[Sunagakure]
"I'M GONNA BE WHAT?!" screamed a furious young blonde woman who's voice carried across half her village.
The woman in question was the first born and only daughter of the late Kazekage. Temari and her younger brothers Kankuro and Gaara were currently relaxing in their family estate when they were paid a surprise visit from their sensei Baki. He came to tell them that Suna was planning on restoring political relations with Konoha and forging a new alliance through the old tradition of marriage arrangement. All the while he talked, they couldn't help but notice that he was sounding a little nervous which was really unlike him. That's when Temari asked what it had to do with them and he explained that she was their village's chosen bride. At first, there was a dead silence. Kankuro stood with a gaping jaw at his older sibling and even Gaara looked shocked.
Seconds later, she snapped. Temari scared Kankuro shitless when she exploded over hearing how she was gonna be offered to some foreign ninja like some prize to be won. In her mind, Konoha won, Suna was desperate now and offering her like a spoil of war so that the council and the village could sleep at night. The young blonde woman was now holding her fan out in front of her and looking like she was about to club Baki to death with it. Baki had his hands up and his back to the table with sweat pouring down the side of his face that was visible while trying to calm her down. Gaara was the only one in the room who remained calm after hearing the news about Temari being wed off to a Konoha ninja. He was surprised, but calm about it none the less and just watched.
"Temari, calm down." said Baki, trying to bring the enraged blonde teen under control.
"I think I may have misheard you Sensei." said Temari with an angry smirk and not lowering her weapon. "Could you please repeat yourself? Because I could have sworn I heard you say that I was being given away to another village like a peace prisoner." she finished.
Baki straitened up a bit and hardened his look before responding. "Temari, you heard what I said." he told her. "You have been chosen to represent Suna in our efforts to rebuild our friendship with Konoha. We need to show them that we're truly sorry for what we did and that we want to rebuild the alliance we once had with them." he explained.
"But why are you giving me away?!" she yelled. "You can negotiate with the Hokage for a new peace treaty, I hear he's reasonable so why do you feel like I should be given over to them?" she asked.
"First of all, this wasn't my decision." he replied. "It was both the Council and our Elder's choice to cement a new peace treaty with an arranged marriage. Secondly, I actually tried to talk them out of offering you and someone else if they felt an arranged marriage was needed but the decision was unanimous among everyone else and I wasn't able to change their minds." he told her.
Temari was quiet for a moment before actually throwing her fan down and cursing. "This is bullshit!" she shouted. "I cannot go through with this Sensei, I can't do this, I won't!" she affirmed.
"Temari, if you don't go through with this, then Suna risks open war with Iwa and possibly even Konoha." replied the Jonin. "Is that really what you want for your Village? To condemn your people to death and destruction at the hands of our enemies?" he asked her.
Temari was very bright for her age. In her youth, she was educated in politics and diplomacy. She understood full well where Baki was coming from and she knew that he was right. Suna was in a very bad position at the moment with enemies at their borders and only a thin list of allies they could call on. In the past, their alliance with Konoha was not only beneficial for them, but also of great strategic importance in keeping Iwagakure from trying anything like an invasion. It was stupid on so many levels, even if they were tricked by Orochimaru and Oto into attacking Konoha and it's not just because of the heavy casualties they suffered. Even if they offered their surrender, they had a hostile relationship with Konoha and Iwa on their borders.
Now her village needed her more than ever and she's been called upon for a very important duty. One that will demand that she leave behind her family, her home and her way of life. Temari clenched her fist and looked down with anger still in her teal green eyes.
"I hate this." she said finally.
Baki sighed and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "I know." he replied. "But Temari, this is the most important mission you will ever undertake for you village. We need you now more than ever and this will not be forgotten." he told her.
Temari took a deep breath to try and bring her emotions back under control before replying. "So who is he?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Who am I...going to marry?" she asked him.
"I'm afraid I don't know that yet." he lied to which she raised her brow in response. "I mean it. The Council didn't say who it was they've chosen so I can only assume that they're gonna wait until the Hokage has given his answer. Hopefully it shouldn't take more than a couple of days to get a response." he told her. The truth was that Baki didn't want to risk really making her mad by telling her that they've chosen the guy who beat up her little brother. Not while she was still in battle mode. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to return to the Council and resume my duties." he told them before turning and leaving the three of them alone in their dining room.
Temari stood there for a moment in silence, running everything through her head before Kankuro decided to break the ice.
