Chapter 2

Yugito was waiting on the rooftop of a medium-sized building. The sun was just starting to set on the hidden leaf and she got a pretty good view of it happening. It didn't have anything on Cloud, which had a setting sun turn a blank swath of white cloud into a toiling ocean of orange-pink radiance. Leaf had trees, though. She liked them. They were a plus.

A heavy impact hit the roof behind her. She knew it was the Raikage just as a child would know a parents' footsteps. Although it would be quite a stretch to call him a father figure, he was a constant in her life. One of the few

Yugito turned around to him as slowly as she could. A heavy frown marred her face. "What were you thinking?" she spat out.

His face was steely. He normally wasn't like that. Whenever someone refused his orders or insulted him without reason, he was more likely to get into a shouting match, which would very likely end up with the opposing party with a few smashed ribs, rather than the detached veneer of someone disinterested in another's plight. "I made the decision almost seventeen years ago. I did what I thought I had to do for the good of Kumo." His voice was moderate and reasoned, a far cry from the usual.

"Regardless, you can offer someone else up for the job, because I'm not doing it."

"Yugito-"

"Nope! I refuse!" Yugito snarled out. "I have been a loyal ninja to Kumo for as long as I have lived. And for what? My childhood, ruined. My adolescence, ruined. Christ, things have only just started to get better for me. And you want to do this? I've trained until everything hurt. I've born the hatred of the village. I've lied, killed, and stole for the good of the village and this is how you repay me? By just shucking me away like a useless noble with a penchant for linen rather than steel? No, I refuse."

Ai didn't do anything for a very long time, and when he did, it shocked Yugito to the core.

He got down to his knees, touched his forehead to the cold, dirty ground, and said "I'm sorry."

Yugito stared at him with wide eyes. It was like watching a rabbit try to hunt a bear. Completely foreign, confusing, and somewhat pitiable to watch.

"News of the fourth hokage having a baby reached me at a time when my brother was just getting used to being a Jinchuuriki. In all honesty, I still didn't trust the demon containers. There were others available to the job, others that were more within the age range, but I wanted you gone. I thought I would have too much on my hands trying to get my brother to stay with me without having to worry about you as well. If it went well, we had an easy ally that took care of a problem Jinchuuriki and if it went bad, we had all the justification and rallying cry needed for war. This thinking was wrong, and I apologize."

Yugito gulped. It was difficult seeing him like that. "Rise," she said.

Ai got up from the ground and stared at her with the same steely expression as before.

Yugito pursed her lips and looked to the side. "So what's the plan then? Kill them all? Make it look like it was the one with the black hair?"

Ai walked up to her and planted a single hand on her shoulder. "I want you to try."

Yugito's brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

Ai's eyes went half-lidded as he looked away at the sunset. "It's pretty, isn't it? Doesn't have anything on Kumo, but still, it's pretty."

Yugito followed his gaze. "What?" she repeated.

Ai sighed. "When I was younger, the only thing I wanted to do was to go to war. Expand our influence, and power, and bring stability to the world. Now, all I want is for peace. So no, I don't want you to kill anyone. I want you to try."

Yugito's face soured. "You really want me to get married? Play the wife? Play the happy woman who waves at the ninja of cloud." She shook her head. "No, I really d-"

"I don't want you to play," Ai said, cutting her off. "I don't want you to pretend to do anything. I want you to try. Earnestly. Really. With all your might, I want you to try." Ai paused for a bit to let what he said sink in, then said "I know you don't have any friends back in Kumo. Or any romantic prospects, or any real attachment to our home other than your sense of duty. If it doesn't work out, I'll try to convince the others that another choice would be better." Ai turned to look her in the eye "But if I find out you didn't try 100%, I'll demote you to a genin."

Yugito pursed her lips again. Matatabi had been strangely silent. She didn't know if the cat was asleep, or just formulating a deep and inquisitive response, but she really needed that cat's advice right about now.

