Work started only hours after the Kazekage's capture. Anyone and everyone who was fit to work, had to pull their weight. Children were even recruited to fit into small crevices between rubble and retrieve valuable debris from the chaos that the battle had left in its wake. Thank goodness for genin; so eager and ready to take on any task asked of them. So thrilled that every task had been bumped up to the level of a "B mission" due to the state of emergency.
Not everyone was as eager to offer a helping hand though. Elders, naturally, were exempt from such tasks, politicians and council members were given the duty of orchestrating the emergency plans, shinobi were strategising Gaara's rescue. And then, there were the courtesans. The five Houses were known to the greater community, of course. Sunagakure was the oldest dynasty on Earth, there was once a time when courtesans were in power, the ruling class. Nowadays, with their presence known and accepted, they were called upon by the public on very rare occasions. What use was a woman who knew poetry and history, or a House that contained gemstones and silk dresses, in the face of a crisis? They were not needed and the courtesans took pride in that fact; they did not have to be constrained to any manual labor.
The eldest women of the Five Houses took on tasks befitting of their skills. They partook in the funeral rituals from the temples, they spoke to and advised widows of the shinobi who had given their lives to protect the village. Seen in secret, their voices only manifested themselves as scribbled notes to the Kazekage's council.
However, there was one courtesan, the first courtesan to the Kazekage to be precise, who devoted herself to an entirely different task. Her charge was one born out of the events that unfolded that night.
~The night of the battle, in the Palace Gardens~
Ai watched as the boy she was desperate to hold on to, was swept up into the night. Gaara rose to meet the stars with such power and reckless abandon that those in the palace that caught a glimpse of him were frozen in awe. The Kazekage was formidable, though young, and skilled, though naive; even those untrained in shinobi skills wanted to watch the fight for Sunagakure.
Ai's stare was broken by the shouts of palace guards, warning onlookers to retreat further inside the palace. The dancer glanced around to see citizens, members of the Kazekage's court and shinobi begin to rush around in a panic. Yet, Ai did not move. She seemed to be functioning slower than she should be; her thoughts were sluggish, her pace was slow, as though she were trying to figure out her next move, even the shouts of the guards sounded slow and far away.
Again, her mind which felt fuzzy was awoken by the sound of an explosion nearby. She glanced up over the garden walls to see the Kazekage's sand take the brunt of the blast before she looked up to Gaara. The sight of him threw her back into reality. Sound returned with unapologising loudness, the village was ablaze with frantic shouting, explosions, fire, embers flying everywhere. Blue eyes narrowed on Gaara and Ai nodded at her own thought; get to higher ground.
She tore from the garden with haste and ran through the archway to re-enter the palace. Ai looked left; that lead to the courtesan quarters, she glanced right; that lead to the Kazekage qua…Ai looked behind her. There, nestled in the grass, glistening as though they were drops of dew in the morning, were diamond anklets left to her by her father. The girl's brow furrowed before, with a slight sigh, she ran back into the gardens, collected the anklets from the grass and continued back into the palace. She took a right turn.
Ai reached the Kazekage's balcony within minutes. She had pushed aside the door, fumbled through the curtains until, at last, she came to face-to-face with the battle. She squinted in the darkness to see a man with long, straight blonde hair, stood in a black and red cloak…the Akatsuki, it had to be! The intruder stood on a giant white bird; his hair flowing in the wind as the bird swooped through the night sky to avoid Gaara's attacks.
Ai, who had never seen a fight between shinobi, who had no idea what to expect, figured that she would find the look of the white bird comical at any other time. But in this moment the blonde figure was wreaking havoc on the village and the bird's drawn-on, emotionless features were quite terrifying. Ai looked right to see Gaara, floating on his sand, defending the village, keeping an eye on his opponent, on his own safety and on the village beneath him. It was too much for one person, surely?
The dancer glanced around the rooftops, the grounds, to see if anyone was able to help. From below, ninja were escorting and protecting civilians into shelter, at least they were saving as many as possible. On the rooftop directly opposite her, Ai spotted Kankuro, ordering shinobi to fire what looked like arrows, at the giant bird. Ai was beginning to panic, her heart was beating loudly in her chest, she could feel it pounding against her ribcage, attempting to jump into her throat. They were not prepared, it was clear. Gaara could not handle this on his own; there was too much to protect.
In less than a moment, the whole night went dark. Instinctively, Ai covered her head with her arms as the environment changed. But nothing happened; any attack she was expecting did not reach her. Ai lowered her arms and looked up to see the darkness had come because Gaara had flooded the sky with sand to protect the village from another explosion.
