Romancing the Kazekage- A Gaara Love Story

His First Kiss/Unto the Moonrise

"The Great Philosophers fall into four categories; the most modern of which Sunagakure takes as its Political Philosophy…" Gaara nodded as his tutor, Hana-sama, an elder female teacher of the village, continued to recite her lesson. They were sat on cushions that had been laid out by servants, on the Kazekage's balcony. The balcony was more like a veranda; a huge wooden square that hung over the courtyard of the palace as the Kazekage's quarters were on the fifth floor. The palace was shaped like a rectangle with the middle occupied by courtyards that housed the gardens. The gardens were lined with the four walls of the palace. Each floor had an open walkway so that members of the council, the Kazekage's family and guests, could walk out, on each floor, to view the gardens below. The sun was at its highest point in the sky and shone down onto the palace, illuminating everything with a golden light and unforgiving heat. The smell of flowers drifted up to the teacher and student as they sat, both enduring the heat.

It was the usual setting for Gaara's lessons that did not pertain to shinobi skills; it was here that he learnt how to be a Kage. Hana-sama taught him most of the things he did not learn as a shinobi: politics, economics, history…the list seemed to go on forever and Gaara, known for not being the most patient man, was growing restless. He found the white Kazekage robe a little suffocating as it had a high neck that twisted around him. At least he didn't have to wear the hat in his private quarters.

The young Kazekage liked to have his lessons here as he found his office stuffy at this time of the day; the breeze of Suna comforted and consoled him as he sat, bored, listening to his aged teacher rattle on about something from a thousand years ago. Tea was served before the lesson began and Gaara found himself idly swirling the contents of his cup, wondering if it would be possible to drown himself in the contents.

"It was known as the enlightenment period…" she continued to recite in front of him, as though from a book and Gaara, who was nodding along with her monotonous banter, spied something unusual in the distance. As inconspicuously as possible, he stole a glance over at the balcony that lined the Northern side of the palace. It looked as though he were glancing at Hana's shoulder but Gaara was intrigued by what was going on behind her; one floor below, on the walkway, Temari had been stopped by a gardener who looked thunderous.

"Wretched thief!" The gardener, a short and feeble looking man, shouted at her and, as Temari had only been innocently walking to the library, she raised an eyebrow at him with a look that could kill. Gaara's elder sister spoke but he could not hear her for the distance. The gardener, on the other hand, let his frustration determine the volume at which he spoke. "Starlight came down to Earth and tricked me!" He shouted at the blonde shinobi who folded her arms; so he was not accusing her of thievery. "She convinced me that I did not have tsubaki (A/N: Red camellia flower) growing in the greenhouse and when I turned to show her she stole a birdcage and ran into the palace." Gaara looked away quickly to Hana-sama and nodded again, to maintain the illusion of focus, before he let his eyes flit back to the commotion. While Temari was trying to calm the gardener down, Gaara caught sight of starlight running along the balcony on the floor directly below the pair.

Ai was in blue, she ran through the palace as though it were a fairground, dodging diplomats and running through groups of women who cursed her name as she scattered them in fear. Directly below Temari and the gardener she stopped and Gaara could see her laughing as the walkway emptied. Her veil had fallen from her head and been lost somewhere during the chase but he knew it was her; she glittered in the Suna sun and her smile lit up the world.

"Hey, where did she go?!" Ai jumped and Gaara, his heart beating a little faster, watched in a confusing mix of bewilderment and respect as the girl glanced around her, wondering where to hide from the oncoming guard that were chasing her. All over a birdcage? Gaara wondered what on Earth she wanted with it and why on Earth the gardener had called the guards over such a petty thing.