#kankulee

It wasn’t so bad, really. He could handle this. The whole purpose of going on a lot of missions was to hone a Shinobi into something great, right, to gain experience and skills with every task he picks up. Plus, he was the one who told Gaara to give him any open missions, A rank and above. Said he was bored, said he was dying for some action and didn’t Gaara oblige? He’s got a mission now, right?

And well, he had been complaining about the lack of social contact he’s had with their mutual friends, and the lack of conversation in general. Gaara had never been one to talk much and Temari’s frolicking around in Konoha as an envoy. They do talk sometimes, but Kankuro wants a new face, a new response to his usual topics. So this wasn’t a problem, Rock Lee was a nice kid with nice manners, and was a delight when it came to conversation.

So why was Kankuro so fucking jumpy?

This was getting pathetic. Even more so, when Kankuro was snapped out of his thoughts by a polite tap to his shoulder, and he restrained every screaming urge to flinch and swing his arm to smack the perpetrator in the face.

Instead, he turned around with a raised eyebrow, and was greeted with the face of a concerned Rock Lee. Which might or might not have made him even more nervous, for some unknown reason.

“Kankuro-kun. Are you alright?”

Lee had dropped the –san suffix in Kankuro’s name a few months back, when the puppeteer threatened him with bodily harm if he didn’t. Which was hilarious, considering that Lee would most definitely win against Kankuro in a fist fight, but Lee was gracious enough to drop the suffix anyway.

“’Course I’m alright. What’s up?”

“You have been staring into the distance for a while now and uh. I am afraid our rations are burning.”

That made Kankuro jump and he glanced at the food that he was supposed to be monitoring. True enough; the edges of the jerky he was cooking were singed black, “Oh, hell. Fuck, sorry. Give me a bit.” He used his bare hands to flip the meat over and cursed loudly at the heat, momentarily forgetting that there were chopsticks available at his side. He busied himself resettling the cooking food, trying to set his mind straight. Lee went back to whatever it was he was doing, fortunately.

Something was wrong with Kankuro, it seemed. Or there was something wrong with his company, or the mission, or the atmosphere, but so far Kankuro haven’t been able to point out what it was. It was night time, and they’ve decided to set up camp here in the forest. It was a clear night, and the forest floor was thankfully dry. Their food supply wasn’t going to run out anytime soon, and the mission they had been assigned was fairly easy.

All they had to do was bring scrolls from Suna and Konoha to a few neighbouring villages. They had been assured that the contents of the scrolls wouldn’t be something that rogue ninjas would chase them for, but the mission was considered A-rank still because of the journey, and the amount of time and diplomatic skills they would have to use once they’ve reached said villages. Apparently, Rock Lee was the best suited for this job from Konoha due to his speed and…Kankuro was here because he asked for it. Which was fine, really, he wanted to get out of Suna for a while. It’ll all be peachy if he only knew why the hell he was feeling a little off than usual.

They have been on the road for only a day, the first of many days to come and already Kankuro was feeling weird. He glanced at Lee, his only company for those future days and wondered if the Konoha ninja was the problem. But that didn’t seem logical.

Kankuro had been on many missions with Lee, and they were close enough to be called friends. Lee was a good guy, and interesting company, Kankuro had never felt weird when with Lee before.

Or had he?

His eyes narrowed slightly, watching the ninja unpack their sleeping bags with something akin to grace, smoothing out water proof fabric over flat areas. Could it be that there was something negative emanating from Lee? Something that made their usually amiable chemistry off kilter?

But that didn’t seem to be the problem. Lee had been himself the whole journey, even earlier, when they had met up at Suna. Nothing was different.

Whatever conflict Kankuro was dealing with, it seemed to revolve only around himself, something he alone felt. Whatever it was.

He took care not to further burn the jerky this time, and tossed them onto the plastic wrap they came in, placing it gingerly on his lap.

“Hey Lee. Dinner,” he called, and soon enough Lee had shuffled next to him, reaching for the piece of meat. Kankuro watched him wince lightly at the heat, passing the strip of beef from one hand to the other before taking a bite afterwards. The puppeteer felt sufficiently embarrassed. “Sorry for burning it, man.”