"Well, that was an interesting way to start the morning." he said, getting her to turn to him with an angry stare. "Is it too soon to say con-" he was cut off when she cut him off.
"Cram it Kankuro!" she shouted.
Both brothers then saw that she went from looking angry to very distraught and she looked like she was losing her balance.
"Temari, are you alright?" Gaara asked his older sister.
"I think I'm gonna be sick." she replied.
Kankuro and Gaara watched as Temari took off to the nearest bathroom where they could hear her throwing up. Kankuro then turned to his younger sibling a second later.
"Hell of a way to start our morning. Right Bro?" he asked him.
Gaara ignored him and headed over to see his sister. Gaara had changed a lot lately over the last three months. His older siblings didn't know where this came from at all but Gaara had really opened up to the both of them in ways they thought that he never would. In so short a time, Gaara had gone from being a dangerous and murderous lunatic to the little brother who really cares about his older siblings. Gaara came over to see Temari had finished and was now sitting on the floor of the bathroom while holding her legs to herself. Truth told, she always knew that there was a chance she was gonna be chosen for a political marriage one day, given that she was the Kazekage's daughter. But now that the day has come, it's made her sick to her stomach.
One of the ideas that she dreaded the most was the possibility that she'd be married off to some powerful noble who was twice her age. She then looked back up to see Gaara looking down at her with genuine concern in his eyes.
"Temari." he said with worry in his voice.
Temari stood back up to her feet before him. "I'm fine now Gaara." she told him. "I'm just trying to wrap my mind around this." she added.
Gaara was able to tell that this was very hard on her and truth be told, it was pretty hard on him too. Over the last few months, although it was a very slow process, he had been opening up to Kankuro and Temari and learning to grow closer to the both of them. He was learning how to have a relationship with his older siblings and it was making him feel real happiness for the first time in a long time in his life. And now, it seemed like he was gonna lose her and it broke his heart.
"I don't know who's been chosen to be your Husband, but whoever he is, if he ever hurts you in any way, I'll kill him." he promised.
Temari was actually surprised by that but strangely enough, she was actually touched by that. In his own way, Gaara was showing her how much he really cared for and was looking out for her.
"Thank you Gaara." she said with a weak smile.
"You're my Sister Temari." he replied. "Kankuro is my Brother and that makes you both people who're precious to me. With Father gone, you're the only family I have left and I desire nothing more then to protect you in any way I can." he told her.
Temari couldn't help it now but lean forward and embrace him in a firm but gentle hug. Gaara wasn't expecting this kind of physical contact with her but given that his sand didn't rise up to shield him like it did whenever he was in danger, he concluded that he wasn't threatened in any way. He wrapped his arms around her to hug his sister back and for a moment, he enjoyed this. Her embrace was warm and comforting which was a feeling that he really liked.
[Konoha At The Namikaze Compound]
Naruto was having dinner with his parents that evening. He was thrilled that his dad was okay in the end. Seeing him standing and speaking again brought great relief. Now he was at the dinning room table having his evening meal while telling his mom and dad about his mission with Jiraiya in looking for Tsunade and convincing her to come home. Minato and Kushina were listening and they were very proud of how hard he's been working lately, but they were still contemplating on how they were gonna break the news to him about his engagement to the Suna girl. How are you supposed to tell your child that someone has just made a decision that's gonna make such an impact on your life? How are parents supposed to tell their kid this?
By now, Naruto had already finished and grabbed his plate to take to the kitchen. "Thanks for dinner Mom, it was great." he told her before getting ready to get up.
Minato and Kushina looked to one another and without saying a word, the agreed that it was time to tell him. "Naruto, can you wait just a moment? Your Father and I need to speak with you." said Kushina.
Naruto froze where he stood at first. 'Oh crap, they didn't find out that Jiraiya took me out on one of his "Research" trips did they?' he thought to himself. He the turned and took his seat at the table, waiting for his folks to start talking.
Minato decided to start off and took a deep breath before beginning. "Naruto." he paused. "You know your Mother and I love you right?" he asked him.
Naruto was relieved when his dad didn't catch on about his trip with Jiraiya. "Well yeah, of course and I love you too." he answered with a smile.
"And you know that we want what's best for you right?" asked Kushina to her son.
"Um, yeah why?" he asked.
Minato leaned forward on his elbows. "Because we're about to ask you to do something that's gonna be very uncomfortable for you to do." he answered.
