-Chapter 21 Leaves in the Wind-

Their time with the princess of their country winding down, both Naruto and Tenten were determined to spend as much time as they could with her before they had to make their way back to their own village. Currently they were out at Sunagakure's bazaar, perusing their way through the various shops and picking their way through the various clothes, souvenirs, and snacks that were native to this part of the land. Naruto quickly lost interest when he found a distinct lack or orange in any of the clothes that they saw, but was more than happy to participate in the choosing of food. Tenten and Setsuna spent most of their time swooning over some of the rarer trinkets that Suna offered, though only Tenten cringed a bit when she saw the prices on them. She would have to do a little bit of saving before she could afford some of them, but she would settle on some of the less expensive items for now. They were still great pieces and would do wonders for increasing the aesthetics in her own place.

Secretly, she was glad that Setsuna hadn't pushed to hard when she offered to help pay for the items, her royal lineage more than useful when it came to purchases such as these. Never mind the fact that she wanted to be able to pay for non-essential items like this on her own, she was not too keen on allowing Setsuna to pay for her simply because she didn't want to feel like she was using the girl. Setsuna had been nothing short of an absolute pleasure to be around and she certainly wasn't going to take advantage of that, especially for something like this. She probably would have commended Naruto for doing much of the same if it weren't for the fact that Naruto was a man of simple tastes. Nothing he wanted to buy was outside of his financial range, and he very rarely bought much. Unless you were talking about ramen, then he would be more than happy to spend whatever was necessary.

The medical nins that were tending to Lee had given him 3 days of convalescence before he would be well enough to make the trip back to Konoha. Setsuna had stated that she wanted to spend a little bit of time with him tomorrow, before they had to leave, citing her need to express her gratitude to him for protecting her as valiantly as he did. Both Naruto and Tenten could see that there was certainly more to it than that but chose not to speak on it. Naruto in particular was hoping that Gaara had managed to get something going on but up until this point, nothing.

They were making their way back to the apartments that they were staying at, revisiting the rooms that Naruto had stayed in during his initial visit to Suna, when they were greeted by a man that neither Naruto nor Tenten recognized. This, however, was not a problem for the third member of their party. "Kanda-kun? What are you doing here?" While she may not have had a face to face meeting with her Suna counterpart, she had been sent more than enough pictures of him to be able to recognize her future husband.

"Well, why wouldn't I be here? We were all concerned about you when we heard that you had been kidnapped, but as soon as news came that you had been rescued and were in Suna, I came as quickly as I could." He moved from his position on the wall near the door of the apartment complex and stood before Setsuna and her escorts for the day. "I don't believe that we have been introduced yet. Takenaka Kanda. Son of the Daimyo of the Land of Wind. A pleasure to meet the two of you."

So this was the man that Setsuna was going to be marrying. Naruto had to admit that the guy was every bit the man that she had described. Tenten would be the one to speak up for the two of them. "Takenaka-sama, it is an honor to meet you. My name is Tenten, and this is Uzumaki Naruto." Both would give him a respectful bow.

"Uzumaki. I know that name. You have managed to garner quite the reputation in my country, particularly in regards to the Kazekage. He always speaks highly of you whenever your name gets mentioned." Kanda was certainly familiar with Naruto's name, though he did have to embellish things a bit, as while Gaara did indeed have nice things to say about the Konoha nin, it was not without his fair share of sarcasm and light hearted humor.

Apparently, Naruto himself was not fooled at all by his sugar coating. "No offense, but if I know Gaara like I am sure that I do, then anything nice he had to say about me probably was tacked on to the end of something not so nice."

Kanda couldn't help the chuckle that came to him. "Seems like you know my Kazekage well. If we ever get the chance I may have to pick your brain a little bit for tips on how best to talk with him. But for now I do have something I wish to discuss with my fiancé."

Both ninjas would quickly nod their heads at that and moved to give the pair their privacy. "You know where to find us in case you need anything Setsuna." Tenten gave a slight wave after addressing her, following Naruto into the apartment building.

This left the two royals standing outside of the building. "So what was it that you wished to discuss Kanda-kun?"

"First, why do we relocate somewhere with a bit more privacy?" He was glad that Setsuna did not react strongly to his request, realizing the slight mistake in his wording seconds after he said it. While he certainly did not have any ulterior motives, he was not blind to how easily his words could be misinterpreted. Thankfully, Setsuna would simply nod her head and wait for him to lead the way. Satisfied he began walked towards the Kage Tower.