“No problem. It is still edible, and that really is all that matters to me, Kankuro-kun.” Lee flashed his signature grin, and continued eating. Kankuro sighed lightly and began chewing at his own dinner as well, still trying to figure out what possibly was wrong with him.

Or maybe, that was a bad idea. Maybe he should not think about it and focus instead on other things unrelated to his predicament.

“So, Lee!” he started out a little louder than necessary, “How are you faring lately?”

Lee took a while to swallow what was in his mouth before replying cheerily, “Pretty good, I think! I have a new training regime, and I have taken to training our genin class in Taijutsu sometimes. How about you, Kankuro-kun?”

“Oh, me? Same old, same old,” he didn’t feel like talking about himself anyway, the whole point was to divert attention from himself, “Genin class? Hell, what are you, a Sensei now?”

Lee sputtered at that, shaking his head, “Oh no, definitely not! I do not even let the children call me Sensei, I am surely not qualified. I just join Gai-sensei in monitoring them sometimes, or just teach them new moves. It is quite fun, actually.”

That was interesting. The idea of Rock Lee kicking air and a bunch of school children mimicking his motions was very endearing for Kankuro. Adorable, even. He chuckled at the mental image, nudging his friend with an elbow, “They must be sad that you’re on a mission, huh?”

“Maybe, but to be honest, I have been dying to go on a mission. The moment I heard there was something involving Suna, I asked for it right away. It has been a while since we went on a mission together too, Kankuro-kun.”

Lee smiled, his usual polite smile and for some reason it had Kankuro’s gut doing backflips, literal somersaults like it was trying to jump out the puppeteer’s throat and why was it doing that anyway because—

“Really? When was the last time anyway, Lee, if you remember because I don’t really…”

“Two months ago? If I remember correctly. We asked for your assistance in investigating the case of desert bandits before?”

“Oh yeah. I remember. You had to patch my arm up because of that wide-range kunai attack. It hasn’t been that long, though.”

Lee laughed lightly, nodding at the memory, “Yes. It definitely has not been long, but it is always a pleasure working with you, Kankuro-kun.”

And he smiled the way he did again, and it was as genuine as ever and Kankuro found himself with another somersaulting gut and a few thoughts in his mind and he knew. He knew finally what the problem was with him and it was a revelation and he was fucked, he was so fucked.

Kankuro couldn’t sleep that night.

//

They had been told that there was nothing to be wary of when it came to the scrolls, no one would possibly want them and there would be no threat to the messengers.

But of course, while traversing the forest to reach the villages, they would always have the risk of bumping into rogue ninjas or bandits, or just people who felt like picking up fights with strangers passing by.

And Kankuro was sure that they could handle any lame gangster wannabes, him and Lee both because they had a pattern of battle of their own from the numerous missions they’ve gone on with each other. Lee was good at close-ranged battles, and Kankuro had advantage when from afar and together, they made a formidable team.

But since part of the Hokage’s orders were to not get into trouble and be as fast as possible, Lee found it unnecessary to engage in battle and would rather stay low than fight anyone, even if Kankuro could feel the desire to kick ass thrumming in Lee’s form.

Which brought them to this unfortunate position, nevertheless.

Kankuro had sensed the presence of a few people a ways from where they were and from the chakra patterns, he had deduced that they were ninja. He also had made the grave mistake of telling Lee about it, which led to Lee pulling him down into the underbrush where Lee thought it was perfect to hide in.

Kankuro had protested; he’d rather just stand in the open and see what happened than hide like forest creatures; but they both could hear footsteps approaching, and Lee was desperate to shut Kankuro up.

“Can we not, for fuck’s sake, and just—“ were the words Kankuro was able to say, before a bandaged hand clamped over his mouth and muffled any more noises coming from him. His eyes had bugged out, utterly appalled that Lee would go to such measures.

It was a while before there were voices nearby, and Kankuro decided to indulge Lee in his so-called necessity. But he did, however, open his mouth and bite hard at one of the fingers that unknowingly pressed against his lips, making Lee flinch.

There was a rustle of leaves. “I thought I felt chakra here. Two guys. Don’t cha guys feel anything?”

“Nope. Did you drink too much sake again, Takumi?”

