AN: So sorry for the late update. I thought I'd have more time during the break, but apparently I was too damn busy with family shit and other school shit as well. Piss me off. Anyway this chapter is through other people's POV, though Haji will be in there as well. This is the first part of this short story, and I will post the second part once I'm finished with it...which won't be the next chapter. The next one will go more into depth on Ken and Kiyoshi's character, and after that one will two more that will focus more on Hitomi and Toshiro.
This chapter deals with political stuff, and the second one will be more, along with other peep's POV
ANYWAY, I would LOVE TO THANK: Saki-Hime, rao hyuga 18, nikols, Guest, SasuHina, NENE, Idiotwhocantthinkofapenname, and SasuHina lover for reviewing (and yes, as I mentioned above). I got a lot of new followers and people who favorited and I'm glad you guys in enjoy this so far to stick with it. I'm not satisfied with it myself. I seem to rush through things. I have A LOT to improve on.
DISCLAIMER: If I owned Naruto, Obito and Madara would be dead by now. The Juubi would be crush by Naruto and Bee's awesome friendship powers and I wouldn't have to deal with Kakashi's murder...poor Obito.
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The Meeting: Part I
...
How troublesome, Temari reluctantly thought. Eying the —one, two…eight!—kids with a frown, she directed her sour expression to her husband.
Nara Shikamaru rolled his. "Troublesome woman, let us in." The Nara shifted his sleeping daughter until her head rested against his shoulder. "The Kages are having a meeting, but Naruto and your brother decided to meet up here." An annoyed sigh escaped his lips. "It's not like I had a choice."
Or you were just too lazy to argue.
She's fully aware that Shikamaru is the Hokage's advisor, just as she was. And though it was extremely difficult to leave Gaara with their almost incompetent brother, they all decided it was best she went to live with her fiancé since she was already pregnant with their first child, Mayu. Alongside her husband, Temari has been aiding the idiot Kage for almost eight years now. She hadn't had a single vacation since the birth of her second child, Akihiko. Not to mention, her husband's an ANBU captain leader, so she would take his place whenever he went off for a mission. Recently, Naruto allowed her some time off, which she was spending in her home village away from work and responsibilities. And that has just been taken away!
However, Shikamaru made a valid point, but that doesn't explain the four children looking up at her with curiously eyes. Two were sleeping and the other two were already playing in Gaara's house.
"I'm assuming you're Ayumi's obasan, right?" Temari eyed the twelve year old Uchiha carrying a toddle with a nasty stare. He annoyed her for some reason. "I'm Hajime. This," the child tilted his head to the toddler, "is my brother, Toshiro. That's my sister, Hitomi." A girl that looked to be around Akihiko's age waved shyly at her. "And my twin brothers, Kiyoshi and Ken." He used his free hand to point over his shoulders where she could see the two brats arguing. "We're Uchiha."
Not that she doubted it.
The oldest looked more like his mother; he had her soft eyes, and cute, button nose. He even had the rounded shaped of face that most Hyuuga posses. He had his father's hair color, messier hair with bangs hanging over his eyes. The two Uchiha had the same dark, calculating eyes.
The girl looked more like her father. Bitomi?...Whatever—had Hinata's large eyes and hair color, but that was as far as the resemblance goes, excluding her right eye that held the byakugan. Already, Temari could tell that the girl was nothing like either parent; she was shy, but that was probably because she wasn't familiar with the older woman. The little girl then smiled widely at her, admiration shining in her weird eyes.
The twin brats are what made her eyebrows twitch. They look like their father; they had his sharp, but elegant, features, except they had their mother's large eyes as well as her plump lips. They had Sasuke's hair color and that same stupid, stupid, hairstyle.
That wasn't what bothered her.
One of them—she couldn't tell which one—was yelling about how cool the mansion was. He was practically destroying her eardrums; she was amazed that the sleeping children didn't wake. The other one was constantly scowling at his brother. He told him to shut up, and when the animated five-year old didn't, the moody one tackled him to the ground.
They began fighting.
