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Matsuri looked down at the tickets which would allow her entrance into the bunraku theater.
Every girl in Suna wished they might one day see a performance of bunraku by the Kazekage family line. Not only did their family perform at the largest of the theaters in Suna, but their family was one of the major noble families within Suna. Unlike other bunraku tropes where one might wait for years for the position of controlling the head, the Kazekage family line was definitely favored supposedly because of the members being naturally gifted.
“The perfect marriage material,” many in Suna said, helping feed the fervor around the members of that particular banraku group. In fact, this generation introduced two more members from the head family who took their presence on the stage.
While the older of the two brothers hid his facial features behind makeup, rumor held his looks didn’t even compare to that of Gaara, whose facial features and coloring were quite similar to that of his father, Rasa – who much to the dismay of quite a few females at the time – married a girl nobody expected, one which supposedly went against an arranged marriage for the young noble.
Of course, Rasa was considered once again a marriage candidate given the fact he was now a widower, yet Matsuri’s sights were definitely set on Gaara, who was closer to her in age, yet if his father were a given, Gaara would remain quite handsome when he got to his father’s age, making her heart flutter even more at the thought of having the chance of being invited to one of those teas hosted every now in then in hopes of introducing their young men to what was considered suitable marriage candidates; apparently, this became even more of an issue given the fact Rasa did in fact not follow through with the plans for him.
Of course, the chances of her getting invited were just as slim as her ever ending up going to one of the performances; her parents felt her time was better spent on studying due to her abysmal grades. As such, when her mother pushed forth the tickets for the performance Matsuri found herself quite surprised. “I thought…”
“Haven’t you brought your grades up?” Her mother smiled at her, almost as if hiding something.
“Well, yes.” Except… “They didn’t come up that much. What’s really going on?”
“Well, we have an exchange student coming to live with us. One from Iwa.”
“Oh.” Matsuri let out a sigh, knowing full well the Iwa village was definitely at odds with the Suna village; they weren’t considered an ally like Konoha was. “Please tell me they aren’t going to the performance as well?”
“Well…”
“I see.” Matsuri took a deep breath, feeling rather disappointed in this knowledge. “I’ll head to my room then.”
“But Matsuri…” As she headed towards her room, her mother called out, “Kurotsuchi will actually be here soon.
Matsuri let out a sigh, heading up to her bedroom. She sat down on the bed, looking at the posters for some of the performances Gaara was in that she missed along with the magazine on her dresser which lay open so she might ogle at his handsome face. Walking over, she flipped the magazine closed, wondering what resulted in her having such luck. She flopped down into her chair, wishing her best friend Sari would be going with her, particularly since Sari would be quite jealous of the fact she was getting to go – although…
Sari already managed to find herself at a few of the productions already.
It wasn’t long after this that her mother called out to her, letting her know that the girl from Iwa arrived and that she should show her hang out with her in her room. Of course, Matsuri felt betrayed by the fact her mother sprung this on her at the last minute, let alone didn’t consult her regarding the exchange student showing up.
The girl of course wore red, a color Matsuri understood to be quite popular back in Iwa, yet she didn’t seem like a girl, given the fact – on top of being rather flat-chested, her hair was cut short. As such, she found herself a bit taken back by the sight of the girl, her eyes drifting away, her mind still annoyed by the fact her mother hadn’t told her about the girl in question.
“There is a bit of time before we need to head to the show, so why don’t you head to your room? Your father will have the extra bed ready after the show.”
Matsuri let out a sigh, taking the girl to her room. She flopped down onto the bed. While her room did have room, she didn’t know how she felt about sharing her personal space with the girl in question, particularly when she watched the girl looking up at the production posters which covered the walls. She wasn’t, though, expecting the girl to say…
“You don’t like me, do you.”
“I know. It’s not that.”
“Then what.”
“My mother didn’t let you know that I would be coming.”
“Well, hopefully, we can get along. We’ll be attending the same school, won’t we?”
The thought – honestly, Matsuri couldn’t think of how she felt regarding the matter.
…
Of course, she knew how she felt going to the performance, although she’d much rather she was going with Sari rather than the Kurotsuchi girl.
For starters, her heartbeat fast as she, the exchange student, and her mother headed into the theater. Matsuri sucked in her breath, fidgeting slightly as they took their seats, the summer heat permeating the theater. Of course, Kurotsuchi seemed disinterested even as their mother talked about how bunraku was a time-honored tradition in Suna, hence why they were going.
