Disclaimer: I own nothing here except the slight plot. Naruto and all Naruto characters belong to Kishimoto.
Rating: PG-13 thus far, but I intend to go into very mature scenes as the story progresses so always pay attention to ratings.
Pairing: NaruSasuGaara (Yes. I can count.)
Summary: What begins as simple negotiations for peace turn into something more chaotic and problematic, placing a tired and confused blond in the middle of a homicidal red-head and fiery tempered brunette.. And that's when things are easy... YAOI, slight AU
A/N: I'm an avid role player trying my hand at fanfic writing. Honest opinions please. Also, I know most fanfictions have longer chapters so I'm sorry for the short chapters in this fic.
He was in utter hell. Somewhere between chasing his dream, thriving to be noticed, protecting his friends and village, and studying under a perverted sage, the skill of patience had been overlooked. Sure, he knew how to file papers in the correct order, speak intelligently and passionately, get people to sway to his opinion, and how to put the lives of others above his own, but when it came to meetings that lasted more than just one hour... Well, the wooden chairs and stuffy atmosphere were just to much on his nerves. He couldn't sit still for anything, and he was having trouble hanging onto the drawling man's words. Did the guy have to act like he was teaching history or something? Gah!
Despite the urge to jump up and down while screaming at the formal, old men currently negotiating the best trade agreement between the hidden villages, he sat still and straight. Maybe a bit stiff and agitated, but everyone else was stiff and looked irritated so he found that he blended in nicely. Perhaps too nicely, though. When had he gotten so boring?
"But if we give them that much power over the majority of the trade routes, we'll be handing them the reins to our economy. There needs to be another way to work around this that they will agree to. Otherwise, we're better off how we are," one of the three men retorted, stroking the small beard he sported while leaning back with the aura of a genius. His statement was met with silence and contemplative thought.
Naruto, though, was starting to feel more like an audience than the one they were trying to convince. They appeared more interested in swaying the other's opinions than what he thought, but then again, they probably really didn't care what he thought. The older generation of the village still held that sharp edge of resentment towards him for being what he was. While he berated them for their stupidity, he couldn't hold a grudge against them. After Iruka had told him the sad tale of what had happened the night of his birth, he understood why people were once nervous around him.
Yes, were. He'd won over most of the hearts of Konoha while winning the minds of others. The percentage of those that didn't see what the others saw had somehow come to respect him, though. And they had every reason to. Only three months into his new rank, and ties were being made between all of the hidden villages (with the help of Suna). Times were returning to a more lulled peace, though, he still kept his men on guard at all times. He wouldn't allow the village to be caught off-guard the way Sarutobi had, not that he ever blamed the old man. No and never. The old man believed in those peaceful times and sadly that meant that security was dropped a degree during a festive occasion. How was the Third to know that something so pure could become so tainted?
But even if this generation respected him, they couldn't let go of old habits. Those old habits included pretending that he wasn't even in the room, like he didn't exist. Now that stung, especially as they began speaking to each other once more, still not even sparing him a glance. But like before, he resigned himself to sit annoyingly still and listen to everything that they had to say. He needed to choose the best and safest way to establish trade routes, after all. The village depended on him with decisions such as these.
Of course, he hadn't thought of how long it would take to figure it out. They'd sat down nearly three hours ago, and his back, neck, butt, legs, toes, and even his fingers were starting to protest. Well, his fingers probably wouldn't hurt if he hadn't been drumming on his thigh the first two hours straight. One of them looked like it wanted to turn from an aggravated red to a stunning purple.. Yeah, there was probably a bruise on his thigh, too. Sometimes he forgot what sort of power lay even in a shinobi's finger.
The old men's argument was starting to go from not agreeing to heated and volatile as the seconds ticked into more minutes. The one that seemed to think himself sharper than the other two had his palms flat against the table while he sat forward. He looked as though he would spring forth like a rattlesnake at any second. Things were beginning to get out of hand so he cleared his throat purposefully. When no one acknowledged him, he did it again, but yet again, nothing.
