A/N:
The usual thanks to everyone who have read, reviewed and faved this story!
Just to remind you again, the story is almost AU, and the characters are sometimes very OCC (I've tried to project how the actual teenagers would be as adult, but it is quite difficult…)
My apologies for the mistakes. I've re-read and rework the chapter several times, but I struggle and must have still left lots of errors, since English is not my first language.
XOXOX
Naruto tried not to fidget as he sat facing the Daimyo after about an hour of meeting. His attention had since long been waned, as it was always the case when he was bored. It was something which he, unfortunately, had not outgrown: his short attention span when he was subjected to lengthy, boring lectures and talks. Thus, it was with much effort that he spoke all the necessary words when appropriate and expected of him, in a polite and interested manner that was befitting with a meeting with the Daimyo, while inside he was dying for this useless and lengthy meeting to be over.
Naruto had been informed about the visit of the Daimyo since a week, but he did not understand why he had been called for a meeting as soon as the Daimyo had set foot in Konoha. Usually, when the Daimyo came to Konoha, which had been only a couple of times since Naruto had taken the title of Hokage, a full council meeting with all the clan leaders was called. And due to the exact arrival time of the Daimyo being usually unknown, the meeting would have been scheduled at least one day after his arrival. But this time, the Daimyo had only asked for the Hokage's presence, which had also puzzled Naruto, seeing that there was nothing major or urgent to discuss.
Naruto had immediately called for Tsunade – no way was he going to face the Daimyo without her. She was his safeguard, to keep him in line from doing any mishap.
Now, Naruto sat, with the afternoon being almost over, listening to the useless conversation and idle chat for the past hour. The burly, regally dressed man did not seem to be in a hurry at all. He had chatted about mundane subjects ranging from politics which did not really concern Konoha, to the weather of the past year or so. The young Hokage had to curb the desire to yawn or say anything to end this meeting; but the memory of Tsunade's warning, back when he took seat of Hokage came to his mind. She had severely droned into him that under no circumstances, ever, was he to show disrespect to the Daimyo.
"Our people in Konoha may look fondly to your impulsiveness and your habit of freely speaking up your mind," she had told him, "they love you, and they know your worth and are indulgent to your ways. But don't ever show such easy attitude or any type of disrespect to the Daimyo. He is the ruler of the fire country, don't ever forget that. Even if it kills you, control your impulsiveness. Think a hundred times before opening your mouth."
So, Naruto tried hard not to give in to his impulsiveness. It was one of the downside of being Hokage, he had learnt: to be almost at the whims and beck of the Daimyo. If the Daimyo wanted a meeting just for idle chats, Naruto could not refuse him. If he, as Hokage, had jurisdiction over Konoha, the Daimyo had jurisdiction over him, the Hokage. It was a fact Naruto willingly accept, and he felt it his utmost duty, as Hokage, to ensure that the Daimyo is satisfied with Konoha. However, boring and lengthy excuse of a meeting such this one was not his cup of tea. He still wondered why the hell he had been called.
He snapped to attention as another person, a young girl, joined them.
"Please let me introduce you to my daughter, Kiyone," the Daimyo said in his high pitched voice, waving his heavily ringed fingered hand towards the girl.
Naruto looked at her. She looked to be anything from sixteen to twenty, difficult to say beneath the bulky silk Kimono and heavy make up. She was not bad looking, thought Naruto as he watched her. At least she has nothing from her heavy set, tripled chin, placid looking father; though the nobility blood was clear at the high, almost disdainful set of her chin as she greeted them. Her eyes were sharp and appraising as she gave a regal bow towards Naruto, then turned towards Tsunade and greeted her in turn.
"As we will be in Konoha for the next two days, I would like Kiyone to see around the village and learn all that there needs to learn about a shinobi village," the Daimyo said. "And I ask you, the Hokage, to please be her escort for this."
This properly jerked Naruto from his drowsy state. He stared at the Daimyo, thinking maybe he had heard wrong.
"You are the only one fitted to escort my daughter around," said the man, while with a flourish, opened his fabric fan and fluttered it over his face.
Naruto was about to splutter with indignation - surely the Daimyo realized that as Hokage, he had much more important things to do than playing the guide to his daughter! - when he felt a discreet nudge at his sides. He stole a glance at Tsunade, who was seated by his side. She gave a barely perceptible shake of her head.
"Don't ever show disrespect to the Daimyo." Her warning came back to him. He swallowed his words, and had no choice but to nod at the Daimyo.
"Of course, Daimyo-sama," he murmured. "I'll re-schedule all my work and move all my appointments to the afternoon."
"Oh, I'm so looking forward to see how Ninjas live," chimed in the girl, speaking for the first time. "Father has told me so many things about Konoha. I've been eager to come to visit."
"It's our pleasure, Kiyone-san," said Naruto politely.
"So, that's settled then," the Daimyo exclaimed, beaming at Naruto.
Tsunade looked at the Daimyo's smugly satisfied expression. So the rumors had been true, she thought. The Daimyo did have something in his mind. Naruto, she noted with a certain relief, looked blissfully clueless; she smirked inwardly.
The Daimyo looked at her with a suggestive glint, waggling his eyebrows, egging her to say something in the direction his mind was, maybe, but Tsunade looked innocently back at him, pretending not to catch the barely hidden message. She had no intention of indulging the Daimyo in this. True, she was the mother figure in Naruto's life, and right now, she would represent his family; but she would be damned if she was going to give her beloved 'son' up to a noble arranged marriage. It would have been something else if Naruto had been up to it, but knowing where his heart laid, she had no intention of participating in this. For now, let the Daimyo approach Naruto himself if he wanted to.
