Flash of Red and Black
Chapter XXX
"You were reckless, Naruto."
"That shouldn't be surprising."
The corners of Gaara's lips pulled down slightly in response, but he went back to the subject at hand.
"Please use the Sunagakure shinobi in your village to assist you with recovering information from Orochimaru's remaining bases," he said, and I nodded.
"We appreciate Sunagakure's help."
"If there is nothing else for now, I will have someone show you to your rooms," he said, and he was about to call for someone to lead us out, but I interrupted before he could.
"Actually, I was hoping to visit the Academy here," I said, and Gaara just looked at me.
"Why would you want to do that?" he asked, seeming more confused than against the idea.
"I visit the one in Konoha sometimes too for various reasons, but I just like to see how everyone's doing. It's been helping their scores too, apparently," I said, grinning at him. He just looked at me for a while longer but then gave a small nod.
"If you want to pay the Academy a visit, I will have it arranged for you to go."
"Ah, don'cha think that we should go together? I mean, it would be kinda weird for the Hokage to show up at the Suna Academy without the Kazekage, right?" I asked, grinning at him, and though he seemed slightly confused, he agreed enough to give another small nod.
"I will have it arranged," he said, and I thanked him before we left, heading back to our rooms.
Ino and Sakura parted ways from us, saying that they were going to visit the training school to help out more before heading back to their arrangements. So, Kakashi and I headed back alone, but I could feel his eyes on me as we walked.
"Just say it already!" I finally broke, looking at him with a mix between a pout and a glare.
"You haven't told him yet, have you?" he asked finally.
"Told him what?" I asked, looking back at him. He studied me for a while longer, but then just smiled and shook his head.
"Nevermind. I'm sure he'll learn a lot at the Academy," he said, and I just shrugged, turning away again as I fought to keep the smile from my face.
oOo
"Everyone! The Kazekage-sama and the Hokage-sama have come to pay a visit! I expect you all to pay attention and be on your best behavior!" the head of the Academy called before giving us a little bow, signaling us to do our part. Gaara looked over at me, and I smiled a little before turning to the class. Apparently he hadn't interacted with them much, so he wasn't really sure what I even wanted to do.
"Good morning, everyone! I know that this is pretty unusual, but at Konoha, I try to visit the Academy occasionally, so I asked your Kazekage here if I could hang out some. But before I talk too much, do any of you have any questions for either of us?" I asked, grinning at the room. The head of the Academy apparently arranged for all the classes to sit in an auditorium. It felt a little more formal than I would've liked, but I didn't mind too much.
I waited for a while, but no one raised their hands even though I could see the interest and curiosity on the faces of almost everyone in the room. So after a while longer, I scratched the back of my head and decided to initiate the conversation myself.
"Alright, well then I'll ask you all a question first," I said as I sat down on the edge of the platform, feeling uncomfortable standing up in front of the crowd. I wanted to talk, not lecture. "Why do you all want to become shinobi?"
"I wanna be strong like Gaara-sama!" one loud boy towards the back yelled. I smiled at him.
"Why do you want to be strong?" I asked, and the boy's face twisted with confusion, but a girl nearby shyly raised her hand. I nodded and smiled at her, encouraging her to continue.
"I want to be strong so that I can protect my little brother," she said, and I grinned at her.
"If that's the case, you'll be a very strong, very capable kunoichi," I said, and her face turned red, but she smiled happily back.
"You don't know that! She's not strong at all!" a boy nearby spat, despite his sensei nearby giving him a harsh look. I saw the girl shrink back into her seat, her eyes cast down and I frowned.
"I do know," I said before hopping down and slowly approaching the girl and her heckler. "I know very well how strong she will be," I told him calmly. The girl glanced between the two of us, apparently not knowing who to believe, and the boy didn't back down despite having the Hokage approach. He would either become a very brave shinobi, or not one at all.
"You can't see the future, right? So how the heck would you know?" he shot at me. His sensei was about to step in and reprimand him, but I held my hand up for her to wait.
"I can't see the future, but I can see the past," I told him, and the boy just rolled his eyes before I turned to address the entire group. "When I was in the Academy, I was the worst student there. I had terrible marks—the worst in the class. I got into trouble every day. I failed the genin exam three times. When I finally made it onto a genin team, I was paired up with Haruno Sakura, one of the best students at the Academy and the current head of the Konoha Hospital, and Uchiha Sasuke, a prodigy with the best marks and greatest skill of everyone in my class," I said, looking around at everyone.