"Your Hokage wishes for you to stop your childish squabble and pay attention," came a low timbre of a voice, promising nothing good to whomever chose to ignore him the way that they had done to the blond man.
Three heads looked to the ANBU Captain standing a little behind and to the Hokage's right. The porcelain mask hid the pale face and piercing eyes that lay beneath, but they all knew who had spoken. They knew who dwelled behind the painted fangs and whiskers of a feline, and then they focused on Naruto as if he had personally offended them.
On the inside, Naruto wasn't sure whether to laugh at how much Sasuke had not changed or to growl and snarl and rant that they obeyed the bastard quicker than they did him. On the outside, though, he simply offered a bright smile and chose not to speak of Sasuke's coldness.
"This meeting has lasted a little over three hours, and no one seems to be able to agree with anyone else. You will go home and review all of the suggested plans, think over what the outcome could be while taking into account the village's current circumstances. I'll call you all back in three days, and an agreement will be met. That is all. You're dismissed." His voice had evened out and lowered into a husky timbre since he'd grown, and though he had never lost the spark that always shone in his eyes, he had come to find that not everyone could be pleased so he no longer tried, not like he once did.
The only reply he got was that of narrowed eyes and nearly hidden scowls. No one said anything to him, though, as they stood swiftly and exited the large conference room.
As the door slipped shut behind the third man, Naruto sagged into the uncomfortable and hellish chair with a heavy sigh. The folds of clothe along the edge of his hat fell forward to create a protective curtain from the only pair of prying eyes left in the room. If the other could see his face, he would see the exhaustion that pulled at his eyes, leaving bags and dark spots, as well as a grim frown as he mentally turned over everything that had been said throughout the meeting. Personally, none of their plans made much sense to him, but he was still just getting the hang of politics so...
"Dope, you're sitting like a bum."
Crystalline eyes narrowed into slits as he twisted his neck in the direction of the masked man. Instead of the usual retort, he stuck his tongue out. There didn't appear to be any reaction from the other man, but Naruto knew that if he could see Sasuke's face at that moment, he would get a clear view as thin and pale lips was pressed into a tight line and obsidian eyes were rolled. That would be Sasuke's typical way of saying that he thought you were an idiot that was obviously beneath him.
They stayed like that for awhile. Naruto stared at the painted mask and wondered what was going through Sasuke's usually morbid mind, not for the first time. Sasuke, meanwhile, felt like an experiment being poked and prodded with the way the blond was observing him. It had his blood running cold as the hairs stood straight on the back of his neck.
"What?" he snarled after counting out ten minutes. Still, the blond hadn't looked away. He hadn't even really blinked but maybe twice.
"I was just thinking if I should make you go through an anger management class," Naruto said with a boyish smile, crinkling his blue eyes with the gesture as he watched Sasuke's hands ball into fists. It was always just so easy to get the brunette riled up.
Just as Sasuke was preparing to either reply to the moronic statement or knock the Hokage unconscious, the door that the three men had left through earlier was ruthlessly pushed open by a teenage boy who had a wild look in his eyes. Instead of doing whatever he'd intended to do, he remained perfectly still and pretended that neither the blond man nor the brown-haired boy were even there.
"Hey, Konohamaru!" Naruto said with ease as he raised his right hand to wave at the flustered boy. "What's got you so out of breath, huh? Chased out of the bath-house, again?" The question was punctuated with an amused laugh.
Smiling at Naruto's question, Konohamaru sucked in a large breath as he shook his head in the negative way. "No, Boss. I've been too busy training with Lee-sensei," as the boy choked out the words, both of the men in the room winced in sympathy. Rock Lee had grown to be five times worse than Gai-sensei had ever been. His squad normally crawled home since their legs no longer functioned properly. Of course, their missions always went off without a hitch so no one ever said anything about it. "Lee-sensei actually sent me to let you know that the Kazekage and his party have arrived and are on their way here," he finished, not noticing their reaction to hearing Lee's name.
There was a visible tightening in Sasuke's muscles, but Naruto ignored it. Sasuke and Gaara had never gotten along so he was used to the tension between the two of them by now.