She'd try. She owed Ai that much. Anything else was out of the question, however. She didn't do seduction missions and she didn't do 'prostitute missions'. Yugito was a proud ninja of the hidden cloud. She'd do her mission as it was assigned. No more, no less.

00000000

Gaara found his sister at the top branch of a tree overlooking Konoha. He floated up her and they stood, side-by-side, for a few minutes in complete and utter silence.

"I'm sorry," Gaara said finally, breaking the silence.

Temari sighed a deep sigh. "It's fine, I guess."

Gaara turned to look at his sister a bit more seriously. "You're taking this better than I thought you would."

Temari shrugged. "Everything's going to implode in on itself anyway. There's no way this could be sustainable. What upsets me the most is that you didn't even tell me beforehand."

Gaara looked down at his feet. "I just… because of me, everybody was scared of approaching you. Not everybody, that one fellow seemed nice, but…" Gaara trailed off. "You didn't have any friends or crushes or dates or anything else. All because of me. I drove everybody away from you and Kankuro."

Temari turned to look at her brother more seriously. "Wait… you're doing this because… you want me to date your best friend? Not going to lie, that's pretty twisted."

Gaara sighed. "Father was the one who signed out the marriage contract in the first place. I got an eagle from Konoha saying that there were copies of not only yours, but three others in Konoha as well, and was invited to the negotiations. Granted, I could have refused, but… Naruto's… been through a lot. He's just like me, and you to a greater extent. I think you two would work well together. And I never really liked that Shikamaru."

Temari thought back to all her interactions with the blond haired Uzumaki. They weren't that favorable. He was brash and bold and didn't think things through. He ran into situations instead of evaluating them. He may have grown from a pipsqueak into rather well-built teenager, but the mind doesn't change so readily.

"I'll… stick with it until it explodes. Don't expect me to leap into harm's way to protect him or anything. As soon as shit gets tilted, I'm out."

"I…" Gaara closed his mouth. "Fair enough. Try to keep an open mind though. I think this could work out."

Temari huffed. "I doubt it."

00000000

Kurotsuchi didn't get very far before her grandfather flew behind her and tapped a finger between her shoulder blades. She fell to the floor with nary a grunt as the force of gravity on her body tripled over the course of half a second.

Once she was on the ground, she was huffing and puffing for air; the force of gravity on her chest made it a struggle to even expand her sternum. Onoki sighed and lifted his finger, releasing the gravity technique. Kurotsuchi pushed up from the ground and started heaping in great amounts of oxygen to her lungs. Once she was of full breath, she glared at her grandfather. "Why?"

"You know why."

"No. I don't. Konoha killed my mom, your daughter-in-law. I don't want shit to do with them if I can't help it. Then you go and marry me off to a fucking Jinchuuriki of the leaf. So if you have something in that infinite pile of Viagra and wisdom you call a brain, please enlighten me."

Onoki lighted on the ground. His full height was barely taller than her when she was on her ass. "Don't think I don't have my fair share of a grudge against Konoha. If you can't recall, I was in every single shinobi war and in every single one of them, we were pitted against each other. I've killed my fair share of leaves, and the leaves have killed their fair share of my friends and family."

"So why this? We should be thinking of ways to get rid of them for good! Is this marriage thing a ploy or something?"

Onoki's perpetual frown deepened until it looked like his face was split in two. "When I first signed that treaty, we were just out of another war. This one claimed your mother's life. By that time, I had already seen too many of my friends and family die. I don't want there to be another war. I don't want to lose you, or my son."

"But why can't it be someone else? You're not going to be the third for much longer. When you die, I'm just going to be the granddaughter of a dead guy."

"Everything will work out fine. Look, I'm not asking you fall in love with him, or bear his children, or to even like him. Just don't kill him. And you probably shouldn't try to piss him off either. You're right. He is a Jinchuuriki, after all."

Kurotsuchi's frowned and looked off to the side. "Dad know about this?"

"I informed him, yes."

"You're not really giving me much of a choice in this. Fine, I won't kill him. The trees are a nice change of pace, after all. Might as well try to have fun." Kurotsuchi stood up and went to follow the secretary's chakra signature. She might have been overreacting before. It wasn't like the treaty was going to last. At worst, she would be kicking back in the hidden leaf for a year or so.