They were interrupted by the sudden, silent appearance of an ANBU. Naruto recognize the mask immediately; it was one of his staff at the Hokage tower. Usually, it would have been a diplomatic blunder to interrupt a meeting with the Daimyo, but Naruto had left strict instructions to be called as soon as possible if anything cropped up in the Kumo attack case. And if the ANBU was here, it would only be due to that.
"My apologies, Daimyo-sama, but I have to take this message. I left instructions to inform me immediately me only if it was a very urgent matter," said Naruto hurriedly.
The Daimyo reluctantly nodded. Naruto motioned for the ANBU to move forward. It was as Naruto as expected.
"Sai-san has arrived just now, and requests for a meeting," the ANBU whispered in Naruto's ears.
Naruto immediately turned to the Daimyo. "If we have finished here, I'll have to take my leave," he said, hoping that the man was not crazy enough to retain him any further in this senseless meeting. "I have a very urgent intel coming in, and we," Naruto turned towards Tsunade, "will need to attend to it immediately."
The Daimyo did not hide his annoyance. "I had hoped that you would have dinner with us," he said in an almost whiny voice.
Naruto retained an irritated retort. "Maybe another time, Daimyo-sama," he managed to say politely. "This is primordial – it concerns national security."
The Daimyo gave a petulant sigh. "Well, don't forget to pick Kiyone tomorrow for her visit," he said.
"Will 9:00 a.m be okay?" asked Naruto, looking from the Daimyo to the girl.
She nodded. "I'll be ready," she said.
Naruto bowed to the Daimyo, then to his daughter, Tsunade doing the same, before they both left.
"That was the most useless meeting I've been subjected to," Naruto lamented as soon as he and Tsunade was out of earshot. "And what the hell does he take me to be, his personal tourist guide?" he exclaimed, the indignation he felt in the room exploding.
"Well, he is right, in a way," Tsunade said, placating. "As per the protocol, being the Daimyo's daughter, she has the right to the highest respect of Konoha, which is you," she told him.
Naruto huffed.
Tsunade did not tell him about her suspicion concerning the possible proposal the Daimyo had in head. She thought it was better that he spend the next day showing Kiyone around not knowing about it; his usual, innocent self was the best deterrent to any possible moves. He may have grown into a heartthrob and had tons of fan girls throwing themselves at his feet, but the hectic life he had led had not given him the opportunity to spend romantic time with the opposite sex, thus he was still basically as clueless as he was as a teenager when it came to reading subtle feminine turn ons. So, unless the girl would make some heavily suggestive moves, which Tsunade highly doubted, she would bet anything that Naruto would not recognize anything amiss, if there would be.
"It was a good timing from Sai; I wonder what news he brings in," said Naruto worriedly, his thoughts already on the coming meeting, as they rushed to the Hokage tower.
XOXOX
Naruto closed the report with a snap before gliding it to Tsunade. The said document was the compiled autopsy reports of the six Kumo shinobis, file which Sai had handed him just some minutes ago, courtesy of the Raikage.
The autopsy report re-iterated what Sai reported in the first meeting: not the tiniest signs of damage to the bodies, not the slightest injuries, internal or external, and no traces of poisoning. Naruto could not make out all of the complicated medical terminologies, but at a simple summary written at the bottom of the report had concluded the deaths due to whole body failure, without an explainable cause. Naruto was by no means any expert in the medic field, but even to his limited knowledge on the subject, he knew that six young men, aging from twenty-one to twenty-seven years, as per the reports, with perfect health, cannot drop dead from body failure just like that.
And what bothered him in the report was that the autopsy had revealed the deaths of the six shinobis to be almost simultaneous. Added to this detail was Sai previous report which had indicated that there had been no traces of disturbance in the surroundings where the bodies had been found to indicate that a fight had taken place. His investigations and the positions of the bodies had made Sai had ruled out the possibility that they had been killed somewhere else and transported to the discovery location.
Naruto was suddenly engulfed by the unpleasant memories that such type of deaths was evoking in him.
"The only thing I know which could caused such types of death was the Rinnegan, the Human Path which Pein used," he said slowly, a dread filling him. "The removal of the souls; which caused instant death but still leaving the body, and the surrounding, intact."
Tsunade visibly jumped, while Sai stared at him.
"Could it be, Baa-Chan?" Naruto asked softly, as Tsunade quickly went through the reports.
Tsunade frowned worriedly. "It does seem similar as the Human Path soul removing technique," she agreed. "But it's impossible that someone has got the Rinnegan. Maadara's body had been properly disposed of – we all saw to that. And Nagato's second eye as well was disposed as well." She looked at Naruto. "No, those eyes cannot be recuperated anymore," she said firmly.
Tsunade was adamant enough about this fact, so Naruto gave a sigh of relief. It was an alarming idea about an unknown foe out there using the Rinnegan. But even more alarming was about another Jutsu as easily destructive.
There was a knock at the door, and Sakura came in.
"Sorry I'm late," she apologized, as she took her seat.
Naruto waved her apologies off. "As you see, the others are not in yet as well."
"I'll not be able to stay for too long, I have a surgery scheduled in thirty minutes," she said. Naruto nodded in understanding.