"How many of you know what happened during the Fourth Great War?" I asked, and a few in the room nodded their heads, but they still seemed confused. I smiled.
"I was the worst in my class, but as a genin I decided that I wanted to become stronger because I wanted to protect the people I cared about. And after the war, I was called a hero and was chosen to be Hokage," I said smiling at the girl whose confidence seemed to be slowly growing back. Then I looked to the boy whose smug look hadn't changed.
"Sasuke, the prodigy and genius of my class, chose to get stronger for revenge. So when I fought him during the war, I was able to win because I had the love and strength of my friends behind me, supporting me, and he lost because he only had his pain and hate to weigh him down," I said before turning to everyone else.
"So, if you want to become a shinobi or a kunoichi because you want to protect the people you love, I have no doubt that you will become great and strong," I told them all, grinning. Then I looked down at the little girl again and dropped my hand on top of her dark, curly locks. "If you ever need help, Gaara's actually a big softie, so just ask him or send me a letter, alright?" I told her quietly, grinning. She gave a wide-eyed nod after a few seconds, and then I walked back to the platform and perched myself on the edge again, looking up at Gaara.
He looked marginally surprised, but it seemed that most of the confusion and unease he was feeling earlier was gone. I just smiled a little before turning back to the crowd.
"Alright! Now surely some of you have come up with some questions, right? Let's hear 'em!" I called to them all. Immediately, several hands shot up and I grinned before turning to Gaara again. Some of his unease seemed to return, but he called on one of the students anyway.
"A-ano, Gaara-sama, umm… How did you keep from getting scared while you were fighting during the war?" the boy he called on asked.
"I did not. It was frightening. We were up against opponents from legend. However, I was fighting next to my comrades and friends, so we supported each other," Gaara replied, glancing down at me. The corners of my lips twitched up before I looked out to the crowd some more, waiting for the next question.
"Gaara-sama, why did you want to become Kazekage?"
"I realized the strength of bonds, and I wanted to create more and to be able to protect them," he said, this time purposefully avoiding looking at me as he answered. I forced myself to keep from grinning at the sight of him being shy, so I took the next question instead.
"Hokage-sama! How did you and Gaara-sama become friends?" she asked, and I couldn't help snickering a little.
"Well that's kind of a long story… Umm. I met him when I took the chuunin exams. We realized that we had a similar past, and I headbutted him. Then we became friends, dattebayo!" I said, grinning as I scratched the back of my head. I heard Gaara sigh beside me, and I knew that I didn't explain it well at all when I saw the confusion on everyone's faces.
More questions came for both of us, but after a while, they all died down, so then I stood back up next to Gaara and we both thanked them for letting us visit before leaving.
"Though I believe it was beneficial, I am still not sure I understand why you wanted us to visit," he said, looking at me as we walked back to his office. I glanced at him before looking around the village some, smiling at the people we passed.
"Gaara, how would you create peace?" I asked after a while, looking back at him. He frowned slightly and said nothing as he mulled over my question.
"I am not sure, but Madara's idea, Infinite Tsukiomi, that would have only been a fake peace," he said eventually, looking at me. I nodded.
"Before I fought Pein, Nagato thought the way to peace was to make everyone know pain so they would understand each other," I said, and Gaara frowned some more.
"Certainly, the pain that we shared allowed us to become friends…But I do not believe that would work in most cases. Like in Sasuke, pain can cause hate instead," he said after another long quiet, I nodded again, but didn't say anything until we arrived in his office. When we stopped walking, he finally turned to me again.
"What is your plan?" he asked. I looked at him for a while, but then I raised my hand and pointed at the mark on his forehead.
"You've got the answer right there," I said, smiling at him. Slowly, his eyes grew and understanding flashed across his face.
"This world has had enough pain, and we should know best that control and fear only causes more hate and war," I said, unconsciously gripping my jacket, frowning, but then I looked back up at him and smiled. "But we both know as well as anyone that love protects. It heals. It creates bonds and makes people strong. So I want to fill this world with love and create a lasting peace that will allow all the villages and countries thrive long after I'm gone, long after my name has been forgotten."