“No, I didn’t! Shut the fuck up. Ugh, let’s just get going.”

The voices dissipated soon enough, and Kankuro listened till they were gone. He knew well enough to thin out his chakra till it was undetectable; a technique most puppet users knew; and it seemed that Lee knew what to do, too.

He had stopped biting on Lee’s finger because his jaw was aching, and Lee kept quiet for a while before letting out a sigh. It seemed like the strangers were far enough now, and speaking was permitted again. His hand over Kankuro’s mouth moved, only to rest on the puppeteer’s cheek and he tilted Kankuro’s face up, looking annoyed.

“You did not have to resort to biting me that hard, Kankuro-kun.” Lee reprimanded, but his hand stayed on Kankuro’s face and the contact was making the Suna-nin dizzy.

He managed to pull a grin though, and he might or might not have leaned a little further against the hand on his cheek, “Man, where do you even get off touching me like this, hm?”

The hand retracted as if burned, and Lee was blushing bright red in mortification, “Oh God, no, that was not my intention, I swear—“

The rest of his rant was cut off due to Kankuro guffawing on the ground, holding his sides like he was going to split at the seams for laughing too hard. The way Lee’s cheeks were tinted red even as they continued their journey was worth the hard smack to the shoulder Kankuro received after he caught his breath from laughter.

//

They reached the first village quickly enough, due to Lee’s speed and good sense to not get into fights, Kankuro grudgingly acknowledged. After that almost run-in with the other ninja, their trip had been fairly uneventful, aside from light conversation and jokes Kankuro told that Lee would laugh politely at.

Despite his revelation, Kankuro hadn’t found it terribly pressing yet that he vocalize it, or do anything about it till later. Or never at all. Whichever came first.

The first village was a quaint town with lots and lots of fields of various types of crops, and the leader had graciously offered then lodgings for the day. They had arrived about an hour to sundown, and Lee himself had to agree that they’d be better off spending the night at the village rather than in the forest.

There was the village inn, which to be frank, more like a collection of huts and a public bath. They were both given a hut each, which was fine for Kankuro (very fine, more than fine) but before sleep, he had dragged Lee for a tour.

It ended up with Lee dragging a half-drunk Kankuro in return to his hut, with a bottle of sake in Kankuro’s hand, thanks to the overly accommodating barkeeper.

“Don’t leave yet, Lee, come on. Keep me company for a little while,” Kankuro had said, slurring only slightly when they reached the inn, and Lee agreed. Kankuro didn’t seem too drunk to be bad company, and it was pretty early in the night. He also needed to make sure Kankuro drank a lot of water so he wouldn’t be burdened with a hangover the next morning (all this experience being the supposed designated company for his Konoha friends, it seems.)

So they ended up in Kankuro’s hut, with the older reliving stories about the people of Suna, which for some reason Lee never felt tired of hearing about. He loved Kankuro’s stories, he loved the idea of knowing more about another country through unconventional means and Kankuro usually indulged him with his interest.

Kankuro had just finished one concerning a pair of sweethearts in Suna who made it a point to stand on top of one of the highest sand dunes near the village on their anniversary and yell their devotion for each other on top of their lungs before his interest was piqued, on a related topic.

“So, Lee. Any luck with the ladies yet?”

Lee was obviously caught unguarded with the question, and he laughed it off, shaking his head, “Not really. Do I look like I am in a relationship, Kankuro-kun? They say you could tell someone’s in love when you look at their face.”

How ironic.

“I wouldn’t know. You seem like the kind of guy to get settled early, though. Like those guys who get hitched even before they hit Chuunin, you’ve got that vibe, I ain’t sure why.”

He laughed at that, utterly amused by Kankuro’s words. Kankuro simply smirked, downing a few more gulps of sake, wiping his mouth the back of his hand.

“Definitely not that person, Kankuro-kun. I have not truly found the ‘one’, or so they say.”

“Excuses.”

“Haha, what is your excuse then? Surely you have someone waiting for your hand in marriage?”

He didn’t mean to choke on his sake, but he did. It took a few smacks on the back from Lee and coughing before he could speak again, “What? Hell no. Not even sure if that’ll ever happen for me, but hey, let’s cut the whole getting hitched talk, I don’t even have someone I’d like to kiss yet, y’know.”

