Ever since Ami had been moved to Sunagakure at age six, she'd only seen it rain about a couple dozen times. It was an event of awe inspiring proportions when it happened. The rain falling in Suna was like a tidal wave crashing over a small village made of huts: destructive, powerful, and for some reason it drew you in to watch with a hypnotic effect.
That was the best reason Ami had for staying out on the retaining wall's edge while the rain poured down in buckets. She was fifteen, certainly she knew better, but there was something that kept her seated even as the rain drenched her down to her very bones.
Perhaps it was the chance to get away from everything for a moment. She loved protecting Gaara, honestly she did. But like everyone there were times when a break was needed, a fresh breath of air. Or, in this particular case, taking a walk while her charge was working on paperwork, and not bothering to come in when the sky started to crackle with thunder.
Soon the ground would burst into life, and the desert would be covered in flora and fauna alike. Ami personally couldn't wait, for the beautiful event, though she knew that the life from this rain would soon enough retreat once again. Leaving the desert a blank slate once again.
Focusing on her breathing for a moment, Ami continued to muse on the meaning of all these things brought on by the rain, when she noticed a distinct lack rain falling on her. A glance upward brought the sight of a sand 'umbrella', of sorts, protecting her from the rain, and once Ami stopped focusing on her breathing and started focusing on the chakra flows around her, it was easy enough to figure out who had just appeared behind her.
"You're going to catch your death out here, Ami." The Kazekage's voice was gruff, as he extended a hand to help her up. "Come back inside. What in the world are you doing up here anyways?"
Ami couldn't help but smile as she took her charges hand and hoisted herself up, "Went for a walk, ended up on the retaining wall, decided to stay when it started raining." The blonde shrugged her shoulders, quite aware that her explanation wouldn't offer the reasoning that Gaara often wanted. Ignoring his furrowed brow at her obviously inadequate answer, Ami made her way down the retaining wall and back to the offices where Gaara was supposed to be working.
"I told you this would happen." Gaara's tone was not gloating, nor was it smug—it was hard to be either of those when his Keeper had been reduced to a pale, sweaty, coughing lump with a severe fever. It was also hard to be intimidated by the woman as she did her best to glare at him while a nurse was inserting an IV needle in her arm. Overall, the teenager found himself more annoyed at all of this than anything else. Really, this bout of pneumonia could have been avoided in one of two ways. If Ami hadn't gone out for a walk in the rain, and if she'd visited a doctor when she'd caught a bad cold the day after instead of putting it off so she could attend to her duties of protecting him.
There was an attempt to make some sort of sarcastic rebuttal that was cut short by another bout of violent coughing. "No one likes a smartass, Gaara." The teenager leant back in her hospital bed against the pillows and let out a raspy sigh. "You need to make sure to stay safe while I'm in here—no doing anything dangerous, make sure that Kankuro's around all the time to look after you."
His brow furrowed at her words, Gaara gave a small nod to the nurse as she left to give them some privacy before her spoke, "Ami, you've been with me while I've worked since I've become Kazekage. The most dangerous thing I do is handle paperwork, and I assure you that my sand armor will protect me from any papercuts. Don't worry about me, I'll be alright." Offering the other a rare smile as she frowned at him from the bed, Gaara stood up from his seat. "I have to go to work, but I will come back afterwards. Just try to rest."
The words did little to comfort the chronic worrier as she watched her charge leave her hospital room. Really, Ami didn't have much of a reason to be concerned, once you looked at it logically. Things had changed radically in the past two years. While Gaara wasn't exactly popular throughout the village, and there were those who objected to him being Kazekage, it wasn't as if there were still assassins trying to kill him. Shukaku breaking through had dropped to an all time low, and now that he was Kazekage and not going out and about on missions, Gaara was safer than ever. Still, Ami had been his protector since she was six, and stepping out of that role, even for just a little while to get better was not an easy feat. Neither was getting rid of the feeling that she needed to be by Gaara's side to protect him from danger, no matter how low the risk was.
In fact, as the night progressed and her fever worsened, Ami couldn't help but be worried as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Picking up on a few words and phrases from the doctors and nurses around her, hearing things like 'explosions', 'the kazekage', 'kidnapping', and 'he might be dead', it was no surprise that when Ami's fever broke that she bolted upright in bed in a cold sweat and asked the following question; "Where's Gaara?".
