Happy Holidays everyone!!!! Here's a present to all of my fabulous readers!!! I hope you enjoy it:D

Also, if you are following my other story, "The Sum of Black and White", I've added another chapter of that as well! So happy reading!!!

-Keita

A Flame in the Desert

-11-

Drifting Thoughts

The Kazekage couldn't concentrate. He could barely get through two sentences on the documents he was supposed to be reading over before his thoughts were whisked away. He could catch glimpses of his colt's shimmering red-gold coat and Aimi's jet-black hair from his office window, could hear the sounds from the horses and their trainers, and it was driving him insane.

Ever since she had arrived, Gaara had wanted to just drop everything else and watch as this girl, supposedly a "great horse master", turned his colt from a feral beast into a respectable riding horse.

He had his doubts; the girl was nothing special. She was about the same height and build as his sister, but with slightly more defined muscles in her arms and legs; her hands were rough and calloused, but then again, so were the grooms' and stable workers'; and those damned kids she brought with her! Who the hell did she think she was, anyways, some saint lady who adopted orphans and tamed wild beasts?! It aggravated him to no end.

He had seen the kids running around with Omo on the training grounds, or riding on the white horse that they brought with them. Temari and Kankurou seemed to take a strong liking to them, and often guided them on little excursions around the village and the desert.

He had to admit that the oldest boy, the one with black hair and green eyes, was quite something. The kid was pretty tough, and took his duties as the oldest male very seriously. He was always looking out for his brother and sister, and even Aimi, when he felt she needed looking after. Gaara remembered when he had first met them, how the boy had looked at him defiantly and had almost seemed ready to jump on him and throttle him right then and there for disrespecting his beloved guardian. The redhead had no doubt that with some training and some growth spurts, the boy could be quite a formidable opponent.

The other two, however, weren't so apparently promising. The other boy, with the brown hair, seemed like the type that would grow up to be strong and smart, but nothing really special; just a mediocre ninja, if he decided to be a ninja at all. Gaara could easily see the boy following Aimi into the horse business, or else doing something else – maybe farming – that allowed him to use his strength, but in a more peaceable manner.

The little girl was just flat out weak. He felt a little guilty for thinking this harsh thought, but knew that it was true nonetheless. She was adorable, there was no denying it, but cuteness didn't get you very far in a world where value was measured by strength and ability. But she was still very young, and so he decided to use Aimi's philosophy and give the child the benefit of the doubt; for all he knew, she could grow up to be the strongest ninja in the history of the world.

He heard an equine scream and he was yanked out of his "what-if" thoughts only to have them dragged back out to the training grounds and his colt.

Realizing that he was going to accomplish absolutely nothing while he was so distracted, he slammed the leather bound folder that contained the papers he had been reading – or rather, trying to read – and he got up from his desk, walked out of his office, down the stairs and out to the training grounds.

As he stood at the top of the dune and looked down at the scene below, he noticed the cloud-white horse, holding the three children on his back, standing patiently next to Omo, who was leaning on the second tallest bar of the round pen.

The Waterfall horse master was in the round pen with the fiery colt; she had the long lunge rope attached to the horse's halter, and had him moving at a long-strided trot in a circle of which she was the center, holding the other end of the rope.

The young Kazekage made his way down to where the rest of the observers stood. Kumo turned his head to see who had joined them, then turned his attention back to his rider and the colt. The children stole quick glances at Gaara; Kyoukou let his wary gaze linger on him for a second longer before wrapping an arm protectively around his baby sister, who was sitting in front of him on the white horse and shifting his eyes back to his guardian.

"So, how's it going?" Gaara asked Omo, nodding towards the girl and the red-gold horse as he did.

"Well, when she first brought him out, he threw his normal temper tantrum, which she just let him do. It was a bit ridiculous on his part though; he was charging around this way and that, throwing his head, bucking…the usual. But she let him carry on and, wouldn't you know it, he got himself so worked up that he didn't have enough energy left to fight with her when she actually asked him to do something," Omo was smiling, proudly, it seemed. "And now, as you can see, she's got him going pretty well. He's actually listening and figuring out what her verbal commands mean. Once you quiet him down enough so that he can hear someone besides himself, he learns quickly; he's a smart horse."

Gaara watched with some amazement as Aimi had Kaen go through the first three gaits – walk, trot, canter – with control and elegance. The Kazekage was seeing the beginnings of the horse he dreamed of coming out as the flaming colt trotted past him.

After about five more minutes of work, Aimi slowed Kaen to a walk; the horse was breathing hard, flaring his nostrils, and his glossy coat was now dark with sweat. She asked him to stop and stand, which he did, turning his head so that he could keep his eyes on her.

She walked over to him slowly, holding out her hand to him. He dropped his head down far enough so that she could place her palm on his forehead. She moved closer and held his muzzle in her other hand, stroking it gently and whispering quietly into his ear.

Gaara could tell that his horse was listening to whatever it was that she was saying, because Kaen's ears flicked back and forth as the girl spoke. He was about to return to his office to make another attempt at working, when her voice stopped him.