Before she went off after Shizune, she turned around and said one last thing. "Oh, and if he comes onto me, I'm gelding him. Just so you know."

00000000

Fu stepped trepidatiously into the doorway. The house was pretty big. Not exactly a mansion or anything, but there were enough bedrooms at least. Well, almost enough. Five rooms for six people. She wouldn't mind roughing it, though. A couch was always better than the bundle of leaves she called a mattress.

The house looked like no one had ever lived inside of it. Fu almost expected a real estate agent to poke a head through a door and greet her with a patently fake smile. Or, she would if she had a more whole understanding of the real estate market.

Shizune shifted nervously behind her. "It's part of a housing development in Konoha. No one ever bought it, so as long as you're in Konoha, it's your home."

Fu looked to her with a confused look on her face. "As long as I'm in Konoha? Doesn't it belong to me even when I'm out?"

"E-"

"Oh, sorry. Not like mine mine. Like, partial ownership. I guess it would have to be a six-way split."

Shizune waited a beat to see if she would continue. "I don't… I don't understand the question."

Fu jumped onto the couch in the living room and tested its springiness. "Well, I am a member of your village now."

Shizune just looked even more confused. "I'm sorry?"

Fu looked around. "Is that not how it works? I know it doesn't happen that much, but people from different villages do marry every now and then. Turns into a whole thing. They get dual citizenship. Do I not get that too? Come to think of it, do I get multi-citizenship?"

"Y-You're right. I didn't think of that. I think the fine details of the treaty are being worked out right now, but I can't imagine you wouldn't get the same treatment as any other political marriage."

Fu went up the bookshelves on the living room and started skimming through the spines. "Did I say something wrong? Sorry, I don't talk to people much. I'm not the most social of animals. I can insult people without meaning to sometimes."

"Hm? No, no, of course not. Why do you say that?"

Fu turned around to look at her more fully. "Because you stutter a lot when you're talking to me. When I bring up difficult subjects, the tendons on your neck get really pronounced. Especially when I bring up my husband, you get particularly fidgety. Did I do something wrong?"

Shizune bit her lower lip and shifted her weight awkwardly from foot to foot. "I… Naruto's important to me and my master. I don't agree with her decision to continue on with this marriage thing against all of the wishes of the ones most directly involved. I don't want him to get hurt, and you're… well…"

"And I'm married to him now," Fu stated blankly.

Shizune cringed a little bit. "You can say that so glibly."

Fu looked around confusedly. "Well it is fact."

"You don't… You're okay with this? You're okay with being married to someone against your will?"

Fu shrugged. "Wouldn't be the worst thing that's ever happened to me. He seems… well, it was a little bit hard to get a read on him. He was pretty shaken up. But at least he doesn't seem like a bad guy, you know?"

"He's… he's a very kind person. Once he decides you're important to him, he won't let go of you. He'll help you even it means getting a hand thrust through his chest, or standing up to a monster that he has no hope of beating."

Fu smiled. "That's great then. He sounds awesome! He looked kinda cool too." Fu nodded, more to herself than anything. "Yeah, this sounds fine."

Shizune faltered for a moment. "You're… okay with sharing him? With four other women?"

Fu shrugged. "Nothing's perfect. 'Sides, the other four didn't seem too fond of him. I guess that older one did, but she seemed a bit… aloof? Is that the right word? Eh, whatever."

Shizune sighed and looked down. At least this one didn't appear to be dangerous. She couldn't say the same for the older blonde and the younger raven-haired. She'd met Temari before and could say that she at least wasn't one to get riled up. As for Mei…

There was a knock at the door, bringing Shizune out of her mind. She berated herself in her head for being so lost in thought as to not notice the creeping chakra signature and went to answer the door.

Before she had a chance to answer it, the knob turned on its own and Yugito stepped inside with a disinterested gaze as she scanned the house. She turned to Shizune. "Is there a dojo in here, or do I have to go to a training ground to do my daily exercises?"

