Gender was about the same thing as asking someone their hair color. You could be blonde, you could be male, you could be brunette, you could be female, you could be a redhead, you could be a transvestite, you could have dyed it blue, you could be undecided.

In the long run, it didn't matter what hung between your legs or if your chest was soft and squishy or not. What it really comes down to is if you are a dominant or a submissive.

Take for instance a gay couple. One of them would undoubtedly be a dominant and the other a submissive. Dominants are never attracted to other dominants, just like wolves are never attracted to tigers. It goes against their genetic code, that thing that defined them, and, if anything, dominants would much rather maul another dominant that came near them. Sometimes they could form brotherhoods, like lions are prone to do, but those were hard to keep after a dominant found their submissive.

Now a submissive was a strange creature – the Yang to the dominant's Yin, sunlight to the moonlight, fire to the ice, all those other poetic things that could sometimes be misleading depending on the submissive. They are rarely attracted to another submissive, but it had been proven otherwise in the past. They don't have the dominant's aggressive emotions or territorial habits.

Anatomically, the submissive was even stranger. A female submissive had, of course, the ovaries, the milk-producing mammary glands, a womb, the eggs, a birth canal, etcetera, etcetera… Then there was the male submissive.

Their testes produced modified sperm that more or less had the same function as an egg which was to be fertilized, conceive, and then develop into a fetus over time. They carried more fat than the dominant male as to support the fetus, like a female had, and their pectorals, though not feminine, definitely had a very slight rounded affect to them where the mammary glands, not shaped as the female's, were thinner but produced a thicker nutrience, a case of quality making up for quantity. The birth canal was redirected via the rectum and the womb was squeezed into the abdominopelvic region of the torso.

It's all very scientific, feel free to ask a doctor about it. If you have any questions of a female dominant, just think of a woman on steroids minus ovaries plus testes plus an extra or so inch on their clitoris.

And then there is the Theory of True Love, which made a dominant and submissive go off with each other like French angelfish. For those who don't know, French angelfish mate for life. Not only that, they spend every single moment of their lives together. They swim together, they nest together, they fight together, they hunt together, and they die together. It is all rather romantic and somewhat sad.

The Theory of True Love constitutes that physique, fertility, personality, wealth, power, and the like do not in any way influence a dominant or submissive to choose their partner for life. The Theory of True Love states that, if we squeeze what was put into three separate volumes into a single sentence, the possibility of soul mates is real and that the dominant and submissive in question are simply meant to be. That then explains why dominants treat their submissives (wife, husband, lover, life partner, life mate, soul mate, love for life, whatever you want to call it) like the most valuable thing to be found in the seven seas, in the hundreds of galaxies, in the whole of the universe. That could explain why dominants killed to defend that single person that owned their heart and why submissives would do anything to protect their dominants.

Of course, the Theory of True Love was discovered by a man who wrote – and lives to this day to continue doing so – original porn as a career and had no doctorates or degrees in science, physiology, hormonal study, or anything else useful. Hell, the man never even went to college.

So his theory was mostly labeled bogus and the scientists decided to name a hormone they couldn't find at fault. But, they promised, they would identify it soon.

Hence, subject A and subject B12. It has taken fourteen different attempts, but the scientists feel that they have finally found the right connection. Taking a DNA sample from subject A, the dominant, and subject B12, the submissive, they have compared them and come to the conclusion that these two might finally have the answer as to why there are "mates", as they have come to term the inseparability of a dominant from a single submissive and vice versa. These are the hardcore type of scientists.

Y'know, the loony, mad hatter, around the bin, mad, crazy "I-kidnapped-these-test-subjects-off-the-street" type of scientists.

This could be the reason why when subject A and subject B are thrust into the same room together, they are not trustful nor do they seem anxious to approach their opposite. Instead, they claim opposite sides of the room and stare at each other.

Subject B12 tries to cover his nudity by folding his legs up and wrapping his arms around himself. Subject A is leaning forward, elbows on knees, fingers steepled together, and commences a long period of not blinking over his hands as subject B12 fidgets.

The scientists are about to call it yet another failure when subject B does something daring. He stands up and he approaches the dominant.

The scientists, behind their one-way window, watch.

.

Lee can't remember much from his abduction. One moment, he was getting milk and eggs, the next he woke up in a white room with no windows, seemingly no doors, and a single cot that had no stand or blankets. Also, he had been naked. He is a very modest teenager, he isn't very comfortable being naked when he knows he's being watched.