Kanda, after consulting with the Kazekage, had managed to procure one of the smaller meeting rooms inside of the tower for his talk with his fiancé. The room itself only contained a table with enough room for 6 people to sit comfortably, though it did have a rather large window that provided those who would occupy the room a nice view of the village. The Kazekages generally used this room for rather long meetings with a small number of people. Considering the lack of chairs in the Kazekage's chamber, it wasn't at all prudent to make people have to stand for long periods of time.

Kanda had taken up position near the window, glancing out at the people going about their way, doing whatever it was they were doing. Setsuna had come up to the window as well, standing next to him.

"You know. This is my first time being in a ninja village. While the circumstances are a bit less than ideal, I am glad that I have gotten to see just how the people and ninjas that serve under my father live their lives." Kanda would be the one to break the silence.

"I know what you mean. It was only a few days ago that I was inside of my own ninja village for the first time. Again, less than ideal circumstances, but everything worked out in the end." Setsuna picked up the conversation from there. "I always imagined what it would be like to be one myself. Training, going out on missions. Then again, I don't know if I could handle having to kill someone." Sure she had witnessed the deaths of quite a few people in just the short few days since her capture, but witnessing and causing were two different things in her mind.

"Hmm, maybe. Then again, your escorts seemed to be rather well adjusted themselves. I would imagine that it is something that you eventually get used to." Taking a small breath, he would then get to the matter at hand. "If I am not mistaken, they were the ones that facilitated our rescue correct?"

"Yes, them and someone else." At this he was once again reminded of her feelings for the third member of her little rescue party. Being right next to the man that she was supposed to marry did not make things any easier.

"This someone else. Are you talking about that guy in the green spandex, with the bowl cut and the most interesting set of eyebrows I have ever seen on a human?" Now that he had said it out loud, Kanda found himself even more shocked at the description of the nin.

Setsuna simply let out a giggle. "I will admit that his appearance did leave me wondering a bit as well, but how exactly do you know about him?"

"I arrived here a little earlier today. I had a brief talk with the Kazekage where he assured me that you were here and safe. I opted to give you a little bit of time with your friends before I came to see you, during which time Gaara showed me to the training grounds, stating that Temari-san would be going through her usual rounds there. When I got there. Temari-san was indeed there, though she was not alone. She was engaging in quite the heated spar with… Lee, was it?"

In the back of her mind, she absolutely wanted to scold Lee for pushing himself like this. She was well aware of his always training, always getting better attitude, but even he had to know that after what he had been through, he needed to just stay in bed and let his wounds heal. She would managed a slight furrowing of her brow, sighing a bit. "He shouldn't have been out there. He took a few kunai to the back protecting me."

Kanda looked surprised at this, not at all realizing that he had been injured during the transport. "I see. Well he certainly didn't look or move like he was bothered by those injuries. Then again, I would imagine that his mind was a bit distracted by the conversation he was having with Temari-san, and not on whatever pain he should have been feeling at the time."

"Conversation?" To the best of her knowledge, which came from stories that Naruto and Tenten had told her, Lee didn't usually hold conversation during combat, training or otherwise. He generally focused on his opponent and how best he could defeat them.

"Yes, and quite the interesting one at that. It actually brings me to the reason why I wanted to converse with you here." He would take one more deep breath before turning to face Setsuna. "Tell me, are you aware of the fact that Lee is harboring feelings for you?"

Well this certainly came out of left field. Setsuna's eyes widened considerably, her hands clenching slightly. This certainly was not what she had been expecting him to say. "I…. uh….." Eventually she would just exhale audibly, head tilted towards the floor and eyes downcast. "Yes. Yes I am."

"And judging by your reaction, I assume that it would be safe to say that you reciprocate these feelings."

"He doesn't know. He can't know." Resigned, she looked back up at Kanda. "The night before I left Konoha to come here, I found out that Lee had feelings for me. Genuine feelings for me. I eavesdropped on a conversation he was having with Tenten. I told Tenten that I had feelings for him as well, but I knew that I couldn't act on them because of, well, us. As much as I like Lee, the simple fact is that it can't happen because of the fact that we have to get married for this alliance. I told myself that I wouldn't allow anything to interfere with this, not matter what that meant."

In the back of his mind, Kanda had to be impressed with her fortitude. Despite the fact that it meant losing out of the happiness that she had just found, she was more than willing to pass that up for her duty as heiress. And while he certainly appreciated that kind of dedication, he felt it was necessary to reward that dedication by giving her what she wanted. "Hmm. So if you had the option of being with him and getting the alliance, would you take it?"