It was no use; with his attention on defending the village Gaara could not focus on attacking. Again, Ai looked over to Kankuro, still instructing others to fire weapons towards the intruder. Her eyes sparkled with an idea. Weapons. Something useful, something that could help. With a firm look up at Gaara, full of nothing but determination, Ai raised her hand to her forehead. The cut Gaara had made there that morning was still fresh, still ready to ooze blood. With the nail of her thumb she pierced her skin once more and did not even wince as the cut reopened. Her dark, glistening blood formed a small blob on her hairline, before seeping over, like a tear and tricking down her forehead. Ai straightened her hand and placed her palm in front of her forehead. Was this going to hurt? She had no idea.
""Kuchiyose no Jutsu (summoning jutsu)," Ai whispered. A strange feeling, like a cold egg being cracked on her forehead, started from wherever the blood touched her skin. With a soft gasp Ai felt energy leave her; that must be the chakra needed to perform the technique. "Ah," she gasped again, what an odd feeling; the cold egg on her head, her weakening knees, her vision was blurring. How did shinobi do this? It was enough to make Ai feel sick. "Ah!" A gasp of surprise this time as, from a small cloud of smoke in front of her, a glass vial appeared. She caught it mid-air and strained to see it in the darkness, after, for the fist time in her life, she used her own chakra to perform a summoning jutsu.
Inside the small glass vial, stopped with a dark, cedar wood cork, was a white, glittering powder. "Gaara!" Ai shouted and with all her might threw the vial up to the Kazekage. Did he see it? Had he even heard her? She did not know. Ai was not even aware that she had fallen to her knees. Her long black waved of hair was licking the stone floor of the balcony as she held on to the railing, desperately trying to keep her eyes on him.
But Gaara was no more than a blur, like a thick brushstroke of dark paint against the night sky. Ai's consciousness was slipping away, the blurs were all blurring into one.
No, Ai begged as her mind tried desperately to keep her awake. No, please. Gaara! How will you ever know…? Ai slipped off the balcony railing and into unconsciousness.
Several hours later, Ai had been found by Temari who entered Gaara's room while searching the palace for enemies. She spotted Ai, collapsed on the cold, hard stone of the balcony and ran over to her. The dancer had a small trickle of blood running down her temple, Temari wiped the blood away hurriedly. She called for assistance and had Ai carried to the sickbay.
No one knew what had happened to the courtesan, why she was in Gaara's room, why she had collapsed, why she was found holding onto diamond anklets so tightly the metal scratched her; all strange and unanswered questions that had to be left unasked for the moment.
~Present Day~
Ai was stood on that same balcony, awaiting his return. She had waited there for two days now; Ai had kept a close watch on that cold and distant dessert for any sign of his return. She did not sleep, she barely ate, she simply watched and waited. Those two days had been the same; desolate and bleak, no word, no news. Her presence on the balcony went noticed by all. Members of the court, shinobi, servants, visitors, as they passed in the gardens beneath the balcony, they would call to her:
"Beautiful one, what are you doing?"
"Waiting for him." She would answer, never letting her eyes, even for a moment, leave the landscape beyond the village.
The story of what had unfolded between Ai and Gaara was finally revealed the morning following the Kazekage's fight. Rumour spread around the palace like wildfire when Ai was found on Gaara's balcony. The whispers reached everyone inside and outside the palace. Whether a mess of lies and exaggerations or the rather complicated but endearing truth, the story of Gaara and his first love struck everyone who knew him with a thought so dark, so heart-wrenchingly cruel, that made all those loyal to Sunagakure, bow their heads in shame.
No one was shocked that Gaara was capable of loving someone, nor was anyone shocked that someone could love the feared and demonic Gaara. What resounded in the hearts of all was the realisation that Gaara had gone so long unloved. The people of Sunagakure wept for a motherless and fatherless child, abandoned from birth, raised in a cold, lonely and desperate existence. They had not given that poor child a chance, they were too fearful to open up their hearts to him. They had forbidden their children from going near the boy. How cruel, to go so long without knowing the warmth of embrace, only to be snatched from love in an instant. And how disgustingly pious, how shamefully arrogant they all had been to shun him, he who worked so hard to gain their trust. Gaara had grown into a fine man, one worthy of being named 'Kazekage'; he united their nation and welcomed even their criticism, only to better himself.