Which was a filthy lie, but he was drunk and his words were loose and he was taking great care not to let anything slip out. Lee snickered, and shook his head again, “Maybe we will both find someone, someday. I am sure true love is out there. Anyway, Kankuro-kun. It is getting late, so I suppose we should both go to sleep.” He lifted the bottle of water he had brought from the bar and handed it to Kankuro, “Please drink water beforehand.”

The puppeteer snorted, making a face, “No, fuck that. I’m drinkin’ this. You go sleep.”

Lee frowned, of course, “What? You have to drink plain water, or you will not feel well tomorrow.”

“Nope.”

“Kankuro-san, please do not be difficult.”

That made Kankuro laugh aloud, and he smirked challengingly at the Konoha-nin, “Make me, then.”

Whatever suggestive implication Kankuro had meant to convey with the statement was futile as Lee took it as seriously as ever, surging forward with bottle in hand to actually wrestle Kankuro to the floor, taking hold of his face.

It ended up with Kankuro’s legs locked in between Lee’s, his wrists pinned by a hand, and Lee smirking smugly, a right son of a gun as he lifted the water bottle. “Please open your mouth, Kankuro-kun. And spare us both the trouble.”

Kankuro possibly could have struggled his way out of Lee’s hold; he was way more built than Lee was and could exert more brute force; but he didn’t. He simply gave Lee a dirty look and opened his mouth obediently, drinking from the bottle once Lee tipped it to his lips. There was almost a surreal quality to all of this, like this was some wet dream Kankuro hadn’t woken up from, but Lee let him go soon enough and the rush of vertigo Kankuro felt when he sat up was too real.

“Sorry for that. But good night, Kankuro-kun! I shall see you tomorrow morning.”

Kankuro wiped his mouth and chuckled, “Sure, yeah. And you totally do have a thing for manhandling me, don’t you?”

Again, the bodily flinch and the profuse, desperate clarifications Lee made before stomping away was worth it. Even the awkward hard-on Kankuro found himself with in the middle of the night was worth it. Somewhat.

//

“Alright, what if we come to a consensus?” Lee leaped over a tree branch, right at Kankuro’s side, “I will try on Kabuki paint, even with a design of your liking if you agree to at least try a plate of Gai-sensei’s dumplings.”

Kankuro scoffed in an obnoxiously loud way, “Hell no. As much as I want to see what you’d look like with green all over your face, or orange, I don’t think I can survive a plate of that thing. No way.”

“But, Kankuro-kun! You have not even tried it yet!”

“Nuh-uh. I have heard all about Maito Gai’s infamous energy dumplings and I fuckin’ assure you, I don’t want a plate of those.”

“But they are really good for you, they keep you healthy and energetic and—“

“For all I know, they could fuck up my insides!”

Lee had the audacity to look appalled, “Well, I eat them and I feel very fine!”

“Kid, you’re nice and all, and you’re in great shape physically but I can’t be too sure if those dumplings don’t mess up your mind because I’ll be honest, you’re not exactly the sanest person I’ve ever met.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Yeah.”

“Good,” It was obvious how Lee wracked his brain to look for other examples, “The other people who have eaten Sensei’s dumplings turned out fine too. Like Naruto-kun.”

“He really isn’t a good example of a healthy mind, Lee, are you even trying—“

“Oh fine!” Lee waved a hand in dismissal, rolling his eyes, “Your loss, Kankuro-kun. That also means I am never wearing Kabuki paint. Which to be honest, was never something I would do. It may look acceptable on you, somewhat, but not me, really.”

That brought Kankuro to silence, for a while. “…But orange paint. And green, too, if you want. Orange and green, sure thing, why not?”

The Konoha ninja shook his head, dodging a branch to his head, “I do not think so.”

There was silence, thoughtful and on edge.

“Okay. Half a plate. No more.”

“Deal!”

//

 It was probably a good thing that the route they were taking enabled them to go through all the villages they needed to visit in a curve. They just needed to follow the curve and eventually the last village would allow them to head straight back to Suna, with the distance shortened. It turned out Shizune from Konoha was pretty good with maps, and they were smart enough to follow her recommendation.

