Airi passed through the door, into the outside, and it was as though she had suddenly entered a world entirely unfamiliar, one full of cacophony and chaos. She started to shrink back toward the safety of the building, but a hand caught her arm and held it firmly enough that she had no hope of escaping.

"Hope you weren't thinking about going anywhere." Temari's voice drawled mockingly somewhere near her, and Airi managed a weak smile.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Good."

With Temari's guidance, Airi navigated what sounded like bustling streets, winding in complicated patterns until Temari finally made her stop.

"You'll want to step up." She warned.

Airi was led up a series of steps that she was fairly certain were attached to a platform specially constructed just for the festival. Authoritative voices, most of them unfamiliar, directed the two of them to seats, an act that separated Airi from her temporary guide.

With a brief "good luck", Temari steered Airi toward a chair and then moved away to find her own seat, leaving Airi feeling more vulnerable than she ever had; even battle facing an unfamiliar enemy had never left her with this dry-mouthed, nauseating panic. Airi almost found herself wishing for something –anything— familiar, just for some little form of reassurance. Almost.

But as it stood, she couldn't afford to make herself look any weaker than she already had, so she kept to herself, already growing uneasy at the prospect of being awarded a commendation in front of the whole of the Five Nations, of all those eyes fixed on her while she could see none of them. Not to mention the thought of who would be escorting her to receive that commendation.

A voice very close to Airi's left ear startled her out of her thoughts. "Don't be nervous."

The close proximity of the unfamiliar voice almost caused Airi to fall right out of her chair, but fortunately she caught herself in time. The voice was bright and chipper, and Airi wondered vaguely how anyone could possibly sound like that in this kind of situation.

Of course, she supposed, he probably isn't blind, or to the point of physical illness at the thought of all those people…

"I'm not." She muttered gruffly, not at all sure that she liked the way this stranger was assessing her within moments of meeting her. Though, if she was supposedly this hero of Suna, maybe he did know more about her than she assumed… Regardless, the comment put her on edge, and she bit down hard on the inside of her lip, reminding herself that this was no time to be making enemies.

"Oh. Well, you looked like you were." He continued conversationally, as though the uneasiness in her voice had been completely lost on him. "Believe me, you can't be any worse off than I am. I'll bet you're just getting an award. I actually have to give a speech, and I'm really horrible at speaking, dattebayo."

Airi found herself smiling at the tic that ended his statement; it made him sound innocent, like a child. Before she even realized she had formed the words, a question slipped out.

"So if you're such a terrible speaker, why did they ask you to give a speech?"

"Dunno. Guess they think everybody wants to hear me or something." He responded, and she could practically hear the grin in his voice. Despite her discomfort, Airi felt herself wanting to smile as well. This man, whoever he was, spoke with such nonchalance that it practically radiated from him, and the knots in Airi's stomach were slowly beginning to untangle.

"Though," he added, his tone growing slightly more pensive, "from what I hear, Gaara's the one who should be giving the speeches."

For a moment, Airi was so shocked by the stranger's informal reference to the Kazekage that she failed to notice that someone else had begun speaking, responding to his statement from the seat at her other side.

"I am giving a speech, Naruto."

After the past few weeks, Airi wouldn't have surprised herself if she had bolted right then and there. Or, frozen in mortification, just not done anything at all. But in fact, Airi's reaction was the one she least expected. At the sound of Gaara's voice, so close and familiar, she found herself having to bite back a smile that was on the borderline of giddiness.

But then she caught the last part of his statement, and her head snapped back to the left, despite the fact that she couldn't see the stranger.

Naruto… as in Uzumaki Naruto? The young man touted as the savior of the Five Nations? Airi hadn't heard much over the course of her weeks spent in isolation, but that was one detail she'd managed to pick up on. The Jinchuuriki who had single-handedly tried to save the world… and here he was, sitting right next to her, talking about how he was a terrible speaker.

"You're Uzumaki Naruto?"

"The one and only!" He exclaimed proudly.

"Gaara must not talk about me much…" Naruto added as an afterthought, sounding a bit deflated. "I'd have thought you'd have recognized me."

Airi bit her lip, hesitant to explain to him why, precisely, she couldn't have recognized him even if Gaara had spoken about him. She wondered if he would still speak to her so easily if he realized she was…

"Naruto…" Gaara started; Airi could have sworn she heard a slight edge to his voice, and the strange tone that sounded almost like suppressed indignation gave her the strength to cut him off.

"I can't see you, actually." She explained, waving a hand in front of her face. Only slight shadows passed across her sight spots. "Blind as a bat."

Airi heard a slight strangled noise from the seat to her right, and she wished more than ever that she could see the expression on Gaara's face. Fortunately, however, Naruto's response was quick enough to distract Airi from spending too much time wondering what that bitten-off noise might be about.