Even elder shinobi, hearing of Ai and Gaara's fate, would shake their heads as though to say "such a shame." How fitting that the young Kazekage, the reckless devilish rogue of a man should fall for a delicate girl of the Tea House, should take her heart with such unrelenting affection, only for the two of them to be pulled apart by fate! And how loyal she was! She stood on that balcony all hours of the day, all hours of the night, in the hopes that she may see him again.
From outside the palace walls, civilians, ordinary villagers, could see Ai stood on the Kazekage's balcony and had naturally began to discuss the beautiful village girl who kept such a focused vigil on the horizon. They had even noticed that she made sure to keep an oil lamp lit on Gaara's balcony, in case he should ever wander home, he would need a guiding light. The lamp was one which sat beside Ai on the balcony railing, glass coloured cream to let out a gold, glittering light. Each morning, Ai replaced the oil in the lantern and kept it burning with the belief that a lamp lit for a loved one draws the wayfarer home.
Now, at dusk, the sun was setting on the horizon; the fireflies began to gather around her as though to keep her company. Everything was bathed in a rich, bronze light; the dark gold the earth in the dessert turns before it is swallowed into darkness. Ai was at her usual place on the balcony, having tended to the lamp, she stood in an indigo dress, looking as though someone had plucked the moon out of the sky and wrapped it in inky waves of the night. At this time, prayers and dinner were being tended to, so Ai had no audience like earlier in the day. Or so she thought.
Ai had lit the lamp with the same flame that lit up the candles in the small shrine she made in Gaara's room. Perched at the centre of that shrine, was a statue of the god Raijin who, as usual, watched Love with curiosity.
The god captured in stone sighed at the sight of a broken heart. And who was this girl anyway that she thought to share the flame for a god with the flame for a mortal? It was blasphemous! From his red stone cage Raijin watched Ai every morning prepare prayers in front of him and then proceed to the ritual of keeping enough oil in the lamp on the balcony. How strange! What love was this?
"Enough, Ai." Raijin's thoughts all stopped as once as someone new entered the Kazekage's room. This woman seemed to have a lot of power over the girl called 'Ai', for the young woman dressed in indigo turned to the doorway with a look of utter melancholy. The indigo silk she wore had a thick border of antique gold and the way the veil fell from her head and dragged on the floor behind her indicated that the thread used was actual gold.
Megumi looked over to Ai, through the doorway that lead to the balcony, with a heavy heart. Two days had gone by with no news, the chances were getting slimmer with every hour that trickled by. Ai, so sweetly childish and frustratingly stubborn; she had shut herself away in the palace, thinking only of the Kazekage. She performed prayers in his room separately to the rest of the household; her unorthodox manner was creating a flurry of whispers about the Tea House and the reckless girl it bore.
The young dancer lowered her gaze before turning back to look out of the balcony.
"Two days, Ai." Megumi continued and walked forwards. "I gave you two days and Gaara has not returned."
"Give me a century and I would not move from this place." Ai responded dreamily, her voice trailing into the room on a breeze.
"AI!" Megumi raised her voice the loudest Ai had ever heard it; the young courtesan turned around with a look of panic. Her teacher joined her on the balcony and raised a shaking finger at the lamp. "A single flame is not sustenance; who do you think is providing for you while you reside in this palace?" Finally Ai's attention was caught; without provisions, how was she to stay here at all? "In a state of emergency the courtesans are the last to be looked after." Megumi warned her, "the funds the Kazekage had for you are no longer being taken care of. Our presence in the palace rests only on the assumption that Gaara will return." The candles in the room quivered, even the lantern Ai had kept alight seem to burn a little less bright upon hearing Megumi's foreboding words. Ai looked to the floor, down to the gold trim of her veil as it fell heavy against the stone. Her vision began to blur with tears, her bottom lip trembled as she felt that familiar weakness in her soul, at the thought of losing him. The girl was being overtaken by a nothingness, by an emptiness that licked at her insides. What was life without him?
"Megumi-sama, please give me one more-" Ai pleaded but her teacher could not be patient any more; the elder held up a hand to the girl to silence her.
"My heart is breaking for you, Ai." Megumi put the hand she had raised against Ai's face. "Rumours around the Tea House are vicious; that I raised a rebellious and feisty dancer…they would not be half wrong." The women both laughed as a tear fell from Ai's big blue eyes. "But there are wonderful, beautiful rumours about you and your precious Kazekage." Ai looked puzzled; she had been so isolated she had no idea what was going on outside. "Both of you are gaining respect and admiration far faster, far greater than anyone could imagine-"
"Wha-"
"And you are no longer my child." Megumi interrupted her student with a sigh. "You know where your roots lie and now you know where your heart is kept." Ai nodded slowly, "so I can only advise you as best I can." The aged and wise courtesan took her hand away from Ai's face and flicked her head as an affectionate way of showing the girl she was being naive. "Act smart."