In other words, the reason for going had nothing to do with Matsuri’s interest in the actual bunraku theater, which made her feel honestly disappointed.
When the performance started, she held back letting out a squeal multiple times, her hands twisting her flier ever so slightly, something she would come to regret later that night. She didn’t pay much attention to the story and instead focused on whenever Gaara’s face appeared, her mind wandering to how lucky she could be if she were his girlfriend. She let out a sigh every so often, but nothing loud enough to interrupt the enjoyment of the others watching.
“So, what did you think of the performance.”
Matsuri opened her mouth at her mother’s question, only for Kurotsuchi to say, “Interesting.”
“Interesting? Isn’t Gaara-sama, like...” She went into how amazing she felt Gaara was, which – if Sari were there with her she would be having her best friend input and agree with what she said, yet the look on Kurotsuchi’s face when she finished showed what Matsuri felt was a lack of interest.
“Well, it is unusual for someone that young to be in the head position of bunraku.”
“I know.” Matsuri let out a sigh, feeling a bit of surprise she didn’t faint right there from the excitement she felt. Then – Kurotsuchi actually brought up something regarding the storyline for the play which resulted in her feeling a bit dumb, given the fact she’d not paid attention to anything but Gaara’s face.
“It’s not that you’re dumb, Matsuri,” she remembered one of her teacher saying. “It’s that you lack focus unless it’s something you’re super interested in.”
…
Despite Kurotsuchi staying in the same room and going to the same school, Matsuri really didn’t feel as if she were getting to know the girl. Kurotsuchi, after all, focused on her studies and Matsuri found herself hanging out with Sari at her place rather than in her own room like she used to, not to mention the other girl was older and thus ahead of her at school. Kurotsuchi, after all, was from Iwa, but she found it surprising that Suna agreed to an exchange student from Iwa in the first place.
Time past, the summer ending and the school year commencing. The memories of last summer remained hanging over Matsuri, particularly getting the chance to go to a bunraku performance – it almost made up for now having to share her room with someone as studious as Kurotsuchi which in turn made her feel guilty for flaking off regarding her own studies. Again, the words from that one teacher pointing out that she wasn’t unintelligent but instead lacking in focus felt – not so comforting watching someone who remained so focused and capable of such good grades.
Plus, Kurotsuchi seemed far from pleased whenever she started explaining how amazing Gaara was, but then again, Kurotsuchi remained practically emotionless except for a small twist at the corner of her mouth when Matsuri felt the girl was taking delight at someone else’s plight. Or at least, she didn’t seem amused until something drastic ended up occurring which seemed out of everyone’s control.
Then, a few months into the school semester after the events of last summer, the letter arrived. The letter came from Rasa, who was the star of the show, inviting Matsuri over – although, in truth, he was inviting the entire family over as well, which didn’t just include her mother and father, but their exchange student guest. Matsuri let out a sigh. “I don’t get it. Why is it that…” She paused, unsure of how to put her plight to her best friend Sari. “I don’t know.”
“You mean the fact your parents decided to have an exchange student all of a sudden but didn’t tell you until the day he showed up?”
“Yeah, and they won’t let me see the letter which came from the Kazekage family head. I mean…” Matsuri let out a sigh.
“Well, at least you stand a chance of meeting Gaara, right? Do you think it’s tied to getting to go to the bunraku performance this last summer?”
“Oh. That would be nice.”
Except, Kurotsuchi was also invited.
…
They arrived at the home of the Kazekage family and found themselves seated, waiting for their hosts to appear. Matsuri at first felt quite excited about the visit despite the fact Kurotsuchi was also going, but then she noticed the kimono Kurotsuchi wore was a lot nicer than the one she wore. Taking a deep breath, she felt as if Kurotsuchi might draw more attention because of that, not to mention the fact – despite Kurotsuchi’s short hair, she wasn’t anywhere near as plain as Matsuri was.
“Your hosts are ready for you.” The door slid open and Matsuri saw Rasa sitting there with someone who was obviously not Gaara. In fact, she felt a great deal of disappointment at not recognizing the connection between the person and the Kazekage family. The three stood and then sat in a kneeling position on the cushions while her mother bowed to Rasa.
“It’s nice of you to invite us.”
“It was nice of you to have accepted the invitation on her behalf.”
