Marriage-Go-Round
We, the Council of Konohagakure herby accept your proposal of a political alliance. As you stated in your plea, you believe that an alliance drawn up on paper and signed in ink is easily ruined or destroyed. We here in the Leaf also believe that such alliances are not only easily destroyed, but forgotten. Having a political marriage might save us from such turmoil in the future.
Although it is highly unlikely uncommon for the victimized nation to do so, we are willing to allow you to pick you own candidate. We eagerly await your response with your candidate's name. Once your letter has arrived and we have looked over it, we will choose our candidate. After we decide who our candidate will be, we will inform you of whom it will be, as well as deciding when we will solidify our alliance.
Sincerely,
The Council of Konohagakure
--
"So," Baki started, lowering the letter from in front of his face, looking at the Elders who sat in front of him. "Have you changed your mind as to who will be Suna's candidate in this ordeal?"
"No." Nobuyuki, a shriveled old man answered the younger man. "We have not."
"Temari will be out candidate. There isn't anyone better to choose from." Ebizo said, taking over the conversation as he did so. "She has a cool head, knows when to listen and follows orders to the letter. Not to mention that she is strong, brave and highly intelligent. She will not allow herself to be intimidated by the shinobi of Konoha."
"Or their Council." Ebizo's sister added with a scoff like grunt.
Baki wanted to deny the statements that the Grand Elder had listed off about his only female student. However, he knew that the man's words were true. Sighing, he nodded. "When would you like me to tell her?"
"You have no need to worry yourself of the matter of informing her, Baki. We will do so ourselves within the next few days." Elder Jin told the jonin. "If you have no further questions for us, Baki, you may take your leave." Baki nodded somewhat reluctantly, but conceded. He bowed deeply, and backed out of the Elders Chambers.
--
It was a rather sunny day in the rebuilding village of Konohagakure. Soun Mitsunari sighed as he made his way back towards the aviary. Why was a man of his stature, a chunin ranked shinobi, stuck watching for incoming courier birds he would never know. He could be doing what his friends and teammates were doing. Preparing for war. He growled at the thought of Konoha's one time ally, now backstabbing traitorous enemy, Suna. He, like a lot of people, had lost something during the invasion. His younger sister Ina.
Ina was, or rather, had been a third year genin.
She had graduated from the academy somewhere in the middle of her class and had yet to make it to the Chunin Exams. Her sensei, who had been lost to a Nuke-nin last year, had thought of her as a burden who would only weight her team down in the Exams.
She, like most genin ranked shinobi, were sent to make sure that the normal day folk, the civilians of Konohagakure and from surrounding territories, were safe from attack during the invasion. She was helping a young mother with child, to one of the emergency bunkers in Konoha, when a Suna-nin stuck his tanto through her abdomen. The report stated that she had died within moments after the attack.
He slammed his fists on the wall of the aviary, making cracks form in the wall.
'I swear that if I see a Suna shinobi anywhere near Konohagakure again, no matter who they are, I will kill them!'
The familiar sound of a hawk screeching through the air as it made it was towards the coup broke the man from his dark, brooding thoughts. Taking a pair of binoculars, Mitsunari looked for the bird that had let out the arrival warning. Scanning the afternoon sky, Mitsunari spotted a hawk making its way towards the aviary. He watched it drop in altitude and slow in speed as it came in low. Then, as the bird twisted its body to adjust itself for perching, Mitsunari spotted something that made his blood boil. On the letter carrier tied to the bird's back, was a bronze emblem.
The emblem of Sunagakure.
'Why in the world would Suna be sending a message to the Council?' the young man asked himself.
--
He walked slowly around his apartment, stumbling over his feet as he did so. Catching himself as he fell, sending a spoon and a bowl into the air as he did so. He made no move to catch the them. As the bowl smashed into pieces as if hit the hard wood floor, he sat down at the table, and then laid his head down on the dusty table.
'Why?' he asked himself, 'Why did you have to go and die?' It wasn't the first time since the combined forces of Oto and Suna were pushed back he had asked himself. He wasn't one to brood over anything for very long. This time, however, he couldn't help it.
For the first time in his life, he, Uzumaki Naruto, had lost a precious person. And unlike when he was in Wave, where the Kyuubi overshadowed him for lack of better terminology, when he thought that Sasuke had died at Haku's hands; his precious person did not get back up. The Old Man, known throughout Konohagakure as the Sandaime Hokage, but more commonly known to him as 'Jiji', was dead. His life given to try and stop Orochimaru.
