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Characters: Rock Lee and Sabaku no Gaara
Location: The park.
Rating: PG-13
Time: August 13th, afternoon
Description: Lee and Gaara have a sparring match in the park.

Gaara shut off his communicator and arrived in the park a few minutes later. He stood, arms crossed over his chest, and waited. As strange as this place was, there was something about the air that reminded him of Suna. Dry and hot, with a faintly dusty smell.

He hadn't sparred against Lee since the Chuunin Exams three years ago. Four years, for Lee. Rock Lee had been a difficult opponent even then, when Gaara had been in full possession of his powers. And Lee was probably even stronger now...especially considering that his abilities were pure strength and speed. Unlike Gaara, he had not been stripped of his primary defensive and offensive capabilities. He could no longer open his Gates, but even so, he was probably one of the strongest people here, whereas Gaara's taijutsu abilities were probably not much better than the average Genin's. He'd never had any reason to develop them, considering that hardly anyone alive could break through his sand shield. Of course, Lee had broken through it.

Gaara wondered briefly if agreeing to this sparring match had been a bad idea. But if he was going to fight in this war, he needed to increase his own strength and speed.

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The attacks grew more reckless as Gaara pushed, Lee noted. Too many openings; of course there were. He caught the next punch and held up his other hand to halt the spar. Training session. Whichever.

He wondered how he was supposed to handle this, but Lee knew that he wasn't a very tactful person. He was honest. Sometimes blunt, always straightforward, and bad at lying or hiding things. So he wouldn't try any of those things. "They have classes for adults in the mornings. On learning how to fight physically." Lee paused. His bandaged fingers were still closed around Gaara's fist. "Or I could teach you." He let Gaara's hand drop, meeting pale green eyes with a serious expression.

Gaara stared up at Lee. The realization that he wasn't even strong enough to properly spar with him had begun to sink in. Gaara, who had been the leader of his village, the strongest ninja in Suna, was not strong enough to spar with a Chuunin. He lowered his gaze. The bitter taste of shame filled his mouth.

He could take the classes. But he doubted anyone in this world was more skilled at taijutsu than Lee. And--though it pained him to admit it--Gaara didn't want the others here to see how weak he was. Lee, he trusted...as much as he trusted anyone, anyway.

With an ease born of long practice, he pushed his emotions down and raised his gaze to Lee's again. "All right," he said quietly. "Teach me."

It was a strange position to be in. He didn't know Gaara well personally though he'd been a significant figure in Lee's life; before ending up here, Lee probably could've counted the number of times they'd interacted on one hand. And more than one of those times had been Gaara trying to kill him. Every time, though, stood out starkly in his memory. They weren't the type of events that a person forgot. Having half of his body crushed. Fighting Kimimaro. Seeing Gaara die, and then be saved at the cost of Chiyo's life.

It was logical in a situation like this to stick together. Konoha and Suna were allies, and they were in a foreign city with people expecting them to fight. Sasuke was a missing nin and a traitor. Naruto was there, but still a Genin. And not the way he'd been back home, when Genin was just a word attributed to him from lack of the official stamp from the Chuunin exams. Outside of the alliance between their cities, Gaara himself was the closest thing Lee personally had to an ally here.

And where before he'd been all-powerful, now he was vulnerable.

"Taijutsu is not easy to learn," Lee said. "It is about hard work and determination. It will not come quickly, even to a genius." Even Neji had to train daily.

"I can work," Gaara said. His voice emerged sharper than he'd intended.

He had to become stronger. He had no choice, not if he wanted to fight. And the idea of sitting out this war was unthinkable.

Of course, he'd never really had to train before...at least, not in the way ninja typically thought of training. He'd endured many difficulties in his life, and becoming the Kazekage had been an uphill battle every step of the way, but that had been due more to others' fear and distrust of him than anything else. Learning to control his own powers as a Jinchuuriki, bending the demon inside him to his will, had taken a great deal of determination and stubbornness. But still, this wouldn't be quite the same.

Gaara shoved aside his doubts. If he could master the bloodthirsty beast in his own soul, he could surely master taijutsu. It was a matter of practice, that was all.

