LGBT+ Naruto Stories

Gay GaaLee: Bartering

this story is, how u say, old as balls. i hope u enjoy nonetheless <3

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The Tortoiseshell Shop in downtown Konoha sold the world's most mediocre fudge, that everybody knew. It was dry but not gritty, the sweet overpowered the flavor and the outside was cracked and dull in color, but it was passable and even a guilty pleasure to some. The store besides the fudge was small and charming, sweet smelling, always temperate and rarely busy. For Rock Lee, who lived in the apartment above with his sensei Might Gai and Gai's husband Kakashi, it was the perfect place to relax after school and before evening training.

It was fifteen minutes before his shift ended. Lee's homework was done, the store was empty and Sakura would soon come to take over counter duty. He bounced on his heels and read the signs on the opposite wall for the thousandth time. He couldn't wait to train. He wondered how many times a day he thought that same thing.

The bell over the door jingled. Lee tried not to look too excited; whether it was Sakura or a customer he was a little attention starved. "Welcome to Tortoiseshell!" he chirped.

The person at the door was not Sakura. He was small, although he was definitely around Lee's age, with bright red hair and semiformal dress. Black circles around his eyes could have signified serious lack of sleep if the slightly metallic shine did not convince him it was eyeshadow. He had a character written on his forehead, one Lee recognized from when he was young and his father attempted to teach him how to read Japanese. It said 'love'.

'He's kind of beautiful,' Lee thought, just before interrupting himself to think 'I've been staring too long' followed by 'Oh dear, he's looking right at me. With stunning crystal green eyes.'

Lee felt himself blush. "I-I'm sorry! I know it is impolite to stare, my father taught me better than this." He gazed down at the the fudge on the counter.

"You are better than the people who don't apologize, Mr. Lee." Lee was startled for the moment that he forgot he was wearing a name tag.

The stranger's expression remained blank. After a beat he realized it was his turn to introduce himself. "My name is Gaara, I work at the botanical gardens outside of town."

Lee smiled and held back a giggle. "That is a beautiful place, it must be great to work there."

"I do like it," Gaara murmured.

"How can I help you today?"

Gaara looked down at the rolls of fudge between them. "I haven't been here before, I just read about it on the internet earlier this week." He looked up and locked eyes with Lee again, which made Lee a frustrating degree of flustered. "What would you recommend?"

"Dark chocolate is my favorite, but you may enjoy this kind," he said, pointing to a white and orange variety. Orange flavored fudge was dropped into white chocolate and a toothpick was pulled through the drops to make shapes resembling hearts or flames. It reminded Lee of Gaara's hair.

"Alright. I'll take a quarter pound of that then." Lee cut and wrapped the sweet, plugged the order into the register and told Gaara the cost. He fished around in his bag for a moment, frowned, and fished around more.

"I left my wallet at work," he announced, clearly upset.

Lee quickly shook his head. "It's fine! I'll cover it!" When Gaara looked startled he realized he may have shouted that. He picked up the fudge and held it out to him. "Consider it a free sample, if you like it you can come buy more."

Gaara gently took the wrapped sweet from Lee's hand, placed it in his bag, then fished around for something else. He retrieved a pen and a packet containing two dried up somethings. He wrote his number on the bag, then handed it to Lee. "Call me when you're free—" the front entrance bell rang just then and Sakura entered, though reading the situation she just flashed Lee a smile and ran to the door labeled 'employees only' "—and I'll give you a tour of the gardens, okay? The address is on the tea packet." Lee looked sideways at the bag, and Gaara quickly added "They're cactus blossoms, you put them in hot water and they make tea. It's what I had to write on."