What? Why are you all looking at me like that? Oh because I've updated in just one week? I told you we were going to finish it. So let's bloody finish it!

Are any of my original readers out there? I hope you're doing well. I hope you get to finish this with me.

Love & War

Beneath a glimmering sun, in the waves of heat rising up from the sand, Gaara stood before his army, his crimson hair aflame in the Kazekage stood atop a large rock, his soldiers protected from the formation of large boulders and cliffs that stood between them and the enemy. Gaara looked out to the horizon, trying to ignore the tingle in his fingertips as he felt the enemy was close.

Temari stood by his side, her expression grim as she contemplated what they were about to face. They had no idea of Ai's power. And if it was true that she was a goddess incarnate, would they be fighting against the power of a god? What had defined Ai's training? Who had trained her? All questions the blonde kunoichi was too scared to ask herself, too timid to ask her brother. She looked down to glance at the Tsuchikage, a fierce but small older shinobi who was acting as Gaara's second in command. The two kage were discussing their plans on the battlefield.

"If you see Ai, your orders are to capture her alive," Gaara said to the Tsuchikage, his voice was steady and Temari strained her ears in an attempt to hear any trace of fear or trepidation. "Be cautious," Gaara continued, "we do not know the full extent of her powers."

Temari and the Tsuchikage nodded, the older man rubbing his beard in thought. Gaara turned to Temari, his ocean eyes shadowed with worry, the circles around his eyes darker than she had seen them before.

"I suspect she will rely on long-distance attacks," he mused. "She will want to avoid engaging in physical combat." Gritting his teeth, Gaara's voice was carried away with a coastal breeze; "I'll need to get as close to her as possible." With nods of agreement, the Tsuchikage and gathered nearby shinobi, who were leading smaller teams into battle, jumped down from the rock to inform their subordinates.

Turning back to face the horizon, Gaara tried desperately to rid himself of this strange feeling coursing trough his veins. Usually such a calm and collected fighter before every battle, he was nervous to discover he was nervous. For the first time in his life, he was thrown off before the battle had even begun. A similar feeling was lingering in his sister's thoughts.

As the Allied Shinobi Forces prepared for the impending battle down below, Temari grasped Gaara's arm, forcing him to turn, her expression was grave. The Kazekage looked at his sister quizzically, wondering what could be so important that it couldn't wait until after the fight.

"Gaara," Temari began, her voice low and urgent, "Be careful out there today. Especially when it comes to Ai."

Gaara's brow furrowed, a hint of annoyance flashing in his eyes. "Do you think a courtesan is a match for me in battle?" He scoffed.

Temari sighed, shaking her head. "You know that's not what I meant, Gaara. I'm not worried about Ai's power, at least not in the traditional sense," Temari frowned. "I'm worried about the effect she has on you." Her words were met with silence, the salty sea breeze whipping at their faces as brother and sister appraised one another.

"Not any more." Gaara said simply, folding his arms.

"Ai brings out your worst traits, Gaara," Temari said bluntly, her gaze unwavering. "Your vanity, your arrogance... When you're around her, it's like you forget yourself, forget all the progress you've made." The Kazekage opened his mouth to protest, but Temari held up a hand, cutting him off. "Don't forget the ruckus you caused at the Kage summit."

Gaara's jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing. "Do not take me for some lovestruck child, Temari. I know how to separate past feelings from duty." As he spoke those words, Gaara felt a twinge of doubt in his heart. Did he truly no longer love Ai? Or was he simply burying his feelings, pretending they didn't exist? He couldn't be sure, but he knew he couldn't afford to dwell on it now, not with so much at stake.

Temari placed a hand on her brother's shoulder, her touch comforting and firm. "You are a fine Kazekage." She smiled with pride at her baby brother. "I am by your side, Gaara." He nodded, a new sense of resolve settling over him. He knew that the battle ahead would be the hardest he had ever fought, not just because of Ai's power, but because of the hold she had over him from the moment they met.

But he also knew that he had a duty, to his village, to his comrades, and to himself. He would face Ai with all the strength and courage he possessed, and he would do whatever it took to protect the people he loved, even if it meant letting go of the one he once loved most.

With a final nod to Temari, Gaara turned to face the battlefield, his heart heavy but his resolve unshakable. The time for doubt and hesitation was over.

