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Lee's recent relocation to Suna was already supplying him with higher-ranked missions. More than Konoha ever had. But he was finding their frequency a bit draining, even for someone with his endurance.He walked up to the entryway to his home, dusting himself off for what seemed like the thousandth time that night. He still wasn't used to how much sand and dust clung to his jumpsuit in the desert. Lee lightly rapped his knuckles on the door.The door swung open within a matter of seconds, making Lee jump back slightly. He glanced down, meeting familiar, pale eyes, his expression softening. All of his exhaustion seemed to melt away every time he reunited with his fiancé.Gaara.“Hello, love,” he said softly. His voice came out a bit hoarse.“... I missed you.”He felt thin, strong arms wrap around his neck and smiled at the way Gaara had to stand up on his toes to fully embrace him in the doorway. Lee laid his hands across Gaara's back and buried his face into the thick, blood-red waves of his hair, inhaling the scent he now associated with home.He let out a deep sigh of relief, glad to finally be back. His missions went a few days longer than he had anticipated, but with the lack of taijutsu specialists in Suna, he was often called for missions that required close combat. Unfortunately that meant he was called on mission after mission with few breaks in between, giving him less time to spend with his loved ones. And Lee was hesitant to decline, since he was trying to make a good impression on the Suna council. He was engaged to the Kazekage, after all.Gaara pulled away from the embrace, and slipped his hand into Lee's. “Come in. Please,” he said. He used his sand to shut the door, as he pulled Lee in for a kiss.They stood in the main entrance with their foreheads pressed together, grateful to finally have a moment to themselves. “I just put Metal to bed, otherwise I would have brought him out to say goodnight.”Lee felt a pang in his chest at the thought of missing his son. “Sorry I returned so late… I swear, I will--”“Lee.” Gaara reached a hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind Lee's ear with a refined delicacy. “You don't have to be sorry. You spend so much time with him as it is.” He guided Lee down to give him a kiss on the cheek.As Gaara pulled away, Lee smiled at him in a silent thanks, but couldn't help feeling the stab of guilt in his heart. Voicing this aloud would only result in Gaara scolding him by expertly listing off the many reasons he believed Lee was an excellent father, in an almost hostile display of validation that scared Lee more than it reassured him. He chose to keep quiet instead.“How was your mission?”“Long,” Lee sighed, trailing his hands down until they rested in Gaara's. He swung their hands a bit childishly, but the gesture made the faintest smile appear on Gaara's face. “It was really just an escort mission, but we ran into some… complications along the way.”"You didn't try opening the gates, did you?” His eyes narrowed.Lee blinked. This was a conversation they had often, but this time it surprised him. Generally he worried when Gaara asked about opening the gates because Lee was all too willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of others. Then again, Gaara was so intuitive, if Lee even thought about opening a gate on the other side of the country, Gaara would probably feel it. But this mission wasn't particularly dangerous. His muscles ached, but he came out relatively unscathed. “No, nothing of the sort!”Gaara searched his eyes for any indication he was being untruthful. “Alright.” He led Lee down the hall as he spoke. “Our water supply is sufficient for now. I can cook something for you while you shower.”Lee squeezed Gaara's hand in his own as they reached their bedroom. “Thank you, love. But I would prefer to rest for now. I--” He winced as a sharp pain shot through his spine.Gaara stopped abruptly and turned so fast, Lee nearly bumped into him. They looked into each other's eyes, as Lee tried to mask his discomfort, so Gaara wouldn't worry.“You should probably rest,” Gaara said cautiously. He pushed the door to their bedroom open, gently guiding Lee inside with a hand on the small of his back. The placement of his hand unfortunately made Lee wince, which alarmed Gaara.Suddenly, the two of them were encaged in a thin sphere of sand. Its structure was not quite sound, the shape formed purely out of instinct, and a few granules of sand trickled down onto Lee's head.Unexpected structures of sand may have alarmed Lee before, but after living with Gaara for some time, he was used to it. Sometimes when Gaara was startled, his sand would shoot out of his gourd to protect him, even if there were no evident signs of danger. Lee determined this to be an internal reaction that helped to quell some of Gaara's anxiety. But he found it sweet that the sand would sometimes try to protect him, too, if Gaara felt like Lee was in danger.“Sorry…” Gaara said, commanding the sand to fall away. He dusted some of the grains from Lee's hair.