TH: I hope that nuclear problem in Japan sorts itself out- explosions and meltdowns are not a happy thing. At least a bunch of other countries are offering/giving aid; it's good that we can actually suck it up and act like decent human beings every once in a while. Ganbatte, Nippon!
Thanks to MakalaMea for betaing.
Horizons
.IV.
Sakura smirked as the diplomatic team from Suna left, the youngest of their number darting occasional, nervous glances back behind them.
"I think that went rather well," she remarked to the three young men who stood and watched with her. Sasuke snorted derisively. Naruto chuckled, mischief thick in the sound.
Gaara stood silently, as he was wont to do. He watched the departing team thoughtfully. It was his reaction Sakura was most interested in.
Having proved himself a great friend of Konoha, both during the war against Root-Akatsuki and in the months after, Gaara was well respected (and even liked, though the concept still seemed to surprise him) in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Tsunade, now the Rokudaime Hokage, had given Gaara and his brother and sister political asylum in the Village after the Battle of Chi no Mori. As things began to settle down in Konoha and in the rest of the ninja world, she and some of the ninja who were closest to Gaara, Kankurou, and Temari had begun to run a sort of… publicity campaign for the Ichibi Jinchuuriki. Gaara's father, the Kazekage, had spread some very debilitating rumors about Gaara, making most of the world believe the redhead to be some sort of crazed, blood-thirsty monster. Tsunade, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and a few others had begun to take it upon themselves to spread the good word about Gaara and his siblings.
If anything, it would make the Kazekage tread very carefully in his dealings with Konoha. The three Sand siblings likely knew enough of Suna's secrets to supply Tsunade with blackmail material for decades.
The Suna diplomatic ninja who had just taken their leave of Konoha were the latest in a newly established flow of discourse between the two Hidden Villages. They were the first to actually see physical proof that Gaara was, in fact, a perfectly civilized member of Konoha's population.
The first team to come got hints. The second got rumors affirming those hints. The third glimpsed Kankurou practicing his puppetry. The fourth was given quarters in a building that had been partially sculpted from sand, packed tightly enough so that it was essentially stone. The presence of the building was a daily reminder of the rumors that the Ichibi Jinchuuriki, with his ability to manipulate sand, lived and worked in the Village.
This, the fifth team, was blithely introduced to Gaara as they just happened to run into the Sand siblings during one of the diplomatic tours of the Village, which had just happened to be led by Team Seven who just happened to be among those who called Gaara 'friend'.
The assorted looks of terror and terror-valiantly-hidden-behind-a-politician's-mask that had bloomed on the Suna team's faces had been so amusing. But Team Seven had been well-trained, and they didn't laugh. Out loud. Much.
Having no reason to react negatively, and a very heavy diplomatic reason to not react at all, the team had swallowed their fear of Gaara and, somewhat helplessly, allowed Team Seven to invite the redhead to join the tour—Oh, he was a former Suna nin, before the Kazekage released him from his oaths. You would have so much to talk about, and he could add a Sand-ninja's prospective to the tour! They hadn't had the presence of thought to formulate an excuse, being too nonplussed by their sudden face-to-face encounter with the Demon of Suna. It was all they could do to sound gracious while assuring Team Seven that no, they wouldn't mind at all if he tagged along.
Later, one of them, the leader, had rallied enough to comment pointedly: "It is strange to see one of our former comrades in Konoha after the affair with Danzo; the False Hokage was not kind to our Village."
"Danzo was not kind to Jinchuuriki, either," Naruto said cheerfully enough. "He wanted to use us like you'd use a kunai, and with about just as much concern for our lives… and kunai aren't alive, so that tells you that. Anyway, the Kazekage had already released Gaara from his oaths to Suna by the time Danzo started hunting us down, so Gaara banded together with Genshi. We had a similar goal. Afterwards, Gaara just stuck around… he was our friend."
It was a deft hand, that comment, and somewhat surprising coming from Naruto, but he was, after all, Konoha's number one most unpredictable ninja. In a very casual manner, he answered the accusation in the Suna nin's voice, let the man know that he, Naruto, was also a Jinchuuriki, and gave Suna a very convenient 'out' in terms of Gaara's status.
With the very definitive evidence of Gaara's immediate presence before them, the Suna ninja could call foul on Konoha, claiming that they were harboring a fugitive from Suna. They could demand Konoha give Gaara back. But that would not go over well, as was first laid down by the hints and rumors that Gaara was a valued member of Konoha's populace.
And nobody in the ninja world wanted a war so soon after this last one.
It was almost disturbing how much fun it was to manipulate people like this. If Sakura wasn't a ninja—by definition sneaky and underhanded—she might have been appalled by how much sadistic glee she'd derived from the whole affair.
To be fair, she hoped that that sadistic glee wasn't the only thing they were getting out of it. That was why she was watching Gaara's reaction so closely.
"Except for that one Genin," the redhead finally said, after the Suna team disappeared around the first bend in the road, "Near the end, they weren't looking at me in with so much fear."
It was true. After a couple days and a few limited (it wouldn't do to scare them off) interactions with Gaara, the older and more canny of the Suna team had been eyeing Gaara with curious and thoughtful looks.
The Ichibi Jinchuuriki looked around at Team Seven.
"I like it when people look at me in something other than outright terror," he said. The completely straight-faced delivery of the line made Naruto laugh.
"Just wait!" he said with typical enthusiasm, "By the time we're through, everyone will like you so much, they'll make you Kazekage! Then we can be Kages together!"
"May all the kami have mercy on us," muttered Sasuke.
"Hm," was all Gaara would say, in an introspective, thoughtful tone that made Sakura do a double-take.
Gaara, the Kazekage?
…Well, stranger things had happened. Like Tsunade taking Naruto under her wing to groom as a future Hokage.
Sakura gave a mental shrug—I'll think about the future when it gets here—and clapped her hands on Naruto and Sasuke's shoulders. "Hey, it's almost dinnertime. Let's get tempura!"