Hands on her hips, Temari scowled at Shikamaru. "I blame you."
Despite fearing for his life at the moment, the lazy Nara smirked. "Hai, Hai, troublesome woman."
...
No matter how long Temari has been dealing with Uchiha Sasuke's and Hinata's case with Naruto and Shikamaru, she has never met his kids. So it was a surprise watching the cold hearted, psychopathic killer play with his now awake two-year old son. The warmth radiating off his dark eyes surprised her to no end. Lifting the child in the air, Sasuke even smiled when his son giggled and placed his two small hands on his cheeks. Temari was almost positive the Uchiha hadn't noticed how…fatherly he looked.
She felt as if she was in an alternate universe.
"Sorry we're late," Naruto glanced at Temari while holding back the twins from attacking each other. "Gaara said a storm was coming, so I asked Shikamaru to take the kids before it came."
The Hokage cursed when the older twin—Kiyoshi?—pulled down on his red coat, making him fall to the ground and at the mercy of the two annoying brats.
"Um," Temari's green eyes landed on Hinata. Straightening an invisible wrinkle on her lavender kimono, Hinata leaned a bit closer to her husband. "I would h-have gone too, but we all needed the byakugan to see through the storm."
"Great, that doesn't explain the kids running around my brother's house."
At this, Naruto chuckled nervously. He placed his hand on the kids' foreheads, holding them back once again. "You see, we were going to leave the kids with Sakura; I wouldn't want to disturb you on your break, dattebayo…but…"
"But?"
Naruto scratched his cheek, but immediately placed it back on the younger twin's, Ken she's assuming, head when he began attacking his loud brother. "Akihiko and Mayu wanted to see you," Temari felt her face softening up. She ran a hand through her daughter's brown hair. "Ayumi didn't want to stay without Gaara, and Sasuke," the blonde scowled at the man, but it was left ignored, "didn't want to leave his annoying children," the Hokage pointedly glared at the struggling twins, "in Konoha, 'ttebayo!"
"And why not?" Temari question the Uchiha, who was still playing with his son.
Hinata tried to speak up, but Sasuke interrupted her. "I don't trust Konoha whatsoever." Uchiha stopped lifting the kid to turn his once warm eyes at her. "You should know that by now." She did know that, but that didn't mean he had to be so damn…" Your idiot brother will help you take of him, since he's on medical leave." He mention before turning his attention back to the squealing toddler.
Temari blinked. "Kankuro?" She turned her question gaze to her husband sitting next to her. He nodded. The female Nara sighed. "Well, he's not going to take this well."
Not that anybody cared; he just wasn't a good babysitter.
"I would have asked you to come as one of my advisors, but Naruto informed me of your leave," Gaara added.
His foamy eyes searched around the room until they landed on Ayumi. His form visibly relaxed against the wall he was leaning on once he knew she was safe.
Temari's eyebrows furrowed. "But then who will go with you? Every Kage has to have at least one escort."
"Ah," every adult eye turned to the man reading in the corner at the back of the room, well every adult besides Naruto and Sasuke, "that's when I step in." Kakashi shut his book and placed it back into his back pocket. "According to the alliance, if one leader has a shortage of men, then said leader can get permission from another Kage to have some of his or her men for a certain task and/or a certain amount of time." The porn reader raised a finger, and his eye closed into a smile. "Kazekage-sama asked Hokage-sama for me as an advisor for this purpose."
Temari opened her mouth to say something, but Shikamaru beat her to the punch, "What the hell is this meeting even about? No one bothered to tell me anything."
He directed the question to the struggling Naruto, but Sasuke answered instead.
"It's about my kids."
Temari frowned, confusion marred onto her beautiful face. Deep green eyes trailed on every Uchiha. Hajime was reading and having a conversation with Ayumi on the staircase. Hitomi was sitting next her father, taking a nap. Toshiro was jumping on Sasuke's lap, completely ignoring the dark scowl etched on his face. Ken and Kiyoshi were trying to pull at each other's throats and dragging the stressed Uzumaki with them.
