"Gaara! I will save you!"
"Stay out of it."
Rock Lee and his team were visiting the Land of Wind to thank Gaara for saving him on their failed mission to bring back Sasuke. Lee went out by himself to give Gaara a basket of salted gizzards. As he walked closer the the Sand Village headquarters, he saw a sand storm. In the dust he saw the red head with his arms over his face. Now, he was trying to help him.
"Tornado Kick!" Lee leaped towards into the storm and spun at a rapid speed, clearing out most of the dust.
"Lee, I said stay out of it."
"I was expecting one on one, but I can take this." Rock Lee whipped his head around to see the face of the familiar voice. Sasuke Uchiha.
"Sasuke? Have you decided to come back to the village?" Lee asked.
"Tsk. No, I was passing by, and he decided to pay me a visit." Sasuke said, shooting a look at Gaara.
"Well, in that case...I MUST TAKE YOU TO THE VILLAGE!" Lee charged at Sasuke preparing his special move, "Primary Lotus". Sasuke scoff and pulled what looked like soil.
"I saved some from a time when I was shrunk by a criminal with a strange dust. I'll make this easy on me."(happened in last chapter) Sasuke rubbed the dust in between his fingers, and a smirk grew on his face as the wind pushed it towards Lee.
Lee got his wrap ready and jumped high in the air. "Primary....huh?!"
Gaara saw the scene go on. He saw Lee had been reduced to an extremely small size. Quick to react, his sand reached out to cushion the miniature Lee. Sasuke was still in sight, so once he pulled him in, he created a sand wall to block any extra dust.
Forgetting about going to the village headquarters, Gaara made his way to his house.
____________________________________
Lee woke up on a tall, soft surface. He felt a strain in his waist, so he had trouble standing up. When he finally did, he saw that these thick ropes reached up to his hips.
"You're awake." Rock Lee turned to the familiar voice. Looking past what felt look the sky, he saw the large head of Gaara.
"Gaara? You're so huge! What is going on..." he paused for a moment. "Oh, I see. It was Sasuke Uchiha that did this!"
"Yes. I just wonder how long it lasts."
"Oh, well we could just ask Tenten! She talks to Sakura a lot!"
"I see." Gaara stood up. "I'll be back then." Gaara's sand wrapped around Lee's waist, and he groaned in pain.
"Lee?" Gaara asked worriedly.
"It seems that my waist is in a sort of pain, Gaara," he said.
"Oh," he replied, realizing his sand probably squeezed the life out of him while catching him earlier. He carefully let his sand wrap under Lee's arms, putting him in his gourd.
Lee looked at the semi-dark place. 'This is a place...
that could be very convenient for training!'
Meanwhile
"So you're telling me that sue to Lee's convenient stupidity, he ended up like this?"
"Yes, Tenten. Do you know how long it will last?"
"Well Sakura was talking about a book that mentioned something like this and...I think is lasts about three days."
"I see." Gaara mumbled.
"But," Tenten started, "since you guys are BEST friends, you should have no problem keeping him occupied!"
"But-"
Before Gaara could argue, Tenten sprinted away to avoid the trouble of having to do with Tenten. Gaara sighed and looked back, now focused on Lee.
Trying to be more careful now, he slowly wrapped his sand around Lee's waist and set him down on his hand. Lee immediately flopped down on his hand panting.
"What have you been doing?" Gaara sighed.
"Oh, Gaara! I created a new survival exercise! It's where you bury yourself chest level in sand, then try to escape."
"That sounds very...useful, I guess."
"It is! You should try! Maybe after these..." Gaara stopped focusing on Lee's voice and caught himself staring.
"He's kinda cute." Gaara mumbled.
"What was that?" Lee interrupted his thought.
"Oh. Uhh...I said this will be exciting."
"Yes, Gaara! And with hard-work, we will have a stronger bond these next days!" Gaara cheered.
'Why me?' Gaara thought, though he felt more excited than unenthusiastic.
