Overdose/ Tie Me to Dusk

There was something in the dead silence of the night that seemed ominous to her. As Ai walked into the Kazekage's quarters, she noticed the candles flicker in fear upon hearing the distant shouts of shinobi. Even Ai could feel it, in her bones, licking around her legs as though trying to catch her; Shukaku's intent flooded the palace with eerie malcontent. The beast was in the shadows, clawing at the walls to get to blood, seeping itself out of Gaara's soul.

As Ai approached the corridor that lead to Gaara's room, she began to hear a rumble, no, a buzzing, a humming in the air, deep and endless, it was a sound she had heard before and it struck a note of fear in her.

The hall outside the Kazekage's room was in chaos; shinobi were running around in a frenzied attempt to get things under control. There were a group of ninja stood at the entrance to the Kazekage's bedroom, Kankuro included, all looked as though they were hesitating before going in to battle. Baki, Kankuro, and three other palace guards seemed to be waiting to enter Gaara's room.

The courtesan walked down the corridor with such confidence that no one dared ask her what she was doing there. Heads turned as men caught sight of those red lips, the thin white gown, those crystal blue eyes, before they remembered where they were and returned to their impending tasks. Ninja ran past her, shouting to one another for new sealing scrolls, cursing themselves for not acting sooner. Ai glided through the mess, to make her way to Gaara's bedroom door. That buzzing she heard earlier was getting louder. It was a familiar and foreboding noise. Where had she heard it before?

"Ai!" Kankuro exclaimed upon seeing the dancer come and stand next to him. "What are you doing here?" But Ai was not listening, she was staring, wide-eyed, at the bizarre and terrifying scene before her.

The Kazekage's figure was barely visible through a wall of spinning sand. The source of the humming heard in the corridor was the sand whipping through the air at such a rapid pace. It was also what was preventing Kankuro and the other ninja from entering the room to help the Kazekage. Clumps of sand were whizzing around the bedroom, around Gaara's figure, marring any view of him. The Kazekage looked like a washed out silhouette, stood, frighteningly silent and unmoving, by his dresser. Gaara's ultimate defence was preventing him from being saved, a bittersweet irony that left Ai's mind racing; what to do, what to do?

"What happened?" She asked Kankuro who frowned as he saw Ai reach across him and remove, from a pile of equipment placed there by other sand shinobi, a kunai. Did she have a plan?

"Gaara lost control. I don't know what- what are you doing?!" Kankuro shouted at her as Ai took the kunai in her right hand and cut the tip of her ring finger on her left hand. Blood trickled like a firework from her skin and Ai held out her bloodied finger to the sand. "Are you mad?" Kankuro grabbed her arm and held her back.

"No." Ai withdrew her arm from his grip and looked at him with such determination that Kankuro did not stop her when she held out her hand to the sand again. Almost as though the glittering mass had a life of its own, it seemed to sense her presence and began to part, making an entrance for her. Sand seemed to rush towards her arm before sensing something and missing the girl by inches. Kankuro and Baki looked on in confusion; why was Shukaku letting Ai through? She lowered her arm as though satisfied with her hypothesis. "I need to borrow some chakra," Ai exclaimed suddenly and Kankuro looked startled for a moment before nodding; she seemed to know what she was doing.

"Jin," he called and another Shinobi came to stand with Ai and Kankuro upon hearing his name. He glanced at Ai in confusion before remembering himself and standing to attention in front of the puppet master.

"Yes, Captain?"

"Let Ai borrow some chakra."

"Of course," Jin held out his hand for Ai to perform a medical ninjutsu but before he even had time to register what was was going on, Ai whispered her thanks and swiped her bleeding fingertip across his forehead. "Wha-?!" Ai put her hand up to his forehead.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (summoning jutsu)," Ai whispered and in seconds kanji began to unfurl from beneath her hand and scatter themselves across Jin's skin in the familiar summoning circle that the shinobi recognised. But before anyone could figure out what was happening, Jin collapsed.

