"The Great Philosophers fall into four categories; the most modern of which Sunagakure takes as its Political Philosophy…" Gaara nodded as his tutor, Hana-sama, an elder female teacher of the village, continued to recite her lesson. They were sat on cushions that had been laid out by servants, on the Kazekage's balcony. The balcony was more like a veranda; a huge wooden square that hung over the courtyard of the palace as the Kazekage's quarters were on the fifth floor. The palace was shaped like a rectangle with the middle occupied by courtyards that housed the gardens. The gardens were lined with the four walls of the palace. Each floor had an open walkway so that members of the council, the Kazekage's family and guests, could walk out, on each floor, to view the gardens below. The sun was at its highest point in the sky and shone down onto the palace, illuminating everything with a golden light and unforgiving heat. The smell of flowers drifted up to the teacher and student as they sat, both enduring the heat.
It was the usual setting for Gaara's lessons that did not pertain to shinobi skills; it was here that he learnt how to be a Kage. Hana-sama taught him most of the things he did not learn as a shinobi: politics, economics, history…the list seemed to go on forever and Gaara, known for not being the most patient man, was growing restless. He found the white Kazekage robe a little suffocating as it had a high neck that twisted around him. At least he didn't have to wear the hat in his private quarters.
The young Kazekage liked to have his lessons here as he found his office stuffy at this time of the day; the breeze of Suna comforted and consoled him as he sat, bored, listening to his aged teacher rattle on about something from a thousand years ago. Tea was served before the lesson began and Gaara found himself idly swirling the contents of his cup, wondering if it would be possible to drown himself in the contents.
"It was known as the enlightenment period…" she continued to recite in front of him, as though from a book and Gaara, who was nodding along with her monotonous banter, spied something unusual in the distance. As inconspicuously as possible, he stole a glance over at the balcony that lined the Northern side of the palace. It looked as though he were glancing at Hana's shoulder but Gaara was intrigued by what was going on behind her; one floor below, on the walkway, Temari had been stopped by a gardener who looked thunderous.
"Wretched thief!" The gardener, a short and feeble looking man, shouted at her and, as Temari had only been innocently walking to the library, she raised an eyebrow at him with a look that could kill. Gaara's elder sister spoke but he could not hear her for the distance. The gardener, on the other hand, let his frustration determine the volume at which he spoke. "Starlight came down to Earth and tricked me!" He shouted at the blonde shinobi who folded her arms; so he was not accusing her of thievery. "She convinced me that I did not have tsubaki (A/N: Red camellia flower) growing in the greenhouse and when I turned to show her she stole a birdcage and ran into the palace." Gaara looked away quickly to Hana-sama and nodded again, to maintain the illusion of focus, before he let his eyes flit back to the commotion. While Temari was trying to calm the gardener down, Gaara caught sight of starlight running along the balcony on the floor directly below the pair.
Ai was in blue, she ran through the palace as though it were a fairground, dodging diplomats and running through groups of women who cursed her name as she scattered them in fear. Directly below Temari and the gardener she stopped and Gaara could see her laughing as the walkway emptied. Her veil had fallen from her head and been lost somewhere during the chase but he knew it was her; she glittered in the Suna sun and her smile lit up the world.
"Hey, where did she go?!" Ai jumped and Gaara, his heart beating a little faster, watched in a confusing mix of bewilderment and respect as the girl glanced around her, wondering where to hide from the oncoming guard that were chasing her. All over a birdcage? Gaara wondered what on Earth she wanted with it and why on Earth the gardener had called the guards over such a petty thing.
"…if we look back through time over each Kazeage's position…" Hana-sama, oblivious to the world around her, did not notice that the Kazekage was paying no attention to her and sat, transfixed, at the scene unfolding on the balconies beyond them.
Temari and the gardener had also heard the guards' shouts and proceeded to make their way to the lower balcony where Ai was. The courtesan was being cornered; the guards were coming from the right and Temari and the gardener were coming from the left. There were no doors to go through, no way down; she was doomed. Gaara watched Ai as she looked around for somewhere to run or hide before he did something he could not explain.
The courtesan glanced down each side of the corridor as she heard hurried footsteps coming from either side; what to do? What to do? All this over a couple of birds? Ai heard a twig snap behind her and turned to the railing of the balcony quickly, ready with excuses for her actions. What she saw made her stop for a moment. A twig, from the rose bush that climbed the pillars of the palace, had indeed snapped but the cause of the break was a strange sight. A mass of sand, like a cloud, hovered in the air beyond the balcony as though beckoning her. Blue eyes narrowed on it as she took a few tentative steps towards the edge of the balcony. Ai thought for a moment before she heard the voices of Temari and the gardener approaching and, without hesitation, she jumped up onto the railing and, with a lot of faith, jumped down onto the cloud of sand. It took a moment for her to adjust her balance but when she did the sand lowered, keeping her out of sight to those on the balcony of the third floor. Ai crouched on the sand behind a pillar, taking in the sweet scent of the roses, unaware that he was watching her.