Shizune nodded quickly without missing a beat. Being nice to the visiting shinobi was important, after all. "Erm, yes, there is a small dojo in the house. Do you want me to show it to y-"

Yugito shook her head. "That will be fine. Where is my assigned room?"

"T-There are no assigned rooms. You and everyone else will just have figure it out amongst yourselves, I suppose."

One of the corners of her mouth tilted downwards. She had a feeling there was going to be a lot of arguing over those rooms. "I see."

"Hey!" Fu said excitedly as she ran up to the militaristic woman. "I'm Fu, it's nice to meet you." She thrust a hand forward, only enhancing her look of elation.

One of Yugito's eyebrows raised slowly. "I'm Yugito," she said, gingerly taking the younger girl's hand in her own, almost like she was handling something either dangerous or disgusting.

Fu leaned forward a little bit. "Yugito…"

Yugito was a bit confused. "What?"

Fu's head cocked to the side. "You don't have a last name?"

Yugito planted a single step backwards. That girl had no idea of what a personal space bubble was. "Yes, I do. It's Nii. It's only polite to offer your full name before expecting someone else to do the same, after all." There was an edge in her voice, clearly annoyed by the girl's social faux pas.

"But… I did. My name's Fu. Just Fu."

"Oh, is that a cultural trait of hidden waterfall, mononyms?"

"Nope."

Yugito waited a few seconds for Fu to elaborate on that, but when nothing came, nodded to herself, almost like she was expecting it, and started walking past her. "See you in the morning, I guess."

"Oh, wait, you're a Jinchuuriki, right?"

Yugito paused and looked down on the girl. "Yes, I am. I'm the host of the two tailed demon death cat."

"Huhh," Fu said with a small amount of wonder. "That's a pretty cool title. I've just got the seven tailed beetle. His name's Chomei. He's pretty cool."

Yugito looked the girl up and down a few times. The happy-go-lucky types never sat well with her. They were always too… unpredictable. "Right," Yugito said while nodding. "Matatabi's pretty cool too. Now, it's late and I want to-"

"Is this where I'm supposed to be?"

Yugito, Fu, and Shizune turned to look as Temari walked in through the door with a careful expression.

"Ah, guess it is. Where's my room?"

"We have to figure it out 'amongst ourselves'," Yugito said.

"Right…" Temari looked around. "Food?" she asked. "I haven't had anything to eat yet."

"The refrigerator is stocked," Shizune said.

"Great," Temari said hungrily, making a beeline to the larder.

Yugito was fine going to bed as she was, but if there was tasty food to be had, she had no excuse for not being a part of it. Fu just followed the two of them as they made their way to the fridge.

"I'm sure Tsunade needs me," Shizune said, making her way to the door. "Please don't do anything terrible to this house."

"Right," Temari said, only half listening as she opened the fridge.

Fu's face lit up like a Christmas tree when she beheld its contents. There was ham, chicken, eggs, beef, fruits and vegetables, sauces and condiments, and everything and anything she could never afford but had always wanted.

Temari clicked her tongue. "I guess it is a bit too much to ask for left-overs."

"What?!" Fu exclaimed boisterously. "How can you be upset by this? This is so awesome. There's, like, pig and cow and chicken and ketchup. Freaking ketchup! And there's a whole bottle of it!" Fu bolted forward, grabbed a hold of the leg of ham, and slapped it on the table behind them. "We're going to eat this."

"No," Yugito said, grabbing the meat just as quickly as it was out and putting it back in the refrigerator. "Do you know how long it takes to prepare meat of this size? It's already around 9. I don't want to be up until midnight helping you cook food."

Fu crossed her arms over her chest. "Then I'll make it myself."

"Do you even know how to operate an oven?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, prove it."

Fu stomped her way to the oven and stared at the buttons for a few seconds. Then a few more seconds. Finally, she carefully pushed the big one on the side, only for it to beep out at her in protest. "Urrrgh," Fu growled, starting to push buttons on the screen wantonly. "Why doesn't this work?"

