2/10/08

Disclaimer: the characters in this fic such as Naruto, Sasuke, etc. don't belong to me, although if they did, Naruto would become the Hokage, and Sasuke would be well on his way to reviving the Uchiha clan.

Dedication: God, my parents, my fans, Masashi Kishimoto for creating the Naruto series and giving us these colorful characters, and especially to my beloved friends, especially VGuyver, Andrew Glasco, Musashi Sanada, Francisco, Ariescelestial, Nakoudo Byakugan, and all of you other wonderful readers!!

Special dedication to: Ariescelestial, for all her beta help – I am truly blessed to have her sharp eyes assisting me.

Naruto: Bragging Rights

By Tiger5913

"Hey, mine is!"

"No, you're wrong. Mine is."

"At least you got rid of that bastard!"

"And you've made many friends in the last several years."

A pair of pale white, seemingly pupil-less eyes briefly glanced at the two arguing friends, and a listless sigh of exasperation was elicited along with the warily-prompted question, "Is this truly a display of brotherly bonding?"

"How should I know?" One of his other companions replied lazily, scratching the head of his head as he silently resisted the urge to light up a cigarette right then and there – it was rather inappropriate in his current location. "I don't have any siblings. What about your cousins?"

A negative headshake ensued. "Lady Hinata and Lady Hanabi don't behave this way with each other."

"Then I guess it's just those two." Shikamaru Nara regarded the vocal duo with a bit of disdain, all the while feeling his annoyance steadily rising inside. "What a drag…"

"And they had to start arguing here, of all places." Neji Hyuga conferred with similar impatience in his tone, taking a few seconds to glance at their surroundings as if to remind himself of the location that the quartet currently occupied.

"Can any one of you tell me why you are all still in my office?" A deep voice inquired coolly in question, interrupting the argument for the time being.

The conversation stopped, each of the four Leaf shinobi turned their attention to the red-haired Kazekage of Suna, who had risen from his seat to stand at full height and look upon his guests with mild irritation on his face.

"Eh, it's too damn hot to go outside!" Naruto Uzumaki piped up, flashing his friend a cheeky grin in hopes of convincing him to let them stay. "C'mon, Gaara, you've got air-conditioning in here! We're not used to this kinda heat!"

"The lobby right outside of my office has air-conditioning as well." Gaara informed the hyperactive blond with as much patience as he could muster up – there was just so much disruption one person could take, after all.

"Yeah, we know, but our girlfriends are out there!"

The sand wielder calmly waited for further explanation as to why that would affect their decision to leave him in peace, but upon not hearing any such reasons, he persisted, "Why is that a problem? If they are your girlfriends, shouldn't you be with them?"

"Because when girls get together, all they do is talk about girl stuff!" Naruto stated matter-of-factly, as if it was obvious.

"He's got a point there…" Shikamaru agreed with a mild shrug.

"I don't really care." Sasuke Uchiha remarked in a nonchalant manner, his onyx eyes reflecting frigid indifference. "And Sakura is not my girlfriend. She's my fiancée. Or is that too hard for you to remember, Naruto?"

Just as an insult was going to be fired back, Gaara casually intercepted with a question, "Uchiha. You are getting married?"

The raven-haired teenager nodded slightly in response.

"Congratulations."

"…Whatever." Sasuke replied coldly, but then blanched momentarily as an image of his pink-haired sweetheart suddenly appeared in his mind, cracking her knuckles as she scolded him about exercising decorum. "I mean… Thanks. I guess."

Expecting no less, the redhead hid a smirk from his former rival and instead, he focused his attention on the other three while inwardly resisting the urge to push them all outside using the power of his sand – he was hardly able to read the document they had delivered to him, with all the ruckus they were causing.

"Hey, why the hell were you crying about your past?" Naruto complained, re-instating their interrupted discussion, "Your brother's gone, and you're gonna marry Sakura and have a whole new family! That's everything you wanted, right? I'm still not Hokage yet!"