"If you are inattentive, Gaara-kun, I may leave you to your daydreams of her." Gaara snapped his gaze back to Hana-sama and saw that she had turned her head to see Ai floating on sand a little way behind her.
"Forgive me, Hana-sama," Gaara said and looked down to the tea cup in his hands. Hana turned back to the Kazekage and smirked.
"I will suspend our lesson for today, Kazekage," she spoke in a croaky, ancient voice and stood, Gaara stood out of respect to see her out. "I hope tomorrow will be less full of distraction."
"Yes. Sorry." The red headed shinobi flushed with embarrassment and nodded his thanks to her as she left. He could hear her muttering about "back in her day" as he turned back to see Temari speaking with the gardener and the guards, all stood on the balcony to which Ai had run, wondering where she had disappeared to. The gardener was waving his hands in the air dramatically and Gaara could see Ai, hidden from their view, silently laughing into her hands. The group on the balcony dispersed and soon it was empty.
Without even moving, without even being consciously aware of it, Gaara made the sand that Ai was stood on, move higher to let her slip back onto the veranda. The Kazekage looked on, trying denying this strange new feeling that felt as though it was slipping itself into his bloodstream. As Ai landed softly on the veranda, she turned to the sand.
The girl being chased as starlight looked around for the person who was helping her but her blue eyes could not find his. She took a step towards the sand and lifted her left hand to her mouth and slowly, as Gaara watched with baited breath, she bowed her head, closed her eyes and pushed her lips against a ring on her finger. In thanks, she took the ring off her hand and placed it on top of the sand. With another quick glance up at the heavens, as though he might be there, she smiled and walked away.
Hours had passed since the incident on the palace balconies and Gaara could not shake it from his mind. Why was it, wherever Ai went, chaos seemed to followed after? It baffled him that he cared so much, that he wanted to know why she would run for a couple of birds. Why would the girl bother to steal? Why did she act with no consent to consequences? It ate at him; why did he care so much?! It was driving him mad with curiosity. He had not seen her for days and had been trying to forget her but somehow she managed to tumble back into his life. Her presence was a nuisance, a distraction; she acted so bizarrely, so out of whim and heart that he, bound by the role given to him at birth, could not understand her.
The ring she had placed on the sand now sat, mocking him with its brilliance, on his desk. Sparkling in the light of a dying sun, it was every inch of her; beautiful and delicate, annoyingly unlike him or anything he knew to be wonderful. It was a plain silver band with a large, rectangular, blue stone, an aquamarine according to Temari who had asked about it earlier. He shot it a look of distaste. Why had she given it to the sand?
Gaara reached out a hand and picked up the ring. Her fingers were so slender, the shinobi observed as he stroked the cold metal of the band. Why did she act the way she did? So careless, so reckless, so charming and aloof! She reminded him a little of his friend, Uzumaki Naruto, the Konoha shinobi; he too had a care-free nature but a fierce heart. Gaara had caught a little glimpse of that fire in Ai a few days ago. What was it about her that stirred his curiosity? Turning the ring so he could see the stone, he let his thumb brush the light blue gem that shone in his hands. Her soft lips had pushed against the gem in such a delicate, sacrificial manner, as though she were giving up a part of herself to him-
"Ah!" Gaara dropped the ring as though it burned him. It was not only his curiosity that was stirring; at the thought of her, Shukaku was growing restless as though waking to a bloodlust. The Kazekage propped his elbows onto the desk and, with his hands clasped, pushed his lips against his fingers. He closed his eyes thought for a little while about what he should do but one thing was clear: he had to be rid of her. The door opened and one of his students, Matsuri, walked in.
"Gaara-sam-"
"There is a girl residing in the palace as a guest, her name is Ai; bring her to me." Gaara did not open his eyes so he did not see the look that struck Matsuri's face. The Kazekage had never spoken to her so abruptly, never been so lost in thoughts unknown, never asked for the presence of another woman.
"Y-yes, Sir!" Matsuri bowed and left the room, leaving Gaara to think quickly about his plan of action. He sat back and squared his shoulders; she was not going to win this time. He placed the ring in the pocket of his shirt and waited. Within moments, there was a knock at the door. The Kazekage took a breath.