"...Like what?" he asked with a raised brow.
"Recently, we've received a message from Suna." he began. "The Sand Village wishes to further improve diplomatic relationships and restore the friendship that they once had with us." he told him.
Naruto wasn't expecting to hear more about Suna so soon. He remembered reading about how they've surrendered after only one major battle and he was glad that they were able to avoid another war with one of the most powerful villages.
"Okay that's great." he said with a grin, only for it to vanish. "But what does it have to do with me?" he asked with a brow raised.
His parents decided to stop dancing around this and just be strait forward with it. They told him how Suna sent a message with their proposal on an arranged marriage between one of their kunoichi to one of Konoha's ninja. They then explained that he was the one who was selected to be the groom and how his father had to stamp and approve the match before sending a message back to Suna telling them that they agreed to it. At first, Naruto just sat in his chair with a blank look on his face, kinda frozen where he was as if he didn't quite catch what his dad just told him. Within moments though, it all came rushing back and young blonde boy reacted just how his folks kinda thought he would. He didn't take it well at all.
"WHAT?!" he screamed to the top of his lungs, causing the whole house to rumble.
Minato and Kushina sat there with their ears ringing as Naruto freaked out over the news. He stood to his feet and slammed his hands on the table.
"What do you mean I'm getting married?!" he shouted to his father.
Minato laced his fingers and put them down before him on the table before responding. "It means Naruto that you're getting married." he replied. "You are now engaged, betrothed, affianced, you have been selected to be the Ninja from Konoha who'll marry the chosen Kunoichi from Suna to cement a new alliance between both our villages in a Marriage Treaty. I don't know how else I can say it in a manner that makes sense to you." he explained to his son.
"But I can't get married!" he protested. "I'm not old enough, I don't even know her and I...well that is..." Naruto lost track as he was thinking about Sakura.
For a very long time now, he had such strong feelings for his pink haired teammate. Sakura had rejected him many times before (And not the most graciously) but he'd always hoped that if he just acted really nice to her, then maybe she'd change her mind and give him a chance. It was one of his hopes that Sakura would say yes and go out with him like he asked her over and over. But now, he felt that all of that was coming to an end now. His parents were telling him that he was gonna be forcefully married off for political reasons and to a complete and total stranger no less. Kushina felt for him as well. She knew that Naruto really liked Sakura and she liked her too. She knew this was gonna be a heavy blow to her son.
"Naruto, I'm afraid that neither of those statements are entirely true." Minato replied, bringing his hands up under his chin. "First of all, yes. It is very unusual for someone of your age to be selected as a marriage candidate or be legally married to someone in general. But you must remember that you're no longer a child in the eyes of the village." he said which got his son's full attention. "When a student graduates the Academy, receives his or her Hitai Ate and joins a squad as all Ninja do, by law, you must re recognized as an adult. Unlike civilians who have to wait until they turn eighteen to become adults, Shinobi are recognized as such earlier because of all the dangerous missions they go on for a living." he explained to him.
"Espionage, Information Reconnaissance, Theft and Assassination." he listed off to him. "These are things Ninja do all the time. It's not a game for little kids and this made clear to all students when the enter the Academy. You don't send children on missions like these and you certainly don't organize them into regiments and brigades as soldiers during times of war either. I'll make it simple. The day Iruka gave you your headband, your childhood came to an end and your life as an adult began. And that means that you're entitled to all of the rights, privileges and responsibilities of being an adult. You can gamble, smoke, drink, move out and get a house of your own and like you will very soon, get married and raise a family." he told him.
Naruto stood for a moment, wide eyed at that statement before dropping back down into his chair to think things over. Now that he really thought about it, during his trip with Jiraiya alone, he'd done and gone to a lot of places that usually adults would go to like bars and pubs. Usually, children or anyone under the age of eighteen aren't permitted to enter but they'd see Naruto's headband and they'd figure "If you're old enough to kill, you're old enough to drink." so they'd let him sit and not question it. The dangerous missions he went on like the mission to the Land of Waves with Kakashi and his teammates certainly wasn't a trip to the beach or an amusement park for kids. He had to admit that his dad made a hell of a good point.
"And secondly, you actually do know your Bride-to-be Naruto." his father continued. "Or at least, you've already met her by now. She's the same young lady who came here and took part during the Chunin Exams, Temari." he told him.
