Holiday Traditions

Disclaimer: This is a purely fan-made piece that is using the world and characters from Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto and is made entirely for enjoyment. No financial gain has been made in the making of this piece

Summery: Gaara doesn’t understand the holiday traditions of Konoha. Lee offers to help.

Author’s Note: Written for Quirkerstein. Possible out-of-characterness

Constructive Criticism is always welcomed

Published: 6 January 2008

Rating: K+

Gaara sat in his corner, trying not to look too disgruntled. Apparently, attending parties such as this with Konoha’s Hokage was not only a sign of the good relationship between the two villages, but it also said that Suna trusted Konoha enough to let its Kazekage enter an apartment filled with foreign, loud, drunk ninjas and not think that there would be a massacre.

Temari had given him dirty look when he had phrased it that way.

He looked around. Everything was decorated in garnish shades of shiny greens and sparkly reds. Ninjas of all ranks milled about, wearing jingling bells, flashing lights, long red hats, and stuffed antlers. An adorn tree sat in a corner across the room from him.

All in all, it was highly dangerous and impractical

Temari, however, had informed him that this all was ‘traditional’, and thus he should keep his mouth shut on the strategically impracticality of the room and the party.

He sniffed the stuff in the small cup that Kankuro had shoved at him again. What had his brother called it? Nog? He could smell the alcohol under all the sickeningly sweet stench that crowded his nostrils. He didn’t care what his brother said about it or who made it, he wasn’t going to drink it. It was easy to empty his cup into the glass of a inebriated Kiba as he stumbled by.

Gaara glanced around. The Hokage had her arms draped over both Hatake Kakashi’s and Naruto’s shoulders, and she was drunkenly discussing the best methods for getting out of work and other ceremonial duties for when the two ninjas made it to office. Gaara noticed that the Copy Ninja looked like he wanted to be anywhere but the party and much less getting advice from an intoxicated Tsunade while Naruto’s whisker cheeks glowed and he loudly argued with her on certain points. Temari had cornered that lazy genius again and the bulky ninja with the swirls on his cheeks next to them didn’t look too pleased with the amount of attention his sister was giving the pony-tailed chunin. The skinny blonde kunoichi was holding an animated one-sided conversation with the shy Hyuuga heir (who couldn’t keep her eyes off of Naruto). Two ninjas—the chunins that Gaara recognised as Tsunade’s assistants—raced unevenly around the room, tossing the antlers from the head of the T & I back and forth, a brash purple haired kunoichi occasionally joining them. Naruto’s teacher suddenly appeared and curled under Hatake’s arm—it wasn’t a good idea to so clearly broadcast a relationship like that, Gaara noted darkly.

“Gaara-kun! How Wonderful that you could join us at for such a Youthful Celebration of the Season!” Gaara blinked, thrown at the familiarity that other ninja was using, but Lee didn’t slow down. “I helped Gai-sensei decorate this room with such Festive and Beautiful decorations! Have you ever seen a Party decorated so Youthfully?”

Gaara wondered for a moment if the question was ‘rhetorical’, and then realised it was Rock Lee he was talking about. He doubted the taijutsu user even knew that such a question could exist. “It’s too sparkly.”

“Nonsense!” Lee looked distinctly unrattled, even though Gaara had learned that tone of voice could make the council suddenly decide that they won’t continue on that day. “It is a Christmas Party and you can’t have a Proper Youthful Christmas Party without the Joyous Glittering!”

Gaara looked at him steadily. Lee beamed a huge shiny smile and gave him a ‘Good Guy’ pose. “I can see that you are Thoroughly Confused by our Youthful Traditions! I shall explain them to you and if I fail at conveying the Greatness of this Jolly Time of Year to you, I will perform ten thousand power squats and ten thousand underhand pull-ups!”

Gaara blinked and then his eyes nearly bugged out of his head when Lee grabbed his arm and yanked him forwards. He stared at the scarred hand (wrapped in shiny ribbons instead of the normal bandages) that gripped his arm. Someone was touching him. More importantly, someone was touching him and not expecting to get their arm ripped off.

Was this considered…normal? Gaara made a mental note to ask one of his siblings later, but he already knew that Kankuro would brush it off because it was Lee. Apparently, what Lee did and what other people did were two different things.

He nearly ran into Lee when the strong green ninja stopped suddenly. The Hyuuga from Lee’s team blinked and Gaara saw surprise flicker across the bored face. The girl from Lee’s gennin team stopped mid-sentence and stared, rather obviously.

Lee—either used to it or too oblivious to notice—struck a pose. “Greetings! I have taken on the Noble Quest to explain our Youthful Traditions to Gaara-kun and I must ask you both to move, as you are both are standing in front of the Lovely Fireplace!”

