Chapter 1
10 years later
To honour Naruto's birthday, Gaara finally agreed to join the celebration at Chashitsu Ochaya, the most exclusive tea house at Hanamachi, a district in Konoha. Gaara was officially the Kazekage now. And at this moment, he was in Konoha for an annual meeting with the Hokage, which was no one else but his good old friend, Naruto.
Being an introvert as always, Gaara wished the party would be over soon so he could get some rest before he return to Suna the next day. Other comrades were also there but the red haired male was barely spoken to them.
"Naruto! I'm wishing you all the luck and happiness in the world! For you and your lovely wife to be, Sakura-chan!" the half drunk Kiba glanced around, noticing that Naruto's fiance was nowhere to be found in the room. "Hey, wait a second! Where is she? In fact, there are no girls invited to this party?! What the heck is this?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes, slightly getting annoyed by Kiba's act while the birthday boy laughed. "Kiba, don't worry about it! I invite you guys here not without a reason! In this place, you can see the most unique and delicate beauties, which are also part of our history. They have their own world, full of secrets and mysteries," Naruto smirked and raised his cup of sake.
"But first, I want to make a toast for my birthday and for our friendship! Kanpai1!"
"Kanpai!" Gaara, Sasuke, Kiba, Shino and Kakashi replied in unison. Not long after that, a woman walked inside the room and bowed politely to them. The lady was definitely beautiful in her mid fifties and she looked very elegant in her expensive black kimono with golden chrysanthemum flowers and white cranes printed on it.
"Konbanwa2, gentlemen. I'm Madame Tsunade and I'll proudly present you the performance of my most talented maiko3, Tamayu with her onee-san4, Kikuryo. I should also inform you that Kikuryo-san is the number one geisha in Hanamachi district." She paused for a while, giving them her charming smile. "I can guarantee that this evening will be an enchanting and yet an unforgettable evening for all of us."
After Tsunade finished her sentence, two young ladies stepped inside the room. Their faces were painted in snow white while the eyebrows were lined in ebony black. The light shades of red around their eyes and their crimson lips made their appearance even more astonishing. They were like two porcelain dolls with beautiful kimono and pretty hair ornaments.
The taller one, Kikuryo, sat on the tatami5 with her shamisen6 while Tamayu took the position to start the Kyo No Shiki7 dance. With her red and golden paper fan, Tamayu began to dance gracefully along with the wonderful melody of the shamisen.
All eyes were focused on Tamayu, she seemed to hypnotize them with every flawless moves of her dance. Nobody in that room knew that Gaara's heart almost stopped beating the moment he saw the unusual colour of Tamayu's eyes.
Those eyes! I recognize those eyes! Could it be..her?
His memories travelled back to his younger years when he met Hinata and how that little girl was able to melt his cold heart. Gaara knew Hinata lived in Konoha and he did try to look for her each time he visited the village but nobody knew about her. It seemed like the girl was vanished into thin air and Gaara slowly losing his hope.
He was lost in his own reverie until he heard the loud sound of clapping hands and Tamayu was bowing to them, silently thanking them for the appreciation of her dance performance.
"That was amazing!" Naruto said, his eyes were gleaming in admiration. "You're very talented, Tamayu-chan!" Tamayu's cheeks were slightly blushing. "Domo arigatou gozaimasu8 ," she replied politely. Sasuke glanced at her, scanning her appearance before he opened his mouth, "The flashy world of geisha," he sneered. "Lots of people see it as nothing but a high class prostitution world."
Sasuke's words made everyone gasped, even Gaara who always had his stoic expression was affected by this harsh comment.
Kikuryo was about to open her mouth when Tamayu calmly replied, "Geisha is an artist, not a courtesan. We sell our talent in art and not our body. Our performance can only be seen in a respectable tea houses or other appropriate yet honourable places. And a bedroom is definitely not one of it."
With a lovely smile on her face, she continued, "But then again, wiseman said, never waste your time trying to explain who you are to people who are commited to misunderstanding you."
"Touché!" Kakashi said in a happy tone, making the group cheering for Tamayu.
Sasuke smirked, he didn't expect that Tamayu could give him such a smart answer. "Beauty with a brain. I admire that because I don't see it a lot," he took a sip of his sake. "Your name is Tamayu, it means excellent jewel. The name suits you perfectly. You will be an excellent jewel for your danna9 someday."
Gaara almost couldn't hide how annoyed he was with Sasuke. Although he wasn't one hundred percent sure that Tamayu was Hinata but something in his mind kept saying that this girl belong to him. And the fact that Sasuke, who never had any interest in girls, giving a compliment to Tamayu made him kind of jealous.
Tsunade was explaining them about a game called Konpira Fune Fune10 before she took the shamisen. The music began while Kikuryo and Tamayu were demonstarting the game.
"Ah! I get it! I get it! I wanna play too!" Kiba said with lots of excitement. "Tamayu-chan, I want to play the game with you!"
Tamayu smiled as she nodded. "Hey, Kiba! You should respect the birthday boy and asked if he wanted to play first," Shino said as he ruffled Naruto's thick, blond hair. "Nah, it's okay if Kiba want to play it first," the young Hokage replied, trying to pinned Shino down.
"Or in this case, I'm the oldest between you boys so I should get the honour to play it first!" Kakashi suddenly said, playfully trying to push Kiba away. "Hey! Get off me, old man!" The two of them were acting like little children, making the ladies laughed softly.
Kikuryo smiled, "Now now, gentlemen. Perhaps I can get the honour to pour some sake to your empty cups? Kakashi-sama and Kiba-sama seems to be a bit thirsty." Seeing a chance coming, Gaara quickly added, "Then it will only be fair if I'm the one who play the game first. Enjoy your drink, guys."
Ignoring the protests from his comrades, Gaara sat in front of Tamayu. The girl slightly bowing her head before they started the game. And as we could tell, Gaara lost the game because instead of watching the movements of Tamayu's hand, he kept staring at her face.
He scratched his head, feeling slightly annoyed as the rest of the group were laughing at his clumsiness. "Alright, Kazekage-sama. You lost, now it's my turn," Naruto said as he walked to them. Before he stood up, Gaara glanced at the girl in front of him and asked her something.
"What is your favorite animal?"
Tamayu blinked her lilac eyes, his question was a bit uncommon. After few seconds, she replied with a small giggle, "Definitely a bunny."
1 Cheers
2 Good evening
3 Apprentice geisha
4 Big sister
5 Traditional Japanese floor
6 Three-stringed Japanese music instrument played with a plectrum called a bachi
7 Four seasons of Kyoto dance
8 Thank you very much
9 A geisha's main patron, a protector. He will pay for many of a geisha's expenses. But he doesn't have exclusive rights when it comes to sexual favors. Although if the geisha choose to have that kind of relationship with him then it's up to her. She will still have other clients to entertain but her danna will come first if he have an event that he wishes to attend with her.
10 Geisha drinking game
Hello everyone ^^ Thank you for reading my story, I hope you like it. I always fond of geisha. I admire them a lot and that's why I want geisha to become the theme of this story.
R & R are very appreciated :) I promise to write the next chapter soon~