"What difference does it make? It isn't and option that's on the table. I-" Kanda's held up hand stopped her from continuing.

"If you had the option, would you take it?"

Setsuna was immediately brought back to her words to Tenten the night before she left Konoha. "And yet, I cannot deny that if I had the choice, I would choose Lee-san over Kanda-kun in an instant." Growing silent once again, she would simply nod her head.

Kanda would smile. This of course made Setsuna grow confused. "Setsuna, I don't know how much your father has told you about this union, but I will go ahead and fill you in of one detail in specific that you should know. Your father did ask for our union, yes, but only because he wanted you to have a strong partner with you to help you lead the country. The alliance could have gone through no matter what. I would be more than willing to step down and allow Lee to take his place next to you if that would make you happy."

Setsuna was in shock at this point, unable to comprehend just how colossal this was. She had an out, a way to be with Lee and still get this alliance through. However, she would not allow herself to build up too much hope just yet. There was still one very important aspect of this that needed to be addressed. "But what about our parents? I mean I don't know about yours, but I do know that my father is not going to let this pass too easily."

"No worries on my end. Father was willing to allow this alliance to go through marriage or not. I believe that the issue lies on your side. From what I have gathered, your father is extremely picky about who takes your side correct?"

"That' is right. While I do believe in Lee and his abilities, I am not sure if he is ready to stand up to my father's scrutiny."

"Hmm, I get the feeling that Lee will do just fine. But let us not concern ourselves with that for the moment. Right now we need to get in contact with our parents, see if we can get a meeting together."

"That will not be necessary." A voice from the corner of the room made both royals jump a bit. Seconds later the air seemed to shimmer, and out stepped Gaara. "I have already sent word to both of your parents. Setsuna, your father will be arriving at the Wind Country capital in a few days, this time with a much more substantial escort. That should leave you with more than enough time to come up with a way to convince him to see things your way."

A light chuckle escaped from Kanda. "Kazekage-san, you never cease to amaze me."

"Yeah, I get that a lot nowadays. I will also be informing the Konoha nins that their stay here will be slightly longer than they were expecting. I would appreciate it if the circumstances surrounding their extended visit were left between us." The slightly upturned corner of his mouth told the Wind Country heir all he needed to know.

2 Days Later

And thus, plans were moved forward. Naruto, Tenten, and Lee were informed that, at the request of the Kazekage, they would be remaining in Suna for a little while longer. Secretly Naruto welcomed this announcement, as it met a few more days away from Konoha, and as such a few more days for Ino to cool down a bit. Tenten did not dare to let herself get her hopes up too much, though the look on the Kazekage's face when he made this announcement did cause something to stir within her. Again, she wouldn't get her hopes up too much, but there was something there.

Lee, for all intents and purposes, was still sulking a little bit, though he did brighten up considerably whenever Setsuna came to visit. Completely unbeknownst to him, however, was the fact that Kanda was observing his interactions with Setsuna, clearly seeing the way that the green clad nin reacted around her. Up until this point, he had yet to make his presence known to Lee, wanting to watch how he behaved around Setsuna in as natural a habitat as he could, without the burden of knowing that the man she was supposed to marry was nearby. And up to this point, everything he saw indicated that Lee well and truly cared for the Fire heiress. Surprisingly he wasn't jealous of the man at all….. Ok he would be lying if he said at all. Setsuna did seem to relax around him a lot more, becoming less like a future Daimyo and more like just another person. It was a nice sight to see, and hopefully he would fine the one he could drop the formalities and just be with.

Once Lee was medically cleared for travel, the caravan consisting of Lee, Naruto, Tenten, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and Setsuna set off for the Wind capital, Kanda having left a little earlier to prepare his home for guests, as well as inform his father of some of the things that had been revealed to him. The single most difficult part of all of this was going to be convincing the Fire Daimyo that this course of action was best for all of them, and they would need as much support as they could muster up here.

Naturally, Setsuna was more than a little bit wary about just half of her Suna escort for this trip. Kankuro was obviously the creepiest of the bunch just off of appearance alone, though she did have to admit that once she had started talking with him, he became slightly more approachable in her eyes. He explained that the giant wrapped packages he was carrying were his primary weapons, a trio of puppets that he could control with strings made of chakra. And once again Setsuna found herself fascinated by the different ways that ninjas were capable of engaging in combat.