Miles away, amidst the swirling sands and scorching sun of the beach, Ai stood, her heart pounding in anticipation of the impending battle. The wind whipped at her white chiffon dress, making the gold jewelry adorning her body glimmer as though she were made of sunlight. Her veil was pinned on her shoulder, no longer resting on her head. Instead, she was adorned with a tiara of gold, two golden circles seemed to hover above her head like halos. The tiara served as a symbol of her divine status. The weight of which felt heavier than ever before.

Her blue eyes scanned the horizon, searching for any sign of her first love and his army. She knew they were coming, knew that the man she once loved would stop at nothing to stop her. But beneath the façade of a goddess incarnate, Ai was still human, and the thought of facing Gaara again made her heart ache with a mixture of longing and dread.

She took in a deep breath of sea air and immediately regretted it as the smell and taste brought back memories of years ago, a night she had spent here with Gaara. Shutting her eyes tightly as though to rid her of the vision, Ai clenched her fists and reminded herself of the path she had chosen. This was the only way. Her breathing eased as she found her resolve.

The Kazekage turned as a solider below them shouted something out and pointed into the distance. He squinted through the wisps of sand caught in the wind to see a figure appear on the horizon, walking with a purposeful stride. Gaara's heart seized in his chest as he recognised that dark hair billowing in the wind behind her like a river of ink. The sparkle of gold around her figure, the scent of jasmine that carried on the breeze, the grace of her walk, it was her. It was Ai. Beside her walked the white haired Akatsuki member, Suigetsu, the red clouds on his cloak shifting in the wind, his sword glinting menacingly in the sun.

Whispers rippled through the army as they took in the sight of Renai's incarnate. Many had heard tales of her beauty, but seeing her in person was perplexing to them. She moved with an otherworldly grace, her skin luminous and her eyes alive with an ancient power. Surely something so beautiful so pure and innocent looking, could not be the enemy?

Even the Tsuchikage, a man hardened by years of battle, found himself captivated. "Remarkable," he murmured, stroking his beard. "To think the Kazekage let such a creature slip through his fingers…"

Gaara heard the comment but did not respond. His eyes were locked on Ai, drinking in every detail of her face, every curve of her body. The sun glinted off her golden tiara and jewellery, making her seem to glow with an otherworldly light. Her white dress billowed around her, a stark contrast to the harsh desert landscape that surrounded them. At her hairline, the mark of his love shone brightly.

But it was more than just her physical appearance that captivated him. It was the power that radiated from her, the aura of divinity that seemed to crackle in the air around her. Seeing her like this, in all her celestial glory, was not something he was prepared for.

In that moment, the full weight of their tragic love crashed over him, and he felt a pain so acute it stole his breath.

How did it come to this, Ai?

Ai, too, found herself transfixed by the sight of Gaara. Atop a rock, towering over the Earth as though he ruled the entire thing; he looked every inch the leader. His posture regal and his expression resolute. In his dark red cloak, his usual calm demeanour seemed to cool the air around him.

Ai's attention was captured away from Gaara for a moment as Suigetsu stiffened beside her, his body going rigid. Ai glanced at him, alarmed, but before she could speak, his mouth opened and a voice that was not his own emerged.

"It's time," Kabuto hissed, his words slithering through Suigetsu's lips. Ai shuddered a little as the snake-like man used her friend as a puppet. "Show them the power of a goddess." Ai nodded, steeling herself.

Gaara watched in half curiosity, half awe as Ai raised her hands to the sky and, just as she did years ago, her hands made beautiful, graceful shapes as though she were dancing. And for a moment, he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to worship at her altar once more, to offer himself up as a willing sacrifice.

But then the moment passed, and reality came crashing back down around him as her melodic voice rang out across the battlefield.

"Shine!" She cried.

In an instant, the sun overhead flared with a blinding intensity. Gaara's army cried out, shielding their eyes against the searing light. Some fell to their knees, overwhelmed by the sudden radiance. As though they were witnessing some divine miracle, they cried out in worship.

But Gaara, even with his eyes shut tight, refused to yield. He could not let his men think that this dancer was any more than she was; a childish, selfish, vengeful girl. He raised his hands, his sand erupting from the earth, up around him, swirling faster and faster forming a massive wall that stretched across the sky.

"Sandstorm eclipse!" he roared, his chakra surging.

While Gaara was occupied, Ai took a step back and fell to her knees, her dark her spilling around her. She was breathing heavy as Suigetsu knelt down beside her.

