Chapter 78

Conversation with the Great Fence Sitter

As the Tsuchikage led them into the room they let their eyes wander. The room was beautiful, and was lined with antiques. In the middle of the room there was a table that had several dishes that Hinata and Naruto had never seen before.

Naruto's attention was diverted from the room to the table and he could feel his stomach growling. Hinata was too busy looking around to notice.

They came to their seats and sat down while dinner was served to them. The Tuchikage was pleased that Naruto tried a little bit of everything and liked their lands dishes so well. He saw it as sign of respect for thier village mostly because he didn't know how much Naurto liked food.

"You like what we've prepared?" The Tsuchikage asked Naruto.

"Very much, the rice, the soup, the pork, it's all so good." He called out each one that he happened to be loading for his next bite at the time.

"What was the purpose for your visit, both of you had mentioned that you didn't plan on staying long, and since you needed to see me, I figured there was something you needed." He had finally decided to cut to the chase.

Naruto decided to reply before Hinata could get a chance. "Hinata and I are getting married," Naruto announced to the shock of the Tsuchikage, Kurotsuchi, and even Hinata herself.

She had asked him if they could use that as their plan and he had acted like it was such a terrible idea. She was irritated but it quickly melted away because she liked how it sounded when he said it.

"I hoped it was true, but the villagers told me that wasn't the case," he replied in disbelief.

"We wanted to tell you first, out of respect," Hinata piped in.

"Ahh," understanding dawned on his features. "I see." He gave a gruff smile to each of them. "I remember being in love many years ago. My wife has long since passed away, but I think of her every day. Kurotsuchi looks most like her grandma than any person in our family. She's our best legacy," He said as Kurotsuchi blushed.

"Young love," he added with a sigh.

"Can you tell us your story?" Kurotsuchi asked, "I know we had seen you guys together on the battle field, but how did it all begin?"

Hinata had started this part of the story, telling how she liked Naruto even as a child and revlealing details he wasn't even aware of. Then, when they got to the battle they paused.

"You may think that you know the story from here, since we're together now, but it's far from over," Naruto piped in.

He told them about how short sighted he was and how it caused Hinata to feel like he didn't care for her and how she left the village.

"No, you actually left, Hinata? Naruto, you must have been crushed!" Kurotsuchi reacted to the story.

"But look at how he had treated her, 'just friends', after seeing them on the battle fields anyone could see there was more. It would be difficult to be around someone you loved but could never have," the Tsuchikage felt sympathy for Hinata's situation.

"Exactly," Naruto added. He gave a half hearted smile to Hinata. She squeezed his hand to get him to keep telling the story.

"Then, I decided that I was going to go get her back, but the Hokage made me wait before going to get her, or I would have been there sooner Hinata." Naruto reassured her.

"I know," she giggled. "But then, I had time to go to another village and I asked Gaara if I could come to the Sand for a while and he consented. I got used to seeing him and he was so concerned about me adjusting well that I developed feelings for him."

"What!" The Tsuchikage was surprised to hear the story take that turn of events. "But that's forbidden!"

Naruto looked over at the Tsuchikage, "Could you help the feelings you had for your wife? Did they decide to feel that way for her just because she lived in the same village as you did?"

He cleared his gruff throat and readjusted himself in his chair. He remembered Gaara well. At first, he couldn't say that he liked Gaara, but he had made him take a harsh look at himself. If he was being honest, Gaara was the glue that held the 5 kage group together.

"I understand that's forbidden, but that's also my point. Gaara had become a comrade, we had been on missions together, we had taken our Chinin exams together…" She tried to explain.

"The thing is, no village can exist without support from another anymore, the war proved that to us. We are using help from the Sand village as we speak to help rebuild our village. I know that the villages work together for some matters, and although they are free standing, we all want to work towards the same thing; prosperity for our people." Naruto didn't know if he was getting anywhere with the Tsuchikage and looked over at Kurotsuchi who nodded in agreement.

"I'm not disagreeing with you," the Tsuchikage remarked, "please finish your story," he was curious as to how the events could have straightened themselves out. He also didn't understand why they were making such a big deal about the forbidden rule between the villages if Hinata wasn't with Gaara. 'What does it matter to them?' he thought.

"Where was I…Oh! So the night had arrived when I decided I needed to return to my village. I missed my home and my family, and Naruto too eventhough I knew I didn't have a chance with him. I couldn't keep living in a home that wasn't mine. Gaara had offered for me to stay as long as I needed too and in that moment, he kissed me." She paused for effect.