Gaara was a little less creepy than his older brother, which she had learned from her conversation with Kankuro. While not all the details about Gaara's life were divulged during this trip, she did get a decent idea as to how difficult life had been for the red head. She was slightly curious, but held her curiosity in check. She didn't like to pry, and she wasn't going to start now, especially after what she had seen Gaara do to those nins that were trying to capture her. She was honestly not aware of the fact that you could use sand in such a way. The idea that he had even more ways of ending a person's life with sand, some of which he probably hadn't even discovered yet, was a thought that Kankuro told her to try and not think about. She would fail rather miserably at this.

Then we get to the decidedly most normal of the group of Suna nins escorting her to the capital, Temari. Aside from the fact that she was the oldest of the group of siblings, (which in all honestly confused Setsuna for a moment since that would mean that she should have been the Kazekage right? At least that is what she thought before Kankuro corrected her on a few things.), she was obviously the most mature of the group, maybe not the strongest fighter in the group but definitely the smartest of them. Setsuna hadn't had much time to observe her in action, mainly due to the situation that they were in, but if what Kankuro had to say about his own weapon and Gaara's usage of the sand that occupied his gourd were anything to go by, then she was fairly certain that she was just as deadly with the fan that she had with her. In the world that she lived in, she would be the first to admit that a fan would not be her first choice for a weapon, but then again, ninjas did seem to live in a far different world than she was used to.

Throughout the trip she did notice how…. despondent Lee seemed as they got closer and closer to the capital, and it wasn't difficult to figure out why. The capital held her future husband which obviously meant that they would have to separate, possibly never to meet each other again. And while she wanted to reassure him that things had a chance of turning out for the better, that was all they had, a chance. She did not want to offer up any kind of false hope for him if things weren't going to turn out as well as they were hoping. So she remained silent with Lee, not trusting herself to be able to keep from spilling anything to him.

Naturally, both Naruto and Tenten noticed this as well, both Lee's steadily dropping mood as well as Setsuna's quiet glances toward him. And while speculation was running rampant in regards to why Setsuna was being as quiet as she was, neither of them were too eager to approach her about this. It was far more likely that Setsuna was just trying to steel herself in preparation for their arrival, knowing that Kanda was waiting for them in the capital.

After about a day's worth of travel, they finally reached the rather welcoming entrance to the Wind Country capital. Oddly enough, neither Naruto, Lee nor Tenten had even visited the capital of their own country, so they were actually rather impressed with how…. lively the capital of a neighboring country was. Both resolved to one day visit their own capital one day, wanting to see if the two places were comparable.

Of course, they didn't have much time to take in the sights, as Gaara immediately moved the progression straight for the Daimyo's Villa, a rather large building, larger that even the Hokage's tower, which really impressed the Konoha nins. Setsuna was expecting as much already since her own home was pretty much the same size. She was more focused on the two shapes standing right outside of the front entrance, one of which she instantly recognized as the man she was currently slated to marry.

The man standing next to him was clearly Kanda's father. The fancy clothing wasn't even really needed in order to identify him as that. All one required was a look at his face, which marked him as an older version of his son. Slight gray tinges to his hair, and a more weathered look to his features were the only things that differentiated him from Kanda. Tenten noted that this is probably how Lee and Gai would look if they had actually been father and son, as if they weren't already too similar for her tastes.

"Kazekage-san. It is always a pleasure to see you." The Daimyo stepped forward in order to meet the head ninja of his country, offering him a hand, which Gaara would take firmly in his own.

"As it is you." Turning to his traveling companions he would go ahead and get the introductions out of the way. "Daimyo-sama, I would like to introduce you to Rock Lee, Tenten, and Uzumaki Naruto." Each ninja would offer up a bow as their names were spoken, though the Daimyo would quickly wave them off. "These are the ninjas that facilitated the rescue and successful delivery of Setsuna." Turning to face the three ninjas, he would hold a hand out, gesturing to the Daimyo. "I introduce you to Takenaka Sanosuke, Wind Country Daimyo."

Sanosuke took in each of the ninjas facing him, his vision settling upon Lee. "Ah yes. Gaara has told me about you. I am grateful to the three of you, in particular you Lee. Your efforts near the Sand/Fire border to keep Setsuna safe have certainly not gone unnoticed here."