Naruto was surprised when he heard her name and thought for a second on why it sounded familiar. Then the image of a teen girl who wore her blonde hair up in four spiky pigtails and wielding a giant fan came to his mind. His eyes widened when he realized who he was thinking of.
"I'm marrying Gaara's Big Sister?!" he freaked.
"So you do know her?" asked Kushina to her son.
"Barely." he replied. "I mean, I was there when she and her Brothers came to our village before the Exams started and I ran into them a couple of times all throughout. I saw her one more time after my battle with Gaara when she and Kankuro picked Gaara up and retreated after things went south for Suna and Oto. But in all honesty, I don't think she and I have ever said two direct words to one another." he answered.
Minato nodded his head at that. "Well, you're gonna have plenty of time to talk to and get to know her before your big day." he told him. "Temari should be coming in about a month so we're gonna help you prepare for her arrival so you can make a good first impression. I promise that your Mother and I are gonna help you out." he finished.
Naruto was getting more and more upset as this went on. "Why me?" he asked his parents. "And why to her?!" he yelled at the thought.
Minato sighed and leaned forward on his elbows. "I could give you a list of reasons as to why the both of you have been selected." he told him. "For starters, it's safe to say that given both of your heritage, it's an appropriate match." he explained to him.
"Our heritage?" he asked him.
"Naruto, you said that you never really spoke to Temari when she came to Konoha months ago right?" he asked to which he nodded. "Then I bet you'd be surprised to know that she is the first born and only Daughter of the Late Kazekage of Sunagakure." he explained.
Naruto's eyes really widened at that. "I...didn't see that coming." he admitted.
"It has been for a long time and still is a practice for the children of village leaders to be joined together in arranged marriages for political reasons." he continued. "Suna wants to restore the relationship they once had with us and they believe that this would be the best way to show how sincere they are in their intentions." he finished.
"The Son of Konoha's 4th Hokage marrying the Daughter of Suna's 4th Kazekage would be seen as a very symbolic union." his mother added. "It would serve as an example of the new friendship between out villages." she finished.
"But it's safe to say that it's not just your statuses as the children of village leaders either." Minato jumped in. "It's also your records." he added.
"Our records?" Naruto asked his dad.
Minato readjusted so he was more comfortable where he sat. "When we received the message containing the proposal from Suna, they asked for you by name and insisted that Temari marry you and nobody else. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that you made quite the impression on them during the Chunin Exams. They may also have liked what was within your file when we shared information." he explained.
"Furthermore." his mom cut in. "Temari also has a very impressive record for a young lady her age. She graduated top of her class and is very skilled in both strategy and Wind Style Ninjutsu. I believe that they offered her because they believed she was the best choice and they chose you because they thought you were the most suitable to be her Husband." she finished.
"All in all, once the Council read the proposal, they felt it was too good an offer to pass up." his dad continued. "We gain an old ally and a new Kunoichi to join our village while you both are joined together as Husband and Wife. An appropriate match." he finished.
Naruto looked down with his hands on the table for a moment and then his parents jumped when he slammed his clenched fists onto the table. "This is BULLSHIT!" he shouted.
"Naruto! Language!" Kushina snapped back.
Naruto stood to his feet again to yell. "Why would you guys do this to me?!" he shouted to his father who sat calmly in his chair.
Kushina was about to get mad but felt her husbands hand on her shoulder. She looked over to her and the look told her "It's okay, we'll remain calm and handle it." so she sat back down before Minato replied.
"Naruto, it wasn't our idea." he answered. "It wasn't what we wanted for you and it wasn't our decision to make." he added.
"Then why are you...?" he asked about to ask when Minato cut him off again.
"The order has come from the Lord of the Land of Fire." he answered. "It was an Executive order from him to me that I had to approve and agree to Suna's proposal." he explained.
Naruto got real quiet after hearing that before plopping right back down into his chair. "The Daimyo." he muttered just loud enough for his parents to hear.
"Naruto, your Father and I didn't want to have to make you go through this." said Kushina, feeling awful now about seeing her son's now defeated expression. "It has always been our hopes that you'd find someone on your own time and who you've chosen." she added.
"But even as Hokage, I don't have ultimate power." Minato told him. "As Hokage, my word is law in Konoha but the Daimyo is the supreme ruler of the Land of Fire. And when you're someone in my position, you learn very quickly that there are some things that are not within your control. And sometimes, that means that we have to make sacrifices." he explained.
