Desert Stars

Lessons

Y/n's POV

"Excuse me? Lady L/n?"

I groan, opening my eyes the slightest bit. All I see is blinding sunlight, so I throw an arm across my eyes. "Is it time to get up?"

"Yes, my lady."

I open my eyes again, and this time the light is a little bit less jarring. A woman is standing over me, probably in her late thirties. "Who're you?"

"You can call me Rei," the woman answers. "Lord Dezato sent me to come wake you and let you know that this morning you're going to be meeting with Lady Chiyo and Lady Temari to begin to prepare for your wedding."

"Ugh," I groan, rolling over to bury my face in my pillow. "I was hoping that was all a bad dream."

"I'm afraid not, my lady," Rei says. "Lord Dezato also told me to tell you that he's going to be in a council meeting for most of today, so he won't be available. And that I can help you with anything you need. Like getting dressed."

"I can dress myself," I say, slowly getting out of bed and walking over to my luggage, which I still haven't unpacked.

"My lady."

"What?" I turn around and see that Rei has opened a closet, which is full of multicolored outfits.

"These have been provided for you by Lord Dezato," she explains. She pulled out a yellow top and a dark pink skirt. "I think these would do nicely for today."

"I'd rather just wear my own clothes, thanks," I reply, turning back to my luggage.

"Lord Dezato insists."

I pause and inhale sharply. I turn back to Rei, who's holding out the set of clothes to me. "Oh, alright."

"Wonderful," Rei says, handing me the shirt and skirt. "Would you like me to-"

"No, thanks, I've got it," I say, taking the clothes into the bathroom with me. I wash up a little bit, then slip off my pajamas - a pair of sweatpants that I stole from Naruto years ago, and an old Ichiraku Ramen t-shirt that still smells like pork. I put on the clothes that Rei picked, and they somehow fit me perfectly. I brush my hair, pulling it back into a simple ponytail. When I open the door of the bathroom, Rei is standing there. She smiles at me. "Need anything?"

"Uh, no, thank you," I answer, brushing past her. I stop as soon as I reach the door. "Um. Do you think you could show me where I need to go?"

"Of course," Rei says, eager to help. I follow her out of my room, and she leads me through the maze-like corridors of the palace, until we reach an airy sort-of sitting room. Temari's there, glowering out the window, and a grumpy looking old lady is sitting on a couch, sipping tea. They both look at me when I enter, and when I turn to Rei, she's not there.

"Uh, hi," I say, waving awkwardly at Temari and the old lady.

Temari scoffs, and the old lady just stares at me. "I am Lady Chiyo. Usually it is not my job to concern myself with the matters of the Kazekage, since I've retired. But here I am. Please, have a seat, and we can begin."

I sit down in a chair across from the couch that Lady Chiyo is sitting on.

"I am very old, as you can see, so I am an expert on the rituals and traditions of the Sand Village," Chiyo explains. "For a wedding as important as yours, it must be absolutely perfect. I will educate you on how you should act, walk, stand, eat, and everything that you're going to need for your ceremony, and the festivities afterwards. Alright?"

"Uh, sure," I stammer. It's all a lot to take in. I expected to just be able to walk in here, get married, and be done with it. But I guess it's a whole process.

"The L/n clan is the one with the purple chakra, right? And the annoyingly advanced speed and strength?" Lady Chiyo asks.

"Yes."

"Hm," the old lady says. "I encountered one of your kind during the Second Ninja War. Quite obnoxious."

I just smile and nod. I'm assuming that I'm going to have to do that a lot with this lady.

"Okay, let's begin," Lady Chiyo says. "First off, you cannot sit like that any longer."

"Sit like what?"

"Slouched. Your back needs to be ramrod straight."

I hurry to straighten my posture, and Lady Chiyo nods, satisfied.

Over by the window, Temari rolls her eyes. "Why do I have to be here?"

Chiyo waves her off. "Quiet, spawn of the Fourth. I have lots to teach her and not nearly enough time, so I cannot afford to have interruptions."

Temari sighs, shaking her head.

"The Kazekage has the eyes of the entire of shinobi world on him, and as his wife, their eyes are often going to be on you too," Lady Chiyo says. "You must be the example of grace and goodness. You must never be in scandals, you must never be the subject of bad rumors. You must always look your best, and there is absolutely no room for mistakes."

I chuckle nervously. "I mean, there has to be room for some mistakes. I mean, small, insignificant ones."

Chiyo is staring at me like I'm absolutely insane, and Temari is snickering behind her hand. I guess I'm wrong.

I'm totally screwed.

Lady Chiyo spends the rest of the day educating me on how to smile, how to walk, how to eat, how to talk to important people, and everything in between. I learned a lot of it when I was younger, getting etiquette lessons from my mother. But this time, there's actually stakes. I'm representing the entire Land of Wind.

At least, that's what Chiyo tells me.

Temari just laughs at me. It doesn't make this stuff any easier, and by the end of the day, I want to rasengan her in the face. Of course I don't, though. Not that I could do the rasengan, anyway.

Finally, finally, Lady Chiyo releases me to go get cleaned up for dinner, with the promise of another lesson tomorrow. I'm dreading it.

When I get back to my room, Rei is there, waiting to help me with whatever I need, but I just dismiss her, wanting to be alone. I take a bath, enjoying the feeling of the warm water, and change into a pretty silk dress for dinner. Tonight, Dezato is sitting at the table, and when he sees me, he stands to greet me. "How was your first day of wedding preparations?"

"More like etiquette lessons, and it was exhausting," I answer, letting him lead me over to an open chair. I catch Gaara looking at me, and I look right back.

"How was the council meeting today?" Temari asks. "Did you all vote to get rid of Miss Blushing Bride over here?"

I glare at Temari, but she ignores me.

"No, actually," Baki answers, shooting a look at Dezato. "The majority ruled in favor of going through with the wedding. They say taking a wife will make Gaara more personable, and the people will become more dedicated to him."

Dezato shrugs. "It's true."

Gaara frowns. Obviously, he disagrees, but he doesn't bother arguing.

"Did you all settle on how we're going to defend the village?" Temari asks.

"Yes," Kankuro answers. "There's no way those Akatsuki bastards are going to get through our defenses."

It takes me a second to remember where I've heard "Akatsuki" before, then I remember that I heard Sasuke mention them a few times. Orochimaru was once a member, and Itachi still is. I remember one time they came after Naruto. Could they be going after Gaara too?

It would make sense, considering that he's a jinchuriki.

"Don't worry, you'll be perfectly safe," Dezato assures me.

"I'm not worried," I reply, shooting him an annoyed look. He doesn't seem to notice.

Gaara's looking at me funny again. I try not to worry too much about it.