((Alright... I'm back... with a new story. I swear, for whatever reason that my mind won't let me in on, all of my stories are in a difficult possition. I've also thought of so many different kinds of stories and stopped them because I didn't know how to continue. So when I did get online, I usually end up role-playing and reading fabulous fanfiction that so many amazing author(ess)s create. And then I came up with this story. I was reading a story called "To Russia, With Love" and command all of you who are daring to read ANOTHER of my stories to read it. Seriously, I just love it! Anyway, I was reading it and I thought... can't I do something similar to Gaara? And so... I am. And even if Gaara seems OOC... he's not. Not really... . . . Okay, he is. But damnit, it's my story and it's up to me to torture these antisocial hotties to the best of my abilities. So without further ado...))
To Become Kazekage
Chapter 1: Beauty Pagent or Slaughter House?
Mishka walked along the dusty desert, her light-colored flesh burning on her shoulders and the tops of her breasts. The Cloud Village native wasn't used to so much sun and that was obvious from her outfit. Off the shoulder shirt that also effectively exposed the burning areas of her chest, a long skirt with a slit up the right side and black knee-high boots. At least her clothes were white but as she'd been traveling for days without a means of bathing, she looked dirty from head-to-shirt. Oh, her poor long white hair. How much abuse could she afford to put it through before it gave up and fell out in defeat? The young warrior wasn't exactly looking forward to pushing it that far.
So imagine her delight when her golden gaze fell upon a small oasis. With a happy grin, she quickly shed her bag and ran into the water to wash herself and the clothes she wore at the same time.
As she ducked her head underwater, Mishka remembered exactly why she'd made such a long journey across the forests of Konoha and the desert to the village of Suna. The Cloud Village had heard that the soon-to-be-Kazekage had to get married before he could actually become Suna's leader. For whatever reason, all the families within her village refused to submit their daughters. So after much debate, they decided to choose Mishka, a 17-year-old orphan with no family, no friends, no formal education. But as the scapegoat, she had a plan- go through the motions, get rejected, and find a new home where she could make a life of her own and no one could tell her what to do.
With a contented sigh, she removed the wet clothing and set them on a large flate stone to dry. After a second thought, she climbed onto the rock to sundry as well. Her hair always possessed a wild look when it dried naturally and although she was forced to wear a fancy periwinkle blue dress to the meeting, she refused to arrange her hair.
And with her plan in mind, Mishka slipped into a soft slumber beneath the blazing sun's warmth.
Gaara glared up at the sun. In just a few hours, the competition for his bride would begin and he'd be trapped in a marriage that he didn't want.
'No... I have to do this by their rules. As much as I'd like to kill those council members and make myself the Kazekage, I swore I'd never do that... I'm going to protect Suna no matter how many hours of girls fluttering their eyelashes and flirting with me without using their brains I'll be forced to suffer. That might be Kankuro's dream but not mine...' he thought as he headed towards an oasis outside Suna's walls. He wanted to be alone one last time before he was officially "on the market" and that oasis was the perfect place since no one ever went there for fear that the infamous Sabaku No Gaara was there. And he was there more often than not now-a-days.
Half an hour later, Gaara arrived at the abandoned oasis. He stopped in his tracks. Someone was there. The soft breathing sounds were a big tip-off. Sand kicked up around his feet, eager for the crimson liquid to stain it. Just like cold times.
Stepping from behind a bush like a predator ready to catch his prey, his seafoam eyes widened. On the flat rock he usually sat on when he came to the oasis, there lay a young woman fast asleep and without any clothing on. A sacrificial maiden placed upon a sunbaked altar. Long wite hair came around her head like a shimmering cloud, her pale skin was sunburned on her shoulders and breasts. Her body was firm and fit. And at the sight of this beauty, the redhead's mouth watered. Damn, he wouldn't mind being married to that girl. Even if she was dumb as a brick, with a body like that, who cares?
Gaara thought, 'She's waking up!' And hid behind the bush as the young woman sat up, stretching. When she grabbed her bag and pulled out a blue dress to put on, he knew two things. She wasn't a ninja and she was probably going to be one of the girls in his bride hunt. His assumptions were confirmed when the white-haired female slung her bag over her shoulder, all packed up, and headed towards his home-fillage, her sandles gently slipping on the sand.
'She's the one... but I want her to want me. Not because I'm going to be the Kazekage but because I'm me.' With that final thought, the red-haired 18-year-old man disappeared in a whirlwind of sand.
Mishka looked around the large room at all the girls who were applying makeup and pushing their breasts up to make themselves more appealing. Honestly, she didn't understand why anyone would marry for power. Plucking and teasing seemed like such a waste of time.
