Thank all of you for reading and especially for reviewing.

Redsox31: Hell no, it was the most awesome thing Konoha has ever seen!

TL (guest): Thanks a lot. Also, that will be an issue in the future chapters.

Chewie Cookies: Glad you liked it. Sorry about that, but I had planned to make the chapter shorter, but then I felt it was too short... so that's how that happened.

I do not own Naruto.

-3-

"Ufff…"Naruto flopped down on the spacious couch that stood in the middle of their room in the Konoha embassy. The room was painted in a bright white and as a courtesy to Naruto Gaara had let the painters create ornaments of orange on one wall. The suite had an equally large bedroom with a huge bed in the middle and a bath on suite. The amazing architects of Suna had thought the Kazekage building through from the basement to the top, and therefore the heat of the day was stored and used to warm up the cold night. No other country was as efficient with their energy as Suna. They were completely independent on other sources than the sun. Naruto had spent the better part of the day not in Gaara's air-conditioned office but rather in the open. And while it sat well with his looks, his blonde hair brighter than ever, his ocean blue eyes shone with intensity and his tan complimented his features, Naruto himself felt rather drained. "That was one long day and it is so hot out there." Even though the room was cool compared to outside Naruto still felt that it was to warm.

Then again, he thought as he watched Hinata through half lidded eyes, the heat did have its perks. She had opted for a loose traditional tank top and slack pants in the same beige color. Her skin was sensitive to the sun and the top of her shoulders had already taken on a light red color, despite her best efforts and sun blocker.

The blank colors made her seem even paler than she already was but her dark black hair contrasted charmingly with it. She was absolutely gorgeous, especially to him because he knew exactly what was hidden behind her enlarged clothing. "But that could also be because you are here." He said, referring to the temperature in the room.

Exactly as desired a light blush dusted her cheeks; quite to his content it had a similar color than her sun-burned shoulders. "D-don't be silly".

Curse her stutter, and she was doing so great up until he had decided to reciprocate her feelings. Not, that she didn't want him to, but sometimes their relationship felt surreal to her. After all she had had given up on him ever being more than her best friend.

Naruto reached up and pulled her down to him on the couch. "I'm not being silly." He murmured into her ear. "You are…," he placed a kiss below her ear, "…the most perfect…," another kiss on her nose, "…the most beautiful…," a feathery kiss on her red cheek, "…the sexiest…," slowly he reached her neck, eliciting a quiet moan from her, "…the sweetest…," her fingers tangled themselves in his hair as his lips reached her pulse point, "…the most…"

A loud knock interrupted his next declaration and he buried his face in her shoulder. "Go away." His voice was muffled and dripped with frustration.

Her face, in the time being, rivaled a tomato and Hinata had trouble to control her breathing. They entangled themselves from each other, both feeling equally unhappy about it.

The door opened slowly to reveal an amused Hanabi. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" She even mustered up her most innocent voice.

Ignoring the death glare coming from Naruto she grinned meaningfully at her sister. From the state of her ruffled clothes and her messy hair, Hanabi had a pretty good idea what she had just interjected. And somehow she didn't feel very guilty about it, after all Naruto's death glare and the pout that went with it were way too amusing to miss out on.

"Sakura finally finished her shift, there has been an emergency but now she's waiting downst…"

"You jerk!"

Naruto automatically flinched when he heard his former teammate's angry voice roaring through the house. Having been a victim of Sakura's wrath… temper had left a deep impression on Naruto. He didn't envy the "jerk" that managed to drew it onto him.

Hanabi sighed and shook her head. "There she goes screaming at Kankuro again, oh he and Gaara are waiting downstairs as well!"

…

Naruto grinned widely after witnessing Sakura's and Kankuro's bickering for over an hour, he had decided that Suna was nothing but good for Sakura and ironically so was Kankuro. Turns out that when Sakura's rage was directed at someone other than him, it was quite funny to watch.

"I wonder when they will hook up. It's so obvious they like each other." He whispered to Hinata.

Hinata's eyes almost popped out at his hushed statement, "That you can see?!"

She just couldn't believe it, she had loved him for years, years (!) and he never even had a clue, but that he saw?! He was truly the most unpredictably ninja ever.

"Well they make it pretty obvious." He defended, causing Hinata to roll her eyes.