As it is, the reflective wall to one side of the room is not very subtle and Lee has seen enough cop shows to know that it is not there simply so they can make sure they look presentable.

He peers at the other man from beneath his thick eyelashes. It's a dominant. As a submissive, Lee had been raised to be able to identify one on sight. Dominants do not have the curves a submissive does, they are all hard lines and flat surfaces. Lee himself is very lean for a submissive but even he has a soft rise to his chest and there is the slightest handful of fat clinging stubbornly to his torso. He is certainly deceptively strong but only deceptively because his muscle mass is far from equal to that of a dominants and his uncle had had to work on his form of offense and defense instead of trying to bulk him up.

He slams his eyes shut. His uncle! Oh, he must be so worried, Lee knows he is! Uncle Guy isn't the best at caring for himself, he gets too excited, he exercises too much, he yells too loudly near people he really shouldn't be yelling around to begin with (like the police, for one), and he sometimes overdoes it on his diets or forgets to eat completely for days at a time.

How long has Lee been missing? He isn't sure. No one will tell him the time and the meals never seem to come on a schedule.

He looks at the dominant again. He's still staring. Is he another victim? If he isn't, then why is he staying all the way over there? He nervously shifts out of his corner and, face scarlet from embarrassment, stands up and walks over, very much aware of the fact that the dominant is eyeing him up.

"H-hello, my name is Lee Rock. What's yours?"

The man stares at him for a long while. Lee finds himself, strangely, captivated by him. His aquamarine eyes, his thick red hair, his broad shoulders and solid build, they make the stranger very alluring. Lee's blush becomes impossibly darker as his body shows its interest with a subtle twitch from down below.

The stranger's nostrils flare. "Gaara Sabaku. How did you end up here?"

"I-I am trying to figure th-that out myself." He put his hands over himself and crouched down, folding into himself. "I was on my home and then… I was here."

Gaara nods. "I'm sorry."

Lee jerks. The man doesn't look the sort to apologize and somehow he just knows that he doesn't do so under just any circumstance. "What are you sorry for?"

"My father is behind that wall," he says simply. "He's in charge of this study."

"S-study? Study of what?"

"I don't know. All I know is that he's in charge of whatever study we're a part of."

"How can you know that if not what study we're in?"

"Because I know my father."

Lee sags. "Oh… So… Do you know if I will be able to go home after this, er, study is over?"

"Everyone else was allowed to."

"Everyone else?"

"You're the twelfth person they've sent in here with me."

"Really? They have kidnapped twelve people, thirteen if we include you, and no one has said anything?"

"My father is a very influential man."

He waits to see if Gaara will say anything else. He doesn't, so Lee sighs and stares at his feet. "But you have always been here?"

"As of two months ago, yes."

"What sort of father would force their own child through this?"

"Mine, obviously." He shifts on the bed and gives Lee a long look. When Lee just stares blankly back at him, he explains. "Sitting up here would be more comfortable – and warmer – than sitting on the floor."

"… T-that is true…" but does he want to be on a bed with this dominant? The thought makes him feel strange.

When Gaara begins to glare at him, he scrambles up and puts the width of the mattress between them. Again, no blankets. At least they keep the rooms decently warm. It would be terrible if there was no source of heat.

And then, as if struck by the same idea, the heaters clicked off and the hum of electricity that Lee hadn't been aware of dies. A vent opens somewhere and in three minutes Lee is shivering and Gaara is tense with cold.

Before he even thinks about it, he pushes against the dominant's side, looking for warmth. The shock is palpable as a wave of pure and unadulterated want flows between them through that one point of contact, like fusion, like two pieces of a puzzle snapping together, a soul torn in two becoming one, as if they could make fire.

It's all so sudden and random that Lee mewls his insides tremble as the dominant growls and turns to him with dilated eyes. "Lee," he husks, "what are you doing?"

"I-I don't know! I-it just happened and… you felt that too… right?"

"Yes, Lee, I felt that too… And I'm still feeling it… and you should stop touching me."

He thinks about it, honestly. He may be a virgin, but he isn't naïve and he knows that if they stay touching like this, the fire raising through their bodies like an aphrodisiac, he won't be a virgin much longer. If he moves away, though, he'll be cold.

Honestly, he can handle the cold. It's doubtful that they'll let the temperature drop so much that they will freeze to death. Besides, how many times has he played in the snow with Naruto and Tenten in nothing but shorts and a shirt? He could very easily corner himself on the opposite end of the bed and wait this out.

