"I don't wanna." She sighs.
"Sasuke-" He holds up a hand and shakes his head, cutting her off.
"No." The woman frowns in frustration now as the young man crosses his arms and stares at her in objection with a raised eyebrow. He could tell she was brewing in anger right about now, but he couldn't care less.
"I don't like him. And I don't want to play Kage babysitter either." The woman glares at him again, her fingers drumming against the desk impatiently before she grins and rests her chin on her hands. He didn't like that look she had.
"Escort him and give him a place to sleep during his stay and I will pay you double of what you would get on a S-ranked mission."
"Hah?! Now I have to give him lodging too? Why can't he stay at an inn?"
"It is the best offer you will get Sasuke, and he is a Kage of another village. We may have peace, but that doesn't mean we cannot keep an eye on a sudden visit that has no visible reason." Making an irritated face, the jonin sighs.
"Fine old woman. Deal. I will babysit the tiny kage for my extra cash." Though she looked like she wanted punch him in the throat, she merely nod and dismissed him with a wave of her hand. A plus: more money for extra food, minus: stuck with the sand kage for the weekend...better be worth it.
════ナルト════
"I am still so shocked to see you here. Its been awhile." Taking his chopsticks, Naruto gives a glance to his visitors before turning his attention fully to his meal, ready to destroy his bowl of ramen. He was originally waiting for Kakashi's return from a meeting with Tsunade, but while he was dining on his 3rd bowl of ramen, a surprise came to him.
"Yes well...being a Kage is busy work. You will have to endure it as well when you become hokage, Naruto." Smiling, Naruto slurps up his bite of ramen before giving a large grin.
"Don't worry, I will catch up to you soon!" At first, Gaara, his long time friend, simply smiles and Sasuke rolled his eyes. But then his smile falls and he heaves a sigh.
"Gaara?"
"Naruto...about your future dream to be hokage...I am not sure you are on the correct path at the moment to reach that dream." Blinking, Naruto sets down his chop-sticks, his head moving in a way that made a certain dark spot on his skin visible. This seems to deepen his friend's frown before he reaches over and yanks down Naruto's collar to reveal more marks here and there in hidden spots. In the corner of his eye, he sees Sasuke slapping his own chopsticks aside and grabbing the hilt of his sword in defense, ready to attack if Naruto was in danger.
"This is the path I am referring to. That man." Pulling his collar away, Naruto closes his jacket further to hide all of the marks before frowning.
"You mean Kakashi? What are you talking about?"
"Did I hear my name? I could swear I heard it come from an angelic voice over here." Perking up, Naruto seems to forget the conversation with Gaara and turns to find Kakashi moving to sit down in the empty spot on the other side of Naruto. As he sits down, he presses a small clothed kiss to Naruto's cheek and sighs.
"Did you get reamed yet Kakashi?" The man glances at Sasuke who was grinning once again and holding his chopsticks before chuckling and sighing with a shake of his head.
"No, but I have always dread serious meetings like that. I wish she would have just let me take Naruto so I could bear the seriousness of the conversation." Hearing the slight whiny tone of Kakashi's voice made the genin chuckle softly and shake his head. It was almost like they switched personalities sometimes. Maybe he rubbed off on Kakashi a little in the time they have been together.
"She probably wouldn't let you so you would pay attention." Naruto gives Sasuke a brief grin at his playful tone before he turns back to Kakashi.
"It couldn't have been that bad. Also, we have a guest, Gaara is here for the weekend." Kakashi, once hearing Naruto's sentence, leans back in his chair a little so he could look at the man who was occupying the other seat next to Naruto. Sticking out a hand, he waves at the man.
"Oh...hello Kazekage-sama. You're so quiet that I didn't notice you." Looking back at Gaara, Naruto notices his very open frown on his usually calm face and remembers the comment the man had uttered to him before. What did he mean and why was he glaring at Kakashi like that? He hadn't seen Gaara look so angry since they were younger.
"I have to ask...why are you acting so weird Gaara? Do you have a problem with Kakashi?" The Kage turns his gaze to Naruto and nods before sliding off his seat and looking straight at Kakashi. What happened between them? Seeing Kakashi's somewhat confused face was not helping him decipher the situation either and Sasuke just shrugged like it wasn't his problem.
