A/N: BOOM! Hidden Leaf characters added! I'm actually excited for the next couple of chapters and Setsuko's relationship with Naruto. Also, I realized, this story has taken on a mind of it's own. I didn't expect it to be this long when I was brainstorming; now, it's going to be fairly long. Some things have started to happen that I didn't originally intend for, like the scene switching to Konoha. Crazy. Anyways! Read, send love, review and send more love. I'll update more often the more love I get.
It had taken them three days exactly to get to the Hidden Leaf Village, and Setsuko was ready to take a bath and rest. She wasn't exhausted but she certainly didn't feel like she could see any Hokages in her condition. Despite being a little rough around the edges, Temari was good company. She was kind of glad it was just the two of them. She didn't have any girl friends back home, actually, she didn't have any friends at all; she was never allowed to have them. Standing outside the gates to the village, Setsuko looked up at them in awe. They were so different from the ones back home and at Suna; in fact she wasn't really sure if they even had any gates. The wood work was magnificent and each door had the leaf symbol emblazoned on them. She had never seen a village look like it was permanently touched by spring; it was beautiful.
She glanced over at Temari who was speaking with the guards that seemed to sit lazily at their post. They didn't seem at all bothered when they saw the blonde ninja approach them. She did take notice that they leaned in close to her and seemed to whisper something while looking at her. This action made her feel uneasy and she quickly looked away, blushing lightly. Her eyes drifted over the sakura trees and the streets of buildings, trying to take in all she could. A gentle wind blew past, rustling her hair a little. She smiled to herself, closing her eyes and enjoying the calming feeling it brought her. Lost in her own serenity, Setsuko never noticed something orange barreling for her.
"Ah!" she shrieked as she was suddenly run over, someone landing on top of her. Looking up at who had landed on her, she was met with dazzling blue eyes.
"Uhm…" their voice hummed as they looked down at her curiously, having never seen her before. "Who are you?"
She was utterly silent, almost captivated by the beauty in this person's eyes when she finally took notice of something strange. Slowly, her eyes traveled down to see a hand on her breast. Her face immediately turned beat red.
Curious as to why she was so red, they followed her gaze, only to turn red themselves. "Ah! I'm…I'm so sorry!"
"Ah! You pervert!" she screamed, her eyes shutting tight and slapping them as hard as she could.
They went flying a few inches away, completely falling off her. Sitting up a little, they grabbed at their now sore cheek, "It was an accident I swear!"
"Naruto! What do you think you're doing, running into people like that?" a male voice shouted from a couple feet away, slowly making their way to the gate. There was an accompanying bark from the person's side.
"Shut up Kiba! It was an accident. I didn't see her standing in the middle of the road like that," Naruto shouted angrily at his friend, his hand still pressed against his cheek where she had hit him. Turning to her, he got close, almost inches apart, "What were you doing standing in the middle of the road anyways?"
Setsuko stared at him, eye to eye. She could feel her heart pounding away at her chest, feeling his ramen scented breath so close to her skin. Her face started to heat up again and she slapped him, hard, again.
"Ow!" he yelped, holding his cheek yet again. "What was that for?!" he shouted, glaring at her for hitting him twice.
She covered her chest, "You got too close." She huffed and turned away from him, puffing out her cheeks in defiance.
"You really should apologize to people after running into them Naruto," a calm, mysterious voice said from beside the one named Kiba.
"Hey! She was in my way first so she should be apologizing to me," he shouted angrily that his friends weren't coming to his defense.
"Hey Naruto, long time no see," Temari finally chimed in, seeing the scene beginning to unfold into something terrible.
Naruto seemed to almost immediately calm, turning to the blonde, "Oh Temari, what are you doing here?"
She smiled, "Escorting Princess Setsuko here to the Leaf Village. She's trying to make diplomatic friends….and kind of unwind a bit."
Naruto looked over to Setsuko with a deadpanned, disbelieving look. "You mean this mean and ugly girl is a Princess?" Setsuko visibly twitched.
"That's right," Setsuko answered, turning around with the brightest and most innocent of smiles. That's usually how they fool you right? She rigidly took Naruto's hands into hers, shaking them while never letting her smile drop. "It's so nice to meet you! I'm Setsuko from Aisugakure."
"Wow, that far north huh?" Kiba asked, amazed that she would travel all this way just to meet their Hokage.
When Setsuko released Naruto's hands and he tried to move them, he found that he couldn't. She turned to face Kiba, still smiling as Naruto found his hands frozen solid together. "Yes! My village is slowly deteriorating and I'm in need of outside help." Naruto was still struggling with freeing his hands, falling over and trying to smash the ice; to no avail. "So, I figured making a few friends wouldn't hurt me."
Temari watched Naruto out of the corner of her eye as she walked closer to Setsuko. "Yep, she stopped by our humble village first so I thought I'd escort her here so there'd be no trouble."
Naruto got in her face, holding up his frozen hands, "What did you do to me?!"
"If you'll excuse me," she said, completely ignoring Naruto and his plight.
"You kinda deserved it ya know," Kiba muttered off handedly as Naruto was shouting at her to come back and fix him.
Naruto whirled around, glaring at him, "Shut up Kiba!"
The two women walked away from the gates, listening to Naruto's ranting and shouting. Temari couldn't stop the internal laughing fit she was having seeing him trying to free himself. Looking over to the younger girl, she couldn't help but give her props for her mean little trick; so devious and yet so innocent. Temari led Setsuko through the village and towards their hotel. She had decided that just this once she would splurge on her accommodations, wanting this to be a fun outing for the both of them.