"That is because Lady Tsunade is still serving as our Hokage," Neji inputted matter-of-factly. "It's possible to have two Hokages at a given time, but most of the citizens prefer to have no more than one. That way, there are fewer opportunities for conflict."

"Besides, you're too much of a pain right now, Naruto," Shikamaru added with a lazy, carefree drawl as he turned his head to gaze out the window at the fluffy white clouds hanging up in the clear blue sky.

"Some friends you are!" The blond cried in heated despair, stomping his foot for emphasis. "Damn, it's like I'm alone again!"

"Please," Sasuke snorted as he rolled his eyes at his friend's proclamation. "I was alone for a long time too. At least you didn't have a psychotic brother that killed your entire clan, and then left you alive just so he could steal your eyes."

Shikamaru and Neji exchanged an exasperated look, silently communicating that they would much rather be outside in the lobby listening to girl-talk than staying here, while the young Kazekage sighed heavily to express his annoyance.

Speaking of the kunoichis, the four were comfortably seated in velvety-red guest chairs, enjoying the cool, fresh air that leveled the warm environment as they talked to each other and waited for their boyfriends to finish their business.

"Geez, what's taking them so long?" Ino Yamanaka grumbled impatiently, throwing her hands up into the air as she shot a cold glare toward the direction of the closed door.

"M-maybe they're talking to Lord Kazekage," Hinata Hyuga suggested softly, her pale white eyes filled with compassion and understanding. "Naruto hasn't seen him in a while, and he likes to catch up with his friends…"

"Say, Hinata, can you use your Byakugan to see what's going on in there?" The blonde kunoichi suddenly questioned, her twin cool blue orbs sparking in a sly and mischievous manner.

"What?" Sakura Haruno exclaimed at that inquiry, seeming aghast despite the cleverly-proposed idea. "Even if she wanted to do that, it's not like Hinata can read lips, Ino-pig!"

"It was just a thought, so lay off, Billboard Brow!"

"Yeah, right! It sounded more like you were asking Hinata to spy for you, Ino-pig!"

"Wow, they're gonna go on like that for awhile," Tenten remarked warily as she huffed a sigh up into the air. "But you wouldn't spy on the boys, right, Hinata? They're probably talking about something important in there."

"Y-yeah," the shy Hyuga heiress quickly agreed. "We weren't assigned to this mission, anyway… It was really nice of Lady Tsunade to let us come here to Suna with them…"

"Well, things are pretty slow right now," the mahogany-haired ninja stated with a casual roll of her neck muscles. "There aren't too many missions. I'm glad we get to take a little break once in a while. We'll probably be assigned one soon, though."

Hinata nodded in agreement, and then after her gaze skipped briefly over to the closed door of the Kazekage's office, she turned back to her friend and inquired candidly, "Oh, Tenten? How's everything going with Cousin Neji?"

"Mmm, it's great!" came the cheerful response, "He, uh, asked me to move in with him after he takes the exam to join the ANBU. I'm thinking about it…"

The Hyuga heiress widened her eyes a bit in surprise, but she smiled sweetly and encouraged the other girl, "You should say yes… I know how much he cares about you… I'm sure you two would be very happy living together."

"To be honest, I've pretty much made my decision already. I just need to figure out how to break the news to my parents," she admitted with a somewhat sheepish grin. "What about you and Naruto? Is he getting along with your dad yet?"

"Um, yes, a little…" Hinata ducked her head shyly and idly tucked a few stray strands of dark blue hair behind her ear. "Naruto said he won't give up until Father fully accepts our relationship…"

"Don't worry, Hinata. It won't take that long," Tenten assured her. "If your dad can get along with Neji, then Naruto should be okay too. He just probably needs a little more time to get used to it."

"You're right…" – a timid smile of hope – "Thank you, Tenten…"

"Are you two talking about your boyfriends again?" A familiar voice suddenly injected an inquiry just then.

"So what?" The brown-haired kunoichi fired back a bit defensively. "We don't argue about whose is better, like you and Sakura do all the time."