…

Staring at his wall Kankuro huffed in annoyance once again. Just what was wrong with this banshee? Did she have to constantly try to kill him?

Granted he may deserve it, since he was always trying to make her explode, but…Well, it was her own fault. She was just downright smoking when she blew up at him like that. How her green eyes sparkled with anger and the way she would always turned away frustrated because she didn't manage to land a hit on him. That was when he got just the perfect view of her sweet little butt, swaging furiously with her raging breaths. Admittedly she was a hot piece of ass, even if the rest of her body lacked certain feminine qualities. But her form was tight and firm and her ass…to die for. Yep, Sakura Haruno, she was really sexy when she was mad. But only when she was mad…and sometimes when she wasn't.

Argh, frustrated he tossed around in bed, he should not be thinking about that pink dragoon right now. Not with another woman in bed! After he just had sex!

Pathetic! He was absolutely pathetic!

…

"So - the two of you hooked up?"

Hinata casted her boyfriend a disapproving look at his choice of words towards her sister and the Kazekage. They were seated in Gaara's office. After the official protocol of the visit had been completed, it was time to discuss the most troublesome of all topics: Gaara's and Hanabi's relationship.

The Kazekage cleared his throat in an awkward manner. "I guess that is one way to put it. I am aware that this will cause Konoha and especially you some problems." He told Naruto in response.

"Don't worry about it, all we need is a plan." Naruto waved him off. "But…" He locked eyes with the Kazekage and his tone became serious, "…I really need to know how serious this is? I am not willing to take on the entire council and risk a potential war with the other villages just to have you split up a week later!"

Hinata tensed up at Naruto's words, she had told her sister the same thing in the letter she had written to her.

…

Her hand was clutching his in a tight grasp. Gaara wasn't sure how long they had been sitting on the couch in silence. Hanabi had said they needed to talk but she hadn't said a word since her outburst earlier. He wasn't sure about the correct way of pursuing this matter. He didn't want to see her cry like that again; it had been an awful experience. His heart had throbbed painfully in his chest and a feeling of uselessness had made him almost unable to move.

The petite woman next to him cleared her throat. "I need to show you something." She stood up but still refused to let go of his hand.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He inquired and rose from his seat.

"No, not necessarily…I could bring it." She trailed off, if she went to get the letter than she'd have to leave Gaara alone. And after how she behaved earlier, Hanabi wasn't so sure he'd still be there. "You'll stay, right?"

"If you want me to." His gaze held hers for a few seconds.

"Yes. You have to stay." Hesitantly she let go of his hand. "I'll be right back. Please stay." She hated how her voice sounded, unsure and weak…afraid.

She hurried out of the room and it didn't take her a minute to come back with the piece of paper in her hands. Gaara took the paper from her hands and for a second it looked like she wanted to touch him again, but in the end decided against it. Instead she let her already halfway stretched arms fall back to her sides, while her teeth worked overtime on her lips.

"Read it." She requested in a quiet manner.

"A letter from your sister?" Gaara raised an eyebrow but started to read the letter anyway.

Her heart was pounding in her chest and she rubbed her sweating palms against the fabric of her sweat pants. She could no longer stand still, she didn't want to look at him while he'd understood what Hinata had written, she was afraid of what she would she, so she started to pace around the room until she reached the window. It looked peaceful outside, darkness had fallen and without the moon to illuminate the night, it was pitch black.

Slowly Gaara put the letter down and made his way next to her. The red head came to a halt right behind her. "I still don't understand, Hanabi. How is this an explanation?"

Her small shoulders tensed and she hesitated to answer. "W-Well… it's just I…" She fumbled with her sentences and stumbled over the words she wanted to say.

Gaara didn't say anything, he had no idea where she was going with this, but when she was ready to talk she would.

"Look." Hanabi tried to get a grip on herself and she turned around to face him. "I wasn't sure… I didn't know…" It was frustrating really, Hanabi thought, not being able to say what you wanted to say. "Gaara, I just didn't know how… where…"

"You are not sure where we stand with our relationship?" He stated calmly.

The woman in front of him nodded and diverted her eyes to the ground. This conversation was way too early for the stage their relationship was in. The red head observed her carefully. It was rare to see her vulnerable usually she put up a unapproachable front based on sarcasm and intelligence.

