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Diplomatic Relations	By : Maldoror Category: Naruto > General Views: 1465 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 21
- 22
- 23
Disclaimer: Naruto is the brainchild of Kishimoto-sama, and I am not worthy. I merely borrow the manga's characters and situations, and make no money off of them.

Warning: NC17 (booya), with the usual oddness, inappropriate humour, tension, traces of WAFF etc. (though I think this one rates a bit higher on the 'normal' scale than the first one. Maybe.)

Little note: I avoid purple prose in my lemons, and I don't normally shy away from direct language, as my previous fics can attest. But since I'm writing DR in Lee's POV, the language I am using is quite different from, say, Wufei, or Kakashi. For instance, the NC17-level wording has been toned down because I can't imagine Lee even thinking that sort of stuff, while the word 'boyfriend' has crept in. I have never before in any fic used the word boyfriend seriously ^^; But it seems appropriate to Lee's mentality. It's actually quite a nice change to write someone with a romantic streak, who's not too afraid of his emotions and can use the word 'love' without having to be tortured with red-hot irons first.
Part Twenty: Waiting For Morning
Lee was a heavy sleeper; a drawback for a Shinobi. When he'd made Chuunin rank, Gai-sensei had mentioned he would try to train him out of it, presumably by ambushing Lee in his sleep until the young Shinobi developed the ability to catnap like other ninja.

But strangely enough, the training had never happened. Lee had woken up one day with his bedroom in odd disarray and his pillow on the floor, but no signs of his teacher. Then Gai-sensei had said something about Lee having the best reflexes in any circumstances in all the Hidden Villages - which was flattering - and told Lee to sleep as soundly as he wanted to. Lee wasn't sure why his beloved teacher was letting him get away with such a flaw, but if Gai-sensei told him he could sleep, then he most certainly could.

It generally took Lee a few minutes to wake up, even when he'd sensed danger. Fortunately he'd never been attacked in his sleep before; though there had been that odd occurrence on the way to a mission three years ago, when he woke up to find the inn floor littered with unconscious bandits...he'd assumed Neji had dealt with the ruffians and was toying with him by refusing to admit it.

Still half-asleep, Lee reached up and, on the second try, managed to rub his nose. He yawned widely and glanced around. It was the middle of the night; in the dark, quiet room, he could make out the dim shapes of his wardrobe's sliding doors, the shelf with his training weights, the basin and jug on their stand-

His nerves were prickling.

He sat up abruptly as he realized there was someone sitting in his chair at the desk. He didn't do more than sit up, though, because at the same moment he became aware of the intruder, his senses and the odd tingle he always felt in the chest area identified the shadow-upon-shadow sitting there.

"Ga-" Lee bit his lip and glanced at the wall behind him.

The Jounin barracks had been built knowing it would house a dozen hair-trigger killers (well, at this point in time, eleven hair-trigger killers and one Jounin who slept nice and soundly). The walls were thick, with built-in wardrobes, cupboards and storage closets between each room to give them further isolation. That being said, Lee knew that a raised voice could still be heard by neighbours who trained their hearing for battlefield conditions.

"Gaara? Everything okay?" he whispered cautiously; they'd promised Temari to be discreet.

The dark shape didn't move, but his breathing was regular and there was no smell of blood or anything untoward. Lee could make out his lover's profile; that other bumpy shape leaning against a leg of the desk was the gourd. A tiny patch of moonlight blurred by heavy curtains fell near the door. Lee noticed an extra pair of sandals there; so Gaara had come in that way. Damn, Lee was going to have to ask him how he managed to pop Lee's lock each time like it wasn't even there, this was twice Gaara had let himself into Lee's room as if the Jounin had left the door wide open.

"What are you doing here?" Lee quietly asked.

"Your cactus is dying."

The words were barely audible. Lee switched on his bedside lamp so he could see Gaara's lips when he spoke.

"Yeah," he sighed softly, glancing at the small green lump in its terracotta pot on the desk. "I don't know why they keep on doing that. This is the fifth one I've had."

Gaara hadn't lifted his fixed gaze from the dying plant. He hadn't even blinked when the light came on. There was something in his stance that made Lee look at him with concern.

"You water it too much." It was barely a movement of the lips and throat; Lee leaned forward until he was almost falling out of bed to hear what Gaara was saying.

Lee shook his head seriously. "I give it the exact amount of water I found indicated in a book in Suna's library."

"That book would have been written with our rock gardens in mind. Higher water loss in those conditions. Its roots developed in a barren wasteland." Fingers touched the needles which had started to lose their sharpness and sag a bit. "You kill it with too much kindness..."

"Oh. I'll water it less then." Lee's eyes strayed to his bedside alarm clock. Why were they talking horticulture at two in the morning?

He started at a sudden breeze against his bare chest. He blinked up at Gaara who was standing a few inches from the bed, looking down at him. Behind the Kazekage, the desk's chair swung on its axis in silence.

"It's too late," Gaara said, hard, unblinking eyes fixed on Lee's. "At this point, the loss of what you've given it would be just as fatal."

"Oh." Lee looked up at him owlishly and wondered if they were talking about horticulture.

"If you give it more nutrients, sandier ground and a bigger pot, it might survive," Gaara added a bit more prosaically, glancing back at the plant.