Lee wasn't really expecting such praise from the Daimyo, so he was a little bit off guard. He would recover a bit after Tenten gave him a slight jab with her elbow. "It was nothing really. I was just doing what anyone in my position would do."

Kanda, who up until this point had remained silent, chose this moment to speak up. "Nonsense. Your efforts are certainly worthy of praise. I only wish there was more that we could do but for the moment there is something important that needs to be discussed."

Gaara nodded his head here, fairly certain of how the rest of this day would go. "Can I assume that the Fire Daimyo has contacted you?"

"That would be correct Gaara-san. He stated that he will be here within the next two days, along with an escort from Konoha. While he has been made aware of the threat to his daughter being eliminated, after corresponding with the Hokage it was determined that and additional escort would be necessary for him. Better safe than sorry." Sanosuke let out a small breath, drawing himself up to his full height, leaving him just shy of Kakashi in terms of height. "However I do believe that there are some things that can be discussed before he arrives, if the message you sent to me was anything to go by."

Gaara let a simple nod be his answer as the Konoha nins allowed confusion to cross their faces. Their Daimyo was coming here? Though while Lee's thoughts led him to believe that it was just to see his daughter as well as thank the three of them, Naruto and Tenten shared a look.

"Very well then. You, your siblings, and Setsuna will join me in my study. Maya! Reena!" Almost immediately after his call, two women, each dressed in rather elaborately designed kimonos, appeared from the front door. "Please see to it that our guests are shown to the rooms. Whatever they wish for please provide it for them."

With a low bow, the two women gestured for the Konoha nins to follow them into the villa. Naruto was just walking past the threshold when he was suddenly frozen in place, a very cold chill running down his spine. He looked around for a moment, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Obviously this action caught the attention of his partners for this mission. "Naruto, what's up?" Tenten came up beside him, looking slightly worried.

"Not sure really. Just got this really bad feeling all of the sudden." He let out a deep breath, regaining his composure, before continuing into the Villa, following the two women.

Unbeknownst to the two of them however, Lee was following behind them looking more than just a bit down in the dumps. When not being addressed by the Daimyo, his attention seemed to be on Kanda as well as Setsuna. Lee hadn't seen the man before now, but judging by what he say he could guess that he was just a reliable a partner as anyone could ask for. And while he certainly wouldn't begrudge him for anything, it still hurt a little bit to finally meet the man that Setsuna would eventually marry. When they were offered their rooms he followed without a word, or even a look back. It was finally time for him to let go.

If he had decided to look back though, he would have been met with the sight of Setsuna staring at his back as she entered the study, a concerned look dominating her face.

2 days later

Naruto was slightly concerned when he, Lee, and Tenten had gone an entire day without seeing any of the people involved in whatever meeting the Wind Daimyo had them participate in. Whatever it was, it must have been important since he had seen some of the servants taking several meals into the study, coming out later with empty dishes. Of course, he had his theories about what was being discussed and Tenten obviously shared in them, but neither was willing to speak out loud about it until something was set in stone. Especially not around Lee.

So they had taken to spending their first full day in the Wind capital exploring their current resting place, and he had to say that he was impressed. The quick glimpse that he had gotten yesterday while they were entering had done little Justice to just how magnificent a place they were in. Many people gave them some odd looks, recognizing them as shinobi but not sure how to react around foreign ninjas. He had to wonder just how many of them had ever seen a ninja that didn't originate from Sunagakure. Naruto himself was actually somewhat glad for it, since very few, if any, of them were aware of the fact that he contained a demon. He didn't want to press his luck any, since word of what he had accomplished seemed to spread around rather quickly. Fortunately, he was spared and undue attention, or any really, since most of those present were not able to recognize him.

Despite his clear reluctance to do so, they had managed to pull Lee out of the room to give him some fresh air. It did seem rather obvious to both his teammates in the beginning that Lee would rather not be here trying to have a good time, but as the day progressed his mood did seem to lighten slightly. Whatever good that did was erased the moment it came time to head back to the villa, where Setsuna was there with her soon to be husband, prompting Lee to withdraw once again.

The next day brought a surprise to the three Konoha nins. They were greeted at breakfast by Setsuna herself, inviting them over to sit with her for the first meal of the day. The sand siblings, the Daimyo, and his son were all absent from this as well, something that seemed to slightly rattle Tenten and Naruto, though Lee didn't notice, brightening up just a bit at the sight of Setsuna.