In a week, they had cleared about three villages, leaving only four more to go. It would take them another week or so, if they didn’t stop anywhere before that, and then Lee would return to Konoha after a short stop in Suna for reports.

Kankuro couldn’t really determine what he felt about that.

What he did know was that it was fun going around villages with Lee, slipping into banter that was becoming familiar, talking about mutual friends. He had not addressed his so called ‘predicament’ and he was sure that it was better off left untouched, because this was enough, truly.

He might not be that fucked anymore, maybe just a little less if he kept it to himself.

//

Fate, or whatever the hell this was, did not turn out to work that way.

The village they had come to, a little close to the ocean but not quite yet, seemed to be a hotspot for tourists. It was the dry season of the country too, not much rain for a while which was unfortunate for the first village they stopped at, but basically perfect weather for this village’s business to shine.

And Lee had been so nice, too, almost unnecessarily so, when he assured and reassured the village leader to not go out of their way to accommodate them both since they were so many people around. They only needed a place to sleep, nothing more nothing less, please don’t trouble yourselves.

That was how they ended up with a room in the local motel, which was a step up than their previous lodgings. But since they were so many people around, they were only given one room and one bed. Not even a couch in said room, nor a goddamned futon just. A bed.

Kankuro knew his demise was near, but not like this. Never like this.

It probably wasn’t a big deal if he hadn’t been popping boners to thoughts of green spandex and shiny teeth for every night ever since his little revelation, because Lee seemed to not have a problem with it at all.

“This is nice!” he exclaimed instead, once they were shown their room, and rushed inside to take a peek outside the window. They didn’t even have a great view, but Kankuro supposed the whole side of the mountain village scene wasn’t too bad. The issue of the single bed did not even come up till later that night, when both ninja had changed into their sleep clothes and Kankuro had washed his face clean.

Lee had took a pillow (they were gracious enough to give them two even if they overlapped on the small bed) and was fluffing it up as he sat cross-legged on the floor. Kankuro watched from the bathroom door as Lee placed it on the floor and proceeded to stretch his legs, laying his head down.

It was ridiculous.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Lee opened his eyes in this almost innocent gesture and Kankuro thanked the universe for making him a strong man. “Going to sleep, Kankuro-kun. What else?”

“Like hell,” was his simple reply, and he walked to the bed, getting ready for sleep, “Get up here.”

The Konoha ninja sat up, looking confused, “I do not think it will fit us both—“

“Are you kidding me? You’re not even that big. I’ll be sure to not kick you outta the bed okay, so for fuck’s sake.”

Lee stood up hesitantly, before deciding it was a waste of time to argue with Kankuro, and nodded. The puppeteer laid himself down and pulled the covers over himself as Lee moved to close the light switch. The room went dark, and Kankuro was weirdly calm for a man about to meet his doom, but there was no going back as he felt Lee slide in beside him. The bed was thankfully big enough, even if their legs were lined next to each other, Kankuro felt like he could survive this.

“Good night, Kankuro-kun,” came Lee’s voice, really close, and he grunted in reply.

“Night.”

Sleep came surprisingly easy for Kankuro. Almost suspiciously so.

//

Three things came to mind when Kankuro woke up the next morning, in order, with the sluggish realization of someone that had been sleeping. One was that he was in a bed, in contrast to all the stones and leaves he’s been sleeping on before. Two, was that he was half-hard, but only from the typical morning wood aside from the hot and heavy dreams he’s been having lately. Three, was that he had his arms wrapped around someone, intimately close, their back to his front and legs all tangled with his, and this person’s hair smelled pretty fucking good from where Kankuro had his face buried in it.

In his sleepy haze, he nuzzled the head of said mysterious person and pressed a small kiss there, because whoever this was must have liked him enough to stay the night and god, Kankuro was so comfortable…

Then he remembered.

He went stiff, downright rigid at the realization that he was on a mission and he was sharing a bed with Rock fucking Lee, and he was praying to whatever there was that Lee was still asleep, please God, please let him still be asleep please.

And he was, thank goodness, because he was breathing in that deep way sleeping people do, even after all the movement behind him. Kankuro slowly, very slowly, untangled himself from Lee, and ended up on his back, staring at the ceiling. He was also painfully hard for some godforsaken reason, and it took him a while to get his bearings.