Sakura frowned as she leafed through the reports. Same as the others, she found the autopsy reports baffling. She could not find any answers despite how much she racked her brains, working out all possible medical stratagems on what type of jutsus could cause men to fall dead like that, without causing any leaf to be upturned on the surrounding. The idea that even such a type of jutsu exist was horrifying. The idea of having perpetror of such assignations was just simply horrifying.
By the time she had finished leafing through reports, the others had slowly fled in the office. Rapidly, they were all brought up to the latest findings. Among other things – the info given by Gaaraa had been confirmed; indeed, Killer Bee had supposed to be at that particular small village on that particular day, but had changed plan at the very last minute. Sai had also found out that the Raikage had shipped Killer Bee off into hiding, as a precaution. Most probably into another remote island.
Knowing Killer Bee, Naruto knew that he must be very miserable by this arrangement.
"And the enemy does not leave any trace," said Sai. "I've put my best men on this, myself personally doing some scouring the past week. But not the tiniest clue on their whereabouts. We have almost nothing to go about it. They've totally disappeared."
"By now, we have Suna, Kumo and ourselves actively on the look out, so it is not surprising that they would keep a low profile," said Kakashi.
Sai nodded. "Yes, they must be aware that they are being looked after. We haven't heard anything unusual again since."
The discussion continued for a longer while, but no one had any new ideas to put in. Sakura stood up.
"I'll have to leave now," she said. The thirty minutes was over, she had to rush back to the hospital.
Tsunade as well stood up. "If you don't need me, Naruto, I'll go too," she said.
Naruto nodded, since he had been about to adjourn the meeting anyway. After the two women left, Shikamaru and Neiji made to stand up too, but Kakashi spoke, making them pause.
"Are you still bent on going to Suna for the Chunin exams?" the older man asked Naruto.
Naruto sat up a little straighter, and looked around at Kakashi. His hands tightened on his desk.
"Kakashi-sensei, I still maintain my previous stance. I refuse to stay confined, scared of an unknown enemy," he replied gruffly.
Shikamaru settled in his seat again, Neiji following suit.
"Your going to Suna would be like an open invitation to make you a target," remarked Shikamaru. "I don't think the enemy would be so daring so as to invade Shinobi villages; they'll need opportunities like the Kumo incident, in a civilian only village. And you traveling would be exactly what the enemy is waiting for_"
"And maybe that's what would work," Naruto cut in. A sudden silence followed.
Sasuke stared at him. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, right?"
The blue eyes looking back at Sasuke were totally serious. "If we need to tackle this unknown enemy once and for all, the best, obvious way is to draw it out of it's hiding," Naruto slowly said. "If it's me they want, then they'll get me. We'll ambush them."
Shikamaru looked at Naruto incredulously. Neiji made a move to talk, but Naruto forestalled him.
"With someone having a jutsu as powerful and lethal out there, it would be in all our best interest, or I should say all of the five nation's best interest, to stop this person as quickly as possible," he said earnestly, looking around at the incredulous and skeptical faces of his team. "We just came out of a war. We've worked hard to attain this peace. We've lost many in the process. Why should we cower before an unknown group who wants to destroy this peace we have worked so hard for? We should not let them grow stronger while they are in hiding!"
"But you serving as bait is pure folly!" protested Shikamaru finally.
"You're really playing with fire," Sasuke agreed, frowning. "And I doubt Tsunade-sama and the council, in that matter, would agree to your foolish plan." Or Sakura. He did not say it aloud, but he was sure their teammate would not be happy about such a reckless action on the part of the blond.
"They don't need to be told that we are planning to lure out the enemy," Naruto argued.
Kakashi shook his head. "Still rushing into things blindly," he sighed.
"You're the Hokage, you should not think about being a bait so easily as that," Neiji finally spoke. "As the Hokage, you have to ensure Konoha's safety first. Not to go and give yourself up so easily."
"And even if you don't like it, as a Jinchuriki, you have an even greater responsibility of being ensure that some crazy, power lusting group does not get hold of you," Kakashi added. "And I doubt that you'll be able to hide such an important matter from Tsunade or the council."
"As I said before, treating me as a mere weapon and hiding me, as was done at the beginning of the war, is not the solution," Naruto insisted.
Kakashi shifted uncomfortably. "You know that was not our decision," he calmly said. "The war decisions were taken by the alliance. Tsunade-Sama was against this. We were outrun by the council and the alliance, that's all."
"But then why should I take the same path now? I won't let the council decide on my life. I have some power to decide on my own freedom, and I refused to be hidden again. And Neiji, I am not giving myself up easily! I'll have you guys watching my back!"
The group remained silent. Naruto sighed. He needed his team. He could not go through this without their support.
"Do we really want to play the waiting game?" he asked around the silent men. "For how long? If we are correct in our assumption, I'm one of the two only remaining Jinchuriki which this unknown person or group seems to be targeting. It's either me, or Killer Bee, the next target. Since I have the best team of the five nations, I say that I have the best chance to get out of this plan successfully."
Shikamaru gave a long sigh. "Naruto, you're too troublesome," he groaned, shaking his head in disbelief.
Naruto knew that he had won over the Nara. "What the use of having the best strategist around if we cannot make good use of him?" he grinned.
"There's a limit to being irrational and reckless!" Shikamaru protested, though it was quite half hearted.