"Good, I'll do that, thanks" Lee said, mouth on automatic. He had the feeling that the health of his cactus was the furthest thing from Gaara's mind right now.

On instinct, he moved a bit to one side and patted the bed beside him.

"Want to sit down?"

Gaara stared down at the freed space as if he didn't understand Lee's gesture. Oh yeah, there was definitely something amiss here.

Just as Lee opened his mouth to ask a question, the Kazekage moved and sat down slowly. Lee made some more room as Gaara settled beside him. He wasn't looking at Lee anymore.

Lee leaned forward so he could see Gaara's face, shadowed by the light from the lamp.

"So?" he asked brightly - and very quietly. "What's up?"

"I wanted to see you. You sleep very heavily."

"Ah, yes, so I've been told." Lee rubbed the back of his neck in contrition.

Silence filled the room again. Lee blinked sleepily. Gaara might be an insomniac by training and nature, but Lee needed his seven hours a night. Not that he wanted his boyfriend to leave, of course. Maybe Gaara wouldn't mind if Lee dozed a bit more, though? Actually, having Gaara in his bed while he slept was quite appealing...

Lee's dull gaze drifted around the room when Gaara's features proved unreadable. He looked blankly at his cactus; he'd have to remember to get it a new pot...His uniform was hanging from the clothes rack next to the desk, all cleaned and pressed because tomorrow - today, technically - was the end of his sick leave, and he was officially back on duty, even though he-

Oh.

Lee rubbed his eyes tiredly. He'd have clued in faster if he'd been a bit more awake.

He put an arm around Gaara's shoulder and leaned into him.

"You know I won't be getting any mission right away. Right? I'm still not fully recovered," he whispered.

Gaara made no sign he'd heard.

Lee wrapped his arm further around Gaara. Then he tugged gently and lay back down, pulling Gaara with him and enfolding him into a loose hug.

He caressed Gaara's cheek, the ball of his thumb brushing the black stain near the eye socket as if once more hoping it might come off with a bit of attention. When that seemed to have no effect, he leaned forward until his mouth was just an inch away from Gaara's ear.

"When I do get a mission - and it probably won't be until the end of the week at the earliest - it'll be C-rank. Delivering a message or something."

"I've ordered injured men out on missions before," Gaara said, his voice barely audible and completely neutral. "I've ordered them on missions when I knew they might not come back."

Lee closed his eyes in pain.

"I know," he said very softly. "When the need calls for it, yes, we have to do that. But in this case, you're worrying for nothing," he added firmly, refusing to let that reality of a Shinobi's life darken his outlook tonight.

Gaara said nothing.

Lee moved back a short space so that he could look Gaara in the face.

"I'm not going on a mission in the morning, Gaara."

Still nothing.

Lee frowned. "Unless you know something I don't...?"

In the chiaroscuro painted by Lee's small bedside lamp, Gaara's lips were the colour of a sandrose, and his eyes, as he looked away and shook his head against the pillow, were more grey than blue-green.

"...When you know there's a chance you might lose something important," he said softly, his voice a monotone, "then the fear of it takes on its own reality. In my life, the worst has always happened fairly reliably."

Lee, being pretty damn unlucky himself, had to concede that Gaara had a point there. But now their luck had surely changed! They'd both survived that ordeal in the desert, despite the odds and Orochimaru's machinations, and they'd found each other and built something together through many a potential pitfall.

Of course, the difference between them was that Lee thought this was proof positive that the gods had relented and were allowing the lovers to reach for the bright Springtime of their Youth, while Gaara was just waiting for the backlash.

Lee leaned forward and spontaneously dropped a gentle, unassuming kiss on the firm line of Gaara's lips.

Gaara didn't respond, but at least he was looking back at Lee when the latter moved away again.

Lee opened his mouth to add more reassurances...

Then he realized that he could say as much as he wanted to, but the one thing he could not do was guarantee that he didn't have a mission tomorrow. It was unlikely, true, but with Kankuro's return yesterday, the two villages were about to get very busy. Konoha would probably not send him out on an arduous mission, but since they were now setting up a spy network and surveillance in a foreign country, this would require a lot of ninja, and even the wounded might need to put in several weeks of basic groundwork.

Several weeks away from Gaara...

Lee wouldn't hesitate to perform his duty, but he felt an odd wobble in the chest at the thought. Suddenly tomorrow seemed a whole lot less friendly, and logic had little to say about it.

He stared at his lover, a feeling of helplessness trying to insinuate itself into his mind. But he shook it off. He was probably being short-sighted, but he didn't want to dwell on what might happen. Morning was still far away.

He tilted his head and kissed Gaara again. Gaara was motionless in his arms for a moment. Then he moved abruptly, took Lee's face in his hands and returned the kiss with almost alarming hunger.

Lee's hands had already taken the initiative, even as he lay dazed by the sudden fierceness of Gaara's response. His fingers were sliding down his lover's back. Gaara's mouth left his; he arched against Lee's touch. Dark-ringed eyes flickered shut.

Lee's hands fastened on Gaara's waist, touched the familiar double belt looped over that black coat and around the lean muscles of Gaara's belly. Lee swallowed. He'd had fantasies about doing this for months now...