Shinobi ran forward in alarm and helped to hold him up, as he stirred on the brink of consciousness. "He will be fine in a few hours, just let him rest." The dancer murmured but had already turned away. The ninja were all too shocked to say or do much else, many of them helped to escort Jin to the sickbay but Kankuro and Baki watched the dancer with a keen eye. Before Jin collapsed, Ai had summoned a sealing scroll and snatched it as it appeared in the air before his forehead. She then began to unfasten the scroll.

Kankuro's eyes narrowed on the sealing scroll in her hands and he raised an eyebrow; she had performed a jutsu without weaving a single sign. The boy with the painted face did not know whether he should be shocked or impressed.

Beside Kankuro stood his teacher, Baki, who shook his head as though he could not comprehend what was happening. Her jutsu and the scroll were written in jōdai nihongo (old Japanese). Being older and wiser, the ninja knew that there were only a few people left who can read or write it. Another thought occurred to him as he watched her: only a had full of other beings can understand the text, namely-

"Shukaku!" Ai shouted through the sand.

Biju. This girl could communicate with tailed beasts in a language no one could understand?

Both Baki and Kankuro watched in awe as the courtesan made the spinning wall of sand part like curtains to form an opening through which she could walk.

"Ai!" Kankuro shouted in alarm but, before Ai stepped through, she cocked her head back to him.

"Shukaku won't hurt me."

"How can you be so sure?" Baki asked.

"He wants me alive." Those blue eyes flashed before the girl mistaken for moonbeams, walked toward death.

Ai entered the room with a quiet determination; she must not show Shukaku any trace of fear or he would snuff her out in the breath of his sigh. She walked into darkness, the room was eerily quiet considering the sound the sand made to the outside world. But in here, in this bubble he created, Gaara was God. Controller of sound, sand and Ai herself; she found herself unmovable at the sight of him.

Gaara was stood against the wall opposite his bed, his head tilted upwards, brow dripping with sweat from the effort it was taking to calm the blood lust. It was his breathing that caught her attention. Shuddering and deep, as though trying to control himself, as though he were mere moments away from going completely insane from the want, from the ache that was burning in his blood. He stood in the moonlight, in his dark trousers, thrashing his head this way and that, his nails scraping the wall behind him, running through his hair and tugging at it as he closed his eyes and faced the ceiling. His torso, his beautifully defined physique, trembling and clenching in the moonlight.

The courtesan stood, transfixed. Was she breathing? Was she even there? It was hard to tell. Without warning, Gaara flung his head forwards, pulled roughly at his crimson locks and cried out, alerting Ai to her own existence. The girl jumped and the movement was noticed by the demon boy. His hands shaking, his lip quivering, his breathing tiring, Gaara lowered his hands, stood straight and looked directly at her.

"Ai?"

She took a breath.

It was insane that something inside of her should shake and vibrate with such intensity, upon hearing Gaara say her name like he wanted her. The two teenagers caught each other in what felt was a moment of silence. The sand around them had halted and instead formed a wall between them and the shinobi outside.

Ai stood, in a white robe so thin Gaara could make out every inch of her curves, every mouthwatering, lick-able, fuck-able part of her. He gritted his teeth, keeping Shukaku at bay for just a few moments longer so he could take in her face. Her eyes were dancing, as though wanting to drink in every part of him. Her lips, he had to close his eyes, Gods, why did she have to have red lips? They were glistening, they were shimmering for him, ready for her to get on her knees and open her mouth-

"Aaaah!" Gaara groaned and put a hand up to cover his right eye, as though something were paining in his head.

Ai had come to rescue him but she had no recollection of her task. That lustful, reckless smile he had, Gaara, not Shukaku, drove her mad. It pained her, it frustrated her, it made her want to scream, push him up against the wall and feel his bare skin on hers. The kunai was slipping from her grip, her knees were going weak, for Gaara was undoubtedly the most handsome man she had ever known. Those dark rimmed opal eyes grabbed a hold of her and kept her prisoner. He was her escape, Gaara controlled this world she stepped into. And she seemed to have stepped straight into him.