A few minutes later, they arrived at what Setsuko could only image to be their hotel. It did have an 'Inn' sign plastered on the front for all to see. It was a huge building too, almost the tallest one from the looks of it. The outside was painted white with trims of yellow and red; something that was common around here apparently. She didn't mind one bit, everything in Suna was different shades of brown and red, and almost everything in her village was different shades of blue; this was actually a huge change. The two of them walked in to see beautiful oak walls decorated with ornate lanterns and wallpaper. The floors were a slick, dark cherry with area rugs to separate some spaces. The furniture wasn't expensive, but it was definitely elegant with its deep, rich tones and solid structure. Both women were awestruck at the beauty, almost beaming like children to each other.
The two of them checked in and after receiving their keys, made their way to their room. Sharing a room, they walked into their suite, amazed by how spacious it was. Setsuko ran to the enormous window that seemed to span the entire length of the living room, swinging open the curtains and gasping. While Temari casually walked into the room, silently letting her inner child squeal, she watched in amusement as Setsuko seemed breathless at the view of the entire village they had. It was strange, you would think she'd be used to such luxury being a Princess and all. Yet, here she was acting like a child seeing the most amazing toy they've ever seen in their life. Setsuko pressed herself up against the glass, wide eyed and mouth agape as Temari chose one of the rooms she wanted.
"I can't believe it! We're staying in a place like this!" she squealed happily as her eyes watched all the people from their room.
She heard Temari chuckle from the next room. "Aren't you used to this kind of stuff?"
"Psh! Only back home. It's completely different when I'm in a place I've never been before," she replied off handedly. "This place, it's so beautiful! It's kind of funny though. Back home, it's always cold. In Suna it's always hot, but here! Here it's like spring came and never left!"
Temari emerged from her room with a content smile, "Yeah, this place is pretty."
Setsuko spun around and excitedly face Temari, "What do we do first?!"
"Uhm…" Temari stuttered at the girl's enthusiasm about being in a new place. "We could go to the hot springs or the bath house here at the hotel."
"Ooo! The hot springs!" she shouted excitedly, running out the door in record time.
"Wait!" Temari shouted after her. "You don't know where you're going!" She had to practically scramble to even catch up with the bouncing blonde. There was no time to rest with this girl!
When the two of them finally made it to the hot springs, after Temari had to practically drag her through the village, they settled into the scalding water. Setsuko really had been like a child the entire time, running around at every open shop, staring with wide eyes and amazement. Honestly, Temari wished Gaara had been like that when he was younger; it's a cute thing kids do. Temari watched as Setsuko pulled her hair free and let it drape around her body, with some of it covering her chest. The four pigtails she had in her own hair were let loose and she sunk down into the water with a cold towel folded on top of her head.
"How do you handle that much hair?" Temari asked, amazed that she was able to get it the way she wanted it.
Setsuko shrugged, feeling the hissing sting against her icy skin. "You get used to it really."
"Hm, I don't think I could handle that much hair," she said, leaning back against the rocks with one arm resting out of the water.
"Yeah, it's definitely not for everyone," she chuckled, ducking under the water for a moment before resurfacing. "But, Maki always liked long hair…" Her eyes grew sad as she said his name.
Temari looked at the Princess with empathy. "I heard about what happened. I'm so sorry. He must have meant a lot to you."
She nodded. "Yeah, he was my best friend and my lover. When we were only kids, we made a promise to marry each other when we were older."
"Whoa, hang on a second. The Princess got it on with non-royalty?" Temari sent her a sly smirk, "That must have been taboo."
Setsuko blushed, her fingers fidgeting wildly, suddenly becoming quite embarrassed. "Please don't tell anyone! It was our secret….I would get into so much trouble if my royal adviser found out."
"Don't worry so much! This just means I have blackmail material if I ever need you do to something for me," Temari teased with a toothy grin. When she heard Setsuko start to freak out, she laughed, "It's cute though. How you two made a promise like that as kids." In order to get Setsuko to calm down she had to change the subject.
"Oh…" she calmed, looking down at the water. "Yeah, it was one of the first things he ever said to me." One moment there had been a sad smile on her face, the next she was dripping tears from her eyes and sobbing almost uncontrollably. Her hands were up at her face, one with the ball of her hand under her eye and the other curled up around her cheek. Tears flowed endlessly as she looked like a baby experiencing pain for the first time.
Temari couldn't help but feel bad for her. She hadn't known what it was like to lose a lover or a best friend, but she did know what it was like to lose people. "Do you really think Maki would want you to sob over him like this? If he's the kind of person I'm thinking he is, he'd want you to be happy, even through this painful time."
Her shoulders shook as she took sharp intakes of breath, "No he…hic…wouldn't but it's…hic…so painful even now! I'm trying to…hic…be…hic…happy but I can't!...hic…Not when I feel like…hic…like I'm betraying him!"
"What are you talking about?" Temari held a look of confusion, not even remotely understanding what she meant by betraying him.
Setsuko rubbed the balls of her hands through her eyes, her whole body trembling from how violently her emotions were running wild. "…I think…I think I might have started having feelings for someone else…"
Temari's jaw dropped a little, she thought that was betraying this Maki guy? She slowly shifted through the water and came up beside Setsuko, putting a sisterly arm around her for comfort. "You do know that's part of moving on right? Just because you're having feeling for someone else, doesn't mean the ones you felt for Maki are going to be replaced or go away. He will always have a special place in your heart. No one can take that away from you."
The younger blonde looked up at Temari with sad, hopeful eyes. "You mean it?"
"Of course I do! Otherwise I wouldn't have said it," she replied with a confident nod.
"Oh thank you Temari!" she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around the older blonde and practically tackled her in the spring.
Nearly falling over, Temari had to grab onto the rocks for balance. "Hey! Let go of me!" she shouted, trying to pull the naked teen off her. "This is weird. Get off!"