"Is that how it feels to use so much chakra?" Ai gasped, "I can't feel my fingers," the blue eyed dancer breathed. Her comrade put a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled, his razor-sharp teeth glinting in the blinding light.

"You'll get used to it," he said before his face became serious, "it's time." Ai nodded and unfurled a summoning tag onto the sand before her.

Within moments, Gaara's sand blotted out the sun, plunging the battlefield into an eerie twilight. Slowly, the soldiers began to regain their vision, blinking away the spots that danced before their eyes.

As the darkness receded, Gaara's eyes narrowed on where Ai was last seen. Temari recovered quickly and swallowed hard as a shudder of horror and disbelief ran up her spine.

"Are those…" she could barely finish her sentence, "coffins?" Gaara's eyes swept the scene but he could not locate Ai, he could sense her further away; Suigetsu must have removed her from the battlefield. "Ai," Temari barely breathed, her eyes wide with fear at the lengths the girl was willing to go, "what have you done?"

"Be on guard!" Gaara cried, ignoring his sister's fear, not letting her think for a moment that they shared the same thoughts.

The coffin doors fell one by one onto the sand, the sound of their impact on the ground booming, echoing eerily in the silence before battle. As the dust settled on the desert battlefield, four figures emerged from the coffins summoned by Ai's forbidden jutsu. The reanimated Kage, once leaders of their respective villages, now stood as mere pawns in her game.

Mū, the Second Tsuchikage, his bandaged visage and eerie form hinting at the fearsome Kekkei Tōta he wielded in life looked around himself uncertainly. Beside him, the Third Raikage, a mountain of a man with rippling muscles and an aura of indomitable strength, stretched as though emerging from a deep sleep. The Second Mizukage, a figure shrouded in mystery, emerged from his coffin, his eyes gleaming with a hint of madness.

Gaara felt Temari tense up beside him and let out a gasp of utter disbelief as their father stepped out, into the sunlight. His face a mask of stoic determination, his gold dust swirling menacingly around him, why would Ai orchestrate a horrific, bittersweet reunion between father and son on the battlefield?

These legendary shinobi, each a titan in their own right, now stood united under the thrall of Ai's jutsu, their wills bent to her divine command, ready to unleash chaos upon the desert sands.

"How could she?" Temari's hand was already grasping onto her fan tightly, her knuckles white with anger.

"Ai summoned them but we cannot be sure if she is controlling them," Gaara mused, the Tsuchikge nodded.

"We must capture her and get to the bottom of that…" The Tsuchikage's voice trailed away but Gaara was not listening as his gaze settled on his father, hate gently seeping into his veins. Rasa, stepped forward, looking up as Gaara, floating on a cloud of sand, came closer. His sand hovered in the air, the formidable Tsuchikage floating beside him. Rasa's face was a mask of sorrow and regret. For a long moment, father and son simply stared at each other, the weight of their shared history hanging heavy between them.

"Gaara," Rasa said at last, his voice soft. "Is it true? Have you really changed so much?"

Gaara swallowed hard, his throat tight with emotion. "I have, Father," he said, his voice steady despite the turmoil raging in his heart. "I'm not the same person I was before. I am Kazekage," he ignored his father's gasp. "I've learned to trust, to care for others. I've made friends, formed bonds. I even…" He trailed off, his gaze drifting to find Ai, standing beside Suigetsu on a nearby cliff. Ai stood proudly, her eyes locked on his.

Rasa followed his son's gaze, his expression unreadable. "Renai's incarnate," he murmured, more to himself than to Gaara. "I never would have believed it possible. That someone like her could love someone like…"

"Someone like me," Gaara finished, his voice hard. "A monster, a demon. That's what you made me, Father. That's the legacy you left me with."

"Father of the year, over here," the Mizukage murmured With a smirk.

The third Raikage looked on at their shinobi descendants. "Your son seems a fine shinobi, Kazekage."

Rasa flinched as if struck, his eyes filling with pain. "Gaara, I…"

"No," Gaara interrupted, his hand clenching into a fist at his side. "Do you have any idea what it was like? Growing up alone, hated and feared by everyone around me?" A tear streamed down Gaara's face. "Do you know how many nights I cried myself to sleep, wondering what I had done to deserve such a fate? I was a child and you tried to kill me!"

"Father of the century," the Mizukage whispered and looked awkwardly around himself.

