Romancing the Kazekage- A Gaara Love Story

The Will of Ariwara no Kai

I don't understand why none of you review and instead send me PMs with all sorts of curious questions. I shall explain them all here: (You happy? Now everyone has to read this long-ass beginning note because no one reviews telling me they don't understand this stuff, I have to wait a month after updating to hear from you hahaha, what is up with how much hassle this fic causes me?).

References within the anime/manga

Boshu; the act of offering in which one gives food/gifts to a God. A practice not uncommon in most Eastern religions. However, the way I have used it (with Ai dipping her ring finger into milk/cutting her ring finger to offer blood) has been completely made up by me and is indeed a reference to Yashamaru's act of kindness towards Gaara as a child in which he cuts his finger to demonstrate physical pain to Gaara and a deeper lesson about love. I founded boshu on this because it is one of the first acts of love Gaara experiences. Yashamaru does cut his ring finger too but there is a further meaning behind this which will be explained later in the fic.Kizuato; the act of "marking" someone to ward off the evil eye is common practice in many countries (usually with dark kohl). However, in this fic it is a reference to Gaara scarring himself with the kanji symbol on his forehead, when he was a child; the only person he accepted and loved in his blood-thirsty days was himself, now Ai is the only other person marked by him. It is the only way in which Gaara can act within love, it is a ritual entirely fitting of the blood-love; he had to inflict pain on Ai to perform an act of great affection. Poor guy doesn't know any better :( Lucky for me it is one hell of a literary theme.

Other points to note:

"She was Gaara's first love." A couple of astute reviewers have inferred that I mean that Ai and Gaara will not end up together. As is usual with this story, all is not as it seems so please do not assume the worst!"A love to start or end all wars." Yes, this is a reference to the 4th shinobi war, yes this fic follows the story of the manga, yes I am upset they put that chunin exam filler in the anime because now it skews everything in this fic. The fact that Gaara has acted more like a whore than Ai; hahahaha, I found this hilarious in one PM that pointed this out! i.e. Gaara has performed more sexual favours than Ai even though she's supposed to be the prostitute. (Still laughing at the idea of Gaara being the courtesan instead). In answer to this observation I have two things to say:Ai is not a prostitute, she is a courtesan; as such, sex comes into her "secondary skills set". Courtesans are sought after for their intelligence, beauty, entertainment skills and company. Sex, whilst of course being a big part of courtesan culture, is considered far too sacred of an act for a courtesan to act entirely whorish; it is between her and the customer to engage in sex however they want. So for this reason it is not odd that Ai should...um...be a little less...adventurous(?) than Gaara. Hahahaha.Their relationship is not an orthodox noble man meets courtesan deal, so it is not unusual that their sex life be just as unorthodox.

4. Ai swearing. I received a little stick for Ai swearing in lemons, considering Megumi won't even let her use apostrophes. Ai has a rebellious nature and I would hope, from stealing birdcages, from using apostrophes, from defying all social norms and continuing a sexual relationship with a psychopathic jinchurriki-turned-Kage, that her swearing a little is not completely shocking.

5. Ai using jutsu. Let the fic develop, see where that stuff goes, it is going to be amazing!

6. Ai's clothes. I get a lot of: "she's wearing a skirt, she's wearing a dress...? WHICH ONE IS IT?" I've said many times that the courtesan culture I refer to in the fic is that of the Mughal Empire (think India C15-18th) and Ai essentially dresses like the women in the videos I am constantly suggesting. To be more specific, I envisage Ai to wear lenghas. If you search for pictures of Aishwarya Rai in Umrao Jaan (2006), basically anything she wears, Ai wears very similar stuff. Or just google the term lengha. (Ai doesn't do the cropped blouse...well not just yet ;) Ah, ending on a parenthesis!).