Except… he likes the feel of this fire. He likes the look of this man. And, for reasons he can not identify, he trusts that Gaara will treat him right, body and mind. There are so many things swimming through his mind, telling him that it's okay, that this must be the most special person uncle Guy was telling me about, and he was… he was…

Gosh, he is so horny. He has never felt this way before.

"I do not think I want to, Gaara."

"There's an audience behind that wall."

That puts a damper on things, Lee admits, but if he stays still a moment or two longer, he knows he will be too far gone to care. Besides, if he moves away now, will he ever feel this way again? His heart jerks at the thought. But, wait, that doesn't make sense, this shouldn't hurt him already! Why does it hurt already? He knows next to nothing about Gaara, Gaara knows just as little about him, and yet he doesn't want to leave. He doesn't want Gaara to go.

He is far from afraid of his emotions, but the onslaught of affection he feels for the redhead nearly stops his heart. He's teetering on the edge of love and, surely, love at first sight is one thing, but this is under guard in a study with Gaara's father watching. Supposedly. But most likely!

And then he knows. "Gaara…" he breathes raggedly, "do you believe in the Theory of True Love?"

Understanding flashes through those incredible aquamarine eyes. And then dark passion settles in and he grabs Lee by his arms, swings him around, and lies him flat on the bed as he looms over him like a dangerous, beautiful predator.

Lee, true to his nature, submits.

.

The scientists are upset. Yes, they finally have the data they have been after for so long. They have witnessed the moment where a dominant and submissive realize their "mate" in each other and act upon it. Yet the problem is that all of their expensive machines, all the devices and instruments that are supposed to measure chemical and hormonal output, levels of testosterone and estrogen, to estimate the average time it takes between moment of meeting and moment of realization – they all fail.

The only levels that change are the pheromone levels and heat monitors.

And then Kaze, the head scientist, does a double take. The heat monitors are blowing up. The two bodies within the lab are radiating enough thermal energy to rival that of a small explosion.

"So this is the answer…" Except he doesn't know what the answer is. All he knows is that he's looking at it. And, so far, he doesn't like it. He doesn't like it at all.

.

Lee has never done something so naughty before. Then again, he is a virgin. He is completely and utterly untouched. No one has ever before kissed his lips, no one has ever before touched his skin, no one has ever before thrust into his body.

Gaara is his first. It takes the redhead three seconds into their first kiss for him to realize it too, that bully.

Lee giggles as Gaara shows him how to do it right, how to tango with tongues, how good it tastes and feels and the brunette is lost in all of these new sensations! So intense and Gaara drags him into his lap, his erection bucking up against Lee's, and he gasps because that's new too and if he was one to get scared, this might be the moment where he would call it quits. But he doesn't.

He wants more. There an inextinguishable fire in the pit of his gut and he can do nothing but feed it, hope to quench it, hope not to quench it, and, Gosh, can Gaara do that thing again with his tongue?

Lee turns his face away as he gasps for breath, feeling lightheaded and oversensitive as Gaara's hands travel over him. He finds his nipples and pinches them, rolls them between his forefinger and thumb, and then he wanders down further and he rubs his navel, and then his hands are there and Lee is torn between sputtering in embarrassment and crying out.

"I-I want to… L-let me do something… f-for you…"

Gaara's eyes snap to his, his mouth on his throat, nibbling his jugular vein. "Are you sure?" Lee nods frantically and his nails cut into Gaara's shoulders. "Tell me if you feel overwhelmed and I'll stop."

Lee pauses and blinks at him. Then he smiles. "… Thank you… for being considerate."

Gaara looks away as if that moment of kindness makes him uncomfortable. He moves Lee off of him and down the bed, then his palm pressures Lee's head down… right next to his erection. Lee's eyes, already so large, nearly pop out of his skull. "G-Gaara?"

"Can you handle it?"

He swallows thickly. His mouth is suddenly dry. "… Y-yes. Yes, I can, I can most certainly handle it." He wraps his hand hesitantly around the base. What does he do now exactly? Lee has never seen this done before, though he has an idea of how it goes. His friends are, after all, admittedly perverts who loved to tease him about his virginity.

He can do this. YOSH, he can definitely do this! He opens his mouth and slides Gaara right down his throat till coarse pubic hairs tickle his nose. Gaara groans and his fist digs into Lee's scalp. "Lee!"

