Romancing the Kazekage- A Gaara Love Story

The Night Before Battle

"Uchiha, Itachi?" Gaara fell to the floor and crossed his legs as shock robbed him of his strength.

"Yes." Renai confirmed. "Sensō was lost in battle following the creation of that despicable tree," she spat out. "I waited, so long, for him. He travelled through many planes, times, bodies until his spirit found the fresh, fertile soil of Earth. He saw it as a young world, full of life and promise, a world where his soul could rest before he went in search of me again," Renai gave a small smile, her affection for her lover sparkling in her blue eyes. "He knew I guarded the gates of heaven and that death would reunite us. But something in his bones told him to stay in that Earthly plane, to look into what this new world had to offer. And then it happened," Gaara looked her straight in her eye as she said this with such certainty. "The most wonderful day he had ever known."

"What happened?" A warm breeze fluttered into the pavilion and Gaara was suddenly distracted by the way Renai's hair swayed by her hips.

"Sasuke was born," Gaara blushed on Ai's behalf as Renai said this; what a tangled web the three mortals had managed to weave. Renai seemed to notice the colour rise in Gaara's cheeks and smiled knowingly. "Ai and I are separate beings; is it so mad that she would fall for the brother of my soul mate?" She said. "Sensō had never experienced love like it," Renai continued with her story, a straying dark curl of hair brushed her lips in the breeze. "Gods are born from no one and although we relate to one another, we cannot have siblings. Finally, Sensō had something he wanted to protect from the evils of the world. To him, Sasuke was perfect in every way and helped him to understand how humans love. This is, it seems, a very pressing matter for gods-"

"But," Gaara thought for a moment of all the blood that Itachi washed his hands with, "the Uchiha massacre, the Akatsuki-"

"One of the great secrets of Konoha was Itachi's mission to destroy his clan-"

"It was his mission!?" Gaara's eyes widened in shock as he appraised the goddess who took a seat on the bench in front of him.

"Don't look at me like that; you men are bizarre creatures, I barely understand Sensō at times. But everything that Itachi did, he did out of love." But Renai could tell that Gaara had forgiven and forgotten very quickly. Something was playing on Gaara's mind; Renai could see his eyes dancing, that his attention was no longer with her. "What is it, Gaara?"

"Does she love Sasuke?" As Gaara was sat cross-legged on the stone floor, Renai lowered herself from the bench and onto the cold ground. There, she sat on her knees and her sparkling blue eyes locked onto his. The goddess smiled at him knowingly, apologetically.

"Yes." Gaara nodded as she spoke. There was no trace of anger of jealousy. Perfectly reasoned, perfectly rational, the Kazekage had matured to the man he was destined to become.

"Itachi made the world play out this way, didn't he?" Renai nodded.

"Yes."

"Did he interfere with my relationship with Ai?"

"Yes." Again, Gaara nodded. It was all so perfect; if a man devoid of love met Love herself, the pair would have no choice but to fall into each other's arms. The kazekage almost smiled; the story of Love was as twisted as it would always be as beautiful as it was tragic.

"What did he do?" Candles in the archways flickered like a crowd of onlookers whispering to one another, guessing what is was and how Itachi had managed to come between the two.

"I heard that Sabaku no Gaara had taken to a girl of the Tea House so beautiful, she could have been mistaken for Kichijōten (Goddess of happiness, fertility and beauty) and I knew instantly that it had to be you." Ai could barely breathe with all the emotions suddenly filling her up; her blood was churning with confusion and anger. "The only interaction I had with Sabaku no Gaara was in the planning of his assassination. The Akatsuki wanted to wait longer before acting but I persuaded them the time was right. As soon as I heard the rumours that the moon had come down to Earth and enchanted the demon Shukaku with Blood-Love, I knew it was time to act." The girl's shoulders shook.