Naruto knew now that there really was no way he was gonna get out of this one. Once the Daimyo has given the order, there's no backing out of it. Any act of defiance from here on out was almost treason. If Naruto were to refuse the Feudal Lord's orders, he could go to prison, lose his status as a ninja or both.
"I hate this." he muttered.
Naruto felt his mother who got up to come over and hug him. "I know you do." she replied lightly kissing the top of his head. "But this isn't a terrible thing Naruto, it's marriage." she told him, stepping back a bit but with her hands still on his shoulders. Minato got up as well to try and comfort his son. "Being married is a wonderful thing and even if this isn't what you had in mind, that doesn't mean this can't be happy. Your Father and I are gonna help you every step of the way with meeting Temari and we'll..." she was cut off when Naruto just backed out of her grasp and walked away. Both parents could see equal amounts of hurt and anger in his eyes as he headed to his room. "Naruto." Kushina called out, only to hear his bedroom door slam shut.
She was about to follow him when she felt Minato's hand on her shoulder. "Kushina, let him be for now." he told her.
"But Minato, he looked so..." she began.
Kushina feared this. Ever since she and Minato read the proposal and executive order given to them from the Daimyo, she dreaded what was happening now. The fact that Naruto was completely crushed by this whole marriage thing.
"We've said what we had to say." he told her. "I wanna be there for him too, but right now, Naruto is very angry and very hurt. We need to let him think about it and sleep on this so that he can get used to the idea." he told her.
Kushina leaned into her husbands arms to hold him tight and he held her too. "It's not fair Minato." she told him. "It's not fair that he has to go through this." she added.
"I know it's not." he replied. "Life can be very unfair." he told her.
[The Next Day]
The following morning, Minato called for summons of all Teams 7, 8, 9 as well as Gai's team in his office. Now that he and Kushina had the chance to talk to Naruto about his engagement to Temari, they were ready to talk to his friends and teammates. Might Gai stood off to the far right of the room with his protege Rock Lee standing in the same pose and trying to look cool and impressive while Neji Hyuuga stood in the middle of his team in a strait and proper manner with Tenten to his right who was watching Tsunade from across the room (She and Jiraiya came to offer moral support to their godson) with wide eyes that sparkled as she she marveled at her goddess. To their team's right was Team 9 under Asuma Sarutobi.
Asuma stood just behind his team with his hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth. In front of him was Shikamaru Nara who had his hands in his pockets as well and his usually lazy look in his eyes, like he really wanted to be finished with this meeting so he could find a tree to take a nap under. Choji Akimichi stood to his left with a bag of BBQ potato chips in his hands and stuffing his face with one handful after another while Ino Yamanaka shot glances at Sasuke and ugly looks at Sakura who noticed her. To the far left of the room was Team 8 under command of Kurenai Yuhi who stood at attendance with one hand on her hip and completely unaware of Jiraiya looking up and down her body secretly like all perverts such as him do.
Standing with her were her three Genin students. From left to right stood first Kiba Inukuka with his Ninken Akamaru tucked away comfortably in his master's coat with only his head poking out from under Kiba's chin, Shino Aburame who stood in the middle with his hands in his pocket and hiding his eyes behind his black shades and lastly, Hinata Hyuuga who was Neji's younger cousin, standing to the right of her teammates who fiddled with her fingers and blushed as she shot subtle glances at Naruto who was her crush. One of the things she couldn't help notice though, was that Naruto didn't look like himself. He looked like he didn't get a lot of sleep the previous night and was not as happy which was unusual for him. He was always happy and energetic.
Lastly was Team 7 with Kakashi Hatake standing behind his students Naruto Namikaze just in front of him, Sasuke Uchiha to his left who had his ever cranky expression while Sakura stood to Naruto's right and she was shooting death glares at Ino who wouldn't stop checking out Sasuke. The Hokage took one more look at the paper in his hand before putting it back down and resting his hands on his desk. This was gonna be a lot easier then what transpired last night when he and his wife broke the news to their son. Now he was simply wondering how they were gonna react to the news.
"Everyone, thank you for all coming so quickly." Minato began. "I have some very important news to share with all of you. Tomorrow, I plan on making an announcement to the whole village, but I believe it's important that I inform all of you first since you're the ones I've chosen for an important task." he told them.
"What is it Sensei?" asked Kakashi in his usually lazy sounding tone.