"Oh…" The syllable was drawn out, and Naruto stumbled over his next words. "I'm sorry, I didn't know…

"But wait!" He stopped for a moment, and a trace of excitement crept back into his voice. "That means you're Airi, dattebayo!"

Airi raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I am. Don't tell me my apparent fame has extended even past my own village…"

Naruto let out a hearty laugh, and Airi had to wonder what she had said that was so funny.

"Well, actually, I didn't have a clue who you were until someone connected the dots for me that the girl who saved the Kazekage's life and the Airi that I'd heard Gaara talking so much about were the same person. But I've certainly heard about you."

Airi had to work very hard to keep herself from gaping at him. The Kazekage had been… talking about her? She couldn't imagine the Kazekage talking "so much" about anyone. And to Uzumaki Naruto, no less! The thought filled her with all manner of overwhelming emotions, most of which were certainly not suited for this time and place.

"I didn't mean to insult you though, honest. I can be a little dense sometimes." Naruto continued, and Airi smiled, too fixated on the matter of the Kazekage to even worry about an errant comment at this point.

"Don't worry about it."

"Naruto!" A shrill, slightly angry feminine voice that Airi was sure she recognized called from the other side of the platform, and she heard the chair next to her creak.

"Uh-oh. Better go figure out what I've done to make Sakura-chan mad now. It was nice meeting you, Airi-chan!" Before Airi even got a chance to respond, she heard his footsteps recede across the platform, calling across to Sakura as he went. Airi realized why she'd recognized the voice. After spending so many days under Haruno-san's care, it was a wonder she hadn't picked up on it immediately.

She smiled at the thought of the straightforward, authoritative medic being friends with the easygoing Uzumaki boy. It certainly had to be an interesting relationship.

"He's… something else." Airi commented, half to herself, but the comment must have been loud enough for Gaara to hear, because she heard him snort softly.

"Yes, he certainly is."

Airi flushed, realizing that for the first time in ages, they were relatively alone. The last time they had talked… really talked had been that night when the chakra clones attacked. The night…

She swallowed, unsure of what she should even say to him. Her tongue felt like someone had tied it in some rather complicated knots without bothering to tell her how to untangle them.

The uncomfortable silence stretched for a few more minutes, though the air around them buzzed with conversation as the last preparations were made to start the ceremony. Finally, when Airi could no longer stand it, words burst out of her, breaking her tongue out of its invisible bindings.

"Kazekage-sama—"

"Airi, you look—"

Apparently, Gaara had chosen the same moment to say something more. Airi lost her train of thought entirely, her focus redirected to his unfinished statement.

You look… Awful? Exhausted? Like a completely different person?

I feel like a completely different person, she thought wryly.

"What were you about to say?" She prompted.

"Nothing." His voice sounded almost… ashamed, and Airi resisted the urge to reach out and find his hand as she had done unthinkingly before. But now… there was distance and propriety between them, and she couldn't dare to breach that.

"You're making a speech?" She inquired softly, thinking that, at the very least, was a safe subject to broach.

"Just a short one." He confirmed. "Congratulating our shinobi on a war well-fought."

After a moment or two of thought, Airi heard him shift slightly, and he spoke again, only this time it was much more quietly.

"Naruto is right, you know."

"About what?"

"You look on edge."

Airi brushed a hand through her hair where it didn't need to be smoothed; the nervous gesture did not help her case at all.

"I'm… not." She repeated, but this time it was with far less conviction.

Airi's folded her hands neatly in her lap and after a minute or so of silence, she thought the subject had been successfully dropped.

But then, ever so gently, a hand clasped over hers and held it solidly. This time, she couldn't keep her mouth from dropping open just slightly.

"I won't let anything happen to you." He said, so quietly that she was sure only she could hear.

A few minutes passed, and the crowds began to quiet down as the ceremony was about to begin, but even when his hand dropped away from hers, Airi could still feel the warmth radiating up the length of her arm. Her rational mind was screaming in panic, running through all the ways that it could possibly go terribly wrong, but for now, for that one moment, Airi was able to quash them all with an overwhelming feeling of elation.

A/N: I am a horrible, horrible updater. It has been far too long since I've published a chapter, but I just couldn't get this scene right! I think I probably rewrote it at least five times, and it's not even the most pivotal scene in the story. Goodness knows how many drafts that one will take...

Anywho, I hope you all haven't given up on the story despite my miserable lack of updates (though I suppose you haven't if you've read this far down the page, right?) and I hope you enjoyed their reunion. (Finally!) Rest assured, there will be some good Gaara-Airi interaction coming in the next few chapters as well.

If you've celebrated holidays between now and the last time I published, I hope they were wonderful and that 2012 has been kind to you thus far. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- Senka Hitomi