Autumn Warmth
1
"I've been receiving messages from the Raikage for some months now," the tall, dark-skinned man nodded, laying his hat with the Earth symbol marked boldy on its front down on the table before him. Gaara slid several scrolls onto the desktop.
"I've been keeping touch with her as well, and I know that she's already contacted you for help," the redhead cut straight to the chase. "I'd like to know what your response was, if you don't mind my asking."
"I told her that if she could make it into our country's borders, we'd be more than happy to help her," he answered firmly and honestly, no hint of malice, annoyance, or deception in his eyes or on his face. Naruto liked him instantly—the Tsuchikage seemed like a very nice man, if not a little battle-torn (the blond had marvled at all the scars the broad-shouldered man had peppered all over his exposed arms and face when they had first been introduced; the rough appearance and the shiny bald head reminding him of the examiner, Morino Ibiki). "But I also voiced my concern over getting involved in such a huge political fiasco," he continued, "and I informed her that I would not send any of my own shinobi out to help her—she's got to make it to the border on her own."
"Poor girl," Gaara mumbled to himself, and only Naruto caught his words. "I don't blame you for not wanting to get involved," he spoke louder, addressing the Tsuchikage. "But now that this is an issue and you've agreed to take her into your country, does this mean Rock will join the treaty?"
"Of course we will!" the large man boomed, making Naruto jump in his chair. "I was wondering why the Kazekage hadn't sent me a message regarding it yet!"
"I'm sorry to have worried you," Gaara smiled slightly, "but I assure you, your agreement is crucial in this matter. I've been here in the Fire Country for three months now," he glanced over at the blond sitting beside him, "and the Hokage has been more than helpful and understanding. I've dragged him along through all this and he hasn't complained yet." The redhead gave his friend a soft smile.
"It's alright," Naruto smiled back, waving off Gaara's formal speech. "Our countries have had a kind of tenuous peace for decades now, but none have ever gone so far as to actually establish a treaty. I admire what the Kazekage is trying to do, and I wish to help him with all the power I have, not only because he is my friend, but because I feel that this is what should be done."
"Well spoken," the Tsuchikage nodded, a broad and friendly grin stretched across his broad and friendly face. "It's a pity the Mitzukage does not have the same sentiment, however."
"We do not begrude the Mitzukage his decision," Gaara shook his head.
"Although, declaring Isonationalism seems a bit over the top," Naruto admitted.
"But he felt it was the best course of action for his country, and so he followed through," the other man continued his point. "I respect that."
"I still hope that some day, he'll understand and open the Wave's borders again," Naruto spoke quietly. Gaara nodded his agreement. The Tsuchikage blinked and leaned back, a softer smile gracing his scarred face.
"You're Namikaze's son, aren't you," he stated rather than questioned. The two men looked up at the Rock's leader, stunned.
"You knew the Yondaime Hokage?" Gaara asked.
"You knew my father?" Naruto stared.
The Tsuchikage laughed, a genuine and hearty laugh that came from his belly. "Boys, you may be young but I'm not. I'm only the fourth kage in my village, and I met many times with Namikaze over a variety of things. The Mitzukage—if you can believe it—is also a fourth, and your father went to visit him often as well." His orange-brown eyes crinkled at the corners as he spoke. "Your mother travelled with him a great deal, from what I recall. I met her several times myself. Beautiful woman; you've got the shape of her eyes and face," he commented, leaning back in his chair. Naruto leaned over the desk, his blue eyes wide and hanging off every word the older man spoke.
Gaara noted the look. "Since we three are in agreement, perhaps we should just adjourn our meeting and have lunch," he offered, standing. "We can talk more freely and we can also show you around the village, Tsuchikage."
"That sounds like a good idea!" he got to his feet, scooping up his hat. "I'd like to be taken around Konoha again. I haven't been invited since the last Chuunin Exams were held here."
"I'm sorry, sir," Naruto rose as well. "I've been a bit preoccupied lately. I apologize for my negligence."
The Tsuchikage laughed his hearty laugh again. "So formal! Come, come, my friends! Let's enjoy our day before we're tied down to the exams, hmm?"
"As you wish, Tsuchikage-sama," Gaara bowed his head.
His third bowl was placed before him and he picked it up with customary reverence. "Thanks! Itaidakimasu!" he grinned and began shoveling it down. Gaara lay his chopsticks across his empty bowl and leaned his chin atop his clasped hands, watching his blond friend eat.
"Your appitite for this stuff amazes me," he said, his voice laced with humor.