"Smart?"
"Do not neglect what is important or real. Gaara is not here in this moment. What was keeping you here is lost." Megumi explained. "You must face reality; money to keep you at the palace will cease to be given to the Tea House and we cannot support you here. The Kazekage made no commitments to you. You must engage with us as best you can, blend in, do not make yourself an obvious target to the higher ups. Now that your relationship with the Kazekage has been made public, your courtesan etiquette must adapt. And in his absence, you must be smart about things. Join us for prayers at least." Ai lowered her gaze; Megumi was right. Ai had shut herself away following Gaara's capture. The world moved on without her; she was holding on to that moment in the gardens, to that last look of reassurance the Kazekage had given her.
Before Ai could respond, however, someone ran into the room. A young servant boy entered and bowed hastily. Aware that Megumi was the eldest, he turned to address her first.
"Sorry to interrupt, but Ai-sama has visitors at the palace gates." Both Megumi and Ai raised an eyebrow at the boy; 'visitors' who stayed at the palace gates and called for a member of the Kazekage's court were usually civilians. What on Earth would civilians want to speak to Ai about?
The servant escorted Ai and Megumi to the palace gates which, though usually open, were closed in respect to the Kazekage's absence. The wooden gates, with wooden bars, stood between the courtesans and the villagers and, as the two women approached, they found that it was not a few civilians that had called for Ai; there was a crowd gathered outside. With the sun vanishing fast in the sky, someone had begun to light the lanterns in the street. Ai pulled her veil back over her head and approached the gate with caution.
"Y-yes?" She called out uncertainly, suddenly aware of how young she was. A middle aged man with a gruff voice called to her:
"Are you the girl who keeps the lamp lit?" He asked, "up in the Kazekage's balcony?" As Ai finally reached the gate she looked around at the gathered crowd and saw mothers holding their babies, children holding on to the wooden bars of the gates, trying to get a good look at her. All with sad, tired eyes. She nodded.
"Yes, I am." As she spoke an elderly woman, so ancient her grandchildren were helping her hold up a small clay bowl to Ai.
"Take this." The woman spoke softly. Ai did not want to take the bowl straight away. Courtesans, prostitutes, were not acknowledged so openly, were they mocking her? But how could she distrust a village elder? She chose to pretend that she was fixing her veil so could not take the bowl, before she enquired:
"What is it?"
"Oil." A mother, a few feet away spoke to Ai kindly. "From the temple in the square." The mother smiled at Ai with an affection the girl was not familiar with. Ai blushed, beginning to feel overwhelmed.
"You are from the Tea House, yes?" The elder had a soft, crackly voice, like a dying fire. Ai nodded slowly, fearful they may shun her. The woman grinned; "your beauty and poise are explained." The elderly lady held out the bowl and Ai took it. " Keep the lamp burning for another night." Ai gasped.
"Thank you." She spoke softly for the woman before taking a step back to address the crowd. "Thank you. I am lost for words. This is so kind." Many nodded at her thanks, a few even wiped their eyes.
"The Kazekage is so young." A man muttered nearby.
"He is our protection. Our salvation." Another added. "His capture is a great loss to us all." Again, nods of agreement, murmurs of support. The mother who was cradling her child frowned as a tear fell down her face.
"You, gentle one, have shown us that the beast is no monster." She said as she rocked the child in her arms. "Gaara has gone too long feared. He was another woman's child but he never knew affection. It is a great shame on our village that he went so long alone. He is a good man." Ai felt her eyes being to well with tears; whoever thought it would come to this? Gaara, can you hear them? "Keep the lantern burning, dear one."
"Yes." Ai whispered before realising she must address the crowd. She took another step back and shouted to the villagers of Sunagakure. "Yes!" As the villagers left, all nodded to her in appreciation, many wiped their eyes, a few children smiled up at her, a few of the boys even blushed as she smiled at them. They dispersed, leaving Ai holding onto the wood of the palace gates, never having experienced such trust, such devotion, in all her life. Gaara, can you see them? Tears streamed down Ai's face as she rested her head against the wood of the gates. Where are you, beloved?
Her teacher put a hand on her shoulder and spoke: "The village is looking to you, Ai. The time to take action is now; what will you do?" Ai turned to her with swollen eyes; how many times must she face choices she feels to young, to naive to even comprehend? With a sigh, the girl made up her mind.