"Enter," he commanded. The door opened and Ai appeared as a silhouette at his door before walking into what was left of the sunlight in his office. She had her gaze lowered, her light blue veil placed back neatly on her head; looking innocent and dream-like. The door shut behind her and the pair waited in silence.
"You asked for me, Kazekage?" She paused and Gaara took a breath, aware of how he changed in her presence; he felt his commanding nature slipping away for she stood so defiantly, as though she knew exactly what he had called her for. He stood his ground, keeping a close guard on his emotions; he had not let himself get lost in a storm of emotion in nearly two years and if he failed to maintain a calm nature, he had no idea what Shukaku might do.
"What happened today?" Her electric-blue eyes flicked up to him.
"It seems someone saved me from a lot of trouble," Ai smirked. He sighed.
"What happened with the gardener?" It was Ai's turn to sigh. She huffed and walked over to the window to watch the sunset, twiddling the end of her veil with her fingers.
"He had caged two songbirds."
"Hardly a reason to steal." The Kazekage commented and Ai inwardly rolled her eyes; that Kazekage-tone, so calm and unyielding, made her want to wake up the Gaara she had heard about.
"What did I steal, Kazekage?" She turned to Gaara with a pleading look, her eyes glittering. "Whose right is it to command a bird to fly? To command them to sing?" She walked over to the desk and stood before him, "I gave them back what was taken from them; I gave them freedom." The Kazekage said nothing and Ai shot him a look of impatience. "If you accuse me of doing wrong then you are condemning yourself."
"How so?"
"Was it not you, Kazekage, who saved me from my comeuppance?" She smirked as he remained silent. "Not every shinobi in Sunagakure can control sand with such effortless attention." She spoke the last statement in a sultry, girlish manner but when Gaara looked her straight in the eye and she seemed to falter. His gaze was merciless; every glance he gave her seemed to shoot straight through her.
"Regardless of my involvement," Gaara spoke in the most diplomatic tone he could master, "you stole from the Kazekage's palace." He stood from the desk and Ai's face turned to a look of confusion and amusement; was he about to punish her? "Guests have a certain protocol they must follow- what?" Ai had started to laugh; she put a hand up to her mouth and giggled before regaining her usual manner and appraising the Kazekage.
"Coward." Gaara jerked as Ai gave him a mocking look of disbelief; the corners of her mouth curling up into a smile. His eyes widened before narrowing on the insolent girl.
"What did you say?" Both had dropped their "Kazkeage" and "courtesan" tones. Seeing each other for what they really were; hating each other for their lack of integrity. And suddenly, seduction was forgotten, as was punishment and it was back to adolescent bickering.
"A coward." Ai put her hands on her hips and held her head high. "You would rather punish me and be rid of me than really face your fear." Ai raised her voice and Gaara retaliated with equal distaste:
"What is it that I am supposed to fear?" He asked her loudly.
"The real reason behind why it was you helped me."
"I helped you to save me the paperwork-"
"Paperwork?!" Ai laughed again and looked away from him. "Forgive my insolence, Kazekage, but you are naïve even to the ways of your own heart." Gaara walked around his desk and stood opposite her, a growl she had never heard before entered his voice.
"How dare y-"
"You're bored." She interrupted with an accusation that seemed to catch the Kazekage off-guard. Gaara took a step away from her, the growl in his voice now gone.
"What?"
"What is it you do every day besides teach or be taught? Attend meetings or dinners?" Ai scoffed. "When are you ever yourself?" His lack of response irritated her and she raised her voice again. "The only time I ever see you act on your own will is when you are arguing with me!"
"That's not true!" Gaara raised an accusatory finger at her and Ai smiled mockingly.
"Oh sorry," she commented "did someone tell you to point at another person in the room or do you actually have the capacity for self-determination?" Gaara shook his head with a look of utter incomprehension. "Do you even partake in anything remotely ninja-orientated or has the lure of bureaucracy got the better of you?"
"You are insufferable!" He shouted at her.
"And you are grateful for the intrusion!" She retaliated. "The stars still move, Kazekage, around a greater purpose. They are not stationary. Perhaps if you upheld similar initiative, we would not find ourselves at each other's throats whenever you decide you want to remember what it's like to feel alive!" She turned away from him with a shake of her head and walked a few feet away. This Kazekage was nothing more than a nineteen year old shinobi with an over-inflated ego.
