara."
"He's really creepy."
A cry of "Run!" had the children scattering.
"No, wait! Don't run away!" Without conscious command, tendrils of sand grabbed their legs and dragged them back to him. "Please." Gaara stared, unseeing, as the children writhed and screamed around him. "I don't want to be alone anymore."
"Let me go!" a girl shouted, and he looked over to see fear and hatred warring in her eyes.
"Never again," he decided. The sand rushed toward her.
The girl's terrified cries were interrupted by a grunt of pain from the boy who had rushed in front of her.
Startled, Gaara took in the newcomer. He immediately noticed the strange haircut and foreign clothes, as well as the fiercely determined expression that held not a trace of fear.
The boy pointed a bleeding finger. "You there! Please stop this!" In fact, both of his arms were bleeding, but he seemed not to notice.
"Who are you?" Gaara asked. Nobody from the village, that he knew. Otherwise, the boy would not be reacting so blithely.
"I am Rock Lee, from the Hidden Leaf Village! I am going to become an amazing ninja someday!" The declaration was accompanied by a bright smile.
"Rock Lee." Gaara tested the name on his tongue. It felt right. Abruptly, he asked, "Will you play with me?" He wanted to take advantage of the boy's ignorance while he could.
Lee's expression morphed into one of confusion. "Play? My friend, I believe you have mistaken sparring for playing. Although, of course, both are very enjoyable activities." Glancing at the children moaning on the ground, the boy amended his statement. "Perhaps not as enjoyable if both sides are not equally matched. But you are in luck! I will gladly serve as a worthy opponent!" He beckoned with his fingers.
Gaara stood in stunned disbelief. Never before had someone called him a friend. "No," he said finally. "I don't want to fight."
"Very well. Then we shall simply find some other method of competition! But first, you must release them." Lee nodded to the other children.
Gaara retracted the sand in a hurry and bowed at the prone figures. "I'm sorry," he said lamely. Angry glares and muttered insults were thrown his way as the children staggered to their feet. To his shock, he felt an arm being slung around his shoulders.
Lee looked at the group, an admonishing tilt to his mouth. "Friends, he has already expressed his regret! It is only honorable to accept this apology and approach your relationship with a clean slate."
The girl he had protected rolled her eyes. "Look, thanks for saving us, but that's not gonna happen. Don't you know who he is? That's Gaara, the Kazekage's son. The one with the monster inside him."
Gaara felt his blood run cold. In an instant, he saw all his hopes of making his first friend dashed.
Lee seemed not to notice the other's inner turmoil, and cheerfully replied, "Yes, I am aware."
The girl frowned. "You must've heard the stories, right? How he's bloodthirsty, how he's killed grown men walking down the street, how he could go berserk at any minute."
Gaara shuddered, and the grip on his shoulder tightened.
Lee nodded his head vigorously. "Oh, yes, I have heard those tales. And I must say, my excitement at facing an opponent with such a reputation knows no bounds!"
The girl shook her head in disgust. "It's no use, he's crazy, too. Let's go," she called to the others. Soon they were alone.
"So you know who I am." Gaara glanced at Lee, amazed at the proximity between them. "Aren't you scared?"
"A ninja such as I knows no fear! Now, what shall we compete in?"
"Compete?"
Lee removed his arm to gesticulate wildly. Gaara mourned the loss of contact. "But of course! If you do not wish to spar, surely you have some other challenge in mind." Round eyes fixated on Gaara's shawl and widened. "My apologies, I seem to have gotten blood on your clothing."
As Gaara twisted his head to look, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and glanced up. "Yashamaru?"
The man smiled down at him, although it was somewhat strained. "Hello, Gaara. Who is this?"
"I am Rock Lee, from the Hidden Leaf Village!"
"He's going to become an amazing ninja someday," Gaara finished. The boy threw him a delighted look.
"Oh." Clearly, this was not what Yashamaru had been expecting. The man's smile relaxed. "I see. What happened to his arms?"
"I interrupted a spar between Gaara and several others in hopes of serving as a worthy opponent!"
From the fallen ball and the empty playground, Yashamaru had a vague notion of what had transpired. "I'm glad you did, Lee. Why don't we get you patched up?"
The boy seemed as if he wished to protest, but finally nodded. "I will graciously accept your hospitality, sir."
"Call me Yashamaru. I'm Gaara's uncle."
After returning to the house he shared with his nephew, Yashamaru applied disinfectant and bandages to Lee's wounds while the other boy looked on in silence. When the man left the room to put away the medical supplies, Gaara followed.
