The next morning, the Kazekage made his way to his office to file a report on a recent mission. He sat at his desk and skimmed through the documents, but his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't stop thinking about Naoko. His siblings had seriously taken the piss out of him this morning at breakfast, making jokes about the previous night's events.
He thought about the kiss. Naoko's soft lips. The way she moaned against his mouth. He allowed himself a small smile. It was the first time he'd felt truly close to someone, and from her reaction, she'd wanted to be close to him too. She wanted to be close to him. He repeated this thought to himself again and again, a warm feeling running through his body.
He firmly pushed the thoughts from his mind. She was drunk. It didn't mean anything. He didn't see the point in getting his hopes up only to have them crushed again.
The door slid open abruptly, without warning, and a very dishevelled looking Naoko sloped into the room rubbing her forehead.
"Ugh"
"It serves you right" Gaara sneered unsympathetically.
She ignored this and sat on his desk, taking the Kazekage's cup of coffee and drinking from it leisurely. Gaara watched her, amused.
"What happened last night?" she said, returning his now half-empty cup of coffee.
"You don't remember?"
"Not really. I can remember vague parts, but it's all a bit of a blur…I didn't do anything stupid, did I?" she murmured.
Gaara frowned. She didn't remember? Should he tell her?
"You kissed me."
There was a shocked silence. Then the engineer burst out laughing, nearly falling off the desk.
"I did? Oh dear! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed through fits of laughter.
The Kazekage watched, gauging her response. He felt relieved; she didn't seem ashamed or disgusted, or angry at him.
"So…was I any good?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.
Gaara blushed a little under the gaze of her amused green eyes. He lifted the documents in front of his face and pretended to read them as if he hadn't heard her. He mocked a look of deep concentration, hoping he wouldn't have to answer that question.
"Oh no, you don't get away that easily!" she giggled, leaning in and pulling the documents away from his face. His eyes darted around, trying to find something to look at. Anything that wasn't Naoko.
"Well..?" she pressed.
He shuffled. "I suppose it was ok…" he mumbled, his eyes staring down at the desk.
Naoko watched him quietly, a satisfied smirk on her face. He'd enjoyed it! It was written all over his nervous face. She jumped down from the desk.
"Well, I should probably go find Yuki and get some work done…Afterall, that's what you're paying me for" She strolled over to the door.
"See ya later, Tiger" and with that she was gone.
Kankuro strolled through the corridors of the Council building. He was trying to decide what to have for lunch. Okonomiyaki, perhaps? Or maybe tekka sushi…he grinned greedily to himself.
He was on his way to the Kazekage's office to remind Gaara about the Festival of Allegiance. The Festival of Allegiance was a ceremonial event during which allied nations renewed their pledge of friendship to one another. It was held once a year as a sign of goodwill between the shinobi villages of Konoha and Suna. During the festival, the Kage of one nation would visit the other nation, and for the finale of the event, the two Kages would re-sign the contract of allegiance as a testament to their united strength and obligation to one another. Ninja from both nations would also attend the festivities. It was basically just an excuse for a big party. There would be stalls, food, fireworks, the whole thing. The event was held in Konoha the year before, which meant that the Hokage, Tsunade, would be coming to Suna this time around.
Kankuro loved the Festival of Allegiance. The food was great. He grinned again. Maybe he'd have okonomiyaki AND tekka sushi for lunch. He knocked on the Kazekage's door.
"Enter" came the familiar rumble.
Kankuro plodded into the room.
"Hey Gaara! How are you?" said the happy but hungry puppet master.
"I'm ok…and you?" Gaara replied.
Kankuro was stunned. Did Gaara just ask how I am? First time that's happened, he exclaimed inwardly.
"Woah, what's up with you? You seem like you're actually in a good mood. Temari always said you'd lighten up once you got a woman."
"Naoko's not my woman" Gaara scowled.
"Well I think sh…"
"Did you come here for a reason or are you just here to talk crap?" The Kazekage interrupted.
"Ok ok! Sorry!" Kankuro sulked "I just came to remind you about the Festival of Allegiance"
Of course! Gaara had almost forgotten about it. After Naoko's explosive arrival into Gaara's world, the Festival of Allegiance had slipped his mind. It almost seemed inferior to Naoko's stormy presence.
Kankuro continued "The Hokage will be arriving in a couple of days. She's organised a committee of elite ninja to take care of Konoha while she's here: Shizune, Ebisu and a couple of others"
"Hn"
"The villagers are preparing for the festivities" Kankuro paused, grinning as thoughts of food entered his mind. "There's a meeting today at 3 o clock about the security procedures for the event"
"Hn" Gaara frowned. He hated meetings.
"Ok then. I'm going for lunch! See ya!" Kankuro said excitedly, running out the door.
Naoko and Yuki were in the technical room, fixing a problem with the digital signal transmitter. It was afternoon. They were getting through the job quicker than they expected. Naoko was saddened at the thought of having to leave Suna soon. It meant leaving Gaara.
They heard footsteps coming from down the hall and before long, Temari and Kankuro appeared.
"Hey! You recovered from your hangover yet, Naoko?" Temari joked.
"Huh?" said Yuki.
"Oh, she didn't tell you? She got drunk last night and kissed Gaara"
"WHAT?!" Yuki cried, turning to Naoko with a look of comic horror.
Kankuro sniggered.
Naoko smiled proudly, "So what?"
Yuki continued to gape in disbelief.
"We've come to tell you about the festival" Temari continued. She explained the event to the two engineers.
After hearing the news, Naoko smiled. That meant that her uncle Kakashi might be coming to Suna with the three amigos. Yuki smiled sweetly. "Sounds like fun"
Kankuro grinned at
Yuki and she blushed.
"You can stick with me at the festival"
he told her "I wouldn't want you getting lost or anything"
"If she sticks with YOU, she probably WILL get lost!" Temari snorted, "You don't know your elbow from your arsehole!"
Kankuro glared at his uncouth sister. Naoko laughed like a loon.
"So what are you girls going to wear to this thing?" Temari asked, turning back to the engineers.
Naoko and Yuki looked at each other. "Erm…well…"
Temari sighed in a motherly way.
"Well you can't go looking like THAT" she pointed at the girls' grubby attire. "We'll go shopping tomorrow!" she squealed.
"Don't go" Kankuro warned the two engineers "You might end up looking like THAT" he sneered, pointing at his sister.
After some swearing
and a lot of violence, the siblings left the room. Naoko and Yuki
went back to their work.
Finally, Yuki broke the silence.
"You kissed him?!" she hissed.
"Apparently…I was drunk so I can't remember" Naoko replied nonchalantly.
Yuki tutted in sensible disapproval.
"Don't sweat it, Yuki. We'll be leaving soon anyway" Naoko murmured.
Yuki noticed the sadness in her friend's eyes, without a hint of humour or sarcasm. The only visible emotion on Naoko's face was an honest, pained seriousness. Yuki softened.
"You really like him, don't you?"
"Yes. I do. I like him more than I've ever liked anyone. He makes me feel…" she struggled to find the right words, a strained look on her face. "…I don't know…I've never felt this way before…"
Yuki put an arm around her friend.
"You don't want to leave do you?"
Naoko bowed her head. "No. But I don't have a choice. I have to keep running. If I don't, I'm dead. Because they'll never stop hunting me…" her voice trailed off.
"I know" Yuki whispered, hugging her friend tight.
A/N: Thanks everyone, I'm inspired by your reviews!