He could feel every brush of cloth, sheet and fingers along his skin; he was almost shaking with the sudden onslaught of desire and sensations. To think he'd wondered if the physical part of their relationship might cool down, now that they'd actually had sex...

His fingers knotted in the belt and he jerked Gaara close. Damn, he'd really wanted to do this- if it turned out this was nothing but a dream, then Lee would walk two hundred laps around Suna on his hands as soon as he woke up. The punishing flow of blood to his brain would teach that miserable pack of neurones to not tantalize him like this.

Gaara's breath rasped against Lee's lips. His hands were firm on Lee's face, holding the Jounin still as Gaara pressed their mouths together.

"Lee-" His voice was a harsh, breathless whisper, punctuated by hard kisses to Lee's lips and face. "Stop playing- with my belt- and take it off."

Lee whimpered. Oh man, this had to be a dream! This just wasn't fair, he was going to wake up any minute now, alone and horny-

His fingers, which were apparently smarter than he was right now, were already plying the buckle and delighting in slowly removing the belt.

Gaara's left hand slid from Lee's face, down his chest, curled over his hip in a possessive grip, then eased down the thin slacks Lee had worn to bed that night. The fingers dwelled on his thigh, finding scars that must already start to feel familiar. Then the hand curved up and caressed a hardening erection.

Lee hoped his neighbours couldn't hear the way he was breathing right now, because it sounded awfully loud to his ears. Neither of them was all that skilled in technique yet, but the advantage of being nineteen was that it didn't seem to matter much...

Gaara leaned forward again- Lee opened his mouth expectantly, but Gaara's lips ended up near his ear, brushing the skin beneath it and making Lee shiver even more.

"I would have dressed lighter if I thought we were going to do this."

It took a moment for Lee to realize Gaara was referring to his coat and tunic, which Lee's fingers - still off on their own happy trip - were having a heyday untying and removing as slooooowly as they could.

"No," Lee croaked, trying to keep his voice low despite what Gaara's hand was doing, "this is- hm- this is okay. This is fine."

Lee licked his lips- not because they were dry, but because he was afraid he might be drooling. His tongue flicked against Gaara's cheek, and he felt the body against his shudder. He slipped his leg between Gaara's which opened for him, pressing and rubbing against his thigh. His hand eased the coat off of Gaara's shoulder.

Then he lost his hold when Gaara sat up to drag Lee's pants off. Apparently tired of waiting, Gaara proceeded to quickly undress himself, to Lee's disappointment. That disappointment promptly evaporated when a warm weight settled back in his arms.

Gaara leaned in to kiss him again, but Lee was distracted, looking down at his own hand drifting across a smooth chest, touching a nipple the colour of sand on pale stone...a heartbeat flickered beneath his palm...You in me in you in me...

He looked up hesitantly into the green eyes observing him. He said, so softly it was almost less than a breath: "Gaara, can we...have sex, please?"

Gaara looked at him steadily and tilted his head as if to say, what is it that we are doing now?

"I mean, can we try...um...that again?"

His lover opened his mouth in a silent 'ah'.

He leant in again - body warm and close against Lee's- and whispered: "I didn't bring the lubricant."

Lee shivered again. This whispering business was unexpectedly sensual. It took him a few seconds to forget the feather-touch of Gaara's lips against his ear, and focus on the message.

"That's okay, I have something we can use."

Lee squirmed out of Gaara's arms and crawled to the end of the bed. He dipped his hand into his sports bag and fished out the liniment he used to stretch the scar tissue on his chest. It was thicker than the stuff Gaara's aide had innocently gotten them, but its base was the same compound, it should do fine, and at this point Lee wasn't going to be picky.

"Here," he whispered, happily diving back into Gaara's waiting arms. "And this time, you're using it on me."

"No." The word was immediate and spoken at normal volume which sounded shockingly loud in the night-time silence of the barracks. Lee instinctively put a finger to his lips, then reprovingly tapped Gaara on the nose, ignoring the dangerous look that earned him.

"Not this again. Come on, Gaara, you saw me do it, it's easy."

Gaara didn't look wary so much as stubborn.

"I don't think it was as good as it could have been," he murmured with his usual cutting honesty. "We were both too tense. I want to try it again now that we know what to expect. I want-"

"And I want to know what it feels like so that I can be sure - in my gut - that I'm not hurting you," Lee countered as firmly as he could while speaking softly.

Gaara was silent, and Lee knew his argument had scored a point.

Then Gaara leaned in close to Lee and put his mouth to the Jounin's ear. A trickle of breath caressed Lee's hair.

"But I want to feel you move in me again," Gaara whispered.

Lee managed to stifle a whimper. He didn't really need any more stimulation right now...

"Next time," he choked out with some effort.

Gaara leaned back with a frown.

"Tomorrow," Lee added gently. "Since I won't have a mission."

Gaara took the tube of liniment from Lee's fingers with a gesture of capitulation. "Here," he murmured, "I'll show you how to use this."

"I can manage!" Lee yelped, and got a hand over his mouth and a cautioning look.

Lee did actually want this; he was curious to experience this, feel Gaara in him, and see if it felt as good as Gaara had intimated. But he didn't want Gaara to have to put his fingers-...there. Maybe that didn't make much sense, but Lee wasn't in a state where he could put that much logical thought into it.