Gaara needed to regain control of the situation. He was growing frustrated with her fallacious accusations; speaking to her for a moment longer was going to make him boil over. He could feel, in every breath he took, Shukaku's purr as he slept, slowly rising to Gaara's consciousness. He looked across to Ai, her back to him, her sky-blue veil hiding her from him. Did she really think he was so meek?
"You honestly think I do nothing for myself?" He spoke softly, without thinking, knowing he should end the conversation and tell her to leave the palace for good but he found he could not tear himself away from her. She turned back as he spoke; his voice was soft. "Do you know how often my council falls into pandemonium because they cannot find me?" Ai unfolded her arms, a sense of guilt rising in her stomach. "It's true, Ai, that I follow the rules and regulations that are befitting of a Kazekage. But it is foolish to think that I follow blindly, that I resign myself to a title." Their eyes met.
"Where do you go?" She asked gently.
"None of your concern." He replied. She sighed.
"No more than an idle lie then." Gaara closed his eyes as she spoke.
"You are insufferable."
"And you are unashamedly incarcerated." She turned again and walked to the door. "Let us not deny what is happening here," she said as she reached the door. "Try as you might, something has a hold on you, something that cannot give me up." She turned her head and spoke as though he were right next to her. "Call me, whenever you wish to feel alive." The courtesan lifted her hand to open the door.
"Wait, Ai." Her hand hovered in the air.
"What is it, Kazekage?"
"Come here." Ai heard him opening a window and turned to see he had removed the white outer-layer of his Kazekage uniform to reveal his casual clothes underneath; the long, red, cloak-like shirt and dark trousers. He reached over to his gourd that was placed beside his desk and secured it on his back with a long leather strap. He pushed the window open a little further and looked over to her. "Come." He said again and Ai, her face adorned with a look of intrigue, walked over to him. She peered out of the window to see Sunagakure, becoming sleepy and still in the sunset hours as a cloud of sand began to form before the window. "Get on." Gaara instructed her and, with a sideways glance at him, she lifted her dress, balanced herself on the windowsill and jumped onto the sand.
It was frightening and disorienting; being up so high with nothing but sand beneath your feet. Ai looked out to the village as lights began to flicker on in homes of civilians and lanterns lining the pavements were lit.
"Ah," she gasped as the sand lowered slightly when the Kazekage came to stand beside her on the sand. The quietness of the village, the vast emptiness of the world before them, made all previous frustrations forgotten. "Where are we going?" Ai asked and looked up at him. He did not look to her.
"A place of solitude." He informed her.
"Where is that?" He did not respond as Ai gasped and grabbed his arm when the sand jerked forwards to move. She kept her hand there, maintaining her balance as they began to move off. Eventually the village began to grow smaller in the distance, the lights of homes flickering and glittering as they ascended, further into the unknown parts of the world.
Ai could not help but smile; what an invigorating sense of freedom, to feel the winds of the desert glide past you as your soared through the darkening sky. She held on to the Kazekage's arm and looked around them, flitting from one side of the sand to the other, marveling at the world, smiling at the disappearing towns beneath them.
All the while Gaara watched her, his eyes never left her face; she was innocent and simple and that gave him a feeling he had very rarely experienced. It filled him with warmth to watch her smile and point out to places she knew and wanted to know. Her sense of adventure, her love of freedom, spoke to something within him that he never thought he could ever know.
Suddenly Ai spun around at the sound of it. Crashing into the Earth, the majestic ocean lay before them, dark and spinning, it called to her. As Gaara's sand met the shore, Ai ran out into the night, into the beckoning sea. The horizon twinkled with lights of far off cities and it was that time of night, before the moonrise, when the sky is dark but there is enough light of the dying sun, to see the beauty of the world around you.
The Kazekage did not move from where his sand rested but watched the dancer as she kicked off her shoes, lifted her dress and ran into the sea. Ai may have even been shouting something into the looming darkness, he could not tell as she ran. Upon entering the water she stopped to let it lap over her feet and soothe her as she tilted her head back to gaze and the stars. The sea was gentle and calm, the only sound was the movement of the waves as they cascaded around her. She turned back to him.
Gaara stood watching her, his face calm, his arms folded. In the hours before the moonrise his skin looked as though it were porcelain. She smiled; Gaara was painfully handsome. Everything he did, the way he spoke, the mannerisms he had, his silence, his stare, his gait, his power, his wonderfully defined body, held enough majesty to rival even the ocean. Lifting her dress, she walked out of the water towards him.
"I watch the sun set here sometimes," Gaara spoke suddenly as she approached. She stood a few feet from him and for a moment, seemed paralyzed before she began to flit around again. She turned from him and he watched in silence as she looked around them.
