A/N: Okay, so latest Manga chapter was AMAZING. For those of you that haven't read it yet, you should. :) Ah, Gaara. 3
Anywho. So it's the usual spiel: I don't own Naruto, this is a sad thing, etc. etc.
Hope you all enjoy!
Gaara was up long before the sun had even touched the horizon. Years of sleepless nights hadn't led to an easy adjustment to a regular sleep schedule.
Besides, his mind was too occupied to even begin to consider sleeping. Worry would have kept him awake regardless.
And then he had received the summons for another Kage summit. And not just about anything.
This would be a war summit.
He crumpled the paper, and it disintegrated to dust as he moved back to his desk. He needed to formulate plans, decide who would organize the ranks while he was away, convince the Council that he didn't need more than two bodyguards for the trip… far too much to be done.
And still all these petitions. He frowned at the pile of papers that still covered his desk. Maybe it would at least provide a distraction until the rest of the people he needed to contact were awake.
He sat down at his desk and pulled the first off the pile.
Then paused.
The memory of a slender hand placing a paper back on his desk and wary violet eyes flashed across his vision.
Airi.
The petition returned to its place on his desk, and he pulled out a blank sheet of paper. Before any of this paperwork, he had something else to take care of…
Airi woke up groggy, unsure of where she was. The bed she slept in was unfamiliar; had she been sent on a mission by the daimyo?
'No,' she realized as her head cleared, 'I'm in Suna. Home. As much of one as I've ever had.'
She sat up slowly, blinking at the bright light that filtered in the window.
'I overslept,' she realized with sudden horror. The sun was far too high on the horizon. How many years had it been since she had overslept? Years spent being prepared to protect the daimyo had trained her to shed sleep's clutches at a moment's notice. Not one day had she ever overslept.
And now, one day back in Suna and she was already letting old bad habits come back to her?
'Just one more reason I shouldn't be back here…'
She scrambled up, tossing aside twisted sheets to rush to the door. She threw it open to find a piece of paper tacked to it.
'I must have missed the knock,' she thought miserably, scanning the paper.
A concise message ran down the length of the page. "The council will see you for reassignment, 0900."
'Shit…' she muttered, running a hand through her short hair. 'I didn't expect him to get to it so fast.'
Airi looked down at herself. She had fallen asleep in her uniform; quite honestly, she hadn't even remembered coming down off the roof, but obviously she had gotten to her room somehow.
Airi rummaged through her things, trying to find something suitable. Her haphazard packing job wasn't helping matters. She hadn't completely missed the meeting, but it was only a few minutes away and somehow she didn't think she looked very professional at the moment.
Finally, a clean uniform emerged from somewhere beneath all of her things.
After a few minutes of frantic preparation, she got herself into a semi-presentable state and rushed out the door, brushing past the puzzled landlady.
The old woman shook her head, returning to sweeping the front walk.
"Young shinobi…" she smiled to herself.
All Gaara could do was think as the clock ticked on.
Finish the paperwork… prepare for departure… formulate the defense plan…
'Where is she?'
The girl was led into the Council chamber by her father, her steps sure and steady, though on the inside, her stomach lurched like a storm-tossed ship.
Gaara watched from the window, completely silent. He wasn't supposed to be here, and were he to be discovered, his father would be uncontrollably angry, but it was a distraction, if a bland one. He certainly had nothing better to do with his time; being cooped up in his room all the time was pointless, and training just bored him. What could they possibly teach him that he couldn't already do anyway?
"My daughter has come with a petition, Kazekage-sama," the tall shinobi announced, shoving his daughter forward. She took a glance around the room before beginning, and her eyes caught on a familiar shock of red hair. Her eyes widened for a split second, then returned to normal, and she bowed to the Kazekage.
"I wish to start my shinobi training under the guidance of my father."
Gaara watched the girl. She recognized him, it was obvious, but it seemed not to be in fear. She had simply look surprised and perhaps… saddened, at his presence? He was certain he recognized her from somewhere, but he was unsure. She had honey-colored hair, long and flowing gracefully down to her waist, and almost violet eyes. A blur flashed across his mind, lit dimly by a shining beacon above his head and a feeling of rain, or perhaps tears…
But he couldn't recall what it was. It couldn't be anything he should concern himself with.
The Kazekage glanced at his councilors, and then at the girl's father, face inscrutable, as it was obscured by the traditional headdress. "And do you accept the responsibility?"
Her father lowered his head in assent. "I do."
"Then I see no reason why she should not be free to begin training, and I will receive word should any significant improvement be made."
"Of course, Kazekage-sama," both father and daughter answered.
"Then I believe our business is through."
The two turned to go, but not before the girl stole another glance at the window, indigo eyes meeting turquoise. No fear shone in her gaze, only simple curiosity.
For a moment, something he had never experienced before welled up within him, but then the girl was gone, and he dismissed it as no more than an imagining of his attention-starved mind.
A/N: Okay, so this one was really short too... Gah, I need to write more! Anyway, please leave reviews, they make me happy. I hope this wasn't terribly boring... I just need to set up for some later scenes. And the past and present scenes just meshed so well for this one!
Hopefully I'll get some better inspiration to write chapters soon... Though I do have a new oneshot in the works, I think... :) But please read & review, and I'll try to update soon!
~ Senka Hitomi