He took back the tube before Gaara could object and gave it a nervous squeeze which, considering what a nervous squeeze from Rock Lee could do, predictably spilled a good quantity over his fingers; and thigh; and sheets too, but they were due for a wash anyway. He edged away and, blushing but steadfast, put his arm around his back and felt around his ass.

The fact that Gaara was looking at him steadily wasn't helping Lee's composure. In fact, it added a whole new level of nerve-wracking and embarrassing to the business, but since Lee had been unable to tear his eyes away from his lover last time, he couldn�t very well complain now. Distracted, Lee barely noticed what he was doing. He fingered the hole, felt the resistance - wondered briefly, as he tested the tightness and the stretch of the anal ring, how on earth this was supposed to feel good for the guy getting it...Then his mind automatically connected to the muscles he was touching and ordered them to loosen up and stop strangling his fingers.

Okay, that was better. He made sure to spread the liniment around as much as he could and as deep as he could reach. Then he realized he didn't know what came next.

Gaara caught Lee's half-puzzled glance.

"Go slow," he cautioned. "You could hurt yourself otherwise. Make sure the muscles loosen and you can move your finger around easily-"

"Oh that's done." With some relief, Lee removed his fingers and manoeuvred himself to lie down on the bed-

"You've barely started."

"But I can-..." Lee paused, reminding himself that it had taken Gaara nearly ten minutes to get this far two days ago.

"Let me check," Gaara murmured, after examining Lee's face attentively for a few seconds.

Lee scooted back in a hurry, mouth open to object-

Gaara's hands settled on his thighs, firm and steady. "Let me check. I don't want to hurt you."

"But-"

Gaara's mouth sealed away Lee's automatic objection, pressing him back down against the pillow. Fingers touched his ass, found the lubricated ring of muscles and caressed them.

Lee was still gagged by the kiss, but his eyes went very wide.

Gaara touched him gently, insinuated a finger into Lee - the Jounin shuddered. When he'd done this, it had been completely mechanical. But this...was a caress...in a surprisingly sensitive place...The sensation was unique, too different to anything he'd felt before to be called 'good', but 'good' seemed to be hovering in the wings, waiting to be coaxed out by the gentleness of Gaara's touch.

Then Gaara broke the kiss and the touch became more forceful, fingers spreading out and stretching. Lee shuddered again, because this wasn't bad either, quite the contrary...

"How did you do that?" Gaara asked slowly.

"Huh?" Lee's breathing was all over the place, as Gaara's fingers continued to test for resistance they were all but failing to encounter. "Mmmhu-muscle c-control-..."

"You will teach me that trick," Gaara muttered into his ear.

Lee would be ready to teach Gaara every trick in the book as long as he didn't stop doing what he was doing, not before Lee could figure out what it was he was feeling; the sensation was surprisingly difficult to corner in his mind, but Lee loved a challenge.

He wasn't a happy Shinobi when Gaara took his fingers back. But before he could complain, his lover's weight settled over him, an arm nudged his knees and hips up, and something larger than fingers poked him. Lee's breath rattled in his throat and his heart rate soared, but it was from anticipation and excitement and some left-over embarrassment that wasn't quite sure what to do with itself; there was no fear. Rock Lee didn't fear much, especially not pain, and after feeling Gaara's fingers, now he really wanted it.

The sensation of Gaara's erection sliding past the muscles as he pressed in gently was even more indescribable than fingers, a mixture of the delicious and the bizarre. Lee's spine tingled when Gaara pressed a bit upwards. And it was Gaara...Gaara moving in him...making love to him...taking him. Lee's skin was alive with prickles of pleasure and elation, but-...

Gaara's rhythm was slow, the movements shallow. Lee canted his hips upward a bit, trying to increase the penetration. Gaara paused; Lee could see a sudden tension in his lover's eyes, in the set of his shoulders. He smiled reassuringly, and forced himself to lie still. Gaara still didn't trust his instincts; he was imitating what Lee had done to him last time, and no more. And it felt good, but-

But Lee wanted...more, he wanted something-...he didn't know what, but more of it.

Gaara's face was blank, a mask of concentration and control, without any flicker of pleasure. When he pushed in, ever so gently, and stopped, Lee's breath hitched. He squirmed unconsciously as Gaara pulled back; it threw his lover's rhythm. Lee cursed himself inwardly, but it just wasn't his nature to lie there and do nothing.

Gaara stopped moving and they stared at each other in the light of the bedside lamp. There was a moment of unspoken communication. Lee smiled gently, touched his lover's face. Gaara lost some of his tension and looked thoughtful.

Then he slipped out and rolled over, dragging Lee with him. His hands settled on Lee's hips. Lee was on his knees straddling his lover. He felt faintly embarrassed at giving such a full-on blatant view of his aroused body. This also meant they could no longer fully rely on their previous experience to guide them, but Lee had to admit that this position, for all it was brand new and untested, had a lot of possibilities...

A hand on his neck forced him to lower his head to Gaara's level.

"I don't know what you want," Gaara whispered into Lee's ear. "Show me."

The words made Lee quiver, he wasn't sure why; but the anticipation was suddenly back full force. His fingers found Gaara's erection and he moved until he could feel the tip against that suddenly very sensitive bundle of nerves and tingling muscles.