"AAAAH!" Gaara yelled and bent forwards, both hands back in his hair, screaming as though in agony. The sight of him in pain alerted the girl. Ai remembered herself and grasped the kunai and sealing scroll in her right hand. She held her left hand, her bloodied ring finger, out to him.

"Gaara," She whispered. Gaara's arms dropped to his side as the pain left him, he stood, almost lazily, upright and looked at her. Shukaku was quieting, relaxing, upon hearing her presence, he allowed Gaara a moment of freedom from the demon's torture. The Kazekage squinted in the darkness to see, as Ai walked towards him, her hand become illuminated by the moonlight. His eyes narrowed on her ring finger.

"What…?" Gaara asked uncertainly, barely finishing his sentence, tired from the effort it took to fight his biju.

"Boshu (offering)," Ai whispered in response and smiled a little as she saw Gaara shudder. She was offering him her blood. He smirked and as she approached she kept a close eye on his movement for any indication that Shukaku might attack. But the one tails seemed to be calm as she came towards him.

Gaara did not notice Ai drop the kunai or sealing scroll from which she had removed two tags. His eyes were fixated with her fingertip, it was wet and warm with the smallest cut and trickle of blood. Like honey dripping over the rim of a jar, waiting to be licked, waiting for someone who was in need of something sticky and sweet. And the Kazekage was entirely in need of her. That boy looked at her as though she stood for everything he had ever wanted; his eyes were tired, full of adoration and hunger, beckoning Love into his arms.

The warrior opened his mouth gently as she approached, with a look that gave Ai a strange urge to open her mouth and kiss him instead. But the courtesan stayed true to her task and Gaara reached out his hand to grasp hers, before tugging her closer and taking her finger into his mouth. Gaara lapped at her finger greedily, almost purring. Ai took the opportunity, while he was distracted to, with her free hand, take one of his hands an place it above him, against the wall, before sticking it in place with one of the sealing tags- binding his wrist to the wall with the paper. She pushed into him as she did it so his back hit the wall and when it did he became aware of the trick she had played and looked up to his wrist in alarm. The Kazekage's eyes narrowed and Shukaku's screeching began as he saw the seal had him pinned to the wall. He still had one hand free, Gaara could snap that wretched moonbeam like a twig-

"Ah," Gaara gasped softly into her mouth as Ai pushed up against him and kissed him deeply. He barely had moments to register what was happening; his free hand snaked around her waist and pulled her closer. He begged Ai to open her mouth a little do he could taste her, like he had been longing to since he sent her away. But Ai had planned ahead and with him once more distracted, she took the other sealing tag and placed it on his neck. "AH!" Gaara pushed Ai away and she fell out of his embrace, onto the floor. The kunai fell from her hand and slid along the floor, away from her.

Shukaku cried out in pain as the tag seemed to dissolve into Gaara's skin. The boy himself whined and screamed as though in agony as he used his free hand to cradle his head which felt as though it were about to explode. Shukaku was clawing at his insides, desperately trying not to be pushed back into the darkness but the seal was too strong. The kanji from the paper seemed to burn into his skin and dissolve. In an instant, the demon was gone.

The young Kazekage stood, one hand above his head, bound to the wall, his other covering his right eye as he stood hunched, trying to regain his breath. His dark red hair fell, plastered to his brow from the sweat he had worked up. His breathing was heavy, his back heaving until, finally, he stood upright and licked his lips at her.

They stared at each other; how would he react to her rescue? Gaara looked the girl up and down before sighing as though defeated.

"You wrote these seals?" He asked as though he already knew the answer. Ai nodded. "Come to me, Ai." Gaara asked her so sweetly and held his free arm out to welcome her. The dancer smiled and was about to oblige when the wall of sand between the Kazekage's room and the outside world disappeared, unveiling the goings on in his room. Ai paused as the sand fell, not sure of what instructions Gaara would give her when in sight of his council.

