Hiraeth

A bad feeling churned in the pit of Lee’s stomach the rest of the day, and only intensified when Gaara didn’t show up to their shared history period.

At the end of the day he ran into Ino, who seemed awfully smug about something. Normally he would have been curious, but the uneasiness he felt overshadowed any desire to know he would have had.

“Lee? Earth to Lee?” He heard Ino say and he snapped his head up and looked at her.

“Yes?”

She sighed and flicked him on the forehead. “I was just talking about how I have work today and I was wondering if you’d be willing to sacrifice your very busy schedule and hang out there for a while.”

Lee bit the inside of his cheek and nodded. He was hoping to do something with Gaara today but he doubted that would happen now. “Sure,” He said as she thanked him, thankfully grabbing his uninjured arm and pulling him out to the back of the school where the road that led to the flower shop was connected.

They walked out in an unusual silence, Ino sensing that Lee wasn’t in the mood to talk. They were passing the dumpsters when they heard a deep voice speak.

“...Yeah, just call me Subaku.”

Both Ino and Lee stopped and shared a glance.

What the fuck.

They simultaneously turned around towards where the voice came from and Ino snorted as they saw a guy in a black jacket with the hood up exchange a small bag with a student for a wad of cash.

The student left without a word and the hooded figure leaned against the brick wall of the school and pulled out a phone. Ino looked at Lee who shook his head ‘no’ frantically. Rolling her eyes she grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to the stranger.

The stranger looked up, handsome face regarding them without much interest and sighing, kicking off the wall and crossing his arms. “Listen, what do you-”

“Do you know Gaara?” Ino blurted out as Lee ripped his wrist out of her grasp, rubbing it and wincing.

The stranger quirked an eyebrow and his shoulders slumped. “Maybe. Who’s asking?

Ino frowned, eyebrows pinching together. “Uh, only his best friend and his boyfriend.”

The guy’s eyes widened momentarily before relaxing. “Yeah, fine. He’s my brother.”

“You... You’re Kankuro?” Ino asked before nodding like something made sense.

The man Lee now knew as Kankuro slapped his gloved hand over her mouth.

“Just shout it out to the whole world, why don’t you?” He hissed as Ino scoffed and pushed his hand off.

“I’m surprised Gaara’s brother is a drug dealer,” She said, cocking her hip to one side and resting her hand on it.

“I’m surprised Gaara has a friend and another boyfriend,” Kankuro mused, looking between the pair.

“Why’re you surprised? And our names are Ino and Lee, asshole.”Ino said as Lee asked “Another boyfriend?”

The older male looked at them with a raised eyebrow before leaning back against the wall again and shrugging. “First, ‘cause Gaara’s shit at socializing.” Lee wanted to interject but with shame realized he couldn’t really deny it. “And second, Gaara had like an internet boyfriend from when he was around ten to sixteen. Guy named Sasuke I think. Uchiha? Something like that.”

Lee felt like the air had left his body. He very clearly could feel the walls caving in on him, could hear god laughing at him for placing him up against Sasuke of all people, the most popular boy in school.

“What the actual fuck,” Ino cursed, letting out a hollow chuckle that Lee barely heard amidst his current crisis. “That asshole goes to our school.”

“Seriously?” Kankuro let out a low whistle, shaking his head. “Gaara really does have the worst luck.”

Ino looked up Kankuro and frowned. “Whatever, that’s not important.” She took a moment, choosing her words carefully. “It’s just... is he okay? I don’t mean to like offend or anything, I’m just-”

“Why?” Kankuro asked sharply, suddenly much more alert. “Fuck, did he hurt someone?”

Lee stilled, and Kankuro looked at him, about to say something when Ino spoke up. “What? No, unless you count himself.”

Kankuro’s eyes flickered with concern before sighing, shoulders slumping. “That’s good. I mean, not good that he hurt himself, good that he hasn’t hurt anyone else.”

Ino bit her lip and Lee knew she was thinking about Naruto and Kiba.

“But yeah,” Kankuro began, nodding. “I guess you could say there’s something something wrong with him.”

“What is it?” Ino said, and Lee for the first time wanted to slap the girl, shocked she would ask something so personal. But Kankuro just sighed and continued.

“Gaara’s got schizoaffective disorder,” He murmured, voice low. Ino and Lee shared a confused look before Ino turned back to Kankuro.

“You mean like schizophrenia?”

Kankuro shook his head before pausing and nodding slightly. “No... well kind of I guess. It’s fucked, okay? It’s like a mix of bipolar and schizophrenia.”

Ino’s eyes widened in shock, and Lee was sure if he could see his face it’d be in a similar state.

“I just thought he had really bad anxiety or something...” She whispered, fingers reaching up to mess with her ponytail. “Doesn’t he have like medicine to help with that?”

Kankuro locked his jaw and looked to the side, gaze hard. “He should, but our dad won’t pay for it. Or therapy.”

Lee’s brow furrowed, speaking up suddenly. “But- but isn’t there such a thing as financial aid or-”

Kankuro let out a humorless chuckle, fixing his gaze on Lee with an unreadable expression. “I never said he couldn’t pay for it. I said he wouldn’t.”

Ino and Lee stood there in silence, and Lee felt both a growing sense of horror and rage build up in him. The protectiveness he had been feeling grew insurmountably and he felt his hands clench into fists.

The silence stretched longer, a light drizzle beginning to rain down on them when Kankuro suddenly grabbed a fistful of Lee’s shirt collar, gaze steely as he glared down at the younger.

“Oi, and if I find out you brats told anyone about this, I’ll make sure you’ll regret it.”

He released the now coughing Lee and turned on his heel, hands jamming into his pockets as he said one more thing.

“And... thanks for looking after my little brother.”