"Really? Wow.. They got here two days earlier than originally thought!" he said in awe as he leaned back, propping his chair up on the back two legs. "Thanks, Konohamaru! You can go back to your training or whatever now," Naruto with a sincere show of gratitude.
Rolling his brown eyes, Konohamaru turned to leave the room, though, he stopped just as he was opening the door. "You'd better enjoy that chair for now because someday it's still going to be mine," he said while flashing a quick grin before vanishing out of the open door, letting it fall shut behind him.
"The chair? He can have the damned chair. Uncomfortable waste of a tree," Naruto muttered under his breath as he began squirming in said object, trying to find a comfy spot. Nope, nothing was comfy on this thing.
"He was referring to being Hokage you dobe," Sasuke hissed as he watched the display, wondering how Naruto had managed to become Hokage in the first place. It was probably just one of the mysteries of life... No answer.
Sticking his bottom lip out in an obvious pout, Naruto was once again sticking his pink tongue out at Sasuke. It probably wasn't a very good idea since a second later Sasuke was holding the muscle between his forefinger and thumb, a kunai pressing into the palate.
For the sake of not getting his tongue cut to resemble a serpent's, Naruto didn't pull back or move except for the frantic waving of his arms as his eyes widened in shock and surprise. Since when do you threaten a guy's tongue? If he lost his tongue, how would he taste the perfect flavour of ramen?! Surely Sasuke wouldn't take that away from him, right?.. But it was Sasuke, the sadistic prick who'd spent the majority of his life trying to kill his older brother... Naruto's arms haulted for a brief second before waving faster, trying to convey how much he liked his tongue and wanted to keep it for the sake of delicious ramen.
Whether his message was heard or not, though, it wouldn't matter. The metallic taste of the kunai vanished along with Sasuke as a swirling mass of sand whipped in front of Naruto, close enough to tickle his nose but not enough to so much as scratch him. Gaara was getting really, really good with his sand control, even without Shukaku's power aiding him.
On the other side of the room, Sasuke reappeared, the kunai still drawn as he assumed a lazy position, stating that he thought himself stronger than the Kazekage without saying a single word. From the lowering of non-existing brows, though, Naruto knew that Gaara had understood Sasuke' body language.
"Haha. Hey, Gaara! Why did you come so early?" Naruto said quickly before more sand went crashing around the room accompanied by giant fireballs. He did want an office after this was all over, after all. "And wow! I didn't know you'd gotten that good with your sand!" he added just to be sure he'd taken the red-head's attention off of Sasuke for the moment.
"The new trading system is a joint effort by both of our villages. It seems like we should be working together on the planning," Gaara said simply, slowly turning aquatic eyes from Sasuke and to Naruto. "I train," he added after a moment of thought.
"Really? That's awesome because after today I was really starting to worry about how to handle all of this," Naruto confessed with a tired exhale of breath. "And oh.. I guess that should have been obvious, huh?" As he scratched at the back of his neck in a sheepish gesture, he could hear the sound of a kunai being placed back in its pouch. Well, at least Sasuke wasn't planning on attacking anyone.. Yet.
The room fell into an uncomfortable silence after that. Gaara didn't seem to wish to reply to anything that Naruto had said, watching him with that calculating and unblinking stare of his. Sasuke stood quietly and still, acting the part of an ANBU bodyguard, even if he was still a bit stiff and ready to spring at any moment. Naruto simply lowered his hand from behind his head and looked from one to the other.. He just couldn't understand why they hated each other so much? They had never shone any interest in each other for a very long time, but about six months back, hostility had become very apparent.
Naruto often wondered what could have happened to create the cold tension, but there were never any clues. Gaara had come to redo the treaty between Konoha and Suna, forcing him into several meetings with Tsunade and the village Council for three entire days. Naruto, himself, hadn't even seen much of Gaara in that time. Only once when he'd managed to delay Gaara from one of the meetings by inviting him to an early lunch that lasted about two hours. Gaara had acted normal...