“You have nothing to apologize for. You were… protecting me. Thank you,” Lee said. He went to plant a kiss on Gaara's cheek, but another pain traveled up his spine, making him stumble forward slightly.“Lee.” Gaara led him inside and coaxed him into lying against the cool sheets of their pristinely-made bed.Lee felt a bit more relaxed as his back pressed against the mattress. Gaara sat next to him and searched his face, his arms on either side of Lee's body.“Are you alright?” Gaara asked.Lee nodded slightly. “Yes. My… back. Hurts.”“What happened on your mission? Did you fight? Did you train too hard? Did you do anything strenuous?”Lee smiled at Gaara's barrage of questions and reached a hand up to cup the back of his neck. He pulled him down for a brief kiss. “I may just need rest. Like you said. I… may have gone a bit overboard in my training.”Gaara leaned down to kiss the tip of his nose softly. “Lee, you need to be more careful. You know I worry.”“I know, love,” he said, allowing Gaara to nose at his face and press ghostlike kisses where he saw fit.After some time, Gaara pulled away. He silently indicated Lee sit up straight. The two moved at a slow enough pace so Lee wouldn't overexert himself while Gaara removed his vest, carefully hanging it up in their closet. He returned shortly to unzip Lee's jumpsuit low enough to expose his back, the dips of his spine rippling down, meeting the scars that marked him. Gaara climbed onto the bed and kneeled behind Lee to examine his back, using his fingers to apply light pressure to different areas to locate the pain.An involuntary cry fell from Lee's lips as Gaara pressed into his lower back. “Ah… there,” he confirmed.Gaara hummed in response and pressed his warm hands to Lee's lower back, which helped to alleviate some of the pain.He let out a tiny sigh of relief as Gaara did his best to apply the little amount of medical ninjutsu he knew.“I apologize for not being able to help you more, but I suppose this will have to do,” he said, leaning forward to press a kiss on the back of Lee's neck.“Thank you…”They sat in a contented silence. Gaara removed his hands and Lee could hear him rubbing his palms together as his sand hissed nearby. He was about to ask Gaara what he was doing until he felt a pleasurable warmth on his back, and fought back the urge to moan.“You'd think with as much vigorous exercise you do, we would own a heat pack, but I suppose this will have to do,” Gaara said. Lee realized the sensation against him was Gaara transferring the warmth from his palms into his sand. “How are you feeling?”“Much better, thank you,” Lee responded. Gaara hummed a response and lifted his hands to press firmly into Lee's back, leaving the layer of sand in its place. He hummed softly to himself and rubbed hesitant circles around Lee's back. He began to push a bit harder until he found himself fully engrossed with the task of straightening out the knots trapped in Lee's muscles. When Lee sighed with each release of tension, Gaara seemed to take it as a silent indication to continue. He kneaded with his thumbs, applied pressure with the heels of his palms, and even pressed down with his elbows on the more stubborn parts, working his way across Lee's back and onto his shoulders. He let himself get lost in the task until Lee shifted to stretch his arms out. Lee leaned back against him. It was the most relaxed he'd felt in weeks. Gaara pressed his face into the crook of Lee's neck and stroked his arms softly. He applied such a light pressure with his fingers that sometimes the sensation almost tickled, but Lee didn't mind.“Can we lie down?” Lee asked with a yawn.“Of course,” Gaara answered. The bed creaked as Gaara shifted his weight to reach for some of their pillows and fluff them up. He lied Lee down carefully, using a bit of his sand to soften the landing. Lee lied down comfortably, glad he could finally sleep in his bed without being rushed off to a new mission in the morning. Upon this realization, he felt a sudden fatigue drop on him like a dead weight. Perhaps tomorrow's training would consist of mostly stretching. That would at least allow him to hold Metal while he worked out. Metal was still a baby, so unfortunately extensive training was not yet on the list of father-son bonding activities.Gaara began to shift, seemingly making an exit, but Lee didn't want him to go. He knew Gaara didn't always sleep, but it had been so long since they had a full night together.“Gaara,” he called softly. Gaara turned toward the sound of his name and tilted his head. Lee raised his arms, and gave his best pout. “Come cuddle with me…”The slightest tinge of pink dusted Gaara's cheeks. It didn't take much for Lee to convince him to cuddle, especially now that they were engaged, so he happily complied. He smiled and crawled across the bed, resting his head on Lee's shoulder as strong, muscular arms held him tight. Gaara rested his thin fingers across Lee's bare chest as the two of them began to drift off.“I love you,” Lee said in a sleepy voice. He heard Gaara's laugh--a short, soft exhale. Lee could hear the smile in his voice as he curled closer.“I love you.”