Naruto looked them. "Guys, don't forget we are all presuming that I'm a target for this mysterious new enemy who had attacked some Kumo shinobis weeks ago. If our presumption is correct, then we already have the upper hand on the enemy," he said.
"He's right," Sai slowly said. "It's terribly risky, but it could work. I cannot find any other way other than grounding our Hokage to Konoha for the next decade for his safety. The Raikage has already exiled his brother to an unknown location again, I'm sure it was against the wish of Killer Bee."
Kakashi sighed in defeat. He as well knew that Naruto's plan looked could work. Still, he had some qualms about doing this behind the council's back. But he has sworn allegiance to the Hokage when he had agreed to become his counselor, and he knew that Naruto was stubborn enough to see through his crazy plan; so it was better that he was by his side in this.
"We'd better plan this very carefully," he said finally.
Naruto looked at Neiji. "Neiji?"
The Hyuuga gave a sigh. "We better ensure that we get the upper hand on this enemy," he said.
Naruto breathed in relief.
He didn't need to ask Sasuke; he knew that his friend would be by his side, no matter what.
XOXOX
"She'll kill us both if something happens to you," remarked Sasuke later, as he, Naruto and Sai made their way to Ichiraku.
The three, being at a loose end after the meeting, had decided to have dinner together, while the rest of the group had dispersed.
"Yeah, I know," said Naruto. There was no need to ask who Sasuke was referring to. "Same as Tsunade, I don't think I'll let her know."
Sasuke smirked. "You're stupid if you think you'll be able to keep her out of the loop."
Sai smiled. It's been a long while that he had hanged around his friends. His long, frequent missions out of Konoha made that he was mostly unavailable to socialize. It was nice to be among his friends again.
"I'll do it," Naruto insisted.
Sasuke glared at him in exasperation. "Why am I letting myself be dragged into this?"
"Because you're bored," Naruto grinned. "And because you have no choice: your place is by my side."
Sasuke grumped.
Ayame beamed her usual smile when the Hokage and his two friends entered the Ichiraku ramen bar. After ordering their food, the three settled down.
"Tomorrow I have to play guide to the Daimyo's daughter," grumbled Naruto, remembering his meeting with the Daimyo earlier. "I felt as if I've been given a D class mission back in our Genin days, similar like when we had to catch Tora the cat."
Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "So that's all what the meeting with the Daimyo was about?" he asked.
"Yap. It was a total lost of time, talking about some far country's politics and the weather. Can you imagine it? He called for a meeting to talk about the weather!"
"You must always maintain a good political relationship with the Daimyo," Sai reminded him.
"Yeah, I know. But I didn't expect that having to play guide came along with the package," Naruto grumbled again.
"Surely showing such high nobility like the Daimyo's daughter cannot be that bad?" Sai asked. "Unless she is unpleasant." He looked at Naruto expectantly.
Naruto shook his head. "She seems nice enough, though she hardly talked. But still, I have much more important things to use my time for," he complained. Like spending some more time with Sakura, he thought.
He had barely managed to spend a decent time with her the past week. Both of them had been loaded with work. She had taken a new batch of Genins at the beginning of the week, so she now had to teach on top of her medic-nin duties. The very little free time she had was practically non existent, it seemed. The couple of times he had managed to free himself to drop at the hospital, she had been taken in treating patients, and they could only have some few hurried words. She finished work so late at night that he thought it would be better not to retain her further; she obviously needed to have a decent rest.
"And why does she need to know about a shinobi life anyway?" continued Naruto, the day with Kiyone looming ahead.
Sasuke looked wordlessly at him, exasperated. He had a small idea what was in the Daimyo's mind; but he would be damned if he was going to be the one to tell this to Naruto.
"Whatever his reasons, you better do this properly," said Sai, his face serious. "I have an excellent book about rules of courting a girl. I can lend it to you so that you have a quick look for tomorrow."
Sasuke almost did a facepalm.
Naruto spluttered in protest, "Hey, I'm not courting this girl!"
Sai shrugged. He still held the habit of learning about ways in books, though he had come a long way from the cold, emotionless teenage boy that they had known when he first joined the Kakashi group.
"Still, it's better that you know," he said. "Let me run some of the rules with you." And before Naruto could place another words, he went on, "Punctuality is primordial. Don't be late to pick her up, not even by one minute. Then, since this is your first time taking her out, you could take her to a tea house as a starter; it will be proper."
"Sai!" Naruto was practically jumping from his seat. "It's just an official tour, not a courting date! I'll just take her to the main administrative buildings and maybe to some training grounds, that's all!"
Sai looked calmly at Naruto. "But still, it's not anybody that you are taking around. You should know a bit about proper etiquettes," he insisted.
Naruto rolled his eyes, at the end of his patience.
"I have a better idea," Sasuke drawled suddenly. "Since this is an official tour anyway, why not take Sai along with you? Seeing that he seems to be very knowledgeable in such etiquettes and protocols, he will help in case you make a false step."
Naruto immediately brightened. "Hey, that's an excellent idea!"
Sai looked doubtful. "Are you sure? Won't the Daimyo be negative at this?"
"Why should he?" asked Naruto. "As far as I am along, he should not find any problem with it."
Sai accepted to accompany Naruto. He was always eager to get to know more people, and he was quite curious to meet the Daimyo's daughter, never having really socialized with such high nobility before.
"I'll read the book thoroughly again," he promised.
"And especially NO nicknames, okay?" warned Naruto. The gang had worked hard on Sai to make him give up the habit of giving nicknames to people, more so those that he met for the first times.