And when it came to Sasuke, Naruto hadn't seen much of him, either, but that wasn't anything new. Ever since killing Itachi and finally returning, Sasuke had tried to keep his distance from Team 7, though, Naruto wasn't called Konoha's 'Number One Knuckle-headed Ninja' for nothing! He'd seen Sasuke twice within that time, one sparring session and breakfast at the eerily silent Uchiha compound which ended in another sparring session/fight. Sasuke had acted normal, too...
When it became obvious that he was going to have to break the silence, Naruto could only heave a sigh as he stood. Continuing to ignore the steadily stiffening muscles of his best friend, Naruto approached the one person who had shared his childhood and extended his hand with a wide grin. "Welcome to Konoha, Kazekage-sama! I hope that we can work through this trial of the human race and show that we are all alike and can get along! This is the spring time of our youth, after all!"
"Tch," was the only sound that came from Sasuke while Gaara simply gave Naruto a look that should have been given to the village idiot.. Well, Naruto did qualify.
"You've spent too much time around Rock Lee," Gaara finally replied, quirking a brow as he crossed his arms against his chest.
Figuring that his hand wasn't going to be shook, Naruto lowered it back to his side, grinning like the cheshire cat. "Yeah, well.. That's all Sakura's fault! Ever since those two started going out, he's been following her around like some sort of attention seeking dog," Naruto said in his defence. "I know you came here to talk business and all that fun stuff, but I'm already beat. How about we just go to Ichiraku's and grab some ramen? Well, what do you say, Gaara?" Turning his head enough to see the black and white of Sasuke's uniform, he added. "Well, Sasuke? Wanna go with?"
Just as he'd managed to rid the room of most tension, it returned ten fold. Gaara's face fell into the usual mask, though, he did nod. Sasuke's body had started to relax a small amount, but now it seemed like the ANBU would shatter should someone poke him. It took him a moment longer than Gaara, but Naruto watched as the porcelain mask dipped in agreement. What had he said? Were they allergic to ramen all of a-- No way! No one's allergic to ramen! But...
Naruto accepted their answers, even if their current conditions had him losing his appetite towards ramen. "Alright!" he stated quickly, forcing a smile. "Well, Sasuke we'll wait for you in the lobby since I'm sure you don't want people gawking at your ANBU uniform." His voice was muffled as he tugged his robes up and over his head, tossing them behind him and onto the table. The robes were followed by his hat.
As he smoothed out the wrinkles in his black and orange T-shirt, he felt the pop of chakra that meant Sasuke was gone. Just as he'd thought, Gaara's face softened as much as it ever did as he seemed to relax now that the third man was gone. Well, that meant that it wasn't the ramen or himself that had them so nervous acting. It was each other.
"Well, let's go on to the lobby!" Naruto said louder than was necessary, grabbing one of Gaara's crossed arms and pulling him out of the conference room. Gaara didn't resist the action, simply followed at Naruto's side with a pinched expression. Naruto knew that his friend was still trying to get used to being touched by other people so he didn't worry over the expression. Gaara would always relax eventually because it was Naruto's hand on his arm. He knew that Naruto never wished harm on anyone, especially those that he called precious.
They descended down the stairs quickly, Naruto practically dragging Gaara as he began talking about a new recipe that was just introduced at his favourite ramen stand. "You've really got to try it, Gaara!" Naruto said at the end of the speech which was also when they found themselves in the lobby of the Hokage's Tower. "It's really out of this world! Not my absolute favourite flavour, but it's real close!"
Gaara listened silently, always amused by Naruto's good nature and ability to make anything and everything seem amazing in its own way. The blond had a talent for bringing the best out of people. There was no disputing that, but the blond was also too caring and curious sometimes.
"So.. What's up with you and Sasuke lately? I mean.. I know you two were never actually friends, but over the months, you both act like you want the other dead or something. What's going on?" Naruto asked out of the blue, trading his boyish charms and quick smiles for a calm voice and steady eyes.
"Nothing," Gaara said after admiring the quick change in Naruto. The blond boy had grown into an intelligent man.