"Prepare a place for me in the palace temple. I shall be at evening prayers."
In her indigo dress, anklets tinkling, antique gold jewellery glittering around her, Ai walked towards the sickbay to speak with the Kazekage's siblings before she attended prayers. She walked alone, as she had become accustomed to in these past few weeks. It was unusual to see a courtesan without an entourage of women around her but Ai, having a secret relationship with the Kazekage had meant she had to sneak around alone a lot of the time. She was used to her own company and had no fear at all as she did not even look at the palace member she was approaching; Ai simply bowed her head in respect and carried on.
Ai. At the sound of her name Ai turned around in alarm.
"Did you call for me?" Ai asked a boy, stood across the hallway, possibly a year younger than her, with a mess of blonde hair. He lifted her head to face her.
"No…" The boy's voice, husky and full of surprise, trailed off as they appraised one another. "Do I-"
"Know you?" They spoke at the same time and jumped as they did so. Ai looked the boy up and down as he did the same to her. She found it quite endearing that he should wear his forehead protector with such pride; she could think of no other shinobi she met who actually wore it across their forehead. Ai opened her mouth to speak but found that there was something about him, something so welcoming and familiar…Her blue eyes took in that forehead protector one last time and she smiled in confusion; Konoha reinforcements had arrived?
Ai took a step back in surprise as the boy leant in to her closely, inspecting her face intently. Out of his black and orange jacket fell a blue crystal, held around his neck by a thin strap of black leather. Ai caught a glimpse as it flashed in the light.
"I'm sure we've never met." Ai spoke first and the boy nodded.
"I don't think we have." He smiled at her, a big toothy grin that was enough to make Ai smile too. "Guess you look like someone familiar."
"I guess so." Ai responded sweetly.
"Naruto," Ai and the boy she now knew was called Naruto, looked down the hallway to see a pretty girl with pink hair and an older shinobi with spiky silver hair walking up to the two of them. "Temari wants to speak with us." The girl seemed to notice Ai and waved at her in greeting. "Hello! I am Sakura, from Konoha." She said brightly. As Ai nodded a greeting, the older ninja appraised her.
"Hatake, Kakashi," he introduced himself and suddenly Ai felt at ease; in truth she had never spent time with anyone her age who was 'normal', only other dancers, musicians and, now that she thought about it, Gaara. Her only other company growing up was adults, so her panic of meeting two normal teenage shinobi ebbed away as Kakashi nodded to her. "We are here to assist Sunagakure." Any trace of happiness left Ai's face, her expression became entirely serious as she bowed to him.
"I am Ai." She said softly before standing to her full height. She retreated a little as she saw Kakashi look her up and down as though trying to figure her out. Before anyone could speak, however, Sakura stepped forwards and pointed directly at Ai's forehead.
"Did you get that yesterday during all the chaos?" She asked and before Ai had a chance to even respond, the pink haired girl tilted her head with a smile. "I'm a medic- I can get rid of any scarring if you'd like-"
"No!" Naruto and Sakura jumped as Ai raised her voice and covered her forehead with her hand. "I mean, no..thank you." She continued. There was a moment of silence in which the Konoha kunoichi raised an eyebrow and looked Ai up and down. "Please ensure the safe return of our Kazekage." She requested.
"Isn't that why you're hanging around here?" Naruto asked her and Ai shook her head in confusion. "To help with the rescue?" The girl smiled apologetically.
"I'm afraid not."
"Ooooooh, I get it!" Ai, Sakura and Kakashi looked at him blankly. "You're Gaara's girlfriend!" Naruto puffed out his chest as though proud of his deductive skills. Ai blushed and smiled a little.
"Not exactly, Naruto." Ai's smile faded as Kakashi spoke; had he figured her out so quickly?
"Eh?" Naruto looked between Ai and Kakashi who seemed to be staring at one another, "what do you mean?"
"I would not want to keep you from your meeting." Ai spoke quickly and turned to Naruto with a small smile, "I'm sure we'll meet again, Naruto." The blonde shinobi began to blush, threw a hand behind his head and rubbed his neck in embarrassment and girl in indigo looked over her shoulder and smiled at them before continuing on her way.
"Is she a princess?" Naruto asked as the girl vanished down the hallway. "She speaks so proper and stands up straight…and she's very beautiful," Naruto added as an after thought. Sakura was curious too; why had her sensei gone quiet about addressing Ai? Both students looked up to their teacher who smiled and closed his eyes at them.
"Time for questions later. We have a meeting to attend."