"We have received a message from Sunagakure about a week ago." The Hokage answered. "They're quite sincere in wanting to show how sorry they are for breaking our trust and attacking our village with Orochimaru. They've made a very generous offer to us in the hopes of cementing a new alliance with us by reopening an old tradition. One that hasn't been done since Lady Mito Uzumaki of Uzushiogakure immigrated to Konoha to marry the First Hokage, Hashimara Senju. They're offering one of their Kunoichi as a bride to one of our Ninja in an arranged marriage and Konoha has agreed." he explained.
"We still have arranged marriages?" asked Tenten.
"It's not as common in this day and age, but yes." he replied. "We have agreed to have what is called a Marriage Treaty with the Sand Village." he added.
The purpose of the marriage treaty was to ensure lasting peace between warring factions. When the fighting has stopped and both sides want an end to the conflict, the losing or surrendering side offers up a bride from one of their families to marry into one of the families of the victors. She immigrates to her new home and plays a role with her new husband as the symbols of lasting peace and friendship between both parties. The children they have together will also serve as examples of how successful the marriage alliance is. It was more commonly used to help bring an end to the conflict between warring clans during the first shinobi world war and it also had a hand in ending the second as well. Although not as common, it can still be used today.
"And we're really gonna follow that old tradition for peace?" asked Kurenai. "Why not just meet for a new peace treaty instead of forcing two people who barely know each other into a life long commitment?" she asked.
"I don't fault you for thinking along that line Kurenai." said Minato as he sat back. "But to be fair, this wasn't really my idea. I was still in a coma when the proposal was brought to the village so the Daimyo was the one who approved the offer once it was brought to him. I'm under orders from him to agree to Suna's offer." he told her.
"But Hokage-Sama, why would Suna go so far for a new alliance?" asked Sakura.
Minato looked to his son's teammate to answer. "If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say they're in a situation where they're in need of a new alliance with our village for their own safety." he told her. "Plus, this sort of tradition has been very useful in the past both strategically and politically. I'm sure that the Daimyo also sees our need to ally ourselves with Suna again to avoid war with our enemies like Iwa or Kumo. The problem is that it could be hard for them to try negotiating for a new treaty if most of our village already sees them as a threat or even hates them. Offering a bride to us in an arranged marriage by customs, is their way of showing how sincere they are in wanting to improve our relationships." he finished.
"Makes a lot of sense if you think about it." said Shikamaru. "Suna's greatest threat has always been Iwa from the Land of Earth. Our old alliance with them as always kept the Stone from trying to invade because they knew that we'd back them up if it came to open war. Now that they broke that treaty, they're left in a bad position." he explained.
"Shikamaru is right." replied Minato with an impressed smile. "Suna suffered heavy losses and they still haven't chosen their next Kazekage so an alliance with us may be the only thing that'll save them." he told em.
"Why even bother with em?" asked Kiba. "We're under no obligations to them at all. Suna attacked us and killed a lot of people when they did. I say if Iwa goes to war with Suna, let em burn." he said plainly.
"I suppose we could do that." replied the Hokage again. "But don't forget to look at the bigger picture. Our alliance with Suna has always kept Iwa from attack them but conversely, it's always kept Kumo from attacking us too. Our old treaty was a promise to each other that if one village was ever in need of aid, they could trust their friend and ally to assist them. We may not be in a desperate situation politically right now, but I'm sure most people in Konoha would appreciate it if they could survive one Shinobi war and then avoid another one afterword. Even if it means agreeing to an arranged marriage with the people who betrayed us and worked with our old enemy." he said, lacing his fingers under his chin. "Besides, the Daimyo has given the order so that's that." he finished.
"So when's the Bride coming to Konoha?" asked Tsunade.
"We've sent word to them that we've accepted their proposal about a day ago." replied the blonde Hokage. "They should be hearing from us in a few days after that so preparations will be underway." he said, turning back to the teens. "And that is why I've called you all here. Part of the tradition is providing a new house for the Bride and her Groom to move into together. A house was already chosen in the Groom's family compound in fact. The place isn't in very bad shape mind you, but it does need serious remodeling. That's your mission everyone. The Bride should be arriving here in about a month so you'll need to fix it up into a state fit to be seen in preparations for the arrival of this new young lady." he finished.
Sasuke scoffed at that. "Is that why you called us here?" he asked. "Having us clean and refurbish a house for some political couple? Why can't you get a labor force for the job." he added.