"But Lee," Gaara added, voice a bare murmur yet still managing to be stern, "don't go too-"

Lee felt the hard head and then the skin of the shaft slide into him, one fluid, beautiful wonderful full penetration-

"-fast," Gaara finished in a tight voice. He'd flinched and folded up until his head was almost touching Lee's chest as he gripped Lee's shoulders underhand.

Ooops. No pain- but he had gone a bit farther than he'd intended, Lee realized, feeling short curls and flesh against the curve of his ass. It felt good though, the sheer presence of that hardness in him...it felt...oh man, Gaara had been right last time, it just couldn't be described.

"Lee," Gaara growled, traces of concern behind the exasperation.

"It's okay, I'm fine, it doesn't hurt," Lee mumbled, eyes wide and blind, concentrating on the strange feelings shooting up his spine, down his thighs and deep inside.

While Lee tried to come to terms with it all, Gaara slowly relaxed and lay back down. Lee took that as permission to continue experimenting. He lifted himself up again, using the muscles in his legs for both power and balance with unconscious ease.

The feelings crashed into him, jarring and wild. Lee's mouth was open around a gasp, partly in surprise and partly because the pleasure tingling through his body felt like it had playfully punched him in the lungs. He hadn't thought that anything could rival the feeling of that long inner thrust inside, because that felt so strange and good - mainly strange yet very good-

But the sensation of having that hardness move out of him was also indescribable - and also good - in a quite different way.

Lee did it again, to compare. His toes were curling and his breath was coming out completely mangled, but he barely noticed.

Completely different. Going out- wonderful, like a release, leaving the muscles to relax just a bit, tingling and firing sensual messages up and down his spine. But going in- forcing that hard-on back into himself- it beggared description. A feeling of hot pleasure, of completion; challenge to take in more, harder- to feel it jab upward, deep inside, intimate-

Gaara's hands were hard on Lee's hips - adding to the strains of pleasure- and he was whispering to slow down, to avoid injury. Lee nodded absently and his rhythm didn't change one bit, his eyes wide with wonder at the range of weird, wonderful, filling, stretching sensations he was getting out of this.

Still no pain though. In the bemused state he was in, Lee felt a dash of regret for that. Most of his professional life, Lee had pushed his body to the edge as a matter of course, and the motto 'no pain, no gain' was welded deep into his muscles and bones. He thrust himself down harder, unconsciously reaching for some discomfort, some sign that he was reaching a limit that could challenge him. But damn - it felt so weird and so tight and so good- he kept forgetting what he was trying for every time his inner walls were pressed and his nerves screamed with sudden shudders of an odd pleasure that he'd never felt before.

This was-...just- stop!

Lee froze. His hands had been resting on Gaara's chest, and something strange had happened beneath his fingers; a bizarre chakra pattern had flashed through Gaara's body. It had felt abnormal and reeked of restraint, which meant Lee had done something to put his lover on edge and that was potentially dangerous.

"What-"

"Shhh." Gaara reached up and quickly touched a finger to Lee's lips.

Lee blinked repeatedly, arrested in mid-motion. Gaara didn't look distressed at all, he didn't appear to be in pain or upset, but the ripples of that power were still humming through his body and beneath Lee's palms.

"What was that?" Lee hissed.

"Nothing. Keep moving," Gaara ordered in a soft voice.

"No, that was wrong, what hap-"

"Nothing. A way of using my chakra. To control myself."

"C-control?" Lee glanced automatically at the Sand, still leaning against his desk. It was awfully close, now that he thought of it. "Did I hurt you?"

"Hurt-" Gaara rolled his eyes briefly, a very human gesture Lee hadn't seen him make very often. "No, Lee. The way you were moving...I didn't want it to end too quickly. You looked like you were having a lot of fun," Gaara added gravely.

Lee's cheeks had already been a solid red ever since he'd asked Gaara if they could have sex again; now he could feel the flush creep down his neck and up to his hairline.

"Move," Gaara ordered. His hands were on Lee's hips, urging him down.

Lee licked his lips, still unsure, and eased down fully onto Gaara's erection. The sensations fired up again and tried to distract him, but he was still a bit too frazzled. In that breathless moment before, he'd completely forgotten himself; his self-consciousness, the fact he didn't really know what he was doing, even the awe and wonder that he was having sex and this wasn't a dream at all...it was all coming back now.

Gaara's eyes flickered shut and his fingers tightened on Lee's skin. Lee obeyed their unspoken request, shuddering at the feeling of Gaara moving in him. Gaara bent one leg at the knee, pressing upwards a bit. Lee's breathing started going all over the map again as that inner pressure triggered another flash of bliss- oh right, probably the prostate, he remembered that from sex-ed-

Gaara propped himself up on one arm, caught Lee by the neck with his free hand and hauled their faces closer together.

"Move the way you were before," Gaara ordered, keeping his words to a tight, controlled whisper. "And make that sound again."

"What s-sound? My neighbours-"

"I don't care about your neighbours," Gaara growled. "Move."

Lee closed his eyes, breathed in, out, and decided to go for it. Seeing the pleasure ripple and run through Gaara's body language had been an amazing experience last time, and Lee wanted to give his lover that. So he did, throwing himself back into it with slowly renewed enthusiasm and the sort of indomitable attitude which characterized him.