"I'll be within reach, but out of your way," Sasuke informed the two.
Their food arrived, and they immediately dug in.
XOXOX
"The next stop is at the hospital," announced Sai, as Kiyone emerged from the small shop in which she had been browsing while Naruto and Sai patiently waited.
The day had turned out to be quite pleasant, much to Naruto's surprise. Kiyone had turned out to be outspoken and vivacious, unlike the nobility coldness that he had been expecting.
Sai proceeded to give a short history of the hospital while they made their way towards it– he had been an invaluable help in this tour, he had given a short historic background on each of the place that they had visited, before and after war. He had not made any misplaced comment, and had been an excellent commentator. If Kiyone had been bored by the technical details, she did not show it, taking all opportunities to show her enthusiasm and gushing over almost everything.
"We can boast to have the best hospital of the five nations," said Sai proudly.
"Oh, with such a bright Hokage, it's not surprising," exclaimed Kiyone, smiling up at Naruto.
Naruto smiled back, though awkwardly. She had been doing that all the time, praising him ceaselessly.
"Oh, all the merits go to our previous Hokage, Tsunade, and her two apprentices, Shizune and Sakura," he corrected. "They are the best medic-nins out there, due to which we have the best hospital."
Kiyone fluttered her eyelashes at him. "You are being too modest," she chided.
"Here we are," Sai cut in before Naruto could say anything further. They stood before the new, impressive building of the hospital.
As soon as they entered the main entrance hall, Naruto spotted the distinctive pink hair. His face brightened, as it always did, when he saw her, the blue eyes lingering over her as she issued some instructions to a doctor.
The usual commotion at the arrival of the Hokage must have alerted her; she raised her eyes to look over at them.
"Sakura-Chan!" he called out warmly, waving his hands.
He quickly made his way towards her, leaving Kiyone with Sai. As he reached her, his eyes skimmed over her, noting the dark circles under her eyes. She had her white overcoat still on, her mask hanging over her neck, meaning that she must just have emerged from the treatment room. She nodded to the doctor, having finished with the instructions, and then turned towards Naruto.
"You look drained," he said immediately.
"Yeah, it's been a busy day," she sighed. "The surgery last night had lasted much longer than anticipated, we had some complications," she said.
It had dragged since very late in the night, and by the time she had wrapped things up, give the necessary instructions, she had almost fell off her feet.
"And I had to do the follow up treatment early since morning," she continued. And still have tons of reports to finish, she thought. "But the patient is fine now," she said, her face brightening with a triumphantly smile. That reward was worth any bone tiring day.
Naruto smiled proudly back. "That's my Sakura-Chan!" he exclaimed.
Sakura tried not to preen under his praise. "What brings you here?" she asked.
"Oh_"
"Hokage-sama, you suddenly disappeared!" Kiyone's complaining voice rang out, as she stepped besides Naruto. She looked at Sakura questioningly.
"Oh, sorry," Naruto apologized immediately. "This is Haruno Sakura, our head Medic-nin," he introduced. "And this is Kiyone, the Daimyo's daughter," he turned to Sakura. "I'm showing her around."
Sakura felt a jolt. The daimyo's daughter? The conversation with the girls came back to her mind. She felt a sudden rush in her ears, and she almost missed his next words.
"The Daimyo wishes her to know about the main thing of Konoha and the life of a shinobi, so we thought our hospital is a must in the itinerary," Naruto was saying.
Sakura murmured some polite words, while discreetly examining the girl. She was stunningly beautiful. There was no doubt about that. About seventeen years old, lustrous strawberry blonde hair cascading in a mass of curls down her back, grey eyes framed by unbelievably long eyelashes and finely arched eyebrow, high cheekbones, dainty nose, perfectly drawn lips, flawless skin, face artfully made up, and a dream figure with voluptuous curves at the right places. The bright blue and red traditional Kimono she wore emphasized her coloring and rendered everything surrounding her colorless.
In comparison, Sakura felt dowdy. She was suddenly keenly aware of her tired, bared of make-up, sweaty face, due to which, she was sure, her forehead must be shining in all its glory. Her hair, plaited on that day due to the heat, must looked a real mess with some of the untamed tendrils escaping. Her hospital white coat felt utterly lifeless, drab, more like a sack than an actual garment.
Kiyone emitted a tinkling laugh, her voice musically toned, as she waved her hand toward Naruto. "My father can only trust the Hokage to protect me," she said.
Sakura managed not to raise her eyebrows at this. Catching a glimpse of the dainty, perfectly manicured hand, she instinctively hid her own rough and jagged nailed hands behind the board she held.
Naruto gave a flustered smile. "You have nothing to fear within Konoha," he said. "You are perfectly safe here."
Sakura carefully watched Naruto. They had barely had time to talk the past days; they both had been busy by their respective works. She had not have the opportunity to bring the subject about the marriage proposal rumors up. He looked normal enough; a little pumped by the obvious flattering, maybe. She could not tell whether the proposal topic had been approached yet.
Sai, who had stayed behind chatting with one of the nurse, suddenly appeared, breaking her thread of thoughts.
"Hi, Ug_"
The immediate death glare he received from those green eyes stopped him on time. There was a time where he would not have had any clue and would have carried on; but Sai was a much emotionally wiser man than what he was when he freshly met Kakashi team.
"Hi Sakura," he quickly corrected. "I'm accompanying them," he said, smiling, pointing towards Naruto and Kiyone.