"Yashamaru?"
"Yes?" The man turned.
"What does pain feel like?" Gaara looked down. "I've never been hurt before, so I was wondering."
Yashamaru gave him a troubled look. "How should I explain this? It's unpleasant and unbearable. When a person is injured, he becomes very ill at ease and can't think normally. I can't explain it well, but simply put, it's not a very good condition to be in."
Gaara thought back to the bloody gashes on Lee's arms. "Then, does Lee hate me, Yashamaru?"
"Why don't you ask him yourself, Gaara?" The man gave him an encouraging smile. "For what it's worth, I don't think he does."
"Okay."
Lee brightened as Gaara entered the room. "I am glad to see you return, my friend! I have been looking out at the village from this window. It is very different from the view I am used to!"
"Oh. I guess you're not used to this much sand."
"That is correct."
"Do you dislike it?" Gaara asked nervously.
Lee looked thoughtful. "No, I cannot say I do. Today, for example, I have seen that sand can be used to do very cool things!"
"You think my sand is cool?" Gaara hesitated. "But I hurt you. And I was going to hurt those kids."
"But you stopped when I asked you to." Lee nodded solemnly. "And you apologized immediately. That was how I knew those tales about you had to be exaggerated. You are an honorable person, my friend."
"So you don't hate me?"
"Not at all." Lee blinked, astonished at the question.
Gaara worked up his nerve, hardly daring to hope. "Then, will you be my friend?"
At Lee's answering smile, something in Gaara's chest loosened for the first time.
_
A pair of tiny hands knocked at a door in unison. It opened a sliver, and a girl's face appeared, quickly donning an expression of fear.
"Sorry about earlier. It must have hurt." Gaara held up a paper sack. "This is medicine, if you want it."
The girl caught sight of Lee at Gaara's side, and eyed him with equal parts surprise and disdain. "Go home, freaks!" With a snarl, she slammed the door shut.
Trembling, Gaara lowered the sack. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, and mustered up a smile. "I guess we failed."
"Then we shall continue trying until we succeed!" Determination blazed in Lee's eyes.
They visited the home of every child who had been part of the ball game. With each rejection, Lee's resolve seemed to only strengthen. And to Gaara's surprise, his hurt at the callous words and slammed doors dimmed with each house. Two children even accepted the medicine, albeit reluctantly.
It was night when they finished. "Do you have to go home now?" Gaara asked quietly.
"No. My mother and father are very busy. They will most likely not return to the inn tonight."
"Oh. Can I show you something, then?"
"Of course, my friend!"
Gaara smiled as he led the boy to the roof where he had spent untold sleepless nights. "I like it when you call me that," he admitted.
"I like saying it," replied Lee, sheepishly. "You are my first friend, so I have not had much opportunity to use the term before."
"What?" Gaara's eyes widened in surprise. "But you're so nice."
"I am glad you think so!" Lee's laugh bubbled up and rang out into the night air. Gaara wished he could capture the sound somehow. The other grew quiet. "The children in my village do not hold the same view, it seems. They do not believe that I can become a great ninja in my own right, since I cannot use ninjutsu or genjutsu."
"But your taijutsu is really good. You stopped my sand attack with only your arms."
Lee brightened, and Gaara could hardly dare to believe that he was the cause. "Do you think so?"
"Yes. Every ninja has their strengths and weaknesses. If you make taijutsu your strong point, you can make up for your lack of ninjutsu and genjutsu. And if you're really good at it, you'll be even better than the people who can use all three."
Gaara was surprised to see the other's eyes watering, and worried that he had misspoken. His fears were allayed when he was tackled into a teary hug. "Thank you! You are right, my friend. I will work hard and become a taijutsu master, as well as a splendid ninja!"
Lee was warm and soft against him, and Gaara could only try desperately to memorize the feeling of another human in his arms.
Too soon, the boy beamed and drew back. "What is it that you wished for me to see?"
"Oh." Gaara pointed toward the sky dazedly. "Look up." The warmth of Lee's body lingered against him, an intangible shield against the coolness of the night.
Lee obeyed. The pale moon glowed above, a thin sliver hung painstakingly amid a backdrop of stars. Soft silver light spilled over the village, the buildings and dunes appearing for all the world like slumbering ethereal beasts.
"It is beautiful," Lee said in wonder. "Thank you for showing me, my friend."
"You're welcome." The words were strange on Gaara's lips. "Shukaku doesn't let me sleep much, so I spend a lot of nights up here."
"Shukaku?"
Gaara sucked in a sharp breath. "It's the thing that's sealed inside me."