But he stayed silent; out of discretion and also in part because he was now listening out for any sound he might make, trying to figure out what noise had made Gaara stare at him so hungrily.

Lee lost sense of time. The bed squeaked and counted out the seconds to the rhythm of their movements, but Lee's senses were overloaded and he couldn't focus on that, or the amount of noise it might be making...

The various strains of pleasure were blending together violently; he couldn't tell the difference now between thrusting himself onto Gaara's erection or pulling himself off again, it was all one single feeling of pulsing hot satisfaction tightening the muscles. Gaara's fingers were on his body, gripping his thigh, caressing his chest and leaving trails of pleasure. He was staring at Lee, unblinking, as if he'd never be able to tear his eyes away again.

Lee's breath rasped in his throat, he was starting to feel dizzy and- and- and now he wanted more again.

It was true that Lee had more instincts in regards to sex than Gaara had. His fingers did not need any instructions; they were on his erection before he was consciously aware of it, punching him through the barrier and finishing him off.

He probably made some kind of sound again. Fortunately, in that single shuddering moment of completion, he would not be able to remember it.

Lee went limp slowly, his body trembling with the aftershocks. He slumped forward-

Then he found himself shoved backwards. He stifled a yelp as he landed flat on his back on the bed covers, Gaara still inside him. And also over him, and shoving Lee's knees up with his shoulders.

Gaara's mouth crushed his- Lee was being bent into a rather awkward shape, testing his flexibility. But since his muscles had apparently turned to mush, it wasn't really a problem.

His hands flat on the bed for balance, and Gaara's weight pinning him, left Lee unable to move much, but he didn't mind now. With languid delight he watched his lover's face as Gaara moved in him three- four times- curls of tired pleasure wracked Lee's body in response. And then Gaara pressed against him and came.

Oh man, just when he thought it couldn't get better...too bad Gaara hadn't made that little moan again; his lips were a firm line, face tight with concentration as he reached for his climax. Lee still had high hopes to coax that noise out of Gaara when their positions were reversed again; Lee now had a few good ideas to try out on his lover to insure it.

He felt Gaara shift and slip out from inside him; still no pain or discomfort. Yeah, next time, for sure, Lee was going to apply the lube to Gaara himself, and make sure his lover was properly ready. Of course, it could just be Lee's greater resistance to pain and muscular control that had made the difference. Still, it couldn't hurt to try, and besides...it had felt shockingly good, having Gaara caress him like that, his fingers stretching and stroking Lee inside and out...Hmmmm....

Gaara was lying on him full length; Lee shifted and relaxed pleasantly. The position wasn't particularly uncomfortable for him; his muscles and bone structure could resist a lot more pressure and weight than Gaara's. He wrapped his arms around his breathless lover and let his mind wander while he contentedly basked.

...Wow, he'd really liked that. It had been better than the first time. It had lasted longer too. Gaara had been right, they'd been too uptight before, they'd not really known what they were doing. But now...Lee had a much better idea. And so did Gaara, for all his supposed 'lack of instincts'. That last bit had seemed to be pretty instinctive, hah. Would it be even better next time? And the time after that? And the time- no, it better not; both he and Gaara had jobs to do that involved them leaving the bed...

Gaara's breathing had eased, caressing the skin of Lee's neck.

Lee's yawn broke the gathering peace and quiet.

"Sorry," he murmured apologetically to the ceiling, which wasn't really in a position to excuse him.

Gaara shifted and moved, to Lee's regret.

"You need to sleep," Gaara said softly, voice near toneless.

Lee found himself gathered up firmly. Gaara shook the sheet out in an impatient gesture, then he settled back against the wall on the side of the bed, and bundled Lee against his chest, the covers around the latter's legs.

Lee blinked sleepily, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Sleep," Gaara ordered, pushing Lee's head down against his shoulder. As an afterthought, he used a fold of the sheet to clean up a few splashes of semen on their stomachs.

Lee let him, staring at the headboard and the lit lamp by the bed. He recognized this. Gaara had held him like this once before, when they'd been in the desert, after that attack by Sound. 'I felt as if nothing would be able to harm us', Gaara had told him afterwards.

Yes. Here, now, they were safe.

Until morning.

Lee didn't bother reiterating his logical argument against his having any kind of mission before another week or so. He didn't say anything. He reached up and caressed Gaara's face, his fingers gently tracing the mark on Gaara's forehead.

Then he curled up against his lover and waited for morning with him.

Or at least that was the plan.

Nobody else would have found the position all that comfortable, but Lee could fall asleep standing up in a tree if he had to. He could even fall asleep whilst running at a gentle trot. And the way Gaara's chest moved beneath him as his lover breathed softly...the warmth of his skin...Lee was out like a light barely ten minutes after Gaara had taken him in his arms.

He woke up abruptly, startled but aware of where he was and with whom.

"Hm..." Lee rubbed his eyes and glanced around. He was still in the same position, still in Gaara's arms. But Gaara had shaken him. "Whu...S'it time to getup?"

Gaara didn't say anything.

And Lee heard footsteps stop right outside his door.