"Oh." Sakura felt a ridiculous relief at that, though she stubbornly refused to acknowledge it as relief.
"I was wondering whether you could give us have a tour of the Hospital?" asked Naruto.
"I'm sorry, but I'm really taken up right now," Sakura replied, though she was not sorry at all. "I'll ask Yuki to do it, if you don't mind."
Naruto face fell in disappointment, but he smiled understandingly. "Of course, you do look quite busy," he said.
Some minutes later, upon the convoke of Sakura, Yuki hurried towards them. "Hokage-sama, Kiyone-sama, this way please," she ushered them along.
Sakura watched them go, a tight knot in stomach.
"Don't worry, Ugly. I'm being a good chaperon."
Sakura jerked around to find Sai's eyes closing with a large smile. "Why should I be worried?" she spluttered. She felt a heat creeping up her face.
Sai looked at her interestingly. "You are blushing. It says in my book that one of the reasons a girl blush is out of shyness or embarrassment. So, if you are embarrassed, it means that my statement is true. You are indeed worried_"
Sakura came out of her befuddlement fast. "Didn't your book say anything about being red in anger?" she growled menacingly, tightening her fist.
Sai immediately backed away. He had no wish to taste her punch. "See you!" he called out as he quickly scampered off.
XOXOX
Kiyone was currently laughing at something Naruto has said, her voice tinkling enthusiastically and breathlessly, perfectly manicured nails daintily gripping the Hokage's navy, traditional kimono's sleeves which he had donned for the evening, battling her long eyelashes up at him. She looked divine in a green richly embroidered, brocaded silk traditional Kimono, her hair and face artfully made up.
It was two days after the Daimyo had arrived in Konoha. Earlier that afternoon, Naruto had come to the hospital to invite Sakura to the dinner party he was throwing in the honor of the Daimyo's visit in Konoha.
"It will be a good informal way to introduce our people to the Daimyo," he had explained. "At the same time, it will double for a celebration dinner for the new Konoha, finally rebuilt."
He had invited most of the tops of the Konoha shinobi, and of course, all his closest friends.
"Don't you think the Daimyo would have preferred to have this dinner with only you?" Sakura had asked guardedly. She was sure the Daimyo wanted to have a private dinner with Naruto. She had not wanted to elaborate further, since they had been standing in the crowded hall, which was certainly not the place to discuss about any supposed marriage proposals. He had waved her doubts away.
"I want it this way – I have no fancy to dine alone with the Daimyo," he had said confidentially.
He had managed to avoid dinner with the Daimyo's family the previous night, taking the excuse of having pushed all his work to the evening to be able to accompany Kiyone. But he could not put it off for two evening in a row; and the Daimyo was to leave the next day, and had been insisting for a social evening. So, Naruto had come with the bright idea of the dinner party.
"Besides, it's an excuse to gather the friends together," he insisted.
So, here Sakura was, in a large party hall of the best restaurant in Konoha, wearing a red, floor length, sleeveless, Chinese style kimono which Ino had insisted she buy when the blond had dragged her into an impromptu shopping spree as soon as they had received the dinner invitation, her pink hair made up in a loose bun held by some senbons at the top of her head, sipping on a chilled, fruit juice which she could not in the life of her tell what it tasted like, while she watched their Hokage being flirted on. And what an obvious flirting it was.
There has been a big jump from yesterday to today, thought Sakura as she watched the familiarity with which the girl was holding Naruto's arm, the almost suggestive way she was looking at him. She wondered, with a sudden shakiness, whether the proposal had already been put forward. If it was the case, Naruto did not seem negative about it.
The forty guests or so were standing around, chatting and sipping some drinks, while waiting for dinner to be announced. The clan leaders were present, as were the captains, the most eminent Jounins and the whole gang of their friends. Each of the Shinobi present had been introduced, in turn, to the Daimyo, who sat at the head of the room, his wife at his side, while Naruto sat with Kiyone by his side.
"Hokage-sama, you are so funny!" the young girl squealed for the umpteenth time, leaning towards the blond, her voice carrying to where Sakura was.
Sakura unconsciously gritted her teeth. She could almost see stars shining in the young girl's eyes, who had been hanging all over Naruto the whole time. Wasn't nobility supposed to be more contained, more regal? Sakura thought cattily, though carefully avoiding to ponder on her being so riled up at the girl's heavy, oh so obvious hitting on the Hokage. And it was another matter that their Hokage did not seem to be minding the attention at all, a large smile plastered on his face. Why should he, anyway? Sakura thought darkly. Which man would not be enticed by such a beautiful, and obviously interested girl.
She tried not to look in their direction; which was proving to be difficult, what with the tinkle voice ringing out each second and the bright green Kimono standing out among the guests. And Naruto never went unnoticed, anyway, as usual. Put him among a hundreds, he would still stand out; he always had that strange power.
Sakura resolutely turned her back on the couple, looking instead at the silent man sipping his drink besides her. "Please tell me that I wasn't that bad," she groaned in a low voice, as another peal of girlish laughter rang out.
She needed to say something, otherwise she felt like she would explode. As response, she got a smirk; meaning yes, she had been as girlishly star-struck as the girl. She felt like banging her head against a wall in mortification.
"At least you had a valid excuse," Sasuke drawled.
She raised her eyebrows almost apprehensively at this, waiting in silence for the Uchiha to elaborate.