‘You’re a sick fuck, Kankuro’, he thought, ‘The sickest.’

He got off the bed then, gently, as to not wake Lee and retreated to the bathroom and locked himself inside. It was a little weird, since Lee always woke up before him. He could only conclude that the change of their sleeping arrangements was what keeping Lee asleep, because that bed sure was comfortable and the shared body heat was even more…

Feeling like a piece of trash, Kankuro recalled memories of that body curled against him and the smell of that hair, and things like laughter and smiles and looks of concern as he pulled himself out of his sleep pants and tried to make it brief.

//

It took them three days to reach the village before last, as there was unsuspected rainfall that slowed them down a tad, as they had to cross a marsh to get there.

They had took shelter under a canopy of trees, laughing about ‘tourists getting their holiday plans cancelled’ with almost a vengeance, before making a move again.

The rest of that unusual morning had gone by uneventfully, to Kankuro’s relief. He had taken a shower and Lee had woken up when he got out, looking adorably mussed from sleep and he had wiped his eyes and greeted Kankuro ‘good morning’ with the sleepiest smile. (And it was cute, so cute, Kankuro sort of felt like he wanted to wake up to that smile and that voice every morning for the rest of his life but he had also just gotten off, he could blame it all on the endorphins of his post-masturbation afterglow and that’s what he did.) Then they were on their way again, sending scrolls like it was nobody’s business.

They were nearing the sea, though, from the tang of salt in the air and the way Karasu’s joints creaked slightly when Kankuro oiled him up. He decided to not get his puppets out till they were far away from the sea, unless it was necessary. Lee seemed to really like the whole ocean deal, even if they made his hair look coarse and the air a little stuffy. He told Kankuro stories about going to the sea when he was really small, and how he’d loved to build junk out of sand.

“I wonder if it is possible to make shapes out of the desert sand in Suna. Have you ever tried, Kankuro-kun?”

He definitely snorted at that, “Nah. We had more interesting games. Plus, the sand on the beach is better suited for that shit because it’s wet, Lee, of course.”

Lee cocked his head at that, “Then why not just add water?”

They had stared at each other for a long time afterwards, and it was only a while after they’ve started moving again did Kankuro reply, with something like a revelation to his tone, “Because desert sand have bigger grains, damn it, it’s not as fine as the sand in the beach! It doesn’t stick together well. Fuckin’ hell.”

Lee had laughed really hard at that, to the point that they had needed to stop for a while on a tree branch because he was chortling, wiping tears in his eyes. He looked up at Kankuro with bright eyes and a wide grin, still shaking with laughter, “You have not been to the sea that much either, have you Kankuro-kun?”

Kankuro tried really hard to be annoyed at Lee. He really did try, but of course, he wasn’t.

//

They completed their mission in a week and five days, and if that wasn’t fast then Kankuro didn’t know what was. The journey back to Suna would take about three days from where they were, and they could afford to be leisurely about it, the official business was done with. But after spending the night at the last village, Lee was really adamant about seeing the ocean at least once.

It wasn’t any trouble, they did have to pass by its edge as they headed back to Suna anyway, but they started out early in the morning because as Lee said, there wouldn’t be people around at that time.

And he was right, of course.

The sun had just come up and it wasn’t in any way hot, and the tide was in and Lee was running around like a freaking idiot as Kankuro watched, chasing waves. The ocean of course, had its appeal, and given the chance, Kankuro would have stripped down to nothing and jumped into the water himself.

But he didn’t, instead he settled with taking off his shoes and walking along the water’s edge, kicking absently at coconut shells. Lee ran up to him a few times, showing him shards and pieces of seashells, asking his opinion on them.

“This one is definitely for Tenten. It is lovely. I am thinking of giving the white washed one to Neji. He is not going to like it, but that is the point, is it not?”

Kankuro laughed in return, nodding. Lee even pointed out some empty seashells for him that would be nice for Temari and Gaara, and despite Kankuro’s constant reassurance that no, he’s not going to bring back some dumb stuff for his siblings, he ended up slipping a conch shell and some multi-coloured shells into his pack. It would probably ruin his image, but Lee insisted.