Yugito grabbed an apple from the fridge and bit into it. "Because it's proofed against children and people who don't know how to use ovens," she said after swallowing the first bite. "If you really want it that bad, I'll help you out tomorrow. For now, just try to get something simple for yourself."

Fu puffed her cheeks and groaned, but eventually relented. There was so much wonderful food in there and she had to settle for something 'simple'? That wasn't fair. Not even a little bit.

The door banged open and Kurotsuchi walked in with one hand rubbing her shoulders and back. "Is this where I'm staying? Nice duds."

"Hey," Fu said excitedly. "Wanna make some ham?"

Kurotsuchi's eyebrows knit together. "What, like leg of ham? No way, that'll take way too long. Plus, I'm not even hungry."

Fu deflated. "How about tomorrow then?"

Kurotsuchi shrugged. "I dunno," she said as she walked to where she assumed the stairs would be. "Oh, and I've got dibs on the biggest room."

Once she was out of earshot, Temari leaned against the countertop and crossed her arms over her chest. "That's a bit of a switch of character, huh?"

Yugito nodded. "Sorry, what was your name again?"

"Temari of the desert. You?"

"Yugito Nii."

"And I'm Fu," Fu said, rushing forward to offer her hand.

Temari took it in her own with a half-smile. "Nice to meet you, hopefully we'll get along for as long as this lasts."

"Oh?" Yugito asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Temari's eyebrows rose. "You're kidding right? There's no way this lasts longer than a week. Either someone's going to try to kill someone else, the populace will riot, or… I don't know, something. Now that I think about it, you didn't look too happy about this either. Why are you suddenly okay with it?"

Yugito breathed out slowly. "I'm not okay with it, but Ai said he's not going to force me to do anything I don't want to do. So… I'm… trying."

"Trying?"

Yugito shrugged. "Mostly, I'll just do my best not to hurt anyone. Apparently Ai really wants peace."

Temari nodded. "Huh, so does my brother."

Both of them stood there for a few seconds before what they processed truly sunk in.

"Wait…" Yugito said slowly. She turned to Fu. "What about Shibuki, what does he want out of this?"

Fu shrugged. "I don't know. It was kind of a surprise. He was always a pacifist, though. I don't think he has ulterior motives."

"So…" Temari turned to look at where Kurotsuchi went off to. "On the presumption that you two are telling the truth, that means that cloud really does want peace. Sand really wants peace. Waterfall really wants peace. Mei needs the money for her nation, so she wants peace too. Konoha wants peace, because come on, they always do. Rock is really the only variable we don't know about here."

"They've always been warmongers," Fu quipped in.

"I'm sure they say the same about Konoha," Yugito said.

Temari cupped her chin in morbid thought. "Then that means…"

The door opened again to show Mei walking in sedately. She quickly noticed the three in the kitchen and walked over to them. "Hello. Has everyone claimed their rooms yet?"

"The uhmm…" Fu said uncertainly. "What was her name again?"

"Kurotsuchi," Temari said. "She said she was claiming the biggest room. We haven't been up there yet. So, go ahead."

"Maybe later. Is there anything appetizing in the refrigerator?" Mei asked as she opened it up.

"Nothing ready-to-go," Temari said.

Mei was already reaching in for the eggs, milk, and ketchup by the time Temari finished speaking. "Surely you're capable of making something for yourself?"

"Well, yeah," Temari said indignantly "It's late, is all."

"That's no excuse," Mei said, putting a pan on the stove and setting it to medium high.

"What're you making?" Fu asked.

Mei grabbed a bowl out of one of the cupboards and started mixing the eggs and the milk together. "An omelet," she said.

"Oh, can I have one?"

"Of course," Mei said with a smile.

Temari leaned next to Yugito while the other two were busy conversing. "There's a chance that this could be permanent, couldn't it?"

Yugito toyed around with the notion a few times in her head.

"Fuck."