He blinked at the solid wood as someone rapped on it, someone who obviously meant business.

"Lee-san?"

Lee's eyes automatically checked the security; Gaara had locked the door behind him last night, fortunately.

"Yes?" he mumbled. The sun was shining dimly through the curtains; it looked to be a bit before six.

"Special dispatch for you from Konoha."

"...For me?" Lee's brain felt numb.

"Yes sir. I'd have left it on your desk, but it had Tsunade-sama's personal seal on it, so I thought you'd want it ASAP."

Lee finished waking up in a hurry. Personal seal? But Tsunade-sama only sent letters with her personal seal when- Lee suddenly hoped the Information Desk Chuunin had made a mistake on that.

"Okay, give me a second."

He got up quickly. He didn't dare look at Gaara; he didn't want to let his lover see the faint worry in his eyes- but there was no need to worry! The Chuunin had been mistaken, it was obvious. Shizune's seal was very similar to Tsunade's, the uninitiated could easily confuse them. Or maybe it was a diplomatic dispatch...yeah, that was it.

He slipped on his pants; he needed a shower, but that would have to wait. He gave himself a quick check in his small mirror, smoothed his hair and went to unlock the door.

He opened it a crack and slipped out quickly; Gaara wouldn't be in the line of sight of the ninja outside, but Lee wasn't taking chances.

The Chuunin messenger looked at him with some surprise; normally Lee threw his door wide open and invited people in. But the man didn't comment or ask questions, good Sand Shinobi that he was. He just saluted and handed Lee the scroll.

"Thank you," Lee said automatically, returning the salute. That was Tsunade's seal alright, but that would make it a diplomatic dispatch, for sure, nothing sinister here, of course not.

The messenger nodded, turned and walked off.

Lee was about to go back inside his room when a noise made him glance up. His left-door neighbour opened her door and stepped out into the hallway.

Izakaya-san was a small woman, quite muscular for her stature, and with a formidable presence which belied her size. She was a tartar of a senior Jounin-sensei who had terrorized several teams of Sand Genin into becoming Chuunin over the years. Lee froze as she favoured him with a Look.

Strangely enough, she seemed ever so slightly disappointed to find Lee's door closed, and his body language - glued to the wood with his hand defensively on the knob - indicating he wasn't going to open it again until everyone was gone.

"Don't worry," she said tartly, as Lee cowered before her, "you were a lot more discreet than some of the other young studs in this building. I barely heard a thing and got back to sleep reasonably quickly. But these are the bachelor quarters; is this likely to be a regular event?"

Lee shook his head so hard his hair went flying. From now on, he would only contemplate having sex in Gaara's isolated residence, and very, very quietly at that.

"Pity. It would do you good. You could always move out; you're a member of Konoha's diplomatic corps, the Kazekage would probably arrange an apartment for you, if you asked him."

"That's okay," Lee croaked.

She left with just a nod. The courier was waiting for her at the end of the hall. He asked a quiet question. Izakaya-san answered with a crude gesture that Lee believed nobody above the age of thirty should even know, much less be allowed to employ. The courier snickered as they both left.

Lee turned once more towards the door, with the firm intention of hiding under his bed for a few hours-

There was a real possibility that he was actually asleep - hopefully in Gaara's arms - and that this was all a nightmare, Lee reflected, as his right-door neighbour opened his door.

Naito Daiki was two years older than Lee, a severe, sinister Jounin who Lee felt pretty sure was part of Sand's ANBU. There was nothing in his demeanour to indicate that there was anything out of the ordinary, or that he'd even noticed Lee, who was doing a repeat of his 'glued against the door' performance. It was just a bit of an odd coincidence that Daiki would choose this moment to go about his duties.

He didn't even glance at Lee as he passed the Leaf Jounin, or do anything beyond give the faintest nod, his usual greeting. It seemed even more ludicrous to think this man could be curious about Lee's love life than it had been to believe that of Izakaya. Lee was about to relax-

Then the brown eyes flickered in the tanned-to-leather face.

"She wouldn't have a sister, would she?" Daiki murmured.

"Who?" Lee asked dumbly.

Daiki was already halfway down the hallway by the time Lee figured it out and turned a rare shade of crimson.

He took some small consolation in the fact that he and Gaara had been quiet enough to disguise the gender of Lee's late-night guest. As for the rest, humiliation never killed anybody...

Lee slipped back into the room after one last suspicious glance around. He leaned against the door once it was closed and safely locked, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he saw Gaara, and the relief died and grew cold in his heart. Gaara had also slipped on his pants, but then he'd gone back to sitting against the wall on Lee's bed, his face turned away, staring at nothing. He looked fatalistic, waiting for an inevitable blow to fall. It reminded Lee of the scroll he held in his hand.

He licked his lips and turned it around. He'd already identified Tsunade-sama's seal. The other side of the scroll...he felt only a dead weight in his chest, not even any surprise. The name on the scroll was his own, 'Jounin Rock Lee'. This was not a diplomatic dispatch, then, since those were addressed to 'Office of the Konoha Envoy'.

The only thing that was sent to Lee directly were missions. The only time Tsunade sent a mission herself was when it was A-rank or higher.

But that made no sense, Lee thought, bewildered. Tsunade-sama had healed him herself; she had to know that Lee couldn't do anything above C-class for awhile. B, if you pushed it.