"Gaara, you alright?" She heard Kankuro call. The courtesan and Kazekage did not look away from each other. Both were trying to figure the other one out. Wondering what move to make, who would go first, where they would place each other.

"Yes," Gaara called back into the darkness beyond the room. No shinobi would enter the Kazekage's room without being called upon, so Kankuro waited to hear from the girl. "Ai is going to show me how she wrote the seals," he continued, "everything is fine. Please go to bed." Outside the room, Kankuro and Baki exchanged a look.

"Very well, Kazekage," Baki called and cleared the hallway outside the room. A small breeze flew through the room and shut the Kazekage's door. Leaving Ai and Gaara waiting for one another in the darkness. Their eyes never left each other.

"Come to me, Ai." Gaara asked her again and, with a small smirk, the girl took a step into his embrace. She was expecting him to be rough, to pull and tug at her as he usually did but the Kazekage simply held her and rested his head on her shoulder. He was tired and did not have the strength to keep his guard up around her. Ai was becoming too familiar to him; she was becoming his friend.

That wretched moonbeam fit into his embrace well and placed her hands up upon his bare chest, feeling how broad, how stiff, how heroic his figure was. Ai was denying to herself that she were a little disappointed in receiving only a hug but smiled nonetheless as he lifted his head from her shoulder and kissed her cheek. "Remove the seal." He whispered suddenly and Ai moved back a little and smirked before glancing up to his hand. Gaara had his hands on her hips and moved in to kiss her as she leant back. But then he noticed her smile. "What's funny?" He asked with no trace of amusement but something inside of him adored her smile. Ai took a step away from him, pushing him away with one hand.

"Do I have the great Kazekage at my mercy?" Her smile broadened and she giggled as Gaara tried to move towards her but was constrained to the wall. He looked back at his hand and growled before glancing back to Ai who tiled her head at him. "Has Sabuko no Gaara been so easily defeated?" The courtesan said in her song-like voice, her blue eyes sparkled up at him in the moonlight.

"You think a paper seal is going to contain me?" The ninja growled at her, standing to his full height, towering above her. But Ai did not cower; her love of mischief, of teasing him, kept a smirk on her face.

"I wrote it; it is unbreakable to those who do not know the dead language." As she spoke, her smile faded for she felt something winding around her middle. She gasped in alarm for when she looked to her midriff, she saw, snaking its way around her, was sand. "Ah!" Ai gasped as the sand that captured her pulled her down onto her knees in front of its master. Gaara bent down to her so he were mere inches from her face.

"I'm bigger than you, Ai." He whispered, enjoying the smirk fading from her face, to be replaced by a look of fear. Her eyes darting from his gaze to his lips and back again. Gaara was so intense in the way he appraised her; he did not need the sand to bring Ai to her knees for him. "Let me out of this." He whispered. Ai had a few moments of trying to wriggle free of the sand before deciding she had no choice. Begrudgingly, Ai lifted her right hand and formed half of the tiger hand sign.

"Kai (release)." She whispered and dropped her hand and gaze in defeat as the seal pinning Gaara to the wall seemed to vanish. The Kazekage stood straight and as his hand fell from the wall, he rubbed his wrist. "Now let me free," Ai protested as Gaara stood there, idly massaging his hand. He glanced down to her and shrugged before walking off, leaving an open-mouthed Ai staring after him.

"Let me free." Ai said, louder, indignantly as though she could not believe she had to ask twice.

"Why?" Gaara asked nonchalantly, rubbing his wrist, looking around his room for his shirt.

"What do you mean why?" The girl cried but was immediately silenced as Gaara turned back to her, half in the shadows and leant against his desk.

"Why not keep you here, like this?" The Kazekage bowed his head a little but kept his glistening eyes on Ai. He stood lazily and walked over to her, all previous thoughts of finding his clothing forgotten; a chance to see that look on her face again, was too hard to resist. The boy with eyes that arrested so many women, walked over to the girl he thought was so deliciously delicate, and stood in front of her.