He found himself shoving sand into a pile with his foot eventually though, and Lee had approached him with a knowing grin. Kankuro hurriedly stomped on the pile but it was too late, the damage had been done.

“So,” Lee started, looking like a goddamned imp with how wide he”s smiling, “Fine grains and wet sand, huh?”

“Oh no. Don’t go there.”

Lee cackled, kicking up some sand in his escape from Kankuro who began to chase him, and it was pretty great, the whole ordeal, and Kankuro knew it was going to end and that was fine as well, he knew how to handle separation.

He just wasn’t sure if he wanted to.

//

“So you’re telling me, that you actually heard that Inuzuka kid howl? Like throughout the whole village? That’s fucking insane!”

Lee slapped his knee in mirth, nodding, “I swear on it! We all thought a pack of wolves had made its way into the village, but then we found Kiba, literally infested with Shino’s kikaichu and we made it a point to never make Shino angry, ever.”

“Ah, god,” Kankurou shook his head and leaned back on his hands, smirking, “It’s been a while since I’ve visited Konoha. Been a while since I’ve seen you kids.”

“You should come visit more often, then. Whenever you are not busy, of course,” Lee smiled, taking a sip of the tea he had boiled over the fire of their latest camp, “I am sure they would love to see you again. Along with Temari-san. And Gaara, but I doubt he would be able to leave Suna unless it is for professional reasons.”

“Mm,” Kankuro agreed, and there was silence for a while, before Kankuro decided to just fuck it and speak his mind, “I’m gonna miss this.”

“This, Kankuro-kun?”

“Yeah, this.” He smirked at Lee and gestured in between them, “This whole deal. Camaraderie, all that shit. You’re pretty fun company, Lee.”

“I am flattered,” Lee replied with his own grin, and Kankuro wasn’t sure if it’s the light from the fire or what, but it sure seems like the Konoha ninja was blushing, “As are you. Like I said, it is always a pleasure going on missions with you.”

“A pleasure, huh?” He was sure that was a real blush now, probably in response to the suggestive smirk he had on his face, “What is it that makes me such a pleasure, I wonder?”

Lee actually straightened up and cleared his throat, “Well, for one, you are extremely talented with your weapon of choice. You are a really good puppet master, Kankuro-kun. And you carry out missions very well. You are quite the strategist, if I may say so, and you are great company. You also take things seriously and with enthusiasm, and it is very inspiring. You inspire me, sometimes.”

He definitely hadn’t been expecting that. Well, mostly the first part, but being an inspiration wasn’t something Kankuro had ever thought he would be. He smiled though, his tone playful, “Why, thanks Lee. That’s too kind of you to say. Sometimes though? Why not all the time, hm?”

Lee definitely picked up on the playful tone, but still answered seriously, despite the grin on his face, “Of course I cannot let that happen, Kankuro-kun, there are a number of other people who I am inspired by as well. I have to make sure everyone gets the recognition they deserve.”

Kankuro laughed at that, and nudged Lee with  an elbow, something like déjà vu overwhelming him a little, “What can I do to be the only one then, huh Lee? Is that possible?”

The Konoha ninja flushed again, and Kankuro didn’t blame him. He was stepping into flirting territory now, and there were a few ways this could go, but Kankuro was sure Lee would be his honest, straight forward self and answer with something painfully earnest and innocent because well, he’s Rock Lee.

So Kankuro was really taken by surprise when Lee nudged him back, albeit more gently, an almost coy smile on his face, “It takes quite the effort, Kankuro-kun. It is not easy to get there. I do not think you really want to know.”

The universe had finally gone mad and Rock Lee was flirting with him, or, he had gone mad and this was a wonderful, wonderful dream. Kankuro impressed himself with how flawlessly he replied, “Try me.”

“Well,” Lee’s eyes flicked down, before back up to Kankuro’s face, “First and foremost, you have got to really, really want it.”

That did it. Kankuro was sure he had died, and somehow as his life flashed before his eyes, the divine had taken pity on him and decided to indulge him in this beautiful hallucination once before it all ends. Because he was sure that was the case, and he was in no state of mind to continue flirting, he blurted out, “You know I really like you, right?”