It was as if it were someone else's fingers checking the seal, breaking the security tag and unrolling the scroll.

He felt a flicker of surprise as he glanced down the paper; the message wasn't encrypted. It was just plain text, and no secret symbol to indicate that there might be a code hidden within the-

And then he started reading the actual words, and his eyes became progressively wider and wider.

He was staring at the signature, mouth a soundless 'oh', when the letter was suddenly ripped from his fingers. Lee started back in shock, bumping his head against the door.

Apparently his reaction had been too much for Gaara to bear while stoically waiting for Lee to give him the verdict. Gaara held the scroll open, fingers tight on the stretched paper as if braced for the worst, eyes hard as they went quickly over the missive, picking out the highlights-

Then he blinked and read the letter more slowly, a rare look of surprise flickering on his face before the mask settled once more.

"'Lee, I just found your name on the roster of Availables for next week's missions.'" Gaara read out slowly, his voice void of any inflections. "'Listen up you freak I spent a lot of hours and energy fixing you up twice now-'"

Lee suddenly remembered a few details in that letter- oh damn! He leapt into action and snatched the scroll out of Gaara's hands.

"Ah, Gaara, this is- um, you know, diplomatic-"

Gaara blinked at his empty fingers, and then he continued as if he still had the scroll in his hands.

"'-you are not going on a mission for at least two more weeks, and then you'll be getting nothing harder than baby-sitting duties if I have my say-'"

Agh! Damn geniuses and their photographic memories! How far along had Gaara gotten...?

"G-Gaara-"

Gaara's voice was its usual monotone, eyes narrowed appraisingly.

"Then she calls you a freak again. 'You constantly overdo it'. Tsunade and I see eye to eye on that. 'I order you as your Hokage to take it easy and heal though why I should have to order you to do this is beyond me.' Her punctuation isn't very good. Or else she's really annoyed at you. 'You are going to get some proper rest or I'll get that mannerless red-headed brat to-'...That would be me."

"Gaara, you weren't supposed to read that part," Lee whimpered, covering his eyes with one hand, the scroll crumpling in the other.

"'-that mannerless red-headed brat to clap you up in the clinic under sedation until your brawn finally catches up with your brain.' Does she always hector like this?"

Lee peeked out between his fingers, but Gaara's expression was inscrutable.

In a weak voice, Lee said: "Tsunade-sama's directness is, um, part of her qualities."

"If you say so." Gaara turned away from Lee and crossed his arms over his chest severely. "I'd better make sure you rest and heal; it might mean war otherwise."

"No! No! She didn't mean it like that!" Lee was waving his arms around in horror - diplomatic incident!

"She sounds serious. I'm not taking any chances."

Gaara glanced over his shoulder.

Lee was graced with the first true smile he'd ever seen from his friend and lover. It was small, merely a gentle upward curve of Gaara's lips, but it was far from the humourless half-smirk Lee had come to know; it changed Gaara's face, it was warm and real and- and- and Lee was in serious danger of falling in love all over again.

Gaara turned fully towards him and slowly slipped his arms around Lee, holding him fast, one hand stroking Lee's left shoulder and the nape of his neck.

His mouth was right next to Lee's ear. In a whisper, intimate like last night's, he said: "I would have let you go, you know."

"I know," Lee answered just as softly, a lump in his throat. His arms had fitted themselves around Gaara's waist, where they belonged.

"I know you better now. I can...feel you inside, as you said to me once. I know what the look in your eyes means when you fight. I see the way you move. The joy of it. The pride in your rank and duty. Even though I want you safe, I can't take that away from you. When that mission finally does come, I will let you go."

Lee nodded, face pressed into Gaara's hair.

"But I'm glad you're not going today," Gaara finished simply.

"So am I," Lee whispered.

A few motes of dust tumbled in silence through the beam of light getting around the curtains; as ephemeral as this moment. Lee held Gaara close, and etched every detail in his mind, to keep when he or Gaara finally left for that mission. They would perform their duty, because it was more than a duty, it was their life, their reason for existence; it was, in fact, one of the connections between them, the thing that made them who they were. But they needed this moment too. Then it would be okay...

Gaara shifted, leaned back, reached up for Lee's face and suddenly Lee was pressed back against the door, hard, and a kiss seared his lips.

"Hm- The neighbours-" Lee protested in a gasp when Gaara leaned back- it was pretty obvious what his lover had in mind. "We have to be discreet, we promised Tem-"

Gaara's hands were pressed into the door on either side of Lee's head. The Kazekage's voice was precise and left no room for objection. "This is tomorrow, you don't have a mission and I want you in me."

After all, Lee rationalized with the kind of speed normally associated with the Renge, his neighbours had already heard all they were going to hear and they'd left for today anyway. He had all these ideas of things he wanted to try with Gaara- and you never knew what tomorrow might bring. Right! There wasn't a moment to lose!

It turned out to be a very nice morning.
End Part Twenty

AN: With AFFnet's reorganisation, this story got stopped for so long I don't know if anyone is still reading it here ^^; Give me a chirp if you are, so I know if I should still plough through the long login and posting process to update on this site. Thanks! ^_^
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Diplomatic Relations