Here ya go, everyone! Enjoy the chapter! R&R as always!

-Keita

A Flame in the Desert

-10-

Tests of Authority

Aimi had been awakened by one of the grooms gently shaking her shoulder. She opened one of her light blue eyes to look at the anxious young boy before her.

"What's wrong?" she asked sleepily.

"Omo-san asked me to wake you. He said that the Kazekage's horse is going to tear down the barn if you don't do something to calm him."

"Oh, I see," Aimi sat up and picked a piece of hay out of her long black hair. She had been sleeping in the hay loft for the past week, despite Temari's insistence that she have a real bed, and Kankurou's generous offer to share his own bed with her. The horse master said that she preferred sleeping in the hay to a bed because she would be too hot, even during the near-freezing nights; the hay would keep her warm without stifling her.

However, she had made the kids go with Temari to sleep in beds, quieting their protests by saying that they wouldn't be able to sleep while in the hay loft, and she didn't feel like dealing with their cranky selves.

As soon as she reached the top of the stairs that led down to the ground floor of the barn, she could hear Kaen's furious screams and banging that could only mean that he was kicking the walls that were confining him.

It was still early; the sun hadn't risen yet, but it wasn't totally dark out. Aimi stifled a yawn as she walked down the aisle of young horses to where the colt was being kept.

He was going to town trying to force his way out of the stall. He was bucking, kicking the wall behind him hard with his strong hind legs; Aimi could see spots where he'd already tried chewing away some of the wood, and lots of dents and marks from his tough hooves striking the walls.

"What is the matter with you?" she muttered to the horse as she slid the bolt of the stall door, opening it.

Upon hearing the door of his prison open, the colt spun around, only to find himself face-to-face with that damned black-haired girl. He wanted to get out of that stall and outside again. He hated being cooped up and if he wasn't going to be let out by anyone else, then he would let himself out. At least that's what he thought…

"Kaen!" Aimi scolded him firmly as he landed another kick on the wall.

The colt paused, looking at the girl with his ears pricked in her direction. He just as quickly pinned them down again and lifted his leg to kick again.

"Kaen!" she said again, a warning tone in her voice. "Don't." He put his foot down.

His eyes glistened impudently as he lifted the same foot again.

"Kaen, I mean it. Don't." She knew that while he might not understand her actual words, the horse understood that he was doing something that he shouldn't be, but didn't care.

Finally, he delivered the impending strike to the wall.

"Alright, that's it," Aimi left the stall to grab the colt's halter and lead and returned to slip the halter on over his ears. She did it so fluidly and confidently that Kaen didn't even think to react. She opened the stall door and walked out into the aisle, holding one end of the lead rope.

Seeing this as his chance to escape, the red-gold colt practically bolted out of the stall and headed towards the barn doors. He was brought to an abrupt halt when he felt a harsh jerk on his face that nearly spun him around. He looked over his shoulder and saw the girl horse master with both of her feet planted firmly on the ground, clutching her end of the lead with both hands, looking at him with a smirk on her face.

"Where do you think you're going?" she said to him, an amused tone in her voice.

Kaen was pissed off now; he just wanted to go outside and run freely like he had before, he wanted nothing to do with people. But this girl was making that impossible. Still though, when it came down to brute strength, he knew that he was stronger than she would ever be. So he began to continue forward at a strained walk, dragging the girl on the other end of the rope.

Aimi chuckled to herself lightly; this was going to be fun. She stopped dragging her feet and walked forward to catch up with the colt, who was momentarily distracted by the sudden lack of resistance on her end. She took this opportunity to move so that she stood directly in front of him, looping the slack in the lead line as she did, effectively shortening it.

"Back up," she instructed the colt, taking a step forward and placing her free hand on his chest and putting some pressure on him so that he got the idea.

Kaen snorted, incensed at her attempt to keep him from achieving his goal, and he attempted to rear up.

He had barely gotten his front feet off of the ground than Aimi straightened and gave the lead line a sharp tug, pulling the colt's front end back down to the ground. "Now back up," she said, repeating the process again.