00000000

Naruto was in a dark room. He'd tried to turn on lights, but the electricity had been cut off. That was okay though, he could see the room he was in fairly well from the light of the moon coming in through the main window.

His chest was gripped with confusion and sorrow at what he saw, or more accurately to say, what he didn't see. All of his furniture was gone. His pictures and their frames, his plates, his chairs, his bed, even his clothes from off of their hangers.

And he'd spent so long getting the place in immaculate shape before he left with Jiraiya. Now it was all gone. There were even little outlines on the ground from the change of worn to not-worn flooring that showed exactly where the articles had been. That had to be the worst part of it. That he could just barely make out what might have been what was supposed to happen.

Naruto sat down on the hardwood floor and cupped his chin in his hands. His room had a good view of the monument, and now that was all that the room had. He had nothing left. He didn't know how long he had been sitting in the emptiness of his apartment, but it was long enough to see the sun set and the moon change slightly in position.

The door to his apartment opened up. It wasn't an intruder, if it had been, he wouldn't have heard the footsteps coming up behind him. They were heavy and made the floors creak under their weight.

"Hey Naruto," Jiraiya said with uncharacteristic somberness in his voice. "You okay?"

Naruto sighed into his hands. "I don't even know what I don't know."

Jiraiya sighed as well and sat down next to him. "Apparently, the Fourth Hokage signed different documents before you were born that put you into an arranged marriage with four other girls from four nations, all hoping for a political marriage with his unborn son. Tsunade thinks it was because he was doing paperwork with shadow clones and the proposals all came at the same time. About two months ago, Onoki unearthed his and brought it forward to Tsunade. When they looked for the copy kept in Konoha, they realized that there were three others. She sent word out to the other three nations without expecting an answer back, and got one from all three. Mei, the new Mizukage, got wind of it and put herself forward as a marriage candidate. They've been figuring out the details for about a week now before you showed up."

Naruto took a second to absorb and dissect the information dump heaped on his head. There was one thing that stuck out in particular. Something that wasn't accounted for. "But… why me? Why sign that before I was even born?"

Jiraiya took in a deep breath and let it out as slowly as he could. That wasn't something he'd wanted to bring up ever, if it could be helped. He was going to figure it out eventually, especially with all the diplomatic bullshit going on, so… no time like the present to rip off a band-aid. "The reason why… is because the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze… well, he's- he was, your father."

Naruto was deathly silent for a fairly long time before looking up to Jiraiya with his eyebrows scrunched up. "What?" he asked.

Jiraiya sighed, but said nothing more.

"But that, but that doesn't make any sense. Why would I- Why would he put the Kyuubi in me? Why did I have to live like an orphan? Why didn't anyone tell me?!" Naruto shouted the last part out, tears flinging from his cheeks. "This can't be real. This has to be an illusion or something."

Jiraiya patted him on the shoulder. Small, silent sobs, started to wrack Naruto's chest. "No one really knows what happened during your birth. The only thing we know for certain is that the Kyuubi got out and your parents killed themselves protecting, sealing, and saving you from it. The reason the Third and I never told you was because… well, let's just say that your father racked up a lot of enemies in his lifetime. You would have been in danger. And also, I think your father would have preferred it this way. He would have wanted you to be seen for yourself, instead of the son of a hero."

"Everyone only saw me as a monster," Naruto spat out bitterly.

Jiraiya looked down on Naruto more seriously. "Naruto, listen to me. Minato, your father, could have resealed the Kyuubi back into your mother, but he didn't. He could have sealed it into something temporarily so that I could dispose of it properly, but he didn't. He could have done any number of things that didn't involve you with the Kyuubi, but he didn't. He sealed it into you. I think it's because he saw something that day. I think he had a plan when he put the Kyuubi in you."

Naruto was silent for a few seconds. "…Resealed? It was in my mom before me?"

Jiraiya grimaced. "Yes, you're the third Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. The first one was Mito, the wife of the first hokage, and the second one was your mother."

Naruto sniffled loudly and wiped the tears from his eyes with the cuffs of his shirt. "My… my mom. What was she like."