The girl opened and closed her mouth a few times, and Gaara decided it must be his fault. The girl had to have developed a tolerance for such speeches and occasions, being under Maito Gai ‘s tutelage and working regularly with Lee, so the weird look on her face must have to be with the one variable here—him. The Hyuuga managed to cover his surprise better, but only because fuzzy hat he grudgingly wore stopped his eyebrows from going any higher.

“…Right. Um, right.” The girl finally said and followed the not-so-subtle yanks of her former teammate. They stopped a respectable distance away and began muttering amongst themselves, shooting long looks over at Lee and Gaara.

Lee took no notice of them and instead launched into a long-winded speech that was next to impossible to follow about the fireplace and the little red boot-like things that hung on it. Gaara tried to keep up with it, but Lee used so many different adjectives, he decided it was a lost cause. Maybe he could get it in writing so he could scratch out the flowery words…?

“Lee.”

Lee stopped mid-sentence and turned his wide-eyed gaze towards Gaara. “Write it down. I’ll read it later.”

Lee stared at him a moment, then the lower lip trembled and the round eyes filled up. Before Gaara knew what was happening, Lee flung himself forwards and caught the Kazekage in a crushing hug.

Gaara felt his eyes bug out of his head for the second time that day. The sand in his gourd burst out and hovered around the two of them, just as uncertain and confused as Gaara was.

The sound of everyone’s mouth in the room snapping shut echoed in the suddenly silent party. Ninjas suddenly looked less unsteady and Gaara was certain that every one of them had palmed a weapon and were ready to use it.

Lee ignored the abrupt change. “To think that you think that I’m Worthy enough to not only be your Youthful Friend but that you wish to have more time to fully absorb these Wonderful Traditions…!” He bawled loudly into Gaara’s shoulder. “I will not let such Trust be Wasted! I will compile the Best Explanation so that you will know that our Friendship—”

“Do you want me to get rid of it?” Gaara looked over and saw Kankuro holding the strap that attached Karasu to his back, ready to use force to pry the sobbing—and still babbling—leaf ninja off of his brother before somebody got killed.

“—This is Truly a Great Day for me!” Lee stepped back, hands still on Gaara’s shoulders and eyes still streaming. He seemingly had no idea of the effect he just had on the entire party.

“I’m fine,” Gaara finally said flatly. The sand slowly began to slither back into his gourd, still befuddled by the entire thing.

“Of course you’re fine!” Kankuro glared at the green man as he flung his arm around Gaara’s shoulders. “Who couldn’t be at such a Beautiful and Brilliant Event? With a Youthful Friendship such as ours, things can only turn out Wonderfully!”

Gaara wondered if the Konoha ninjas were tested for observance and how Lee had managed to get around that requirement if they did.

Kankuro didn’t appear to be convinced, but he pulled his hands away from his puppets. He didn’t return to his conversation with the Aburame; he just crossed his arms, followed them, and glared.

Lee—assuming that he noticed—ignored this and hauled Gaara over to the snack table, cheerfully informing Gaara that he should try some of the Delicious Treats that were provided.

Gaara was analysing the fact that he wasn’t nearly as bothered by being dragged around by Lee and why that was when a drunken ninja stumbled and forced the two ninjas to step out of the way.

Lee suddenly blushed wildly and Kankuro made a soft noise. Gaara frowned. What?

“Um…” This was new…Lee seemed close to being speechless. He kept glancing up and then looking back at Gaara.

Gaara looked up and saw that he and Lee were underneath a sprig of green leaves and small white berries.

Lee leaned forwards awkwardly and shyly brushed his lips against Gaara’s cheek. Face flaming, he yanked back. “It’s tradition to kiss under the mistletoe,” he mumbled at Gaara’s confused look.

Gaara had wondered why he had seen so many ninjas kissing (some embarrassedly, some with annoyance), but if it was tradition, then so be it.

Anyhow, Temari had said that he should try to explore more of their ally’s traditions.

Kankuro made a funny noise when Gaara slowly nodded and rose up on his toes to copy the gesture. Lee—if at all possible—turned redder, but the look he gave Gaara was easily happier than any he had seen on the taijutsu master’s face.

Gaara made up his mind right there as Lee took his hand and pulled him towards the snack table, Kankuro opening and shutting his mouth like a toddler with a cupboard door. He was going to read that report from Lee from top to bottom and see what he could find out about growing this mistletoe.

And once he figured that out, he was going to find a way to make Tsunade send Lee to Suna regularly.

x Fin x