Main characters: Gaara, Naruto, Aimez

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I only own Aimez. I hate the people in white. A lot.
Tales from the Drinks
Margarita
Gaara looked down at what could only be described as the most pitiful human he'd ever seen. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were dull and glazed. Her fingers are long and slim, a pianist's fingers, but they were bony, too. There were gray circles under her eyes, which were the color that only was seen before a storm. A hurricane, even. Her hair, once a ebony black, was reduced to a dark, dusty gray. The rags she wore were once beautiful, but they were now dirty and fading of their bright, radiant colors. Her shirt was stretched over her back, so Gaara could count the bumps in her spine. Her back was propped against a random building, her knees hugged to her chin, her eyes staring blankly across the street as if no one were there.

The bird nudged her arm with its beak and set down the bread, whimpering, "Aimez, Aimez! Moi amener pâture!"

"Remercier toi."

Gaara shuddered. The girl's voice was so faint it sounded like she would die any minute. If he were a normal person, he wouldn't have even heard her.

"Bon voyage!" The bird disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Ah. Summoning no jutsu.

The girl picked up the bread and began to nibble. Was this what she lived off of every day?

Suddenly, the girl looked up. Their eyes met. The quiet, shy looking girl matched his gaze with an equally cold glare. They stared until they tore away at the same time.

"What do you want?" The girl asked, gnawing a bit more on her bread.

"Well, I'm the Kazekage of Sunagakure. And you just used summoning no jutsu to steal bread from someone."

"So?"

Well, that was stupid.

"'So?' That's theft, and that's illegal."

"… Kazekage, sir, as much as I would like to care, I don't. I have no money, and I have no talent. Just leave me alone and get back to your job."

"And what, exactly, do you think my job is?"

"I don't care. Just go do it."

"Are you giving me an order?"

Once again, the girl met Gaara's glare. "No, sir. I'm demanding that you leave. I've been alone all my life with just the birds, and I rather like it that way."

She flinched when Gaara sat down next to her. "I've been alone myself. No one understood me, not even my brother and sister, Kankuro and Temari. I know what its like, trust me."

The girl sighed and held out a hand. "I'm Aimez. Aimez Minuit."

Gaara hesitated, but shook her hand. "Gaara. Aimez? Is that French?"

"Yes."

"Why was the bird speaking French too?"

"Because he's a French bird."

"…"

Aimez smiled. "'Aimez, Aimez! Moi amener pâture!' means 'Love, Love! I bring food!' and 'Remercier toi' means 'thank you' and I don't think you're so dumb as to not know what bon voyage means. 'Minuit' means 'midnight.'"

"So your name means Love Midnight?"

"I like to think my parents were authors of romance books," Aimez said. "And one of their book titles was 'Love Midnight' but my mom had me and named me Aimez Minuit and then she was killed before she could publish her book!"

"My mom died giving birth to me."

"I know."

Gaara stared at her. "How would you know?"

"The birds. They tell me everything."

Gaara blinked at her.

"Hm… Well, summoned animals can speak. And I can speak French, which is the language my birds speak. They bring me food, ad find me water and shelter. They're how I've survived the past fear years."

"'Years?'"

"My parents died years ago, Gaara."

Gaara glared. NO ONE called the Kazekage by his first name! Grr!

"I don't know how. Maybe disease, or whatever…"

"How long have your birds been watching me?"

The question took Aimez by surprise. She probably would have fallen over if she wasn't too weak to be anime style. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I say. It was obvious you knew who I was long before I knew you. And you know I killed my mother, and that my father was turned into a puppet…"

Aimez flinched. She was saving that one.

"…So how long? My birth was nearly seventeen years ago. That can't be older than you."

"I'm sixteen, so yes, it can. But my birds have been watching you for a while, whether I like it or not. I learned how to speak French before our language, so I could understand them early. I don't know WHY they watch you… They just kind of... Do. That last bird? His name was Pierre. Kind of corny, but hey, he's French."

All of a sudden, Aimez fell into a violent fit of coughing.

Gaara's head turned to look at her. "Are you okay?"

Blood splattered on the ground, but Aimez smiled. "I'm fine –" She coughed a dozen more times. "Just haven't had anything proper to drink in a while…"

Either Aimez was a professional actress, or Gaara had gone soft. He helped her into a pub and bought her a margarita.