"He packs them away, just like Minato-san," the Tsuchikage chuckled as he finished off his second helping. This made Naruto stop eating and look over at the broad figure on Gaara's other side.
"My dad ate ramen too?" he asked.
"Ate it? He lived for this stuff!" the dark-skinned kage snickered. "Sometimes I wondered if Kushina-san got jealous of ramen, the way he obsessed over it."
"Mom…" he looked down into his half-finished bowl, studying the shape of his face. "Your looks are those of your father, but your attitude and your ninjitsu-style resemble those of your mother" Tsunande baa-chan had told him. He had drank up those words, had had dreams for months about those people and who they were although he could never know, and his only link to his family—his godfather, Jiraiya—had passed away in the conflict between the Leaf and the Akatsuki. Thinking about it depressed him.
"Oi! Naruto no baka!" a voice cut through his thoughts and he suddenly had a warm faceful of soup. He sputtered and dropped his bowl onto the countertop, groping for a napkin and looking around at who had hit him over the head. His friend, Haruno Sakura, stood behind the three kages, her hands on her hips and her eyes amused. "I've been calling you! What's got you so preoccupied?"
"Sa-Sakura-chan," he laughed nervously, cleaning his face up with the napkin Gaara had stuck into his groping hand. "You're very energetic today."
"No, I'm worried, that's what I am," she frowned, shaking her head. "Aren't you? With all these people from different countries wandering around, you still find time to come out here and eat that stuff?"
"Well, it's not like I'm by myself," he glanced at the other two men beside him.
She blinked at them. "Well, still. You should at least have Sasuke tagging along or something."
"Who says I'm not here?" a third voice spoke and an Anbu appeared to the left of the Ichiraku Ramen stand, his arms crossed over his chest. He nodded greetings. "Good afternoon, Kazekage. Tsuchikage."
"Tsu-Tsuchikage?" Sakura paled and her wide teal eyes stole to the bald, broad-shouldered man. "Eek!" she bowed hurriedly. "It's an honor to meet you, sir! I'm sorry! I mean, pardon my interruption!"
He laughed good-naturedly. "That's alright! I was wondering how we would snap the Hokage out of his daze and you provided us with the answer! So, thank you!" She laughed nervously, a blush tinting her cheeks. Uchiha Sasuke removed his raven mask and grinned at his old friend.
"Yeah, she has a knack for handling the Hokage's absentmindedness," he snickered.
"Sasuke!" she wailed, ashamed.
"Allow me to introduce my friends and my teammates," Naruto smiled, his eyes cinching shut. "This is Haruno Sakura, the head medic at our central hospital."
"Ah, hello!" she bowed again, her lengthening pink hair falling over her face as she did so.
"And this is Uchiha Sasuke, captian of our elite Anbu guard."
"Hello, sir," he inclined his head.
"Well, I'm glad to see Konoha's full of energetic people!" the Tsuchikage laughed. "Been teammates a long time?"
"Since we were twelve, sir," Sakura straightened.
"That's quite a few years then!" he clucked, impressed. "It seems Konoha's three-man cell system is very successful. Maybe I should begin promoting it when I return to my country."
"You mean, the Rock Country doesn't split their genins into three-man teams?" Naruto blinked.
"No one does," Gaara answered him, "except Fire and Sand. And only the Fire Country has made it standard procedure to have one of those three train to become a medical nin."
"Tsunande-sama once told me," Sakura recalled, "that casualties on the battlefield severely reduced when required medical nins were put into practice."
"It's also carries a little more of a risk," Gaara continued, "since the med nins wear a red cross on their armbands and they're easily distinguishable. They are sometimes captured and forced into healing the enemy until they're exhausted."
"I was never really worried about that," the pink-haired woman waved off his seriousness with a smile. "Naruto and Sasuke would have protected me, I'm sure."
"She neglects to mention that she can damn well care of herself," Naruto mumbled under his breath.
"That's a good confidence to have," the Tsuchikage smiled at her. "Perhaps that confidence makes you stronger, or perhaps it is your downfall." He frowned slightly. "What if, on a mission, you are forced to choose between its success and a teammate's life? How do you Leaf nins cope with that?"
"It's a very hard decision to make, whether we are Leaf, Rock, or Sand," Sasuke spoke up, standing from his lean against the ramen stand. "Whether we are one or three." He put his mask back on his face and tightened it against his dark-haired head. "Those shinobi who break the code of their missions are scum. But a ninja who abandons his comrades is worse than scum." And with those words, Sasuke disappeared.
"Don't mind him," Gaara told the Tsuchikage, "he's always like that." Naruto and Sakura glanced at each other, surpressing their fond laughter at their teammate.