He stared at me for a while, apparently thinking over my answer, and I just watched the thoughts go through his head.
"You are indeed a great Kage, Naruto," he said finally, and then I laughed a little, grinning awkwardly as I scratched the back of my head. It was a little embarrassing, getting that compliment from him.
"I've been entrusted with an important task from a lot of people, so I can't let them down, but I can't do it alone either," I said, looking at him seriously again, and after a moment he nodded.
"Of course, you will have the aid of Sunagakure no Sato," he said, and I smiled.
"Thank you, Gaara."
oOo
"You sure 's not too—ng—hot here for this?"
"I'd welcome a little more heat," he mumbled along my collarbone, and my face heated a little more but I couldn't help a grin.
I pulled him back up to me and captured his lips again as my hands wandered elsewhere, earning me a hum of pleasure as I caressed just the right spot, but Kakashi retaliated and concentrated chakra on his fingertips as they trailed lower. For a moment, I forgot about Sakura and Ino staying in the next room and moaned until Kakashi's lips covered them again
"Shinobi are supposed to hide thah!—their feelings better than that, you know," he said looking at me with the most infuriating smile that only made my stomach coil tighter, though I didn't relent.
"Yeah, well, I still became Hokage, datte! Ah-bayo," I retorted, struggling to grasp at words. (And it's not like I was good with them to begin with.)
I saw him roll his eye before he dipped back down and trailed his lips wherever he pleased, but suddenly we both shot up out of the bed and Kakashi pulled his mask up just before the Suna ANBU captain appeared in the room.
"Hokage-sama! I apologize for the intrusion, but the Kazekage-sama requests your presence immediately," she said, kneeling just long enough for me to straighten my clothes for the most part.
"Got it. I'll be there in a minute," I said, and immediately she nodded before vanishing again. I sighed, and headed for the door, but Kakashi pulled me back.
"I'll be here, so work hard," he said, before pulling down his mask again and kissing my cheek. "And fast," he whispered before turning and heading towards the bathroom.
My face flushed all over again, but I nodded and headed out, adjusting my clothes a little more as I tried to set my mind to focus on work rather than play before vanishing to Gaara's office.
"Gaara, what's wrong?"
"Sorry for disturbing your rest, Naruto," he said, and I just shook my head before he continued. "We are having some trouble with missing-nin in the area. I know that you were planning to return tomorrow afternoon, but I recommend that you and the other Konoha shinobi do not leave until the situation has passed. It should be taken care of within a few days," he said seriously, and I looked at him for a while, but then nodded.
"I understand. I don't want to cause an inconvenience by making your teams escort us back," I told him, and he seemed to relax just barely, apparently unsure of my reaction.
"We will do our best to clear the trouble up quickly."
"Let me know if we can help. I'll send a message home to let them know," I told him, and he nodded. After making sure there was nothing else he needed to discuss with me for the night, I headed back to my room.
Hearing the water for the shower was still running, I sat down at the desk and wrote up a message to Shikamaru and Neji back home, telling them to keep an eye on things since I would be a few more days. Just after I handed if off to an ANBU, I felt a pair of arms drape lazily over my shoulders.
"That was pretty quick," he commented as he nuzzled his face against the back of my head. I gave a little nod.
"We'll be here for a while longer," I said, turning to face him. He studied me for a while, but then I shook away my thoughts and smiled before he could ask what was wrong. "So we've got plenty of time to get back to what we were doing," I suggested, looking him over in his towel-clad glory before giving a not-so-subtle glance at the bed.
Kakashi's a smart guy, so it didn't take long for him to catch on.
This one is so short and late. Sorry about that. I've been really busy, but this is is basically an introduction of lots of action and drama that's to come, so I hope you'll be looking forward to it. (Though I'll probably be a little slow too since I'm about to leave to study abroad for the semester, but I'll still do my best to get them up regularly.)
But! I have a fun announcement! For those of you who haven't seen my Tumblr, I'm going to start a new fanfic that runs alongside Red and black from Kakashi's POV! This one will be a little more explicit ('cause Kakashi reads porn in public, after all, even if he can't read it aloud), and will give more of a back story of their romance and such. Anyway, I have tons and tons of ideas for it, so I should be able to get that first chapter up soon!
I hope you'll be looking forward to both! And thank you all for the support and for reading! You're all fantastic, and your reviews always make my day.