Kurotsuchi had stopped eating and her elbows were on the table, her hands were holding her head while she listened with rapt attention. The Tsuchikage was staring at Hinata with the same attention, but at mention of the kissed looked to Naruto to see if he had a reaction.

Naruto tried to hold his reaction as best he could but he furrowed his brow slightly and jealousy was written on his features.

"I had finally given myself permission to feel for the first time since leaving the village, and would you believe that Naruto and Shikamaru came into the house, led by Temari, Gaara's sister and saw the whole thing." She took a drink of water and Naruto took the chance to continue the story.

"Yeah, it's true, if that's what you're wondering…I just told her that I had been so dumb and that I was sorry and that I loved her and needed her back, and we left that night." He made eye contact with her as he remembered the details.

"You just left? I can't see that Gaara would just be okay with that? What was his response?" The Tsuchikage was intrigued.

"He told me that he just wanted me to be happy and that if I ever changed my mind I was welcome to come back." Naruto shot Hinata a look at this last sentence, he wasn't aware that Gaara had said that to her. She noticed his look and quickly looked away when she realized she had forgotten to mention this last part to Naruto.

This exchange didn't escape the notice of the Tsuchikage, who could be very perceptive. "I'm guessing that was new information, how do you feel about that Naruto," he asked, putting Naruto on the spot.

Naruto tried to recover from what Hinata had just said as he remembered Gaara's words to him. "When I had left, Gaara and I spoke and he said that there were very few that could ever be worthy of her and that if I had been anyone else he would have fought me for her. I was one of the first friends Gaara ever had and I think he was very selfless to put our friendship and Hinata ahead of himself." When he thought about it, this was truly how he felt. "If Hinata really did want to pursue a relationship with him I guess I might feel the same as he does. I'd want her to be with someone worthy and someone who would make her happy." After he uttered this he realized that Gaara probably didn't just have feelings for Hinata, he must have actually loved her.

"Even though this would be forbidden?" The Tsuchikage asked in disbelief. This had been such a long standing tradition between the villages that he had a hard time imagining how this new genetation could completely disregard what was set down by their elders.

"Don't you understand grandfather," Kurotsuchi sighed in a defeated tone. "That boundry doesn't exsist anymore. They're right, the villages support each other, and the people make connections. These people become your comrades, just as we are comrades with Naruto and Hinata." She took it a step further "If Naruto was single I might even want to date him!" Her grandfather gave her a wide eyed look as he considered their conversation.

Naruto tried to reboud quickly. "We want all villages to consider dropping the forbidden rule. Now that we have fought together things have changed, the people have changed. We want everyone to have the same opportunity that Hinata and I have. That's what we're asking for." Naruto finished.

They had done it, they had completed step 1 of the mission that Shikamaru had asked them to complete and made the best argument that they possibly could, whether the Tsuchikage would go along with it or not.

He looked pensive as he thought about all that was laid before him; a marriage, a rocky love story, and forbidden love…It made him think about his own feelings about his wife and family. It was a lot to take in. "Which villages have you approached so far?" he wondered.

"We've approached two, the Sand Village Kazekage and the Leaf Village Hokage." Hinata replied.

"And, what was their response? I can guess what the Kazekage had to say on the matter, but what about the Hokage, Kakashi?"

"They have agreeded to drop the rule." Naruto said matter of factly.

"I don't believe it," the old man sat back in disbelief. He was wondering if times really had changed that much. They must have…

"Believe it!" Naruto replied with enthusiasm.

There was silence for several minutes before the Tsuchikage spoke again. "I might need some time to think about this before giving my answer, this is a complicated issue."

"Of course," Hinata replied, taking this as a cue for them to leave for the night. "We appreciate you taking the time to visit with us. Would you mind if we stayed another day to see the rest of the gardens?"

Her question brought a smile back to his face. "Please do. Both of you show Iwagakure a great honor in coming, I'm glad to have you as my guests anytime." He stood up and Naruto and Hinata bowed to him and Kurotsuchi before heading back to their room for the night.

Once Naruto closed the door Hinata reached out to hug him.

"That went so well Naruto, I'm starting to feel like we'll really be able to accomplish this!" She started to relax the grip she had on him and went to search for her pack. "We should write to Shikamaru…"

He hadn't moved from the door. He was happy about the way things had gone, but he also wasn't lying when he said Hinata and him were getting married. He just didn't know when. He wondered if he should elaborate on how he felt, when he decided just to live in the moment. All things would come in time.

Hinata looked at his pensive form and gave him a questioning look.

"Nothing," he answered her silent question, "I'm just happy," he replied as he smiled and walked closer so he could give input to her letter.