The sat and ate with their future Daimyo, chatting about a couple of small things, Setsuna expressing her wish to walk through the capital with them. Every now and then she would cast Lee a side long glance, noticing that he always seemed to look away from her whenever she did. Naruto and Tenten shared one look, and that was all it took for Tenten to stand up, turning to look at Setsuna. "Setsuna-san, could you come with me for a moment? I have something I would like to ask you. Girl things."

Setsuna would nod politely and stand giving Lee a small smile before following Tenten out of the dining hall. Once they were alone, Tenten would turn on her. "Ok, so what did you talk about?"

Setsuna would let out a small sigh, relaxing her frame a bit. "We told Sanosuke-san about it. Everything. He seemed to be a bit distraught about the whole thing at first but once he calmed down Kanda gave his side of things." Seeing the confused look on Tenten's face she would remember that Tenten had not been given the whole story just yet. "When Kanda came to visit me in Suna he told me that he had eavesdropped on a conversation Lee had with Temari." Tenten would shake her head slightly at that. Seemed like there was a lot of that going around lately. "He found out about the situation and came to talk to me, letting me know that the marriage was more or less a formality. The alliance would have gone through perfectly if my father wasn't insistent that I have someone at my side when I took the reigns as Daimyo. When he gets here, the plan is to convince him that Lee would make a perfect partner for me."

Tenten would nod slightly, holding her chin in her right hand. "This could go rather horribly. You have seen Lee so you know that many would be put off just by his appearance alone. Is that going to be a problem?"

Setsuna would shake her head. "Father is not as shallow as that. It doesn't matter how you look, so long as you can do what is required of you."

"Good. We should probably go and prepare Lee for-" Tenten had been in the midst of turning and heading back into the dining hall, but had cut off, both in her speech and in her action, by Setsuna raising her hand and latching on to Tenten's arm. Very briefly, Setsuna was slightly surprised by how firm the muscles she was grasping felt.

"No. Lee must be kept unaware of this. I want him to present himself to my father with as little influence as possible. I believe that he can convince him that this is the proper decision all on his own. As a former teammate of his I would assume you are capable of believing in his abilities."

Turning back to look at Setsuna, Tenten took in her words, sighing just a bit. "You have no idea how much I want to say yes to that. But the fact is that this in unlike anything Lee has had to deal with before. Facing down hordes of ninja's with nothing but his fists, feet, and will to win is easy for him. Facing down the most powerful political figure in our country with nothing but his words is not something he has experienced."

Setsuna would raise a hand to keep Tenten from going on. "Believe in him. He will pull through. You trusted me to keep from telling him about my feelings for him and I honored that trust. Now I want to trust that you will not inform him of what is to come. Besides, I think he will do rather well going into this blind. It's either that or I order you to do so, and I know how much you don't want me to flaunt my royal influence."

Wide eyed wonder was all that could be seen on the face of Konoha's weapons mistress, and after a few moments she would sigh dropping her head in defeat, before turning her head back up and chuckling a bit. "I don't suppose the thought of just what sort of ridiculously outlandish task he would set for himself should he fail to convince your father is incentive enough to change your mind?"

The chuckle that escaped from the raven haired girl was just as light hearted. "Tempting as that sounds, no."

After they had finished breakfast it was time for the four of them to hit the city. Their previous day's exploration had given the ninjas a pretty decent idea of where everything was, which meant that they were now acting as tour guides as well as guardians for the young royal.

Setsuna was pretty enthralled with what she was seeing, particularly in the market area. Once this alliance went through she would certainly have to see about arranging some sort of exchange program between the two countries. There was quite a few goods that she no doubt believed would be welcome on the streets of her own city.

It was during this little tour that their attention was draw to a rather large gathering of people near one of the entrances to the city. All of them, either curious or wary of what could have attracted so much attention, moved to gain a closer look. Upon reaching the gathered crowd it became obvious why such a large crowd had formed in the first place, at least to one of them.

Standing at the center of the crowd was a man, dressed in resplendent clothing fit for a noble. He stood about 6'2", his ebony hair tied back into a tight ponytail, which reaching to his shoulders. Eyes the color of honey moved from person to person, a small smile on his lips as he greeted the people of the city. Build wise he seemed to be rather average, not too fit but still clearly taking care of himself.

The ninjas of Konoha were slightly confused, taking this man to be some sort of traveling dignitary though they were not aware of what sort of influence he held. Their charge, however, knew better. "Daddy!" Breaking off into a run she threw herself at the man, who was only momentarily caught off guard before smiling widely, wrapping his arms around his daughter. At that point, the Konoha nins knew who they were looking at.