"Kakashi Hatake, you are an adult 10 years his senior, are you not? I have heard recently of your current relationship with Naruto. I am sorry, but I cannot allow such a relationship to go on. It is immoral. Your age difference is too great and you are jeopardizing his chances for the hokage spot. Think about what people will say in regards to your inappropriate relationship with your student. If they think that he is weak to being seduced by an old man, than no one will take him seriously." Naruto makes a face for a moment before slowly turning towards Kakashi and staring in shock. The man looked beyond angry now and was staring hardcore at the ground below him.
"Old?" Without another word, Kakashi steps off of his seat and starts to walk away, Naruto grabbing his sleeve before he could get far enough. He looks up at Kakashi with an equally angry yet determined expression.
"You are not old Kakashi! Gaara, why would you say something so cruel to Kakashi?! He's done nothing wrong according to Baa-chan. We're following all the rules! You are my friend...but I can't allow you to say something so mean to someone else who is important to me. Please apologize to him." Naruto gave Gaara a look of plea and frowned in surprise when the Kage shook his head.
"I refuse. He is poison to your future Naruto. I will not give an apology for trying to help you when you obviously don't seem to know better." Naruto growls softly before he looked like he was ready to knock the sense back into his friend, his fist balling and raising.
"Why yo-" Before he could continue, Kakashi covers his mouth with one hand and holds onto his closed and raised fist with the other before he quietly hushes him. Sasuke, who had seen the situation escalating, also moved forward and blocked Gaara from Naruto, his arm out. He didn't need Naruto getting into big trouble for punching a kage and starting an uproar. Looking up, Naruto's eyes widen when he sees Kakashi looking at him with a soft expression.
"Don't Naruto. You may regret your actions, so lets just go home okay?Sasuke, please take care of things from here." Naruto is released only after he nods before he gives a hurt glance at Gaara and lets the man tow him away after Kakashi gives money for the ramen he ate. They walked quietly for some time, hand-in-hand, saying nothing until Naruto looks up at him again.
"Kakashi...I don't think that you are old, nor do I think that you will keep me from being hokage. I don't know why he said such things, but they aren't true!" The jonin briefly looks at him before looking forward again and sighing through his mask.
"Naruto...Tsunade told me in our meeting that I was the best candidate for being the 6th hokage and to at least think about it." Suddenly, Naruto stops and soon, his surprised face lights up and he gives Kakashi a playful punch on the arm.
"Good going Kakashi!"
"She also said that it is pretty much decided that you will take either the 7th or 8th spot depending on your progress and with my training for you. So we will both have to work hard okay?" Naruto's look of glee only increases before he grins widely and crosses his arms. He already knew he was going to be hokage. He told everyone! Soon though, his smile fades when he sees Kakashi looking away with a troubled look in his eye.
"I am not worried about your future as hokage, that much you can be sure of. But...he isn't wrong about my age. I am 10 years older than you...so I want to...I want to give you the chance reconsider us. If you think that you may have a doubt...than we should not continue before I get even more attached to you." Blinking, Naruto watches as the jonin's expression shifts to one that was sad, his eye downcast to the ground as if he couldn't really look at the blond who was only becoming more and more conflicted. Kakashi just looked so...defeated, and vulnerable, like he might actually cry. Sighing, Naruto reaches his hands out and takes Kakashi's, his lips grazing across the man's clothed knuckles. What would Kakashi say to him if the tables were turned? Something cool he bet that would have him in tears of happiness. Now it was his time to be the bad-ass; Kakashi could take a break from his sexy speeches for the day.
"I ought to hit you for saying such a stupid thing Kakashi. We've been through so much and here you are, trying to say that you will selflessly let me go if I don't want to be with you over something as trivial as age. I do not care if you are 28 or were 40 right now. I love you, so much. Everything that you are is mine and mine alone. I will not hand you over to anyone else nor will I allow you to escape my grasp. You have branded me as yours, do not illusion yourself to believe that I will tolerate you trying to get out of taking responsibility for that." That sounded like him right? He was sure Kakashi would reply with something cool like that, or at least he hoped that he would so he didn't look completely stupid right now.
