Hello my guys! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one, I'm way ahead in my writing so I'm in a real good mood, as always I love all of your reviews and such and the support, it means the world to me. Anyway back to some more lighthearted stuff before more angst and worry lol. It is definitely leaning more towards Itanaru from how it's progressing, I'm sorry for people who don't like that there is still a chance it'll change but I won't lie, that's where it's leaning.

It didn't take them long to reach the large building in the center of the villages, and when they spotted Temari the guards at the doors let the four figures past.

They were led up stairs and through several halls to a door at the end of a large hall and Temari knocked twice, and a few moments later the door swung open and she led the way inside, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke all following close behind the Suna nin.

When the door opened it revealed a large room with a circular table

All eyes turned to the door, and Naruto followed Temari inside as the blonde girl spoke, "We have three ambassadors from Konoha with a letter from the Godaime Hokage."

All of the eyes in the room turned to focus on the figures in the doorway and Gaara's lips twitched into a small smile as he stood up.

"Welcome to Suna Naruto-san, Sakura-san, Sasuke-san."

"Thank you for having us." Naruto gave Gaara a bright smile as she made her way further into the room, passing Gaara and holding out the scroll, "I was told to present this to whoever is currently leading Suna.

"We were just discussing that child." that came from a rather old looking man who was eyeing her with distrust.

"I believe we can call those discussions short for today." there was a hint of an order in Gaara's voice and the man nodded.

"As you say Gaara-sama." Naruto resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow at that.

Discussion huh? From the look of things the next Kazekage would be Gaara despite his age-she knew that the title tended to pass down through family lines and Gaara was the strongest out of the previous Kages children after all.

He took the offered scroll and opened it, nodding to himself as he read through.

"The scroll contains the Godaime Hokage's sympathies for the loss of my father and her hopes for a possible new alliance built with stronger foundations and possible trade deals." he announced after a long moment, "I am sure this will be discussed at length in our next meetings esteemed Councillors and we'll send back our response to Konoha as soon as we've read through your offers and requests, likely with an ambassador to discuss things in greater depth with Tsunade-sama. Are we all in agreement."

"Yes." the word was chorused by the gathered Councillors and Gaara relaxed almost imperceptibly.

"Good. Then I call this council meeting to a close, I wish to speak to our guest from Konoha." he bowed his head low before leaving the table to meet Naruto halfway, and together they rejoined Temari, Sakura and Sasuke and headed out of the room.

"So where's Kankuro?" Naruto asked once they were out of the room.

"He went to the Academy earlier to give a talk to the students. There's been a lot to deal with since our fathers death." Temari explained, "We've been trying to increase morale-Suna's technically without a Kage at the moment and that doesn't look good."

"How long do you think you'll be without a Kage?" Sakura asked, glancing at Gaara.

"They're currently in the process of deciding which of us should take over from our fathers position." Gaara explained calmly,

"I believe some have suggested Temari-"

"Most of them want Gaara." Temari finished, "But they're worried about the age issue."

"Why should age matter." Sasuke spoke up, "You're strong, you've shown that, you're a Jinchuriki like Naruto you're bound to be one of the strongest in the village. Weren't half of the Suna nin who fought during the failed invasion terrified of you."

"That they were." Sakura grinned, "I enjoyed watching their terrified expressions-"

"Yeah, well I don't think they ever expected anyone to work with Gaara like that. You had major guts Sakura-chan."

"I admit it was amusing." Gaara's voice was soft. "I hope you received a good welcome-"

"The guards were terrified." Sasuke looked amused, rolling his eyes, "They were whispering, they realized who Naruto-chan and Sakura-chan were."

"I see." Gaara nodded, "Rumour regarding you has spread quite fast concerning the two of you I must admit."

"Everyone knows that a Konoha Genin fixed Gaara's seal and they also know he fought side by side with 'The pink haired horror of the leaf-"

"Oh kami." Naruto let out a cackling laugh, "That's hilarious-no offense Sakura-chan but... just... did you ever think that you'd be feared throughout Suna?"

"Are you kidding? Before I met you I was useless, kami knows what would have happened if we hadn't met."

"I think you just needed some motivation Sakura-chan."

"You're a skilled Kunoichi." that was Temari, "You beat me fair and square even if we were both holding back because we knew what was coming."

"Temari is right." Gaara nodded, "You earned your promotion Sakura-chan."

"Damn right I did." Sakura nodded, "I've been working my ass off to get stronger."

"I can't wait to fight you again sometime."

"And I admit I would like the chance to fight you Naruto-chan." Gaara paused, "And I think you would likely prove to be a challenging opponent too Sasuke-san."

"I'd enjoy the chance to fight you too someday. Kakashi-sensei taught me a justu that I could use to pierce your defenses because there was a chance that we'd have to fight, I've already used it once but he taught me it for use against you."

"I see." Gaara gave a faint smile, "We shall have to fight someday then. Just not while you're here on a diplomatic mission."

"Yeah, that might end badly." Temari laughed, shaking her head. "So, what's your plan? I assume you'll at least stay until the morning."

"Until the morning." Naruto agreed, "We'll probably head home somewhat early though, I want to check in with my family-they're on a mission that no one will tell us about."

"Of course. I hope Rin-san is okay."

"Us Jinchuriki have to stick together." Naruto said lightly before pausing, "Ah, speaking of, you need to keep a watch for a bunch of guys in black cloaks with red clouds-"

"Oh?" Temari frowned, "Why?"

"There's this group called the Akatsuki, a bunch of S-rank missing nin who are hunting down those of us with annoying Bijuu living inside of us."

"What are their intentions?" Gaara frowned.

"To take our Bijuu away." Naruto scowled slightly as she said the words, shaking her head, "We've already had one run in with them, they know about me now so that sucks."