These children all seem pretty damn content to her; what the hell does Uchiha Sasuke have to complain about?"
"Explain."
The Uchiha sighed. Clearly, he frustrated that he'd have tell the whole purpose of the meeting. Sometimes she wonders if he's some kind of second generation Hatake Kakashi.
Sasuke gently handed his youngest child to Hinata, and then whispered something in his daughter's ear. She nodded, and then lay on the couch, resting her head on his lap.
Sasuke leaned back onto his seat. "Hinata and I are prisoners."
Temari nodded. "You just have it worse."
"Right," the Uchiha muttered darkly. "Konoha's council, not the Kages, gave us partial citizen's ship if we do whatever the hell they wanted, but I'm permanently stuck in that village."
It was true. Tsunade, with the help of the Uzumaki clan's sealing scrolls, created a seal that could paralyze Uchiha with a single hand sign. It can be deactivated by anybody who knew the hand sign to activate it, but it can also be reactivated at any time and place, whether the creator or user was there near the holder or not. Tsunade-sama made a couple of tweaks with it; if Sasuke ever dared to leave the village without permission, then not only will the seal activate, but it is also capable of blinding him. The first time is only for a warning and it lasts for a month, the second time he would be permanently blinded.
Tsunade only told the Hokage and the other few trusted council members, since there are some people that would take advantage of that power if they ever found out the secret to activating the seal. Temari didn't know a lot about it either; apparently the seal does a lot more than that and can have the option of choosing of just paralyzing or blinding or both. Naruto and Tsunade are the only ones who are able to activate the seal so far. So yeah, Sasuke was…stuck in Konoha. He has never been stupid enough to test the complicated seal, but he wasn't happy about it either.
He knew people feared him and that was enough.
But what the hell does this have to do with his kids?
"The council, as well as the feudal lord, agreed to seal my kids," Sasuke said through clenched teeth "They don't want to risk another Uchiha failure."
Temari began to understand. This meeting was to ensure their freedom, but shouldn't that be done in Konoha? It was Konoha matters anyway, unless the Hokage absolutely refused, and knowing Naruto, he sure as hell wouldn't agree to this.
"Ah, I should have known." Shikamaru glanced at his wife. "This argument started three weeks ago, a day after your break began. The elders suggested the idea and most of the council agreed, except for Naruto, my father and Tsunade-sama, as well as the Uchiha and Hinata. Sasuke just about killed them all right then and there. The elders didn't budge, so they contacted the Kages. Naruto agreed to the meeting."
Closing his eyes, Gaara sighed. "I'm almost positive the Mizukage is on our side, but even she has stated that her maternal instincts are to blame for her opinion. I'm not sure what the Raikage or Tsuchikage think of this."
Gaara frowned when he heard Naruto curse loudly at the twins, who are right next to him. Annoyance dominating his usually stoic face, Gaara's gourd opened. His sand swirled around the two boys until it grabbed onto them by the waists. He held them high in the air.
"I'm gonna kill you Kiyoshi!" Ken yelled, still struggling in the air.
Kiyoshi smirked. "Ha, as if! I can knock you out with a flick of my finger!"
"I would love to see you try!"
"Kazekage-sama, put me down so I can beat up my little brother!"
"By six minutes!"
"I'm st—"
Gaara proceeded to shut their mouths with his sand.
Huffing—sweating profusely as well—Naruto grinned at the red-head. "I owe you one, Gaara!"
Gaara turned to Sasuke. "Control your children."
The Uchiha looked over his shoulder and smirked. "I call it revenge, Gaara. Next time, let Naruto deal with them; it'll teach him not to let them do whatever they want."
"I do not!"
Acting as if the whole ideal didn't happen, Temari spoke before Sasuke could retort. "Then why aren't you taking your children with you," she suggested. "What better way to validate their future than allowing the Kages to see for themselves that they are no danger?"
Kakashi snorted. "If you haven't noticed by now, Temari-san, Sasuke is extremely protective of his children—"
"Am not."