Matsuri felt her heart flutter slightly, yet this shattered when she saw Kurotsuchi glance away, obviously finding the chance of meeting with the Kazekage family. The girl definitely made her chances slimmer, she felt, her eyes glued to the floor. Rasa turned his head. “This is my eldest son, Kankuro.”
“Oh. The one who wears all the paint. No wonder, given the fact he…” Matsuri shook her head, smiling. “No. He is handsome. He’s just not Gaara.” Of course, an older lady brought out tea and began serving and Kankuro said something about liking to build puppets yet Matsuri felt rather uninterested in the making of the puppets.”
Kurotsuchi let out a deep breath. “Apologies, but may I use the restroom.”
Rasa’s eyes blinked. “Yes.”
The man turned his head, giving instructions on how she should get to the bathroom before letting out a deep sigh. Kankuro glanced at the ground, “Well, this certainly isn’t going well, is it?”
“Kankuro.”
Matsuri’s eyes blinked, quite unsure of what was going on when a girl with blond hair pulled a bunch of ponytails popped her head in. Rasa sucked in his breath. “Temari.”
“Have any of you seen Gaara?”
“No. Father told him he wasn’t supposed to interfere, that this meeting was important given…”
“You were supposed to keep an eye on him.” Rasa narrowed his eyes. “You know that he tends to…”
“I know. I know. Say and do the wrong thing, but this would upset the miai between our two families.”
“Not that it was going well in the first place,” Kankuro muttered, making Matsuri even more confused, her fingers fidgeting slightly. Kankuro turned his head towards his father. “And why…”
“Because I broke off a marriage agreement between our families involving her mother and myself, but if a relationship might work out, it would definitely mend some broken fences.”
“Yeah, but…” Kankuro sighed. “She obviously isn’t interested in me. That’s why she asked for directions to the bathroom.”
“Wait? Did you let her…” Temari’s voice strained. “Do you mean to tell me she’s wandering around the place and might run into Gaara? You know if she runs into him…”
Matsuri’s eyes blinked, unsure of why they spoke the way they did regarding Gaara. The little old lady who poured the tea, peeking her head in. “Lady Temari, if you are looking for Lord Gaara, he is with Lady Kurotsuchi.”
“What?” Rasa’s voice strained, but Matsuri’s heart felt as if it were in his throat. He stood up, but then stopped, quickly bowing and apologizing to her mother before asking Lady Chiyo to take him to where Gaara was. Her mother seemed worried for some reason.
“Mom?”
“Kurotsuchi came to Suna for the purpose of seeing if a marriage with Lord Rasa’s was a possibility, but this would definitely strengthen ties between our two villages. If this messes up…”
“That might explain why they didn’t tell me. It might have been the last minute.” However, she found herself far more concerned with Kurotsuchi getting Gaara to fall for her, which to her was a devastating thought.
“Particularly so considering Lord Gaara…” Her mother’s mouth pressed tightly, her mother probably expecting the same thing Matsuri did; a very disinterested Kurotsuchi.
Except, when they arrived, they found both smiling, Gaara chatting away while Kurotsuchi listened. Matsuri’s mother cleared her throat which in turn made Kurotsuchi apologize to Gaara before they returned to their meeting. Matsuri fidgeted. Rasa cleared his throat. “So…” Matsuri couldn’t quite describe what happened next as Kurotsuchi’s actions confused her. She outright refused Kankuro as a marriage candidate and then voiced her interest in Gaara. Rasa looked at her as if she’d grown a third head. “Wait. What?”
“So, I get the fact you think I’m not a suitable candidate, but you think Gaara is?”
“He’s interesting.”
“Except you weren’t interested in anything I sad about him, so are you spiting me.”
“He told me a lot about the cacti he grows, and the fact he likes dancing.”
Matsuri’s eyes blinked, realizing she didn’t know those things about Gaara. Taking a deep breath, she wasn’t at all sure what to think at all. One of Rasa’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t find him…”
There was something about Gaara possibly putting his foot in by saying something socially inappropriate only for Kurotsuchi to note she was already aware of that, followed up by him not meaning to let alone realizing he’d done so. “I don’t mind that he’s not perfect.”
“But wait. Lord Gaara is perfect. Everyone…” Yet, the words of everyone else indicated they felt otherwise, but Matsuri wasn’t sure what to think.