The carriage ride was stiff and awkward, unsurprising as the occupants within didn't really know each other and was facing a rather unpleasant situation neither could get out of. They had spent the past half hour riding in relative silence, each picking a spot to stare at that allowed them to watch the other out of the corner of their eyes, both fully aware that the other was doing the same thing. Perhaps some might have considered it paranoia, but they were both shinobi whose village had been at war just a couple of weeks back. It would have been stranger if they weren't paranoid.
The clear opening that served as the window to the outside world was blocked somewhat as Kakashi strode into view, peering inside with an amused expression on his face. "Well I see you two are getting along fabulously."
Naruto gave a noncommittal grunt as he continued to determinately glare a hole in the opposing side of the carriage, a close enough distance that Temari could swear she could feel her ear burning. The sand kunoichi had more than one snarky reply ready to go, but decided it was perhaps not a good idea to antagonize the man who was the sensei to her future husband and settled for a shrug instead.
Getting no verbal answer from either of the teenagers, Kakashi gave one of his trademark eye smiles. "You two really should get to know each other you know. Makes the first time in the bedroom a little less awkward. Take it from me, nothing more awkward than standing naked in front of someone and realizing you don't know their name."
Flushing slightly at the casual mention of sex, a rather taboo topic in Suna, Temari averted her eyes. Fidgeting somewhat at the hem of her battle kimono, she watched for her husband's reaction from her peripheral vision.
"Not helping sensei," the blonde male ground out with a glare.
"That's what I'm here for," said Kakashi with a thumbs up through the window.
Naruto replied with a one finger salute, causing the silver haired jounin to chuckle. After a moment he fell out of sight, and Temari felt her face return somewhat to normal. It seemed Naruto had a rather loose relationship with his sensei even if the man was his commanding officer. Baki had allowed no backtalk from his genin, even Gaara had respected the man enough to show proper decorum when he wasn't in one of his homicidal moods.
"So, are you going to try to kill me?"
The question was so unexpected that Temari could only stare blankly at her husband seated across from her.
"Excuse me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Naruto turned his head to face her and Temari found herself lost in an ocean of blue as their gaze locked. She had never seen anyone with that particular shade of eyes before. It sent a shiver down her spine to be trapped within the intense searching look he was giving
"I figured with my shit luck you're on a suicide mission to give Konoha one last black eye before war breaks out," Naruto said impassively. "So if we're going to do this, we might as well settle this here and now so we can be done with it. At least that way we don't have to try to pretend to get along and play the part of the circus monkeys for the higher ups."
Temari felt her other eyebrow shoot up to mirror the first as her measure of the boy increased a notch. So he wasn't completely clueless as she had thought.
"I saw you take down Gaara, even if I were here to assassinate you, you really think I'd do it up front?" she asked in amusement.
The blonde boy shrugged. "It was worth a shot. Guess I better check everything you give me from now on huh?"
Temari smirked as she examined her younger husband to be. He certainly wasn't hard on the eyes, a bit on the short side, but he probably hadn't hit his growth spurt yet so she didn't quite need to despair for the moment. She could see a rather good looking man in him a couple years down the road. The hideous orange jumpsuit he had pranced about in during the chunin exams had been replaced with darker more shinobi like clothing, though from the new quality they exuded they were likely a recent purchase that had probably only seen the washer once.
"I'm not here to start trouble," she finally said after a long moment passed between them. "I'm here to make sure Konoha knows that Suna is serious about repairing this alliance."
To her surprise her husband barked out a dark laugh at the mention of the alliance. "I'm sure you guys want this thing to work out pretty badly given how fucked you'd be if we did go to war. What makes you so sure that Konoha gives a damn about this alliance?"
Scowling at the jab at her village the blonde teen glared at her younger counterpart. "Oh and how do you know if Konoha is serious about the alliance or not huh? Last I checked you were still a genin and you don't exactly strike me as the type to know someone high up enough on the chain of command to be privy to such information."
Naruto snorted and looked away from her, going back to gazing out the window.
"They chose to marry you to me didn't they? That says a whole lot about how much they care."
Staring at the sullen boy sitting across from her, Temari felt her stomach sink slightly. "What? What do you mean?"
A dark chuckled escaped from Naruto's lips. "I don't know what type of reception you're expecting in Konoha, but trust me when I say that you could have done a lot better than me. In fact, just about anyone would have been better than me."
With that enigmatic answer, the blonde clamped up, refusing to say more no matter how much she prodded him. They fell back into silence, each lost in their own thought about their uncertain future together. It would be a long ride back to Konoha.