Jiraiya leaned back, propped up by the palms of his hands on the hardwood floor and gazed at the monument faces with Naruto. "She was a terrific woman," he said with a smile. "I think you mostly take after her. She was brash and bold, she didn't take no for an answer, she loved you more than the world…

00000000

Naruto opened the door to the well-sized house as slowly as he could. Emotionally, he felt like shit and he was tired enough to want to fall asleep on the nearest soft-looking surface. Even so, he made sure his steps were silent and that his grumbles remained within his head. He didn't know if the others were in the house yet, but it was always better to err on the side of caution, especially when dealing with emotionally charged females with a wide array of potentially lethal ninja techniques.

He made a beeline for the couch. The pervy sage said that there were five bedrooms and he didn't want to risk opening a door he shouldn't. Besides, it wasn't like the couch was the worst option for a sleeping surface. And, walking up to it, it looked surprisingly lived-in and comfortable. From the scarce lighting, he could see irregular pillows under a woolen blanket. Had Shizune already set something up for him? That was nice of her.

If only he noticed the slight movement underneath the blanket indicating breathing. Or the mop of green hair poking out the end. Because if he did, he might have reconsidered falling down on top of it face-first, trying to enjoy the sensation of a freefall into the comfortable cushiony embrace of a welcoming bed.

What he got instead was landing on the bony body of a teenager underneath a thin blanket.

Fu shrieked, punched and kneed him in the chest and gut, scrambled out from under him, and called her signature technique, double water swords, to her hands. Naruto grunted, first from the surprise, then from the pain, and slipped off from the couch, cradling his torso and trying to get air back in his lungs.

The entirety of Fu's eyes had turned orange, a sign of her bijuu chakra getting mixed into her body, and her breath was ragged and full of adrenaline. As she realized what had happened, the orange of her eyes leaked back into place and her breathing normalized.

"What the hell?" Naruto hissed out. That girl packed a hell of a punch.

"I should be asking that!" Fu yelled out in a harsh whisper. "What did you do?"

"I didn't know anyone was in the couch!" Naruto whisper yelled back as he slowly got to his feet.

Fu dispelled her water swords and sat down in a nearby chair. "You're a ninja, right? You should have noticed." Her voice mellowed out into a soft utterance.

Naruto pulled himself onto the couch in a sitting position and rubbed his sore chest. "I've been having a day, alright? And why were you on the couch to begin with?"

Fu shrugged. "There're only five rooms. Someone has to."

"Yeah, and it's usually the guy that does that. Or at least the last person who walks in the house."

Fu crossed her arms over her chest. "I was trying to be nice. You didn't look like you having a good day when I saw you. Looked like you could use a soft bed."

Naruto closed his eyes and let his breathing return to normal. "That's… thanks. But… I'm not the only one. You're not having the best day either, are you?"

Fu shrugged again. "I've had worse. You too, right? I mean, you did just get married to five beautiful women, one of which is a bodaciously awesome person," Fu smiled at the last part, putting it in as soon as she thought of it with a thumb pointed in her direction and a bubbly smirk.

Naruto smiled too, even if it was a bit strained. "At least someone thinks so. And… yeah… I think you're right. This isn't the worst day I've ever had. I've just gotta… think positively."

Fu nodded appreciatively and a small, somewhat tense silence fell over them.

"Well," Fu said, putting her hands on her knees and standing up. "First thing's first, my name's Fu. Nice to meet you." She extended her hand out to him.

Naruto smiled and clasped her hand in his own. "Nice to meet you too. And… thanks, I guess, for not killing me. Can't say the same for the others." Naruto muttered the last sentence under his breath, though Fu still heard it.

She sat down next to him. "They're not that bad. Yugito's nice. A bit cold, but she's nice deep down. Temari's… pragmatic, I guess. Mei's… she's honestly a bit scary. Scary in a good way though, if that makes sense. And I haven't talked to Kurotsuchi yet. But I don't think you have to worry about her. She's more bark than bite, I can tell."