"You were twelve years." A tiny hint of amusement could be seen in the black eyes.
A heavy sigh escaped her. "I really should apologize for all the trouble I was back then."
"We were all kids," he shrugged.
"She sure is not a kid," she said waspishly, looking towards Kiyone, forgetting her resolution to not look towards the couple. Those voluptuous curves were anything but kid like.
Sasuke looked at her, eyes narrowed.
"What?" she almost snapped, unnerved by the thorough scrutiny.
"Your reaction to her is interesting," he drawled, the black eyes calculating.
She sent him a death glare. She had enough self-analysis to do and having him cross analyzing her reactions was the last thing she needed.
"Uchiha, if you want me to forget that you tried to ram a weapon in me twice, you'd better drop the direction your thought is taking."
He grunted.
A few minutes later, Ino joined them, followed by Ten-Ten and Hinata. Greeting the girls, and murmuring an excuse, Sasuke quickly eclipsed away.
"Still uncomfortable around girls, isn't he?" Ten-Ten remarked.
Sakura smiled ruefully. "He has never been a social butterfly," she chuckled. She could see Chouji talking with Lee, Sai, Neiji and Shikamaru in a corner.
"So, managed to let go of the fiancée of yours finally, haven't you?" she teased Ino.
"Well, I had to clearly stake my claim on him," Ino replied snarkily. "What with such a Femme Fatale around."
"She is quite something, isn't she?" Ten-Ten whispered, looking across the room as yet another laugh from Kiyone tinkled out.
"Yes, she is very beautiful," agreed Hinata quietly.
Sakura looked at the Hyuuga girl, who looked stunning in a floor length lilac dress, her lustrous black hair shining down her back, the perfect, white skin enhanced by the hue of her dress. She could only marveled at how calm and collected Hinata looked, every inch the classy, beautiful and poised princess that she was, kindness and gentleness oozing out of her.
"Hinata, you are even more beautiful!" she whispered almost vehemently.
Hinata looked at her in surprise, while a faint blush crept up her cheeks. "Thank you, Sakura," she murmured, smiling shyly. "You look beautiful too." Her eyes held a knowing expression which Sakura could not understand, but before she could ponder on it, Tsunade came to join their group.
"Quite a party, huh?" the former Godaime smiled cheerfully, a glass of sake in hand. The others nodded. "We managed to get the Daimyo to contribute to it," she said, with a devious smile.
Sakura shook her head. She'd better not ask how her Shishou had done that.
"What do you think of the girl?" Tsunade asked Sakura abruptly, in a low voice that the others could not hear.
"Huh? The girl?" stuttered Sakura, taken by surprise.
Tsunade pointed her chin towards Kiyone. "The Daimyo's girl," she said, watching Sakura closely.
Why this question? Sakura thought. "She's ok," she forced out after a pause. What else could she say?
Tsunade looked satisfied. "Hmmm."
Before Sakura could query why the question, the older woman had waved cheerily and moved off to another group, leaving Sakura perplexed.
A while later, Sakura strolled out on the terrace which gave on the back garden. She leant forward against the wooden rail; the warm summer air, sweetened by the scent of fruits, tantalized her nose as she took a deep breath. The slight cooling breeze fluttering on her face was soothing and she felt some of her tension smoothing away. Dinner was over about half an hour ago, but the party was still going on, people still chatting and enjoying each other's company – it's been a long time they have such a gathering.
And Kiyone was still flirting heavily with their Hokage. No announcements had been made, though, as per the speculations which Sakura's wild imagination had been conjuring up.
A troubled frown marred her face as Sakura managed to get a grip on her raging emotions and tried to rationally evaluate her own reactions at the sight of the young noble lavishing her attention on Naruto. She did not like that she was feeling so geared up like that; she felt so weak. She has been on edge since the previous day when Naruto had come to the hospital with Kiyone; her night had been lousy, tossing about in her bed, sleep eluding her until the wee morning hour, her imagination running wildly ahead of her.
No, if she was honest with herself, weak could not even describe how she felt. She felt like smashing some walls, taking down some buildings, digging out some craters; and scratching out some grey eyes.
There, she had admitted it. She was feeling very bothered at the sight of Kiyone being with Naruto, holding his arms and draping herself over him all the time. What she felt when she saw the girl hanging all over Naruto made the rivalry which she used to have with Ino seemed tame.
Grrr… she gave a tortured, exasperated huff. She was very unhappy about what she was feeling. It was as if she was retrograding again to the emotionally-directed girl that she had promised she would never be again. All the emotional defenses that she had so painfully and carefully built were slowly crumbling around her, and she was scared.
Would she feel that way at every girl who would give Naruto some attention? God knows he really deserved any loving attention he gets. And where the hell would this feeling of …rage - she refused to call it by any other name - lead her, anyway. She and Naruto…how can it ever be?
And where did Hinata fit in all this? She asked herself again.
"Here you are, I was wondering where you've disappeared to."
Sakura jumped and wheeled around, as the one of her thoughts walked through the large sliding doors. Naruto bore a wide grin as he moved besides her, leaning forward and cropping both his elbows on the rim of the balustrade. She looked at him. He looked cut in the traditional kimono, the draped garment suggesting rather than showing his powerful physique, the navy color making his eyes appearing darker, more mysterious. More predatory. She swallowed.
"What's wrong with Hinata?" she blurted, a little more belligerently than she intended.