Naruto's eyes narrowed skeptically as he watched Gaara intently. "I'm not blind, Gaara. You just tried to harm him earlier in that meeting room so don't deny it. I believe I have the right to know the problem between the Kazekage and one of my ANBU Captains."
So he was going to play the political card? Gaara didn't have any issues with that road. "Hokage-san," he began in a low voice. "You should know how well I get along with most people so you should already know the answer. And with new treaties coming forth soon, I would think we should try to trust one another."
"You know that I trust you, Gaara. That's not it," Naruto sighed, dropping the formal tone and names. "I know you aren't good with most people, but you were never this hostile towards Sasuke before, and he was never like that with you... It's just got me worried."
Gaara watched as Naruto lowered his head in what seemed to be thought as his face became closed off and even distant. It wasn't a look that Gaara liked seeing on the normally happy face, but he wasn't good at soothing so he just stood still and let Naruto work through whatever it was he was thinking over.
"What's wrong?"
He'd gotten used to the silence and his own thoughts to the point where Naruto jumped at the sudden question. Seeing Sasuke's annoyed expression as he crossed his arms, Naruto laughed softly.
"You shouldn't sneak up on me like that!" Naruto protested as he pointed at the now smirking Sasuke. "Whatever, bastard. Let's get going before the place gets packed during the lunch hour!" Naruto said before Sasuke could even think of gloating about surprising the Hokage.
On the short walk to the ramen stand, all three men were silent. Gaara and Sasuke were always quiet so that wasn't anything new, but, of course, both of their chakras seemed ready to snap at any second which only helped fuel Naruto's own thoughts. First, he thought of how much they had or hadn't changed. Gaara wasn't as exiled as he once was. Sasuke was friendlier than he had once been, though, he would always be a cold prick. Naruto... Well, he didn't think he'd changed all that much.
Sasuke's clothing was still mostly black or khaki or navy while Gaara's was still brown or black or maroon. Naruto, though, didn't wear only orange anymore. He owned gray, black, blue, red, white, and green shirts and pants now, but he did seem to wear the orange ones more often than not.
"You shouldn't think so much. You look like your hurting," Sasuke commented from his left, not even looking at the blond as he spoke about how he looked.
"Bastard. Are you ever going to stop insulting my smartness?" he snapped without thinking, too used to the exchange.
"Smartness? I don't think I'm insulting anything since there's nothing there to insult," Sasuke responded, glancing out of the corner of his eyes at the aggravated blond. There was a clear smirk across his lips.
"Hey! I'm Hokage, you bastard!" Naruto half-yelled, drawing attention to the trio. "They wouldn't make an idiot Hokage!"
At this comment, Sasuke gave Naruto a serious look. "You would think that and yet..." he drawled, letting his eyes rake up and down the blonde's body. "They did."
On the other side of Naruto, Gaara said nothing as he listened to the comments and names being tossed back and forth carelessly. Neither the Uchiha nor Naruto seemed to be really taking anything to heart. It was their way of bonding, a game really. To see who could put the other down the worse. True, it was an odd game or way to bond, but Gaara had watched this transaction since the Chuunin Exams nearly a decade back. Well... Some of those years, Naruto and Sasuke weren't near each other considering the brunette's betrayal.
"Hey, Naruto! I was wondering where you were at?" called the aging man from behind a counter, looking out at the street where the three had stopped. He smiled pleasantly as the shinobi bowed beneath the curtain and took up three stools. "Busy day, kid?"
"You wouldn't believe it!" Naruto said in an exasperated tone, seemingly forgetting the earlier banter with Sasuke. "Three bowls of that new stuff please!" he chimed happily, his eyes lighting up like a six year old's at Christmas.
The man smiled warmly before turning to ready the order. As he did so, Naruto didn't notice the smirk from his left and hint of a smile to his right.
Please leave a review letting me know whatever. Criticism is welcomed; encouragement is loved, and honesty is wanted. Thank you for reading the first chapter to Oblivious and Socially Screwed.