"Is it painful?"
"It hurts here." Gaara clutched at his heart.
Lee frowned in sympathy. "That is awful. A wound of the heart must be very difficult to fix."
"When I'm with you, it doesn't hurt," Gaara replied without thinking.
"Then it is decided! I will spend as much time with you as possible in hopes of remedying this malady, my friend," Lee vowed.
Gaara wondered why his world was blurry, and realized that he was crying. It was strange. Before, when he cried, he always felt an unbearable ache in his chest. Now there was only a peculiar warmth. He smiled and wiped away the tears. "I'm glad."
_
When Gaara said Shukaku did not let him sleep much, Lee did not realize the boy meant at all.
It was late evening, and Gaara had accompanied the other back to the inn after another day of play. Lee looked at the empty room, and back at his friend.
"Gaara, would you like to stay for a sleepover?"
"What's that?" Gaara asked out of curiosity, knowing he would agree regardless.
Lee's eyes lit up. "It is when friends stay up late together and then go to sleep in the same room!"
"Oh." Gaara hated to disappoint the boy. "I can't."
Lee's face fell. "I understand. Your family must be worried, and you are expected at home."
Gaara shook his head. Yashamaru knew he had taken to staying out at night, thanks to his insomnia. "No, I mean, I can't sleep."
"Really?" Surprise washed over Lee's face. "You do not get tired?"
"A little," Gaara admitted. "But Shukaku says that if I sleep, he'll get out. Bad things happen when he gets out."
"That is terrible! Has this always been the case?"
"Yeah."
Lee's eyes trembled with emotion. "For years, you have endured such bodily fatigue." He clasped the boy's hands in his own. "My respect for you has grown tenfold, my friend!"
Gaara stopped staring in fascination at their joined hands long enough to glance at the other tentatively. "Does this mean we can't have a sleepover?"
"Of course not! I am afraid it only means that you will be awfully bored for part of the night. I will do my best to keep you company until sleep claims me, however!" Lee dropped his hands, clenching a fist to show his resolve.
"That's okay."
It was amusing to watch Lee struggle to stay awake. Several times he seemed to drift off in the middle of a sentence, only to snap back to alertness a minute later, and apologize profusely for losing the thread of the conversation. Finally, he fell into a deep sleep, slumping over onto the sheets. Gaara eased him back and drew the covers up, then settled into a chair against the wall.
Perhaps later in life he would come to understand that watching someone while they slept was frowned upon. But right now, he was too busy noticing how the newfound warmth in his chest expanded as he observed Lee's own chest rise and fall with a comforting regularity.
'Hey, runt.'
Gaara knew that voice. 'What do you want?'
'Why so rude? I've been lonely! You haven't been paying me any attention recently.'
'You're one to talk about being rude.'
'Hey, I'm watching my language, aren't I? Anyway, what's with the kid? Why haven't you killed him yet?'
Gaara felt a chill run through him at the thought. 'I'm not going to kill him.'
'Ha, that's what you always say. And every single time, you're wrong!'
'Lee is different.'
'No kidding,' Shukaku scoffed. 'Those eyebrows are in a class of their own.'
'Don't make fun of my friend.'
'So poor little Gaara thinks he has friends now, does he? What a joke! Have you forgotten all the people who've spit on you, cursed your existence, and looked at you with only hatred in their eyes?'
'Lee doesn't.'
'You think he doesn't have an ulterior motive? He's just trying to get close to you so you'll let your guard down! I know these types. He'll betray you when you least expect it. And I promise, that pain will be a thousand times worse than anything you've ever felt.'
'No! You're wrong.' Against his will, Gaara could feel the beginnings of doubt gather at the edges of his mind. He had only known Lee a few days, and while the other boy was without question the nicest person Gaara had ever met, what if he was only pretending?
Shukaku sensed his victory. 'You can't deny it, runt,' he crowed. 'It's too good to be true. Friends don't just drop out of the sky like that. People aren't nice for no reason.' Tendrils of sand began creeping in through the open window. 'Better to kill him now, and save yourself the hurt later.'
Gaara shuddered. He would not be able to bear it if the other turned on him, this much he knew. But he recalled that earnest promise made beneath the moon. 'He won't betray me,' the boy murmured, and sensed the truth in that statement. Above all, he believed in Lee. The sand retreated.
Shukaku made a frustrated noise. 'Shitty kids and their shitty logic. Don't come crying to me when my prediction comes true!'
'What happened to watching your language?'
'Shut the fuck up!' Shukaku roared back, and a small smile tugged at Gaara's lips.