Her First Dance/Welcoming the New Moon

Gaara entered the Tea House flanked by his guards and, through the crowds gathered around the Tea House he even spotted several of his council members wandering towards it in a drunken stupor. His brow furrowed in confusion as he continued to follow Kankuro into the grandiose building; this district was known for containing the night life of Suna, why on Earth would Kankuro bring him here to discuss politics?

His thoughts were interrupted as they entered the building and Gaara was stunned not only by the mere size, but by how beautiful it was. Everything seemed to be made of glass, all of varying shades and the Tea House seemed to be lit by starlight; silvery light flittered and sparkled from lamps that lined the corridor they entered. Gaara kept well between his guards, entirely ambivalent to the whispers he heard around him, his eyes steadily fixed on his elder brother.

Eventually, Gaara's gaze ventured to his surroundings and noticed that the majority of people lining the corridors were women. Dressed in colours only found in dreams, they walked as though their footsteps were followed by the sound of twinkling stars. A group of them giggled as Gaara passed and he looked to them; flowers in their hair and the sound of glitter at their feet was actually produced by anklets. In a moment Gaara put it all together and looked around for his brother in alarm; he could not be seen in a place like this!

"Kankuaro-kun!" Gaara heard a honey-dipped voice call for his brother and strained to see around his guard to a larger, elderly woman who appraised Kankuro with great affection. "it has been too long!" The woman, dressed in alarming shades of pink that glittered with gold trim held out a hand to Kankuro which he took with equal cheeriness.

"Megumi-chan!" Kankuro greeted her with a kiss on her hand to which the woman Gaara now knew to be Megumi almost squealed in delight. The elderly woman was followed by a court of at least eight girls, all in equally bright clothing, giving Kankuro a look that made Gaara almost blush with embarrassment. Megumi was about to tell the girls behind her something when she noticed him.

"Kazekage-sama!" She exclaimed and as she bowed, the girls behind her followed suit. "I am honored you have come to see us! Please," she gestured to the room behind her and as though enchanted, the glass doors slowly opened to reveal a circular room, the edged lines with cushions and low tables- leaving the centre of the room free for performance.

Gaara followed Megumi and Kankuro into the grand room, flooded with light from a crystal chandelier the size of which Gaara had never seen. The floor and ceiling both had a mirrored marble pattern, with swirls of gold and flecks of silver to give the illusion of stars. The girls of Megumi's court followed Gaara as though chained to him; he glanced in the mirrors that lined the room and could see them all behind him, giggling and twirling their hair. Slowly, the young Kazekage became frustrated; Kankuro knew he hated places like this, it is completely inappropriate for a man of power to be seen here. Although, as they took their seats, on cushions around a low table, Gaara could see many members of council also in the room and could feel his cheeks burn slightly as they all realized he was there. He would never let Kankuro forget this embarr-

The Kazekage's thoughts were interrupted by the sight of her. As though she were a bride being given away, Megumi-chan escorted in a girl who couldn't be any older than Gaara. She kept her eyes down out of respect for the Kazekage and let herself be led by the older woman. Dark waves of silken hair fell to her hips and Gaara watched, a strange feeling of amazement stirring up inside of him, as her hair dipped and swayed, following the movement of her hips as she walked. The girl wore a light shade of pink and was surrounded by jewels as though bathed in moonlight and as she came closer Gaara strained his eyes to see her face. Fair skin and soft, petal like lips was all he could see for she kept her head down and Gaara, unknowing of what feeling he was experiencing, had a sudden wave of frustration flow through him as he wanted to command her to look up so he could see her eyes.

"Gaara," Kankuro whispered pointedly and the Kazekage's wonderings were disturbed as he looked around to see a girl in yellow offer him sake. He took the drink but only so he would not be interrupted again when trying to see the girl they brought in. Megumi had left the girl sat in the middle of the mirrored room and walked up to Kankuro.

"This is Ai," she beamed proudly, "my last student! It is her first performance." Gaara was no longer listening; his eyes were focused on her face, silently willing her to look up.

There was silence for a few moments before the instruments started up, a string instrument like a harp struck a note and the girl, as though she knew what it would do to him, looked up straight into his eyes.