He must be doing something right. Gaara looks pleased anyway. He pulls back up and curiously licks the head. Gaara tastes musky and meaty and salty… It is a strange taste that he almost enjoys. Humming, he sinks back down. Yes, he is enjoying this, aside from the obvious embarrassment. Gaara looks like he's feeing so good and it's making Lee's gut clench in want. Oh, he wants so much…

Gaara pushes him away and he whines. Hey, wait a moment! He isn't done… He bites back his pleas when he looks up at Gaara, though. His expression is dark with lust and his scarlet red hair hangs forebodingly in his face. His body throbs in reply.

"Spread your legs."

"W-what?"

"Lee, spread your legs."

Lee shyly grabs the undersides of his knees and pulls his legs apart, opening himself up to Gaara.

"Lee…"

"Yes…?"

"I'm going to fuck you. I'm going to be the first inside of you, so deep I'll be in your throat." He licks his lips. "You'll like that, won't you? I'm going to be a part of you, for now, forever."

"Yes!" Lee drops his legs and wraps his arms around Gaara's shoulders, dragging him into a kiss. "Please, yes, yes, yes!"

Gaara presses one fingertip against Lee's entrance. He's wet, practically dripping, and Lee sees the hunger increase tenfold in Gaara's eyes. That is the wonderful thing about being a submissive, he lubricates himself!

"G-Gaara, please… I'm ready."

"I can feel this…" his digit thrusts in and Lee seizes up. That is… that is new. This is so good. He wants so much more. "You are so hot, so tight. This is mine. This is meant for me."

He nods because all he can say is lost in a haze of pleasure. Gaara replaces his hand with his cock and Lee's eyes are caught by his as he slowly pushes in.

There is pain, of course, but Lee is so wet and Gaara is lubed up and they want this so bad. The pain is nothing compared to the currents of pleasure that wash over him as the dominant bottoms out in him. He feels so full and so whole and this must be what it feels like to be complete. Funny, because Lee never thought that he was just a part of something.

He kisses Gaara again, lips and teeth and tongue all participating, and he waits for his body to adjust.

"M-move… please, I need you to, Gosh, please, just move!"

Gaara, for the first time since Lee met him, smiles. It is beautiful and Lee stares, transfixed.

Then Gaara is moving, slowly at first, and then with greater speed. He throws Lee's one leg over his shoulder and the angle changes, suddenly Gaara is hitting something… something…

Lee's world goes whiter than the room. "GAARA!" That must be his prostate. It has to be.

Gaara must have the same idea because he hits that same spot over and over again. Lee clings to him, body burning, feeling Gaara moving, Gaara's hand bruising on his thigh, other hand digging into his hip, and it was endless and he couldn't think and – and – "G-GAARA!"

He sticks good to his promise. Lee swears he can feel him at the back of his throat.

"Lee…" Gaara steals his lips and, though their bodies are forceful and they can't seem to get control of themselves, his kiss is gentle. "Lee!"

So close, he realizes. They are so close, together, now, meant to be, and the fire that is fusing them together is destroying him, rebuilding him, and he's Gaara's… it's so simple to understand and yet impossible to explain but he knows this will be the only person for him. No other dominant will ever have him like Gaara has, he will never let anyone have him like Gaara has him right now.

The redhead bends over him and presses his mouth to his shoulder. He sucks the skin between his lips and then he bites and Lee bleeds and the pain is another spark of euphoria.

It's the last thing he's aware of. "GAA-RAAAA!"

The pleasure… it's too much. He's too high, he can't think, he's not even in his own body anymore. Then he realizes that he is, that Gaara is still moving, that his body is suffering aftershocks that shake his very core.

And Gaara is moving sporadically. His breath is hot against Lee's ear. Lee smiles and holds him close. "C-come on, G-Gaara… I-in me…" He flushes darkly. What a dirty thing to say. "I want you t-to come in me!"

But it works.

Gaara stops breathing as he orgasms deep inside of him, so deep that Lee feels his essence abuse his womb. "Lee!"

"I'm here… I've got you…" Gosh, that was… There will never be anything like that again. Maybe. Not unless it's with Gaara. He nuzzles into his hair and his one hand rubs his back. "Gosh, when can we do that again?"

Gaara smiles for the second time. "In a moment. You milked me dry."

"T-that is hardly an appropriate thing t-to say, Gaara…"

"It's true."

.

The scientists watch. Nothing. There is nothing to support their theory about a specific hormone. They are reasonably displeased.