They would give the father and daughter a moment together, knowing full well how much this reunion meant to the both of them. This was made even more obvious by the sight of a few tears leaking from the eyes of the Daimyo. Eventually they were able to break apart from each other and Setsuna pulled her father over to her escorts for pretty much her entire time away from the capital at this point. "Everyone, this is my father, Miyamoto Ishida. Father, meet Uzumaki Naruto, Tenten, and Rock Lee."

As with their introductions to the Wind Daimyo, all three ninjas would give a bow at the mention of their names. Ishida himself would step forward, eyes settling upon Naruto for the moment. "Hmm, so this is the legendary Uzumaki Naruto eh? Your name keeps popping up on my desk with a disturbing amount of frequency, though all of it is good. I must say that it is quite the honor to finally meet the man that has done so much for my country."

Well, that was quite the compliment, one that Naruto wasn't entirely prepared for. "It is no big deal, Daimyo sama."

"Please, Ishida is fine. I do not feel comfortable allowing such a powerful ninja address me like he is a servant." Looking him over for a little while longer, Ishida would nod his head. "You do appear to be every bit the ninja that the Hokage described to me."

"Well to be fair, I do tend to give Baa-chan more than a few headaches, so don't believe everything you hear." Naruto would relax a little bit, the Daimyo allowing him to call him by his first name relieving a little bit of the tension he was feeling standing in the presence of his country's royalty.

Apparently he had said something funny because Ishida had started to chuckle a little bit at him. "Baa-chan, huh?"

Obviously, Naruto had believe that Ishida was still talking to him, so it should come as no surprise that he was completely unprepared for the fist that suddenly found its way on the back of his head, leaving him face first into the ground.

Standing behind him was a visibly upset Tsunade, steam rising up from her right fist. "Damnit brat, what have I told you about using that name in front of people?"

Naruto rather shakily made his way back to his feet. To Lee and Tenten's visible amusement, there was a picture perfect imprint of his face on the ground below him. Shaking his grogginess off he turned back to the woman that had just punched him. "Damnit you old bat what was that-" The well trained reflex was quickly cut off when he realized who he was talking to. "Oi, what are you doing here?"

Tsunade was quick to suppress her own reflex, letting the old bat remark slide for the time being. "None of your business brat. Suffice to say that Ishida-sama has requested that I be here for his meeting with Sanosuke-sama."

Ishida himself watched the entire scene play out with his daughter, who could only giggle a bit at the interaction between the two blondes. Apparently this was a recurring scene for the two of them. "Yes, I wanted her to be here for this. Seems I may have a few commendations to give out before all is said and done."

Tsunade had visibly calmed by this point and turned back to her Daimyo. "Speaking of which I do believe we have kept Sanosuke-sama waiting long enough."

Ishida would nod his head, wrapping one arm around his daughter. "I do suppose you are right. Very well then, we shall have to continue this conversation soon. I look forward to getting to know you a bit more. That goes for your partners here as well. All of you have my eternal gratitude for what you have done for my daughter." With that he would lead his daughter after the Hokage.

Before they got too far away though the Hokage would start as if she just remembered something, turning back to look at her ninjas. "Oh Naruto, I just remember that I had brought you something."

Naruto, obviously was a little bit giddy at that thought and was just about to ask when he caught the look on the Hokage's face. Maybe it was just his imagination but he could have sworn that he had seen that look somewhere before.

Unfortunately before he could actually place that look….

"Hello, Naruto."

Sasuke in his fully transformed state wasn't enough to scare him. Orochimaru and all of his various experiments and additions to certain ninjas wasn't enough to scare him. Facing down the Akatsuki, with some of the most powerful, and in some cases eccentric, ninjas he had ever seen wasn't enough to scare him. Yet the sound of those two words, in that tone, coming from that voice, from right next to his ear was enough to cause Naruto to go stock still, his blood running colder that the entire Yukigakure.

Slowly, almost mechanically, his head would turn, leaving him face to face with the blonde haired, blue eyed yin to his yang, Yamanaka Ino.

Almost immediately he turned to his partners for help, only to discover that they had abandoned him pretty much as soon as Ino had made her presence known.

"I-I-Ino. What a surprise" Desperate now, he thought that he would attempt to try and play the situation out, possibly see if he could calm her down a little bit. However, judging by the way her eyes were narrowed, eyebrows furrowed deeply, and the rather sadistic grin that rounded out the look on her face, it was pretty clear to him at this point that there was nothing he could do.