In this moment however, she looked small and fragile. Their difference in height wasn't unreasonable big but for the first time he say that her shadow was completely indulged in his. She was beautiful and Gaara felt the very strong urge to protect her from anything that wanted to hurt her. His eyes fixated on her full red lips that were still in the process of being abused by her teeth.

Gaara cleared his throat. "Where do you think we stand?"

A small shrug was his answer. "I don't know." She whispered quietly.

"Then rather where do you want us to go with this relationship?" He rephrased his earlier question.

Hanabi did know where she wanted to go with this relationship – where she wanted to go with him. She did know she loved him and she did know that she was serious and that she didn't want him to leave her.

But even though she knew all that, she just couldn't bring herself to tell him. Desperation filled her, and that was exactly how she didn't want to sound like. She didn't know how she could tell him all this without pressuring him or scare him off. They were only seeing each other for a short amount time and Hanabi knew that Gaara wasn't experienced in these kinds of things. Not that she had any more experience but unlike him she had not been deprived of actual human contact and love for the most part of her life.

Gaara measured her up and down with his gaze. He was unsure what he was supposed to say or rather he was unsure if what he wanted to say was what she wanted to hear. It felt like if he said something wrong he would lose her and he didn't want that.

"Hanabi." Rough hands lifted up her chin and made her look him in the eyes. "Tell me."

"I know we haven't been dating for very long." She chose her words carefully and every word came out painfully slowly. "But… I, well…"

Hanabi understood that she had to tell him where they stood. He was used to rejection and avoided to put himself in a position where he was in danger of experiencing it again. She knew he wouldn't be the one to tell her first, it had to be her.

"I love you." She exhaled finally. "And I don't want to leave you. I don't know what will happen in the future and I don't know how you feel about it, but I'm serious. I'm in this for the long run." Hanabi had to take a deep breath when she was done.

The man she had just poured her heart out to, hadn't moved a muscle. Her eyes were downcast once again and she observed the crinkles on her pants.

"Hanabi, look at me." His tone was soft and he stroke back a chestnut brown hair. Hesitantly her silver eyes gazed back up at him. "That is good." He whispered close to her ear. He pulled her to him and forced his fingers in her hair to pull her into a kiss.

…

Gaara's eyes betrayed no emotion "We are serious"

It was just three words but their impact was huge. Despite the rather emotionless tone, it erased all doubt Hinata may had concerning the relationship between her sister and the Kazekage. Somehow Hanabi and Gaara appeared to have worked it out. Hinata was impressed, she wasn't sure that she would have managed what her sister did. Gaara and Hanabi weren't dating very long and then she had to ask him how deep their relationship really was…that was ought to be weird and uncomfortable.

"Good." Naruto stated. "Now, how are we going to do this?" He leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head.

Hinata and her sister exchanged looks before the younger one shrugged. Hinata took a chair next to Naruto. His hand automatically reached out to play with the soft strands of her hair.

"We have the respective village councils to deal with, and the international affairs this will cause will have to be taken care of as well. Additionally there's the Hyuga Clan itself and the Clan council of Konoha." Naruto summarized what he and Hinata had talked about on their way here.

"What does the Clan council have to do with this?" Hanabi asked.

"The power shift. They won't be happy with the additional influence we gain with a tie with Suna." Hinata sighed and leaned her head against Naruto's shoulders.

The brunette nodded. "Of course, I wasn't aware of that, but you're right."

"Well," Gaara crossed his arms in front of his chest, "personally I don't believe the Suna Council will be an unsolvable problem. They are quite reasonable and in the end Suna can mostly gain from this alliance. After all the Byakugan is the last remaining Doujutsu and additional connections to the most influential Clan in Konoha will make our alliance more powerful. Most likely the Suna council will take the proposal in a heartbeat."

"Yes, that is more than likely." Naruto agreed. He and Hinata had figured that much. "Hinata assured me that the Hyuga Clan won't be too hard to convince either. They are in the same position – they can mostly gain from it. After all having more alliances will only strengthen their position."

"That leaves us with three major problems: Konoha and the Clans and the other villages. They won't be happy with a strengthening of the alliance between Konoha and Suna. Not to mention the bloodline that will come with it." Hanabi deducted. "I guess that Kumo will not like that one bit."