"Huh? What's wrong with Hinata?" Eyebrows slammed in a frown, he immediately straightened himself and looked with urgent concern towards the inside of hall, where Hinata had been earlier.
"No! Nothing has happened to her," she said hastily, and he turned back to look at her, puzzled. "I meant, if you are so bent on marrying into nobility, why don't you choose Hinata?"
His eyes widened in surprise.
Before he could say anything, she hurried on, "She has always loved you, from far back when all of us used to look down on you. She has always treated you right. She's very beautiful, kind, sweet, strong, perfect, and she did not think one minute about sacrificing herself for you during the Pein fight…So, why?"
Sakura felt she was trespassing onto dangerous territory, but she could not stop herself. She had never dared ask him the question. But they were best friends, surely she could ask? And she wanted to know.
Remorse was apparent on his face as he looked down at his feet. After a silence during which Sakura quivered in uncertainty, feeling that she had indeed cross a boundary, he looked up at her, eyes guarded.
"I don't lie to myself, Sakura," he said softly, face serious.
Her breath hitched silently. Those words…they evoked some painful memories.
"Hinata…I'm really very honored that a girl like Hinata has such feelings for me," he said in a low voice. "And I truly regret that I can't give her what she wants."
Sakura watched him, unable to say anything.
"I'm not in love with her," he continued. "I have high respect for her, for the person she is, but I don't love her that way. It would be unfair to both of us if I get with her, feeling the way I do. It would be out of obligation, and she deserves much better than that."
She opened her mouth; then closed it again, not knowing what to say.
"She was hurt when I told her years ago, but she understood and accepted my decision," he said.
Sakura was surprised. She had never known that he had such a talk with Hinata. A heavy silence descended between them. She did not know what to make of all this; and she dared not probe deeper. She suddenly felt vulnerable, her stomach churning. Not liking the feeling, she went into her defensive mode, and glared at him.
"So, are you trying to say that you are in love with her?" she almost snapped, pointing her chin towards the Kiyone.
The heavy atmosphere immediately dissipated at her waspish tone. He looked flabbergasted. "Huh? Where does that come from?"
"You seem to be positive about the proposal!" She could not prevent the accusing tone of her voice.
"…! Which proposal?" He looked genuinely mystified.
She suddenly felt some misgivings. Maybe the proposal had not been put forward yet? He looked questioningly at her, expecting a reply. She shuffled uncomfortably, suddenly feeling very stupid about her outburst.
Why the hell didn't I hold my tongue? She thought desperately, regretting her lack of control. The silence stretched, as he continued to watch her expectantly.
Aware that she should say something, she took a deep breath. They were best friends, dammit, she should be able to discuss such things surely, as friends? - was her brave thoughts as she started, quite subdued, "Well…there's this info…" She haltered.
"Info?"
She glared at him for the interruption. "Well, there was the…word circulating around...that the Daimyo wants to propose his daughter's hand to you."
"Ah."
She frowned. That's it? She would have expected a more surprised reaction, had he been totally ignorant of the supposed proposal. She became aware of the teasing glint in his eyes, and she immediately bristled.
"And seeing the way you were fawning all over HER_"
"Was I really?"
"_it's natural to assume that you are seriously considering_"
"Don't you know it's dangerous to assume, Sakura-Chan?" The blue eyes were practically dancing with laughter now.
"_the proposal!" she finished, a vein tickling on her forehead by then, and her eyes flashed angrily at him.
He watched her, a small smile tugging the corners of his mouth, merry eyes boring straight into her. Suddenly, he scrunched his eyes, bent his head forward and peered closely at her face, still not saying anything. She hurriedly took a step back, her eyebrows shooting up.
A large, satisfied grin broke out on his face.
"I'd say that you are JEALOUS, Sakura-Chan!" he finally said.
"…What?" she sputtered, her eyes widening.
He nodded his head solemnly. "Yes, you are."
Her jaw was practically hanging down. "I'm NOT!"
"Then why are you blushing?"
"Because…because your statement is OUTRAGEOUS!"
"Is it? If so, why haven't you punched the daylights out of me yet?"
She looked at him incredulously. "You want to be punched?"
"Well, if I was so off-target, I would have been punched halfway through Konoha by now."
Since when has he gotten THAT smart? she thought, agitated. "I can't punch you here," she growled.
"Why is that?" he asked curiously, taking a step towards her, head cocked to one side as he interestedly wait for her reply.
She took another step back, only to find that her back was already pressed against the rail. His proximity and low, suave voice were doing strange things to her; like turning her feet into jelly.
"You know why! Because you're the Hokage!" To her horror, her voice came out squeaky-ish.
"Oh? And that would stop you?"
"We are in public! The Daimyo?" She desperately tried to formulate coherent phrases, as she looked, mesmerized, at the blue eyes, finding it unable to tear her eyes away.
He did not reply, instead, watched her intently. The noise around them suddenly zoomed off. Her heart rate speeded up, her breath shaky. She swallowed nervously, and his eyes moved to her throat, seeming equally entranced.
"Naruto-kun!"
They both jumped at the voice.
Shizune smiled, clueless, at both, not noticing the charged atmosphere. Sakura dazedly surfaced from her stupor, blood rushing into her face.
"Tsunade-sama is looking for you," the black haired woman told Naruto.
Naruto took a step back, scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. His cheeks were ablazed, too.
"Okay, I'll go and see her," he said, and with a nod at both of them, he left.
What the hell was that all about? Sakura thought, still shaky.