For a moment Gaara was breathless; they were the colour of sapphire. Deep and haunting they did not look away from him and Gaara found that he could no tear his gaze from her. As though it were only the two of them in the room she lifted her hands and began to twist them into shapes before petal lips parted and she sang. Gaara wasn't entirely sure what she was singing about; his eyes were hypnotised merely by her movement. She moved with such grace and elegance that the leader of men could not take his eyes away from her figure. Her voice spoke out to him for a moment and he caught words of a first love she had been waiting for.

The dancer called Ai stood and walked over to another man in the audience. She sang to him sweet nothings for a while and the drunkard threw a small red bag at her feet, Ai thanked him with a smile and continued to sing.

Megumi gestured to her student and Ai's gaze came upon the Kazekage. He could see her properly now; she looked so young and delicate and Gaara found that his mouth became dry as she swayed her hips towards him. He quickly grabbed the sake and took a sip. Ai came to sit in front of him and although they were only feet apart, there seemed to be a greater distance between them; the realm of the Kazekage and that of a courtesan were miles apart and yet, he was mesmerized by her.

Realising that Gaara was distracted, Kankuro threw a red bag of jewels at her feet, and her eyes thanked him. Now that she was close, Gaara could hear what she was singing:

"Stay a while, handsome stranger, our night has come," she sang to him and Gaara found he was slowly moving forwards towards her. Upon realizing this, the Kazekage straightened up and he could see her smirk at his enchantment. With a longing look of goodbye, Ai stood and finished the dance.

The song ended with her in the middle of the room; the story of her song having a happy ending- the stranger stayed until the end of forever. The men and women clapped as more silk bags were thrown to her feet; she thanked everyone with smiles and then turned to walk away. Women walked to the middle of the room and picked up the bags before returning their attention to their customers.

Feeling came back into Gaara's body and he took a deep breath as though he had stopped breathing for her entire performance. Kankuro leaned over to him.

"What did you think?" Kankuro whispered as inconspicuously as possible.

"She was-"

"Beautiful?"

"No, I think she was rather arrogant." Gaara's eyes narrowed as he saw her figure in the distance.

"What?" Kankuro was shocked; he knew his brother disliked her profession but there was no need to be so harsh.

"She clearly thinks of herself very highly; probably all the attention from these lecherous fools," Gaara gestured to the rest of the audience.

"What's up with you?" Kankuro replied in disbelief, "this was her first performance; the first time anyone has seen her. They're going to ask you soon-"

"Ask what?" Gaara looked around, worried.

"Kazekage-sama?" The girl in yellow who had sat next to him smiled, "would you like to go and see Ai in private?" Kankuro was sure his brother would say no and was about to diffuse the situation but to his surprise, Gaara nodded. The women around them all squealed in delight as Gaara rose to his feet.

"I'll just stay here." Kankuro winked at him as the women lead Gaara to another room. Gaara looked back and saw his brother laughing with the other men- teasing the girls and calling for more sake.

The Kazekage was growing tired and restless in his garb as he was lead to Ai's room. It was stuffy and uncomfortable in his outfit and he was trying to deny that it was mainly due to nerves over meeting this girl. They stopped short outside a room with a huge blue door which seemed to sparkle, but upon closer inspection Gaara could see that the tiny flecks of light were small silver flowers painted onto the ageing wood. The women bowed to him.

"Ai is just through the door." They left. Gaara looked at the door and thought for a moment before impulsively deciding on how to approach the situation. He glanced around to make sure no one was there and took off his customary robes to reveal his civilian clothes beneath. Gaara wanted to see if she would still smirk at him knowing it was the monster that the villagers knew as Gaara. He placed his robes behind a vase containing giant pink flowers, before pressing both hands to the cold wood of the door and pushing it open.

The room was just as beautiful as the rest of the Tea House and Gaara spied the dancer sitting on a four poster bed, her knees drawn up to her chest, still in her dancing clothes. As he approached her Gaara saw her glance up at him. She lowered her gaze quickly.

Ai knew exactly who this boy was; Gaara was notorious, of course, for being the youngest son of the fourth Kazekage, with the demon Shukaku sealed inside of him. Having primarily focused on History, Ai knew a great deal about the Shinobi families of Sunagakure. She knew all there was to know about the boy. What she was not prepared for, however, was how effortlessly handsome he was.