"Well I'd like to point out two things." he replied. "All of our masons and laborers are already busy trying to rebuild the damage done to the village. Even with the aid of Suna's own labor force, they're overwhelmed with the amount of damage to our village's houses and the walls. I would use them, but they're stretched to thin and this job cannot wait." he told everyone who all nodded or just accepted it. "Also, most of you will be working on the new house yes, but Naruto won't be." he added.
This surprised all of the younger ninja in the room. "Why's that Hokage-Sama?" asked Ino.
Kakashi suddenly had a more serious expression in his eye as he and all the other Jonin in the room were catching on. Minato was about to respond but Naruto beat him to it. He let out a sigh and turned to face her.
"Because it's my wedding I'm getting ready for." he told her.
"Huh?" asked Ino and Sakura in unison, not sure if they heard him right. Everyone else looked quite troubled at first by what Naruto said.
"Naruto is right." said the Hokage. "His Mother and I will be taking the next month to educate him in all the proceedings and preparations for the arrival of his Bride." he explained.
The silence in the room was truly defining. All of Naruto's teammates and friends, even Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru and Shino who're usually very calm and quiet started at the blonde, orange clad ninja like he had lobsters coming out of his ears with their eyes as wide as dinner plates and their jaws dropping. Naruto knew this and turned to respond to their dumbfounded expressions.
"You guys are gonna catch flies with your mouths hanging wide open like that." he told them.
Once they snapped out of it, Sakura was the first to speak. "W-W-When did this happen?" she asked with wide eyes still.
"Mom and Dad ran it by me last night during dinner." he replied. "Very soon, I'm gonna be married to a girl from Suna for a political alliance between both them and us." he told her.
"Do you even know who you're gonna marry?" Ino asked.
Naruto sighed. "Yup." he replied. "Temari of the Desert." he told them.
"Temari?" asked Ino.
"Why does that name sound..." started Sakura.
Both girls eyes shot wide open when they realized who he was talking about. They both turned to see Tenten who had this look on her face like she was thinking "Are you kidding me?"
"I know right?" he asked with a weak smirk.
"Uh...Congratulations?" asked Kiba who felt kinda bad for his old buddy.
"Thanks." replied Naruto. "Nobody's more thrilled about it then me." he remarked sarcastically.
Nobody else in the room really noticed Hinata who looked on at the boy she admired. Both her hands rose up to cling at her heart as she felt it break. For the longest time, since they first entered the academy at the age of eight, Hinata admired Naruto. She enjoyed watching him interact with his friends and how he tackled every challenge head on with such confidence. For so long, she only wished that she had that kind of belief in herself. As she grew even older, she came to really like him and later on, she loved him. She used to go to bed with all kinds of romantic dreams and fantasies of her and Naruto together and she used to curse herself for not rallying the courage to confront him and tell him how she felt. She wanted to so badly.
But now, it was all falling apart before her very eyes. The distance between her and the boy she loved seemed to grow wider and wider by the second when the harsh reality of him being married off to another girl in a political marriage shattered the dreams she used to have of him. The young Hyuuga Heiress had to fight as hard as she could to keep herself from just breaking down and crying right there in the middle of the room. Her father would scorn her for showing such weakness in public.
Minato then turned back once everyone was able to calm down. "Does anybody else have any further questions?" he asked. After a moment of silence, he nodded. "Then you all have you assignments. Kakashi, I'm placing you in charge of the reconstruction efforts. I want everyone to be ready for work and to head down to my Family's Compound. This will be the address to the house." he said, handing a slip of paper to his old student. "Naruto, if you could stay please." he said to his son.
Naruto stood and watched as everyone else filed out of the room. He glanced one last time at Sakura before turning away as she was the last to leave the room.
[The Hallway]
Everyone was off to the side in the hallway with their own teams while their teachers talked. Asuma's team was currently talking with Kakashi's.
"Well, that was an interesting visit to the Hokage's" said Shikamaru.
"Tell me about it." replied Sasuke.
"I can't believe that Naruto is gonna get married." said Ino. "He's gonna be the first of our class to get married. Honestly, I never saw that coming." she added.
"Can't really say I'm too surprised." said Sasuke. "The children of village leaders and clan leaders are often chosen for arranged marriages all the time. Naruto's the Son of the 4th Hokage so it was probably only a matter of time before he was gonna be married off for some alliance. To be fair though, even I didn't expect it to be a girl from Suna." he finished.