"Kazekage-sama, wait, could you come here a minute?"

He looked over his shoulder to where she stood in the round pen; she was still delicately holding the horse's head in her hands, but her foggy blue eyes were turned towards him, as were the eyes of everyone else in the observation party.

"What for?" he asked, genuinely unsure of why he would be needed.

Aimi, in her ever-understanding way, seemed aware of his confusion and replied gently, "Well, he is your horse; you are going to be his only rider when I finish training him, isn't that right?"

Gaara nodded his red head.

"So then I don't want to be the only one who knows how to handle him," Aimi continued, her eyes still on the Kazekage, "It's more important that you know what to do. That's why I need you to come over here."

It made sense; after all, what good was it if Kaen only behaved for one person, especially if said person wasn't even his rider?

Gaara turned all the way around and slowly walked to the round pen. With a sigh, he reached out to grasp one of the bars in his hands, put his foot up on the one closest to the ground, and hoisted himself up and over the fencing that separated the girl and his horse from the rest of the world.

Kaen gave a slight start when the red haired man landed with a muted thud in the sand, but quieted immediately when Aimi put her hand on his neck reassuringly.

He walked over to the pair, stopping in front of them, his sea-green eyes scanning the magnificent animal and searching the face of the horse master at his side. "So what am I doing here?" he asked, realizing that he sounded rude and impatient, and laughing a bit maliciously on the inside because of it.

"I just want you to walk with him while he cools down, that's all," the girl replied, brushing a sweat-soaked strand of her jet hair from her eyes.

He noticed that the girl was dripping almost as much as the colt was; sweat soaked her hair, it ran slowly down her neck and dampened her tan tank top. For a fleeting second, he had the urge to take her lovely black hair in his fist and tilt her head to the side so that he could catch the salty beads with his tongue as they journeyed down her throat.

"Alright?" He was snapped out of his reverie as she handed over the looped up-and-therefore-shortened lunge line attached to the colt's halter.

He nodded dumbly and began to walk forward, the exhausted horse following him without complaint. As he walked, he contemplated the brief…fantasy (?) that he had just experienced.

What the hell does it mean, having thoughts like that about her? I know I'm not in love with her, and sure, she's pretty…gorgeous, actually, but I don't wanna screw her, so I can rule out lust. He stole a glance at her; she was still standing in the center of the circular exercising pen, watching the horse and the young man like a hawk, waiting to swoop in at the first sign of trouble. It must be her powerful presence; she gives off a very strong aura, and I have always been attracted to strength, he looked over at Kaen as he admitted this to himself, That must be it. She's strong and so I'm drawn to her naturally.

He was so busy trying to analyze his thoughts so that the solution suited his liking, that he didn't notice the mischievous look in Kaen's eyes.

The flaming colt had recovered enough from his intense workout that he felt up to picking a fight with this person, who he had seen before on occasion, but had never truly interacted with. He picked up his head more, arching his neck slightly and lifting his front legs just a little higher as he walked.

The girl horse master did notice these changes in Kaen, however, and she knew that she had to go into prevention mode, quickly. She took a couple of long strides and fell into step beside Gaara.

The horse saw the black head in front of him and immediately settled down again, knowing the owner of the ebony hair well enough to know that should he act out of place, it would mean more work for him, and while he may have had enough energy to start something with this newcomer, he had nowhere near enough to endure another session with his trainer.

Aimi smirked at the colt then looked at the young man leading him. He was looking at her with slightly shocked green eyes; she had appeared so quickly and seemingly out of nowhere. Her own blue eyes reflected his shock, surprised by it.

"What?" she asked quizzically, not knowing why he would give her such a look.

"Nothing," he said quickly, turning his eyes away.

"Is there something gross on my face? Or in my hair? Oh, God, I probably smell awful, don't I? Damn my nearly dead sense of smell," she muttered this last comment to herself, but Gaara had heard it and a tiny smile tugged at the very corner of his mouth.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes.

"Right, well, I think that this one's had enough," she stopped walking, causing Gaara and Kaen to stop as well, and scratched Kaen's neck, "You did really well with him; you didn't seem nervous at all, which is great because he needs a strong, confident rider. I'll take him back to the barn and hose him down now," she held out her hand for the lunge rope.

Gaara handed the looped rope over, unconsciously letting his hand linger for a split second longer than it needed to over her open hand. When he realized what he had done, he turned and nimbly climbed the fence out of the round pen, and headed back up the big dune towards the center of the village.

Aimi stood still, registering what had happened. Had he done it on purpose? Was she just making a big deal out of nothing? She thought back to the strange look Gaara had given her for no apparent reason other than she had simply shown up next to him.

Kaen stamped his foot impatiently. Aimi turned to the colt with an exasperated sigh and shook her head disapprovingly, "Still so rude and demanding. Well, I guess at least you're learning how to order people around without killing anybody." She walked to the gate of the round pen, opened it, and led Kaen back to the barn, while Omo went back to his own horses and the kids urged Kumo onward, hoping to find Kankurou or Temari.