'Unfortunately,' Naruto told himself, 'his sacrifice was in vein.'
"Not quite, Brat." The sudden interruption of his mental broodings by an outside voice did nothing to get the blonde to act any different than he had been for the last few days.
"What do you want Jiraya?" the normally cheerful blonde asked the owner of the interrupting voice. A tall man with long graying-white hair stepped towards the blonde from his left.
"You know, if I had wanted to, I could have killed you." The man said dully. The man frowned when he realized that his words had little or no effect on the blonde in front of him. "Alright," Jiraya grounded out. "I am tired of your attitude. He kicked the chair out from under the blonde, making the boy smack his chin off the table and fall on to his rear. "Get ready."
The sudden infliction of pain seemed to break the blonde out of his brooding mood for a moment as he nursed his injured chin. "I-I-I-Itai!" the blonde groaned as he rubbed his pounding chin, sucking in large amounts of air as he did so, seething in pain. He turned his head towards the tall white haired aggressor and narrowed his eyes at the man. "Get ready…for what?"
Jiraya sighed and smacked his forehead with an open palm. "For a mission of course! Why else would I, the Great Perverted Hermit Jiraya, be here talking to you? It surely isn't to get you to stop sulking."
"Why not?" the blonde asked. "Kakashi-Sensei tried to, as did Iruka-Sensei and Sakura."
'Hmm…from what I learned from Ebisu, Sakura is supposedly the girl the brat here chases after and Iruka is almost a brother figure to the boy. If he didn't listen to either of them…Damn, maybe it's a good thing I'm taking him with me to search for Tsunade.' "Well, let me put it this way. You can stay here and feel sorry for yourself, sulk and help clean up the village…Or, you can come with me and help me search for our new Hokage." Jiraya swore he almost heard the boy's eyelids rip open as the boy's eyes became as large as dinner plates.
"What?"
"Kid, you don't have to shout. Besides myself, you're the only one here." Jiraya said, though it was obvious that the blonde boy didn't hear him.
"A new Hokage?!" Naruto shouted again, making Jiraya cringe. "Why? It's too soon! Jiji hasn't even been gone a month yet!"
"Naruto." Jiraya started, earning the boy's attention. "In most cases, a new Hokage is picked a few days after the previous one dies. The only reason why we haven't picked a new on yet, is because of the ongoing conflict with Suna."
"Grrr!" Okay, so maybe mentioning Suna was a bad idea, Jiraya thought as he swore he saw the blue eyed boy's eyes turn red for a split second.
"Anyways, I've been ordered to go, find, and try to bring our new Hokage back here to Konohagakure. I was told to take someone with me. Do you know who the Council told me to take with me on this mission?" Jiraya asked, hoping to use the blonde's rivalry with his teammate to his advantage.
"A group of Hunter-nin?"
Okay, maybe he wasn't as stupid as he thought the boy was.
"Nope." Jiraya answered, earning a look from the boy in front of him. "Uchiha Sasuke." The boy nearly jumped out of his jumpsuit.
"WHAT!!"
"Yep." Jiraya said, forgiving the blonde for his outburst, he did after all, earn it. "I managed to persuade them to let me take you instead. At first they said 'No', but I wore them down after a bit." Jiraya explained. "But, if we aren't out of here by night fall, the Council will force you to stay here, while I take Sasuke with me, and maybe…teach him something…powerful."
"A new jutsu?" Jiraya nodded. "Then sign me up! I can't let Sasuke get one up on me with that Chidori Kakashi-Sensei taught him!" that got the Gama-Sannin's attention. What was the only surviving student from his late pupil's favorite team doing teaching such an unstable boy such a powerful jutsu? "Just wait a moment Ero-Sannin! I'll be ready to leave in ten minutes! Just you watch!"
--
Danzo watched the duo leaving the village with a frown on his face. He knew whom the Council had picked as Subaku no Temari's husband-to-be. In one way, he was happy that the Jinchuriki wasn't it, but in a way he wasn't. For years, he had wanting to assert control over the boy. It would be so much easier to do so with a hostage of sorts.
Who knew, maybe something in the future would change that? He would just have to wait and see what happened. After all, a good shinobi waited until it was the perfect time to strike. And he was, of course, the 'perfect' shinobi.
END
Here you go, chapter 3. I hope you had an enjoyable time reading my mess (hehe). Review if you like, it isn't an obligation like it is(used to be) is for other fics. Oh, and don't forget, this is a double update. Have fun with chapter 4!
Ja Ne.