Ai could not help herself, she had to drink in every inch of him; her eyes skimmed his face, his neck, his collar, his chest….they descended his frame as though hypnotised and did not stop at his belt buckle. The dancer had a fleeting fantasy about somehow undoing his belt with her teeth. Ai jumped as Gaara bent down to her, his gaze locking onto hers. The Kazekage put his hand beneath her chin, tilted her beautiful face towards him and ran his thumb down her lips, opening her mouth as he dragged her bottom lip downwards. Gaara looked at her as though fascinated.

"Why not keep you chained to me?" He whispered as though he were seriously considering the idea, looking into her eyes for any trace that she may say yes. Ai's chest was rising and falling rapidly, that boy was sending shivers down her spine, all over her, waking her up. "Like the moon is bound to the darkness; why not tie you to dusk and make the moon whole, every night?" Her eyes were caught on his lips. She gulped; speech left her as Gaara nodded, content with his plan, his thumb still brushing her bottom lip. "Would you happily sacrifice your freedom to me, Ai?" Yes.

Ai scoffed. "Your princely upbringing has made you a fool," she protested, that fire, that mischief, flooding her eyes and she tilted her chin at him as though daring him to say more. "As though you could steal me from the nigh-" She was stopped short as Gaara got onto his knees and kissed her softly.

Her eyes widened in surprise for a moment before she smiled into his kiss and closed her eyes. As she melted into him, Gaara wrapped his arms around her and brought Ai into his embrace. Everything about him was dark, his crimson hair, those rims around his eyes, the way he looked at her, the lust he had for her. Dark. But so inviting and Ai wanted nothing more to get lost inside that darkness with him. To be tied to him.

The Kazekage remained on his knees, a strong pillar of resilience, letting only his lips and tongue move into her. As soon as the sand let her go, Ai poured herself over him like water, like water thirsting for the ocean, she opened her mouth for him and gasped in delight as Gaara licked her tongue. A spark of electricity passed between them as Gaara put both his hand on either side of her face and kissed her deeply.

The smell of her skin, the feel of it, soft and warm, her fragrance drifting up in the heat between them, drove him mad. To Gaara, insanity was nothing new, desire was nothing new but there was something, something in this girl that brought him close to an overdose.

Why is it, beyond all encumbrances, we always end up on our knees for each other? Why can't I shake you? My faith, my sin, my addiction, my release; why do they all answer to your name? Why has everything become you?

Ai's head hit the soft carpet of Gaara's bedroom as he laid her down on to the floor. The Kazekage was so calm and gentle with her; she looked up at him anxiously for she could not rid herself of the image of Gaara with that blood-thirsty look, lapping at her finger as though eager to drink her. But that blood-thirsty boy looked down to her with such warm, confident affection, that it made her beating heart slow its pace.

His hair ruffled in the night breeze and the moonlight fell around him like the light of a halo. Gaara reached down and brushed her cheek with his knuckles as Ai looked up, her eyes misted over with the intoxication of lust; what was that look he was giving her? She had never seen it before. The boy leant down to her and kissed her cheek softly. His cool and calm demeanour frightened her; the dancer grasped the white silk beneath her, as though she needed to hold on to the Earth for fear of being swept away by him. Gaara paused a mere inch from her lips and took a breath.

What has become of me?

Gaara leant in a little further and kissed her softly, pushing his full lips against hers. As he did, he moved between her legs and let his hips fall gently into her. Ai could not help but smile into their kiss as she felt how hard he was already and as she did, she saw Gaara smirk a little. She released the white silk from her grasp and placed both her hands on either side of his face. They looked into each other's eyes. Ai let her gaze search his face. Wondering if she should speak, wondering if he would listen. What was he thinking that he could not tell her? What thoughts was this boy so lost in?

The Kazekage stared back at the girl with the memories of every hurtful moment he had ever spent trying to tell anyone he loved them. How could he tell her how he felt? Even he did not understand it.

Maybe he could show her.

I was Gaara. Once. Before you.

Now, your blood beats through my aching heart.

I was sleeping until woken by the taste of you.

I am no longer the man I was.

What has become of me?

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