Naruto smiled tiredly. "And you… are nice. Nicer than you should be."

Fu punched him lightly and unsurely on the elbow. She wasn't sure if that show of affection was too familiar or not. "We are going to be seeing a lot of each other. We might as well make things good, right?"

Naruto smiled, this time a tad bit more sincerely. "Yeah, you're right."

"What's all the racket?"

Naruto and Fu whipped around to see Yugito walking out of the hallway as silently as a cat.

"That was kind of a delayed response," Fu said. "The ruckus happened about a minute ago."

Yugito stopped in front of the couch with her arms crossed over her chest. "Oh, I was awake the second he walked in the door. I've been listening in your conversation and decided to introduce myself. So, here I am. Yugito Nii, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Erm, yeah. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Likewise."

Yugito leaned back and looked towards the kitchen, where she read the clock off of the oven. "Shit, only midnight."

"S'wrong?" Fu asked.

Yugito smirked. "I think you actually won the lottery with the couch, because our friend from rock snores like you wouldn't believe. I barely fell asleep when you walked in."

"Ah… sorry," Naruto said helplessly. "I didn't mean to."

Yugito walked to the chair Fu had been occupying previously and sat down. "That's alright. It gives us a chance to talk. I was a bit brash before in the office and I apologize for that. This isn't a good scenario for anyone to be in and my acting like a child only made it worse. You don't seem like a bad person, but in our industry, looks can be deceiving. So I'll make this as clear as I can be right from the start. We're now married, but for all intents and purposes, those are just words. They hold no meaning. I don't know you and you don't know me. You aren't entitled to anything from me. If you try something that I deem inappropriate, I will not hesitate to react in a most brutal and redemptive way. Do I make myself clear?"

Naruto sat stock still for a few seconds before leaning over to Fu slightly and whispering "You sure she's nice deep down?"

Fu broke into a chortle and Naruto quickly followed. That is, until there were razor sharp, outstretched fingernails scraping his jugular. Yugito's face hadn't changed at all, even in the position of her practically threatening his life. "I'm glad you find it funny. I do not. I just want to emphasize my position on this manner."

The fingernails retracted, allowing Naruto to breathe without the fear of accidentally cutting open his neck. Without another word edgewise, Yugito walked back down the hallway and further into the house out of sight. It was like the darkness enveloped her.

"Are you sure she's not the scary one?" Naruto asked quietly.

Fu shrugged. "At least she's helping me cook up ham for dinner tomorrow."

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed. "Ham?"

Fu's face got an electric smile. "Yeah. There's so much food in the fridge, including a whole ham leg. And there's an oven too. Making it's going to be so easy. And trust me, I should know. I tried to cook a pig over a wood fire once. It went terribly. Open fire isn't good for big meat."

Naruto laughed despite the situation he was in. This might be hard to deal with, but at least one of them was nice.

00000000

Two figures cloaked in black suits of red clouds looked out over the walls of the great hidden leaf from a vantage point far away. One was short, wide, and shuffled around to get to where he needed to go. The other was tall, somewhat lanky, and had a ponytail of blond hair peeking out of his outfit.

"This complicates matters," Deidara muttered. "What should we do? We only need to get the Kazekage, right?"

Sasori's throat rumbled with dissatisfaction. "There are the other kage to consider as well. Along with the two Jinchuuriki. We won't win if we go with a frontal attack. We should pull back for now."

"Ahh, but Sasori, my man, you just said the solution to the problem. We won't win with a frontal assault. So, we go a different route."

Sasori glanced up to his partner. "Are you sure you'll be able to contain yourself?"

Deidara smiled predatorily. "It's not about containment. It's about letting loose at just the right moment."

AN/ I've got some good story names from various people, but I'm going to let it go through one more wave of reviews. Also, buy my book. In between the time of posting the last chapter and posting this chapter, I've realized that I really like shilling my book. So I'm probably going to do it a lot. At least until I'm rich and famous, that is.

The book's title is 'A Most Beautiful Shade of Red'

have a gentlemanly day