Her skin burned under his gaze; those ocean coloured eyes seemed to penetrate her as she sat, begging for another chance to look at him. Cautiously, she let her eyes travel along the bed and up to him. Gaara walked to her as though a warrior going in to battle; he held himself to his full height and appraised her at the foot of her bed. They looked at each other for a moment and Ai felt butterflies flutter in her stomach at the sight of him; crimson waves of hair hid the kanji symbol on his forehead that Ai had read about and those oceanic eyes looked at her with such intent that her body weakened.

"Why do you look relived?" Gaara's voice was softer than she imagined. Those sapphire eyes glanced up at him and she smiled upon realizing they must be the same age.

"I just," her voice faltered as she took in the sight of him, "I thought I would be seeing the Kazekage. I was worried I would do something wrong." She tried to finish her sentence as quickly as possible because she was growing frustrated that she could not speak when he looked at her.

"Do you know who I am?" He asked and she nodded slowly.

"Gaara," she spoke his name softly, "the shinobi." He was surprised.

"Are you not scared?" Gaara asked and folded his arms before narrowing his eyes on her.

"No." Ai spoke with such confidence that it stirred something inside of him, "because I can see you too are scared." She smirked and Gaara tried hard to hide his nerves. Why did this girl, who he had only known a few moments, make him so nervous?

"You would rather see Gaara than the new Kazekage?" She nodded. "Oh? And what is so bad about the new Kazekage?"

"It's just that…well," her voice dropped to a whisper and she leant forwards, "he must be really old."

For the first time in a long time Gaara gave a small smile and upon seeing it, Ai blushed. Another impulse rippled through him and he moved away from the bed and instead went to sit on a chair that was on the balcony outside. There were two chairs surrounding a low table; Gaara took his seat and looked back for her.

"There's no need to sit there." Gaara called to her. "Come out here. I wish to speak with you."

"To speak with me?" Gaara heard her anklets before her voice, they tinkled with every footstep and, as she came out into the night-time, Gaara watched with childlike fascination as she looked with such love up to the starlit sky. She had wrapped her veil around herself like a shawl and even the as the veil dragged on the floor behind her, it made a melodious jingle.

"I hear you are capable of having a conversation." She blushed at the harshness in his voice and sat opposite him as he gestured. She found him so authoritative and commanding but in a calm and even kind manner. Power seeped from him; Sabaku no Gaara was known for being violent and ill-tempered, able to strike down anyone who he wanted but to her he acted with such a peaceful demeanour, she could not believe it was the person she had read about.

"What is it you wish to talk of?" Ai asked and Gaara had to pull himself together as her dark rimmed eyes appraised him with such innocence.

"I want to ask you a question, see if you can answer it." Ai smiled; she liked riddles. As he talked she began to remove her jewelry and as it came off Gaara could see it was pure gold and the stones were all real. "Why is it all women are vain?" Gaara looked genuinely bemused until he saw the offence on her face and was forced to smile a little at her pout.

"Excuse me?" Ai looked at him and blushed as she realised that someone so handsome must have had their fair share of vain women.

"I know of many women who only go outside at night to show the moon that they are more beautiful than her." Her eyes glanced down and she blushed. He thought he'd stepped over some line but she spoke again:

"With respect, Gaara-sama, we are not vain." As she spoke, Ai began to remove her earrings. Gaara rolled his eyes at her answer and was immediately shocked when she changed her mind and became angry. "Even if we are, so what?"

She placed her foot onto a chair beside her and clicked her tongue impatiently as she struggled to remove her anklet. Ai was struggling to remove the chain around her feet; the clasp was stuck and-

"Ah," she gasped as Gaara slipped off his chair and went to kneel in front of her, he could see her tense up in fear or nerves as he placed his fingertips on the metal around her ankle. The dancer got a hold of herself. "Why should we not be vain or even arrogant?" Ai began and as she did she lifted her foot and, as Gaara was trying to untie her anklet, she tugged her foot towards herself so Gaara was pulled towards her. He looked up at her, "when we have the world at our feet?" Gaara had stopped trying to untie the anklet, as he was enchanted merely by her lack of fear of him, but was pulled ever closer to her as she tugged again. She leant towards him and in a whisper added; "even when we break hearts," she tugged a little harder and he had to move closer, "you have to admit we do it with a certain charm." Tugging again he almost fell into her lap. He could not tear his eyes away from her deep blue ones, their faces were merely inches away, their breathing had hastened and Gaara could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "Why not be vain when our beauty drives you crazy?" She smiled at him but her smile faded quickly as Gaara moved his face close to hers. Her eyes locked on his lips as he took a breath.