"Naruto..." When he got the guts to look up at the man's expression again, his eyes widened and he blushed a little. Kakashi's hands were removing themselves from Naruto's grasp and instead now moving to his own mask and Naruto's hand to pull it down as they stopped in a tight and empty back alley. As Kakashi pressed their lips together in a passionate kiss, Naruto gripped the man's flak and thought about the red and affectionate face Kakashi had given him in response to his speech. In that moment, the world around them just disappeared from his thoughts.
════サスケ ════
"It...could have gone better than it did..."
"No duh. I thought that you were a little smarter than that Kazekage. This is just proof that all of the kage really are stupid. Stupid." The idiot with the purple paint on his face growls as he leans closer to the male over the table.
"Watch how you speak to him Uchiha. Don't forget that he is a kage after all." The man snickers softly before leaning over the table and grabbing Gaara's collar, his harsh glare staring him down.
"He doesn't deserve the respect after what he said to Naruto. I am surprised that he even had the balls to thank me for stepping in front of him after insulting my team members." The redhead sighs softly and looks to the side as if in shame and removes Saskue's hand from his collar gently, setting his hand down on the table.
"I knew Naruto would be angry with me. I want to apologize as well as try to have a proper discussion on the issue. Your teacher is 28 compared to his 18. On top of him being 10 years older, he is his teacher and according to Tsunade, the future hokage of the village. He honestly, does not have the right to lay that kind of claim to a child." Sitting back in his seat, Sasuke crosses his arms, a glare on his face still.
"Naruto isn't a child anymore. And why the fuck would I help you steal the one happiness Naruto has right now? Frankly, I don't like you. I do not trust you and I almost wish that we let Naruto punch your face in." The kage looks down with a small sigh, looking a little hurt as his brother growls once again, glaring Sasuke down as if that would actually scare him.
"But...Naruto considers you to be a friend and I am sure he is conflicted about his anger with you. I will help you apologize for his and Kakashi's sake alone, but only if you keep the bullshit about your supposed concerns to yourself and you tell Kakashi that you are sorry."
"But-"
"This isn't up for discussion! You insulted a good man whose only ever given Naruto what everyone else was denying him. Kakashi is one of the reasons why he is so strong and matured now. Not you. So it is you that has no right to pretend that you know what is best for him." Leaning forward again, Sasuke gives a sinister grin, his hand grabbing the man's chin and holding his face in place as he moved close enough to whisper clearly.
"Besides, we both know your intentions have nothing to do with his sake and everything to do with your own. You're just pissed that Naruto desires someone that isn't you." The surprised look the Kage gave only confirmed the male's suspicions and made him chuckle as he released his face.
"Pathetic." Standing from his seat, the Uchiha shook his head and walked away, looking more and more amused by the situation. Naruto really owed him now.
════我愛羅════
"How could you let him talk to you like that?" The Kage's hand lifted up to stroke his chin, his gaze on the seat that the man inhabited before. It wasn't like he was wrong, his intentions were leaning towards that...but he had also come to terms with the fact that was just not happening.
"His attitude was why I had wanted to confide in him in the first place. I don't want someone to sugarcoat it for me. I knew he would be blunt with me and he isn't wrong either. I do feel as though my unrequited feelings for Naruto are more than platonic. Seeing Kakashi so easily take him from my grasp when I had given up on my feelings for his sake, made me angry. I wanted to give Naruto the opportunity to find a girl and create a family of his own and this whole time, that man was stealing his heart away right under my nose. I had respect for Kakashi the entire time he was breaking my heart without me knowing."
"Gaara..." Sighing, the Kage stands from seat and looks up, spotting Sasuke as he stopped at a nearby shop to wait for them, looking at a crate of tomatoes being sold there. Seeing the other purchase a few well grown tomatoes with a soft smile towards the old lady, Gaara felt his face where Sasuke touched him warm up. Why is it that Sasuke saying that he didn't like him bother him a little bit?