A Flame in the Desert

-1-

The Predicament

The colt was magnificent; that was the only word that could be used to describe him. His shimmering coat was the color of blood on sand and his mane and tail were as black as coal. His muscles rippled and quivered powerfully whenever he moved. His eyes held the fire of his soul in them. Kaen was the colt's name.

Gaara had had his eye on the colt from the day he was born. Even then, he knew that the horse would be a grand one, worthy of the Kazekage.

Kaen had grown up to be everything that a well-bred horse of the Suna should be: strong, fast, fearless and spirited. These qualities were admired in a horse and Gaara watched him with pride as the colt grew from a small foal at his mother's side to a frolicking weanling to a headstrong yearling. Now the horse was two-years-old, and it was time to begin the training that would transform him into the ultimate horse. Once he had a rider to guide him, the horse would be the greatest ever born in the Suna.

And he will be mine, Gaara thought to himself excitedly, if a bit greedily, as he watched the young colt gallop across the sand, his black mane and tail billowing like storm clouds behind him, easily outrunning the other two-year-olds in the herd.

Two days later, the horse masters came to collect the herd of two-year-old horses from the enormous paddock in which they had been allowed to run free since they had been weaned from their mothers. There were thirteen horses in all. Most of them came easily, were handed off to grooms, and taken to the barns where the beginning of many years of training was to commence. Several of the young horses gave the horse masters a difficult time, dodging their grasping hands and trotting away, however, they were eventually won over by the horse masters' patience and soft words.

Finally, all the horses had been collected, except for one: Kaen. The colt didn't only dodge and run from the horse masters, he charged at them, snorting fiercely. He reared and struck out at them with his diamond-hard hooves; he bucked and kicked at them. His ears were pinned flat against his skull and his fiery eyes rolled wildly, adding to his unnerving behavior.

The horse masters knew better than to back down from the furious colt, but to say that they were uncomfortable would be a severe understatement. None of them had ever dealt with such an intensely powerful horse, and most of them had been training horses for a long, long time. They had countless methods for dealing with troublesome young horses that allowed them to be firm with the animals, but without causing them stress or pain. Usually their patience and perseverance beat out the animals' stubbornness; but things were different with Kaen. They could see that no matter how long they coaxed, or waited for him to run himself out and come willingly, they would not win with him. He was too strong and too strong-willed. After trying for four hours to capture the colt, they finally gave up for the day, and left to attend to the dozen other two-year-olds who were waiting in the barn. They figured that maybe, once Kaen realized that his companions were not coming back to the paddock, he would demand to be taken to the barns where they were out of sheer loneliness.

Kaen watched them go triumphantly, his nostrils flaring, his eyes burning.

Over the next several days, the horse masters, their assistant trainers and the grooms spent their time divided by the dozen two-year-olds in training…and Kaen. Whenever someone was not busy training, feeding or grooming the horses or doing some other chore around the barn, they were in the paddock, trying to catch Kaen. The colt seemed to have an unending supply of energy at his disposal. He could run and fight for hours, and usually did. He was not only physically intimidating, but also had a clever mind. On several occasions, he managed to trick a groom or assistant trainer into coming very close to him, on the pretense of allowing the individual to catch him, only to quickly turn on the human and chase them out of the paddock with bared teeth. It seemed as though Kaen was not only wild and high-spirited, but practically feral. The horse masters were worried that they would have no choice but to release the brilliant colt into the desert to live among the other wild horses. They were reluctant to even think this, for they knew of the Kazekage's plans to keep the colt as his own, and they knew he would be most displeased… no, downright furious, if he heard that his future steed was untamable and had been set free.

Temari had noticed the colt prancing about the paddock by himself on more than one occasion, and she didn't understand why he hadn't been taken to the barns to begin his training like the other two-year-olds, so she approached the horse masters on the fourth day.

"Shinbou-san," Temari addressed one of the younger horse masters, "Why has this horse not been taken to the training barn with the other young horses?"

Shinbou bowed slightly to the Kazekage's older sister as he answered, "My lady, this colt has evaded all of our attempts to capture him and take him to the barn. We simply cannot catch him, and we are running out of ideas," Both Shinbou and Temari turned to watch as Kaen chased one of the assistant trainers out of the paddock, baring his teeth, "He's also very vicious. He bites, kicks, rears and strikes…he's an extremely difficult horse."

Temari scoffed, "You call yourselves horse masters? Shouldn't you be able to deal with any horse no matter how difficult it is?"

Shinbou shifted nervously under Temari's harsh stare, "My lady, I must be open with you about this: I know that the Kazekage has been waiting for this horse to come of age so that he may claim him as his own…" Temari nodded, affirming his observation, "However, I honestly do not think that this horse is trainable. He will not even allow himself to be caught, I cannot imagine he would allow himself to be saddled and ridden."

"What exactly are you saying Shinbou-san?" Temari placed her hands on her hips.

Shinbou swallowed, "What I am saying is that we may have to release this horse into the desert, to live among the wild herds."

Temari's eyebrows lifted, "Released? You do realize how that would upset my brother?"

Shinbou nodded. "Yes, but I can see no other solution. We have twelve other horses that may be a handful because they are young and green, but this colt is another matter completely. He doesn't misbehave out of fear or liveliness; he is being ferocious because it is his nature. The other masters and I cannot spend our time trying to catch one untrainable colt when we have a dozen other colts and fillies ready for training. They are all fine horses, my lady, the Kazekage would have a fine mount if he were to choose one of them and assent to releasing this one."

Temari saw the predicament that the horse masters were in, and she understood why it upset them so. She knew that her brother's fury at the loss of his horse would be unbearable, but that while the masters and trainers spent time just trying to get the horse in the barn, the twelve other horses were having valuable training time taken from them. She was glad that she was not caught in this tight spot.

Shinbou pressed the toe of his boot into the sand, "My lady, I know that it is not my place to ask, but may I request a favor of you?"

Temari had several guesses as to what the horse master could ask of her, and she didn't like the thought of any of them, but she nodded affirmatively.

"I have been chosen among the horse masters to present this problem to the Kazekage tomorrow. Would you please be there when I tell him? I feel as though you truly understand that we are trying our hardest with this colt, but we are unable to make progress with him and in the meantime, the dozen other horses are not receiving the attention that they require in their training," Shinbou dug deeper into the sand. "I will be honest with the Kazekage and tell him that the only solution we can see is to set the colt free, and I know that this will upset him greatly, and that's what I will need your help with: to calm him and try to explain the situation in a light that he can better understand." Shinbou stopped his toe-drilling to look Temari straight in the eye, "Please my lady, it would mean the world to me if you would be willing to help me explain my situation to the Kazekage!"

Temari thought that he might actually start groveling at her feet if she remained silent. She could see the desperation in the man's eyes. She sighed and nodded, "Yes, Shinbou-san, I will be there tomorrow when you tell the Kazekage," A large smile broke across Shinbou's face, "But I cannot promise you anything more than that. You know my brother's obsession with this horse and you know of his temper as well. I might end up being useless to you in this matter."

"Oh no, my lady! I am sure that you will be a great help!"

Temari couldn't help a little smirk as she turned away, "We'll see," and she left to find Kankurou.