"I…" He paused and saw her nervousness grow at what he was about to do, "untied your anklet." He held it up for her to see and dropped it. Ai quickly snatched it from the air and relaxed. She leant back to appraise her opponent; he sat back too and remained calm and controlled. It did not go unnoticed by Gaara that Ai was annoyed. She stood haughtily and walked over to the edge of the balcony. According to her training, she knew she had to show disinterest to entice him and, to her surprise, it seemed to work.

"Listen to me a moment," Gaara walked after her and was at her side in an instant. "Would you like to know the secret of your beauty and charm?" She turned to him and raised a quizzical eyebrow. "It is the weaker of men who behold magic in your mundane actions and honour your silly tantrums with attention." He growled at her, "we, men, make your looks legendary. Where would you be without us-"

"If you think we owe our looks to you then it is clear that your own beauty has you so intoxicated that you can't think straight." She scowled. "Why else would you talk such nonsense?" She turned away and walked off but Gaara was too quick for her, he grabbed her hand and twisted her arm behind her back. "Hey," Ai looked around for someone to help, "that hurts!" She struggled and looked back to him in shock. But her struggling stopped at once for she did not realize how close she was to him. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck. She looked deep into his eyes and was grabbed by the intensity in them that their hold paralysed her.

"Obviously you have missed the point." His voice came out as a low growl. "Never mind. If vanity suits you then that's fine." She rolled her eyes and tried to move away but he pulled her in closer so her back was against his chest. "Just don't forget," Gaara whispered, "that the glow of your face is because of me."

"It's clear now that we have cast a spell on you," she breathed, "with our petal soft skin, lips like buds and hair so dark and fragrant like the night." She glanced at him, waiting for a response. When he said nothing she smiled triumphantly, pulled her arm out of his grip and began to walk away into the room.

"See what I mean? Not all girls have dark hair; you were just thinking of yourself." She turned back to him, fully irritated now. "Anyway, we're the ones who compared your skin to blossoms, lips to buds and your hair to the beauty of the night." He whispered, her eyes were glassy as though seeing him in some different light. His voice still held the growl as before but there was something that made her catch her breath. "Is it not men who respond to your glance as if it's magical? And your words as if they are poetry? It is us who gave you this beauty, don't forget that." Gaara looked at her once more and realised her eyes held defeat. He smiled with triumph and went to walk past her to exit the room. She held up a hand and placed in on his chest.

"Listen to me a moment?" She whispered.

"What is there left to say?"

"You are the ones who call us vain and arrogant, yet beautiful and elegant. So you know what?" He looked confused for a moment and was startled when she looked up at him with a smile. "Don't blame us for your mistakes." Her eyes held daggers and Gaara, frustrated with the feelings she stirred up inside of him, had had enough.

"Here." He held up a bag and threw it at her. She caught it but did not look as if she had even registered his actions; she merely stared at him.

"What is it?"

"Payment, for our time together. Farewell, Ai." Gaara walked up to the door.

"Goodbye, Gaara-sama." He looked at her once more and they stood, caught in a mysterious bond of attraction, confusion and lust, neither knowing what to make of the other. He finally gained the courage to tear his eyes away from her and leave the room.

Upon the door closing Ai sat on the bed, breathing hard, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Slowly she began to laugh; who would have thought Gaara, the jinchuriki, could be so…

Ai's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," Ai cringed under the hope that it was him again. Miko walked in, beaming at her friend who seemed breathless.

"That was really quick…oh, you're still dressed." She looked disappointed and could not understand why Ai was smiling so much.

"Yes, he just wanted to talk." Ai shook her head.

"Well, what was he like?" Miko asked and jumped on the bed, Ai sat next to her, excited to tell her friend about her first encounter.

"He was," Ai searched for the right word, "arrogant!" Miko laughed. "And…hot as sin." The girl's eyes misted over and Miko raised an eyebrow.

"Reall?" Miko couldn't understand how her friend had such a quick change of heart towards her customer.

"I was speechless under his gaze," Ai continued.

"Wow," Miko looked puzzled. "At least you've made a good impression on the Kazekage." Ai turned to her friend sharply. Her look of far-off dreaminess suddenly replaced with one of wide-eyed in shock.

"KAZEKAGE?"