She turned to find a girl staring up at her. She couldn't have been more than 15 years old. And as beautiful as she looked with her thick black hair curled and piled high, she wore such heavy makeup it made her look like a clown.
"Aren't you going to get ready? We're supposed to line up for inspection in 15 minutes," she asked with a slightly nasal voice.
'What are we, cattle lining up for the butcher?' Mishka thought, smiling despite herself. "I'm ready... but you might want some help. Here, allow me."
The young girl seemed unsure but led the white-haired female to her small area, bottles of makeup scattered all over.
"You don't need all this junk," Mishka told her, wiping off all the makeup. "You've got such beautiful skin... it's a shame to tone down your tan with that white powder."
The girl blushed. "I know. But my mother says-"
"Forget your mother. She doesn't know anything. With your dress, you can't wear all this pink or you'll end up looking cheap." Shutting up, she worked on the younger girl's makeup. And when she was finished, she handed the girl a mirror.
The look on her face said it all. "Wow! This is- and you- THANK YOU!" She flew out of her chair and hugged Mishka around her waist. "You're so awesome! I thought you were tricking me so you'd have a better shot at being chosen but you're a true friend! Oh, my name is Kaya. What's your name?"
"Mishka... um, it's nice to meet you. May I ask why you're putting yourself through this? I mean, you're 15, right?"
"18. I'm 18, thanks." Kaya's tone expressed her irritation.
The white-haired girl blushed. "Oh... sorry. That means you're older than me."
"The same age as the bachelor as everyone's after," she replied with pride.
The door opened and an elderly woman entered the room, ushering the girls into the grand hallway for the inspection.
Gaara sat in the Kazekage's chair, the blue and white robes draping his body. When he married, that triangular hat would be placed on his head like a crown for a king. Then he would be the Kazekage.
Sighing, he watched the first girl step forward. he knew the drill. She would tell him her name and village and go to the start of the line. Then the next would do the same. And so on and so forth until there was a long line of girls from which he would pick the 5 most beautiful.
Listening to the females, Gaara stared at them in boredom. Most of them would wink or smoth their hands over their bodies, trying to tempt him. He didn't change any of his facial expressions. Until SHE stood in front of him. The white-haired girl in the blue dress. Her gold eyes looked into his own and he sat up from his slumped position, resisting the urge to move closer and stand in front of her. He listened to her say her name. Mishka from the Village Hidden in the Clouds. As she started to walk to the line, the redhead asked, "No last name or are you trying to be mysterious?"
Mishka froze at the question. His voice... it was so deep and gentle. She looked back at him, wondering if it was really the glaring redhead who'd asked that.
"Well? Do you have a last name or not?"
A voice like his sent shivers up her spine. She shook her head. "No last name. I'm an orphan."
"Orpahns have parents and ways to find out their last names."
"With all due respect, who would want the last name of the people who would abandon their child? I gave myself my first and only name. I don't need to know who they were to know who I am." She gave him a soft smile and a bow before going to her spot next to Kaya.
The black-haired beauty hissed, "Are you insane? How're you supposed to gain his favor if you make comments like that?"
Mishka just sighed and shook her head. Hoping that that would be the final nail in her coffin, she waited for the rest of the girl's introductions.
After an hour of standing, everyone awaited the Kazekage-to-be's decisions. Or in her case, his rejection.
Gaara was going to play hard-to-get. Walking to the front of the line, he pointed out one girl, passed by Mishka without a glance, picked out two more, went towards the front, pointed at the black-haired girl next to his chosen, and finally locked eyes with the white-haired beauty.
She seemed surprised when I nodded to her and walked away. The council was also shocked but one elder cleared his throat and dismissed my rejections, announcing that the 5 chossen were to live in my house with my siblings and myself for one week. Then I was to pick two girls. And from there, I would chose Mishka.
There were tears and laughter amongst the girls who'd been chosen as semi-finalists except for one crest-fallen female. Even as she smiled at the crying-for-joy Kaya, Mishka was confused. Why was she still in this sad excuse of a beauty pagent? There were plenty of other girls who wanted to be in her sandles. They all tried way harder than she did. Many of them looked like they knew what to do when a man got horny. So why would he choose a 17-year-old virgin who was obviously nothing special?
As she pondered this, Mishka failed to notice everyone leaving until the janitor told her to get out. Which she did after she went to get her bag. Exiting the building she saw a fairly funny sight. The Kazekage-to-be being bullied by a large group of rejected girls. Screaming, pulling, threatening, and demanding, the young man looked confused. It was as if he didn't know what to do or how to respond. And he was slowly being cornered.
As humorous as the situation was, Mishka knew what she had to do and did the first thing that came to mind.