"And not just any." said Sakura. "It's Temari who's gonna move here and become his Wife." she commented, remembering that she was also the one who thrashed Tenten during the chunin exams and had a part in attacking their village.
Shikamaru's eye twitched remembering her. "Yeah, I can't say I'm looking forward to seeing her again so soon." he remarked. "Troublesome."
Just then, Shino and Kiba walked up to the teams. "Hey, have either of you guys seen Hinata?" asked Kiba.
Ino and Sakura looked over to one another then back to him. "Wasn't she with you?" asked Ino.
"She was, but she took off." replied Shino.
"We wanted to know what's up." said Kiba. "I only saw her for a second when we were excused and she looked really upset." he said, worried about his friend and teammate.
[Elsewhere]
Hinata was beside herself with grief. Once they were excused, she was the first to leave the room and run off to find a quiet and isolated place to cry. Her sensei, Kurenari saw what was going on and followed her. She was now sitting at a table with the young Hyuuga girl and gently running her hand over Hinata's back and shoulders while the poor thing cried her eyes out from losing any chances she had with the boy she loved. Kurenai felt for her. She knew from the get go that Hinata was in love with Naruto and she understood to a certain level what she was going through. She had her heart broken several times before when she was either dumped by a man she liked or lost him either on a mission or to another woman. She wanted to help her student.
"Hinata, I am so very sorry." she said softly as she continued trying to comfort the girl. "I know you had strong feelings for him." she added.
"It's not fair Sensei." said wailed. "It's just not fair." she cried.
Hinata would cry for many more hours with her sensei there with her the whole time.
[Hokage's Office]
Naruto stood in the center of the room with his parents across his father's desk and his hands hanging to his side. At the very moment, neither of them spoke. Things were still a little uncomfortable between Naruto and his folks, given how everything unraveled last night when they first had to tell him that he was now engaged. Kushina and Minato really wanted to try and make things batter with Naruto again but they simply didn't know yet on what to say. Neither of them had to go through what he's having to go through so it's not like they could say that they understand how he feels to try and help him feel better but they knew they couldn't just do absolutely nothing. As his parents, they had to try and make things right again.
"Naruto." Minato finally said, still wondering what he's going to say. "Your Mother and I...we." he was cut off though when Naruto sighed and looked back up at him.
They noticed that he didn't look very angry with them anymore. He wasn't smiling sure, but he wasn't as tense or angered with them as he was the night before. He seemed to have really calmed down.
Naruto sighed. "I guess we got a lot of work to do before Temari get's here, huh?" he asked.
Minato nodded. "You're Mother and I are gonna be here to help you get ready." he told him.
Kushina had some books brought in. She smiled to him when they both took a seat side by side. "How about after an hour or two, we go out to Ichiraku's?" she asked him.
Naruto looked back up and Kushina felt some relief when she saw a hopeful smile on his face. Maybe things were gonna turn around for them and they would have their son back smiling and pulling pranks again like he used to.
[Sunagakure]
On a Suna Tracker Ninja lookout, a single scout was waiting before he saw the messenger hawk fly in and land on his outstretched arm. He removed the note attacked to his bird's leg and then flashed away to bring the note back to his charges. He flashed into the room where the elder Ebizo was waiting for him to bring the response from Konoha. He knelt and handed his letter to the elderly man before being dismissed. Chiyo entered the room just in time to see that Ebizo had already opened the message to begin reading it.
"News from Konoha?" she asked.
Ebizo turned and handed it to her. She took the slip of paper and once she finished, she looked back up and smiled.
"It would seem that Konoha has accepted our generous offer." he said with a smile of his own.
"Then we must inform Baki." replied the elderly lady. "He has the duty of preparing Temari for her journey to Konoha where we'll present her to her new Groom and future In Laws." she finished.
[Author's Notes] So as you all can see, I have once again made some major changes to the second chapter as I did the first. I decided that it would be best to have Minato and Kushina tell Naruto first and in private at their home before dropping the same bombshell on everyone else in the Hokage's office the following day. I also wanted to show a lot more anger and a feeling of betrayal from Naruto when he'd learn of his engagement to Temari. I also thought it was more important to have his parents educate him in all the proceedings rather then have Kakashi do it like I did before. I plan on making another change like this to the third chapter as well and updating it too with the same writing style that I'm using now.
As always, thank you all so much for reading my stories, please leave a Review or a PM as I love getting em from my readers and I hope you all have a very nice day.
This is Dragon1990 signing out :-)