"Just teach me." His jaw clenched tight as he glared at Lee, as if daring Lee to tell him that he didn't have what it took.

Edited 2010-06-13 03:50 (UTC)

Lee nodded. He knew that it wouldn't be that easy. The scars on his own hands were proof of what taijutsu would do to the body. He also knew, though, that it was necessary. He looked at Gaara, still slightly unsettled by the sight of sweat slicking brick-red hair down to his face. "The first problem is the way that you are dressed," Lee said. He nodded toward the restraining coat and the buckled leather vest. He wasn't certain how Gaara could stand to wear such dark colors and so many layers in the heat. Death City seemed nearly as bad as what he remembered of Suna.

"If you cannot move in what you are wearing, that just makes it harder."

Gaara glanced down at his clothes. They'd always served him well, but he supposed Lee was right. They would hinder his movement in a fight. He unbuckled the vest, slipped it off along with his coat, and lay the clothes near the foot of a tree, next to his gourd. Beneath, he wore only a simple, long-sleeved black shirt and matching pants. He faced Lee, arms crossed over his chest. "This should do."

Lee cast a considering look at the clothing. It wasn't much different from standard-issue uniforms for Chuunin and Jounin in Konoha, but there was a reason that he and his teacher both didn't wear that uniform. "A jumpsuit would work better. They are light and well-suited to the heat, and will not restrain your movement at all. It is important for a taijutsu specialist to be able to move quickly and easily."

Gaara blinked. A vision flashed through his mind: himself in a bright green jumpsuit and orange legwarmers similar to Lee's. His brain immediately rejected the image. "No. This will be fine."

"It would work much better, though! And it is easier to learn when you are..." Lee trailed off, halted by that glare.

"Maybe next time then." He'd have to see about finding weights as well. Not nearly as heavy as his own, of course. They could start off small. It'd probably work better to start training without them, then slowly get Gaara adjusted to using lighter ones. He wondered if he'd be able to find something similar to the weights he occasionally wore around his wrists when training.

Gaara's mouth tightened slightly. He was not going to let Lee get him into one of those ridiculous jumpsuits. But he had to admit, his body did feel lighter without the vest and coat.

Once more, he straightened his back and raised a hand in awkward mimicry of Lee's fighting stance. "Show me how it's done."

"Taijutsu does not work like that," Lee said. "It is not a matter of handseals." He looked at Gaara, trying to think of a way to explain it, but it was difficult. To Lee taijutsu was as natural as breathing. It was part of his life. In many ways it was his life- that Lee was still breathing rested solely on the strength in his battered fists. "You need to train before you can fight."

"Sparring is a form of training, isn't it?" Gaara asked, tension and impatience creeping into his tone. He needed to start getting stronger now. "How else am I supposed to learn?"

"It is," Lee replied, "but you need the foundation to work off of first to be able to spar." He could hear the impatience in Gaara's voice, but it simply didn't work that way. Lee studied Gaara's stance. "Your form is not bad for a beginner. Your center of balance should be lower, and you overextend on your punches. The biggest issue, though, is your defense."

Lee looked at him, brows drawn together slightly. "You do not have the sand to defend you here. You have to defend yourself. You need to practice dodging and blocking attacks before you can fight." He knew that Gaara likely wouldn't take that well, but Lee had no intention of sugarcoating anything. If he was going to train Gaara, it was best to start out the way that he intended to continue. Lee would do neither of them any favors by pretending the situation was any less serious than it was.

Gaara bristled at the word "beginner," but he said nothing. Lee was right, after all. In this, he was no different from a Genin. "Very well."

A taijutsu master needed to be supremely in tune with his body; he knew that much. Gaara was accustomed to holding himself rigidly composed and using a minimum of movements. He found it difficult to even imagine moving the way Lee did. But he had to learn.

He focused on the first thing Lee had said. Center of balance--his center of balance was off. He shifted his weight slightly. "Is this any better?"

Lee nodded. It wasn't the best place to start, but it was a start. He slipped into the position himself. It was as easy and natural to him as breathing, and the idea of trying to explain how to do something like that...