So he ran.

Lee, pushed to door that lead into the room that he and Naruto shared, helping his friend and rival into the room. Naruto himself looked like he had been run over by a herd of stampeding buffalo, then tossed into a barrel and thrown off the Hokage monument, and finally set into an enclosed arena with a dozen Maito Gais. In short, he had seen much, much better days.

While he and Tenten had both escaped from the ensuing rampage that Ino had brought with her the moment she appeared behind Naruto, they had both heard, as well as felt, the carnage wrought by the blonde haired mind jumper, and needless to say, they wanted absolutely no part of it.

Hours after they had left Naruto to his fate, Ino dragged the unconscious boy into the Villa, dropping him in front of Lee and, with a relieved sigh, told him to make sure he got into bed, clearly counting on the Kyuubi's regenerative abilities to keep her partner alive, which they would. Lee obeyed without any words, wary of catching any residual resentment Ino may have left over. Fortunately, she just left to go find Tenten.

Back in his room he laid Naruto down in the bed and then moved to sit in his own, thinking about the relationship the two of them shared, and relating it back to his own situation. While not exactly the same, there were some elements to how the two of them had gotten together that made him think about himself and Setsuna. Mostly the fact that, at the very least according to Naruto, Ino had managed to see him for who he was truly. Not the demon that most of the adults seemed to think he was, not even the happy go lucky persona he had erected around himself, but the real him. While he didn't have the same sort of issues Naruto had, Lee could still relate a little bit, seeing as how Setsuna had accepted him for who he was.

Still, doubt clouded his mind as he thought back to the question that Temari had asked him about whether or not Setsuna would return the feelings that he had for the girl. What would he-

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. "Pardon me."

He recognized the voice of one of the Wind Daimyo's servants. "Come in."

The door opened, revealing Reena. "Lee-san, I have been sent to collect you, as your presence has been requested."

Nodding his head he turned back to Naruto for a quick moment. The bruises and scrapes were already beginning to heal so he was comfortable leaving him here to rest. Lee would rise to his feet and follow to woman out of the room and down the steps. He would be slightly surprised when they would come to the study where the initial meeting had taken place, but did not allow it to show just yet. When Reena motioned for him to enter, he would not hesitate at all, pushing the door open.

The inside of the study was just as Rock Lee would have expected to be, if a bit larger than usual. Plenty of books, a large desk full of various papers, folders, etc., and even a round table, obviously used when multiple people were present.

Lee's attention, however, was on the lone occupant of the room standing behind the desk and gazing right back at him.

"Ah, Rock Lee. My daughter has told me much about you. Come in, we have quite a few things to discuss.

-End-

Author's Note

So, funny story.

Not sure if I have mentioned this earlier, but I'll go ahead and say it now so everyone is aware of why this particular chapter is so unbelievably late.

I was enlisted in the military from September of 2005 until June of 2014. From then onwards I was in a bit of a state of flux, no stable place to call home and fluctuating internet service. Work kinda kept me from really thinking about what I wanted to do with my next chapter so I had to shelve the story for a while.

Well a couple of months ago I finally was getting back into the groove, and laid the groundwork out for this chapter. I was about halfway done. Honestly this particular chapter should have been up weeks ago.

And then the chapter got deleted.

Originally I would actually write everything down on a notebook and then work on typing it out, however for this chapter I forwent the notebook part and instead went straight to typing. This unfortunately meant that once the document was gone, everything I had thought of went with it. I basically had to do the whole chapter from scratch, which sucks because I am pretty sure that I had some rather nice moments in that first attempt. Hopefully what I managed to pull together here is sufficient enough.

But enough about me let's talk about you. How's everyone doing? Hope I haven't lost anyone. I know it's been a while but things happen. Hopefully they happen less so that I can continue along with this story. I do have a little bit more that I want to do and who knows? If there is enough support I may send it even farther.

Seriously though, to those of you who have stuck with me so far, thank you. To any new people that I have acquired I do hope you are entertained. And to any and all readers.,,,,,,,,

R&R&have a nice day.

A/N

Fixed the centering issue that you all pointed out to me. Sorry about that. Hope it is a little bit easier to read.

On a side note, I will be taking a little bit of time to go back over the story once I get a little bit of down time, mostly just fixing up some small errors. Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar, etc. Will try to not have as many as I currently do in future chapters.