"Where's Gaara?" hands on her hips, toes tapping in her annoyance, Ami surveyed the empty office before her with narrowed eyes before finally settling her gaze on her charge's secretary. "Have you seen the Kazekage?"
Used to these sorts of conversation, the other woman simply gave a nod as she placed a new stack of paperwork on the Kazekage's desk. "The Kazekage asked me to tell you that he went for a walk to help clear his head. He said you'd know where to find him, Ami." Smiling to herself as she heard the familiar, annoyed click of the blonde woman's tongue as she walked out of the office and headed to the roof of the Kazekage's tower.
Gaara stared out at his village, standing on top of the Kazekage's tower, knowing that in just a few moments his 'Keeper' would be right next to him. Ami had been assigned to keep him safe when he had Shukaku inside of him, and even now that the beast was gone her clan of keepers had let her stay with him. Well, if you wanted to be technical about it, he had to offer an alliance between his village and where she was originally from, but it seemed to be a small price to pay to keep her by his side.
They had met when they were six, and he just couldn't see his life without her. Even when he considered the fact that the two of them didn't become friends until he was about thirteen, after Naruto had changed his life. She had kept him safe all these years, and in her Gaara found a comforting reminder that he could always change for the better. The red head felt a familiar chakra surround him like a warm cloud, not at all surprised when Ami landed right next to him. A slight smile came onto his face, keeping his eyes focused on the setting sun, not looking towards her as she rested her arm on his shoulder, "It took you longer than usual. Aren't you a bit young to be losing your touch?"
A fake scowl spread on her features, Ami did her best not to laugh. To most people, Gaara seemed as if he had no sense of humor, but Ami had spent long enough around him to realize that most jokes he told were small and dry. "I was on my supper break, Gaara. It only took a few minutes to track you down once I came back. If we're talking about losing our touches though, maybe I ought to bring up the fact that you keep hiding in the same place. Ever thought that it might be you that's too young to lose your touch?" Smiling while the man rolled his eyes, Ami directed her gaze to the sun as it set below the horizon, casting a wonderful reddish orange hue over the tan and brown village.
Lights come on one by one, people opening their windows to let the cold desert night air into their homes. Mothers were dragging their children back home, the small children digging their heels in the ground to try and keep from leaving their friends… she could definitely see why Gaara came here to watch his village, the view was amazing and it really brought life to the desert and all that surrounded it.
She let her arm slide off of his shoulder she brushed a stray lock of long hair out of her face before looking up at her charge, "So, do you want to call it a night and go home for the day? I don't think anyone would fault you for going in early for once." The fact that most people would probably be happy that Gaara was taking a bit of time for himself went unmentioned, Ami knowing perfectly well that trying to convince him to take a break would lead to him to only feel as if he needed to work harder.
Really, Ami would never understand how this man's mind worked sometimes.
Gaara cast a sideways glance towards his companion, before giving her a small nod. "I think I might. I've finished up most of the meetings for today—I was thinking of just taking some paperwork home and working on it there." He supposed that to most people, that wouldn't be considered much of a break, but Gaara found that he really didn't care much about breaks and the like as long as at the end of the day, he knew his village was taken care of.
With a roll of her eyes, Ami found herself thinking 'good enough' rather than pushing for him to take a real night off. At least this way he probably wouldn't work through the entire night. "Sounds good to me. Let's get going, Gaara."
Silent as Ami tugged on the sleeve of his white robe, Gaara allowed himself to be essentially dragged by his bodyguard back to his home. The most amusing thing about this, Gaara thought, was the simple fact that none of the villagers gave them a second glance. It wasn't terribly surprising, given the fact that Ami had been by his side almost every day since he was a young boy. Presumably, everyone had simply gotten used to the sight of the blonde and him together.
His brow furrowed as he watched the back of Ami's head, as she led him back home—Gaara found himself reflecting on their relationship through the years. When he was younger he simply saw her as a nuisance who would follow him around day and night, and begrudgingly allowed her to do in light of the fact that she was rather good at making sure he was able to regain control on the occasions Shukaku broke free. After he met Naruto, he'd slowly begun to consider her an ally, and then a friend. Now? She was his closest companion. Even after Shukaku was extracted and she'd had every reason to go back to her home village, she had wanted to stay with him and make sure he was safe.
Feelings for Gaara were a confusing ordeal, and truthfully he hadn't thought all that much about how he felt about Ami. It never seemed that important to dwell on such a thing. She was his companion, and his protector.
It was simple, and for now it was good enough.