"—there's no way he'll let his kids around some of the most powerful ninjas in the world, all of who had tried to kill him at some point."
Damn, he had a valid point; she was amazed that Sasuke even trusted her family to take care of his kids. They had tried to kill him as well, but maybe his overbearing hatred for Konoha clouded his judgment, or maybe he really did trust them…Temari will go with the former; it made more sense.
"It's actually not a bad idea, Uchiha." Shikamaru yawned after imputing his opinion. "They all more than likely don't have a grudge against you anymore. The Raikage only wanted you dead because he thought you killed Bee-sama. Mizukage knew you were a danger to not only her village, but the world. The Tsuchikage just really didn't give a damn."
"That doesn't change the fact that they all tried to kill me."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "They might hate you, hell a lot of people hate you, me included, but I would never do anything to your brats." He scoffed and leaned back against the couch. "Look, the point is that if your spawns testify, or even talk about their life and goals, it can get them off the hook. A lot of people want you all dead, but doing this will grant them their freedom and a better shot in life."
While Sasuke mulled over the genius' tiny speech, Hinata frowned. The doubt and worry on her face was clear as day. "H-How do you know this will w-work, Nara-san?" She bit her lip after the question.
Shikamaru sighed. "Look at it this way; the only way one can prove their innocence is through proof." He grunted, frustrated at Sasuke's stubborn gaze. "Sasuke, trust me on this. Once the Kages know how harmless they are, which they will have to testify for this to work, then their future is set."
Temari scowled darkly at the fallen avenger. "And that means fewer kids to take care of."
...
Ayumi narrowed her large brown eyes at the adults whispering to each other across the room. "What are they talking about?"
She directed her gaze back on Hajime when she saw him shrug. "I don't know the details, but I know it involves my tousan."
"Hm, your tousan?"
Hajime closed the book he was reading and placed it on his lap. "In case you haven't figured it out, my family is hated in the Konoha."
Ayumi hated how bitter he sounded; Haji was always teasing her and smiling whenever she has to visit that village. They played together and had fun, so seeing him so…livid was so alien to her. She didn't like it.
"Sorry," she mumbled. Tucking a wavy red hair behind her ear, the eleven year old scooted closer to her moody friend. "What did your okaasan and otousan do? They're so nice."
Even though Sasuke looks scary, and acted even worse, he's really nice to her; he doesn't smile or laugh, but he allowed her to hang out with Hajime without complaint and that was enough for her. Now that she thought about it; touchan and Uchiha-san didn't seem to like each other. It was subtle, but she could always tell the air between them bordered on the lines of mistrust. Touchan always tried to keep things from her, but he seems to forget just how smart she is.
"Tousan never told me what they did," Hajime responded to her earlier question. "I know he'll tell me when I'm older, but it's not fair that they hide things that affect me and my siblings so damn much!" Glaring at the bottom stair, he scowled. "The council even had a trail on whether or not I should have been promoted to genin when it was their fucking idea that I should start being a shinobi in the first place."
"Haji—"
"No, Ayumi," the Uchiha directed his glare at her. "You don't understand. The only thing those old bastards want is to control my family; they're controlling both my parents and have my own father at their mercy. I can't go out of the village without being interrogated, even for a damn mission, and my sister has been mentally abused by the Hyuuga and the council for having both doujutsus." His gaze softened at Ayumi's worried frown. "My brothers…fuck, some guy tried to kill them a few years ago, and it's only a matter of time before Toshiro is targeted."
The Kazekage's daughter grabbed his hand, but she knew her watery eyes weren't encouraging him at all, but still, she tried. "Hajime, what about the other council members? Tsunade-sama, Ojii-san's dad, and Hokage-sama? They all want to protect you guys, right?"
Nodding, Hajime sighed. "It's against the law to harm us and doing so will be punished by imprisonment, but…" Hajime grunted. "It doesn't matter; people will still try to kill us."
The boy forced his frown to turn into a smirk once he noticed how close to tears Ayumi was. He could care less whenever a girl cried; after all, he has made plenty of girls shed tears because of his vulgar denials and acts of hatred. It didn't matter to him, but if that girl were his mother, Hitomi, or Ayumi then the line has been crossed. He'd do anything not to make them sad.
