RTK- Lemonade

Bonus Lemon 2: Oh

Summertime in Sunagakure brought with it a stifling heat, alleviated only by the occasional breeze the gods gifted the villagers. The sun warmed up the earth until it was bright, bronze, cracked and desperate for water, thirsting for a little relief, aching for the rain. Inside the palace walls, the gardens were kept happy with some form of magic, they were lush and full of life, barely noticing the almost suffocating heat. Immaculately kept, symmetrical in design and bursting with brightly coloured flowers, the gardens were easily the Kazekage's favourite place in the palace. The large palm trees offered blissful shade from a wicked desert sun, the sound of the fountain in the middle of the gardens offered solace and the promise of water to parched mouths. The flowers, heated by the warm weather, smelled more lovely and more sweet than any other time of the year.

Walking through the gardens was always a calming and soothing experience for Gaara. Despite near-suffocating in his kazekage's robes, his hat offered him a little shade from the sun as it sat high and proud in the sky above the village. The gardens were busy in the middle of the day, students from the shinobi academy of Sunagakure walked through to get to their next classes, gardeners tended affectionately to the jasmine flowers, palace officials, librarians, even monks, wondered through the place seeking sanctuary from the summer heat.

The Kazekage walked with his first student, Matsuri, who was relaying to him the current ongoings in the shinobi academy. He had stared at her in amazement when she told him the newest set of genin were starting at the academy at twelve years old; had he been that young? It felt like a lifetime ago since he were that version of Gaara. So young and so desperate for violence, so eager to hurt, to cause pain and suffering...and now he walked, serenely through a palace garden as though that child had never existed.

Matsuri, her brown hair swaying in the breeze, was speaking in her soft, delicate voice beside Gaara:

"We were all twelve or thirteen when we started in the academy, Kazekage-sama," she smiled up at him, only to blush under his gaze. "I'm sure the new recruits would love to hear from you..."

"I will be there tomorrow morning," Gaara responded quietly, as though not wanting to speak over the gentle flow of the fountain, "what time do classes start?" The Kazekage stopped as he suddenly realised that Matsuri was no longer talking or beside him. He turned around, as he did so he noticed many...all of the garden's inhabitants were stood, stock still, staring at something in the sky. "What...?" The Kazekage asked as he followed their gaze, seeing Matsuri now too, stood, transfixed, staring with a look of melancholy and awe at something above them.

Gaara's ocean eyes followed the strands of golden sunlight to where they hit the palace wall. Up, following the glittering reflection of the fountain water against the red stone walls, until he caught sight of the moon. The shutters were open to invite in a desert breeze, a trail of wisteria and jasmine flowers clung to the borders of the window, framing a sweet, angelic vision of Ai. She wore no veil on her head but simple silver strands of jewellery glittered on her collarbone. Usually the courtesan dressed quite modestly, her shoulders and décolletage covered but hugged suggestively by the expensive silks she wore. But today, in the relentless heat, she opted for a white blouse with straps, no sleeves, a matching white skirt that ended below her knees. Perhaps she thought she would not be seen in her casual clothing, but with her dark shimmering waves of hair, pink full lips and sparkling blue eyes, it was difficult not to notice her.

The vision of her stopped all work in the gardens, halted politicians in their conversations, arrested all those who dared to look up at her. There was a delicate frown on her face as she pushed her hair over one shoulder, she was staring down at a notebook in her hands, writing something with great concentration.

"Ahem," Gaara cleared his throat purposefully to alert everyone in the garden to their surroundings. A small flare of jealousy and pride ignited in the Kazekage's chest; did they not know who they were looking at? Were they not aware that the girl writing in the window belonged to him?