Gaara had been waiting for Mishka to come out of Kazekage Tower for half an hour. He wondered what she was doing that took her so long. He wanted to stalk... er, WALK her to his home without her knowing.
He felt something in the air like a boulder to the face. Opening his eyes, the young man saw a sight straight out of Hell. Girls. Angry girls with tears in their eyes and mascara running down their heavily stained cheeks. And they were wanting to know why he didn't choose them.
Had it only been one girl, he would have told her exactly why but in this case, Gaara could only be seen as a big jerk in the eyes of these jilted females. So he said nothing, hoping he could find a way out of this dangerous situation without hurting anyone. But none came to mind.
Just as he thought he would have to break his resolve, Gaara felt something tugging at his hand and looked down to see a white-haired angel trying to pull him to safety. "Come on! Do you want to get caught?" asked the scared voice of his savioress.
A smirk crossed his features and he took back his hand only to wrap his arms around her thin waist. Pulling her tightly against his chest, Gaara did a Houdini and made them both disappear in a cloud of sand.
Mishka coughed as sand whipped through the wind. The screechy sounds of angry women no longer hurt her ears but she wasn't sure why. One second, she was trying to help out the Kazekage and the next, sand was everywhere. The choking girl tried to take a step forward but found herslf unable to. The Kazekage-to-be's arms were still there and she became quite aware of his chest against her back and shoulders. "Wh-what did you... do?" she asked, stammering as she attempted not to cough.
"Used the sand to get us away from that mob..." His voice reverberated deliciously inside her body, her ears tingled with delight.
But his words pissed her off."If you could do that, why didn't you?" she growled, finally escaping his grip.
He had let her escape and she knew it. He looked into her glaring golden gaze and replied, "I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. That was a first for me."
Mishka rolled her eyes. "yes, that's why you had a hundred girls wanting to be your wife or bear you a child. Why did you choose me? Why not one of them?"
"Why do you think?"
"Because I'm built like a sand stone shithouse."
The man choked on those words. Had his "angel" cursed? "What?"
"I'm stacked, I've got a body for days. My legs make boys wnat to wrap them around their waists while they do things to me. But so did those girls. Since they have at least some education, why me? Surely you don't want a stupid girl for a wife." Mishka kept her eyes on his the whole time.
"You're not stupid. Well, maybe you are but you're an honest stupid. That's more than a monster like me could hope for."
The white-haired girl sighed, looking away from him. What did it take to make someone not want to marry you? But before a solution could come to her, a rough warm hand cupped her chin, making her look back into those seafoam eyes rimmed in black. And her heart skipped a beat. "You're not monster. And you don't want a girl like me."
"Says who? You are one of my top five. Why are you refusing to believe that?"
"Why do you want me then? You can't use me for power! I'm no one, literally! Do you really want to be Kazekage or are you just looking for bedwarmers while you fulfill someone else's orders?" Her confusion made her raise her voice, her words coming out desperate and almost afraid.
And the redhead found a way to shut her up. Quickly and efficiently.
Okay, that was quite enough. How much was he expected to take? This girl was shooting off her mouth, questioning his motives. All he wanted her to do at this moment was stay silent and look pretty. How hard was that? Apparently,difficult enough that the ex(?)killer had to assist. So he did the one thing that he'd been wanting to do all day. Well, one of the things.
His hand on her chin didn't move as his other wrapped around her waist, pulling her as close as he could. Their lips met and Gaara felt unfamiliar floods of warmth conquer his body.
Kissing Mishka felt as good as killing every lowlife he'd ever come across. Of course, there was no blood but that same feeling of purpose that he remembered from before he met Naruto came flooding back.
Gaara didn't even notice that the white-haired girl had pushed away from him until he realized that he was no longer savoring those feelings. And he stared at her, wanting to kiss her again.
"You're terrible..." Mishka whispered, not looking at him. Tears fell from her eyes, down her cheeks.
He didn't understand. What did he do that was so wrong?
She must have sensed his uncertainty because she added, "That was my first kiss."
"So?"
"A girl's first kiss is meant to be protected. It's for someone they love."
"And why can't you love me?"
Now Mishka looked at Gaara with those tear-filled eyes. "I don't know you. Your likes, dislikes... hopes and fears... I don't even know your name."
((Okay, Gaara's quite a bit more talkative in this story... but he's curious and since he met Naruto, he's trying to change his ways. Normally, he would have slammed her against the wall or threatened her with his sand when she was yelling at him and freaking out. Bear with me. The Gaara-chan that we all know in love will make frequent appearances... maybe. Read and review!))
((PS- if anybody has any requests for any of my other stories, lay 'em on me in a private message! I really want to continue them and finish them, I've just got a serious case of writer's block which makes me make other stories.))