Tears spilled down Rasa's cheeks, his composure cracking under the weight of his son's words. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice choked with emotion. "I'm sorry, Gaara. I thought I was doing what was best for the village, for our family. But I was wrong. I was so very wrong."

Gaara closed his eyes, trying to steady the rapid beating of his heart. He had waited so long to hear those words, to have his father acknowledge the pain he had caused.

Rasa stepped forward, his hand reaching out into the air as if to touch Gaara's face. "I'm proud of you, Gaara," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I know I have no right to be, not after everything I've done. But seeing the man you've become, the leader you are… it's more than I ever could have hoped for." Rasa closed his eyes and admitted one final truth: "your mother was right to love you!"

Gaara felt his throat tighten, tears stinging the backs of his eyes. "Mother loved me?" He whispered.

Rasa nodded, a sad smile crossing his face. "But you endured, under pain and hate" he said softly. "And that's what makes it all the more remarkable. You've found your own path, your own strength. You've become the Kazekage that Suna deserves."

Gaara bowed his head, the weight of his father's words settling over him like a mantle. He had spent so long chasing his father's approval, his acknowledgement. He spent so many years wondering after his mother, wondering why he had to hurt her, why he was so unworthy of her love? And now, in this moment, he realised that he no longer needed his father's approval. He no longer needed to ask after his mother. He had found his own worth, his own purpose.

"Thank you, Father," he said, his voice steady. "For what it's worth, I forgive you. Not for your sake, but for mine. I won't let the past define me any longer."

Rasa's eyes shone with unshed tears, a look of profound gratitude crossing his face. "Now I understand what she said when she reanimated me." Gaara wiped his face on his sleeve.

"What," he glanced over to Ai once more, "what did she say?"

"She said she was doing it for your sake Gaara," the young Kazekage's heart broke as he heard this. For his sake? So Gaara could speak with his father? Could learn his mother loved him? Why would Ai do that? Why would the enemy offer him love and healing? "Suna is lucky to have my son," Rasa said, his voice soft. "I know you'll continue to lead them well, to protect them with all the strength and courage you possess."

Gaara nodded, his resolve hardening, trying to block out what he had just learnt about Ai; he could not afford to be distracted by her games. He would end this war, this cycle of pain and suffering. Before Gaara could respond, the other Kage began to attack, their bodies puppeted by Kabuto's vile jutsu. Gaara leapt into action, his sand shield absorbing blow after blow.

Beside him, the Tsuchikage unleashed a barrage of earth-style ninjutsu, his face set in grim determination. Together, the two Kage fought with a synchronicity born of desperation, their attacks complementing each other in a deadly dance.

As the battle raged on, Ai watched from a distance, her heart torn. What had Rasa said to his son? What had passed between them? She knew this was all part of the divine plan, knew that she had to play her role, but something inside of her trembled in fear at the sight of Gaara, tearing through the air on his sand, being cut and bruised and damaged by war. Her mind drifted back to their first meeting, to the spark of connection that had ignited between them in the Tea House. She had been so young then, so naive. She had thought their love could overcome any obstacle, could weather any storm. But now, as she watched the man she loved fighting for his life, she realised the true cost of that love.

Gaara, too, found his thoughts wandering even as he fought. Each time he struck down one of the reanimated Kage, he felt a piece of his heart break. These were his predecessors, his mentors. And now, because of his love for Ai, he was forced to confront them as enemies. The weight of his choices, of the path he had set them both upon, seemed to grow heavier with every passing moment.

"Why are you hesitating?" Ai jumped as Kabuto's voice hissed in her ear, making her jump. She turned to see Suigetsu's speaking with the fallen ninja's voice,Kabuto's presence like a malevolent shadow. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? To bring the shinobi world to its knees?"

Ai swallowed hard, her fists clenching at her sides. All this pain, even Gaara's harsh and hate-filled childhood, was because of the world ninja had created. It tore everyone apart, destroyed families and cost the world so much love. The Kazekage was part of something so evil and vengeful and the idiot could not even see it! She turned back to the battle just in time to see Gaara and the Tsuchikage land the final blows on the reanimated Kage, sealing them in tombs. The coffins shattered, crumbling to dust.

The battlefield was a chaos of sand and smoke, the cries of the wounded and the clashing of weapons filling the air. Amidst the tumult, two figures stood facing each other, their eyes locked in a silent communication that spoke volumes.