"Lower. You want to have your weight balanced on the balls of your feet. The benefit of this position is being able to take off quickly or fend off an attack. It is good to start a fight in or to return to if there is a pause."

Gaara nodded and adjusted his stance again. He could see what Lee meant, but being so conscious of something as basic as his center of balance was strange. He'd never given it much thought in the past.

"You said I need to work on my defense. But dodging or blocking punches is just a matter of speed or strength, I would think. I wasn't fast enough last time."

"It is more than that. You need to be able to track how your enemy will move, even if you do not know their fighting style." Lee thought for a moment, then glanced over toward the gourd. "Like with the sand. When we fought, it was always there a millisecond before my attacks landed."

Gaara nodded. He could see what Lee meant. But of course, the sand had shielded Gaara independently of his will. Using it for attacks required concentration and control, but blocking had always been effortless. He'd simply trusted it.

He needed to start thinking differently. Lee was fast, unbelievably fast. If Gaara wanted to block those punches, he would almost have to become a mind-reader, to observe his opponent carefully, to predict his opponent's movements and move before he did.

On some level, Gaara--like many ninja--had always assumed that taijutsu required less intelligence than ninjutsu or genjutsu. Already, he was starting to understand how wrong that view was.

"And you said I overextend my punches?"

Lee nodded. "How you carry through with an attack is as important as the attack itself. You need to recover quickly, or you will give your opponent too much of an opening. Part of it is speed. If you are worried about if the punch landed or how, you are doing it wrong. It has to be automatic. That is part of why taijutsu is difficult to truly master; fighting is as much in the memory of your muscles as it is in your mind."

Gaara nodded. He was beginning to understand why taijutsu training required so much repetitive movement--punching or kicking a training post hundreds upon hundreds of times, until the movement was so ingrained into your body and brain you couldn't forget it even if you wanted.

Lee was right. At this point, sparring wouldn't accomplish much; the difference between them was too great. Gaara had to start by re-conditioning his own body and mind. "I'll start setting aside some time each day to train myself," he said. "The next time we spar, I'll be more prepared."

In that moment, it was easy to see why Gaara was the leader of his village. In an unfamiliar city, expected to fight a war, and without the abilities that he'd had since birth, he was still determined to do everything necessary to return home. Even when that everything was completely relearning how to fight and putting aside his pride to do so from a Chuunin from Leaf. It was a solid determination to overcome that gave a brief glimpse of how the boy who had lived for the pleasure of killing had changed into the man standing in front of him, who had died to protect his village.

Lee smiled. "I am certain that you will."

At that bright, warm smile, some of the tension eased from Gaara's shoulders. That smile was an anchor of familiarity in this strange world. Lee might have grown taller and stronger since the Chuunin Exams, but on some fundamental level he hadn't changed at all.

Gaara had crushed half his body during their first battle--had nearly crippled him for life. If Lee hadn't recovered, he thought, that smile would have been forever dimmed, and it would have been Gaara's doing.

He lowered his gaze. "Thank you. For teaching me."

Lee flashed a quick thumbs-up, his beam brightening in reply. "I am glad to, and I am certain that with your determination, you will do well!"

He let his bandaged hand fall back to his side, and glanced up at the sky. The sun was well into setting now, tinging the sky with reds and oranges and relieving the worst of the heat. It would be a good time to train. "If you are ready to start, we will do twenty laps around the park! And if you cannot complete twenty laps, you will do one hundred pushups!" The numbers seemed fairly small to Lee- he'd taken a zero off of what he would've set for himself- but they should be a good challenge for someone unused to physical training.

"Twenty laps," Gaara repeated. He tried to remember the last time he'd run laps. Or the last time he'd run, for that matter. Running wasn't usually necessary when you could levitate on a platform of sand. Which he could no longer do.

He supposed now was as good a time as any to get started. "Very well." He walked to the edge of the park. The distance around it was considerable, but still, he should be able to manage twenty laps.

Edited 2010-06-14 03:59 (UTC)

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