"But," Ai glanced around, "where is the moon?" He took a step to stand beside her.
"I hear she walks the Earth now." Her eyes widened as he spoke and she looked over to him. He stared at her as the world stood still; she was effortlessly endearing and Gaara could not keep his guard up anymore. He could not understand the look on her face, was she curious or happy, it seemed to be a mixture of both. She took a step towards him and he unfolded his arms in surprise. Ai noticed him recoil and slowed down a little. She walked up to him, her eyes never leaving his face, and placed her hands on his chest.
Ai went up onto the tips of her toes and leant in, she kept her eyes locked with his, feeling the rising and falling of his chest as his breathing deepened. She gave him a last look of reassurance for he seemed to be scared or nervous, before she closed her eyes and pushed her lips softly to the corner of his mouth.
The young Kazekage stood with his arms by his side, the tips of his fingers tingling, as a sensation of want began to course through him; the feel of her was unlike anything he had ever known. Ai was so soft and gentle. She moved away from him and opened her eyes. He was looking down at her with an expression of nervous excitement. Had he kept his eyes open? And he hadn't pulled her into embrace either. She did not find it humorous but sweet; did this boy not know how to love?
On the shore, at the edge of the world, Ai and Gaara stood in twilight, willing the other to show them what they wanted.
"Close your eyes," Ai whispered and leant in to his ear. Gaara did as told, "put your hands on me, Gaara." At the sound of this phrase, Ai felt Gaara's gentle manner leave them for a moment as he roughly placed his hands on her hips before following the contour of her body to her waist. "What do you feel?" She murmured and put the arches of her lips against his. The Kazekage let out a shuddering breath and wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulling her into embrace.
"Alive." He growled before instinct took over and Gaara closed what space there was between their lips and pushed back against her with such torturing gentleness that Ai could feel herself succumbing to his charms. As she felt him explore her, feel her, want her, she tried hard to calm the desire rising in her. Unexpectedly, she pushed herself away from him.
Gaara opened his eyes, shook his head defiantly and with a hungry look that made her melt, advanced on her once more. She kept her hand against his chest to stop him moving closer and Gaara had half a mind to push her arm away pull her into him again but the look on her face made him stop. Ai looked at him with a small smile and with almost loving, affectionate eyes. It was a look that would make men follow her to the edge of the Earth and so the Kazekage obeyed, wanting to see what the mischievous glint in her eye was foretelling.
Ai let her hand travel down his chest, as she lowered herself to her knees; eventually her hand gripped his belt buckle. The sight of her, kneeling, submissive, sacrificial almost, her lips pouting and glistening from their kiss, was waking something up inside of him. He shook his head at her.
"No Ai, don't kneel." He begged her, wondering what was happening inside of him, what this ocean of emotion was that was flooding him. The girl tilted her head up to him.
"Why not?" She asked but Gaara's vision was beginning to blur. Something was happening, something was building up inside of him.
"I will frighten you." He pleaded with all his will for her to get up but something was taking over his body, calling out for her. Shukaku was waking up.
"Frighten me then." She whispered but Gaara already was losing control. He was being taken over by the bloodlust. Shukaku could smell her sickly sweet perfume, it was filling Gaara's head. The Kazekage fell to his knees and shut his eyes to shut out the vision of her, to try and regain control. "Kazekage, what's the matter?" Ai's voice was no longer seductive but panic-stricken.
"Get away from me!" He shouted at her and put his hands on his ears to rid himself of Shukaku's murmuring. He thrashed his head from side to side, trying to get Shukaku out of his mind, trying to stop Ai from getting closer but the girl was too concerned for him to worry about her safety. She put a hand on the side of Gaara's face as he thrashed and tried to calm the panic that was rising inside of her.
"Gaara!" She shouted for even the ocean started to tumble and swirl and swallow them in the roaring sounds of the waves as they thrashed in the night. Sand on the shore began to float up into the air and spin around them. The world was humming and crashing as the Kazekage, on his knees, begged Shukaku to leave him alone and pleaded with Ai to do as he said and get away from him.
In a moment, everything stopped. Gaara stopped moving, the ocean stilled and the sand floated to the ground again. Ai glanced around as everything descended into tranquility. The night breeze seemed to soothe the Kazekage who, with his eyes still closed, took a breath. Ai placed her hands on either side of his face.
"Kazekage?" She asked softly but she could still sense, something was wrong. There was something menacing in the silent way he held himself.
"You should have run." Gaara murmured and opened his eyes. Ai screamed as fear shook her; the person looking back at her was no longer the Kazekage she knew. She was staring into the eyes of a demon.