"We only argue because Ino doesn't want to admit that Sasuke's the best guy in Konoha," Sakura smirked confidently. "I still can't believe he actually asked me to marry him-! It's so romantic, like a prince and his princess in a fairytale…"

Tenten wearily rolled her eyes as a show of mild exasperation at the dreamy depiction while Hinata wisely kept quiet, and the blonde flower shop girl immediately snapped in response, "Sasuke's not that great! Shikamaru is way smarter than him!"

"Like he ever puts that big brain of his to use! You even told me he forgot your anniversary last month!"

"Okay, so he's a little forgetful sometimes…" she admitted grudgingly, "But he always makes it up to me! And hey, he doesn't refuse to hold my hand or kiss me in public, like your boyfriend!"

"Here we go again…" Tenten heaved a long sigh at the two girls' repetitive squabbling, and then she remarked to her sole sane friend, "It's hard to believe I'm only a year older than them. They don't really act seventeen most of the time…"

"W-well… maybe they're just really protective of Sasuke and Shikamaru…" Hinata offered timidly. "Th-they're defending the men they love…"

A slow nod of understanding went to her in response, as it was pretty widely known that the Hyuga heiress had loved Naruto for a very long time before they finally got together, and she frequently defended his honor whenever someone badmouthed him behind his back.

Just as Sakura and Ino jumped up and began to glare at each other with fire in their eyes, a lone Sand ninja entered the lobby at that moment and hesitantly approached the four girls. "Um, hi. Are you… all waiting to see Gaa-I mean… our Lord Kazekage?"

"Uh, kinda…" the blonde kunoichi awkwardly backed away from her friend with a somewhat wry grin on her face. "Our, um… We came here with four other Leaf shinobi, and they're inside the Kazekage's office right now."

"Oh…" dark ebony eyes skipped down to briefly glance at the mission scroll in hand, "If he's busy right now, I guess I can come back later…"

"No, you don't have to do that," Sakura assured her with a friendly smile. "They should be done pretty soon. They're probably just talking."

"You're… Matsuri?" Hinata initiated shyly, vaguely recognizing the girl from a mission several years ago in which a number of Leaf ninjas had been sent to help Suna rescue one of their kidnapped citizens.

The brunette kunoichi smiled and bowed slightly in a show of politeness and respect before answering, "Yes. And your name is… Hinata Hyuga? Lord Kazekage told me you're Naruto's girlfriend."

The Hyuga heiress nodded even as she began to blush a bit.

Before Matsuri could test her memory on the other girls present, the blonde ninja of their small group emitted a quiet growl of frustration and headed straight for the Kazekage's office with fearless intent.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Ino yelled aloud as she gingerly knocked upon the door with the base of a clenched fist. "Are you guys done yet? Tell the Kazekage there's a girl out here that wants to see him!"

Inside the spacious vicinity, the red-haired sand wielder was rubbing his temples and trying unsuccessfully to ignore the steadily-rising argument between his guests – somehow, the two initially neutral ones had gotten sucked into the senseless bickering as well.

Upon hearing the feminine voice calling through the door, Gaara raised his head in interest at the words she uttered, and a rare gleam of excitement lit up his pale turquoise eyes just then as he guessed the identity of the newcomer. Matsuri.

Deciding to take charge of the situation, he rose from behind the desk and stepped toward the four Leaf shinobi to state in a firm voice, "Let's end this quickly. There is no doubt I have the most tragic past compared to all four of you combined. Now that this matter is settled, will you please get out of my office?"

Sasuke shot him a cool glare of disbelief. "Try me."

Gaara calmly returned the gaze, seeming undaunted by the challenge. "I don't have time to waste on petty arguments, Uchiha. I will have this document reviewed and signed by the end of the afternoon. You all can come back then."

"Tch, whatever." The raven-haired ninja casually shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking toward the door.

Shikamaru was already there, pulling open the tall wooden frame in response to his girlfriend's shouted information. "What a drag. I guess we'll go hang around town for a while or something."

