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House arrest was pointless. His punishment was no more or less than what he would be doing if he hadn’t other responsibilities. The only infuriating facet to his punishment was that Rock Lee had gone and volunteered to be his overseer, and with chakra inhibitors placed on the compound he didn’t have the means to kill the boy.Lee had easy passage into Gaara’s appointed home in Leaf for the duration of his arrest, given his own key to come and go as he pleased.And Lee was obnoxious as ever, talking a mile a minute and smiling so wide that it made Gaara’s cheeks hurt just looking at it. He seemed unbothered by his handicap, and equally unbothered that he was in charge of the boy who caused it. That further annoyed Gaara.“You’ve really been losing weight,” the boy commented after checking in with Gaara on a Monday afternoon. “Have you not been eating?”That wasn’t entirely true. Gaara ate bread when it was delivered, and whatever food that could be consumed without any preparation. However that was a small portion of the food he received. “I’m given little option. I can’t prepare meals.”“You can’t cook?” Lee reiterated, cocking his head.“No.”“Oh.” Then the boy helped himself into the kitchen, hobbling joyfully from cupboard to cupboard as he gathered ingredients and set them out on the counter to begin their preparation. “I can’t let you starve, you know. What kind of overseer would let their charge become skin and bones? Not me.”While it was annoying watching and listening to Lee’s bustle in the kitchen, when a plate of hot food was slid in front of him the smell had made Gaara nearly forget what it was he’d been so angry about.It tasted just as good as it smelled. His appetite had decreased, but he ate beyond the point of feeling full and ignored Lee’s incessant smiling at his gusto for the meal. He thankfully left without any smug comments.The following visit, Gaara found himself desiring another meal so he sought fit to ask the only way he knew how. “I demand more of your cooking.”Lee laughed. “Maybe if you tell me the magic word.”Gaara hesitated, mulling over this supposed magic word. “Now?” He tested, his brow furrowing when Lee continued laughing.“Please. You’re supposed to say ‘please’. I should be mad about how impolitely you asked, but I’m glad because it means you like my food.”Those words made Gaara feel a little weird, but not unpleasant. He elected to no longer speak after he muttered a quiet ‘please’ to satisfy Lee, and merely watched the boy prep food around him. This time much less annoying since he had something to look forward to.Lee sat down and ate with him, spoke to him without expecting answers. Mild, friendly talk. Talk that seemed to come natural for Lee while Gaara saw little use in the pleasantries.Though because he allowed for it, Lee dropped by every day to cook and share a meal with Gaara. A month in and Gaara spoke more, with Lee offering tidbits that caused a warm feeling to spread through his chest and stomach.“You’re a good friend, even though you don’t know it,” he said one day, offhanded like it was nothing for him to say it. Gaara really didn’t understand why it made him feel so warm. “I know you probably don’t think of me as your friend, but I think of you as mine.”Gaara felt as if he had a million questions, but he didn’t know where to begin. “You are my friend.” In the end, he chalked that up to panic speaking for him. Though the way Lee’s face brightened after saying it caused relief.That is, until the boy reached out and hugged him. An entirely different panic caused Gaara to jerk back and kick Lee in the stomach. Not hard enough to knock the other back, but enough to wind him, to cause him to gather his breath as he coughed and sputtered.“I’m sorry,” he rasped. “I should’ve realized.”And Gaara felt nervous now, mouth moving before he had time to think of his words. “No, I apologize. I was...taken off guard. I reacted.”“It’s okay, I’m not mad. I won’t touch you again.”“No!” When Lee’s gaze shot up, Gaara realized he’d responded to that strangely. So he thought, and searched for the words. “I want to learn to accept it.” He remembered the magic word. “Please.”When Lee smiled, he started to feel that relief set back in again. Gaara had his arm outstretched over the table, Lee running his fingers over the wrist and hand in small, light strokes. He moved up Gaara’s arms, and once reaching the inner elbow he stopped when the boy tensed.“Gotta walk before you can crawl,” Lee said, pulling his hands back. Even though it made Gaara terribly flustered, he found himself wishing for the fingers back on his arm.They progressed from the arms to the shoulders, Lee going from having a light hold on them to rubbing them. Even with the recovering hand, he gave remarkable massages.Once at the shoulders, Lee had him in a loose hug, where if Gaara felt uncomfortable he’d pull himself out. Once he became more comfortable with that, the hugs tightened, involving more of their bodies and Gaara catching on the proper etiquette of hug reciprocation. Here, he learned things he hadn’t expected to learn, like Lee’s smell and the beating of his heart.And Gaara learned that those things caused his own heartbeat to speed up, that caused him to feel terribly warm aside from being in the embrace of a warm body. Where he felt flush, until that culminated to the base of his penis and Lee looked down and took note.He searched Gaara’s face. “Do you like me?” He seemed remarkably serious.While Gaara was never asked that so bluntly, he’d realized he’d come to value Lee’s company and friendship and nodded, affirming with a verbal, “Yeah.” Not quite realizing the meaning until the sentiment was returned by Lee and the boy leaned in and kissed him.Months of confusion cleared itself up, Gaara understanding what it was that made him feel those things. And the turnout being what it was gave cause to feeling pleased. More than pleased, happy.Lee’s hand dipped down his chest and stomach, and Gaara felt calm at that contact. Trust, he realized. That calmness was trust, him allowing himself and desiring that touch.“Please.”He found himself in another hug with his overseer, this time the tickle of lips on his jawline. Gaara couldn't be sure, but if he could describe the feeling, his heart swelled.