Kaze watches the heat monitor. Even after orgasm, the "mates" continue to glow. There is no differentiating one from the other, they are simply one blob of thermal energy on the screen. Is it wrong that he becomes angry? Is it wrong that he wants to strangle his son? Because, quite honestly, this supported the Theory of True Love.

This is as if two bodies had become one, as if two souls had merged. But he is a scientist and human beings do not have souls, there is no such thing as a soul.

He rubs the bridge of his nose. "Remove subject B12 from subject A."

The silence is deafening. Separating "mates" has proven to be a very stupid idea over the centuries. Yes, centuries! Psychopaths are made that way.

Kaze snaps at them. "Do it! Replace subject B12's memories with a camping trip or something and then send him home. I'm done with him."

There is no choice but to do as told. They fill the lab with a sleeping gas and subject A and subject B12 rest in each other's arms.

When subject A will wake up, however, he will wake up alone.

.

Lee has the weirdest dreams after he returns from his camping trip. He wonders if it's because of how strange the camping trip was. Why would he leave without telling anyone and return with equipment he hadn't had when he had left? He doesn't know.

But he has weird dreams. Whenever he wakes up, it's all he can do to hold onto them. He sees eyes and red and feels the phantom touch of passion on his flesh.

And then he starts throwing up.

His uncle takes him to the hospital, worried for him, and everyone is, really. Lee has been acting just as weird as his dreams since he got back.

What none of them expect, however, is the doctor's verdict of what is wrong with him.

"H-how can I be… B-but I am… I've never…!" Lee held a hand over his mouth, horrified, confused, a little sick to his stomach, and… and…

There is a nice warm feeling in his heart. Something in his soul tells him that this is a blessing. This is what he wants.

Guy, on the other hand, is furious. "MY LEE IS A VIRGIN! How dare you say he's pregnant! He's as pure as the driven snow, as innocent as a babe, as untouched as the clear blue sky! My Lee can not be pregnant!"

The doctor, who is obviously a submissive, cowers from the dominant and squeaks. "I can try again but I don't think the results will change."

"TRY AGAIN ANYWAY!"

"Uncle Guy, it's okay… it really is." He rests a hand over his belly. "I'm happy about this."

"But, Lee, you're a virgin!" Then something dawns on him. "You are, aren't you? Is this because of that camping trip? Lee, PLEASE, tell me the truth in the name of all that is youthful!"

Because babies aren't made by one person. Lee tries to find the slightest dash of fear or disgust but he can't. However this baby happened, he somehow knows it's all going to be just fine.

He somehow knows…

A memory flashes through his mind but it's gone too quick for him to catch it. "I don't know, uncle Guy. But I want this baby, no matter how she came about."

"… She?"

"She," he repeats. "I just… somehow know."

.

Her name is Yoshe.

The moment Lee holds her, looks at the soft tufts of red hair on top of her precious head, and asks her "Are you cold, baby?", he knows.

He knows who her father is, he knows he was never on a camping trip, he knows that he suddenly has a splitting migraine, and he knows that his uncle has to take Yoshe from him to make sure he doesn't drop her as his fists clutch his skull.

He knows that there is someone… just for him somewhere. And that that someone is Gaara Sabaku. And he cries into his knees because the true question is where that somewhere is.

"Lee? LEE, are okay?" Uncle Guy rocks Yoshe back and forth in his arms.

"N-n-no…"

"Is it the baby?"

"N-no…" He shakes his head. "No…" He opens his arms and Yoshe is settled right back where she belongs, with him. He cries against her cheek. "No…"

Note: Yoshe is a Japanese name meaning Beauty.

.

Yoshe is four years old when Lee looks up to see what is blocking out the sun on such a beautiful day at the park.

Aquamarine eyes stare down at him, just like his baby's, and a head of fiery red hair is familiarly mussed.

Lee's heart stops in his chest. "Gaara…"

"Lee."

He's not sure what to do. Is Gaara even real? He reaches out and Gaara's hand comes out to meet his and they're less than an inch apart –

And then, "Mommy!" Yoshe is coming towards them at full speed.

Gaara takes one look at her and Lee knows that he knows exactly who she belongs to.

"Mommy, I got a pinecone! Mommy!" She collides with Lee and shows off the perfect pinecone, grinning and beaming – and then she looks up at Gaara. Her smile grows. Somehow, she knows too. "Hi, daddy. We've been waiting for you!"

Author's Note: Everyone, a special thanks goes out to Jenni for beta'ing this for me and helping me title it. Thank you, Jenni!