"I see." Gaara nodded slowly, "There was a time I might have wished for that but I have been... slowly working on building some sort of relationship with Shukaku thanks to you fixing his seal-"

"Even if you weren't close you wouldn't want them to unseal him." Naruto pulled a face, "That's generally fatal. Jinchuriki can't survive having their Bijuu removed like that."

"I shall be careful. Do you know much about them."

"We've met three of them." Sakura spoke up, "One of them is a shark faced guy called Hoskigaki Kisame-"

"My brother though we're hoping he defects-"

"Ah, Uchiha Itachi. We recently heard-"

"Yeah, what happened there was majorly screwed." Temari pulled a face, shaking her head, "Hopefully you get your brother back then. From what I've heard I wouldn't want to fight him."

"Sakura-chan said you've met three of them?" Gaara raised an eyebrow, "Who is the third."

"Uh.." Naruto hesitated, "He's a Uchiha, he was wearing a mask, might not be anymore I don't really know. I've had more than one run in with him, if you see him just run, just do everything you can to get away, he can turn intangible and teleport."

"Ah." Gaara nodded, "I can see why that might make fighting him difficult."

"He's... I would say he's almost definitely a Kage level shinobi."

"I will keep that in mind. Hopefully they won't come after me-"

"No... no they will Gaara-kun. You need to know that they will come for you eventually. You just need to be prepared for when they do."

"I see." Gaara nodded, "Then I will prepare as much as I can."

"You'll probably have to have guards when they make you Kazekage so hopefully that'll help." Temari's expression was filled with concern, and Gaara frowned.

"The official decision hasn't been made yet-"

"Oh come on." Temari rolled her eyes, "You know that they'll choose you over me."

"They could choose Kankuro." Sakura suggested playfully-which made Temari burst out laughing, and Gaara managed a soft chuckle as he shook his head.

"I am sure our brother would make a fine Kage-"

"He'd probably ban the presence of all children in the village." Sasuke spoke up, shaking his head, "I remember his reaction to Konohamaru."

"I wish I could say you were wrong." Temari shook her head, trying to force back her laughter even as Naruto and Sakura joined in.

"Konohamaru can be annoying." Sasuke admitted, "I can't always put up with him-"

"Yeah, but Sasuke-kun, as much as we love you, you can be a bit of a stoic asshole." Naruto patted his arm, "Also, grumpy-"

"I'm not grumpy!"

"Awe, Sasuke-kun-"

"I will stab you Sakura-chan-"

"Oh so you don't threaten to stab Narut-"

"I'll stab her too."

"I love your weird ass dynamic." Temari laughed, "I'm glad you guys sorted out whatever the hell was going on between you guys during the exams."

"Sasuke-kun was being a dumbass." Naruto's voice was singsong, "I had a good long talk with him-I'm good at that, I talk at people and they listen."

"You are kinda setting a precedent." Sakura tapped her chin thoughtfully, "First Zabuza-san and Haku-san. Then Gaara-kun, you talk at people and they see sense."

"I am appreciative of what Naruto-chan did for me." the red haired Jinchuriki piped up.

"And Sasuke-kun too."

"She did not talk sense into me!"

"It's okay Sasuke-san." Gaara's expression was perfectly straight as he spoke, "Naruto-chan did the same thing for me as she did for you-"

"I hate you all." Sasuke gave them dirty looks, "You're insufferable, you know that? All of you. I thought Naruto-chan and Sakura-chan were bad enough but stick them with you and they're a thousand times worse-"

"You love us really."

"Do I? Do I really?"

"Ignoring the sourpuss." Naruto stepped to the side when Sasuke swatted at her, "We have a good chunk of daytime left, any suggestions as to what we could do before we have to go home?"

"We were planning on picking up Kankuro and then going out for some food." Temari grinned, "I imagine he wouldn't mind you three joining us."

"Sounds fun." Naruto grinned, and Sasuke and Sakura exchanged wide eyed looks before chorusing-

"We're not having ramen!"

"What?" Naruto gasped the word, an offended look on her face, "You don't know I was gonna say that!"

"You always say that. She's obsessed, literally obsessed." Sasuke groaned the words, shaking his head, "I've never known anyone quite like her over ramen."

"I don't think we have anywhere that sells ramen here-" Temari went silent at the sharp little gasp Naruto let out, watching with unconcealed concern as the blonde's eyes widened in horror.

"You don't have anywhere that does ramen."

"Uh, no?"

"Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan."

The two teammates looked at each other, and the silent argument lasted barely a minute before Sakura sighed to herself and patted Naruto's back comfortingly.

"There there Naruto-chan. It's okay-"

"No ramen-"

"Calm down dumbass it's just a type of-" Sasuke leaned to the side, the kunai Naruto threw at him skimming past his ear, and he didn't even skip a beat. "Food, nothing special-"

"Traitor!"

"Oh come on-"

"We have good Dango." Temari suggested quickly, "We could go get some of that-"

"But ramen is the most holy of food how can you not have it here-"

"We have instant ramen." Gaara offered, blinking slowly at the sight of the blonde who might just be certifiably insane at times.

"But it's not the same-"

"We'll take the dango." Sasuke spoke up, "There is absolutely nothing wrong with dango-"

"But ramen!"

"You are literally embarrassing to be around sometimes, y'know that?"

"Well screw you too Sasuke-kun." Naruto poked her tongue out at her friend and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"C'mon dumbass, let's just go and meet Kankuro-san and get some food."

"Hmph. Fine." Naruto conceded, "I suppose dango isn't the worst food."

"Y'know there may be something to the theory that the stronger the shinobi the more crazed they are." Temari laughed, "Let's go then, before you have another breakdown over food."