The fiery colt tried again to discourage the annoyingly persistent girl by rearing up on her, but was met with the same sharp pull back to earth.

"Back up," she said again, calmly but firmly, her hand exerting pressure on his chest again. This time, he moved backwards one step. Aimi immediately ceased her gentle pushing and gave him one quick stroke on his muscular neck. "That's a boy," she praised him.

She continued backing the colt down the aisle, occasionally needing to tug the lead rope to dissuade him from rearing on her. They moved slowly, but when they finally reached Aimi's intended destination - which was the saddling area and also where most of the training equipment was kept – she patted Kaen's shoulder and offered a few words of praise. He seemed to settle a bit; she figured that he liked the soft pats and strokes that he received for behaving well.

She reached out for something hanging on a hook on the wall; it was a pair of hobbles, made for a horse's rear legs. Kaen looked at her curiously.

"Let's go," she began to walk back towards the young horse's beaten stall, he followed her obediently until he saw her walk into the confining box again.

He planted his feet and began to pull backwards, looking again towards the doors at the end of the aisle that would lead to his freedom.

Aimi turned her eyes up to the stubborn colt. "Kaen," she said in a low voice that stopped the young horse in his tracks and turn his eyes to her attentively. "Come on."

Kaen seemed unsure of whether or not he wanted to resume fighting, or obey the girl's gentle command. Aimi waited, never tearing her blue eyes from the glistening colt, while he decided what course of action he was going to take.

For a second, she thought that he was going to come quietly, which she realized was ridiculous to hope for. She saw the fire flare up in his eyes as he threw up his head, did a half-rear and began backing away from the stall entrance quickly.

She threw down the set of hobbles, freeing up her other hand, which she used to grip the lead rope tightly. She allowed herself to be half-dragged out of the stall and into the aisle.

Kaen began making a desperate attempt to free himself; he started to twist and jump, doing anything to make Aimi loosen her hold on the lead line. But the girl held on resolutely.

Finally, after nearly five minutes, the colt stopped, facing the young horse master, panting after exerting himself so much.

She gave him that amused look again, "Are you finished?" He huffed. "Good, now come on." She walked back towards the stall, and when he hesitated again, she wasted no time in spinning and backing the colt so that his rear end entered the stall first. She did it so quickly that Kaen didn't even realize what was happening until Aimi was sliding the bolt of the stall door back into place, locking them both in.

He considered throwing another tantrum, but the look that she gave him as she walked around him, allowing her hand to slide along his silken body, told him that it would do him more harm than good.

She stooped to retrieve the hobbles from the spot on the ground where she had tossed them earlier. She stroked the colt's shining flank, letting him know that she was standing there, and continued the action all the way down to his fetlock, right above his hoof. Once she had done this, she proceeded to put one of the hobbles around his foot, buckling the strap.

Kaen turned his head to look down at the black head that was at his hind leg. He felt something strange around his foot, and he lifted it and kicked out, not violently, but more to try and shake off whatever was making him uncomfortable.

Aimi took his long, black tail in her hand and pulled it toward her, forcing Kaen to put his foot down if he wanted to keep himself from falling over.

Once he had his foot firmly on the ground again, the girl moved to the opposite leg and buckled the second hobble around that foot as well. Satisfied with her work, she straightened and gave him a pat on his flank.

She went up to his head and looked him straight in the face. "Now, I don't wanna hear any more of your complaining, got it?" She slid the stall door bolt and let herself out, closing and relocking it behind her.

The angry look returned to Kaen's face, and he went to lift a hind foot so that he could kick the back wall again. However, when he did, he nearly pulled his other leg out from underneath him. He recovered and looked at his hind end, not completely understanding what had just happened.

Aimi chuckled, watching him as he tried to figure it out. "Go ahead, try it again."

The horse snorted and picked up the other back leg, and again was nearly tripped by his own action.

"Like I said," Kaen turned his attention to the blue-eyed girl again as she spoke to him, "I don't want to hear any more fussing from you. You're going to live in a barn like a civil horse and you're going to behave like one too. Now, I'm going back to sleep."

With that, she turned on her heel and headed back to the hay loft, leaving the colt glaring after her.