"I think…" Hinata was deep in thoughts and her index finger had started to draw circles on Naruto's arm. "I think it would be best if we divided the task and also we'll have to time each action carefully, so that no party feels left out or neglected."

Her sister sighed. "This will be a hell of a lot trouble, won't it?"

Naruto locked eyes with her. "That's why I asked if you're sure about it."

"We are." Gaara's voice forced Naruto to look at him instead of his girlfriend and the blond nodded.

"I got that."

Hinata took Naruto's hand in her own and rubbed her thump over it. "Gaara, I believe that you will be able to deal with the diplomacy required inside the village?"

A single nod was her answer.

"Good." She took a deep breath. "I would like to get Neji and possible father on board as well."

"Yes, they'll have to deal with your Clan. We'll need their support anyway and that way we can avoid having to deal with the Clan ourselves." Naruto agreed. "You think your Father will support this?"

Hanabi smiled, "Don't worry. If he doesn't, I'll make him."

A shiver ran over Naruto's back. Suddenly Hanabi looked suspiciously like a little demon with that wicked smile.

He laughed nervously, "Good that is good. Hinata and I will talk to them once we're back."

"Hanabi and I will take care of the international negotiation; that leaves you Naruto, with the Council. And we'll handle the Clans together with Neji and my father."

The blonde grimaced at this, he knew that Hiashi had the most experience needed to deal with the other Clans but he hadn't talked to him, since he and Hinata started to date. He was actually terrified that Hiashi would disagree with their love and in his head he had played out certain scenarios in which Hiashi kept Hinata from him, or even worse married her off just so they couldn't be together. Of course that was ridiculous but somehow Naruto still had a hard time picturing anyone, expect for Hinata, to want him in their family.

"How is your position in this matter? You are the Hokage. Giving up a bloodline limit could have negative consequences." Gaara inquired, his intertwined fingers propped his head.

Naruto beamed, "I want to create a peaceful world, a world where people can decide for themselves. I think if we give the people the freedom to decide who they want to be with and where they want to live, we can get closer to that world. Sure Konoha loses a Kekkai Genkai but when the people in the villages become closer so will the villages. I think that Konoha will gain more from this union in the future than it will lose in the present."

Next to him Hinata smiled, even after all this time she had known him, he still managed to inspire her to work for something that was bigger than them. He had reached all of his dreams only to create new ones. With him nothing was impossible, and she didn't think that her love and admiration for him would ever stop growing.

"That sounds nice. Let's hope the village council of Konoha will see it that way as well." Hanabi said, but even her face had softened at Naruto's words.

"Ok." Happily Naruto rubbed his hands together. "We should think about the time schedule. What will we tell who and when?"

He threw his arm around Hinata's shoulder and twirled her silky hair around his fingers. His speech had given her hope but at the same time Hinata was even more aware of the importance of their task. The thought of being responsible for a matter that sensitive was causing all kinds of doubts to flare up within her.

When Naruto felt her tenseness through her skin he opted to massage her neck. Naruto knew how afraid she was that something would go wrong. She relaxed against him and her hand rested on his muscular chest.

"I guess it would be best, if we'd find allies first." Hanabi said thoughtfully. She tapped her chin with her index finger. "We should talk to Neji and father, first though. Maybe then we should meet up again and go into details."

"Hanabi's right." Gaara agreed. "It makes no sense to continue planning this out, if two major parties involved are not present. I suggest that you're going to write once you talked to the two and we will postpone this discussion until then."

He rose from the chair, indicating the end of the meeting and stepped closer to his brunette girlfriend.

"So I guess we are still to keep our relationship secret until we sealed the deal?" Hanabi asked Hinata.

Her sister agreed, "Yes, I would think it would be best to keep a low profile until absolutely necessary." Her look became almost sad and guilty, "But nevertheless I still assume it will take a year in the very least." Hinata shot an apologetic glance at Hanabi.

Hanabi sighed; she had already figured something like that. This was going to be a pain, but then again she didn't really think that keeping their relationship quiet was much of a problem, seeing how both she and Gaara weren't very keen on showing public affection.

Any comments, ideas, critism or just anything to say in general... let me know!