"Don't worry, alright Yumi?" He smiled honestly when he flicked her nose and made her frown. "I'm strong, and it's not exactly news over there. Plus, my dad is super protective of us and my mom…" he shuddered. "Don't get me started on her. No one is stupid enough to mess with them."
This did not seem to cheer up the red-head; actually she seemed more fragile than before. Weird. Ayumi hates crying in front of people, especially around him, because she said it made her feel weak and icky and—le gasp—girly. No, the small, cute, red-headed girl looking girly? How damn surprising. Honestly, the girl was just too damn weird sometimes. But, she was different. She had a sense of humor and didn't shudder at the thought of her hair or clothes getting dirty. She wasn't strong, but whenever they sparred she seemed proud of her bruises despite him holding back.
She wanted to become like her dad; proud, strong, efficient and resilient. Hajime admired her for that, but even though she wasn't a good leader at all, she wanted to improve to protect her loved ones.
She was weird, and he liked it.
Not that he'd ever tell her that.
No…
…May—No! It was too embarrassing!
"Hajime!" Said boy jumped slightly at her sudden voice, but was thankful for the distraction. He felt his face warming up and he did not want to explain to his best friend exactly why he was red in the first place. He might be dry, and lied a lot, but she always seemed to know when he was being false.
"Hn?"
Her small, pink lips widened into a large smile. It looked like her dad had given her the world. "How about you and your family live here in Suna with me and my touchan?" Hajime's blank look caused her grin to shrink. "It can happen, right?"
He shook his head. "I want to leave and live here, you don't know how much I want that, but I can't do anything. My family is…trapped in Konoha." Hajime shook his head. "There's no way."
There was a tense silence between the two friends. Ayumi kept her bright brown eyes on her lap, hiding her face. She was crying, he knew, and she was trying to keep it from him. Hajime knew his best friend's life goal was to be together forever; they had made that promise when they were younger, but unlike Yumi, Hajime is a genius. He knew such things only existed in those fairytales he used to read to his sister, but seeing her hopeful eyes made the boy swallow all pride and gave his pinky to hers. It's not that he didn't want to be here with her in her village—Gods did he want to!—but he won't delude himself.
His family was Konoha's bitches.
Hearing Ayumi sniff caused the twelve year old to bite the inside of his cheek. He fucking hated it when she cried. The only other time he saw those damn waterworks was when he was seven and she was six; they were playing in his backyard, with Hinata looking after them, and he did a katon to show off how awesome he was. He didn't realize that Ayumi was too close to him and before he could stop, the fire blew out of his mouth. Lucky, Hinata saved her from becoming fried, but her hand had been slightly burned. It hurt her. A lot.
She cried for hours on end, and seeing her like that caused his heart to pound uncontrollably—almost painfully—to the point that he couldn't stand it. He cried with her. He tried avoiding her for the rest of her stay in Konoha, but she wouldn't have it. She punched him, and told him he was a big baby.
Hajime's lips twitched at the fond memory. That was day he realized just how cool she was.
So seeing her so…he really couldn't stand it.
Swallowing the large lump in his throat, Hajime wrapped his arm around Ayumi's shoulder and pulled her towards him. "Stop crying, you big baby."
She punched his chest half-heartily. "You're the baby." He could detect the smile in her voice, so he knew she wasn't offended.
Ayumi sighed and rested her head on the crook of his neck. Fuck. Tensing, Hajime willed his heart to stop beating so fucking loud. She could literally feel his heart beat by the way the shit kept pounding against his chest.
"Haji."
"Hn?" The young jounin forced him to relax and rested his cheek ontop her head.
"You know I love you right?"
Why does she have to throw that word around like that?! He was internally panicking right now. Haji was fully aware Yumi didn't mean love in…that way, but it didn't change the fact that it made him highly uncomfortable. His feelings right now confuse the hell out of him, so hearing things like that just made it ten times worse.