Gaara stood panting, his eyes scanning the battlefield as Ai walked towards him. Ai, her chiffon dress billowing in the wind, her hair a tangled mess of dark curls, looked at Gaara with a mixture of longing and regret. The Kazekage, his red hair matted with sweat and blood, his eyes ringed with dark circles of exhaustion, stared back at her, his expression unreadable.

"Is this what you wanted?" Gaara called out, his voice raw with anger and pain. "To align yourself with those who would desecrate the dead and slaughter the innocent?"

Ai, her chiffon dress stained with blood and sand, her eyes cold and unyielding, met his gaze without flinching. "The shinobi world deserves a reckoning," she replied, her eyes flashing. "You've all been so blind to your own hypocrisy, so content to let the cycle of violence continue unchecked."

Gaara shook his head, his fists clenching at his sides. "You're wrong, Ai. The genjutsu they promise is nothing but a lie, a false paradise that robs people of their free will, their humanity. Real peace, real love...it comes from the bonds we forge with one another, the struggles we endure together. I m fighting for what is right."

Ai laughed, a harsh and bitter sound that echoed across the battlefield. "Love?" she spat, her eyes flashing with anger. "What do you know of love, Sabaku noGaara? Where was your love when I needed you most? Where was your courage when our future hung in the balance?"

Gaara flinched as if struck, his eyes widening in shock. "Ai-"

"And now you've found your way?" Ai interrupted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Now you will fight for what is right? On the eve of your marriage to a princess, with the weight of your duties and your village bearing down upon you...now you've found the courage to fight for what you believe in?"

Gaara flinched as if she had struck him. The memory of that day, of his own inaction, still haunted him. He had let her down when she needed him most, had failed to stand up for their love. And now, the consequences of that failure threatened to destroy them both. "Ai," he whispered, taking a step towards her, she was barely 10 meters away. "If I could go back…"

"It's too late," Ai said, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "The time for words is over."

Gaara's expression hardened, his jaw clenching. "Then you leave me no choice," he said, his sand beginning to swirl around him once more. "I can't let you continue down this path, Ai. I won't."

Ai smiled, the expression tinged with a profound sadness. She walked towards him, heedless of the sand that whipped at her skin, until she was close enough to touch him. It was he first time in so long that they were close to one another. Something in Gaara's chest pained as he realised this exactly where they had stood all those years ago. On this beach, beside the ocean, in what felt like another life.

"You have no choice, Gaara. You and your fellow shinobi will face the consequences of your actions, of the world you have created through your violence and your cowardice. I have chosen my side, and I will see it through to the end, no matter the cost."

Gaara's eyes hardened, his resolve solidifying like the sand that swirled around him. "Then you leave me no choice, Ai. If you stand against us...then I will stop you, by any means necessary."

"Then kill me." Gaara looked up in stunned silence, his eyes wide as his first love searched his face with her beautiful blue eyes. "End it now, Gaara," Ai murmured, drinking in his beautiful face, the mark of her name half-hidden on his forehead beneath his hair, plastered to his skin with sweat and blood. He stared at her a long while, wondering where that dancing moonbeam had gone? But Ai knew too well how to play with him, she put her hands on his chest and whispered up to him what she had said years ago: "Put your hands on me, Gaara." She was still master of the young Kazekage's blood lust.

Something shook with fierce, relentless appetite, inside of Gaara, something he had not had to control in years. His hand rose, slowly, lazily, until his fingers wrapped around her throat. Ai's pulse fluttered beneath his touch, her skin warm and soft. He could feel the energy thrumming through her, the divine power of the goddess she embodied.

It would be so easy, he thought. To squeeze, to let his sand do the rest. To end this madness, this pain, once and for all. To see Ai, one last time, be tortured completely by his as he looked into her eyes, he saw the girl he had fallen in love with. With a choked sob, Gaara let his hand fall away from her throat. Instead, he cupped the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her hair as he pulled her to him. Their lips met in a kiss that was equal parts desperation and surrender.

From a nearby dune, Temari watched the scene unfold, her eyes wide disbelief. She barely noticed Naruto, practically aflame with the power of his tailed beast, touch down beside her before following her gaze and letting his mouth hang open in shock.

"Uh, Temari?" Naruto asked, his voice uncertain. "Was that…was that part of the plan?"

Temari let out a long-suffering sigh, her head falling into her hands. "No, Naruto," she muttered, her voice muffled. "That was definitely not part of the plan."

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