"Just don't cause any trouble." The redhead warned sternly, seeming quite wary with their behavior after what he had just witnessed, and his gaze intentionally flickered upon Naruto and Sasuke in particular.

Neji shook his head firmly. "We won't. I shall make sure of that. We will return in a few hours, before nightfall."

Meanwhile, the door was just opened and a couple of excited greetings were immediately elicited as the boys exited the room, along with other calmer responses.

"Sasuke!"

"Shikamaru!"

"Hey, Neji."

"N-Naruto…"

And then, in response to their girlfriends…

"Sakura. Let's go somewhere."

"Eh. We've gotta come back here later, Ino… such a pain."

"Tenten, will you take a walk with me?" Quickly followed by, "S-sure!"

"Hey, Hinata! Are you hungry? Let's go get some ramen! The ramen here's probably not as good as Ichiraku's, but we can still try it out!" And the quiet reply, "A-all right, Naruto…"

Their voices faded away as the four pairs finally left the building, and Gaara was mercifully left in silence after Matsuri entered his office and securely shut the door behind her before she turned to face him. "Good afternoon, Lord Kazekage."

The sand wielder had a bit of a wounded expression on his face as he stepped up closely to the girl and reminded her in a quiet albeit warm tone, "No one is around, Matsuri. You know you don't have to call me that."

"Yes, sir." She replied with a teasing edge in her voice, and then continued before he could chastise her any further, "Um, here is the scroll that we retrieved on the mission. I told my team they could have the rest of the day off… Is that okay?"

He nodded and accepted the scroll that she turned over to his hands. "You should go rest up as well. And also… Do you have some free time this evening? We can have dinner together, if you'd like."

Matsuri beamed a wide grin of pleasure at the invitation and she answered without hesitating a single second, "I'd love to! What time?"

A brief glance at the clock; "Is seven all right?"

"It's perfect…" she replied softly, her dark eyes alit with joy.

"I'll see you then." Gaara placed his free hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly as he leaned forward to brush a gentle, lingering kiss across her lips. "If I don't finish reviewing this proposal from Konoha by the end of the afternoon, those eight might decide to spend the night in Suna."

"You mean, the ninjas that just left your office?" The brown-haired kunoichi inquired candidly. "They seemed okay, and the girls outside were pretty nice. And besides, isn't Naruto a good friend of yours, Gaara?"

"Yes." There was wariness in his voice as he continued, "However, if you put him in the same room with Sasuke Uchiha, they will start arguing over trivial matters fairly quickly."

"Oh, I didn't know that." Matsuri admitted, seeming a bit sheepish, and then she regarded her boyfriend with a playful twinkle in her twin ebony orbs. "You have interesting friends, huh?"

"They had better not terrorize any of the villagers." Gaara remarked with a slow shake of his head, concern flickering over his cool expression. "I already have a feeling they're going to disrupt the peace somehow."

Sure enough, as if right on cue, there were suddenly screams of excitement and bustling activity that drifted into his office through the numerous surrounding windows, and a couple of the voices sounded very familiar.

I knew it. Without even knowing what had happened, the Kazekage appeared extremely agitated as he walked toward the exit, picked up his gourd from beside the door and hitched it over his shoulder, feeling obliged to check on the present events outside.

Matsuri followed closely behind, apparently having decided to come along as well, and her presence was soothing, but he still had to consciously remind himself not to use his Sand Coffin technique to confine any of the troublemakers – even if one of them was the Uchiha. Old habits die hard, after all.

The End

Author's Note: Hmm, so what did you readers think of this? No more humor fics for Tiger? Heh, heh, I hope this story didn't come out too badly… Humor is not my usual forte, but my mind would not let go of this idea, and so I had to oblige. XD It sure is difficult having so many people in one scene together, yeesh… Oh, and um, if any of the characters were OOC, please let me know, and I will try not to repeat my mistakes in future Naruto fics. Well then, please leave a review, and let me know what you think of this story!

With love for my fans,

Tiger5913