It was as if Lee snapped out of a trance himself, his eyes going wide and he looked fairly confused, “Uh, yes, I really like you too, Kankuro-kun, what—“

“No. I mean. I really  like you.” Here goes nothing, “In the sense that if you’d let me, I’d kiss you. On the mouth.”

Very eloquent. But it sent the message straight home, nonetheless, because Lee’s eyes widened even more. Kankuro decided to take the last few minutes of this lovely friendship into account, because he sure as hell was going to lose it. Maybe he could have played dumb till the very end. Maybe it would have worked if Lee didn’t flirt back, but this wasn’t him blaming Lee, it was just him reprimanding himself for going off and having a crush on his partner on a mission and it’s Rock Lee too, really nice, good guy Rock Lee, and Lee had been saying something, wait, what—

“What?” Kankuro repeated aloud, as Lee swallowed visibly, tilting his head and obviously trying to make things look casual.

“I said,” he cleared his throat, “You can. If you want to. Kiss me, that is.”

No way. Kankuro stared.

Lee was obviously getting more uncomfortable by the second from his staring, “I do not know why you wish to, but you said if I let you, you would. So I should tell you, that I will let you if you desire to kiss me and—“

His words fell away as Kankuro leaned further, and they were definitely sharing the same breath now from how close they were. This was surreal. This was probably not happening. It seemed to be like an intro to one of Kankuro’s wet dreams, just insanely long and realistic and it was probably going to end with Lee riding the hell out of Kankuro’s dick but the puppeteer was just…going to go with it.

Their lips meet finally, and Lee’s lips weren’t soft or pliable or any of that shit Kankuro had dreamed about. They were slightly chapped and felt like his own, but Lee’s hand raised to cup Kankuro’s cheek much like the time he scolded Kankuro for biting his finger and it felt right.

Kankuro closed his eyes and tilted his face, which made Lee open his mouth in response and they kissed, and it made Kankuro’s gut somersault again and this wasn’t a dream, definitely.

They broke apart with equal grins on their faces, giddy with what they’ve shared and Kankuro laughed, followed suit by Lee’s own laughter. They kissed a few more times after that, but most of them were ruined by how stupidly they were grinning.

The night ended without anyone riding anyone’s dick, but Kankuro fell asleep with Lee’s head underneath his chin and it was more than enough. It was perfect.

//

“I have a confession,” Lee said after a while. They were leaping over tree branches still, heading for Suna. Something about his tone made Kankuro’s stupid smile falter though, and he glanced at Lee with apprehension.

Did he think it was a mistake? Did he have a lover in Konoha? Was he actually really heterosexual and dudes don’t turn him on?  Was it the puppets?

“Remember that hotel we had to sleep in? The one where we…shared a bed?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Lee grinned, positively delighted with what he was going to say next, “I was awake.”

Dread pooled low in Kankuro’s gut, and his eyes went wide, “No. Fuck. No.”

“Yes. I was awake,” Lee couldn’t help a grin, and he had the gall to look cute about it, “I woke up because there was a hand under my shirt, at first, so I moved it because I was being considerate. Surely you did not realize what you were doing in your sleep. It was unintentional. I was also awake when you woke up, nevertheless, and I am sure it is not acceptable in Suna to kiss your comrades on the head while they are asleep, Kankuro-kun? Or was it a sort of cultural habit you have?”

Kankuro had stopped on a branch and he reached out to grab Lee’s arm and forced him to stop as well. The other ninja was still snickering to himself, and Kankuro was torn between laughing or punching Lee in the gut.

“So you knew all this while and you decided to just not comment about it? That’s so mean, Lee. You’re the worst.”

“I am pretty sure you are the worst, Kankuro-kun,” Lee scoffed, “Taking advantage of me in my sleep. That was bad of you.”

It wasn’t really coincidence that Lee had backed up to the tree trunk, and Kankuro had his arms boxing Lee in, leaning closer.

“I guess I should apologize, huh? Anything I can do to make it up to you?”

“Of course,” the Konoha ninja reached up to grab the front of Kankuro’s clothing and pulled him down, definitely more of a tease than he had let on initially. More of a tease Kankuro had ever even imagined. Kankuro wasn’t sure what he had gotten himself into.