Forcing the oncoming blush down, Hajime swallowed audibly. "Yeah, I do too." Damn, way to go! That didn't sound fucking cheesy at all!
Little did he know, Ayumi was just as red as him.
...
"If it bothers you that much, why don't you just kill him right then and there."
Gaara frown, but kept his foamy eyes on his daughter and that…boy.
"It would give you an excuse to kill me." Gaara mumbled to the dry Uchiha beside him.
"Damn, there goes that idea."
"I don't care much for your tone."
"And I don't appreciate the look you're giving Hajime." Gaara looked at Sasuke from the corner of his eyes and saw said man staring daggers at him. He returned his gaze back to his daughter.
"Get your son away from her."
Sasuke scoffed. "Get your daughter away from my son and we wouldn't have this problem."
The red-head mentally sighed. He could admit that both he and Uchiha were irrational parents. He blamed their childhood. They both had to experience things that no child should and therefore it affected how much they wanted to protect their kids from the sharp edges of life. Ayumi was his world; there wasn't any other person he cared for as much as her. His siblings and niece and nephew came close second, but after the loss of Emiri, his dead wife, he really couldn't but think "what if". What if this was Ayumi's last day? What if this was the last he saw her sweet smile or her familiar, innocent brown eyes?
The thought pained him so much.
Any harm against her forced his hand into action; this included emotionally. Uchiha Hajime was the epitome of heartbreak. The two have been friends ever since they meant during his meeting in Konoha seven years ago. Whatever happened between them caused a bond to form that Gaara, Hinata and Sasuke all saw.
No one tried to separate them, because they depended on each other. But now…with the possibility of the Uchihas never leaving Konoha, or imprisoned should the majority of the Kages wished, they would see each other less and less…not at all actually. Gaara did not want his daughter to suffer through such an ordeal. He was aware that his daughter did not have many friends, and have been picked on by most girls for being "weird". Uchiha Hajime was her only true friend, and that is something worth treasuring.
Uchiha Sasuke knew this all as well, which is the reason why he was acting so sardonic towards the Kazekage. It was understandable, but frustrating all the same.
"This might be the last time they see each other," Sasuke mumbled darkly to no one in particular.
"It seems you're exaggerating, Uchiha." They would see each other less, true, but Gaara would still have meetings to attend to in Konoha, and he would never forget to bring Ayumi.
The former avenger gave him a look that bordered on the lines of incompetent. "Don't be daft, Gaara. The council wants to control my family. Should the Kages agree to seal my whole family, then they agree giving the power to learn the seal Tsunade made. And knowing those greedy bastards, they wouldn't hesitate to put us in place." Gaara didn't say anything, since he was fully aware of that. "They want my kids to be the perfect weapons, and should they disobey then a hand sign will show them who's makes the orders.."
"That won't happen."
This time, Sasuke didn't bother to hide his condescending glare. "I'm mentally unstable; that's their argument and the Kages will only have to look back during that summit and there you have it. A family fully of Konoha's dogs."
Sometimes Uchiha Sasuke could be just as daft.
"That will only happen if you don't allow your children to testify." Gaara ignored Sasuke's less than appropriate word directed at him. "Nara is right. They all have their malice directed towards you, not at them. I do not dislike your children, I'm quite fond of them, so I'm positive the rest of the Kages will agree." The Kazekage closed his eyes at a sudden thought. "The Raikage might be the more difficult one to deal with."
"How so?"
"Mizukage loves children, and the Tsuchikage not only has a son, but a granddaughter as well. The Raikage has no children whatsoever, only a brother." He shook his head. "He couldn't possibly relate to any us."
But still. It was worth a shot.
Later that day, after the storm subsided, the whole Uchiha family and the rest involved in the meeting set out towards their destination. Sasuke, though reluctant, agreed that this might be the best way to keep his kids safe. He prayed to a god he didn't even believe that the Nara and Gaara were right, or he'll burn them both with his Amaterasu and with a grin on his face.
Hell hath no greater fury than that of an angered, psychopathic father.